The Syndicate Wars FAQ

Written by:  Matt Rogers; rogersj@pathcom.com

Latest updates available at:
http://www.pathcom.com/~rogersj/synd2.html
http://www.getnet.com/~pandora
                        
UPDATED 11/02/96

This FAQ won't include any tips, so if that's what you need then go to either
of the above links for a walkthough/strategy guide.

First I have to start off with saying the reference card that came with SW
is missing a whole bunch of commands for the keyboard.  The following is
the REAL keyboard commands.  Better print this out kids. :)

----------------------------------------
|Action              |          Command|
----------------------------------------
Walk to Point                   -> CTRL
Fire Weapon                     <- CTRL
Select Agent                    Agent #
Zoom to Lead Agent              Press Agent # twice quickly
Group Agents                    \
Change Agent                    Tab
Up                              Up
Down                            Down
Left                            Left
Right                           Right
Self Destruct                   ALT+D
Zoom In                         End
Zoom Out                        Home
Tilt View Down                  Insert
Tilt View Up                    Page Up
Spin View Left (clockwise)      Delete
Spin View Right (c-clockwise)   Page Down
Drop Weapon                     Z
Key Control                     K
Restart Level                   R
Select Weapon                   ALT <-
Deselect Weapon                 ALT ->
Change Mood of Agents           ALT up/down
Exit Multiplayer Mission        Shift+Esc
Pause                           P
Remove buildings from screen    B (press and hold)
Draw less/more screen area      Shift E for less, E for more
Toggle Scanner beep             S
Toggle deep radar on and off    CTRL F6
Stop the panel being drawn      CTRL F10 
SAVE A SCREENSHOT!!             M  (note:  they save to c:\tmp)
Stop the ingame action          CTRL F3
Stop game being dispalyed       CTRL F2
Change deep radar colors        CTRL G&H
Speed up/slow down game         +/-

Q&A's
-----

Q.  HELP!  I can't quit the mission. :(
A.  Pause the game and then you'll have the quit option

Q.  How many people can play locally at one time, and how do I set it up?
A.  Up to four people can play at one time on one computer.  To set this up
    go under "Interface" in the bottom left hand corner.  You can choose
    the number of players and how each player will control their character.

Q.  What's with the PEOPLE.TXT file on the CD and my hard drive?
A.  It's probably something to get to know the programmers.

Q.  I get no background music and my sound card is 100% compatible with SW!
A.  Try hooking up a pair of speakers directly to your CD-ROM.  This game 
    uses tracks like you'll find on a regular CD.  You can even play the 
    SW tracks on a music CD player.

Q.  How come REO Speedwagon didn't do the SW music?
A.  Unknown.

Q.  When I go into the game it's still in 320x200 mode, even though I remember
    changing it.
A.  Press F8 during gameplay to alternate between the two graphic modes.

Q.  I really hate my teams color.
A.  Try pressing F10 to toggle through the uniform colors.  F9 will toggle 
    through the different border colors.

Q.  I can't do any research!!!
A.  You have to pass the first level. :)  READ THE MANUAL... :)

Q.  What's with the zoom?  I just don't get it!
A.  Zoom depends on your weapon range.  At max. zoom out you should be able
    to see just beyond how far you can shoot with your selected weapon. 
    Bombs and other non-shoot weapons have a pre-determined zoom level and
    home/end are useless when you have these weapons selected. 

Q.  How the hell do I get money?
A.  The best way to get money is to rob banks.  How do you do this?  Banks
    are usually VERY heavily guarded buildings.  If you blow up the guarded
    building a briefcase will appear.  This briefcase is your ticket to 
    millions... well maybe not millions, but a lot of money.

Q.  Are there any hot dog vendors?  If so do they sell sausages?
A.  No and no.

Q.  What's this hidden game I keep hearing about?
A.  It's that classic game BREAKOUT (or something like that).  Stare
    at a billboard for a really really long time and it'll come up.

Q.  I just don't understand how I persuade some people!!  :(
A.  Here's a chart of persuation:
--------------------------------------------------
|Type    | Points given | Points need to persuade|
--------------------------------------------------
Civilians       1         0
Unguided        2         10
Zealots         5         20*
Scientist       1         0
Police          2         6
Govs            3         15

*Zealots can only be persuaded with the persuadertron 2
NOTE:  Brain mods increase the range of the Persuaditron, but don't 
decrease the points need to persuade someone.

Special thanks goes out to Mike Diskett for helping me out with this FAQ.

If you have any other questions that aren't answered (I know there's lots)
email me at rogersj@pathcom.com

See ya.