THE WOLF PACK - PART 1

Level by JesseG

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth, using the builder's detailed notes (and section headings)

ENTERING THE BASE

As the level begins, our protagonist arises from a small subterranean pool as if being baptized for the ordeal to come.  According to the builder's readme, the setting is Mars, and the wolf you see is a result of his forebear Luke's earlier struggles aboard the Strabo Starship. Note that you have no weapons, and run N to a sandy gap. (If you jump along the way, you'll experience firsthand Mars' lower gravity.) Down below is a flameblower robot, so you obviously must go elsewhere.  Get up on the ledge and grab the ceiling bars.  Monkey swing halfway across the room.  The robot has stiff joints and can't fire up. When you reach the end, keep the up arrow key depressed.  You will turn in place and jump to climb the ladder to an upper room with flares. Note the bars covering the opening to your left.

Pull the skeleton back and pick up the iPHONE 25s it was covering. Examine it now for some helpful tips regarding the new moves you will employ during your adventure, as well as a bit of advice from the previous owner. Note the metal handles on the crate beside you.  On the S side is one you can pull off for later use as a CROWBAR.  The bars formerly blocking the E opening are now gone, so go on through and notice the Quad Bike parked down to your left.  You still need a key for it, so continue down to where that flameblower robot is waiting for you.

Grab the overhead monkey bars, monkey swing around to your right and drop onto the crate.  Quickly (because the flames can reach you here) turn around and run jump to the SE crate (watch out for the low ceiling) and hop up to the ledge.  Look up SW and you can see a Duke Nukem-like android patrolling another small room where the former bars have been removed.  Jump into the opening and keep the action key depressed.  To your delight you see that a whack from the crowbar kills the android and allows you to pick up the PISTOLS he dropped.

Now that you're armed, hop down to the ledge and shoot that flameblower robot.  When it is vanquished it drops the QUAD BIKE KEY.  There's also a small medipack in the NE corner, and the small chest on the SW crate hides shotgun ammo.  Get on the Quad Bike and drive it down into the flameblower robot room and up the NW ramp.  Remember, the shift key puts you in reverse and the walk key restores you to forward gear. You mount from either side but dismount by using the jump and left arrow keys. Dismount if you like and look around this confined area.  There's another small medipack at the end of the SE alley.  Get back on the Quad Bike and drive up the S slope to get outside.

As you approach the N ramp a message appears on your screen: Press JUMP just before impact!  So save your game, back up and gun the Quad Bike N over the ramp toward the wall ahead.  The instant before you crash land on the metal deck below, hit the jump key to be ejected and perform a neat somersault while the Quad Bike explodes in flames.

THE NUCLEAR WING

Safety drop from the metal deck and slide down N to a second slope.  Jump forward over the hole before the boulder overtakes you. Continue W and jump up the slope to trigger a flyby. Pull up into the N crawl space and shoot the grate. Drop down into the room below and shoot the advancing robot (which acts like a tinman, so shoot it full in the chest).  Pick up the NUCLEAR WING KEY it dropped and go to the receptacle in the N wall. Press the action key to download new information for your iPhone 5s (hit the Page Down key to access it).  Search the cabinet to your left for a small medipack. Place the Nuclear Wing Key in the receptacle in the W wall (notice other gates in this room requiring similar keys of different colors) to lift the adjacent gate.

Enter the passage into a radioactive area.  Retreat to this hallway as often as necessary to restore your health.  According to the builder, you can remain exposed for two minutes at a time. The door ahead opens automatically (leave the passage to your right for later).  A robot awaits you inside.  If you lure it to that passage and stand at the foot of the stairs, it might sidle past you and get stuck in the stairwell and leave you alone.  Anyway, turn right in the new room and download more data for your iPhone via the receptacle in the N wall.    

Reverse roll and run past the central ramp and the overhead purple circuit board into the sandy S side room.  There's a flamethrower robot hiding behind the crate ahead, so hop onto the crate to flush it out and dispose of it. If it sneakily takes up a position next to the crate so that you can't target it, jump back to the entrance hall and open fire from there. When it expires it drops a pack of grappling hooks.  I suggest you refer to the builder's readme now so you'll be alert to certain quirks regarding the grappling hooks. 

You could shoot the lower grate in the E wall and crawl through, but the extreme toxicity in the next room would do you in.  Wait until you have the Radi-Sponge for protection.  Instead, hop back onto the crate and shoot the higher grate in the E wall.  Jump there, wait for the laser to retreat, crawl forward, shoot the second grate at the far end and jump out quickly (up arrow and jump keys) before the laser returns.  Search the small chest in the room below for the GRAPPLING GUN and the larger cabinet for a large medipack.  Return the same way you came and restore your health.

