\--------------\ \-----\ /-----/ /----| \ \ \ \ / / / | \----- -----\ \ \/ / / /| |_ | | | | | _| | | | |\/| | ----| | | | | | | | | | |____| /_____\/______\ |__| Twisted Metal 4 FAQ, Revision 1, 7th January 2000 (c) 2000 by Russ Tops - May not be transmitted or copied for monetary compensation without offering the original author a deal that he accepts. Section of FAQ ............................... Area Number Foreword ............................................... 1 Backstory .............................................. 2 Gameplay ............................................... 3 Characters ............................................. 4 Default Characters ................................ 4-1 Meter Maid Orbital Captain Grimm Calypso Goggle Eyes Pizza Boy Quatro General Warthog Micro Blast Trashman The Joneses Drag Queen Rob Zombie Sub-Bosses and Bosses ............................. 4-2 Crusher Moon Buggy Super Thumper RC Car Super Axel Super Auger Super Slamm Minion Sweet Tooth Weapons ................................................ 5 Pickups ........................................... 5-1 Fire Missile 5-1-1 Homing Missile 5-1-2 Power Missile 5-1-3 Napalm 5-1-4 Remote Bomb 5-1-5 Ricochet Bomb 5-1-6 Lightning 5-1-7 Rain Missile 5-1-8 Speed Missile 5-1-9 Mortar 5-1-10 Proximity Mine 5-1-11 M.I.R.V. 5-1-12 Rain 2 Missile 5-1-13 Auto Lob 5-1-14 Turbo 5-1-15 Partial Health 5-1-16 Full Health 5-1-17 Combo Attacks ..................................... 5-2 Freeze Burst 5-2-1 Rear Freeze 5-2-2 Rear Attack 5-2-3 Teleport 5-2-4 Invisibility 5-2-5 Jump 5-2-6 Massive Attack 5-2-7 Rear Massive Attack 5-2-8 Strategies ............................................. 6 Personal Strategies 6-1 Characters 6-1-1 Levels 6-1-2 Deathmatch Only Levels 6-1-3 Donated Strategies 6-2 Programmer Strategies 6-3 Special Weapon Strategies .............................. 7 Energy Ray - Meter Maid 7-1 Teleorb - Orbital 7-2 Cannon - Captain Grimm 7-3 Nuke - Calypso 7-4 Toxic Spray - Goggle Eyes 7-5 Cutters - Pizza Boy 7-6 Microwave Shockwave - Quatro 7-7 Ion Pad - General Warthog 7-8 Micro Blast - Gatlinger 7-9 Hornets - The Joneses 7-10 Flamethrower - Drag Queen 7-11 Zombie - Rob Zombie 7-12 Quasars - Moon Buggy 7-13 Megafire - Super Thumper 7-14 Ray Gun - RC Car 7-15 Supernova - Super Axel 7-16 Serpent - Minion 7-17 Henchmen - Sweet Tooth 7-18 Funny Bomb - Custom Car 7-19 Laser - Custom Car 7-20 Detnoball - Custom Car 7-21 Twintorchers - Custom Car 7-22 Close Range Combat Weapons ....................... 7-23 Lifter - Trash Man 7-23-1 Crusher - Crusher 7-23-2 Loader - Super Slamm 7-23-3 Auger - Super Auger 7-23-4 Level Secrets .......................................... 8 Default Levels .................................... 8-1 The Construction Yard 8-1-1 Neon City 8-1-2 Road Rage 8-1-3 The Bedroom 8-1-4 Amazonia 3000 B.C. 8-1-5 The Oil Rig 8-1-6 Minion's Maze 8-1-7 The Carnival 8-1-8 Deathmatch Only ................................... 8-2 The Pits 8-2-1 Nowhere to Hide 8-2-2 King of the Kill 8-2-3 Octa-Gone 8-2-4 The Citadel 8-2-5 Tic-Tac-Toast 8-2-6 The Islands 8-2-7 Son of a Ditch 8-2-8 Cheat Codes ............................................ 9 Passwords 9-1 Super Cheese Munchkin Strategies 9-2 Nifty Things to Blow Up ............................... 10 Lightning Power-Ups ................................... 11 Interview with Jim Buck ............................... 12 Bugs/Problems ......................................... 13 AI Advances ........................................... 14 Disclaimer ............................................ 15 -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Foreword 1 Inevitably, somebody is bound to completely skip past this section, and start asking me dumb questions. If you have a question regarding anything, check to see if the FAQ covers it or if another referenced website covers it. In light of what you think, I was not the lead programmer and I have no knowledge beyond what is expressed here. This FAQ is dealt out practically, and is much more comprehensive than my TM3 FAQ. Please, do Earth a favor, and don't send e-mails that ask for cheats or secrets beyond what I've given you. Also read the disclaimer at the bottom of the FAQ if viewing the whole FAQ in a page, or in the fifth part of the FAQ if you are viewing it a little bit at a time. -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Backstory 2 With that cute intro, most is explained. This assumes Sweet Tooth won TM3 and took over. The game engine is quite similar with the realistic flipping, but now you don't have to wait for respawning, and levels must be at least 3 times bigger than they were in TM3, and all cars in the game are playable, given time and wins. A different taste from TM3 makes some magazines rate it high and low, but YOU decide what you think of it. It is a nice change with larger levels, a wider array of vehicles, more weapons with retouching and spins on old ones, and balancing out vehicles much more fairly, giving extreme advantages in one or two categories at sacrifice of others, or even characters with fairness in mind. Our good old pal Jim Buck who only did Software Engineering in cooperation with others, now is the Lead Engineer. I say way to go. Hope I was your inspiration. Additionally, the way everything got packed into this game with a limited customisation of cars, but all this fits onto the same disc that TM3 was on. Refining was key, and it was released much faster because they didn't have to redo the engines apart from touching up respawning. Also, the storyline is somewhat better than it was, though Sweet Tooth's ending in TM3 should have set up the sequel. So overall, a great game, implementing a rock star, and a lot of imagination on the design crew's part for weapons, battlegrounds, and characters. Matches are now longer with more armor on cars and toned-down weapons, and the inclusion of bosses for each level, and the ability to save the game, eliminating most passwords. Also, the unlocking feature of deathmatch battlegrounds with plain tilesets and no textures and allowing all bosses playable after beating the game was a great idea. I played it the day I got it and a couple days more and had a low opinion and even thought about saying, "Let all those miserable gits make their own FAQs, how much can I sell this thing for?," but now I see and it's a bit more difficult and creative. Way to go, 989! -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Gameplay 3 Game play remains much the same, but now all menu screens include captions so you know what you're doing, and often the Square button allows configuration of just about everything, passwords are ducked away, and don't add or detract too much from gameplay. The same engines were used as TM3 with some minor tweaking, and much more is available. Nobody should be putting down "custom" cars because you're limited by not setting any attributes, but you were given freedom where just about everything in the game can be done and every level has something secret in it, and maps take a while to get used to, where nearly everywhere you go, it seems like you're still playing a Hong Kong (TM2), Cyburbia (TM1), or London (TM3) level, and you never are truly sure which way you're going or which way to go at that split once you break open the wall. Many more trajectory and indirect fire weapons were introduced, and two types of remotes (one is automatically triggered in a Goldeneye-esque style) which do different things. You also get a great deal of weapons that somehow end up setting a character's car on fire and a preface to each level with a small hint or suggestion to clue you in to the hidden weapon, if there is, or whatever ideas the developers thought you should try. -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Characters 4 These are general stats on the characters in a quick at-a- glance formula table, apart from Bosses, which appear to have no stats. Please take note that SpecT stands for "Special Type" and that the code is 8 letters long and means this: [H] if it homes in with even a degree of accuracy [C] if it is close range weapon (like Thumper, Mr. Slam) [R] if it is a rapid fire weapon (like Speed Missiles) [V] if it is a vortex-like weapon (trapping) [T] if it is a taser-like weapon (like Outlaw 3) [F] if it sets someone on fire [I] if it is an indirect fire (trajectory) weapon [D] if it is a detonate weapon [G] if it freezes someone You will see things in this format: Character Name | Armor | Speed | Handling | Weapon | SpecT Meter Maid | A:1 | S:2 | H:3 | W:3 | -C--T---- Orbital | A:2 | S:5 | H:5 | W:3 | ---VT---G Captain Grimm | A:1 | S:4 | H:5 | W:3 | -----F--- Calypso | A:5 | S:1 | H:1 | W:5 | H---TF-D- Goggle Eyes | A:3 | S:3 | H:3 | W:4 | -C---F--- Pizza Boy | A:2 | S:2 | H:5 | W:2 | H-------- Quatro | A:1 | S:5 | H:5 | W:2 | -C------- Gen. Warthog | A:4 | S:2 | H:1 | W:4 | -----F-D- Micro Blast | A:1 | S:5 | H:4 | W:2 | --R------ Trashman | A:4 | S:3 | H:1 | W:4 | -C------- The Joneses | A:2 | S:3 | H:3 | W:2 | H-------- Drag Queen | A:2 | S:4 | H:1 | W:3 | -C---F--- Rob Zombie | A:2 | S:3 | H:5 | W:3 | ---VTF--- Crusher | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C------- Moon Buggy | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | H--VT---- Super Thumper | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C---F--- RC Car | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C---F--- Super Axel | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C------- Super Auger | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C------- Super Slamm | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | -C------- Minion | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | H-------G Sweet Tooth | A:_ | S:_ | H:_ | W:_ | H--VTF--- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Weapons 5 This section is devoted to the weapons of warfare and mass destruction of your arsenal of Twisted Metal 4. The first is devoted to Weapon Pickups and the second is allocated to the Combo Attacks. The third section is a short note about the exploding barrels located on all tournament levels that end up killing you when you have 3 points of life left and just avoided 5 MIRVs, a few Rain 2 Missiles, some Homings, and 8 proximity mines in a small field. Pickups 5-1 Fire Missile 5-1-1 Generic missile that has existed since TM1, with light homing capabilities and a moderate damage rating. Homing Missile 5-1-2 Heavier than the Fire Missile with more homing ability, this missile is weapon of choice for that jumping, swerving, disappearing runt of a car. Power Missile 5-1-3 Also existing since TM1, this missile deals out an incredible amount of damage to any vehicle it may hit, but it has no homing ability whatsoever. Napalm 5-1-4 With the homing ability of a Fire Missile and a fair trajectory distance, the impact and fire damage while a car burns is what does the major damage. Remote Bomb 5-1-5 Existing since TM2, you simply drop it on the first attack, then you detonate it when you press attack again while on the remote's icon. It has a nice blast radius and it would be a very nasty surprise if it didn't beep. Even so, you never can tell when the bomb is easily. Ricochet Bomb 5-1-6 Also existing since TM2, this has hit major changes, first a push weapon, then a bounce weapon, now it combine a little of both. Lightning 5-1-7 Yet another oldy from TM2, this nasty attacks only when you're in its range, and often it has extreme range. In this game, often, you're safe if you trigger it from where you picked it up. Rain Missile 5-1-8 Modified from TM3, no longer a detonate, it flies a distance, dropping 4 or 5 flames in a row with a light homing capability and if stops if it hits a car or wall. It has no effect in acid pools, in case that's what you hoped for. Speed Missile 5-1-9 Since TM3, now without any homing ability that I could see, this one inflicts very light damage, but is very rapid fire and pickups now give you 30 of these babies a pop. Mortar 5-1-10 Yet another from TM3, almost a Napalm with more homing ability, and a larger blast radius. A direct hit from one of these puppies does a fair amount of damage. Proximity Mine 5-1-11 Ah, I see we're copying from Goldeneye, or we are splitting up the original remotes by auto detonation. This comes at a price that a weapon that hits it triggers it. Fortunately, you can set whole minefields but you must be careful not to blow yourself up, these mines aren't THAT smart. M.I.R.V. 5-1-12 A Multiple Independently-Targeted Reentry Vehicle flies into the air, and then sends out 4 or 5 missiles with strong homing capability, but lower speeds. A great form of bombardment, but you can only fire it in an open space with full effect. Rain 2 Missile 5-1-13 A Rain 2 Missile is more advanced in that it combines a MIRV and a Rain, dropping Homing Rain missiles onto an opponent. Auto Lob 5-1-14 A short-range trajectory weapon, almost a MIRV, but shorter-ranged, and is very quick for a drive-by lobbing. Turbo 5-1-15 Not a weapon, this refills your turbo meter. Partial Health 5-1-16 A blue spinning square with a white cross, it adds 49 health, so you have 50 or more, always fixing the look of the car which changes at 49. Full Health 5-1-17 A spinning red square surrounded by a blue outline with a white cross in the center, this completely refills your health bar irregardless of how much damage your car has sustained. Combo Attacks 5-2 These attacks require precision timing of hitting buttons, although often you are forgiven for delays. The only exception is the Massive Attacks, which I find to only work well when I use a thumb on up and the other on down and tap fairly quickly. Freeze Burst 5-2-1 Keys: Left Right Up Up Cost: 40 This is a homing weapon which does quite minimal damage because the main purpose is to stop a car not mass destruction. Rear Freeze 5-2-2 Keys: Left Right Down Down Cost: 40 This is identical to above, but fires out the back of the cars, good if you're being chased by some relentless car. Rear Attack 5-2-3 Keys: Right Left Down Down Cost: 10 This fires the currently chosen weapon out of the car backwards. It is equivalent to hitting the fire button once. Don't waste it on the loader/crusher-type weapons, the remote or proximity weapons, the omni-directional weapons nor the forced front weapons (like Drag Queen's) Teleport 5-2-4 Keys: Up Up Down Down Cost: 40 This returns you to the central area of the ring, which mean you can't get into secret areas using it, but is still very useful for getting out of weapons like Trash Man's, or if you're falling to your death. Additionally, you can get out of range of most attacks sent your way. Bonus: You can confuse your friends better than the CPU. Invisibility 5-2-5 Keys: Down Down Up Up Cost: 40 This cloaks you visually but not from radar. The AI here actually acts like it cannot see you as a bonus. In a 2/3/4 player match, a friend has to look at your screen to find where you are. Jump 5-2-6 Keys: Up Up Right Cost: 10 If you have no real idea what this does, you need to remember this one has been around (as the trampoline-thing) since the first game and is indispensable to avoid homing weapons, jump over enemy vehicles or barriers, or just get a slightly better firing angle. Massive Attack 5-2-7 Keys: Up Down Up Down Up Cost: 99 This launches 7 missiles, all of which but one home in, the effect is the enemy is frozen and hit for massive damage, hence the name massive attack, but remember, nothing like Freeze or Shield or even Teleport will be effective for a while. Rear Massive Attack 5-2-8 Keys: Up Down Up Down Down Cost: 99 The same as above, but fires backwards. -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Strategies ............................................. 6 Personal Strategies - Characters 6-1-1 Meter Maid She should avoid major battles as often as possible, and only drive-by. She is very weak but makes up for it with her vampire ray (my nickname for it). Often, fight from above the enemies on raised platforms, using shields to defend against MIRVs, Quasars, Henchmen, Rain 2 Missiles, and "Serpents" from Minion. Orbital Use his speed to avoid short-range weapons and run like crazy. His handling allows swerving lightly to avoid homing missiles while being pursued. He must avoid his own special so he doesn't freeze himself when it explodes as a freeze remote. Captain Grimm His speed it fair and he's balanced, but now is like a dead pirate? He should have a powerful special as he has in the past 3 TMs. Additionally, he's not the fastest nor the lowest armoured. He's somewhat balanced with an average 3 or so on all stats or close to it. Calypso The guy from the past 3 TMs is finally playable. It makes sense that he gets the coolest (and most powerful) special weapon as well. He should NOT fire it when falling down forward or backward so he doesn't hit himself. He can knock 50 points off himself if he does this. Also, use him for ramming a frozen opponent with momentum. Also, unlikely to tip by ramming. Additionally, it has a small homing ability to turn slightly in air. Detonate it if it's not going to hit an enemy or past one, you may do a little damage. Used best on frozen opponents. Goggle Eyes Also, a rammer-class vehicle, he is prone to tip somewhat easily. His toxic spray has a very fair range which will hit most enemies and is good when you freeze and hold it on them, and ram them while spraying. Pizza Boy With his main stat handling, and hardly any in speed, weapon and armor, it's strange that I beat Sweet Tooth the very first time I played the game, with this guy. It was sheer luck as well. He should swerve while running to avoid getting hit by pursuers due to his handling. Quatro This looks a lot like a pod-racer, and "hovers" above the ground, but is EXTREMELY prone to flipping. Running and doing VERY light swerving is a good combo along with