======| GUNGAGE CHARACTER UNLOCKING GUIDE V2.0 |=============================== g ee G g eeeee GG g ggg gg eeeeeee GGGG g as gggg ggg eee eeee GGGGGGGGGG ggg gg aaaaaaa ggg ggg eeeeeee GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG n gggggggg aaa aaa ggg ggg eee eee GGGGGGGGGGGGGG G nnn nnnn ggg ggg aaa aaa gggg ggg eeeeeee GGGGGGG Guuuu uuu nnnn nnn gg ggg aaaaaaa ggggggg e GGGGGG GGGGGGGG uuu uuu nnn nnn ggg gggg aaa a ggg ggg GGGGGG GGGGG uuu uuu nnn nnn ggggggg ggg ggg GGGGGGGGGG GGGGGG uuu uuuu nnn nn ggg ggg gggg GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG uuuu uu n ggg gg gg GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG uu gggg g GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG g GGGGG GGG GG +------------------------------------------------------+ G | Apart from the world we live in, there is another | | realm that has a different time and progression. | | A realm called 'Dark Moon'. | =======================| Suddenly, at ancient ruins scattered upon our world, | | gateways to this realm appeared. And from these, the | | 'beasts' came forth to ravage our people. | | The time of reckoning is upon us. | +------------------------------------------------------+ Version 2.0 (30/04/2002) Australian date format: Day/Month/Year by Bloomer aka Wade Clarke [email: bloomer@iprimus.com.au] ascii title by Mattasaur aka Matt Scheurich =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= * CONTENTS * =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. Legal Thrills 2. Introduction and Thank Yous 3. Preface - What you need to know 4. Character Unlocking Progression 5. How to Unlock Each Extra Character * Steyr Harquebus * Kard Berdysh * Dee Van Feng 6. Quickest Path To Unlock All Characters From Scratch! 7. Character Unlocking Q+A 8. The End . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1 Legal Thrills 1 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Wade Clarke is the author of this FAQ. Its contents are my intellectual property, except for the title art which was created by Matt Scheurich. This FAQ is never to be used for profit or distributed commercially in any way. It is for private and personal use only. You can distribute only the unedited FAQ freely to friends. I'm happy for you to post this FAQ in its entirety to any non-commercial website or venue you like, so long as you ask me first in email. Commercial use/plagiarism of this FAQ etc is a quick path to invite your ruin through legal channels or worse! Gungage itself is (C) KCET (C) Konami Japan. All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2 Introduction and Thank Yous 2 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I picked up Konami's majestic blasting game Gungage at Christmas time 2000. It was Aus $20 brand new - I'd never even heard of it. There's nothing better than buying a game completely cold and finding out that it's a beauty. I went looking for more info on the game. There was only one FAQ to be found for it on the net. Benandanti's cool all-rounder Gungage FAQ continues to help me out to this day, and inspired me to write my first FAQ ever (this one). However Benandanti's FAQ is quite vague on the topic of what you have to do to unlock the game's three extra characters, and at one point incorrect. That's where this FAQ comes in. The sole purpose of this FAQ is to impart all possible information on what you have to do to unlock the three extra characters in Gungage, namely Kard Berdysh, Steyr Harquebus, and Dee Van Feng. Apart from telling you every way of unlocking them, I will specifically tell you the fastest and shortest way to unlock all three from scratch. !!!! NOTE BENE !!!! You're reading Version 2.0 of this FAQ, which is a MASSIVE update from version 1.0. Much of the information in the previous version of the FAQ has been entirely superseded, all stemming from the strangely un-shocking revelation that you can unlock Kard with Wakle. If you have any copies of the obsolete version 1.0 on your website (or maybe even your hard drive), please remove them and replace them with this one. Thanks! Before we start, my sincere thanks to the following Gungage players without whom there would never have been the belated update to this FAQ. In chronological order, >>> 1. Benandanti AKA Stewart Methven Wrote the first English Gungage FAQ and inspired me to write this one. >>> 2. Orion Douglas AKA Richard Hunter Orion was the first guy to mail me and say, 'Hey, your FAQ is wrong! You can get Kard with Wakle!' >>> 3. Led X The second guy to chime in on the 'Kard' issue, and all he got for his troubles was confusion. >>> 4. Chris McGuire The lucky third guy to chime in. >>> 5. Mattasaur AKA Matt Scheurich The fourth wild Kard, and it was the arrival of Mattasaur's email which spurred me to overhaul this FAQ after a year of complaints trickling in about its shame-faced datedness. Also, Mattasaur then went on to design the foxy ascii art title for this FAQ, from which you are no doubt still reeling. . