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Survival Crisis
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SCZ FAQ
Chris "00509" Strayer
"There is no knowledge that *cannot be* power."
-Intro to Philosophy, Prof. John Eskridge (CCAC/North Shore), class refinement
I believe that a "spoiler" is something one puts on one's car to change its
aerodynamics. Surprises are a Bad Thing. If you read this, you will get
edified, whether you like it or not.
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0. Contents
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I. Prelude to Destruction [1PTD]
The Console
Character creation
-Classes in detail
Character creation, cont'd
-Episode Edification
II. General Guidelines [2GGL]
III. Interfacial [3FAC]
The Menu
-Commodities
-Skills
-Gear (& Health)
--The Wide World of Weapons
--Weapon Table [3XWT]
--Weapons in detail
-Inventory
--Item List [3XIL]
--Chemistry [3XCH]
The Menu, cont'd (welcome back!)
-Partypower
IV. Municipal Geographic [4GEO]
Tiers
-Topside
-Sewers
-Bunker
-Dungeon
Houses & House Leaders [4XHL]
-Benefits of Home Ownership
V. Missions [5MIS]
Mission Briefs
-Episode 1 [5XE1]
-Episode 2 [5XE2]
-Episode 3 [5XE3]
VI. Arcade [6ARC]
Level Table
Powerups
-? Powers
--Power List
VII. Reference [7REF]
Unlockables & "Cheats"
-Cheat listing
Opposition In Review [7XOR]
-Interface
-Intelligent
-Infected
-Infernal
-Instigator
Lexicon [7XLX]
VIII. Credits & Closing [8C&C]
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I. Prelude to Destruction [1PTD]
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The Console
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The SCZ console is fairly straightforward; pick options by number. If you
played Arcade Mode and won something, enter "dir" to see a list of every
potential unlockable. If it has a "r-x" on the left, you can type that
unlockable directly into the console to activate it. For example: r_edit.exe
will fire up the character appearance editor, once you have got it unlocked.
Note that if one character currently in the system has unlocked an unlockable,
all characters may use it. However, if you have not unlocked an unlockable,
knowing what it does will not do you much good: entering "absolut" in the
console will only run the Molotov cheat if somebody broke the 500,000 point
barrier in Arcade Mode.
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Character creation
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Every variable here is up to you. Name, gender*, and skin tone appear purely
cosmetic in-game; note that the basic graphic files let only men wear long
coats [Shade and I are working to fix that]. Other decisions have more
substantial effects:
--Faction: Aligning with a faction gives you their uniform and sets starting
relations (infra) to +20 with/-20 against. Starting neutral starts you in
civvies but with +5 with both factions. I do not know of any benefit to a
high positive relation, so neutrality is probably the best way to go. If you
must have SWAT pants or a Rebel headband, get the appearance editor.
--Classes: These affect your starting clothes, gear, and skills. IOW, this is
initial difficulty and demand for the appearance editor. Doctor is probably
the most survivable (Regen will smooth out a LOT) and Sales facilitates quick
income. Income=character development. I generated 2-3 characters of each
class to provide a more detailed report below. Do not make my watching that
intro 18 times be in vain.
*Testing needed: characters created in one gender and given a torso
(via r_edit.exe) that corresponds to the other half of the (unfortunate)
binary.
We might have to test with/without facial hair, possibly hairstyles as well.
Checking for NPC romances under various conditions would determine whether
gender is stored separately from one's character graphics.
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Classes in detail
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Everyone has a knife. I decided it wasn't worth listing for each case.
1) The Doctor wears a lab coat/jacket, and started with one each of the Shots,
Food Bar/caffeine; a Revolver w/24 rounds, and the Health Boost, Adrenaline
Boost, and Regen skills.
Generally recommended as a good class for new folks, and IMO one of the better
classes, period. Health Boost and Regen are both good skills, the Shots can
help out in a pinch, and the Revolver, though not the best firearm available,
should work well enough for E1.
2) The Tech's clothing varies based on gender. Women wear "punky" shirt &
pants, whilst men wear a black long-coat. Both have a mohawk & sunglasses.