drive-by microwavings hitting 2 or more enemies, also if a vortex special traps him and a couple others. General Warthog Very slow, but strong, his triple missile special has been "donated" to The Joneses for an Ion Pad which is a powerful remote weapon. He can take large amounts of punishment, and is better than Calypso in respect of speed and handling. Microblast Exactly where Calypso it strong and weak, Microblast is weak and strong. He has insane speed and handling for fast get-aways and avoiding nearly any weapons, but has hardly any armor and his special is just a speed missile with an added sound effect and it recharges very quickly. He also has a small frame and is quite hard to aim at. A massive attack will do a good deal of damage to him, if he doesn't run away quickly. The Joneses The Warthog special on this car gives it a nice advantage with great homing, but I tend to avoid this car because I like cars with 4 or 5 in more than 2 categories. I play them on occasion, but I think this car could be tossed out of the mix next game. Drag Queen A flamethrower mounted on a drag queen's purple car. You cannot get any more "flaming" than that, no offence to anyone out there, but it does a good amount of damage to frozen opponents and even more if they aren't. To the unfortunate side, the car has terrible handling for poor aiming. Trash Man This guy is fairly even, but has NO handling whatsoever and the special is hard to hit on an enemy because he keeps going forward when you want to brake or turn. I think he should have had no more than 2 speed but lots of speed with minimal handling is a VERY bad combo. Rob Zombie Okay, the rocker who had tracks in TM3 now has a vehicle in TM4. He's very well-balanced and is fairly powerful. Overall, the beginners vehicle, just don't get near your launched special when it erupts, you'll catch fire. Also, when running, swerving is great because he has ultra-tight handling. Just recall that his special reloads in about 2 minutes. Crusher - Boss of The Construction Yard Okay, a very fair vehicle with a crushing apparatus on front, he's quite balanced as it seems, with about 2-3 speed and handling. I can't say much for him either. Moon Buggy - Boss of Neon City He has one of the MOST unfair specials in the game. It's three tasers that swirl you around, it goes through walls, and it homes in. Fortunately, in Neon City, as the boss, he has a very hard time catching the flying transport. Super Thumper - Boss of Road Rage Thumper's back with his TM2 weapon, but now he's got a dual-flamethrower, so he is very powerful at close-range. Also, he should freeze and megafire the enemy, and attempt a massive attack if you used a freeze remote to stop them. RC Car - Boss of The Bedroom This car has fair speed and handling, as well as a weapon, but since he is a boss character, remember, he's got a huge amount of armor. He can almost go toe to toe with Minion and other heavily armoured and heavily armed vehicles. Super Axel - Boss of Amazonia 3000 B.C. His special now knocks you away from him, a little bit up, and sets you on fire. Good on "fall to your death" levels. Also, very useful for ramming and shockwaving. Fight him from a distance. Super Slamm - Boss of The Oil Rig (1 of 2) Fight him from a distance as well, and keep away from his loader. Otherwise, on the Oil Rig, as bosses they often jump short of the helipad. Remember, hitpoints are lost from each slam, not evenly. Super Auger - Boss of the Oil Rig (2 of 2) Fight him like Super Slamm, but his special drills for a longer time even if he misses, he can still attempt to hit for some damage and it takes massive damage off of armour class 1 cars at an alarming even speed. Minion - Boss of Minion's Maze Stay near his sides and you'll be fairly safe, but get in front or back, you're in for a trip since his special knocks you around a lot and freezes you, you have little hope if you are going to fall to your death after being hit by him. Also, he tends to turn around very quickly which can delay him if you force him to turn a lot. Also, he can ram you for fair damage. Sweet Tooth - Boss of The Carnival AKA Endgame This guy is even more unfair than Moon Buggy. It keeps homing in if you teleport, etc. Expect to use about 2 shields to protect yourself from one. A visual treat is that his fire on his head goes out if frozen. He needs modified Rogaine for fire loss. Personal Strategies - Levels 6-1-2 The Construction Yard In tournament mode, the crane breaks apart so you cannot use it against Crusher. When you pick someone up, they cannot teleport out, but can still fire (e.g. massive attack). You can drop them onto the exploding barrels first, then grab them a split-second later. Then you can let them fall through the very top part of the grating, and grab them repeatedly to do minute damage over and over again, unless they teleport. It's humourous when the CPU turns invisible in the beam. Neon City Blowing through the wall to the left of the Auto Lob and Health, catch the transport to the platform, hit the bounce pad, do it again, and drop proximities (3) where you fall and take off so you don't blow up and wait on the pad. Any enemy taking the transport can get hit by the lightning as it turns after the straightaway from the platform. Road Rage Keep on the road with the speed arrows and circle the level constantly, grabbing powerups often and stay on the road. Just be aware of all the exploding barrels all over the place. The Bedroom The lightning power up roasts enemies on the floor near the center and power sockets. Also, leaving remotes and proximities on the ramp of the bounce pad bureau nearly always guarantees getting hit rarely. Amazonia 3000 B.C. The temple with the pillar of light has a health and the other temple in the ice fields with lots of jumps is difficult for enemies to get to. Getting on the center of the ring and unloading powers and Auto Lobs is a great idea, facing the direction in which they teleport in so they are sideways when they land. Also, leave proximities on the inside next to the landing spot and they land and blow 5 miles away. The Oil Rig The helicopter drops healths on the pad almost constantly, so staying there should be no problem. The secret is jumping onto the top of the silo from the building connected to the bounce pad to the Rain 2 Missiles. Get the MIRV on top the silo before teleporting ON TOP of the drill. Minion's Maze It truly is a maze and there's a platform to which you can jump on the second level. "Downstairs" is hard to find from the first level as the four gates almost look like walls. The lightning on the light pillar must be also jumped to by speeding and jumping. The Carnival The roller-coaster can be accessed one of 3 ways. One is to jump from the top of the picture room. Another is to blow up the floor IN FRONT OF the door with a mortar or napalm. The third is to go through the graveyard tunnel by shooting the big box from behind the tent with a missile. The lightning zaps the roller-coaster. It can be gotten by jumping onto the tent from on top of the picture room. Personal Strategies - Deathmatch Levels 6-1-3 Deathmatch Only Levels are unlocked one at a time by defeating a level in tournament mode. The game must be saved in order to keep them. They are simply levels with no graphic textures. The blue squares are plain land, blue with red border means going past it causes a falling death, red tiles blow up from attacks that hit them, green ones are equivalent to acid pools, and yellow are bounce tiles. The Pits Six red-tile pits have one weapon each on them, and a few weapons elsewhere on the level. Axel dominates with Minion. The Citadel Four teleporters to roofs, an acid tile in the center with partial health, a raised platform off to the side, and a circling path with a full health over a gaping pit. Nowhere to Hide A simple level with no walls or anything. Just a large platform floating in mid-air. Tic-Tac-Toast Small level with a few healths, and all are red squares. Just teleport in emergency (falling). Octa-Gone 4 octagonal bounce-away blocks surround the central acid tiles and you can bounce back and forth constantly. Higher handling recovers you faster and you can often win just by running circles and enemies bounce away. Auto Lob in center. King of the Kill Rain 2 Missiles and MIRVs are opposite each other on top of the hill with ALL edges on top being littered with weapon pick-ups. Son of a Ditch Giant pit in center with red tiles until blown up. Most bounce blocks knock you down there. Staying near them when an enemy is near you and them often causes them to bounce into the pit. The Islands In the air from a bounce pad, do not fire a mortar in the direction you are flying. It will force you to fall near straight down to oblivion. -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Donated Strategies 6-2 See your strategy here! Make it at least 5 lines long and somewhat in depth and you