Lode Runner On-Line: Mad Monks' Revenge(PC) mini-FAQ (This FAQ covers levels 151-187, the add-ons to those already in LRLR, but no multiplayer strategies.) version 1.0.0 copyright 2003 by Andrew Schultz schultza@earthlink.net Please do not reproduce this FAQ for profit without my prior consent. However, if you write a polite e-mail to me referring to me(and this FAQ) by name, then I will probably say OK. But if I ignore you that means no--and I am bad about answering e-mail. Sorry. **AD SPACE** My home page: http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Exhibit/2762 **FAQ-SPECIFIC AWESOME LINK** http://www.daggert.net/todd/Programming/Presage/LodeRunner/Loderunner1.h tm The author has released this game for free. It's well worth a look. ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. THIS GAME'S ORIGINS 1.2. ABOUT THIS FAQ/TERMINOLOGY 2. DIFFERENCES WITH LRLR 3. THE LEVELS 3-1. MAP LEDGER 3-2. WALKTHROUGHS Here you can search for the level number in two ways: #167 or 167: 4. SUNDRY FRIPPERY 4.1. BUGS AND OTHER ANNOYANCES 4.2. THE ENDING 4.3. SKITS 5. VERSIONS 6. CREDITS ================================ 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1. THIS GAME'S ORIGINS Lode Runner Online(LRO) contains two logical extensions of Lode Runner: the Legend Returns(LRLR.) My LRLR FAQ has some info on previous versions. LRO is still very retro despite online capabilities--it's LRLR with a few more items. 1.2. ABOUT THIS FAQ/TERMINOLOGY Before we begin: LRLR and LRO are acronyms described previously. Second of all: I have not covered any of the first 150 levels in this FAQ. The first part of the game is similar to LRLR down to the high score list--the 150 levels are already in another one I submitted to GameFAQs.com. You can refer to any tricky level on that page. That FAQ doesn't really describe the Windows controls so I'll make them clear, because I may also occasionally use keystrokes to describe the actions you need to make, i.e. 7-6-7-6-7-6 describes going right and digging left. Most of the time it'll be when you're in a tight spot. It's a lot like the old Apple controls but you have a third, bottom, row which allows you to use the special items. 7 = dig left 8 = go up 9 = dig right 4 = go left 5 = go down 6 = go right 1 = get item 2 = use item 3 = set bomb(which you get automatically) Often when using the keyboard I find that I look for places to hide to rearrange my fingers before a critical spot where I know I have to hit a certain procession of keys. Also early on I find I mix up 1/2/3 and that using two hands is awkward in the long term--but it's useful when I need to make a quick move. Another thing useful when I need to move exactly is the F7 key; often I find that I need to speed things up(and it makes a great challenge later) to get through parts I already know or that involve boring running. So I hit F6 a bunch of times to start. I also use terms from my LRLR FAQ. "3-ladder," for instance, means a ladder 3 units tall(each level is 28x16 units) and often when I mention "dig left twice" it's implied you dig left, move right and dig left. I try to hit the painful details less as the FAQ moves on as it's implied that your skill will get better. The most contentious notation may be of the sort 4->3-<2->1. This says: dig four holes. Drop, dig the three to the right, drop, dig the two to the left, drop, dig the one to the right. The only anti-spoiler strategical hint I can mention that may not have been emphasized in my LRLR FAQ. And the only other hint I can give is to make sure the number lock is down. See my LRLR guide for basic strategies or observations about monk behavior. 2. DIFFERENCES WITH LRLR Aside from the thirty-seven extra levels...new squares include pools, which are lethal for you or monks to fall in and cannot be approached from the side. However, using a pickaxe over a pool causes it to be filled in. However, the biggest change is that there are now squares that wink in and out. There are generally eight different possible cycles for the squares, and they are often lumped together to force you to use a sense of timing. You'll die if you're in one as it comes back, but you can stand on one and wait for it to fall, and sometimes you'll need to--or it can block bad guys behind from following or even kill them. You also need to be aware of different types of bombs. There are now four types on the terrain(I count big bombs separately--below are bombs you can get up to four of.) --bombs gone for good once you get them[regular, from LRLR] --bombs that constantly regenerate. For any one level a bomb will always regenerate every X seconds, but they have different cycles on different levels. --bombs that blow up at the start and don't reappear. Very rare. --bombs that continually blow up the area around them. Often you have to run by them after the area has healed and before the bomb is lit. There are also a couple of new backgrounds: levels 151 and 166 show these off, murky brown/black and semi-fluorescent green caves. 3. THE LEVELS 3-1. MAP LEDGER [space] = area you can walk/fall through X = square you can dig through/bomb * = square you can only dig or big-bomb H = ladder ~ = rope V = trap door down h = ladder that forms when you've got all the gold S = sticky gooey square that slows you down e = enemy u = you 1 = 1 point treasure(chest) 2 = 2 point treasure(cart) 3 = 3 point treasure(skull) 4 = 4 point treasure(gold pile) . = bomb ^ = hide-out/cave ; = pot of goo | = snare % = drill & = stun gun $ = block containing gold chest # = block containing bomb T/t = to/from teleporters. If there are more than one, they are detailed below the map. R/r = red door, red key G/g = green door, green key Y/y = yellow door, yellow key B = big bomb ` = pickaxe ! = bombs that blow up at level's start but don't reappear **new stuff for Lode Runner Online** i = infinite bombs to pick up I = infinite bombs exploding abcdfjk = "rounds" of undiggable ground that appear/disappear NOTE: ones found in separate areas may not be synchronized. ? = rounds I didn't map out but describe instead Note that the text for rounds is not totally synchronized, i.e. abc in one area may not be coordinated with abc in another. The exact details don't seem important to solving the game, so I decided to look at what this all means for practical purposes. 3-2. WALKTHROUGHS LEVEL #151: DEATH TRAP gG HH u H aaaaaaaH e H X3XX3XXH Hbbbbbbb H bbbbbbbH HX3XX3XX H XXXXX3XHaaaaaaaHccccccc H cccccccHXXXXX3XHXXXXX3X H X3XX3XXHbbbbbbbHddddddd H XXXXXXXHX3XXXXXHX3XX3XX H XXX HcccccccHXXXXXXX H HXXXXX3XH XXXX X HdddddddH XX HX3XXXXXH XX XXX H XXXXX H XX + XXXXXXX H H XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX This is a rather rough introduction. The timing is tricky to gauge, but fortunately you don't have many bad guys distracting you. The tactics to get the hidden gold look roughly similar, and they usually are, but the skulls at the bottom can be a bit of a nuisance. For the left side, you'll want to wait until the top side forms. Then go above the left skull. Wait for the ground below to disappear, dig right, then move right and dig left. Dig left in the 1x2 area to get out. Time is somewhat short here, so you may not succeed a few times. Ironically the three chests give you a bit more time; again, go over the right top chest, drop and then drop right(which gives more time than digging) and then go right and dig left. Dig right to get out. The center has a small nuance to the left skulls there. You can get the UL of the skills as before, but now there is a bit of a delay to get on top of it, and that can cost you later. My preferred solution is to go down the ladder to the left and dig left of the DL skull. Then go up and riht when the blocks there disappear. Dig right so you fall onto the gold, and you'll have enough time. You're halfway there now, and it's a good idea to get the bad guy to go the other way. Go to the bottom of the