From: jdsb@egr.duke.edu (J. D. S. Babcock)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
Subject: Mission Thunderbolt: Hints and Tips list
Date: 5 Nov 92 21:26:21 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Duke University EE Dept.; Durham, NC

Dear MTB player,

Below I include my much improved list of hints for Mission Thunderbolt.
Please do not read this if you don't want spoilers.

My thanks go to all the people who posted this information.  I did not credit
each person since there were so many and it would take up space.  Some of the
hints were added by me.

Please note that what I enclose below is answers to questions posted on usenet
and answered by other users of the program from experience.  Therefore, the
enclosed information does not infringe on copyright.

           Sterling
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 |   |  Mission Thunderbolt: Notes from email and newsgroup ver 11/5/92  |   |
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 |   |  __          __          Please send any hints, tips, or tricks   |   |
 |   | (__`        |__)         to: jdsb@ee.egr.duke.edu                 |   |
 |   | ,__)terling |__)abcock   Duke University Electrical Engineering   |   |
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Unanswered questions  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> Anybody found monsters that can be befriended by tossing them items OTHER
  than the dogs and snagglepi?
> What to the "sweet" and "sour" pills do?
> Is there any good way of figuring out what the pills do other than eating
  them or using a lib?
> Are the green Zytt coins (oddly shaped) good for anything at all?
> Can towels be used to wipe off armor/paint?

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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Monsters  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> Making friends
o You have to know what the monster wants before you can give it to him.
  I only know of a couple beasts that can be tamed by gifts.
  The snagglepus likes cookies and the dogs like bones.
  Use Put/Toss into adjacent location to give them the item.
o The best way to make friends is to use a little electrical stimulation.
  The stimmer is a short range weapon which sometimes requires several
  applications to change a monster into a friend, sometimes whacking them
  upside the head before stimming helps.

> STIMMERS: What animals are susceptible to stimmers?
o Becomes friendly: Giant Tentacular Horrors, Tentacular Horrors, Snagglepus,
                    Wild dogs
o doscile: floating eye, radioactive swamp monsters?, flutterbangs?
o Not: robots

> MECHS: Can they fix things?
o Sometimes.  Sometimes they break them (thus the "oops!" sound).
  The robots have a 50/50 (?) chance of fixing things

> ICKY LUMPS - reproduction
o They will reproduce when you get near, even when you are near on levels
  past where they are.  They don't multiply if you're not close to them.
o If an infestation is only on part of a level, and you don't have the tools
  to destroy them, use holocubes or a door (they can't open them) to close
  them off.
o Lumps *will* fall through holes and down stairs and step on teleport
  traps (including the kind that teleport you to other levels), so it's
  important to get rid of infestations that are near any of these things.
o Never rest near lumps. Never rest on another level near the lumps.

> ICKY LUMPS - killing with weapons
o They are easy to kill and carry money.
o Icky Lumps are best killed from a distance, with a laser rifle.
o Close up work requires good weapons (antique sword or vibra knife) and
  good armor (Mark X Forcefield Pack plus Macro metal Armor). In a pinch,
  properly placed land mines and grenades can help out somewhat. Advice:
  leave 'em alone until you get good weapons/armor.
o Find a vibra-knife possible. They kill lumps better than a macro-metal knife.
o Failing a vibra-knife, get lot's and lot's of large powercells,
  a laser rifle and start blasting the little lumps to oblivion.
  BTW - the vending machines do not have an unlimited supply of powercells.
  Be sure to go to that region with full hit points and NEVER, NEVER
  rest on the same level as the lumps. That seems to cause them to
  multiple rapidly. Always leave the region and rest in a region that
  has no lumps in it.
o Poison gas cannisters will kill quite a few, but it has a limited range.
o You can also use a cameleon circuit if you can find one.  It makes you
  invisible to most monsters, including lumps.  They don't multiply or
  attack you while you're invisible (well, they attack by accident every
  once in a while).  The c.c. is like a forcepack - requires charges.

> ICKY LUMPS - killing with friends
o Befriend a tentacular horror and let if follow you to the icky lumps.
  Once there, the 'lil horror will do most of the work for you.
o Even better, befriend a Giant Tentacular Horror who will clean things
  up in short order.
o Friends are always good.  The best anti-lump technique is to get a 
  "friend" with a big "activation radius" (the distance from you that a
  friendly monster will consider an unfriendly monster to be a threat,
  and go after it), like a snagglepuss, and go to the lump level.
  Get close enough to the lumps so that the snagglepuss will go kill them,
  but far enough away so that the lumps don't multiply.  This makes very
  quick work of lump infestations.