can make it as long as you feel necessary, but don't overkill. Send it to with the Subject line corresponding to what you are writing about: Character play, and play for a character on certain levels. If you plan on a fairly long article, then include "Playing As:," "Playing Against:," and "Overall:" with about 5-10 lines on each minimum. If you want to make it long, change the Subject line to: Most of these will make it into the FAQ. Regarding anything about levels, tips, secrets or level playing. Applies to weapon pickups, combos, specials, and application of weapons in certain locations. Anything that does NOT fit into any of the above categories, send with this title. For example, a fighting style. -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Programmer Strategies 6-3 Jim Buck, Lead Engineer Directly from e-mail: "...my only style is that I concentrate all efforts on one enemy at a time. I stick to him like glue until he's dead... as opposed to just firing at anything in my path and wearing everyone down at the same rate..." Cavan Bunting, Assistant Producer Directly from e-mail: " -=- Hilite & Paste -=- " * The thoughts, ideas, and opinions of developers do not necessarily represent the thoughts and ideas of 989 Studios and were requested by me to send strategies in general on hints and tips for levels, characters, weapons, or in general. So sue me. Not, not really! NOOOO! -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- -=- Special Weapon Strategies .............................. 7 Energy Ray - Meter Maid 7-1 Use often, when health is less than about 85, or an enemy has so few hitpoints that they're not worth sparing, or it's Minion and you have a chance to kill him like this. The fortunate thing is that it's Omnidirectional meaning no aiming, just ranged. If you get in the middle of a heated battle, turn on shields, activate special, then teleport out. It's a small health increase, but better than none. Also, it's not 1HP -> 1HP, she increases at a fixed rate, more so with more cars zapped at once, I think. Teleorb - Orbital 7-2 Okay, so it's a vortex with VERY short range. Hard to aim easily, but it explodes with an ice blast. So a small amount of energy taken off sets them up for combos. Or if you toss it perfectly over the point of no return, the computer will fall, frozen, to its death. Cannon - Captain Grimm 7-3 A lit cannon ball with a fair knockback power and sets someone on fire. It's still unhoming. Be careful, hit wide-framed cars like Calypso if they're not frozen. Nuke - Calypso 7-4 Okay, it homes in a bit but YOU have to detonate it. Be aware you can lose at least 50 points from this baby if you hit yourself with it. With a nice ceiling, you won't have to detonate it before it explodes. It's effective that way if you hit the ceiling above the enemy. Toxic Spray - Goggle Eyes 7-5 I think slightly stronger than Drag Queen and still setting people on fire, with a long range, it's a great weapon for spinning and firing into a crowd. Cutters - Pizza Boy 7-6 Okay, so they home in. Each one does damage separately so you can hit a wall with one and lose damage against someone else. But, they stop if aimed forward and the closest enemy is behind, and then fly backwards, etc. They are super-homing meaning they almost never miss when unobstructed. Microwave Shockwave - Quatro 7-7 A small version of the Axel special is effective in a driveby but is most effective when you are actually touching vehicles with the enemy. Ion Pad - General Warthog 7-8 A powerful remote-like weapon, it's a vertical beam and can be left nearly anywhere, but area of effect seems a little less but more power concentrated. Micro Blast - Gatlinger 7-9 Gatlinger is simply a rechargeable Speed Missile. Use it as such, close range, frozen opponent or one you are tailing. Just beware your armour. Hornets - The Joneses 7-10 Now the weapon is fairly weak, but is just like Pizza Boy's Cutter, but has 3 missiles as opposed to 2. It's also just like Warthog from the past 3 TMs. Flamethrower - Drag Queen 7-11 Okay, if you don't have the hang of close range fire weapons from the past 3 TMs, try this, freeze, flame. Stay close, and don't let up. And beware that the handling of this car is a real drag. Zombie - Rob Zombie 7-12 It's a VERY short-range vortex that explodes as fire, damaging all especially near center. Good for tossing off cliffs or the edge of the ring. It does NOT go through wall, but can affect the other side, I think. Unfortunately, stronger than Orbital's, it takes 2 minutes for this little puppy to recharge. Ouch. Prepare for battle for a while. Quasars - Moon Buggy 7-13 These three tasers home in, through walls, and cause a semi-loss of car control and can send you off the edge of the ring often. Fortunately, the CPU doesn't fire these until the enemy is fairly close. Megafire - Super Thumper 7-14 Apply strategy of freeze-flame a la Darkside (TM3). This is VERY powerful because he has _2_ flame- throwers here. Stay away from his front end. Ray Gun - RC Car 7-15 This is quite effective and sets the enemy on fire. It also sets acid pits/pools/tiles aflame and destroys red ground tiles. It is short-range of about 1/2 of a Napalm. Supernova - Super Axel 7-16 Okay, Super Axel get a souped-up knockback, fire starting, tossing, shockwave. That's unfair. He's not very nice with this weapon. Good on the ring edges to kill people by off-tossing. Serpent - Minion 7-17 Heaven knows why this is called the "Serpent," it sets you aflame if you don't get frozen by one of the missiles, and the other 2 just plain toss you around. This weapon throws you around the rings like a rag doll. Heaven forbid you get hit in the air, say goodbye. Henchmen - Sweet Tooth 7-18 Okay. Three faces, one with Drag Queen's flame- thrower, one with a taser, and the other tossing MIRV missiles at you, all aiming at you and constantly firing, they home in and go through walls, and they re-home in if you teleport. Expect to use 2 shields for their duration, or teleport and run for it to conserve your advanced attack bar. They also explode at the end of their duration, right next to you. These can kill many enemies with a couple of shots, and require no aiming specifically. Funny Bomb - Custom Car 7-19 It's a mortar. A mortar on drugs. It's got a point where once it hits, several more small explosions follow. Advice is to turn on shields and to quickly hit an enemy on the way up and stay the duration in your car, buffeted by the explosions. Good for hitting multiple enemies and has a great strength. Laser - Custom Car 7-20 Okay, a weaker weapon with very short range, the same as RC Car, maybe weaker, probably does the same in acid pits. Detnoball - Custom Car 7-21 Simple, remote that travels straight from your car and can be detonated at will. Easy, eh? Only problem is that it moves VERY VERY fast and you are likely to detonate it after it passes the enemy. Also, it does NOT go through walls. Twintorchers - Custom Car 7-22 An extremely long-range super-homing weapon that only does a small amount of damage on impact, the real damage is from the enemy set aflame. Don't hit the frozen, it's a waste even though reload time is fairly quick. It's like Pizza Boy, only with a twist, and it doesn't go backwards, I don't think it does. Close Range Combat Weapons .................... 7-23 These are the weapons that affect the car by crushing, slamming, spinning, etc. These mean you must hit the car while the special starts to last the duration, more damage if you start hitting the enemy when you activate the special. Also, you can teleport or shield when you get hit by these to minimise damage. Lifter - Trash Man 7-23-1 This guy's a challenge, with speed and no handling, he'll slide past the enemy. Only reason you should use him is for a challenge or to see his ending. Crusher - Crusher 7-23-2 A very good weapon, most enemies end up facing you while you crush them, meaning they can fire weapons into you for more damage to you as a result. But still, he can catch some slow vehicles fairly easily. Loader - Super Slamm 7-23-3 Very slow, but handles okay, he hits you for a set amount of damage on each slam, meaning a nimble player could escape a lot of damage quickly. It's a good weapon overall. Now, there's no kickback or anything if you miss or hit, as opposed to TM2. I just wish he looked like he did then. Auger - Super Auger 7-23-4 By far, the BEST close-range special weapon, it
           will spin for about 5-10 seconds irregardless of
           whether you miss or not, giving you more than one
           chance at the enemy before it ends, being a total
           waste.  It also shaves off hitpoints at a fast
           rate on level 1 and 2 armoured vehicles, and the
           weapon takes off hitpoints EVENLY, meaning it's
           a bit better than the Loader if the enemy has a
           slower reaction to you sneaking up behind him and
           [whirr] AAH!

