Gangsters: Organized Crime The Living Guide Scattered Comments and Various Tips on Defense Version 1.001 Copyright 2003 Mikell Lowe ---------- Contents ---------- I. Legal II. The Living Guide Series III. Basic Game Breakdown IV. Types of Defensive Hoods V. Weapons VI. Constitution of New Temperance VII. Defensive Tips VIII. Things I Need IX. Version History X. Special Thanks XI. About the Author ---------- I. Legal ---------- Copyright 2003 Mikell Lowe This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. --------------------------- II. The Living Guide Series --------------------------- Notice I have titled this guide 'The Living Guide'. I gave it that title for a reason. This guide is truly a living one. It is by no means a dead document. It is almost constantly being changed and is open to suggestions and questions. Anyone may email me at any time with any questions or suggestions they might have. The actual guide really isn't in this document, but in the emails you send to me. I check my email on average every two days, so getting a response from me shouldn't be a problem. Just remember, this guide is a LIVING guide. However, it is not for anyone. When you pick up this guide, you are already expected to have a basic knowledge of the game's interface. ------------------------- III. Basic Game Breakdown ------------------------- Gangsters takes place in a giant 3D world comprised of hundreds and hundreds of individual characters. The basic point of the game is to conquer this world, called New Temperance, through organized crime. You must recruit gang members, extort businesses, cheat, steal, kill, and lie to make it to the top. In accomplishing this task, you will come into contact with the three other gangs who are going for the same goal. There are actually three different ways you can win. Lets take a look at them in order of difficulty. 1. Going straight If you have a lawyer and enough money, you can go straight and leave your life of crime behind. If you choose to go straight, you cannot own any illegal businesses. Although this is supposed to be the 'easiest' way to win, inexperienced players will no doubt have trouble in achieving its objectives. 2. Being elected mayor To run for mayor, you must have a large sum of money and a lawyer to assist you. Being elected mayor is one of the hardest things to accomplish because the rival gangs will stop at nothing to humiliate you and ruin your election campaign. I personally would not recommend trying this, but then again I'm not exactly what you'd call a veteran. 3. Eliminating the rival gangs This method of winning is supposedly the hardest, but inexperienced players should try to shoot for this one. In order to eliminate a gang, you must assassinate its leader and anyone else who might be able to take over. Sometimes when you kill a gang leader, one of his/her lieutenants will take over the gang and you will have to eliminate him. There are many different types of citizens in the world of Gangsters. Lets take a look at a few of them. Average Citizen These people are just regular people like you and me: weak, employed, innocent, and utterly terrified. Although you can't control these people directly, you can use money and intimidation to manipulate them. Unattached Gangster These people are criminals looking for work. They can be found in gyms, pool halls, docks, and labor exchanges, and are able to be recruited. Belonging Gangster or "Hood" These people are employed criminals belonging to one of the four gangs. Police Officer A police officer is basically an average citizen with enhanced abilities. All police officers are armed and will shoot at you if they see you doing something illegal. Officers can be bribed. Gang Leader There are four of these types in the game: one for each gang, and you are one of them. Gang leaders always stay in their office, never venturing outside. They do nothing but sit there and give orders, but most of them are well guarded. FBI Agent An FBI agent is basically an elite police officer. Unless you are really bad, you will rarely see one of these. FBI agents are incorruptible. They cannot be bribed. Judge A judge is, well, a judge. These people make a living by sitting in the courthouse and ruling on criminal cases. Judges can be bribed. Lawyer These people help you out with legal issues. If you can afford one, I would highly recommend picking one up. If you do, make sure he has at least four stars in Intelligence. Lawyers can also get your Hoods out of legal trouble and bribe police officers and top brass officials. Accountant Accountants help you out with financial issues. They are not exactly essential, but if you run a lot of businesses you should hire one. The gameplay of Gangsters is split into two basic sections: the Planning Period and the Work Week. You give the majority of your orders during the Planning Period and then watch them being carried out during the Work Week. ---------------------------- IV. Types of Defensive Hoods ---------------------------- I have divided up Hoods into specific defensive categories. I would recommend you placing Hoods with the listed skills in their respective categories. 1. Security Hoods Requirements: 3 stars intelligence, 3 stars firearms These Hoods are responsible for taking out enemy gangsters that enter your territory, but are rare. If possible, they should be formed into a separate team. 2. Streetfighting Hoods Requirements: 3 stars intelligence, 3.5 stars fists These Hoods are useful in assaulting enemy gangsters on the street. If possible, they should be formed into a separate team. 3. Intimidation Hoods Requirements: 3.5 stars intelligence, 3.5 stars intimidation These Hoods are responsible for convincing wayward business owners that have left you to join your side. 4. Extortion Hoods Requirements: 3 stars intimidation These Hoods are responsible for expanding your protection racket. 5. Assaulting Hoods Requirements: 2.5 stars intelligence, 3.5 stars intimidation, 4 stars fists These Hoods are responsible for assaulting wayward business owners that have left you. 6. Business Hoods Requirements: 3 stars business, 3 stars organization These Hoods are in charge of running your businesses. 