Dive Alert FAQ for the Neo Geo Pocket Color Version 1.0 (1/29/04) By Heimdal Gazzo (the_unblinkingeye@yahoo.com) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Table of Contents Intro Story Controls Gameplay - Parts explanation* - Types of weapons - Miscellaneous hints* - Enemies* Walkthrough Parts* Training* Sections marked with a * are incomplete. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ***** Intro ***** Dive Alert is a sort of action/strategy game, in which you pilot a submarine and battle against other submarines as well as various other types of targets. In between missions you can purchase new parts and weapons to equip your sub with, as well as participate in generic "N-Missions" to earn more money and experience, before continuing with the main part of the game, the "S-Missions". The gameplay seems slow paced and sluggish at first (and will always be this way to some extent), but your sub's speed can increase dramatically later on with the right equipment. Currently, this walkthrough only applies to Matt's Version, and not Becky's Version, but, from what little I have played so far of Becky's Version, I have only noticed the following differences: - Becky and Matt have slightly different dialogue (but it's not much different, and the story is the same) - Each version has a different set of Navicoms (all Navicoms in Matt's Version are female, and all in Becky's Version are male) - Each version has a different set of submarine hulls (thus, I assume the only way to complete the Subs section in the Domus is to link with the version opposite to the one you're playing) I will probably play through Becky's Version eventually, and if there are any significant changes to be found, I'll include them in a future version of this FAQ. Also, this is my first FAQ (that I've submitted, anyway), so please excuse this FAQ's extremely poor formatting, disorganized appearance, and any other problems it might have. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ***** Story ***** - - - - - (From the game's introduction) "In the far distant future, the star Sirius B in the constellation of Canis Majoris has inexplicably exploded. The effects of the explosion have stretched through the galaxy, devastating Earth. All of the Earth's major cities have been vaporized, and billions of human lives have been lost. Earthquakes have nearly ripped the Earth apart, and both polar icecaps have melted, flooding the majority of the land and making it inhospitable to the few remaining survivors. By salvaging the remains of their technologically advanced civilization, the survivors have managed to develop a fleet of small submarines. In these submarines, they have abandoned the land to look for a new life, somewhere within the vast ocean that now covers the majority of the Earth's surface. One hundred years have passed since the explosion of Sirius B. Life is no longer what it used to be." - - - - - Basically, you, as Matt or Becky, pilot a submarine, destroying unmaned subs called Automen, in order to earn points. When you have earned enough points, you will be permitted to take an exam to see if you are worthy to be allowed entry into Terra, the paradise city, built, on what little dry land remains on the planet, by Cur Deus Homo, or CDH. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ******** Controls ******** Left and right rotate your submarine (you'll be able to tell because of the compass lines moving) Up moves your sub forward, down moves backward (you won't be able to see any movement if there aren't any enemies onscreen) Option button activates a Sonar sweep, which will give you an updated view of your surroundings (normally, some enemy movements will have a delayed appearance, for example an enemy might have already submerged even though it is still marked with a 1; this might also reveal additional enemies). All movement on the screen stops momentarily while the sonar is active. A button fires your currently selected weapon during a mission, and confirms menu choices B button cancels menu choices, and opens the following menu screen during a mission (note that the enemies continue to move and fire as the menu screen is up) (Weapon 1) > Bal. > Float > Dive (Weapon 2) (Weapon 3) Info Navi Weapons - whatever weapons you have equipped on your SAS. The weapon you select is the one that fires when you press the A button outside the menu screen. Arrows pointing left and right will appear on the sides of your active weapon, and pressing left or right will cycle through the options Bal., Float, and Dive. Bal. is short for Ballast, and is used to quickly move up one depth level. You have a limited amount of these, but you can buy more at a Domus. Make sure to equip them in the set up screen. Float brings you up one depth level, but it takes a few seconds to take effect. Dive is the opposite of Float, bringing you down one depth level. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ******** Gameplay ******** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - A. Parts Explanation Coming Soon (very soon) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - B. Types of weapons Torpedo : These are the standard weapon type, and are usually the most useful. They move forward in a straight line when you fire them, and never rise or sink. G-Torpedo : These are Torpedos that follow nearby enemies instead of moving in a straight line. These aren't particularly useful, IMO, due to their tendency to miss an enemy, and take too much time circling around trying to hit the enemy. Since you can only have 2 fired weapons on screen at a time, this can often prevent you from attacking. Like Torpedos, these also will not change depth levels. Missile : These weapons track a specific enemy that you choose before firing. They're more accurate than G-Torpedos, but they can only be used to attack enemies on the surface. However, you can fire them from any depth level, and they will go up to the surface on their own. Pretty useful. MAny enemies towards the end of the game will use these against you. Mines : When you use one of these, it rises towards the surface of the ocean, and explodes on impact with an enemy. Other than that, it doesn't move. I suppose you could learn to be proficient with this weapon, but it isn't very useful at all. The only enemy in the game that stays at the surface all the time (aside from the Automen in the introductory battle) uses Depth Charges against you, making this weapon useless against it. Depth Charges : The opposite of a Mine, the Depth Charges sink when you use them. Very useful in one particular boss battle, pretty much useless everywhere else. Decoy : I guess this is supposed to draw away enemy fire, or something. I only tried it once, and it didn't seem to work. It might be useful if you can get it to work, but you shouldn't need it anyway. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C. Miscellaneous hints Coming Soon - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - D. Enemies Enemy Name | HP | EXP | Chips SAS-A | 3| 1| 25 SAS-B | 8| 8| 100 SAS-C | 13| 40| 400 SAS-D | 21| 120| 600 SAS-E | 34| 240| 6400 SAS-F | 55| 240|26600 Sea Monster|????| 500| 2500 Amoeba |????| 4000|20000 Clione | 3 8| 25 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - *********** Walkthrough *********** - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Beginning of First Mission - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The goal of your first mission is to rescue an SAS from the Automen attacking it. The first part of the mission is simply to reach a location marked with an X on the map. This area is here for you to get acquainted with the controls, and see how fast your SAS is; there are no enemies here. More dialogue will commence once you travel to the X in this area. The next part of the mission introduces you to Automen, and gives you a good opportunity to try out your weaponry. The only useful weapons here are the KRAIT3 torpedoes, however. These Automen are very easy to defeat; they move slowly, fire infrequently, and never go below the surface of the water. Simply shoot them down with the torpedoes. You'll notice each destroyed enemy drops a crate; these can restore HP, or fuel, or oxygen, or contain any type of submarine parts, from hulls to engines, weapons to ballasts. Most of the ones in this area will contain HP recovery powerups, which you likely won't need. Still, you might want to go after them anyway if you have the patience, as they could contain useful parts. You won't find any parts that aren't sold in the shops at each Domus, but it can still save you some money. One important thing to note is that if you collect a crate containing a weapon that you currently have equipped, it will automatically be added to your equipped stock. Anyway, once you destroy enough of the Automen here, you'll be interrupted by more story scenes. Next up is a more difficult battle. The Automen you face in this final part of the mission are much tougher. They will change depths, move around more, and fire quicker than the Automen you met just before. Don't worry too much if they seem too powerful for you though, as you are supposed to lose this battle. Destroy as many Automen as you can, until your HP drops too low and another story scene begins as you are saved by the Lynx. - - - - - - - - - - - End of First Mission - - - - - - - - - - - After a lot more conversation (including a lengthy explanation of the backstory from your Navicom to Mr. Mihara), you will arrive at a Domus. There is quite a bit to do here. You should definitely go shopping here, particularly to buy more torpedos. In choosing your weapons and parts, you'll need to watch both your remaining money and the weight limit on your sub's hull. If you chose a smaller hull at the beginning, you probably won't have much (or any) space for superior engines, motors, or weapons. If you chose a larger hull, however, there probably is some room to fit better parts, as long as you can afford them. Either way, you can most likely remove the mines and depth charges you started with in favor of more torpedos, or to make room for other improvements. You might find them useful though, so it's up to you. I didn't find much use for either of those types of weapons, but I'll let you know about battles in which I recommend bringing them along. I'm not sure if this was an intentional part of the game's design, but this is basically the only point in the game in which you can earn a worthwhile amount of money from the Training minigame. It's faster than joining the N-Mission, and probably gets you more money right now if you play them both for an equal amount of time. If you don't enjoy the minigame, don't bother playing it after this. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Beginning of Second Mission - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Now you begin your first real mission, an S-Mission. You are ordered to go investigate reports of a Sea Monster. The first part is a "go to location X" objective, just like the first part of the previous mission. This time, however, the X is not on the screen as soon as you begin. You'll have to follow the red arrow on the compass in the lower left corner of the screen until you find the X. You will encounter two types of Automen in this area, SAS-A and SAS-B. SAS-A are pushovers, and the rewards for killing them aren't really worth it. You should be able to kill an SAS-A with a single torpedo. SAS-B is somewhat stronger, and the rewards are much greater. it can take up to three torpedos to kill one of these (even more if, for some reason, you opted to buy weaker torpedos than the ones you started the game with). Kill either type if you want though. It isn't really worth the time to check which type you're facing each time you see an SAS anyway. Make sure you have plenty of torpedos left over when you reach the X. After reaching the X, and the conversation with your Navicom, you will engage in battle with the Sea Monster. It can and will change depths, but not very often. It doesn't fire at you very often either. There isn't much else to say here, just keep hitting it with torpedos until the battle is interrupted by another cutscene. Next up, you fight the Sea Monster again, this time to the finish. It has slightly less HP this time, but it's more agressive. You might need to try dodging some of its attacks this time. Still, it shouldn't be much of a problem as long as your HP and torpedo stock were high enough going into the battle. After the battle (and cutscene), you'll be back at a Domus. - - - - - - - - - - - End of Second Mission - - - - - - - - - - - You'll notice that, before the Domus screen appears, your Navicom will inform you that your submarine has increased an experience level. Technically, it's actually your hull that gains a level. The first hull level up occurs at 1000 EXP. And, since you get 500 EXP for each of the battles you just fought against the Sea Monster, you're guaranteed a level up right here, even if you switched hulls after the introductory mission. With a level up, Size (maximum weight) and Density (HP) values double, and Resistance also increases. So, you'll be able to take more hits and carry a lot more/better equipment, but your maximum speed will decrease. Now, since you have more capacity on your sub, and quite a bit more money, make sure you buy some better equipment. Faster engines/motors, larger fuel tank, better air-tank and battery (so you can stay below the surface longer), and of course, better weapons. You probably won't have enough money for the HYDRA line of torpedos yet, so just get a higher level of KRAIT torpedos. Make sure there's enough space on your sub for a lot of them though. I also suggest bringing missiles along with you for the next mission. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Beginning of Third Mission - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Your next S-Mission involves the investigation of an alleged "Phantom Ship". The first part is, again, a "Go to location X" objective. You know the drill. The enemies this time are mostly SAS-B, with the occasional SAS-C. Hopefully you should be able to kill an SAS-B with a single hit from your new, more powerful weaponry. Two hits at the most. If it takes three hits, your weapons are too weak. The SAS-C has 13 HP compared to the SAS-B's 8, so two to three hits would be expected. Neither type of Automen are much threat, so knock yourself out fighting them. Just make sure you save your missiles (and maybe a few torpedos) for the battle ahead. After reaching the X, the the next part of the mission is a battle against the phantom ship, which you now know is called "The Flying Dutchman", or Flying-D, as it is referred to in the info menu. The Dutchman will travel towards the west throughout the battle. As the Dutchman is a ship, and not a submarine, it can only stay at the surface. When you're on the surface the Dutchman will fire torpedos at you, but they aren't that difficult to dodge, and the aren't fired frequently anyway. Still, it's safer to dive if you have the right weaponry with you. Mines are no good, because the Dutchman uses depth charges. So, simply stay at depth level 2, and fire missiles. If you get impatient, use a ballast to go back to the surface, attack with some torpedos, and dive again before you sustain too much damage. After inflicting a certain amount of damage, the battle will end with another cutscene. - - - - - - - - - - - End of Third Mission - - - - - - - - - - - You know what to do now, buy whatever you couldn't afford last time, and restock your weaponry. It'll be a while before your hull levels up again. You might want to try N-Mission a few times to speed it up a bit, especially if you could use some extra cash. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Beginning of Fourth Mission - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Yet another "Go to location X" for the first part of the mission. There are SAS-C Automen here, and sometimes you might see a SAS-D. There isn't much difficulty here, but these enemies do fire their torpedos pretty quickly. Stick around and earn some experience and money if you like, but, as usual, make sure to save some HP and ammunition for the boss. Next up after going to the X is the boss of this mission, the Amoeba. There's only one round against this guy, so don't worry about saving ammo. The Amoeba can fire Missiles (or some amoeba equivalent) if you're on the surface, and G-Torpedos when you and the Amoeba are at the same depth level. All you need to do, though, is hit it with a lot of torpedos. It doesn't fire that often, so dodging isn't necessary, just as long as you stay underwater. If the Amoeba ever goes to the surface, take advantage and fire lots of Missiles at it. Be careful when firing Torpedos, because the Amoeba can change depth levels quickly. After you defeat him, the mission is complete. - - - - - - - - - - - End of Fourth Mission - - - - - - - - - - - After that battle, you should be getting close to 10,000 experience points, which is where your hull will gain another level. You might have even already reached that if you've played enough N-Missions, and haven't changed hulls. If not, don't worry about it now. But, if you aren't at hull level 3 by the end of this next mission, make sure to play the N-Missions until you get there. Upgrade your parts as you see fit, but make sure you buy and equip some Depth Charges for the next mission - at least 25 of them, and preferrably strong ones. Equip at least 3 Ballasts, as well. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Beginning of Fifth Mission - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Move to position X, as usual. Right away you should notice an increase in difficulty in this mission; the usual enemies here are SAS-D, they have Missiles, and they won't hesitate to use them. To avoid serious damage, and possible destruction, dive immediately and don't go up to the surface for very long. As you might expect, there are a few SAS-E's in this mission as well. You'll get a whole lot of money for killing them. Both types of Automen in this mission are also very good sources of experience. You'll certainly need to pay closer attention to your HP than ever this time if you decide to stay here to fight them for a while. The boss battle here is against the Clione. This is definitely a strange battle - the Clione ram into you repeatedly, damaging both you and them, until they die. They only have 3 HP, so they die quickly, but there are a lot of them, and you've likely lost some HP on the way here. You might have also noticed that you start at the fourth depth level in this battle. The trick here is to go to the surface immediately. The Clione can only go up to depth level 2, so when you're at the surface they just swarm directly underneath you. Here's where the depth charges come in. I haven't checked, but I imagine even the weakest depth charges could kill these guy with one hit. All you need to do is keep pressing the A button until the battle ends. An interesting thing to note is that this is the first time in the game that you'll see more than three enemies on the screen at the same time - but not the last. After destroying many, many Clione, you'll arrive at the final part of this mission, which is really quite simple. All you need to do here is go up to the surface, and you're done. - - - - - - - - - - - End of Fifth Mission - - - - - - - - - - - Believe it or not, the next mission is the last one. It is very long, however, and pretty difficult. You'll need to have a level 3 hull, as I mentioned before. If you don't have one yet, play the N-Mission until you reach 10,000 EXP. Spend all the money you need to, get the best equipment you can afford, and equip all the weapons you can carry, but only Torpedos and Missiles (maybe G-Torpedos if you like them). - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Beginning of Sixth Mission - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Finally, a mission