Go toward the N side room and find your way blocked by a trench filled with deadly green goo.  Get out your grappling gun with its built-in laser sight and shoot the enclosed ceiling fan to release a rope.  You can't reach the rope with a simple running jump, so use a sprint jump (check your iPhone) to give you the extra boost you need to grab it.  Swing forward and jump to the other side.  Climb the ladder and pull up at the top in a crouched position to avoid the lasers.  Turn the corner and stand up to face a gauntlet of squishy blocks.

Pass the first two squishy blocks.  At the third one, dash into the alcove on your right, pull back the skeleton and pick up the RADI-SPONGE.  As its name suggests, it soaks up more of the deadly radiation you may henceforth encounter and thus gives you additional time to perform needed tasks, and it also makes you immune to the purple smog in the room with the first secret.  Time a run to your right past the squishy block and run up the ramp into a dark alcove.  No need to waste a flare; just pull up to your right into a crawl space.  Pull down the wall switch at the end of the passage to release the trap door beneath your feet and drop you down onto a familiar ramp where two of those Duke Nukem lookalikes are waiting.  One of them drops a yellow ELECTRIC WING KEY.

Go back up the ramp onto which you dropped and turn the wheel in the far wall.  The wall turns translucent, and according to the builder this means that power to this wing has been deactivated.  Also, the overhead tube with the corresponding color down in the room with the receptacles (which I'll refer to as the hub room) also becomes translucent. Go back down the ramp and loop around right to re-enter the sandy flameblower room.  Shoot the grate in the lower E crawl space unless you've already done so, crawl through but don't drop down into the deadly goo below.  Shimmy right until you're able to drop down safely.   Turn around and run to the other end of the ledge for SECRET #1 and pick up the shotgun ammo and the uzi ammo.

THE ELECTRICAL WING

Return to the E passage, where there's no further exposure to radiation, and the exit door opens upon your approach. Go across the room to the yellow receptacle in the E wall and insert the Electric Wing Key to lift the adjacent gate.  Enter and turn into either of the left passages.  Jump into the water, find a large medipack in the weeds near the E wall and follow the N tunnel to a sandy area where you trigger a flyby.  A Duke Nukem android has maliciously electrified the water you just exited (no, don't test it), so run S to the other end of this outdoor area. Hop up E to find an opening you can crawl into for SECRET #2. Pick up the small medipack and uzi ammo, then pull back out of the crawl space. This can be tricky.  Face W with your back against the E wall in the NE corner, jump forward and you should grab the crack so you can pull out.

Slide down and run back S.  You can see what looks like a broken bridge overhead.  Stand underneath it facing E, back flip onto the slope and jump off to grab the monkey bars.  Monkey swing forward, and when you near the wall turn right and keep the up arrow key depressed. You should then turn in place and climb the ladder to reach the top of the bridge. Hang from the N side of the bridge and use the crack to shimmy left until you can pull up. Turn right and pull up N. Reverse roll and take a long, floating running jump to grab the S ledge. Pull up and climb down the ladder until you've cleared the obstruction, then shift left until you can pull up into a S crawl space.

Roll out of the crawl space (jump and up arrow keys). Grab the uzi ammo from the crawl space on your left, then hang from the N side of the ledge and shimmy left around the corner. Drop and grab the window sill. Pull up and shoot the windows. Hop down into the next room and deal with the robot. The small chest in the NE corner contains the blue OFFICE WING KEY. Search the cabinet against the W wall for the ELECTRICAL CONTROL ROOM KEY. One of the cabinets against the S wall contains the SHOTGUN, the other is empty.  Exit through the NW opening and follow to a receptacle for the Electrical Control Room Key. Enter the E room and turn the wheel to disable the power in this wing (but not the electrified pool you left earlier).

Exit this room, turn right at the bars and follow to a room above the electrified pool. There are four switches here, two in the N wall and two in the S wall, that cause horizontal poles to appear or retract in the electrified pool area. Pull down all except the left switch in the N wall.  

All four poles should be ready for use.  Grabbing the first one is a bit tricky.  What worked for me was to hop back two times, take one step back and run forward twice before jumping. Swing around the first pole, jump to grab the second pole and repeat to land on the W ledge.  Face the second set of poles.  You don't have room to make the same jump as before from here, but I found that a simple standing jump works fine from this side.  Jump from the second pole to grab the jump switch, which turns off the electricity as you drop into the water. 

