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19-11-2011 05:40 AM

Richthofen

OK, so I joined this forum after lurking for years just to respond to Aramazon's post.

I haven't played Covert Action in a while, so most of this is personal opinion coming off the top of my head. I hope it helps. I've managed 10 mastermind arrests in 10 months (OK, I took a few advantages of the in-game mechanics to do this. I'll discuss this later in the post. Also, I'm not sure if it's 10, but it's at least 8.). Perfect scores (ie. all members turned into double agents, mastermind arrested, moles caught) are doable on Global Crisis, but it requires a lot of planning.

Wall of text coming up:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aramazon

Whoa! Okay so I found it all out...I jumped up to Global Crisis (hardest difficulty) and I'm almost used to the break ins now. Essentially you NEED to hide behind things, and jump for cover, and use grenades. I kind of like it. It's a lot more exciting since I had to sometimes give up and just escape with what I'd gotten so far.

I agree that you indeed need cover. I find the use of grenades however, is generally unnecessary. Actually, I've found combat to be quite easy even on Global Crisis (with some caveats), if you know what you are doing.

Basically combat is fundamentally flawed in Covert Action. In any given building, there is only ever 20ish (I don't remember the specific number, but it was not 16 nor 32, which I found weird.) enemies in total that will ever spawn. So your main goal should be to get as many stealth kills early on, get their grenades (it's generally pointless to pack your own), and if you screw up, you should go hide in a corner, and duck and shoot or throw grenades. Throwing grenades is generally wiser, because ammo is limited. It should be noted, however, that you will have enough ammo to kill all the guards on lower levels of enemy alertness.

Killing the 20ish enemies from one spot is far easier than picking them off one by one and hoping you don't screw up. If you do set off the alarm and get cornered, this should be your only action. Escape is far too much of a risk.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aramazon

Couple things I've noticed...
1) Hiding is very much awesome, any baddie is easy prey when he's got his back to you. you can duck behind most furniture and they won't see you. As for disguises, they recognize you pretty easy head on, but as they don't get too close to you and you aren't facing them you should be fine.
2) Setting grenade traps is a must for when you are fleeing.
3) Any time a group is alert to your presence, it's a much better idea to take a trip to another town, and then come back again before you actually break in. Alertness actually affects guard speed. On Global Crisis, it makes it near impossible.
4) Whenever you have a shot at someone, you'll notice a cross-hair over your image in the top left corner. When that cross-hair is solid white, you have a sure hit...if it is gray, you have a chance at missing, a really good one. You'll notice that in most cases, when you first spot a baddie, the cross-hair fades into the solid white, this is to show the effects of taking proper aim.
5) Use the Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys to jump diagonally. Jump...a lot!

1) Ducking and shooting is important, yes. But what is really more important is to "snatch" their body. The bullets apparently only stun the enemies for a short period of time. As I mentioned above, since you're killing them from one spot, what you essentially need to do is to jump over to their body from your one spot (hopefully it's in some corner with some cover). The difficulty in this is that enemies can come in at any moment to shoot you, and if you're not fast enough, they might throw a grenade with stun gas to knock you out (or they might walk right into you, in which case you take one hit). I prefer a small room, so I can exit quickly without the gas affecting me.

In principle, you don't need a bulletproof vest in this game. In practice, you're most likely to get shot and get tied up if you don't have one. It takes a lot of practice before clearing a whole building in Covert Action becomes easier. I still have lots of difficulty with enemy grenades and "snatching" the enemy body before an enemy comes in. I should mention again that moving over a living enemy instantly makes them disappear, at the cost of one bullet hole to your vest or body.

It should probably be noted that this also works for the random ambushes on the city streets. I've always found those to be the most annoying, because I'll almost always get shot, which costs me a few hours.

2) I've found grenade traps to be far too risky. You have to plan ahead of time and make sure you don't get caught placing the traps. You also have to hope that the enemies actually go into the rooms you want them to. And remember, grenades only incapacitate enemies. They'll be back before you know it. I tried grenade traps once or twice on Global Crisis difficult. I failed so spectacularly that I decided to switch to my camping strategy.

3) Doesn't matter too much if you're camping from one spot.

4) I take note of this early on before I settle on camping from one spot in the building. A miss usually results in an alarm. Once I start camping, I have to kill them quickly, so accuracy is not as much of an issue. If I don't, I'll get naded, or even worse - the incapacitated enemies get up again.

5) This. Fucking this.

I think that the greatest thing about taking out all the guards at once, is that I can actually use all 32 shots from my camera.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aramazon

As for figuring out who the MASTERMIND Is...
Some things to keep in mind on Global Crisis difficulty
1) The name you search in the computer will only bring up results if you are using a computer of the same organization as the name.
2) The first step should be writing down all the names you encounter in files...and then figuring out which organization the mastermind is from...