that doesn't start with a move to position X objective. This first round is a battle against lots of Automen. You'll encounter both SAS-D and SAS-E, and like in last mission, they both have Missiles, so try not to stay on the surface. Grab the item drops whenever you can afford to; you'll be needing a lot of HP and weapons. After destroying a lot of subs, a very long story sequence ensues. After that, you face two Guardians, or Gur-bots (...). There's also some SAS-E's around. Again, you'll want to avoid the surface. Destroy the Automen if it's convenient, but focus on the Gur-bots, because the battle ends as soon as they're destroyed. You'll be able to tell them apart from the Automen because they're usually a somewhat different shape. You probably won't have any opportunities to collect powerups from destroyed Automen, so just try to defeat the Gur-bots as fast as possible to avoid damage. They don't change depths very quickly, so just fire your torpedos rapidly. Next, after another very long story scene, is a battle against a single Guardian. There's still Automen around though. Again, stay off the surface, and just destroy the Guardian as fast as possible. It doesn't seem to be any stronger than the Guardians you fought before, so this should be an easier battle, but you should hurry all the same. Now we arrive at the final battle, against Na Louadch, or, uh, Lou-Lou. That isn't really a very threatening name, but don't let your guard down. There are still SAS-E's to fight against as well. Na Louadch has roughly the HP of 2 Guardians, but it's also pretty slow, so just fire torpedos at it repeatedly, and as usual, stay below the surface whenever possible. Change depths whenever multiple torpedos or missiles are approaching as well. Focus on Na Louadch at first, but be careful, because even after you defeat it, the fight won't end until you destroy the remaining Automen as well. After that, well, the game's over! I don't know about you, but I was expecting it to be longer. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - End of Sixth Mission (And the game) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - There is a bit more to do once you've completed the game, however. After the credits, the game will return to the title screen. If you choose Continue, you'll find that you have started the game again from the beginning, only you have all the parts, experience, and money you had at the end of the game. Also, unlike when you first started the game, you're in a Domus before you start the first mission. Obviously, this makes playing through the game again a lot easier, and it also allows you to continue levelling up your hull, or to level up different hulls. In addition, you can now press the Option button to skip any story sequence. I've already played through a second time, hoping to find a new mission or something, but found nothing. I'm a bit confused by this, because, in the game's introduction, you see a robot's head, similar to the Guardians, with the name "Machio" beside it. I'm pretty sure that isn't the name of any of the 4 Guardians, and you never hear about or see this Machio during the course of the game. Maybe if you get a hull to level 5? Or maybe you can unlock something by seeing all the subs in the game? - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ******** Training ******** This game is kind of fun, but it doesn't have any benefit except at the very beginning of the game. After that, it just takes too long for such a small amount of money. But, in case you're curious, I've compiled point gains for most of the targets. Some of these may be incorrect, and some are incomplete, but I'm in no hurry to finish this section, given how unimportant it is to the game. Description of target | # of shots | Front row | Middle Row | Back row ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Small purple sub | 1 shot | 1 point | 1 point | 1 point Smallish orange sub | 2 shots | 3 points | 3 points | 4 points Yellow ship | 2 shots | 4 points | 5 points | 6 points Green ship | 3 shots | 8 points | 9 points | 12 points Purple ship | 3 shots | 9 points | 10 points | 13 points Octopus |10? shots |36 points | 46 points | ??? Clock* | 1 shot | 3 points | 3 points | 3 points Surfing stick figure**| 1 shot | 3 points | 3 points | 3 points Pink flower*** | 1 shot | 3 points | 3 points | 3 points *Shooting the clock gives you extra time **Shooting the stick figure gives you extra ammo ***Shooting the pink flower temporarily freezes the clock and ammo supply - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Copyright and whatnot This FAQ may not changed without my permission. This FAQ is not intended to be sold in any way. The only website currently permitted to use this FAQ is GameFAQs (www.gamefaqs.com). No other websites may post this FAQ without my permission. If you wish to post this FAQ on your website, ask me about it via the e-mail address at the top of the document, and I will consider granting permission. And so on, and so forth.