stair and a bit right. Dig right and then go one up the right stair. You can just stand on top of the UR gold in the center and then dig/fall for the other one. The right side looks the same as the left but in fact is not a mirror image. To get the DL gold you will need to use the same trick as the center DL, since there are bricks two-deep under that gold piece. One dig won't cut it. As for the right side, again run over the one skull, and this time fall right and then go right and dig left. Dig right. Even if the bad guy has appeared in the bottom right you can run over him into the door. LEVEL #152: PITVILLE t u t t t t H*aaabaaabaaabaaab**1 H* *1 *2 *3 *4 *1 H* *1 *2 *3 *4 *1 H* *1 *2 *3 *4 *1 H* *1 *2 *3 *4 *1 H* *1 *2 *3 *4 *1 H* *1 *2 *3 *4 * H* *1 *2 *3 *4 *XXX****h H* *1 *2 *3 *4 * h H* *1 *2 *3 *4 * h H* *1 *2 *3 *4 * h H* *1 *2 *3 *4 ****hXh h 1* * * * * *+*XhXheh T* *T *T *. T*.T*****XXXX Each teleporter kicks you to the receptacle above and perhaps one square to the right. This level has two parts: first, get the timing for the teleporters right. Second, get past the two bad guys guarding the door. Go down for the first gold. Enter the teleportal and when the a-bricks reappear, run to the edge. Wait a half-second and drop through. Repeat, although when above the 4-pointers you don't have to worry about time. It'll kick you to the far right, and the level-end ladders will appear. Now I find it expedient to use one of the bombs to get rid of the monk that chases you. You can go to the ladder top and release, or you can dig a hole and place the bomb as you run over the monk once he's fallen in. Either way he appears in the right and is a nonfactor. The second monk's a bit tougher to deal with. If you managed to dig your way around the first monk then you can use a bomb at the stair base across the wall from him and run U/R. But a sure enough way is to go to the top of the ladder to the right and dig. Just before the bad guy falls in, drop down and dig. He'll fall in and be stuck. This leaves you a free path to the door; place the bomb on the other side of the wall and climb up the stairs. LEVEL #153: IDOL WORSHIP ~~~H~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~H u H H XXXXXXXXXXX X H XaaaXbbXXX X?X H XaXXXbXbX X3 3X H XaaXXbXbX X X X H XaXXXbXbX XVXVX H XaaaXbbXX V V H XXXXXXXXX X X X H 2 X VXV X H XXXXXX X?X e X?X H e *X X XXXXX X X X H ****X?X**X1X a1b1c X1X X X H 4 4 *X X 1X1X1 X X X X H +abcX X aa b c d f g j k a H XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX There are a few timing issues here, and although the level doesn't overpower you with brilliance, there's some stuff you need to recognize. First, 6-7-(drop)-9 immediately, 6. Now fall off the platform to the right just as the square behind you fills in. The bad guy will run towards you and fall in the gap. Drop over him(wait for the square to refill if you want to be cautious) and get the two gold pieces. Drop right and dig right when you can, before moving. Note you can run right freely as that is how the blocks fill up/disappear. Falling at the right time is important for the rest of the level. You'll also want to remember that the bottom squares(four are visible at any one time) where holes will fill in above don't have the whitish lines on top; this is important when the bad guy is running at you, and you need to pause somewhere safe. You'll also want to dig a hole over him so he's trapped when he wants to get up. Whenever you drop, of course make sure you're not dropping on the bad guy. If he's covering a place you need to get to, you may need to fall a few squares ahead of him to the right to get him going, then dig to get him out of the trap, and hope he winds up somewhere better next time. Now there are three structures with trap doors at their apexes and switching solid squares below. Drop on any of them when you can see the solid square--for the center part, fall left or right. There are traps below that will see you through. Now you'll need to dig your way onto one of the gold chests and drop left/right onto the other one. Here note the switching bricks above and below aren't synchronized, so be sure to drop at a good time when you won't get stuck. You will have to fall through the center three times given that there are three golds side by side. For the third you'll still have to dig and fall as before--just make sure the bad guy can't get to you. For the structures with one gold in the shaft, drop on them when the shifting squares are visible. You'll have to dig the UL platform's right edge and wait to drop for the left one. To get out of this, dig into the E as you started the level and dig out. Then you'll have to drop onto the bad guy you potted originally. Run across to the left when the rightmost square in the door's area appears. If you fall a bit, no problem. Next level please. LEVEL #154: FIRST IMPRESSIONS XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXeXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX H XXXXX 3i XXXXX X XXXXXX H XXXX***HXXXXX3 RX XXXXX H XXXXXXHXXXXXH**X XXXX 3H3 XXXXXHXXXXXHXXX XXX 3H3 XXXXHXXXXXHXXX X u~~~~~H~~~~~e H HXXX XXX3 H 3**********HXXX XXXX H XXXXXXXXXXXHXXX XXXXX3 H 3XXXXXXXXXXXXHXXX XXXXXX ~H~ XXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXX XXXrXXX H XXXXXXXXXXXXXXHXXX XXXXXXXX+XXXXXXXXXXXX HXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 3eHXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The red key is a red herring(the resolution just isn't quite high enough for you to see, bada-boom.) What you need to do here is line the bad guys up. It may take a few tries, but you can do it. The key things to notice are: 1. If you go right and drop and go right and dig, you just nab the guy coming down. Immediately after, 2. If you stay on the ladder just above the two ropes at the bottom, the bad guy at the top bounces around. You may use this trick more than once. 3. At the top rung of the ladder, you can make bad guys go right for some reason and then you can fall right to the rope and drop twice when bad guys get close. 4. Bad guys regenerate in the DR. So if you kill one it impedes trying to bring them left. 5. That bomb will regenerate after you take it, which is useful. Given all this, hang around the top and bottom spots, digging to the right to slow bad guys up. A last ditch defense is to go into the bomb chamber and get the bomb, light it as bad guys climb, and repeat. However eventually you'll want all three to come left. Once at the bottom of the diamond you can make all three drop, then it's clear sailing to the right. Don't stop in the center chamber but rather go all the way and then down. This will make one guy fall in a hole. Now you can go up to get the next gold piece, and if you really want to get a head start, climb down the ladder so that you are a few squares below the way back left. The bad guys will drop to your level giving all kinds of time to get the last gold and the bomb. Now the door should open and you can use the bomb on the two bad guys running at you and still have enough time to get another before they come up the stairs. Go back to the left chamber and go down the stairs. Place the bomb at the bottom and go up. That rids the door of its guardian. Fall down. LEVEL #155: SHOT IN THE DARK ~~~~~X ~~~~~~~2X ~~~%H hPPPPPH*PPPPPPPHX***** 1*H XXXXXXXXXXXXXXH 1*XH 4X 11~~~~H 1*4XH H* XXH*h ee* 1*4*XH HX*X HXXXXXXXX 1*4**XH H ~H ` 1*4*1*XH H ~~ XXX * 1*4*1*4XH H~~~~ 1H ~ 1*4*1*4*XH 1 1 XH *** ~~~~~~~~~H 1XH1XHXH1 X iH Y ********* X eey & h*H *1 ~~~~~~~~~ **************H *h 3~3~3~3~3~3~3~H u h | a b c d a beH **************************** This level doesn't seem all that tough, actually--more delays than challenge at first--but it turns out to have a wicked twist at the end which, if you don't have this walkthrough, is tough to figure out given how contorted the level is.. The door is tricky to get to, and you ned to have sorted a few things