Before leaving, locate the underwater lever on the S side of the central column, partially obscured by vines.  Pull it to open a nearby door.  Swim out the SW opening and pull up S.  Turn right and kill the android, then turn around and run up the ramp through the opened door.  Turn left and return to the room with the four wall switches. Go out to the ledge facing the poles you've already used, and take a sprint jump with a right curve to land on the far corner of the central structure. Stoop down to pick up the large medipack, then face E and take a banana jump around to the SE corner of the central structure.  If you can't make the jump, simply go back up the ramp as described earlier in this paragraph, face the poles and take a standing jump slightly NW with grab to land on the desired corner.

Face E and take out the Grappling Gun. Look up to see a pair of ceiling fans.  The image of the grappling hook tells you that you need to shoot the one on the right.  Do so and watch a rope magically appear.  Line up with it and take a "walking running jump" (walk key followed by the jump and up arrow keys) to grab it.  Turn slightly to your right, swing forward and jump off to grab the vines in the E wall near the corner.  Shift right until you can pull up into the S opening. Hop down and jump into the previously deadly water.  Find the steep shaft and swim up, then follow the tunnel W for SECRET #3.  Swim down, collect the large medipack and uzi ammo, and make your way back along the same path.

Pull out, jump into the water with the dangling wires and exit via the SW ramp. Pull out and return W to the hub room.  Use the Office Wing Key in the N receptacle to lift the gate.

THE OFFICE WING

Instead of going forward prematurely into a puzzle room you're not yet ready for, turn left at the entrance and go up the stairs to the next floor. Be prepared to engage a flamethrower robot guarding the area.  Approach the terminal in the NW corner and download new information that advises one of the blocks in the puzzle room below has been tucked away somewhere. Take a small medipack from one of the computer stations behind you and look up at the W wall to see a grate.  Shoot it and crawl inside to the other end of the duct. As you prepare to stand you hear the sound of popping spikes. Pull up E and save your game.

Wait a few cycles to get a sense of the rhythm of the spikes. An instant before you expect the spikes to pop up, initiate two running jumps in quick succession and grab the pole. Swing around twice and jump off onto the next spike tile. Jump forward (you may need to use the action key because of the low ceiling) and you're safe for the moment. For the final spike tile, line up for a sprint jump. As the spikes are retracting, perform the sprint jump and hop forward immediately upon landing.

Open the floor trap door and find the block that your iPhone notes told you had been stored away. You're now ready to tackle the block puzzle in the room downstairs. Get up on the block, roll out E and pull down the wall switch to open the gate. Search the cabinets in the next room for the red ROBOTICS BAY KEY and a small medipack, then shoot out both windows in the W wall.  Pull the block into the room, push it N and then pull it W.  Drop out of the opening in the NW corner, use the ladder to get back up and push the block out to the room below. Hop down after it.

Your task is to move the four blocks into the alcoves so that the lines on the blocks match up with the lines on the walls.  Before the game was revised there was more than one way to do this, but each correct placement will reward you with a camera shot.

Begin by moving the block you brought down here into the alcove in the S wall. The block nearest that one (toward the NE corner) goes into the N alcove. The block in the NW corner goes into the E alcove below the ladder. The remaining block goes into the W alcove to lift a gate and release an android.  Exit SE and engage the android as it comes down the stairs. Go back upstairs and loop around right to find the opened gate in the N wall.  First, search the small chest near the NE corner for the UZIS, then enter the side room and turn the wheel to deactivate the power in this wing. Another android immediately attacks you from behind.

THE ROBOTICS BAY

Go back downstairs and turn right into the hub room.  Insert the Robotic Bay Key in the S receptacle to lift the gate.  Enter to engage an android, which drops a small medipack. Go to the E terminal and download new information to your iPhone, which explains the nature of the puzzle ahead.  The tiles in the SW quadrant all need to be turned from red to green. You do this by stepping on them.  However, a tile so triggered stays green for 10 seconds only, so you need to be nimble to get them all green at the same time. Note that there are only two interior tiles; the rest are border tiles. Standing on a tile does not stop the timer. What works for the builder (and for me) is to stand on one of the interior tiles, hop through the crevice to the other interior tile and run around the perimeter. If this is done within the allotted time, a cut scene will show a trap door opening near the terminal.

Get on the crate with handles against the N wall, take a running jump S to grab the opening in the ceiling, pull up and deal with the robot at close quarters. Take the uzi ammo it dropped and pause for the pack of grappling hooks in the NE corner.  Search the cabinet for shotgun ammo and pull down the SE wall switch to turn off the lasers blocking a nearby doorway.

