Populous II: Trials of the Olympian Gods - Hints
I bought Populous II yesterday, and found that the manual held many more
tidbits of knowledge then I had instinctively known from being familiar
with Populous I. So I decided to share these tidbits with you.
Let me start by urging each of you to buy the game. Software developers of
the quality of BullFrog Software are rare for the Amiga, or for any computer
for that matter, and DESERVE our support. If no one buys their games they
will stop making them. Simple as that.
For this text I will assume that you are familiar with Populous and with the
game play. I will only be touching on those point which may not be readily
apparent.
WELCOME TO POPULOUS II
To obtain your birth-right among the gods of Mount Olympus, you must defeat
the 32 divine opponents who rule the 1000 world of Populous II. Your final
opponent will be Zeus himself. Defeat Zeus, your Father, to take your seat
among the gods.
Your first task is to create the kind of deity that you want to be. You
choose the facial appearances which indicate weather you're benevolent and
wise, fierce and war-like, brutish and cruel, or some bizarre combination of
these characteristics. This determines your gods personality.
Your god's personality affects how opponents react to you. For example, if
your deity looks like a scholar, the combat is more subtle and clever.
Assign The Lightning Bolt experience points in the areas you wish to
specialize in.
WRITE DOWN the code shown at the bottom of the screen. This code will enable
you to recall your character the next time you play. Be sure to get this code
each time you finishing adding experience points to your character if you
don't want to lose them.
There are two ways to play Populous II: Conquest Games and Custom Games.
In Conquest mode you must conquer a series of worlds. Each world is harder
then the last. If you played a Conquest Game well, you're awarded experience.
You can use the experience to customize your gods power. You can specialize
or spread your experience over all the forces.
In Custom mode, you play a random land with all the effects you have earned
in your Conquest games. Conquest Games affect Custom Games. You are limited
by your progress in the Conquest series. You can't do effects you haven't
already used in the Conquest Game. This is the only limitation to the kind
of custom game you can make. Custom Games do not progress you along the
Conquest path.
CHOOSE A CONQUEST GAME.
You pretty much should know that the Conquest Game Options Screen is all
about. It shows you the world name, the world number, all the spells and
options in effect for the coming world. You can enter a new world name, then
the options and effects for THAT world will be shown.
The only thing you need to know about here is that when you see a new
effect, you can click an that icon for that effect to read a short descript-
ion of what that power does.
THE GAME
You are familiar with the game screen. It has the World Map, and the Close Up
map. You can scroll around the close up map by using the cursor keys, or the
keys on your number key pad.
As your followers build houses, you will want to urge them to spread out
by somehow making them leave their homes. This is done by 'SPROGGING'.
On open land when you press the right mouse button, the Earth will be
depressed by one level; but if you are centered on a Dwelling and press the
right mouse button, a walker will be ousted to find a place of his own. This
is sprogging. Sprog early, Sprog often.
Heroes
Each Effect has a Hero for that class. When you click to create a hero of a
given class, your leader will become that hero. You will need to make a new
leader by telling your people to gather at your Papal Magnet, before you can
make any other heroes. You can have more the one hero of a given class.
Heroes tend to be more intelligent then the common walker. Heroes of one
class tend to be immune to to the effects of powers within his class.
IMPORTANT POINTS ABOUT SOME POWERS (Effects)
--------------------------------------------
PEOPLE EFFECTS
There are five people effects. From left to right, the icons on the diagonal
are:
1) Raise / lower land
2) Move Papal icon
3) Create knight
4) Plague
5) Armageddon
Place Papal Magnet - You MUST have a leader before you can place the papal
magnet. Get a leader by clicking on the 'Go To Papal
Magnet' icon.
The HERO PERSEUS - Perseus is the most intelligent of the heroes.
Lay Plague - Lay plague on an enemy walker or settlement. When a
walker has the plague, they'll spread the illness to
all dwelling and people they touch. Plagues can only be
stopped by destroying infected dwellings and people.
