___ _ _ _ ___ ___ _____ ___ ___ ___ / __| /_\ | \| |/ __/ __|_ _| __| _ Y __| | (_ \/ _ \| .` | (_ \__ \ | | | _|| |__ \ \___/_/ \_\_|\_|\___|___/ |_| |___|_|_\___/ Gangsters Strategy Guide by "Madd" Matt Jedrych Version 4.69 - 11/13/99 What all is in here? I. Intro a) The Game b) What's New? II. Getting Started a) First Orders b) The Hoods III. Moving On In The Game a) Buying Businesses b) Illegal Businesses c) Accountants & Lawyers d) The Election IV. Your Opposition a) Other Gangs b) Those Damn Cops V. Smart Keys VI. Frequently Asked Questions VII. The Cheats -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= I. Intro -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= a) The Game Gangsters is a game of city wide domination. It varies from giving orders, running business, dealing with other gangs and cops, committing crimes, and doing whatever it takes to gain income. It may sound hard trying to all this, but it's not... well, it won't be if you read this damn strategy guide I wrote up. Mainly, I learned these things either by myself, or by flipping through the Gangsters manual. Heck, a lot of it was taken from the manual.. but that's how I learned how to play the game. Everything else is original, nothing was stolen.. hell, to my knowledge, this is the only Gangsters FAQ out there. Now, for the game specifics... Platform: Win95 Publisher: Eidos Developer: Hothouse Creations Genre: Strategy Origin: U.K. Max. Number of Players: 4 Online Support: YES Minimum Requirements: Pentium 133MHz; 4xCD-ROM; 16 MB RAM; 2 MB SVGA; DirectX-6.0 b) What's New? Let's take a look... Version .69 - 2/24/99: This was the first one I threw together. It had just the basic strategy guide alone, nothing special. This was about a month after I got the game and at that point, I was very interested in it. Version 1.69 - 3/22/99: This came out only about a month after the first version and I added the hot keys to it as well as a Q & A section. I had been getting many, many, many questions, so I decided to answer them. At this point, I was still interested in the game, greatly. Version 4.69 - This one: Can you see the time difference? This was thrown together 8 months after the last one and I'm doing this one for a single reason. To answer more questions. Also, folks... I haven't played the game in over four months, and EVERYTHING I know is in here. SO, if you're question isn't answered here, chances are that I won't know it. Also, I added a cheats section. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= II. Getting Started -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= a) First Orders You first orders should be to extort and recruit. Those two things should be all you're doing in the first week. In the second, you should add Money Collection to your priorities. Hence, the main three things to think of at start are: collecting money, getting more territory (by extorting) and recruiting new hoods. Protecting your area is something you could consider, but it isn't necessary since in the first weeks nobody will be starting a war.. not yet. b) The Hoods Your boys, your gang, your men. You need to use these guys in the right way, or your orders will fail time and time again. The gang leaders are called Lieutenants, and should always be high in two things: intelligence and organization. Along with that should be a high rating in the skill needed for his team's task (ex. the Lieutenant of an extortion team should have a high intimidation factor). At start, you should build four teams. One for protection, extortion, money collection and another for recruiting. The protection is the team that will guard businesses and patrol your territory. The hoods in this group should have high rating in firearms (at least four stars), and a good rating in fists would help as well. The extortion team will get more territory, and each hood in it should have at least four stars in intimidation. The recruiting team should include gangsters with high ratings in intelligence. As for the collectors team, it doesn't really matter since anyone can collect cash. Equipping your Lieutenants is important, and you should consider whether they actually need guns or vehicles. Give weapons to those who really might need it- patrol teams and gangs that are going in to commit a crime. Give guns to the people who have a rating in firearms of at least four stars- they'll know how to use it best. As for vehicles, give them only to the people who you are sending far away. Cars don't come cheap- use them wisely. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= III. Moving On In The Game -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= a) Buying Businesses Once you have some dough, think about buying a business. This brings in legal money. Since the business are legal, the FBI won't raid them as they would your illegal businesses. Legal cash will hide the amount of illegal money you have, somewhat. If you're making too much illegal money, the FBI will get suspicious- not something you want. However, if you have a good accountant, you don't have to worry about this- a good accountant can cover up the amount of illegal money you pull in. Buying a legal business it pretty simple, and you don't need to worry about sending someone to run it- it's automatically done for you. b) Illegal Businesses Once you feel like it, set up some of these. However, as with normal businesses, you have to place them correctly (ex. a casino would go in a wealthy area, prizefights go in poor areas). Want to know more? Hell, I'm a nice guy... Card Games: put these only in the poor areas. Best location for card games is a pool hall or a book store. Counterfeit: these won't bring in any profit, but will be spread out throughout your legal businesses. The best location for this is the Printer, however the