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3 Preface - What you need to know 3 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= With close reading you can use this FAQ even if you've yet to play a single game of Gungage. But it will be much easier to follow (and probably more fun for you) if you've already at least played the game a bit with the principal character Wakle Skade, and if you've completed it with Wakle, all the better. (Which incidentally means you probably unlocked one character already. But which one? And how did it happen? All shall be revealed.) Here are the major points to keep in mind on your mission to play everyone: < 1 > WHAT'S THE BASIC METHOD OF UNLOCKING CHARACTERS? In Gungage, new characters are generally unlocked by performing simple actions at a few key locations in the game with characters you've already got access to. You might have to walk up to a poster or some other object until your character 'has a look at it'. In one case, you'll unlock a character simply by passing a certain level. It's really simple. You just need to know when and where the 'hotspots' are. Also consider the overall layout of the game: There are nine levels in Gungage, and each character plays through all nine levels, but in a different set order to each of the other characters. The path through the levels and the accessibility of different areas within the levels varies slightly between characters. < 2 > THE 'QUITTING TRICK' - REALLY IMPORTANT! You may not have realised, but you never have to finish the game even once to unlock any particular character, or indeed all four. The moment you have fulfilled the conditions to unlock a new character, you can voluntarily quit the game you're playing (press L1 + R1 + Start + Select), return to the frontend screen, and find that the new character will be available for playing. We'll call this 'The Quitting Trick'. * Incidentally, the quitting trick also works for flower collecting. If you quit a game in this manner, you still keep all the flowers you collected during that session. Section 6 of this FAQ will show you how by using this quitting trick, and playing just two of the four characters, and playing only parts of five levels of the game through three sessions, you can unlock everyone from the position of a blank memory card pretty damn quickly. --- After you've unlocked any characters, don't forget to save your Gungage data to a memory card before you turn off your Playstation, or obviously you'll lose your progress. I STRONGLY recommend you just turn the 'autosave' feature on the first time you play the game and leave it on forever so that you will never have to think about this issue. You have nothing to lose by doing so. It's all gain. < 3 > DEATH IS IRRELEVANT I've always wanted to say that. What does it actually mean? As an extension of the 'Quitting Trick' it just means that immediately after you perform the required action to unlock some character, that character is available to you, no matter what you do now. Whether you keep on playing through to win the game, or die where you stand, or die later, or quit back to the main menu - with autosave on, you've got that character unlocked and nobody can prise him/her from your kung-fu grip! . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4 Character Unlocking Progression 4 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Here are the laws of character progression: - You start playing with Wakle. - Wakle can unlock either Steyr or Kard in one game, but not both at once. Wakle will always unlock Kard if he reaches the final level, level 9, without having spotted a wanted poster for Steyr prior to that point. This makes Kard the 'default' character gain for Wakle. - Kard can unlock both Dee and Steyr in one game. Particular actions are required to unlock each character, therefore when playing Kard it's also possible to unlock only one of the aforementioned characters, or the other, or neither. - Steyr can always take the necessary action to unlock Kard in her game, but she can only unlock Dee if Kard has been unlocked by Wakle or herself in a PREVIOUS game. I.E. She can't unlock both Kard and Dee in one game, but could unlock both over two successive games. - Dee can only unlock Steyr. With these laws taken into account, coming up is a table listing every possible path to unlocking all four characters. This table is included to demonstrate the flexibility of the game and as information for completists. Some of these paths require a lot of unnecessary work, but we're not talking strategy yet, I'm just listing all possibilities. --- TABLE EXPLANATION Each line in a path list represents a game of Gungage that you played and its outcome. E.G. Taking path 1 as an example... 