Plague victims don't give you any mana, and if
Armageddon is declared, they instantly disintegrate
leaving you with only your healthy population to fight
for your cause.
NATURE OR (VEGETATION) EFFECTS
There are five nature effects. From left to right, the icons on the diagonal
are:
1) Grow trees
2) Make land verdant (flowers etc.)
3) Create swamp
4) Create creeping fungus
5) Make nature hero
Trees - Earn you popularity points with your people. Don't ask me what a
popularity point is though. I don't know.
Flowers - Renew land damaged by volcanos, fires, ect. Increases your
popularity points. This greenery spreads if planted in the right
patterns, so cluster plantings together and give them plenty of
room to spread.
Fungus - Plant these around enemy settlements and watch it spread. For the
greatest affect, plant them in straight rows of three or five.
EARTH EFFECTS
There are five earth effects. From left to right, the icons on the diagonal
are:
1) Build Road
2) Build city wall
3) Earthquake
4) Lay barren rock
5) Make earth here
Roads - Build roads for your people to walk on and make their travel
faster. Enemy walkers like roads too, so you could place a
strategically positioned swamp at the end of a road for any
enemy walkers foolish enough to come your way.
Walls - Keep weak enemies out, but strong ones can climb over. A very
strong walker can break sections so keep an eye out for this.
The secret to building walls is that each new segment you
place MUST be connected to a wall already standing. (except
for the first segment of course.)
Deft fingers on the cursor keys can allow you to put up a wall
in little time at all. Practice.
Earth Quakes - When you select an earth quake, you can aim the direction it
will go by watching the small pointer that orbits your cursor.
Batholiths - Destroy your opponents flat land by raising rocks and earth.
The longer you hold down the button, the greater the effect
becomes.
The HERO HERACLES - Turning your leader into Heracles doubles his strength
and sends him against your enemies.
AIR OR WIND EFFECTS
There are five air effects. The icons from left to right on the diagonal are:
1) Lightning bolt
2) Whirlwind
3) Lightning storm
4) Create air hero
5) Hurricane
Whirlwind - When a whirlwind goes off land, it creates a whirlpool. If an
armed walker gets sucked up by the wind his weapons are flung
out of his hands and the battering he takes leaves him with the
IQ of a garden slug.
FIRE EFFECTS
There are four fire effects. The icons from left to right on the diagonal
are:
1) Create column of fire
2) Rain of fire
3) Make fire hero
4) Raise a volcano
Fire Columns - tend to move uphill, so they are most effective on wide open
ground.
Volcano - The size of your volcano depends on the experience points you
placed in the 'Fire' column. The ONLY way to repair volcano
damage is with the flower spell.
WATER EFFECTS
There are five water effects. The icons from left to right on the diagonal
are:
1) Lay basalt rock
2) Start whirlpool
3) Conversion pool
4) Aphrodite
5) Tital Wave
Tidal Wave - The further out you begin the tidal wave the more momentum it
can build before it hits land.
The best way to stop a tidal wave is with a high wall of land.
The HERO HELEN OF TROY - Helen has legendary beauty and grace witch has lead
many a man to his doom. She is very wise, and will attempt to
escape notice by changing direction. She can sense when she is
being targeted and try to get away and will try to avoid traps.
If your enemy makes a Helen, try destroying her with fire or
lightning... or a lucky baptismal font may turn her on her
owner...
WINNING
There are several different ways to win Populous II. You can win worlds, win
experience points (even if you lose a world), or you can reach the ultimate
goal of defeating Zeus.
EXPERIENCE POINTS
As you earn experience points, apply them to one of the six categories of
effects at the Deity Creation screen. As you invest experience points in a
category (population, fire, water, ect.) the power of any effect you use
from that category increases. For example, say you earn five lightning bolts
of experience after a battle and apply all five of them to the fire category.
The next time you use any effect from the fire category, it's stronger. Fire
columns last longer as do Rains of fire, The Hero Achilles is stronger and
faster, and your Volcanoes are much more damaging and permanent.