> What's a good way to kill off moppetts?
o I found that if I hit it initially with my best weapon, he tickles me and I
  drop my weapon, and then I just wail on him with my bare hands until he dies.
  He seems less inclined to pop away if I'm bare-fisted and he gets in too many
  licks if I spend my turns trying trying to pickup/wield some weapon.
  Your mileage may vary depending on your character's characteristics.

> THE SHIMMERING HAZE (or whatever it's called--looks like a lot of dots).
o Dont touch them, they permanently drain constitution.
  Kill with a blaster or blaster rifle.
o "friends" can hurt it.
o If you think these guys are bad, wait until you run into a Vampire Mist.

> What does one do about those darned vampire mists?
1) Try using a friendly android, snagglepus, or giant tentacular horror.
2) Try using a blaster.

> Killing a Dreadnought?
o Well, it takes quite a bit more than 8 granades, 1 LAWs, 1 landmine and an
  antique sword.  Use a lot of land mines, more grenades, and befriend powerful
  monsters to lead to the dreadnought. Really, though, I didn't find it worth it
  to kill the dreadnought. You may gain a level, but you will use everything up.
  Now, I just lead them to levels that I am finished with and lose them there.
o The only way I've ever seen one die was when I used a panic button:
  instead of teleporting to region 1, once it gave me 5 friendly 'jaunt
  troopers', who demolished the Dreadnought in 3 shots and 2 hits.  The
  jaunt troopers disappear after something like 50 ticks.

> TWO-HEADED MUTANT RADIOACTIVE THINGS.
o Don't carry pills near them unless in a CLOSED container.
o VERY VERY painful. It takes about 4 grenades and 30 gyrojets to kill.
o These monsters seem quite vulnerable to laser rifles.
o Grenades and landmines are good, too.  Sometimes stimmers work, as well.
o Just stay out of range and attack from distance.
o Don't go into warrens until you have good weapons and a forcefield pack.

> FANGWINGS
o These will poison when you get close and they hide in the dark and
  behind doors
o I usually do have something like a gyrojet rifle so I shoot them from far.

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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Objects  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> HOW DO I FIGURE OUT WHAT A "Strange Device" IS???????
o Go to a Library.  (I think 100 coins per an item from you bank account).

o Here's what I do when I get a strange device.
   1. I inspect it.
   2. I try and wear it.
   3. I try to charge it.
   4. I activate it.
   5. If I can't wear it and it will activate, I throw it far away from me.
  Usually one of these actions will tell me of what exactly the strange device
  is.  It's not a perfect routine though, I accidently broke a chronograph,
  when I threw it. Try this at your own risk.

> CROWBARS:
o MT tip for the day: always carry a crowbar.  This item can do triple
  (or even quadruple) duty.  First, in the very early stages of the game,
  it may be your best hand to hand weapon.  Second, you can carry it
  instead of all those crazy keycards and use it to open locked doors and
  boxes.  Third, you can use it to deactivate traps on boxes.  And
  finally, you can use it to tear down walls (albeit slowly) - don't use
  your main weapon to do this, as tearing down walls dulls weapons quickly.

> What in the world is a stepladder good for?
o If there is a hole in the ceiling above you, placing a stepladder under
  it greatly improves your chance of success when trying to go up.
o Suppose you have a level with dangerous things by the stairwell.  Well, 
  don't use the stairwell!  Go to to a corner of the map.  Dig a hole and
  go down there.  Carry a stepladder and drop it after you get to the new level
  to remind you where to go up and to make an escape route.

> Is there some way to toss a flare so that it illuminates a region?
o Yes.  Try throwing it somewhere where it won't land in liquid.

> How about some container to put pills in so that if your _thrown_ into toxic
> waste the pills don't dissolve away?
o Put the pills in a chest and *close* it.

>What are the trash can and trash can lid for?
o You can wear the trash can lid for +1 armor protection.
o I use the can as a repository to hold a lot of stuff in one place.
o Try putting something in the can near a utility bot.

> NEEDLES: What are needles for?
Needles can be loaded into the needler (a weapon).