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      Cheat Codes ........................................... 9

         I'd like to start off this section by saying that I
         think the cheats were really unnecessary in this game,
         since I beat it in the first tournament I ever played,
         with Pizza Boy, one of the hardest, save Microblast.
         Of course, that's easy mode.  Cream Puff mode.  :)
         I haven't dared try medium until I'm more expert.  I
         write a FAQ and I still dare not past Cream Puff mode.

            Passwords                                    9-1

      Circle   Start    Left     L1       Start      (a) No Health/Weapons
      Down     R1       Down     Start    Circle     (b) No Health Pickups
      Right    Triangle Right    Triangle L1         (c) CPU targets P1-P4
      R1       Right    Left     R1       Up         (d) Homing Missiles
      Down     Down     Circle   L1       Left       (e) Power Missiles
      Up       Right    Down     L1       Triangle   (f) Remote Bombs
      Right    Left     R1       Right    Circle     (g) Napalms
      Down     Left     L1       Left     Right      (h) God Mode
      Triangle L1       Down     Triangle Up         (i) Specials Reload 
Fast
      Left     Triangle Right    Right    Left       (j) Level: Neon City
      Start    Start    Down     Circle   L1         (k) Level: Road Rage
      L1       Right    Left     Left     L1         (l) Level: The Bedroom
      Circle   L1       Start    L1       Start      (m) Level: Amazonia
      Start    Left     Up       Start    Circle     (n) Level: The Oil Rig
      Start    R1       Left     R1       R1         (o) Level: Minion's 
Maze
      Circle   Left     Down     R1       L1         (p) Level: The Carnival
      Down     R1       Right    R1       L1         (q) Char: Crusher
      Start    Triangle Right    L1       Start      (r) Char: Moon Buggy
      Circle   Triangle Start    Circle   Left       (s) Char: S. Thumper
      Up       Down     Left     Start    Right      (t) Char: RC Car
      Up       Right    Down     Up       L1         (u) Char: S. Axel
      Left     Circle   Triangle Right    Down       (v) Char: S. Auger
      Right    L1       Start    Circle   Start      (w) Char: S. Slamm
      Triangle L1       L1       Left     Up         (x) Char: Minion
      Start    R1       Right    Right    Left       (y) Char: Sweet Tooth
      Down     Triangle Down     L1       R1         (z) Icy Grounds
      Down     Down     Right    Right    Down       (!) Undet - 2P + Ally
      Up       Start    Circle   R1       Left       (@) Semi-Massive Force
      R1       L1       Down     Start    Down       (#) High Trajectories

      Notes:
         (d)-(g)  All weapon pickups are of weapon listed
         (h)      Doesn't protect from falling to death
         (i)      Special weapon recharges faster
         (j)-(p)  Starts tournament at level selected by password
         (q)-(y)  Unlocks characters for play in ALL modes
         (!)      Undetermined - Supposedly should do as listed.
         (@)      Effect from weapons that send enemies up in the
                  air is magnified.
         (#)      Weapons with trajectory (mortars, etc.) go farther.