out before getting there. First thing to do is to get the snare and place it and move back. A bad guy is coming down the stairs, and you need to trap him. Next you'll want to get the gold that's to the right. For this, move to the ladder on the right(it takes a while; just keep running into the right wall) and go up it. First get the bomb on the ledge above and then go onto the rope. Now the rest is easy to figure out but impatience made this hard for me to execute. When you see the platform appear to the left, go two left onto the next rope. Repeat. There's no final gold over the leftmost. Run back right and get another bomb. Your next task is to get the yellow key from the chamber. Drop left after the bomb and go left and get the gun. Back up, turn left and blast the two enemies with the gun. Run left, getting the key, and place a bomb at the far side. You'll have time to back up(even to the key if you didn't get it) and then fall down, and the bad guys won't drop after you. Then go back right, wait if you need to collect a bomb so you have two, and go all the way up the stairs and left. Two blocks away from the wall, drop a bomb. Retreat and enter. Then place another bomb at the far left of the next chamber. Go left across the rope and before you fall to get the one gold be sure to leave the key behind; don't worry, a ladder will let you get to the door at the end. Back right and up. Now get the drill and work on the triangle below from left to right. All you have to do is dig the leftmost, then the next-leftmost, etc. Next thing to do is make sure again you have two bombs. Go to the top, then left, and place the bomb right by the wall. Fall through and trade for the pickaxe; you're done with the drill. Drop left. Before the pit, use the pickaxe left. Walk over and fall. Go up the ladder. Dig left and fall left. Over the next ladder dig each way, fall left, climb up the stairs, dig left, fall left and get the final far left gold. Back right to the three-rung stair. Left on the two ropes, dropping once. There's a long stair up. Go right at the top and use the pickaxe. Get the gold, go back and wait two seconds. Dig right. Once the cave-in disappears, you'll drop. Dig right and fall in again. Be careful weaving up the stairs. At the very top you will want to run right. You'll make it, and the level-end ladders will appear. Anywhere else and you'd have little chance of getting around the bad guys, who appear on each side. But here you can go U/L and place the bomb. Now when you drop left there's a ladder to support you so you can reach the left wall. Remember to get the yellow key you placed here first. That allows you to open the door and solve the level. It would have been neat to have more than one dark level, but I guess you can't have everything. This was well designed. LEVEL #156: YING YANG XXXXXXXXXXX3 H ~~~~~~~~ XXX Ie HXXXX XXHX. XX XXXXXXXHXXX X XXXXX$HXXXXX X1 H HXXXXXX XX XXXH.H$HXXXXXXXI XX XXXXHXXXHXXeXXXXXe XX1 XHXXXuHXXXHX XXXXX eXXXXXeXXHXXXHXXXX 1X RXXXXXXXH$H HXXX X XXXXXXH .H 1X XXXXXH$XXXXX X XXXHXXXXXXX XX .XHXX XXXXH eI XXX ~~~~~~~~ H 3XXXXXXXXXXX The hidden gold requires rooting out. The gold you can't reach, you must get the bad guys to help you, and because of this the level can quickly pass from the realm of challenge into tedium. Your first task is to get two guys in the upper right and make it so you can run about freely. Often bad guys will just wind up there from the initial explosions, but just in case you'll want to dig whatever you can. Bad guys will come up the bottom ladder, and you can dig from the right and climb the ladder to the right and come back down to fake them out. Through all this you'll want to make sure there's only one guy in the lower right, as you'll want to get rid of him next. 9-4-9-4-6, 9-4-9-4-6 and 9 will get him. Then 6-7 will get you out of the mess. Once everyone's stuck again, you can go and get the suspended right gold. Here's how. At the top ladder, dig right, drop and dig three right. Then dig three below that--eventually you'll drop to where you can only dig one square at a time before dropping. That's OK--you may have to wait for a bomb to explode to get the rest of the way, but eventually you'll get the gold. Now fall left once but wait for the squares to regenerate before dropping again--you need to run past the bomb quickly. From the ladder, dig down left twice. With everyone gone it's a good time to get the hidden gold. Dig down right from the bottom ladder. Two will appear in short order--fall right for them. Then from the top ladder you'll want to dig down left--again, two together will appear. Now the last part--getting the two golds on the left--requires patience. Bad guys may or may not appear over there, and then they may or(more likely) may not get the gold when they fall. There are generally two places where they resurrect, and you'll need to dig them out continually and trap them. The bombs aren't necessary for this, but they're fun and actually effective if you get impatient. At the top, leave one over a bad guy and run, or on the left, dig left, fall and leave a bomb. For the top part, digging is a bit trickier. Dig the two squares to the left, then go down once a bad guy is very near. Dig left, fall left, and dig right below your first hole. This will trap him completely. Repeating the rescue-and-entrap method will eventually get the job done. The door appears to be at the top of the ladders, but sometimes it doesn't show. If you need to get bad guys away from the pits in the upper left, this is a bit tougher. 1-dig and then 2-dig down from the left. Climb down the ladder, and you can sucker one guy to run after you and the next one will run after and get trapped. LEVEL #157: DOUBLE TROUBLE + XX + IXXXXH XX HXXXXI u 3XXXXXXXH XX HXXXXXXX3 e XXXXXXXXH HXXXXXXXX XXXXX XHbeeaHX XXXXX XXX3 XHXXXXHX 3XXX 1 XXXccc*HXXXXH*cccXXX 1 XXX1 XXX XH XX HX XXX 1XXX XXXX1 XXXTXH XX HXTXXX 1XXXX XXXXX1 XXXXH HXXXX 1XXXXX XXXXXX1 XXHaeebHXX 1XXXXXX XXXXXXX1 HXXXXH 1XXXXXXX X XXXXXX HXXXXH XXXXXX X Xe tXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXt eX XXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXX This level is rather symmetrical, and the main problem is getting to the other side without attracting the attention of a few bad guys. First note the teleporters send you to the lower chambers, where a quick meeting with a monk--and your doom--is inevitable. The first gold pieces are freebies. Drop right. The encased skull requires some timing. Once the wall to the right holding the top two enemies heals, wait a beat and then go up. From the top of the ladder, 7-5-7-5-7-5-7 and wait for the wall to the right to heal. 5-7-5. Now you can wait for the floor to the left to form. Get the gold and run back out. The UL skull is more straightforward but requires precision. You have to go back up the stairs(wait for the left block to appear before running up) and then left two squares. When the surface regenerates, run left for all you're worth, and you should just make it in time. Stay at the bottom. Wait for the UL of the blocks sticking the monks in to disappear, then wait one beat. Then run up and right over the top batch of monks. If it all works well the mobile one on the right will give chase but miss, and the UR of the trapped ones will get stuck in the wall. LEVEL #158: FALLING MONKS Y y H jfffffH H H H fffffH H H H ffffffH jffffH H H H H cc H H H H H H H H H H H H u H eH ****abcd*****ffff****ff***** d and j squares appear when c and d disappear, and vice versa. This level is pretty simple although sometimes you just have bad luck and the monk drops right near you after previous falls. Run right and go up the stairs. You may have to pause as the ground disappears to the right, but it's little problem. Climb up the stairs. Go to the right edge(three away from the next stair) and when the next square appears, jump on it. Then wait for what's below it and