'Wakle -> Kard' means 'You play a game as Wakle who unlocks Kard. Then the second line says 'Kard -> Steyr and Dee' which means 'Next, you play a game as Kard who unlocks Steyr and Dee.' And then you've got all four characters, so that path is completed. Note that the 'or' alternatives offered for two of the messier paths demonstrate only a superficial change in the order of games you'd play on that path. Here is the full list of possible paths. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1. Wakle -> Kard Kard -> Steyr and Dee 2. Wakle -> Kard Kard -> Dee Wakle -> Steyr or Wakle -> Kard Wakle -> Steyr Kard-> Dee 3. Wakle -> Kard Kard -> Dee Dee -> Steyr 4. Wakle -> Kard Kard -> Dee Kard -> Steyr or Wakle -> Kard Kard -> Steyr Kard -> Dee 5. Wakle -> Steyr Steyr -> Kard Kard-> Dee 6. Wakle -> Steyr Steyr -> Kard Steyr -> Dee ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Path 1 is the simplest and least fiddly in terms of playing full games of Gungage, and potentially the best way to go if you're new to this game. You play through and win as Wakle, then again as Kard who unlocks Steyr and Dee en route, and then you've unlocked everyone. Path 6, au contraire, is the swiftest. Consider that in path 1 you played eighteen full levels of Gungage to unlock everyone. On path 6, with judicious use of the Quitting Trick, you're gonna play only five levels to unlock everyone, and on some of those levels you're only going to play a fraction of the level! This method is for people who are desperate to be able to play anyone they want Right Now, and for those who want it up their sleeves as a party trick, and so you can be one of those HARDCORE GUNGAGE FANS, right?! Or something like that. The details of the path 6 method are fully described in section 6 of this FAQ, 'Quickest Path To Unlock All Characters From Scratch!' . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5 How to Unlock Each Extra Character 5 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1. UNLOCKING STEYR HARQUEBUS ----------------------------- The only reason I describe Steyr first is because once you know about her, the info for unlocking Kard makes more sense. *** Using Wakle to get Steyr *** You must spot and read a wanted poster for Steyr at some point in your game. Simply walk up nice and close to the poster and wait for Wakle to make one of his witty remarks, such as 'Steyr Harquebus... I will remember that name'. From that moment on, Steyr is yours. Wakle has two opportunities to spot a Steyr poster in his game: --- 1st Poster Location: In Town (Level 1 for Wakle) There is a wanted poster for Steyr on the back of one of the large destructible 'houses'/crates, the one that is on your right as you ascend the very first set of steps you ever see in the game. As you approach this crate initially, the poster is facing away from you so that you won't see it. If you destroy the crate before you have inspected the back of it, you will destroy the poster too. To get Steyr now (instead of on level 7 as Wakle), climb the steps first, walk around the back of the crate and read the poster before you consider blasting the crate. Remember, once you've read the poster, you can if you wish do the Quitting Trick (L1 + R1 + Start + Select), zip back to the frontend of the game and play Steyr immediately if you've been pining for her. --- 2nd Poster Location: In the Subway (level 7 for Wakle) In the very first room of the subway, in which Wakle starts the level, there's a Steyr poster on one of the walls in the corner. Nothing tricky about this one... walk around the edge of the room with your eyes open and you can't miss it. *** Using Kard to get Steyr *** For Kard, it's almost the same deal as if you were playing Wakle. You need to spot one of those same two Steyr posters. The difference is that for Kard the Town comes as level 6 and the Subway is level 5. The circumstances of the Subway poster are exactly the same as described for Wakle. There's one subtle difference in the circumstances for the Town poster. When Kard arrives at the relevant part of the level, he