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            Super Cheese Munchkin Strategies             9-2

         Most of these are not really Super Cheese Munchkin
         Strategies, but since some of them are, and general
         strategy is all that's required, they may seem like
         it.

         Rapid Fire
            Load up on weapons, except remotes and proximities,
            clear them out so you only have one of each, and then
            freeze and enemy while you are aimed straight at them.
            Tap the attack button very quickly to unload your
            arsenal on them.  More often than not, your special is
            most devastating when fired first.

         Powerful Death Remote
            Drop 3 proximities as fast as you can and then a remote.
            High-tail it out of there and when you detonate the
            remote, it has a huge strength.  It can also be used as
            3 proximities dropped at, for example, a teleporter
            destination so when an enemy falls or teleports onto
            them, the result is a large explosion, them being tossed
            many miles away and losing a lot of their life!

         Neon City Death Trap
            Preferably as Warthog, take the hover-transport and when
            you land, you can drop 3 proximities and/or the Ion Pad.
            The first time an enemy lands from the transport, they
            get tossed 4 miles away.  The next time, perhaps against
            another strong enemy, activate the Ion Pad while they're
            in the air.  The fact that they are in the exact center
            should do a supreme amount of damage.  (I did it once to
            Orbital and he blew up in the air.  I like to call it
            "Incineration.")

         Construction Yard Timing Trick
            When you have an enemy in the crane, drop them in the
            flames, but catch them while they're in between the two
            giant horizontal supports.  If done right, you should
            be able to kill them very quickly now, they'll be trapped
            inside those supports.  Also, you can just keep dropping
            them into there but catching them several times, doing
            fire damage each time.

         Road Rage Runaround
            Stay on the road with pairs of speed arrows and don't leave
            it.  Keep firing little by little and eventually you should
            win.  Okay, cheap and time-consuming, but it works.

         Bedroom Bureaucracy
            You can dominate the politics and stay FAIRLY safe, by
            keeping on the bureau and dropping remotes on the ramp
            while you back up and detonate at a safe range.  Just
            beware that the CPU is smart enough to jump from on top
            of the bed to the bureau.  It can mimic nearly every move
            you make.

         Amazonia 3000 B.C. Defensive
            Stay on the center when you get there, drop proximities on
            the inside next to where they teleport and it will knock
            the next would-be visitor off the tower.  Stay facing the
            destination in the clockwise direction.  You can also fire
            Powers and other weapons at cars "dropping" in.

         The Oil Rig All-Around Offensive/Defensive
            This level features death drops, acid pits, multiple
            levels, all weapons available, exploding barrels, a
            helicopter dropping Healths on the heli-pad all the
            time, a whole truckload of teleportals, and a small
            secret well-stocked drill top.  Put a freeze remote
            on the edge of the helipad and activate it a moment
            after an enemy jumps at you, since the effect lasts
            for about a full second and a half.  Those jumps have
            a VERY small area in front of them to plant things and
            hide.  The acid pits are effective, too.  In deathmatch,
            some bosses end up trapped in a corner like morons.
            The heli-pad is a great location to defend from and
            two teleporters get you there and in the room to jump
            from.  The portals are a great way to lose people that
            follow you incessantly.  Also, take advantage of the
            short range of radar (on friends) to the point where
            they can't tell if you're above or below them, or where
            you are in relation the them.

         Minion's Maze Magic
            The four gates are hidden, the green areas ARE acid so
            you can napalm them to death.  The floor colours change,
            so you should be able to generally figure out where you
            are.  The three teleporters take you from points 1-2, 2-3,
            and 3-1, so just take one, go forward and right and look
            for a health when you need it, in a small dead-end.  If
            someone could tell me what those giant "X" boxes with
            fire in them are, and what they do, I'd be grateful.

         The Carnival's Carnage
            If you use the alternate "side" entrance to the roller
            toaster, almost no enemies will follow you in, but just
            be ready, when Sweet Tooth comes along, he's WAY smarter
            than to be hampered by a silly little thing like that.
            Place a proximity or 3 in front of the door out of the
            haunted house, then he gets blown back, then hit him with
            a power as he comes back up out and he's still accelerating
            and he should fly off.  Keep picking up powers in front
            of you, best facing the power missile power-up.  Just
            exercise caution, leaving behind a few proximities if the
            roller coaster is still in operation.  It'll be gone soon.
            It also disappears when the big ST comes along.  Remember
            also that the lightning can hit you if you are approaching
            the main entrance to the haunted house from the clockwise
            direction.  Don't forget that if it can hit you, it can
            hit anyone else.

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     Nifty Things to Blow Up ............................... 10

      Everything that is listed here is what I can recall from
      memory, but some things, like exploding barrels, are not
      listed.  If you have something you would like to add and
      it is verifiable by me, send me an e-mail.

      Construction Yard
         False Blockades
            Set up around the level, these guard various ramps,
            they can be shot down, or ran through with no ill
            effect.  One leads to a ramp to a jump on the left
            of a building with 3 jumps.  The teleporter ahead
            brings you to the area near the false wall.
         Crane
            Aim at the side of the crane (the longer side) and
            fire to blow up the entrance to it.  You can now
            use it to your own devious will.
         False Wall
            On the right side of the area that has no way to get
            to the top of (the teleport-to-only area) about 3 car
            lengths from the end, shoot the wall to reveal an area
            with various power-ups in it.
         Vent
            Above the area with the false wall is a way in from
            above.  Just shoot the vent from on top.  It's much
            easier than from the bottom, and you can't jump out
            of the area through where it was.
         Building 1
            A few small trailers guard a MIRV hidden inside.
         Building 2
            A few small trailers conceal a Power, Napalm and Mortar.

      Neon City
         Train
            Yes, the train can be destroyed, and best with a couple
            of proximity mines or a remote placed on the tracks.  Just
            don't get hit by it.  In the tunnel, if it still is running,
            hug the walls TIGHTLY.
         Glass
            The glass on the jump to the health and Auto Lab can be run
            through or shot.
         False Wall
            The wall to the left inside the above location can be blown
            up for access to the platform on which you will be picked up
            by the hover transport.
         Glass
            The glass to the right of where the transport drops you off
            can be destroyed with a single bullet.
         Glass
            Turn right again.  More glass.  Follow procedure above.