So, I basically said I cheated in getting 10 masterminds in 10 months. Basically, I would just skip to the next case, in which case I will be given all relevant information on the mastermind before hand.

I then attempt to use this information to find the info on the mastermind by going back to the previous month (through loading of course). It's a huge challenge to arrest the mastermind while also turning all the members involved into double agents, while finding the moles and reporting them in the agency. It takes quite a few tries before you figure out what to do (and even then, the rng might play games with you and have the members go into hiding). You could also go into Athens (I think it was), load your game, and have all the organizations displayed on your loaded city.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aramazon

Here's how I did it. I had gotten all of the other criminals figured out, and I had just left the photographer unarrested so I could keep stealing the photos and give myself more time. Anyways, when I was solving the cryptograms....which are very important, they give more info when you are in the solving screen than what you save in your records.

What you'll find is they'll say things like, "From Mercenaries High Command," or "Death Squad might also be assisting."

I'd like to add that all criminal actions are committed at 12:00 AM/PM. So you should play games with this information to get the most out of each of your in-game action. If Person A has object A, and acquires it at 12 AM, it will be at Person B at 12 PM. Person B will then turn object A into object B at 12 AM. Lots of time here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aramazon

so now I knew that Jamie Garcia was the Death Squad mastermind in Kingston.

Are the names for the masterminds kept constant throughout the games? James Garcia for Death Squad matches up with the information from my game. From my few gamplays, it appears that mastermind names locations are set in the game, but I do not know for sure. If anyone is interested, the names I've kept on file are in the spoiler below:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aramazon

Then I just needed to break in and at the same time crack the computers one last time to type his name in and get his Role: Mastermind. Otherwise no arrest. Sounds easy right? Wrong, The mastermind's guards on Global Crisis are Satan incarnate compared to all the other guards...on anything other than no alert status, I'd say they're impossible...even so it took me 1 and a half hours to finally succeed. They basically shoot fast enough that they'll almost always get the first shot on you, and sometimes so rapidly that you can't even fight back. They don't hesitate before stepping through a door...they use grenades a lot, they will actually just crawl from room to room so you don't pick them up on your motion sensor, plus they recover from stunning WAY fast.

Does combat training affect enemy reaction speed? I've found the difficulty between masterminds and regular members to be the same. I trained as many times as I could in combat; did you? It might just be because I use my preferred camping style for combat in Covert Action.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aramazon

Anyways, I ended up winning by gassing a bigger room which took out quite a few of the guards, then I ran around and use booby traps to take out the other guys chasing me, I got the computer code, nabbed the mastermind, and ran out as fast as I could still leaving booby traps every door...I had 3 shots and almost got taken down on my way out...needless to say, that was my most satisfying arrest ever!

Ouch.

On a final note: I played with maxed out training and one training in wiretapping. The driving and cryptography minigames are simply too time consuming for me to play. I never could master driving in the game. The controls never seem to respond fast enough.

IIRC, I always tried wiretapping because I could get some additional information, at the cost of, I believe, one hour. If the timing is correct, this usually doesn't matter since you're only really worried about your stealing/reclaiming of an object to be before 12:00 AM/PM. Wiretapping is frustrating, but for me screwing up isn't too big of a deal, because heightened awareness doesn't affect my camping strategy.

Also, I believe that breaking into a building only takes a certain number of hours out of your day, no matter how long you were in the building. This can be easily be used to your advantage. I'm not sure how this affects the driving and cryptography minigames, but I suppose the effect is the same. I'm guessing that cracking the ciphertext by hand or by the game takes the same amount of in game time.

For those interested, I always carry a bulletproof vest, safe-cracking kit, and camera. I don't remember if you were allowed to bring in four or five objects to a building. So the other two items remaining that I think I ever considered are the Uzi and the motion detector. I generally go searching in safes first, and safe a few shots for all the pink safes. Those are the ones usually carrying the best information (double agent, incriminating information, etc.) It's best to go for the pink safes last, because you need enough information in order to have an enemy turn into a double agent in the first place. Also, I really wish the game would have allowed us to view information without photographing it.

My camping strategy involving killing all the enemies may seem like overkill - and indeed, it may be. If you can manage to use up all your photos without killing everyone - kudos to you. I've found killing everyone to be most helpful when I know the enemy is in the building. In that case, I can get shot without having to recover - if a member is arrested, the check for bullet wounds is ignored.