drop right and go up the stairs. From here, you'll want to go left when a walkway appears and go up the stairs and wait for the next cycle. Do it again and then the last time you'll want to go to the edge, wait for the square under the key to appear, and get the key. Then go back right. You may need to use the left ladder to fake out the monk LEVEL #159: BEWARE THE MONK CHAMBER * * * * 444444 * * HXXH HXXXXXXXXXX * * H XXXXXX * * H Xeee+* H HHH****** H H H H H H H H H ***************************H H u H H ****aaaabbbbccccddddaaaa**** b disappears quickly after a, d after c. Stand by the left edge of a. Run to the right edge of b and wait for c/d to appear. Run right again to the edge and wait for a to appear, Run right. Get the gun and bom and then get the gold in the UR. Go back to the far left and climb the ladder. Place the bomb left of the monks' chamber. Position yourself 2L/D of the bomb. Then move back up and blast right when the bad guys are close. You should have easy access to the door then. LEVEL #160: LADDER LAND T T T T T T T T T HXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXX H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H**H H H H**H H H H** *et*H H H H*+t*H H H H*te* H**HH H H HH**HH H H HH** H H H H H H H H H He H H H H uH H H H e HXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXHXXX H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H H11H11H11H11H11H11H11H11H11 H**H**H**H**H**H**H**H**H** H*e**e**+**+**e**e**e**+**e* XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX This is one of the indifferent levels that popped up. It'd be too easy for early LRLR, frankly. But here's the solution... First note that, from the left, the teleporters go to the L, R, C, C, L, L, R, C, and R receptacles. Only the center one allows passage to the next level, and if you take a teleport before that, you will either get stuck with a bad guy or marooned in a cavern. It's not too bad to get the right side. You can go right down and then right and up when the monk is close. Dig a hole to trap him and get the rest of the gold to the right. Then you can come around back left and dig holes(use the upper part to cross back) where necessary. Then go down when you're left of both bad guys and get everything else. You should be able to run right immediately but you may need to dig in order to get to the third or fourth teleport. LEVEL #161: THE CHASE! **************************** * * * * * *XXX* * * * *11 * *h *HXX*********H*** ***H* *h *H * * 1 *H *t 1* H* *h *H. *111* 1 *H *****H*H* *h **XH***** 1 *H * *H * *h * H* 1* 1 *H * *H*H* *h * .H* 1* *H *1 * H* *h *HX** 1*****H *****H*H* *h *H * 1* *H *1 *H * *h *H%u*111*T11*H * 1*H*H* *h **XH***********H***** H*+*h * H* 1 * * H* 1 *H*****h *e1H*1 1 H*11 H eh **************************** This is another level that really shouldn't be too taxing. It's much easier if the bad guy picks up the gold at the bottom(why didn't they flip him with the gold?) and if he does you can just go up top, wait, dig left(don't trap him yet) and get his gold. If he doesn't, go up anyway, dig left and climb down. On top of the bottom ladder, dig when he's coming down the ladder to the left. Then you'll have plenty of time to get the gold and go back up. In either case, the drill is very handy. Once you deal with the bad guy, the rest is pretty easy. Drill into the 2x3 chamber with three gold. Drill on the right side and fall for more gold. Drill in the center of the 5x3 to fall onto more gold and climb up the pair of stairs. Drill over the four gold in a column and then drill again. Go right for the gold before entering the transporter. Get the gold to the right, dig, get the next gold and drill below it to fall on another. Then wait for the bad guy to make it up the stairs, drill in the center and immediately go right. Drop a bomb at the stair base, retreat for the gold, and then be prepared to run up the zigzag ladders. FAll down and then take the ladder in the far right. At the top, drop left into the door. LEVEL #162: DEMOLITION BRIDGE T ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ It H H???????????????????? 3 u H H iiIiiiIii ** ** H H~ i * H H H************ .*XX*??XX H H H i X X X 3 `?XXX H H H H*?i ****HVXV** *?XXX H H H Hi$i . .XH .X*??*VXXX H H H Hi$i XXXXXX+XXXXXXVXXX H H H Hi$i XXXXXX?XXXXXXVXXX H H H Hi$i XXXXXXVXXXXXXVXXX H H H Hi$i XXXXXXVXXXXXXVXXX H H H Hiii XXXXXXVXXXXXXVXXX H H H H H H H H H H HH i **************************** There are only three runs you have to make, and they are easy, medium and very hard in difficulty. The easiest one is actually for the hidden gold. After falling/running left into the wall, run right for the bomb, and then go left and up the first ladder that leads somewhere. It leads to a small ledge, in fact, and as you climb up the ladder you'll want to leave a bomb by the third brick up--if you miss by one square, no big deal. It's just in the middle. Watch the chain reaction and when it's over, go right over the disappearing square. You'll fall through with plenty of time to spare. Let's save the middle difficulty(gold by the ladder) for last. On the top you need to tiptoe carefully; enter one cave, run out when solid ground appears beneath it, and run right, and repeat. The bombs and the disappearing floors aren't synchronized perfectly, but you need to be prepared to make a big run early on. Your first one should be two squares right. The next, the last safe haven from bombs(hiding doesn't help you,) is one square right, and then you will want to wait for floors appearing just after a big explosion. You can run six squares right and sneak in again. Then there will eventually be an unlit bomb below you and one to each side. After they explode, you'll need to move right once more. From there, you have one more long run before you're safe--should be three squares. But although you're safe from death you can still slip. Often you have to move one square right at a time. Only move two right if you know the second tile won't disappear soon. Near the end you can also run two right. If you make it all the way, you can get the gold. You can then drop left once the ground left vanishes, or you can drop right just after the bomb explodes. Either way you can't be totally lazy about timing. The final obstacle is on the next ladder left. There's a long run right to make under some bombs, and the best time to start is after a bunch have exploded. Often two bombs will appear four squares apart, and you can stand between them for the explosion before running right and dropping off. Now that you've got all the gold, drop left through the trap door and right into the door. There's no need to use the teleport in the UL, and in fact kicking yourself back to the start may be lethal. LEVEL #163: HIDE AND SEEK u e i ****H*B+ **H***** *H* XXXXHX*** ****HX$HXXXXX XHX XX$XHX$XX%XX$XH !HX$XXX XH XXX!H!XXX*XXXXH HXXX H XXXH XX XXXH HXXX H !