Vidmaster Tips & Tricks: Bigger Guns Nearby
Hang Time
OK so what's so hard about Bigger Guns Nearby to warrant a Vid tip? The end! That tricky trap right before the last room (point A on the map below). You know the one, where the four S'pht (Compilers) drop down infront of and behind you - real spooky like!
"Ha! no problem I'll just blast them with the Big Gun." Hmmm..."Oh! you want me to use my fist? Ok... still no problem I'll just spring the trap, run back and take the S'pht out one by one as they follow me single file back down the corridor."
<yawn> holding down the ] key <yawn>
"err... ok so it's a bit boring... not my fault... what do you want me to do? Run into the final room and mix it with the blue Pfhor fighters waiting for me up on the ledge... and those Compilers breathing down my neck... yeah sure!... get REAL..."
Move fast... seize the initiative... dive into the mêlée... strike hard... endure! Just Vid It - With Style!
Some interesting points about Bigger Guns Nearby. It's the first level where grenade hopping can be useful. Accessing the raised corridor at point B on the map will get you some extra ammo for the Assault Rifle. In the Marathon demo a Tozt-7 Flame Unit was to be found here. Too easy to find I guess so it was removed and hidden on Smells Like Napalm, Tastes Like Chicken!. In the raised corridor between the two BioVent Core Rooms (point C on the map) there is a Hypervision BCE (BCE = Biobus Chip Enhancement). While this BCE gives you some advantage in locating Pfhor in the darker areas later on it can be a positive hinderance when dealing with the S'pht.
Interesting to note that grenade hopping was originally referred to as Hang Time by Bungie in their secret terminal on Try again:
Hang Time. Point down at the floor, run forwards, and launch a grenade or missile.
Jason Jones (Bungie Software) had this to say about the technique:
"grenade hopping" is what people have named the technique which involves pointing down at the ground, running forward and shooting grenades at your feet. the effect is that you can "jump" up on ledges. this is not required anywhere in the game, except to get to secret areas, but it does come in handy a few times. I won't say much about the hidden areas, except that you can find all the weapons a few levels ahead of the time if you look close enough (there's a really cool secret room on the last level, ignie ferroque).
Bigger Guns Nearby is one of those levels where once you go beyond a certain point there is no going back. In this level once you drop down into BioVent Core #88A you can't return to recharge or access the pattern buffer. This of course means that if you want to get the Hypervision BCE you're going to need sufficient shields to grenade hop AND finish the level. Not easy!
??? get your guns... is a dive into the mêlée - fist only type film of this level. The film was prompted by a recent film in the May-June '97 issue of Marathon Magazine.
Oh boy! Another vid film prompted by those films in the Marathon Magazine. Jimmy Mitchell <jmitch@erskine.edu> takes to the decks of the UESC Marathon and kicks some Pfhor butt. Bigger Guns? is a dive into the mêlée - fist only type film. Better than the old timer's above? You be the judge. Oh! to be young again. ;-)
Think you need to Hang Time to reach the secret ammo cache at point B on the map above? Think again! Jimmy Mitchell <jmitch@erskine.edu> shows a different way in his vidtip film Hang Time Not!.
OK it says above that "once you drop down into BioVent Core #88A you can't return to recharge or access the pattern buffer". Jimmy Mitchell <jmitch@erskine.edu> proves this to be wrong in his package Frog Blast the Vent Core. Jimmy's package also contains the first ever no hits, all secrets shown film of this level.