> SKULLS:
o I've seen skulls used as weapons by snaglepusses and have heard
  mention that it is effective agains other humans (terrorist
  collaborators i think)

>  TOWELS: Can towels be used to wipe off armor/paint?
o You can wear them for an extra armor point.

>  SECURITY PASSES: How useful are security passes?
o If you are wearing the pass corresponding to the region number
  then the cyber cops will not attack you.
o Not very. However, when you enter a security zone (claxon goes off)
  and a cybercop goes after you, it will not attack if you have the
  correct security badge.

> Creating your own pocket-nukes
o Try activating five grenades, putting them in a small chest (leave the lid
  open) and throwing the chest at something.  By the way, 2 back to back hits
  with these 'pocket-nukes' did NOT take out a Dreadnought, nor did four
  consecutive (preloaded) gyrojet scattergun blasts.

> Has any figured out what to do with the soft pillow?
o If you rest on a square that has a soft pillow, you heal faster.  This
  can be important for minimizing the number of "crackling energy fields"
  or "mysterious power drains" during the game.  It doesn't seem to help
  if you carry the pillow; it's got to be on the floor.  I've also only
  tried this with "rest soundly" - I assume it works for "rest".

>  FIX/REPAIR: How do you fix: Armor?
o My friendly (healthy) mech will sometimes repair my battered armor.
  I suggest saving before trying since the mech often destroy the armor
  in the 'fixing' process.

>  FIX/REPAIR: How do you fix: Generator?
o A sonic screwdriver will fix a generator (and many other things too)).
  Try a mech if you dare.

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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Facilities  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> What do I do when thrown in jail?
o What you do is while your still tied down in a chair, you just hit yourself
  against a wall.  After a while, the chair will splinter.  Then use the rubble
  from your chair and throw at the door repeatedly to break the door.  Then You
  have to find a way out (explore the lower level completely). Don't worry,
  in any game you only go there once (you get killed after the first capture).
  If it seems like their is no exit, try banging on a wall (with the
  appropriate utensil).
o If I ever get thrown in jail, I quit.  It's not worth trying to get 
  out.  Once you get thrown in jail, you lose access to your bank account 
  because "the bank thinks you're dead" and you have to open a new account 
  with no balance!

> What facilities are there?
o data port, reclaimation center, library, autodoc, hospital?, bank,
  store?, factory outlet, transmat booth.

> Bank information:
o If you are thrown in jail the bank will think you are dead.
  Start a new bank account with a balance of 0.
  If you can find a reclamation center, you can live without a working bank.

> FLOORS/LEVELS: Just how many levels are there?
o There are 30 floors in each MTB complex.  16 main levels, followed by
  2 detention levels.  There are ? warren levels.
  The 2 detention levels are below the the 16th floor.
  The LAMB is on the 16th level.

> How do you get out of gravity wells?
1) Try dropping everthing.  If nothing (other than yourself) is currently
   on the floor over the gravity well, drop something useless there first,
   so that some useful item doesn't end up trapped over it.  After you've
   dropped everything, you should be able to get away.
2) give it the "sonic" scewdriver treatment.
3) dig through it (if it is a diggable square).
4) use your panic button (if you are on level 1-15).
5) use your gravbelt (I haven't tried this).
6) Disable the trap with a sharp edged object (very expensive in terms
   of hit points - it can easily suck up 50+ hp.

> What do the water fountains do?
o If you drink from them, they will cure the "fuzzy headedness" you get from
  eating most monster corpses.
o You can fill certain things (milk cartons, but not beer cans, apparently),
  and use it (the water-filled object) as a weapon against the various robots.
  A milk carton, however, isn't enough to even kill a widget.  Maybe a trash can

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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Message Meanings  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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>  MESSAGE MEANING: You hear a sudden crackling of energy
o An enegry storm breaks loose on this level. Everything within it
  gets severely damaged or destroyed (including walls).

>  MESSAGE MEANING: You feel a sudden power drain on your equipment
o All your items which carry charges are reduced in charge by one.
  Includes power cells, light globes, lasers, stimmer, panic button, ...

>  MESSAGE MEANING: The air is briefly electrified by strange forces

>  MESSAGE MEANING: You aren't feeling very well.
o Carrying any rags with you? Drop 'em.

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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  General Hints  =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
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> General Hints have all been classified in the sections above
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 |___|  Sterling Babcock jdsb@ee.egr.duke.edu  Please email corrections. |___|
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