$XXHXX XX*XH*XXX XXXXXX H X$XHX$X H* XXXXXXXXXXXH! e XXH$XX HX XXX$XXX3XXXXX$H ! HXXXXXHX XX XXXXXXXXXXH****HXXX$XHX X XXX XXHX$XXH ! XXHX XXX X i $HXXXXX$X$XXHX XXXXXHXX H** !XH$XXXXX$XXXH X X$H! HX$X HXXXX X ! HX XXXXXXXXXXXXXX X XXXXXX This one is incredibly tough if you don't mark off where the gold is-- and then there's some hidden gold not taken out by the original bombs. So there's a lot to map in any case, and you'll need several iterations through this level. The skill and analysis needed here are considerable, and there may be a nasty surprise at the end, too. You may need to check your work as it's easy to miss gold, and you'll want to count twenty-one hidden gold pieces to get through the level. Now if you are very quick you can fall left, get the drill, drop down, and go down two stairs--fall left for one gold and go right for the second. When the bombs heal, retreat to the corner and dig right. If not you should get the drill first thing anyway, and you can bomb there later when the bad guys are dispatched. The question now is how best to deal with them? One should be on the far right, where you'll need to go eventually. The other will still be chasing you around. You can try to dig him out of the way, although you can get on pretty well with your tasks without worrying too much about him. You can also use the drill to get rid of him later. First, though, the left side. You'll want to drill the two squares just to the right of the bomb, which itself is useless, as well as the square to the left of it. You can loop and fall right after this. There's also the matter of clearing the four solid squares left of the ladder. The bad guy will trap you when you try to come out down below if you're not careful, but there are actually several ways to get past him. 1. You can 3->2->1 dig and go down/up the stairs and drop right and just make it in time. 2. If you forgot your drill(which ruins the point of the maneuver) or there are two bad guys running after you, then get the bomb at the bottom twice. Place it left of the ladder, go up the ladder, and place it in the blown-up nook. The bad guy will try to run across. 3. With the drill and one guy to face, drill the right square, dig right, and fall right and dig quickly. The second time around you can just drill the second of the solid bottom squares, then dig the three squares below for a hidden gold. The third time around it's a lot safer. Dig left/down twice from the ladder at the bottom to find another hidden gold. Then go around--each time you go around you can dabble with leaving bombs behind(thank goodness for infinite ones) to try to blow the bad guy up. After drilling the fourth of the top left holes, you'll want to 4-<3- >2-<3-<2 dig to get another gold chest. If you haven't gotten the gold on either side of the long bottom ladder, do so now. Then the gold below the bomb is next. Be sure you've drilled L of it and the two DR of it, and then place a bomb on the fourth-highest(space to the DR but not the R) stair rung. U/R quickly and then dig left after you fall. You'll fall onto the gold. This is important because of where the door appears--it's possible to drill your way away from the door. Now for the other side. I assume you've relegated the bad guys to the far left by now. Have a few bombs hand here. There's a row of four solid blocks right of the bottom ladder and far above it. You'll want to drill the three rightmost on the bottom and all four on the top. From the bottom ladder, R, drill(if necessary,) U, L, U, L, drill. Now you can focus on the gold here. The reason you don't drill all at the bottom is that bad guys will have more trouble finding you this way. Drill left three from the middle of the ladders you're on for one hidden gold, and from the top of that ladder do the following drill/digs: drill right and dig below it until you find gold. Go up to the left, dig right and drill, then dig the two below them for more gold. On the top of the ladder structure, below where you drilled four times, dig the four squares to the left for another hidden gold, then go to the ladder just right. Drill one left and dig below that. Now for the tough part--the right corner. 2->1 drill at the edge to get to the very bottom right(you can 2-<1 dig for the hidden gold if you time the run forward/back well but the given path is less risky.) Then 9-4-9 and leave a bomb as you run across. Run halfway up the stairs so that anyone regenerating in the UR will miss you for sure. From the ladder dig 2 left down twice, then dig left under the gold piece to get back. You can now 2-<1 dig at the edge for the hidden gold piece and cycle back. You'll want to dig the five squares right of the top ladder now, and with both bad guys scared off, you can just dig twice right down past one early gold piece, and when you drop off the ladder, dig the two squares right of the one DL of it for the final hidden gold. Back over the top to the left for the final gold. When you fall down the center you should be able to 7-6-7 and run across the two bad guys. Note where the door is positioned; simply drilling everything to get the one gold below the bomb would have made the door inaccessible. LEVEL #164: DEATH TRAP 2 u XXHX??XHXX ..XXXXHX??XHXXXX.. 4 XXXXX HX??XH XXXXX 4 HXXXXX HX??XH XXXXXH HXXX HX??XH XXXH eeH HX??XH Hee XX HX??XH XX XXXX4 HX??XH XXXX XXXXXX.. HX??XH ..XXXXXX XXXXXX HX??XH XXXXXX XXXXXX4HX +XH4XXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX This is a good reprise to level 157, and like 157 it's hard as heck. Dig the leftmost and drop in. Then dig the two lefmost and drop, then the three leftmost(after you get the bombs) and drop. You can now dig two holes to catch the bad guys. This will trap them, and one may regenerate on the left. If he does you need to be careful and follow the procedure below. Drop from the ladder. Dig right. Now you can drop and dig two squares. Get the bombs, dig three squares, and drop. Now dig four squares and drop in. Here you need to beware of a bizarre bug. Dig right from the far left and the bad guy walks over the hole and gets you! So move right a bit. Then IMMEDIATELY go up the ladder and off to the left a square. The point is to get there before the bad guy regenerates; otherwise he'll have you trapped if he appears on the left. If he appears on the right, just go back down. But if he's on the left, fall left and try again. Now you've got a big run coming up. Stay at the bottom of the ladder, and after the top two squares appear, wait for the next round to pop up. Then run up and right(you may need to pause a split second.) Leave bombs above the ladder and just to the right and fall right. This should cause a bunch of bad guys to get caught. One should cough up the gold. You can even dig left to goad everyone as far over as possible. At least two should regenerate on the left. This makes the rest of your task much easier. You'll want to drop and dig toward the center as before--disposing of two guys means you'll have to run a bit further left--beware of the bug with the guy running over the pit and you should be ok. Don't worry about getting rid of everybody as the door should have appeared by now(if not, proceed as you did to purge the left of monks.) You can just place a bomb one rung up on the ladder, allowing easy access to the door. There doesn't seem to be any easy way to jump down from the top, and digging down is too tedious, so why not use those bombs? LEVEL #165: FIND THE PATTERN 2 XXXXbacbacbacbacbacbacbaXXXH H H ~ e H HVXXaaaaabccccccaaaaabccXXXX H H H~ XVXXdcbadcbadcbadcbadcbaXXXH H H +u H XXXXabcdfgjkabcdfgjkabcdXXXX There are actually several patterns. I haven't synchronized each level with the one below it, but there's no real need to. Unfortunately the bad guy pops up randomly in this level, and often he'll interfere with what you're trying to do, pushing you back down or even trapping you. The only way to change this at the start is to dig to the left and run right. The lower level is pretty straightforward if not terribly easy. You'll have to run a bit right, wait, etc. You'll always be on a four-square platform at any one time. On the second level, each pair of blocks disappears quickly so you will have to tap right a few times in a row(three for me--you want to get to the left edge of your island,) wait, and do it again once the right side disappears. On the third level, you can't quite make it onto the next island after you clear the second. Wait and dig left if the bad guy is chasing. When the island appears again, you should be able to run on to the single square that pops up. From there go right when a plank appears, and you just repeat as before to get to the other side. The top part is by far the worst. Push F7 and then F5 several times to start things off. This allows you to see exactly when blocks decay, and this is important. You'll have to perform several tricks at a time and there's no assurance the bad guy won't drop in on you. Step onto