THE COLOSSEUM in the upper right hand corner
As you know, you can click on the question mark to check up an a specific
person or settlement. That person or settlement will appear in the center of
the colosseum. You may have wondered what the little flags going up and down
on the poles behind the colosseum mean. They indicate the current strength
or population) of that person or settlement. From RIGHT to LEFT the flagpoles
represent Tens, Hundreds, Thousands, Ten Thousands, ect. up to Hundred
Millions.
A Note About Intelligence
All walkers have a level of intelligence according to the level of technology
the emerge from. Heroes tend to have very high intelligence. Intelligence
will allow walkers (or Heroes) to avoid traps and to hunt out new land.
STRATEGIES AND TECHNIQUES
SPROG FOR POPULATION
SINK ROCKS
REPAIR DAMAGED LAND by raising it and then lowering it.
LAY BAPTISMAL FONTS around your enemies papal magnet. Fight will be a BEAUT!
USE ROADS to lead your enemies into swamps.
LAY WHIRLPOOLS in land locked bodies of water in your enemies territory.
CREATE HILLS against Lava and Tidal waves.
KEYBOARD COMMANDS
Pause F10
Zoom In - (minus) key on keypad
Zoom out + (plus) key on keypad
Full Screen ENTER on keypad
People Effects F1
Vegetation Effects F2
Earth Effects F3
Air Effects F4
Fire Effects F5
Water Effects F6
Take a Snapshot F7
PLAYING BY SERIAL LINK
1. Get a null modem cable.
2. Make sure power to both machines is OFF.
3. Connect the cable between the serial ports of the two computers.
4. Turn Both machines ON.
5. Boot the game on both machines and start the game in Custom mode by left
clicking on CUSTOM at the Game Menu.
6. Choose who is going to be Good and who Bad.
7. Left-click on the Game Requester icon.
8. When the Game Requester screen appears, left-click on SERIAL GAME.
9. When the Link Requester Screen appears, adjust you baud rate by left-
clicking on the arrows on either side of the BAUD RATE number. Baud rates
of the two modems MUST be the same.
10 Left-click on CONNECT. You will get a box that tells you the modem's
trying to connect and what number try it's on. It will stop as soon as
you're connected.
CONNECTING MODEMS
1. Ensure both the computer and your modem are turned off.
2. Connect the modem's serial cable to the computer, then connect the modem
to the phone line.
3. Turn on the modem and your computer.
4. Boot Populous II on both computers.
5. Both players must choose the same world: either choose Custom mode with
the beginning five effects available, or choose Conquest mode and both
type in the name of the world with the effects you want, and go back to
Custom mode with those effects.
Alternatively, you both could use an identical saved game.
6. Left-click on the Game Requester screen, then left-click on the good god
or bad god, which ever you've agreed to with your opponent.
7. Left-click on the Serial Game option, then left-click on OK.
8. When the Link Requester screen appears, adjust your baud rate by left-
click on the arrows on either side of the BAUD RATE number. Both players
must have and select the same baud rate.
9. The Modem Message line on your Link Requester screen is where you can type
commands to your modem. See your modem's manual for the exact commands
your modem can receive. To send a command, left-click in the Modem Message
line, type your command, then press RETURN. Your command appears on the
line beneath. If you type a second command, you need to delete the old
message first.
10.As a general guide to connecting, do the following:
The dialling player should type ATD and the receivers phone number (no
spaces), then press RETURN.
The receiving player, once he has heard his modem answer, should type ATA,
followed by RETURN.
11.If you have successfully established a connection, both players should see
a string of question marks (????) appear in the box below the Modem
Message line. Both players should now left-click on CONNECT. Both machines
will load the selected world and play con begin.
Note: There are many reasons why you may have difficulty in connecting with
modems. If you are experiencing difficulty, try connecting to your
friend's computer with a terminal program, or something similar before
loading Populous II. Consult your modem manual for any commands you
may need to know to configure your modem correctly
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Typed by Dexter
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