infocom/hints/solutions/battletech.txt

                           B A T T L E T E C H 
                                 (Infocom)


                               THE CITADEL.
Your main goal is to learn how to operate the Mechs at the Training Centre.
This  will  take six lessons, between which you can explore the surrounding
compound.  The game requires time to pass between lessons, so here are some
other things to do.

MAKING MONEY
Credits  are periodically posted to your account, but you'll have to invest
in  the  stock  market at Comstar Station (one of the many buildings in the
compound) to make enough to buy all the necessary gear.

Only two stocks are worth your while:

                        NASHAN DIVERSIFIED (NasDiv)
                      BAKER PHARMACEUTICALS (BakPhar)

NasDiv is a steady performer, so if you do nothing but put all your credits
in this stock, you should amass quite a fortune by the end of the game.

BakPhar  is  a speculative stock that will make you rich in a short time if
your timing is right.

One strategy is to put most of your credits in NasDiv and a few in BakPhar.
Save  regularly  and  check the market often. When BakPhar starts going up,
put  all  your  credits  in  it, and usually your money doubles and doubles
again.  It  is  essential to save your game whenever you get ahead, though,
for BakPhar's value can drop to zero in no time!

After  investing,  leave  Comstar  and  go and do something (explore, rest,
visit  the  weapons  shop,  take  a  training  lesson.........),  returning
frequently  to  assess  your  holdings. It takes a fairly long time to earn
enough  credits to buy a serious weapon and good armour, not to mention the
money  you  will  need  for  training,  so you may have to wander about the
compound pointlessly, waiting for your stocks to go up.


WEAPONS, ARMOUR & OTHER GEAR.
The  Inferno  never  runs  out  of  ammunition  and  rarely misses, so it's
advisable to stay around until you can afford one......BUT - you CAN get by
with  less  firepower. Weapon shops are everywhere throughout Pacifica, and
you  can  also  salvage  weapons  after combat. Buy whatever armour you can
afford  for  yourself and any allies. Armour shops are in many towns. Get a
MedKit  (sold at any of several hospitals) and a Mapper (at the video store
in  Starport and a few other towns). Later on, get your Mechs modified at a
Mech-It Lube's Speed Shop and you'll become almost invincible.


SKILLS.
The Citadel is the ONLY place to get combat training, and for this you must
have  money.  Spend  your credits to become proficient in as many skills as
you can, ESPECIALLY the skill pertaining to whatever weapon you're packing!
Two other skills, Mech Repair and Medical Training, can be purchased at any
Mechit-Lube  or  Hospital,  and there are several throughout the region you
will explore.


                     THE INVASION, STARPORT & THE JAIL

On  the  6th or 7th training mission, you'll suddenly face real opponents -
the  Kuritans,  who  have  invaded  the  compound.  You've got to escape to
Starport,  a neutral city northeast of the starting point. If you're lucky,
you'll escape with a Mech.

There  are  two ways to do so. Choose a Locust for your final mission, then
head  West  when the forcefield around the training grounds disappears, and
get  out  of town. Or use a Chameleon and, as soon as you're attacked, walk
back  into  the building you just left. When the walls come down, exit West
out  of  the  city.  (Sometimes neither of these methods are successful! If
that happens, you can get Mechs at several other points).


STARPORT.
Head  Northeast  to  Starport.  Save  frequently  if  you  decide  to fight
attackers in the hope of obtaining money and equipment. Inside, immediately
find the Clothing Store and get rid of your uniform to avoid being attacked
as often. Then check your stocks at Comstar and re-invest if desired. Check
out the Inaugural Hall to learn of the Inauguration, then you might want to
earn  credits  by  fighting  at the Arena. repairs can be costly if using a
rental Mech, however, and may even exceed your 250-credit payoff.


REX PEARCE & THE CRESCENT HAWKS.
At  the  Inaugural  Hall  later that night you'll meet Rex Pearce, an ally.
Save  the  game  before entering, since you might get killed when you leave
with  him.  Rex  gives  you  a box from your father and says he's got a new
Commando Mech that Katrina left him.

A  member  of the Crescent Hawks, he says your mission is to round up other
Hawks,  find a secret cache of spare Mech parts your father hid, and signal
Princess Katrina to return to Pacifica for the parts and your team.

But the enemy attacks before you can look at the holocard in the box (which
is necessary to locate the cache), and the card is damaged. If you survive,
you  can  roam  about  Starport gathering gear, earning credits and skills,
having Rex's Commando modified at the Speed Shop and so on.


THE JAIL & THE UNDERCOVER AGENT.
Go  a  little North and East to a small town with a jail and hospital. Save
right  away,  for  you  may  meet an ally who turns out to be an undercover
agent. If you're having trouble getting people to talk, or if services like
Mechit-Lube  are  always  closed, you've got an agent in the group. Put him
outside  on  foot and get into a few battles. He'll either be killed by the
enemy  or  Rex.  If you don't have your own Mech, steal one from the Jail's
parking garage.


                         FINDING THE OTHER HAWKS,
                          DR. TELLHIM & THE CACHE

There  are  two  places to view the damaged holocard. The easiest, quickest
way  is  to return to the destroyed Citadel and go to your barracks. You'll
find  a  holocard viewer and can see most of the message. The second way is
to  go  to  one  of  the  several  towns Southwest of Starport. One has the
Mayor's  house  in it, and you can pick the lock and enter. Use the Mayor's
holocard  viewer and you learn that you must find Dr. Tellhim at his hut in
the  Northwest. He'll say where to find the cache. (His hut won't appear on
the map unless you view the holocard).

Head  Northwest,  exploring the various towns. You need to pick up two more
Crescent  Hawks; one is a Doctor, found by visiting hospitals, checking the
records  and  talking  to  people there. Get him a MedKit to recover faster
from wounds.

Your other ally is a Tech, found by visiting the Mechit-Lubes and asking to
TALK  and  Apprentice. It's invaluable to get him additional Tech training,
for  he  can  scavenge  spare parts from enemy Mechs that you destroy, thus
earning you money as well as simplifying repairs to your own Mechs.

Tellhim is in a building located near the water, near Sector 36/40 x 49/20.
With  the  proper  crew  and gear, you'll pass his tests and he'll tell you
that  the  cache  is  on  an  island to the Southeast (39/60 x 55/60). Once
there, enter the cave.


                          THE COMPUTER TERMINALS

You  are  in a maze full of locked doors and computer terminals. You have a
key-card  that  needs  to  be  imprinted  with a different Red number, Blue
number and Yellow number to open each door.

Each  computer  throughout  the  complex  has  its own special colour coded
number that can imprint your key-card, and each computer's code can be used
only  once.  You  must  open  ELEVEN  different  doors (that's 33 different
computer  colour  imprints  you must find!), to get to the Map Room and the
Power Transmitter.

When you have located and opened the door to the Map Room, you enter it and
must  then  activate  a  combination of planets to get the password (PESHT,
BENJAMIN, SKYE, SUMMET, RYERSON, KATHIN, ACHERNAR).

Activate  the  planets  by touching them all, then walk over to the control
panel  on  the  West  wall  for  your password. Leave the Map Room, go back
through the maze to the Upper Control Rooms, and turn on the transmitter to
call Katrina (you do this by walking into the panels).

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