the 2- island and move left when the blocks shift. You'll be on a 1-island and you need to move Jake so he has one foot in thin air. Then watch for when the block starts to dissolve and move left. Now repeat. You have to get a feel for all this but six times in a row and you're through. It's frustrating at first but slowing the game down saves a lot of time in the long run. The gold's on the left, and you can use the traps to fall right through to the door to level 166. But wait! There's a funny skit first. LEVEL #166: MONK RAIN t t u 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 XX HeH HeH HeH HeH HeH H XX X X X T T T T T T T T T T T X XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXy XX Y 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 XX H HeH HeH HeH HeH H H XXX X X X T T T T T T T T T T T X XPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPXPX Five hundred levels too early for a stupid random nightmare like this. The basic trick is to run right across the monks as they reappear randomly and fall, making it to the next gold piece. Then at the far right, you get the yellow key, dig, and proceed back left. In this level you are allegedly introduced to pools although they were there in the darkness level(155) but easily mistakeable for regular ground due to the nasty lighting. Basically, fall in a pool and you die. Also, the teleportals kick you back to the start of your run. If you've made it to the right then you'll get bumped back to the upper right. But you shouldn't need to go down for any reason. Just stay at the top of the ladder. The contrast between the long wait and the quick movement can be rather annoying. No matter what speed you play at, you will seem to have either slow waiting times and relative security or no waiting times and huge risks, but fortunately there's a way to bridge this. Use the F-keys intensively. Hit F6 a bunch of times until the monk appears just to your right/left. Then hit F7 to slow everything down. It's easier to run across now. There are no other real tricks to the level. Sometimes you'll seem to have to wait forever for a monk to drop right, and the sound is annoying, but once you get a few rungs across the rest shouldn't be bad. LEVEL #167: SEFL SON XHXXXXXXX2XXXXXXabcd 2 XHX + u.XHX. I XhXX***H**h XHXHXXXVXHXX****H* X XHXXh XHXH eHX2 H* XHX XHXXh XHXX*X?***XXXHXXX* XHX XHX h XH2 abIab. X H *2 HX 2HXhX XX********hXXXXXH*X**X**XXh 2 hX XH* 2 XXh hXXXXXXXXXXXHX XH* H****XX h haa 2X eHX H* HXX XhX **********XXXXXXX*HXXX XHXhX 1 e XXXXXXXXXXHX XH4h HXXXXXXH 1 H HXXXXVXH H~~~ XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ~~~H XPPPXH.1.& ~~~~~ e HXPPPX XPPPXXXXXXXPPPPP***XXXXXPPPX The start isn't exactly trivial. Stay for a while and wait for the bad guy to fall in, get out and go left. Then drop right through the trap. Get the gold and then go down a rung so the bad guy turns left. Go to the bottom so he comes right. Now there's some timing involved in getting to the bottom. Make sure there's no bomb lit or about to be when you drop left and wait to get past the walls--similar checks apply as you run back right. But then you can fall right and left and, watching for the appearing walls, blow up the wall in your way to the right beyond them. A mazy run gets you to the top. Avoid the repeating bomb and take out the right wall in the top. Fall through and shuffle around for the gold before dropping off the UR. Zigzag drops lead you to a 4- point gold and a trap door below it. That's no problem. Run for the gun and wait--the bad guys will drop in the pool to try to find you! At the far left you climb up and go right. Two blasts of the gun should help you past; don't use bombs, although combo digging/gunning seems safe too. The bad guys will regenerate in front of you, and you'll still need two bombs to get back up. Take the 3-ladder up and dig right at the UR edge. Climb up the zigzags and then watch for the flashing blocks above the solitary ladder. You can pretty much run left and drop down. On the way back you'll run into a wall in the left in a cavern-- you bombed it before, now bomb it on the way back. Watch for the closing squares and keep climbing up. The final perpetual bomb may require you to wait a few cycles, but past it place a bomb 2L of the door and move away. You can then walk in. Making it back is rather arduous as well. The bad guys aren't a factor, but LEVEL #168: SEFL'S WAY &XHXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ~~~~ XHX .u X2X e XHPPPP XHXHXXXVXHXHXXXXXXX HPPPP XHXH eHXH XXXXXPPPP XHX***X***XXXXXXHXXXXXXXXX XH1 aibic X HX2~ X XX********** XHXXX XHX XXX ~~~~ X3X XH3 XX XHX X XPPPPX HX XXXXXXHX 2XHXXX X XPPPPXXXHX e HX XXH X XXXXXXX2HXXXXXXXXXX2 XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXHXXXXXXXXXXX e X2 H 1a.b.a1XXXXXX XH HXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XH H2 ~~~2 ~ ~ ~ X XXXXH XXXPPPXXXXXPXPXXXPXXH 2 H Seems rather similar to the previous one, and in fact once you get by the original obstacle it's actually a good deal simpler. Until the rather nasty end. Go left for the bomb and down. The bad guy will fall in. Go a bit up and then back down once he goes off to the right. Then angle up and right--fall through the trap and get the gold. Play the up/down game to trap the bad guy again, and repeat as often as necessary until the central square has just regenerated when the bad guy died--they all regenerate in the UL, which is troublesome for you at the start and the end. Then drop into the pit. You should be able to slip down and off to the left, but fortunately the starting timing is the trickiest part of the level. The middle is pretty flabby--head left for one gold, wait for the bombs to explode and head right. Fall. Dig right twice to get by the bad guys--you'll have to kill one(regenerating him in the UL) but don't dig more than twice. The winding path will lead to the UL and eventually to a rope where you fall left, right, and left for three gold. Then fall right twice and dig over the gold. The bad guy should have taken it by now, so you can try to sucker him left a way to get him away from treasure(if he leaves it behind,) then run right to get it. If he just coughs it up that's OK but you want to try to get the gold without killing him. After getting the gold dig to get by him if necessary. Then L/U/R and stay away from the wall if a bomb has started. Running to the right edge is no problem and the trap door at the edge assures you you won't get pinned by the walls and bomb you just passed. Circle around again. Take the stair with the two gold pieces around it. The all-clear ladder will pop up in the UL. Use the bomb near the top after you get the gun. Now you can walk right to the next ladder. Release a bomb left of the base of the two-ladder to the right. 2D/R and then climb back up--one bad guy will fall in, and(if you need to--he may still be reappearing) you should be able to gas the other one although sometimes he's refused to play fair even though I gassed him clearly(in that case if it happens more than once, retreat and try again.) This should leave the path clear. LEVEL #169: SEFL'S LAIR 1 ? X 2 XXXXXXXXXXt HXXXXXXXXabcHXX X XXXXX HXX XXXXXXXX XHXXX TX H X XHXXXa aa XXH X***XX** XHX XHXXXHXXXXXXXXXHX XXX4 XHX XHXXXHH X 2 XHX XHX XH 3He XH XXX XXXHXHX%XHX H XXXXXXXXXHX3 * H2HX?XHX* X X XHXXXXXXXXXXX*XH 4 XHXXXXX XHb 4 XXXXXXX*X***** XHX X X HaXH X XHX4XHX XHX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXHX XHX XHX bHX e 3 HX XHX XHXaXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XH4 XH 4e e ~~~~~~~ 4 u XXXXXXXXabcdXXXXXPPPPPPPXXXX Get the gold, wait, and dig left twice. Then run across and dig behind 
if you're nervous about crossing the rotating solid-square planks ahead. 
I'd prefer to keep one guy alive as they'll regenerate in the next 
corridor for you to tackle, and if both are there you'd have to dig down 
left from the ladder, back up and dig left twice.