Xe starts with 3 EMP bombs, a GPS, and 3 doses of caffeine; a Tec9 with 100
rounds, and the Laser Sight, [Build EMP], and Disassemble skills.
Not a great first-timer class as the Tec9 does not forgive missed shots.
Skillset is nothing special and the lack of food bars makes one even more
dependent on finding a pile of Lootables in a hurry.
3) The Clerk starts with a mask, tape, and battery, along with 2 each
Food Bar/Caffeine; a Handgun w/34 rounds, and the [Build Pipe], C4, and Runner
skills. Clothing is a nondescript shirt and jeans, w/blue toque.
IMO the Clerk is probably the least efficient starting class. Sure,
you will start out with both torture implements and a mask with which to use
them, but the handgun lacks punch and can easily be had from an infected
faction member. Torture gear is just as available in topside Lootables, and
Runner is nice but can be purchased. There is nothing here another class
cannot find inside of 5 minutes [provided you want it in the first place],
barring a freak unavailability of Runner instructors.
4) The Bartender starts with 3 Molotovs, one each food bar/caffeine, and a
pack of cigarettes; a SOSG w/24 rounds*, and the [Build Molotov] and
Healthy Meal skills. Men wear an open Hawai'i-type shirt and dark pants;
women dress in a sensible black jacket with matching pants.
*Bear in mind that the SOSG is a double-barreled model, so you fire 2 rounds
per shot. Wait for a crowd, because one SOSG discharge can clear out a lot of
E1 undead.
This is another not-so-great starting class, thanks to starting with only two
skills. Healthy Meal is not a bad skill long-term; when one is starting out,
however, expensive Food is an inefficient healing method, at best. The SOSG
is a very powerful weapon, but I would fret about ammunition for quite some
time; ammunition pickups only provide three shots.
5) The Hunter has forest-camo pants, and started with a Filthy Meat, GPS
item, one each Food Bar/Caffeine Pills; a Rifle w/12 rounds & chainsaw*;
and the Speed Boost, Scrap Armor, and Headhunter skills.
*Despite the menu's claim, neither of the Hunters I created started with
a crossbow.
This is not nearly as bad a deal as I thought, based on the menu. Truth be
told, I would prefer the crossbow to the rifle (the rifle is rather nice,
though), but Speed Boost and Headhunter are not bad skills and Filthy Meat is
a dungeon-class item. Starting with the chainsaw ought to make life easier as
well, but that starting chainsaw disappeared just like a purchased one. I
would not recommend it for first-timers, but if one is interested in a replay
this might be neat-o.
6) The Salesperson wears a dark jacket and pants; men wear a tie into
battle. Ze starts with a packed sentry gun and one each FB/Caf; a flare
gun with 16 rounds, and the GPS, C4 Detonator, Disassemble, and Storage
skills.
My first character of any real duration was a salesperson. I recommend it to
anyone starting out; though Storage is the only good skill, the flare gun was
far more forgiving than the game makes it out to be and ammunition is quite
plentiful. In E1, ignition kills the Infected dead and quickly, whilst in E2
they burn for a second and only in E3 can common undead survive a flare.
Starting with a packed sentry gun is no joke, either. Though I would not
recommend using it any earlier than E2, it is reassuring to have just in case
you get in over your head.
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Character creation, cont'd
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--Difficulty: Hardcore requires either an unlockable or an in-game pickup to
allow the PC to survive emptying of xyr health bar; otherwise, xe is off to
dev/null. Normal lets the PC restart from the last save.
--Episode: Briefly, this controls where in the plot you would like to start,
as well as the PC's general effectiveness. Later episodes require more effort
and in-game resources to overcome the same level of opposition. See "Episode
Edification", below.
--Controls: A surprising amount of SCZ's difficulty comes from interface
problems. The control setting here is a toggle; select it twice to set it for
"Absolute + Mouse". Do yourself a favor and get used to that; by E1's end,
you'll appreciate the ability to move in one direction and shoot in another.
As for remapping the keys, bear in mind that you are required to *hold*
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