Return to the lower room and go to the S wall next to the tile puzzle.  Turn around, take out the grappling gun and look up.  Fire at the grappling hook emblem in the ceiling to lower a rope.  Go across to the sloped platform, climb up onto one of the crates on either side of it and drop down into the gap between the crates.  Save your game in front of the wall switch in preparation for a timed run.  Pull down the switch, reverse roll and run to the platform, pull up at the center of it and slide down the other side and jump off to grab the rope.  Waiting for your hind legs to get set consumes valuable time, but there's no help for it. Swing forward and jump off onto the lower white ledge against the S wall. Turn right and take a running jump to grab the W ledge. Pull up and loop around right (jumping the corners to save time) to the E wall. Side flip right, run forward while bearing right to drop down into the tunnel below.  Turn right, run to the opening on your left and run past the timed gate.

Once inside, turn the wheel to deactivate the power to this wing. A cut scene shows you that trap doors have dropped in the floor of the hub room.  If this doesn't happen (as it didn't for me the first time), it means that somehow the game has not registered the turning of all four wheels as documented above, and you'll need to revisit the control rooms in the other three areas to find out which wheel(s) can still be turned. In the hub room, look up to see if any of the colored tubes connected to the cage support still show movement inside. If so, you know where you need to go. A robot sneaks up behind you and leaves uzi ammo behind.  Pull out of the tunnel and drop down to the room with the tile puzzle. Exit NW and find the opened trap doors within the cage in the hub room. 

THE GRAND HALL

Go down the irregular ramp and download some new information to your iPhone.  Page down to the end and read how to deal with your next enemy. Search the small chest for uzi ammo and shoot the E grate. The SW ramp leads to a closed door, so slide down E and fall down the shaft into a pool of water, awakening a winged boss lady (affectionately dubbed AdminUnit1 by the builder).  She greets you by hurling a fire ball in your direction, so waste no time. As soon as camera control is restored, turn left and swim through the tunnel. Turn left at the end and pull out of the water (as far left as possible) and dash left through the opening to safety before the fireball ignites the water and kills you.

Now you're face to face with Ms. AdminUnit1. However, she's surrounded by a protective shield and cannot be killed, so don't bother drawing your weapons. Hop S onto the block and jump forward to grab the pole. Swing around and jump off to grab the ladder. Climb nearly to the top and back flip onto the slope behind you. Jump to grab the monkey bars. If you miss, you'll likely land on the facing slope. If so, pull up, back flip, slide ever so slightly and jump off to grab the monkey bars. Turn left and monkey swing toward the dangling live wires.

Drop down onto the nearer ledge and take a running jump N toward the next ledge. If you don't make the grab, try hanging from the N edge of the nearer ledge, pulling up and rolling to give you a little extra distance.  Grab the far ledge, pull up and run onto the blue panel underneath the dangling wires. You are now electrically charged and will exhibit a yellow glow for 30 seconds, during which time you must make physical contact with Ms. AdminUnit1 to deactivate her protective shield. You can now kill her, so draw your weapon of choice and do so.  It may be more efficient for you to drop down to the floor so you can dodge her attacks with greater ease.  It takes significant firepower, but eventually she succumbs and leaves behind the GRAND HALL KEY.

If you did battle from floor level, get back up to the higher ledge as described two paragraphs back.  Jump N to grab the far ledge, pull up and run off NE to land on a block with a small medipack that you no longer need.  Jump W to the next block and pick up the SHUTTLE BAY KEY.  Pull up to the ledge and jump back S to the other ledge. Pull up, turn left and place the Grand Hall Key in the receptacle to open the door behind you.  Go up the stairs and turn left to go up the irregular ramp to the hub room.

Go through the W opening into the Nuclear Wing and turn right just after the radiation kicks in. Loop around right where that poor robot is still trying to dig a hole in the wall and go up the stairs. In my game the robot finally came to life and dropped some equally useless (at this late date) shotgun ammo when I shot it.  Go back down the stairs and insert the Shuttle Bay Key in the green receptacle to lower a trap door at the top of the stairs.

SHUTTLE BAY

Climb up the ladder into the Shuttle Bay, where the threat of radiation poisoning goes away. Jump across E and get on the left crate for a pack of grappling hooks. Jump back across W and climb up onto the N crate.  Pull up higher and get on the higher ledge facing S. Turn to face SE, get out the grappling gun and look up to see a tell-tale sign on the ceiling.  Shoot the ceiling fan (which lowers the gravity so you can make the next jump), then jump up to grab the monkey bars and monkey swing across to the S ledge. From the E end of this ledge, line up for a sprint jump and leap over the missile to grab the far ledge. Pull up and loop around left to finish the level.