  As it is you can just fall and dig left and go around, digging once 
behind. Drop when the square below your fall to the right appears and 
run right. When the square above disappears, zigzag more. Then go to 
near the top and drop left again. Dig left and now you can steam up the 
left side(don't forget the skull) and note the potential appearing solid 
square to block you. Dig left if you're bored waiting and run right. 
Also be wary of the possible pit ahead filling in. You've seen the type 
before. Then up the ladder to the right and fall down. Dig right in the 
2-chamber below. Get the skull and run right when it's safe. Two more 
gold; now get the drill. From the top ladder, dig the right square on 
the platform, drop right, and dig left. Drop onto the ladder and dig 
down/right three times. When just left of the drill, wait for the 
platform below to show, get the drill, and back up.

  Now you can enter the transporter. Drop right and drill down. At the 
bottom of the ladder, step one left when there's solid ground. After 
falling, right and left to the ladder. Drill down. Go down for the skull 
and dig a hole to gett past the bad guy barging at you. Then go back up 
and get the final 4-pointer. Maybe you'll have to dig once more to get 
by, but I think you can handle _that_.

    LEVEL #170: WATERWIND

XXXXXXXG   ~~~     XXXXX  2
      XXXXX   XXXXHX   X XXH
HXXXX X   XPPPX2  HX XHg X H
H   X XHX X   XHXXXX XXXXXHX
XXXHX 2HX  HX XH   X    .XH
   HX XXXXXXX XXX*****XXVXXH
HXXXXXXXXXX.    X.X.X    e H
HXX 2X    XXX***********SXXX
HX  ****XH 2   .X     i    X
HX XX 2 XXXXHXXXX X******XHX
H  X HXe   XH   X X  `  2 HX
XXXXHXXXXX XXXXHX XH*******X
X   HX   X     HX XHX  u.X2X
XHXXXX XHXXXXXXXX XHXHXXXXHX
XH e2  XH       2 XHXH   eHX
XXXXXXXXXPPPPPPPXXXXX***X**X

  And this is the third time using that small compartment as something 
to run around in. They really are overdoing it. Wait a second, then drop 
right for the bomb. 4-9-6-6-8 and when the bad guy goes left, come back 
down. He may appear in the UL pit, which we'll deal with later if we 
need to. You'll want to place the bomb at the top of the ladder and get 
out of the way. Then it's easy access to the pickaxe, which you'll need 
after R-U-L-fall as it's the only way you'll get across those seven pool 
squares--cause a cave-in one square at a time.

  Go up the ladder, dig down twice, get the next guy with one dig. Come 
around UR and drop right and dig another hole. Get the bomb and leave 
another hole right if the bad guys are close. Place the bomb right of 
the wall blocking your way to the gold. Then enter and zigzag. Now there 
should be 0/1 bad guys in the pit below. With zero, use the pickaxe, 
otherwise just jump over. If there are two, you may need to restart the 
level.

