L24BOSS.DEM


This long overdue demo shows how I defeated the level 24 boss, on ACE
difficulty.  Yep, finally got around to recording it.  :-)

Unlike my other boss demos, this one starts outside the yellow door.  I do
this because there is a switch behind it that is important to the red room
tactics.

The yellow area is a single medium-sized room that houses the red key and
quite a welcoming committee.  :-)  For expediency, I "waste" an earthshaker
to eliminate most of the resistance.  It's easy enough to dispatch the
remaining little green gnats in conventional fashion.

Once inside, I re-stock my homing missiles (although I'm not sure why --
they're pretty useless against the boss :-) and shields, then I trigger
two switches.  The first removes the grate protecting the red key.  The
second apparently does nothing, but it does give the message, "door unlocked."
Turns out the door that it unlocks is behind the red room, and it provides
access to the two 'Shakers that you can see behind the fence at the "bottom"
of the "station."

OK, now it's on to th red room and the final encounter!  On the way, I meet
a couple straggling "Minefish," but they just slow me down a little.  The
route to the red room is imporant, and it requires planning early in the
level.  From the start, if you go right and follow the tunnel aroudn to the
left, you will encounter a green "Homer Hulk."  This 'bot "always" drops an
invulnerability sphere when he dies (at least in my experience).  I save
this until the end, when I am on my way to my date with the boss (like I
am now :-).  Be careful not to go "up" this vertical ring, though, as a
fence will appear between this invulnerability and your shortest route to
the red door.

So, now I enter the red room invulnerable.  (Side note: there is an
interesting demo playback bug evident in this demo -- at least on my
system.  The red door appears to be already open when I arrive.)  I do not
enage the boss just yet.  The first order of business is exposing the secret
room that contains two invulnerabilities and two 'Shakers.  You can see this
room from the outer, horizontal ring.

----+----1----+----2----+----3----+----4----+----5----+----6----+----7----+----8

To gain access to this area, you must trigger three switches.  The first is
in a secret compartment, dead center in the "ceiling."  Also in this compartment
is another invuln (yes! :-).  This removes a wall, off to the right of the
red door through which I entered.

The second switch is behind this now removed wall, nicely hidden behind a
fence in the ceiling.  This exposes an area deeper in the wall.  Finally, the
third switch is in a secret compartment in the ceiling of this newly-exposed
area.

I'm still invulnerable as I collect the 'Shakers, but it's almost gone, so I wait
for it to expire, and pick up one of the two new ones in this room.  Now, it's
time to formally make acquaintance with the boss.

You may or may not know that the boss is vulnerable in only one spot -- his
butt!  There is a flashing green target located there!  :-)  It's hard to get
a clean shot at this area, even when cloaked (surprisingly), so the best tactic
is to shoot 'Shakers into the wall behind him.  The blue blobs of destruction
will home in on his weak spot, providing he doesn't teleport away.

So, what follows is a series of firing 'Shakers at the wall and returning to
grab an invulnerability when my current one is about to expire.  During this
sequence, I also get the 'Shakers from the cage at the bottom of the station.
Turns out I didn't need them, as I finish with two spare, but I sure felt
better having them on-board.  :-)

Cheers,
  Fred Scheifele (Scheif@pluto.njcc.com)