finds that immediately next to the poster crate is another crate which is actually blocking his progress through the level. If you want to see the Steyr poster here, make sure you only shoot the LEFT crate out of your way to allow yourself to go up the stairs. The RIGHT crate is the one with Steyr's poster on the back of it. *** Using Dee to get Steyr *** Due to his path through the Subway level, Dee never gets to see the Steyr poster there. So the only way to unlock Steyr whilst playing Dee is to spot the poster in the Town, which is Dee's level 5. Like Kard, Dee will find an extra crate blocking his path right next to the poster crate. Make sure to zap only the LEFT crate, then walk up the stairs and look at the poster on the back of the other crate. 2. UNLOCKING KARD BERDYSH -------------------------- *** Using Wakle to get Kard *** This is lengthy but easy. Simply play on through the game as Wakle but DON'T read any of the wanted posters with Steyr's face on them. If you successfully avoid both posters (and that's not hard, it's actually the default state of affairs), when you start level 9, you will overhear two of the imperial goons complaining like this: 'Damn! This must be Kard Berdysh's fault.' That's your cue that you've got Kard. Once the level starts properly, you can use the Quitting Trick at any time and you'll find Kard unlocked back on the Start screen. If Wakle looked at a Steyr poster, you will NOT get Kard at the end of the game. You will get Steyr. *** Using Steyr to get Kard *** Level 2 for Steyr is the Lab. Head on through the level until you come to the Computer Room. This is the spacious dead-end room with four desks: two with chairs and two with computer terminals. Remember when you played through Wakle's game for the first time? (If you did in full.) The Lab was level 8 for him, and you had to use the left computer terminal in the Computer Room to alter the security level. It opened a door nearby for you so you could continue through the level. And the right terminal gave you information about the Dark Moon gateway. So now you're playing Steyr - march up to the computer terminals again. Using the left one still alters the security levels. You'll only need to do that if you intend to finish playing this level with Steyr. The right one is the one which unlocks Kard. When Steyr uses it, she says: '"Ruzerno Bradford Kard Berdysh" Names only. This is a mere database.' You've just unlocked Kard back on the frontend screen. 3. UNLOCKING DEE VAN FENG -------------------------- *** Using Steyr to get Dee *** PREREQUISITE: You have already unlocked Kard in a previous game with either Wakle or Steyr. !!! YOU CAN'T GET KARD AND DEE IN THE SAME GAME USING STEYR !!! Fire up a new game with Steyr. Once again, play through to level 2, the Lab. A previously locked door at the end of a corridor will have opened up, IF you've already unlocked Kard and started a new game since unlocking him. Let me give you your bearings for this door: You will find this newly-opened door after you pass through the earthy tunnel containing two pairs of flaming jets in the floor, which you had to destroy to pass by. (Well, maybe you didn't destroy them, maybe you just walked through them, incinerating yourself.) Once you emerge from the end of that earthy tunnel, RIGHT takes you through an automatic door onto a bridge. LEFT takes you down the desired corridor to the previously locked room, which I'm gonna call 'The Capsule Room'. There are several capsules in here which hold humanoid figures, and which have computer terminals at their heads. The last capsule (furthest from you when you enter) has no-one inside it. When you inspect it (just walk right up to it), you'll discover it contained a 'Dee Van Feng'. You've just unlocked Dee back on the frontend screen. *** Using Kard to get Dee *** Fire up a new game with Kard. Play through to the Lab, which for this character is level 4. Kard begins the lab level in the Computer Room. Don't let that throw you, 'cos the Capsule Room hasn't moved. Proceed to the Capsule Room and inspect the capsule as per the method mentioned above for Steyr. You've just unlocked Dee back on the frontend screen. . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6 Quickest Path To Unlock All Characters From Scratch! 