      Road Rage
         False Wall 1
            To the right of a speed arrow is a wall with cracks in it.
            Shoot it.  Access lightning.  Just don't stay there when you
            activate the lightning.
         False Wall 2
            On the other side of this passage, from the intersection of
            the four roads two going up and down, is the other broken
            wall.
         False Wall
            Across the road from a road going down is a wall with a glass
            window in it.  Blow up wall.  Blow up window.  Get many nice
            powerups like Full Health.

      The Bedroom
         Gas Cans
            Scattered around the room in about 3 places are big boxes
            labeled "Gasoline."  Blow them up.
         Lamp
            If you didn't read the level clue, shoot this up for a
            while for a lightning power-up.  The sources are the
            power sockets and the center of the floor.  Some of the
            hidden area is safe, mainly the small area with Full
            Health, Auto Lobs, and Rain 2.
         Small Blockade
            There's a small black box in the area with the only level
            portal.  A couple speed missiles will do the trick to get
            to the secret area mentioned above.

      Amazonia 3000 B.C.
         False Wall
            To a secret area, a false wall is in the deep area to the
            left of the bouce pad.  The wall is in a corner in the
            direction of the temple with the pillar of light with the
            bounce pad on your right.

      The Oil Rig
         Glass
            The glass on the left side of the room next to the drill
            can be broken.  Don't jump through it, or you'll probably
            end up falling to your death.
         Glass
            The glass on the right side can also be blown up.  See
            above.
         Gate
            There's a gate on the alternate road instead of the silo
            on the bottom level.  The first one can be blown up.
         Gate
            The second one can be blown up, too.
         Glass
            The glass guarding the bottom teleporter on the silo can
            be broken.
         Glass
            The glass on the other teleporter inside the silo can also
            be broken.
         False Gate
            The small gate leading up from the central area towards the
            helipad can be broken
         False Fence
            Also the fence to the left of it.
         False Fence
            Also the fence to the right of the gate.
         False Fence
            Don't forget the fence under the ramp to the room next to
            the drill.

      Minion's Maze
         Gate
            There's one gate going down to the ultimate power-up area.
         Gate
            Here's another one going downstairs.
         Gate
            I'm seeing a pattern here.
         Gate
            Okay, the last one.  All 4 are made to look similar to
            walls and are near ramps for the most part.

      The Carnival
         Front Entrance
            The door can't be blown up.  The next best thing or two?
            Mortar, Napalm, Remotes and Just plain jumping about twice
            should collapse the floor in front of the doors.
         Side Entrance
            There's a big brown box on the wall.  Go right up next to
            the wall so the tent is to your right and you are facing
            the box.  The floor there is false.  Jump or follow above
            instructions.
         False Wall
            There's a wall that is at the end of the tunnel from above.
            It's the alternate entrance to the funhouse that few CPU
            players understand.
         False Wall
            To the extreme left once you enter the funhouse, there's a
            false wall leading to a small tunnel with 2 exploding
            barrels.
         False Wall
            The end of the tunnel above has no light until you shoot
            this down.
         Roller Toaster
            This can also be blown up.  It SEEMS to follow the inside
            track, but I'm not sure if you can avoid it on the outside
            track to avoid getting hit by it.  Follow same strategy
            for blowing up the train in Neon City.
         False Door/Wall
            The door to the circus tent is protected by this wall which
            is quickly broken.  It's guarded by the exploding barrels.
         False Door/Wall
            The door to the portrait room is blocked by this and 2
            exploding barrels, and there's another barrel in the center
            of the room.
         The Portraits
            Okay, you're in the portrait room, but where are the
            portraits?  Fire directly into the center for one.  Fire
            about halfway between that and each wall to reveal two
            more, then fire near the center of the side walls for the
            last 2.  Not particularly useful, but cute.

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     Lightning Power-Ups ................................... 11

      Okay, so you want to be cheap.  Or maybe not.  Here are all
      the level-specific weapons and where their area of effect
      is, specifically lightning, the Construction Yard's crane
      is covered in the Level Strategies (Section 6-1-2).

      Neon City
         Power-Up:
            On the giant roundish platform where the transport
            drops you off.
         Effect:
            The area affected seems to be the tunnel-area (perhaps
            all of it) on the outside upper-level.  If someone
            finds the exact area affected, please notify me.

      Road Rage
         Power-Up:
            In the hidden tunnel near the intersection.
         Effect:
            Unknown specifically, can hit you where you pick up
            the power-up.

      The Bedroom
         Power-Up:
            Inside the lamp.
         Effect:
            From all the power sockets and smack in the center of
            the three ramps going up.

      Amazonia 3000 B.C.
         Power-Up:
            On top of the pillar.
         Effect:
            Area below and around the pillar.

      The Oil Rig
         Power-Up:
            Located on top of drill.  Use teleporter ABOVE silo
            to get to it.
         Effect:
            Large portion of ring near silo, ground where you
            start out.  Perhaps in room w/ Rain 2 power-up?
            Notify me if you can find a specific area of effect
            in the battleground.

      Minion's Maze
         Power-Up:
            On separated platform with bounce-up light pillar.
            Run into the bottom of the pillar to bounce up and
            get it.
         Effect:
            Unknown.  Notify me when a specific are is found.

      The Carnival
         Power-Up:
            On very top-center of tent.
         Effect:
            Nearly all parts of roller-coaster track and area
            on ground on sides of the black haunted house building
            with the front door.

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     Interview with Jim Buck ............................... 12

      Recently, I conducted my second interview with Jim Buck, who now
      is the Lead Engineer for TM4.  This interview is intended to help
      clear up some questions that you all may have, and other questions
      have been asked but not published here for sake of the fine line
      between public and private knowledge.  You all may ask me questions,
      but I intend to use up less of JB's time, so don't expect me to
      give out his e-mail address or to ask him all forty thousand
      questions you want to ask.  These were some of the important
      issues in my eyes.  Additionally, he cannot give out codes for
      the game due to legal bindings.

      Q1: Let me start by saying the game is great and that the
         creativity is up there, characters are more than well
         balanced, and that the levels have exponentially increased
         in size.  Where did all this inspiration come from?
      A1: It came from feedback that we got in a ton of places...
         but mainly focus tests conducted on TM3 shortly after TM3
         made it to the shelves.

      Q2: The vortex-type weapons, such as the Zombie and Teleorb,
         move outwards for a short distance.  What's the principle
         behind that?
      A2: I don't specifically know, but venturing a guess, it was
         probably so you could see your weapon in action. (And it
         gives you an element of aiming rather than just dropping
         the thing like Club Kid from TM3.)

      Q3: Why didn't you bring back Outlaw in this game?
      A3: We brought back the ones that were considered the "faves".
         We had a vote, and Outlaw didn't make it.

      Q4: Why didn't Super Slamm look closer to his original counterpart?
      A4: It's just how the person responsible for modeling him
         modeled him.  They were probably looking for a very "core"
         look that closely resembled the hard core piece of equipment
         Slamm represents.

