Crusader: No Regret - hints

   Downloaded from the Net, original author Robert Mayer

There are two skills you need to make it through the Lunar Mining
Cartel's nasty OSHA-disapproved installation: strategy, and
tactics. A lot of the strategy involves figuring out the layouts
of the various levels, managing supplies, and deciding how to
balance ammunition expenditures with the possible benefits of
blasting away every barrel and crate on the moon. As far as moving
through the levels, who cares? You'll figure it out after a while.
Despite having no automap, the essentially right-angle nature of
the layouts in Crusader: No Regret and the clever design of
Origin's team makes it unlikely you'll get too terribly lost.
Besides, getting lost is just another excuse to blast things until
you find your way home.

The other stuff - managing supplies, to destroy or not - is
important, and fits in well with the real meat of No Regret:
tactics.  Ah, the sweet smell of micro-waved flesh, the crystal
tinkle of shattered Enforcers crumbling into holiday tinsel -
these are the things that make a rogue Silencer bless the day he
put on that silly red suit. Not to mention the smick-smack of
rifle rounds on unprotected flesh, the whoosh-bang of a
well-placed grenade launcher shot, but I digress. It can hardly be
denied, though, that the little battles you fight along the way to
whatever ultimate goal the Resistance has directed you to are the
soul of the Crusader games. When you are trapped by the elevator,
facing two vetrons, a horde of guards, and a shielded laser
turret, do you really care that a computer terminal on level 4
needs the virus you're carrying? Didn't think so. You just want to
kick WEC butt and live to tell about it. So let's look at how you
can do that.

Approaches

First off, there are lots of ways to do well in Crusader: No
Regret.  Some like the aggressive style, others a more cautious
approach.  With the exception of a few points in the game
(sometimes crucial points, though) you can pretty much take your
time, if you want.  Often, taking your time is preferable to being
too aggressive, mainly because you miss so much that way. Mostly,
I've found that taking a little time to assess each situation is
the single most important thing you can do. The designers of the
Crusader games have thoughtfully allowed you to save anytime,
anywhere, so DO IT. Every time you finish a difficult passage,
save. Every time you enter a new level (and aren't in a hellacious
fight) save. Alternate saves, too. Use a full, F9 save for each
level start, and at one or more significant points in that level.
In between, use the F5 quick save, for "creep and save" tactics.
Just be very careful; too often I've reached out in frustration to
hit the F4 quick load and accidentally saved a terrible situation
with F5. Look before you save.

You can now assess your situation knowing that if you screw up,
you get another chance. A favorite trick of the designers is to
have situations where things that can hurt you are just out of
your vision: cameras, turrets, wall-mounted guns, guards, trip
wires.  After saving, you need to move around, and see what the
heck is there. You can restore once you've done some recon. Use
the 'Z' key to center the display on your Crusader, too; this
sometimes brings out of view items into our field of vision. Pay
particular attention to cameras. These things are a pain. While
they generally won't see you if you can't see them, they can react
fast to your appearance, and sometimes seem to see you a bit too
soon. Blasting them isn't always easy, as you can't always hit
what you can see. Experiment to see what lines of fire work.

If you know where the cameras are you have an advantage.  Watching
the lens traverse its field of vision and then rolling out (or
forward) and shooting is great, but often there are obstacles to
this, or even trip wires, mines, worse. That's when Mr. Spider
Bomb is needed. Now that your human foes will shoot spiders, the
best use for these toys is to blast cameras and wall guns. You can
even blast cameras you can't see, if you know where they are; just
guide by memory. It's easier than it sounds.

Of course, grenade launcher rounds work too, and this brings up
another point: area effects. You can get at cameras behind walls
with grenades, and sometimes blast packs too. Even the lowly
shotgun is good for taking out cameras and laser tripwires, as its
spread of shot often falls into areas you really can't aim at
directly with a more precise weapon. By now you know all about
using explosive barrels as weapons, but you can also often use
these things to take out various non-organic targets; the
designers of this moon base flunked Workplace Safety 101. But
grenades in particular are hard to use safely. You can't always be
sure where they will go, because the angle you are looking and the
angle you are shooting aren't necessarily the same. Watch out for
railings, in particular. They almost always end up detonating your
grenades too soon, and with disastrous results.

Situations

One of the more common situations you'll find is a gauntlet.
These usually consists of one or more cameras or other sensing
devices, and several bad guys. Often, there is a mech waiting too,
and sometimes mines, turrets, and shock plates. And then there are
the civilians. Civilians attract spider mines, get in the line of
fire, and generally muck things up. Your priority should be to
knock out the sensing devices, if you can do so without being
fried. Practice rolling out from cover, blasting the cameras, and
rolling back. Then, concentrate on taking out the bad guys one by
one. First down should be grenadiers or rocket boys, then laser
dudes. Take it slow, save after every successful kill. It takes
time, but it usually works. Mechs will come after you, but you can
usually toast them with a grenade.

Another common situation is being caught between two enemy forces.
Just cleared that area? Think again, crimson dude; teleporter or
no, there are times when crossing a sector threshold releases bad
guys from several directions, guys who weren't there a few seconds
ago. This is where those nearly useless land mines come in handy;
drop some behind you as you move. A spider mine makes a nice
present for any stalkers as well. Don't try to fight off both sets
of attackers if you are caught in the middle. Focus on one group
at a time. This may mean getting into cover and letting the
furniture take the heat while you blast your first set of guests.


Perhaps nastiest of all is entering a new level or section. Save
first. Most of the time you will be in a bad tactical position.
First priority: get out of the line of fire. This might mean a
roll, a forward dive, or merely crouching (those railings around
teleporters often are life savers). Don't necessarily fire as soon
as you can; sometimes, the bad guys won't even see you for a bit,
giving you time to assess the situation. Prioritize your threats.
Often there will be guards wandering about. They walk patterns
until they see you; figure out where they will be before you make
your move. The guards who are crouched down waiting for you to
make your move are a different story; those are great targets for
spiders and rockets. When you do leave your entry point, move
fast. Roll, dive, fire as you go. Don't stop; roll from cover to
cover.  Once it's clear, you can regroup (and change your
underwear).

Weapons

Weapons choices for any situation vary with taste and ammo supply.
Keeping bullets in your guns is sometimes tough. About halfway
through the game, you'll find your cupboard getting bare.  Worse,
as you go along, there seems to be less and less ammo for mundane
weapons like the RP-32 and the shotgun. Use the plentiful
blastpacks to take out crates and other objects blocking secrets.
Be economical in your shooting. Practice aiming. Use quick saves
to insure minimum ammo expenditure. If you want to find out what
if anything is behind those barrels, save, shoot, and reload if
you discover no secrets.

If you've got the ammo, the RP-32 is still a great weapon. It's
fast, it kills, and it makes neat sounds. Shotguns are great for
knocking out sensors and cameras, and are good antipersonnel
weapons if you have the time to get off a few good shots. For
mechs, the grenade launcher is fabulous, and it's good as an
emergency antipersonnel weapon (but only if you can spare the
loot). And rockets are tops for clearing a whole room of guards...
and civilians, equipment, and everything else. The more exotic
weapons have great effects, but are often too slow to be of much
use. The freezer for instance, isn't too hot against mechs, and
it's too slow against people. As a rule, save the exotic stuff for
desperate situations, or when nothing else will do late in the
game.

There's lots more to this game, of course; when you find out, let
me know; I'll probably need the help. Now, how where did that
vetron go?













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