And for those wondering about how to maximize your score - you essentially need to turn everyone into a double agent. Only the mastermind can never be turned into a double agent. You'll have to play around with the game before figuring out how to turn everyone into a double agent. It's far too hard to even describe it. Needless to say it involves taking of items over and over again. In the end, I just save and load a lot in order to find incriminating information turning them into a double agent. Otherwise it's way too easy to just arrest anyone and stop the crime. (It's actually a pretty trivial thing to do. The hardest part really, is guessing the right initial organization involved).

One question for more experienced members here: Is it possible to break the game apart and tell us what is used to determine what actions occur at what time? I usually go with my gut feeling, and it generally turns out to be correct. I think that nothing occurs at all for the first few days, then everything is set in place every 12 AM/PM. Is this the case? I believe it takes about a week for the mastermind to go into hiding, and 3 days before the first enemy action occurs. If this is true, in order to achieve a high score and also arrest the mastermind while catching all the moles, you would need to find out the relevant information on the mastermind in the first 3 days (note, it's really two days because you do nothing on the first of each month). It seems like just a giant crapshoot and would make the whole gameplay mechanic behind the masterminds to have no absolute meaning (It just seems broken). It doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be any set time for an action to occur. (Given action x has occurred, action y may occur at the next occurrence of 12:00, but it might occur on the second or even third occurrence of 12:00.) There seems to be less of a delay on Global Crisis, but it still seems to occur quite often.

Also, does anyone know what "trivial case" you get for choosing the wrong mastermind on a copylocked game?

The ending is disappointing.

/end rant

14-07-2011 10:54 PM

Japo

I jump with the cursor keys and move with the numpad. After jumping you end up crouched, you can get up or back down with numpad 5.

14-07-2011 08:38 PM

Purple Toupee

Man, I love this game. I can't get it to work right in dosbox though! When I'm moving in combat, I can't jump with the numeric keypad. Shift just doesn't do anything. (Numlock doesn't help.) Has anyone run into this before? I've gotten it on several different versions of dosbox. :-(

12-07-2011 04:33 PM

Servant

Quote:

Originally Posted by fbouthil

Here is my new website:
Covert Action Remake for Windows

It explains every ideas I have for every part of the game. If you disagree with anything or have new suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know.

For faces, I decided to go with 100x100 pixels jpg files of faces taken from actual photos. That way, every one can be part of the game! Simply send me pictures in the appropriate format.

As for the error Japofran got, Japofran and I found out that it was due to the fact that he did not have DirectX or, if he did, not a recent enough version of it. I have put on the website a version of the game that does not requires it.

Note that while Geocities is down, the entire website (including the download) has been backed up here, so you too can enjoy this remake.

22-06-2011 06:10 PM

Japo

I always though it depends on luck.

22-06-2011 04:57 PM

Silencium

Does anyone here know how much I have to know about an enemy agent in order to turn him into a double agent? I know that you can find important evidence in those red safes, which will turn him into a D.A after you arrested him, but how much do I have to know about this agent (his name, his role in the crime, his photo etc...) in order to trigger a "...you found some evidence wich will turn XYZ into a double agent" message? Because it's very frustrating to enter and exit a building again and again just to open those safes and find nothing but grenades or a floor plan (and waste precious time).
Can I also use one of these computer terminals during a break-in to find the important evidence (or at least something which will trigger the evidence next time I search a red safe)?

25-03-2011 10:32 PM

Japo

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aegeus

Also, I think they'll raise the alarm if you leave desks, safes, and doors open

Yep actually I think that's in the manual, though I'm going by memory here...

25-03-2011 06:45 PM

Aegeus

Disguises aren't guaranteed even when your back is turned. If a guard stays in the same room as you for a long time and gets a good look at you, he'll raise the alarm anyway.

Also, I think they'll raise the alarm if you leave desks, safes, and doors open (maybe only if you do it a lot?), since I've seen the alarm go off even when nobody's in the room with me. I do know that the guards will follow you if you leave doors open behind you when they're chasing you. Close the doors behind you and you can shake them off.

09-03-2011 05:51 PM

Japo

Wow good job.

Only once I intercepted a message from the mastermind. It might be that he's very unlikely to send any message. It also occurred to me that perhaps he always sends a message at the start of every crime, but so very early that you're unlikely to be able to intercept it, because at that time you don't even know where the hideouts are. I don't know. At any rate, to me only the computers proved useful in finding him.

09-03-2011 01:17 PM

DarthHelmet86

Disguises are only meant to work when you have your back to the bad guys, the manual is rather clear about that. If you face them they will work out you aren't really from their group, you face the other way and they just walk by. Till an alarm sounds then all bets are off.

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