sno@sno-1.UUCP (Stephen N. Opal) (11/08/89)
This is a compilation of responses that I've received about how to work at the
game POPULOUS.
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Article> Has anyone else noticed that the computer (Evil) opponent in Populous will
Article> continually flood land whenever it has enough Manna to do it? This has proven
Article> to be a really stupid tactic as the computer usually floods itself right out
Article> of the game, making an easy win.
From: jac423@leah.Albany.Edu (Jules Cisek)
When the computer gets smarter, it doesn't do that as often.
From: mailrus!gatech!emory!emory!auc!rar
I agree, it's a very stupid tactic, and the computer has saved my butt once
or twice by doing this. However, remember that the computer has different
"ratings". I doubt that it does this when the computer's rating is "good".
It hasn't done it to me (or FOR me) lately.
From: umix!uunet!synaptx!glenn (Glenn Gribble)
For extra fun, enter paint map mode, give the evil player lots of manna,
and return to play mode. FLOOD, FLOOD, FLOOD...
Article> Another problem, each new world has a level number +3 or so of the previous one.
Article> What is happening with all the intermediate levels?
From: jac423@leah.Albany.Edu (Jules Cisek)
The better you do in the last game, the further along the worlds you can
go. If you do really poorly (score is very low, like 17,000 or so), you
will only go up by one world.
Article> Also, has anyone successfully designed a tactic that allows you to make it
Article> past level 82? This is the artic environment where you get 2 colonies while
Article> the computer gets 4. When the computer gets enough manna, (which is really easy
Article> for it) it knights. By this time, I am lucky if I can get enough manna to
Article> create swamps, while the computer has literally tons of castles.
From: umix!uunet!synaptx!glenn (Glenn Gribble)
If you restart at an earlier level, you can get to some of the other levels.
[This proved to be the best advice... avoidance.]
From: mailrus!gatech!emory!emory!auc!rar
Yes, this one took me a couple of tries to get through. If I remember this
level correctly, what you should do is use earthquakes centered in areas where
the computer has a lot of castles. Also, build AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, and
at least early in the game, don't let you walkers wander too long, or they will
quickly die. Keep the computer off balance with earthquakes (but not so
much as to keep your manna from rising) until you can build a knight. Make
him strong (but don't give them time to make a knight), and let him go.
From: enuxha.eas.asu.edu!martin (Ross D. Martin)
Try getting the land smoothed out to just one level above the water. Get your
people into castles quickly. Flatten the land around the castles for two
spaces around each castle, and then kick the excess people out of the castle
by raising the land next to it (but not directly under it) until a man pops
out. Then lower the land to restore your castle. The man will go on to make
another castle. Flatten land again, until you think you can pop another guy
out. etc.
Article> I have yet
Article> to figure out a successful defense to the pillaging. For the record, until this
Article> level, I was able to drown any knight before any damage occured. Now the computer
Article> watches and rescues the knight before he goes in. My main defense is gone.
From: mailrus!gatech!emory!emory!auc!rar
If you see his knight coming in time, use your papal magnet and some land
raising or lowering to draw your men away from him.
Look at how strong his knight is. Build up your leader so that he is
stronger than the knight, and try to make sure the leader is between
the knight and your remaining settlements. Then use the papal magnet
to draw the leader to the knight.
From: jac423@leah.Albany.Edu (Jules Cisek)
Try surrounding his 'un'holy symbol with water by moving your population
there as quick as you can and keeping it surrounded. This will certainly
prevent new knights from being created.
sno> And finally, some interesting general tactic strategies outlined...
From: umix!uunet!synaptx!glenn (Glenn Gribble)
My tactics so far:
1) Only build land one level above sea-level (flooding does not help
at higher levels because water is only harmful and the computer
can rescue his people faster than you can). The higher the land,
the more mana it takes to build it up.
2) Don't make castles right away. By keeping the houses small, you
will generate more walkers and they will populate land faster.
After you have a fairly large area (10+ houses), start making the
inner areas into castles.
3) Make Knights. As soon as you have enough mana to make a knight,
you should do so. Place your papal magnet in the region of most
castles and send your people there.
4) Release walkers from castles early. By creating a small mound or
hole near a castle, the castle will change into a house and a
walker will usually leave earlier than he otherwise would (but he
will not be as strong). This is useful for making strong leaders
to make into knights, or to make walkers to populate the land.
5) Invade his territory. Put your people in fight then settle mode.
Help them get to his land, that way there will be lots of flat
area and you can use your land construction powers to damage some
of his castles and such.
6) Don't stop pressing the mouse button :-). (At higher levels, the
game becomes almost non-stop work.)
If you get really sick of the higher levels, just drop back to one of
the lower levels and play up to the hard levels again.
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The following comments are my own...
I have discovered that sometimes you just can't beat a level. At least not
with your current experience. However, the stuff you learned trying to fight
that level actually will make you better at a previous one. Going back to
those previously fought battles may in fact help you detour around the problem.
In my case, I avoided level 82 by eventually jumping back 2 levels and
replaying level 74 to get around level 78, which *always* sent me to level 82.
My current favorite tactic is to make castles as quickly as possible using this
technique.
1) Preserve your leader at all costs. Even if it means joining your initial
allotment of walkers.
2) Make your leader's hut a castle in any way possible.
3) Pick a line, horizontal or vertical in which to progress in a straight
line. Avoid any line that goes toward your opponent. You can always turn a
corner if you reach the edge of the playing field. While your leader is
incubating in his castle, move the holy symbol on a perfect line from the
center of the castle in your selected direction. Place it at the furthest
point you can manage.
4) Prepare the land to be perfectly flat in the direction of the Symbol.
Make sure that the plot is a minimum of 5x5 squares. Any more and you waste
manna, any less and you run the risk of a runaway leader. If you are careful
you can *just* do it so that the castles don't share land. Any mistake will
become obvious.
5) Set Papal Magnet mode.
6) Raise or lower land under a side wall of the castle until the leader pops
out. He will begin to walk in the direction of the Magnet. The land will be
all prepared for his arrival. When the leader gets 2 units off of the
cultivated castle land, set Settle mode. The leader will move to the next
square and create a new castle.
7) Repeat 4-6 as many times as necessary to get to the Magnet. At the
edge of the playing field, just reset your Holy symbol line in the new
direction and go.
After awhile, it becomes time to watch more closely what the Evil Empire is
doing, so you should accumulate some manna to do your dirty work.
The thing I like the most about this strategy is that the leader will become
super strong really fast if you put the Holy symbol in one of the previous
castles (at the end of the line) and then set Magnet mode again. Pop the
leader and let him walk every castle in the line back to the Holy Symbol.
In the process, he absorbs the strength of each castle he stops at.
Another point in your favor is that this minimizes the range effect of
volcanos, swamps, etc. Also, if an enemy knight is on his way, your leader
can go to meet him, pumping iron all the way in.
Many thanks to all the respondents to my exasperation. I'm now up to level
115 and on cruise control.
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From: {sharkey!rjf001,clip!m-net}!sno-1!sno
Stephen N. Opal (313) 572-1610