6 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ok here it is, the SPEED UNLOCKING GUIDE! When I say 'scratch' you know what I mean. Let's pretend you started up Gungage for the first time. You have no high scores, no data saved, no extra characters, nothing. Here's the fastest path to unlock everyone from ground zero, or probably from anyplace else you're at. You might as well set the difficulty to 'easy' before you start, if you wanna accelerate this process even further. --- Remember, for further details on anything mentioned in this 'Quickest Path' section, refer back to the specific sections of this FAQ detailing the unlocking of each particular character. If you've been reading this FAQ even a bit closely, it'll all make sense to you already. Here we go. Start your first game (with Mr. Wakle Skade of course). It's level 1, the Town. Move on through the level 'til you come to that crate by the first set of stairs you ever see in Gungage. Resist the temptation to blast the crate the way you blast everything else, and go 'round the back of it. There's Steyr's poster! Admire it. You just got Steyr. Now do the aforementioned Quitting Trick - L1 + R1 + Start + Select. You're at the frontend menu. Steyr is selectable. Start a new game with Steyr. Level 1 is the Subway. For Steyr, it's a bit more savage than you're used to with Wakle (except the boss, who's easier). Clear level 1. Now it's level 2, the Lab. Get as far as the Computer Room. Use the terminal on the right to read the database which mentions Kard Berdysh's name. You just got Kard. Do the quitting trick. You're at the frontend again. All this leaping from character to character isn't doing much for your attention span, I know, but it's getting results. Kard is selectable, but forget about him for now and choose Steyr again. Do it again: clear level 1, the Subway, get to level 2, the Lab. Take Steyr to the newly opened Capsule Room. Inspect the furthest capsule - it used to house Dee Van Feng. You just got Dee. Do the quitting trick. That's it. And you only played parts of five levels in total, from a pool of only three of the game's nine levels. . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7 Character Unlocking Q+A 7 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Here are some questions I dare to imagine you might have, and the answers to them. Q: Is this FAQ more bulletproof than the old version? Some of that info was damn shoddy! A: Yes, I assure you I am far older and wiser now. A whole year! And thanks to the emails of concerned Gungagers like yourself, this FAQ should now be 99% accurate or better. Q: Can Wakle ever get into the Capsule Room? Even if I've unlocked a bunch of characters already? A: No. The Capsule Room is always locked for Wakle. The bad guys have a policy of preventing awkwardly named people from entering. Q: Does difficulty setting have any bearing on unlocking characters? A: No. Whether you play easy, normal or hard, you will have to do the same things to unlock any particular character. Therefore, when dealing with the repetitious elements, you can speed it up by making life easier for yourself and, uh, selecting 'easy' difficulty. Q: Is there any reason not to use the autosave feature? Could I stuff up somehow and lose a character, or it'd take me longer to unlock it, by my doing something wrong? A: No. Autosave is 100% goodness. You can never damage your progress with character unlocking or flower collection, you can only ever add to your totals. Gungage is an extremely friendly game. Just look at the Quitting Trick. Q: I showed my girlfriend/boyfriend the speed unlocking trick but s/he still wasn't impressed. Now what do I do? A: No gamer can fail to be impressed by that trick. Diagnosis: Your love interest is not a gamer. This isn't an issue I can help you with. . =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8 The End 8 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I now hope that I've covered everything about unlocking the three extra characters, but of course nobody really knows when they've learned everything about one thing. If you have further information or suggestions (to do with unlocking characters only, and/or this FAQ) or constructive comments, you can email me at: bloomer@iprimus.com.au I don't plan on writing a general FAQ for Gungage or adding other major topics to this one in future, so don't bother asking about that. The most important info, such as the locations of all one hundred flowers, is already covered in Benandanti's FAQ. I will however update this FAQ you are reading if more relevant information (character unlocking) comes to light. People who wanna say thanks in email are always welcome, hehe. Finally, thanks Lisa and thanks to my friends. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Gungage is (C) KCET (C) Konami Japan. All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged This FAQ is (C) Wade Clarke 2002