  Drop into the chamber with the bomb and set it off to the right. 
There'll be a big chain reaction--watch out for the tail where one bomb 
in the wall is still lit. Then go to the UR, get the gold, and drop left 
for the key. U/L(drop) and then R for the bomb and fall through the trap 
door. Then go back left of the key. Bomb the wall to the left and go 3 
right--but be careful not to fall through the trap door as you have no 
bombs left. Then run left and up the two stairs and the green door's to 
the left.

    LEVEL #171: ESCAPE

                     .
  u          e%     ******
*******a********    XXXXXX
 XXXXXXVXXXXXXX      XXXX
  XXXX  XXXXXX       XXX
   XX     XXX3    +   X
 3         . H  3**h
 ******b**** HSSSXXhe      B
 XXXXXXcXXXX HXXXXXh******HX
 XXXX3XdXXXX HXXXXXhX 4 XXHX
 XXXXXXXXXX  H  eX hXXXXXXH
 XXXXXXX  X. *XXHX h XXXXXH
  XXXXX   X**XXXHX***XXX  H
       ~~~~~~~~~H~~~~~~~~~H

PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

  This has the nuisance of catching you randomly if you don't do 
something right away--so it seems arbitrary but it's really just a bit 
exacting.

  First thing to do is to run over the bad guy when he drops through the 
alternating hole(you can wait, but he will die and may regenerate on 
top.) Look for when he falls--there's leeway if you do it early. Get the 
drill and drop down. Then go to the right and get the bomb. Wait for the 
holes left to fill up and get the skull.

  Now one right of the other skull, dig down. Push right and when you're 
finally allowed to, dig left and keep holding 7 so you dig again. Move 
left and dig two squares right. Then dig right after the drop to get to 
the rope.

  First thing on the right side is to get the two gold pieces. Then go 
down the stairs, dig two right, and drill below. Go right and down. You 
may have to come back twice to trap anyone; in any case when one guy 
regenerates, go one up on the ladder to make sure the bad guy coming 
from the UR gets trapped--usually in the 3-wide pit. The second time 
through you can dig from the right and actually dig below that to trap 
your enemy. Get any gold--you don't need the bomb, but why not?

  Now assuming all guys are trapped go and trade the drill for the bomb. 
Go back to the left of the bottom stairs. At the top rung, place the 
bomb; there's hidden gold to the right. Down, right(push and hold 6 just 
after 2) and up. Get the drill and use it on top of the remaining 
treasure. 2-<1 dig and the ladder to the left leads you up--in the rare 
case a bad guy is waiting for you in the stair area, don't do the third 
dig until he falls down to go after you.

    LEVEL #172: CAN YOU FIND A SHORTCUT?


t
u
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  dfgjkabcdfgjkabcdfgjabc***

***abcdfgjkabcdfgjkabcdfgjHH
                           H
  P P P P P P P P P P P P  H
   T T T T T T T T T T T T H
                           H
                      H~~~~H
                      H
                      H
+             e       h    e
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

  Compared to the compact rigor of 171, this level is nothing. All you 
have to do is drop twice--just wait--to get to the bottom. Then start 
running right. The bad guys will try to catch up to you, fall in the 
pits or be teleported, and wind up in the UR. Then you can make it to 
the ladder and drop down. From there it's a free ride left.

    LEVEL #173: WATERWORLD

                          e
               ************H
              ~~~~~~~~4    H
               PPPPPPP     H
       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  ~ H
4  ~                    H  H
X**VX**PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPH  H
                        H ~H
            H~~~~~~ ...eH
u+ .        H     XXXXXXX
XXXXabcddcbaH
            H
    adcbbcdaH
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP

  This is not a tough level at all once you get past the beginning. You 
want to run to the middle of the structure that vanishes and reappears--
might have to pause to get on there. Then wait and after you fall, pull 
to the right. On the stairs, go U, R, U, R on rope, fall R, U, L-fall, 
R, L-fall, L and now wait for the bad guys to go through the trap doors. 
They're usually in sync but if not you can dig a hole right of the rope 
to nail one. The object is to get to the rope and drop and head left 
into the door and there really should be enough time for that even 
without digging.

  You'll note there are two gold pieces in this level, but you only get 
one. That is because the bad guys eventually start regenerating in the 
UL and will soon pick the chest up and fall in the goo. This is the only 
part where the bombs might be useful--if the bad guys refuse to pick up 
the chest you may have to go off to the left of the rope, drop a bomb, 
back up and go in again.

    LEVEL #174: MONKS FROM MUNCHAUSEN

      XX4 ~~   XXXXXXX4bIa
HXXXX4 XXX  HX       X ****H
HXXXXX    HXXXXPXXXX  ~  e H
HX 4 X XXXXX 4 X   XXXXXXXXX
HX XHXXX   X XH  XH  X     X
H  XH    XH  XXXXXXXHX ? X +
XbXXXXXXXX***XX   4 HX H XXX
*a*   e  4 I    HXXXXXVXH  ?
XXXHXXX*******X HX   4 X***H
` XH 4  I   e XXXX XXXXX I H
************XH     X   XH* H
  3   Xe    XX****XXHX XHX H
HXXX*****XH    XX e HX2 HX H
H2~~~~~~  XXX******XXXXXXXXX
XXPPPPPPXH~~~~~~ d.c.b.a  uX
XXPPPPPPXPPPPPPPXXXXXXXXXXXX

  About as squiggly as a linear(in the puzzle term) challenge can get at 
such a low resolution. Patience is the main thing to test here.

  Either get a flying start left or don't go anywhere at all until the 
next cycle. From there you go L/U/R and use the bomb on the right part. 
Bad guys generally appear in the pit in the UL so blowing the first one 
away is OK; however, if you knock out two then they will both appear in 
the UL and block you. Fortunately the next part is pretty linear and 
monk-free although you have a timed bomb to contend with(patience...) 
near the right and a switching door near there. I advise going U2R of 
the perpetual bomb and just waiting a bit. From there L/U/L to fall 
through. Fall left and then after bombing to get the pickaxe(base of the 
stairs) you can go up the stairs and around some more. Try to get by 
with as few digs as possible. Eventually you'll wind around to near the 
pit--place a bomb one left of under there(run up the stairs) if bad guys 
persist in hanging around. If a bad guy's to the left then dig down left 
twice, fall left and dig.

  Run across the pit(if no-one's in there, use the pickaxe) and up to 
the top. There's gold to the left and after you fall right you'll need 
the pickaxe. Then further along, you can dig the enemy to the right into 
oblivion as you wait for good timing to pass the perpetual bomb embedded 
in the sometimes walls. Fall left for the final gold. Dig left at the 
stairs to fall next to the transport door.

    LEVEL #175: FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

u          22            22G
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PP PHPPPPP 222X?XV222H222H2
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V<<>>>H>>>>>>XXVX?X2222H2222H
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    H   2222%VX?XHPPPP*PPPP
    <<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>H
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