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[humorguy]

PDF copies of this games documents are now on replacementdocs - enjoy!

[Maxor127]

This was an amazing game. I wish they'd made more sequels. SSI was the Bioware/Black Isle of the 80s and early 90s. It took the Gold Box system to a whole new level and it worked flawlessly.

[gumpy]

I'm not into RPGs, but Buck Rogers in an exception. I haven't gotten very far into the game yet though.

[The Fifth Horseman]

An interesting exploit I found on this page:

In SSI's Buck Rogers: Countdown to Doomsday RPG there was an exploit that could get you more armor, weapons, and credits than you had carrying space for. In space combat, provided that you survived to get close enough to a victim ship to board it, you could capture the ship in 2 combats instead of doing a dungeon crawl through the ship to take the bridge and engineering. The way you would set this up is after boarding the ship, fight the initial boarding fight. After you win that fight, retreat to your ship through the airlock. You will then have a battle of opportunity as the entire enemy ship's crew will follow you and attack. Provided that you have equipped your party with grenade launchers, plasma throwers, and aerosol/chaff grenades, you will have an incredibly easy time wiping out the crew as their area effect weapons impact on the blocking walls put up by your chaff/aerosol grenades and annihilate each other. This tactic will allow your party of 6 to wipe out crews hundreds of times larger than yourself in one battle, up to and including that Dreadnought that sits in orbit over Mars the entire game.
My party became effectively immortal when I was able to replace all of my EQ with Mercurian stuff after taking out one of their heavy cruisers. (Mercurians had the best bonuses on their equipment and it was impossible to get in normal play.)

[Humungus]

I got the game to run, but as I make up my 1st team member, there is a save error. Anyone know how to fix that?

[Luchsen]

Did you use DOSBox (yet another link)?

[TheAnyKey]

Hi,

I have some questions, if I may ask.

1. How can you win battles against heavy cruisers? It seems impossible to me.

2. What are the crucial skills for the party?

3. Which skills are to be avoided or not used in the game?

4. Are Non-Warrior specialists, except the Medic, even necessary? Since all skills(except the medical skills) can be learned as General Skills, I don't see the point of the Non-Warrior classes. I guess there is a 10 point bonus for career skills, but that doesn't look like much to me.

5. Is there any way to increase your initial attribute scores? The Log Book shows the modifiers for up to a score of 22.

6.Is it a bad idea to train my Warriors in weapons other than the Needle Gun? I've read it is by far the best weapon. I'd like to use Monoswords and Heat Guns instead.

I have played this game only on the Genesis/Mega Drive before and the DOS version differs very much.


Thank you.

[TheAnyKey]

Doesn't anybody know an answer to any of my questions?

Thanks.

[CatherineMcClarey]

I have suggestions for each of the questions you had.

Originally Posted by TheAnyKey

Hi,

I have some questions, if I may ask.

1. How can you win battles against heavy cruisers? It seems impossible to me.
An earlier poster's suggestion about retreating through the airlock into your own ship, then using mass-effect weapons to take out the entire enemy ship's crew, sounds promising (haven't tried it yet myself, though). Alternatively, dumb down the difficulty all the way beforehand & pray.
2. What are the crucial skills for the party?
Icestorm9999's website has a link to download SSI's cluebook (possibly from ReplacementDocs), which has a list of skills needed in Countdown to Doomsday. If you plan to eventually transfer your party into Matrix Cubed, also download that game's cluebook, as some skills not used in Countdown to Doomsday will be needed in Matrix Cubed.
3. Which skills are to be avoided or not used in the game?
The Rocketjock doesn't need to know how to pilot anything other than a rocket & (in Matrix Cubed) fixed-wing aircraft, and perhaps a jetpack. Beyond that, see answer to 2) above.
4. Are Non-Warrior specialists, except the Medic, even necessary? Since all skills(except the medical skills) can be learned as General Skills, I don't see the point of the Non-Warrior classes. I guess there is a 10 point bonus for career skills, but that doesn't look like much to me.
The other specialists get more points with which to open their career skills & develop them with each levelup (certainly more than 10 points). Although it can be useful to have PCs cross-train in each other's skills (so somebody can take over for a fallen character in an emergency), those other characters are just not going to be able to develop those other skills up to the level that the specialist in that skill can.
5. Is there any way to increase your initial attribute scores? The Log Book shows the modifiers for up to a score of 22.
There are racial modifiers to the attribute scores, and you can use Modify Character during the character creation process to max out each character's attribute scores to their racial maximums. I've never seen a character with any attribute scores of 22, but (f.ex.) Tinkers can have TECH & DEX scores of 21, and Desert Runners can have STR & DEX scores of 20.
6.Is it a bad idea to train my Warriors in weapons other than the Needle Gun? I've read it is by far the best weapon. I'd like to use Monoswords and Heat Guns instead.
Monoswords are a good idea, since melee weapons are better able to damage those pesky combat robots than almost anything else. Your party will start with Bolt Guns, so those are a good idea, too. Eventually, you'll want your warriors to develop weapon specializations in several of the weapons they might run across (especially as captured loot from encounters). I wouldn't recommend developing Heat Gun skill myself, for 2 reasons: A) low rate of fire, and B) very expensive ammo.

I have played this game only on the Genesis/Mega Drive before and the DOS version differs very much.
Downloading SSI's clue book from ReplacementDocs or Icestorm9999's website (someone also mentioned the LemonAmiga site as a source earlier) will help. I also have the walkthrough for this game from the old Quest for Clues IV book, but I haven't seen anyplace to download that walkthrough from (maybe get a used paper copy from eBay or Amazon.com?) I'd also suggest watching what YouTube videos there are of the DOS version of Countdown to Doomsday (if you haven't already), to give you a feel for the gameplay.


Thank you.

[CatherineMcClarey]

Originally Posted by CatherineMcClarey

I have suggestions for each of the questions you had.

Players of the Sega Genesis version may be familiar with the following walkthrough for this game:
http://c64.tin.at/_single_files/buck...omsday.sol.txt
Even though it's not for the PC platform (and not even for the C64, as the link would imply), it's actually not a bad walkthrough, especially for the optional missions (which tend not to get covered in other walkthroughs). The details for a lot of things won't match exactly (from what I've read & seen, the Sega Genesis version is somewhat cut down & simplified compared to the PC version), but the overall gist is still the same, and the author ("Dancin' Homer") has a good sense of humor.