7. Clean Cut Hoods Requirements: 3 stars intelligence, 3.5 stars knives These Hoods are useful in killing people using hand-to-hand combat instead of guns. This method of killing is quiet and won't attract much attention. 8. Collection Hoods Requirements: Any skills Save your most worthless Hoods for this job. These Hoods are responsible for collecting protection money each week, which takes no skill. These Hoods should be formed into a separate team, if possible. ----------- V. Weapons ----------- Lets take a look at the different kinds of weapons that you will find in New Temperance. 1. Pistol Price: $100 The pistol is weak and has limited range, but is easy to conceal. 2. Shotgun Price: $750 The shotgun is extremely powerful close up but has the same maximum range as the pistol. I would not recommend using this weapon alone. 3. Rifle Price: $750 The Rifle has a very long range and is also the most accurate. This gun is my favorite. I would strongly recommend using it. 4. Tommy Gun Price: $2000 I don't know much about this gun because I haven't really used it, but Tommy Guns aren't all they are cracked up to be. While powerful, they are wildly inaccurate and should only be given to 4 star shooters. 5. Twin Pack Pistols Price: $3000 I know nothing of this weapon. I've only used it once, and its supposed to be good. Try arming your Hoods in Shotgun-Rifle pairs. This combination is lethal. ---------------------------------- VI. Constitution of New Temperance ---------------------------------- The justice system of New Temperance is quite unique. It is essential that you know the rules. Shooting people without reasonable cause is illegal. You may only shoot someone if you have been shot at first. Killing police officers or FBI agents is illegal, under any circumstances. Assaulting people on the street, however, is okay. You just can't assault police officers or FBI agents. Running an illegal business is, obviously, illegal. If one of your Hoods becomes wanted, police officers will shoot at him on sight. You can tell if your hood is wanted by looking at his or her name. If there is a weird-looking symbol next to hit, he is wanted. Bombing and arson are also illegal. -------------------- VII. Defensive Tips -------------------- If you want to take over New Temperance, your territory must be secure. Patrolling It is important that you have every block in your territory covered by a patrolman. These patrolmen should be Security Hoods (Hoods who have at least 3 stars of intelligence and 3 stars of firearms). All of your patrolmen should be armed. Unless you're in an alliance you should eliminate all enemy Hoods that enter your territory. How you arm your Security Hoods is very important. Simple pistols are enough to get by at first, but you will have trouble later in the game. What you really need are rifles and shotguns. Seriously, a Security Hood armed with a rifle is almost unstoppable. Once I equipped a guy who had 4 stars intelligence and 3 stars firearms with a rifle and he was taking out guys in one shot! As soon as you can, start purchasing rifles for your Security Team. At the very least, you should have one rifleman. Believe me, it's worth it. There will come a time, however, when the police will become suddenly interested in your activities. You will notice officers appearing more and more often in your territory. With all of this police action going on, it will be hard to keep the bad guys out without getting your Hoods arrested. So what do you do? You will have to resort to hand-to-hand combat, which is quieter. Pick up a few Hoods who are proficient with knives and set them loose. Guarding If you are in Aggression with another gang, it is important to always have a guard at your office. He or she should be a Security Hood. Try to arm your guards with shotguns. Discipline Sometimes a business owner in your protection racket will transfer over to another gang. This is a serious problem because they are very hard to get back. Here is a list of steps to take if this happens. 1. Intimidation Send an Intimidation Hood (see section IV) to try to convince the owner to rejoin your side. 2. Assault If Intimidation doesn't work, try sending an Assault Hood to beat 'em up. This Hood should have a low knives skill. 3. Smash Up If Assault doesn't work, try sending someone over to smash up the business. I'm not exactly sure what skills are required for this activity. 4. Bombing/Torching/Killing If Smashing Up doesn't work, extreme measures are required. Send a Hood with high intelligence, explosives, and stealth skills to bomb the place. Or, send a Hood with high intelligence, stealth, and arson skills to torch it. Or, just send a Clean Cut Hood to kill the business owner once and for all. ------------------- VIII. Things I Need ------------------- This guide is by no means complete. There are still many things that I don't know about this game. Below is a list of things I need more info on. People who help out will receive special recognition in the Special Thanks section. 1. Info on weapons I need more information on the Tommy Gun and the Twin Pack Pistols. Also, I would like to know your favorite weapon so I can post it here for the sake of interest. I also need more info on the advantages and disadvantages of the shotgun. 2. Info on the New Temperance justice system I need info on what's illegal and what's not. More specifically, I need to know whether killing people hand-to-hand is legal or not. 3. Defensive Tips and Discipline I could always use more tips on defense and how to get business owners back in line. 4. Anything Else More than anything I need your opinions and suggestions. My Email Address: mikelllowe@yahoo.com ------------------- IX. Version History ------------------- January 7, 2004 First Version completed and edited January 7, 2004 Version 1.001 completed with fixed formatting and spellcheck ----------------- X. Special Thanks ----------------- -Myself -Prima for making the Gangsters strategy guide -The people who made this game -------------------- XI. About the Author -------------------- I am a teenager living in Washington State. The message boards I post on are the Goldeneye 64 Board, the Gangsters Board, and sometimes the Star Wars Board. My message board name is lonelyguy547.