      Q5: Why didn't you include, at bare minimum, the stats for the
         bosses that you get once you beat the game, the pictures
         can be simply "unavailable"?
      A5: The addition of boss accessibility was a last minute thing,
         and there was no time to go back to the company giving us the
         frontend artwork to get additional screens for the bosses.

      Q6: And way to go on being Lead Engineer on the game!
      A6: Thanks. :)

         Any opinions expressed here are purely Jim's and
         not that of 989 Studios.

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     Bugs/Problems ......................................... 13

       These are the glitches, errors, problems or way the AI
       behaves that seems quite irrational.  Contribute any that
       you don't see listed here that deserve mentioning.

       1.  Character Select Screen - Super Axel's Spikes
           disappear at certain times.
       2.  Character Select Screen - Sweet Tooth's left
           machine gun is non-existent.
       3.  When multiple napalms hit acid pits whether or
           not you're looking, gameplay speed slows down
           dramatically.
       4.  Gameplay slows down when characters die due to
           graphics whether or not you are looking.
       5.  The helicopter in the Oil Rig level disappears
           when it WOULD go around the building and reappears
           a moment before it drops a health onto the helipad.
       6.  When a weapon changes automatically due to the
           previous running out, the next can be fired
           immediately without a weapon load delay.
       7.  Sweet Tooth's flaming "hair" stops flaming when
           frozen just once.  It will not return.  No effect
           when he shields himself.
       8.  CPU players with large cars (e.g. Calypso, Moon Buggy)
           have problems with jumping over to the hover-pickup
           platform and staying in Neon City.
       9.  The CPU tries to teleport out of the crane while stuck
           in beam in Construction Yard.
      10.  The CPU turns invisible in the beam when in the crane
           in the Construction Yard.
      11.  The CPU doesn't understand the concept of the lightning
           pickup, nor the crane.
      12.  The CPU doesn't quite understand the concept of being
           hit by the train and roller coaster in Neon City and The
           Carnival.
      13.  Lightning doesn't hit everywhere it should (like the WHOLE
           floor in the bedroom.
      14.  The CPU doesn't quite understand why it can't always hit
           you when you flank it.
      15.  The AI doesn't open up secret passages.  (Even when it needs
           like a full health there.
      16.  The AI doesn't make a mad dash for Healths the moment they
           reappear.
      17.  When you play a deathmatch and you choose repeat world, cars
           of enemy only chosen ONCE, the game still has to load the
           level all over again when you win or lose.
      18.  The AI doesn't understand the concept of proximity mines and
           will gleefully run over them until they kill themselves.
      19.  The AI doesn't make use of teleport when trapped.
      20.  The AI doesn't use the Massive Attacks.
      21.  The AI will freeze you and occasionally get right up next
           to your car and just keep trying to actually go "through"
           your car, acting as if you weren't there.
      22.  The CPU will occasionally jump onto the island and back
           and forth and completely ignore you on the Carnival level,
           probably in hopes of the health power-up.
      23.  The CPU does not understand the concept of the combination
           of napalm/remotes and acid pools.

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     AI Advances ........................................... 14

      You didn't think I'm totally against this game, did you?
      These are the great things that make the AI more
      challenging.  Please send in any that you don't see
      listed here that are worth the space in this FAQ.

       1.  The AI can mimic nearly every move you make.
       2.  The AI can go nearly everywhere you can.
       3.  The AI knows multiple routes to the same place.
       4.  The AI makes use of open secret passages.
       5.  The AI doesn't open up secret passages.  (Sure, it's
           #15 above, but you have to find them, now.)
       6.  The AI lets fire burn for only a second or two and
           doesn't seem to turbo off cliffs to get rid of the fire.
       7.  The AI doesn't set off remotes when it's in range of
           the explosion.
       8.  The AI sets off remote bombs with precise timing whereas
           you have to rely upon luck to set them off perfectly.
       9.  The AI fires mortars and napalm near-perfectly to hit you
           even while both of you are moving.
      10.  The AI reverses to turn around perfectly.
      11.  The AI doesn't have an infinite advanced attack bar.
      12.  The AI starts out with all weapons that the level has
           to offer, so even if you got the only Rain 2 missile
           on the level first, the AI can still fire Rain 2 at
           you whether or not the power-up has recharged, or
           even if it hasn't been picked up before.
      13.  The AI makes use of teleport only when falling, and
           uses shielding, invisibility, jump, and the freezes.
      14.  The AI could care less about weapon pickups, so you
           have a slightly better chance against it.
      15.  The AI avoids exploding barrels fairly well, also
           avoids fire as level-weapons (like Construction Yard
           and The Carnival).
      16.  The AI can fire its specials quite accurately since
           it primarily fires when you are directly in front or
           behind them.
      17.  The AI discourages you from following it from behind
           often by rear-freezing you, or firing other weapons
           backwards.
      18.  The AI often leaves proximity mines where others will
           hit it because they often follow similar unwritten
           paths around levels.
      19.  The AI detonates remote weapons often shortly after
           placement so it can use another elsewhere since it
           seems nobody will run over it.
      20.  The AI is quite accurate with nearly all weapons so
           it seems to be very conservative until a clear shot
           is available.
      21.  The AI is much more destructive amongst themselves
           and therefore is much easier for you to kill them
           after a powerful battle.
      22.  The AI knows the exact layout of all levels making
           it harder for you while you're lost in Neon City with
           the computer hot on your tail.
      23.  There's no magic distance at which weapons that the
           CPU uses will simply do no damage.
      24.  Okay, maybe not an AI advance, but the way that certain
           objects carry sounds, such as the ghosts in the haunted
           house in The Carnival, they get louder when you get
           closer, the helicopter in The Oil Rig, Pizza Boy's
           Cutters, the unique sounds each car makes when idling
           and accelerating, The Oil Rig's drill, and the only
           unforgettable sound that the three henchmen make while
           circling you.
      25.  There don't need to be any more reasons because I filled
           an equivalent number plus one to the problems/bugs.

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     Disclaimer ............................................ 15

     I'd officially like to state that all of parts of the FAQ are
     my property, anything you send becomes my property, this is
     copyright 2000 by Russ Tops and those of you who would like
     more hits on your site can post my FAQ and notify me, so I
     can place a link back from my page to yours.  Others shall
     be burnt on their legs with a small feverish porcupine.  I
     reserve the right to force you to remove this FAQ from your
     site and will do so by all means necessary including having
     your account removed from the hosting server(s).  I often
     discover codes for games and the final two for Twisted Metal
     III were mine and I deserve to be credited wherever possible.
     (Like if you post it to Gamepro, put "Russ Tops" as the name
     and the e-mail address as "russg@mindless.com" and the code)
     Just don't copy or modify this FAQ in any way shape or form.
     Don't sell this FAQ for monetary compensation (AKA $$$) and
     don't post it without my approval.  The only form you may
     post it is in a link to the FAQ's homepage if you do not have
     my permission to post the FAQ.  Please e-mail me for the link
     code.  Thank you and have a nice day.