Bank is fine as well. Casinos: put these in wealthy areas and you'll get tons of cash. The Main Bank is the best location. Gambling Den: let's just call this "the casino for the poor." The best location is the pool hall. Dice Games: these go in the real poor areas of town. The best location is either a pool hall or a hotel. Insider Trading: these belong in the commercial centre. Good locations are finance companies, banks and real estate. Loan Sharks: these can be anywhere in the city, but do best in banks, real estate and finance companies. Grifters: also known as pickpockets. They belong in the poor areas of the city, and the best locations are poll halls. Moonshine Stills: no profit comes from these, but they are essential for your speakeasies. Best places to put them are drug stores. Speakeasy: probably the best illegal businesses. It gets its liquor either from the moonshine stills, or you can steal it from other places. These can be easily hid in breakfast bars, cafes, milk bars and restaurants. Teamsters: can only be set up behind the Union Building. This will let you control the strike of the industrial area and can also call on the block vote during an election. Prizefights: boxing and gambling make a good couple. Doesn't matter what part of town they go in, as long as they are located in a gym or pool hall. Numbers Racket: the lottery with one catch- it's fixed so that nobody ever wins. They do best in poorer areas and should be located in general stores, cafes or printers. Whorehouses: these can go anywhere in the city, since everyone wants to get laid =) Good locations are dance studios, massage parlors and hotels. Offices: no profit here, but they are important. Your hoods will depart for their jobs from the local office, so having more then one can improve your gang efficiency. c) Accountants and Lawyers You should get both of these early in the game. The accountant covers up your illegal money, preventing an FBI raid. The more stars an accountant has, the better he is at this. A good lawyer is also a necessity. He helps keep your men out of prison and bribe officials. d) The Election If you decide to enter an election once it comes around, you'll need three things: an excellent lawyer, lots of cash and lots of land. Something to try is reducing the protection money, which will make the people happy and get more votes for you. As said before, the Teamster building helps you in the election. It will automatically give you at most 10% of the votes. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= IV. Your Opposition -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= a) Other Gangs If they're bothering you, you'll have to take care of them- at one point or another. First off, try locating their office. Explore, and do it often. Try exploring areas in which you often see the opposing hoods, and sends a lot of people at once. Kidnapping is another way of finding the enemy base. To do this, you must find a building in which you often see the opposing hoods. Pulling this off will require a group of hoods that have high ratings in intelligence, intimidation, stealth, firearms, and organization. Succeed, and you will gain a list of businesses owned by the enemy. Investigate these buildings. Once you find the office, decide what you really want to do. You can try to get the leader arrested. Destroying that gang's legal business will increase the suspicion of the police towards that gang. If the suspicion gets real high, the leader will get arrested. You can also take the hard way to it- kill the leader. If you decide to do just that, make sure you send a lot of hoods, make sure they have vehicles and guns, and make sure you have a lot of cash to get new hoods since many of yours will get killed. Send every hood that you can, and hit 'em with all you got. b) Those Damn Cops There's no way around this- the cops will be after you. They patrol the city every week looking for crimes, or those who are accused of it. Watch out for FBI agents near your businesses. If you see a group of them, you better get ready 'cause they're about to raid your illegal business. You can either attack them, or let them go forth with their actions if you have enough money to bribe the Judge to get yourself out of trouble. If you see an agent who is solo, it means that the FBI has some suspicion towards you. Either kill him, or close down the illegal business. If one of your men gets arrested, bribe the judge. OR, you can bribe the District Attorney. By doing this, you'll get the names of the witnesses and jurors. You can either bribe them, or intimidate them... and if they don't work with you, you can kill them. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= V. Smart Keys -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= It's a lot easier sometimes to use your keyboard as a shortcut to perform several actions, rather then having to do them using your mouse. The following list comes straight from the Gangsters readme text file. THE GANG ORGANIZER FUNCTION KEY Help ? Lieutenant Section F1 Accountant Section F2 Lawyer Section F3 Diplomacy Section F4 Newspaper F5 Graphs F6 City Maps F7 Game Options F8 Toggle City Plan / Rooftop view Space Lieutenant 1 1 Lieutenant 2 2 Lieutenant 3 3 Lieutenant 4 4 Lieutenant 5 5 Lieutenant 6 6 Lieutenant 7 7 Lieutenant 8 8 Open Clipboard C Hoods Section H Vehicles Section V Weapons Section W Confirm Return / Enter Reject Escape Load Game CTRL+L Save Game CTRL+S Messages. (Multiplayer only) F9 to F12 Close Chat Window (Multiplayer only) Tab Quit CTRL+Q THE WORKING WEEK FUNCTION KEY Help ? Pause P City Plan Insert Rooftop View Home Street View Page Up Toggle Street View / Rooftop View Space Bar Cycle gangsters from team 1 1 Cycle gangsters from team 2 2 Cycle gangsters from team 3 3 Cycle gangsters from team 4 4 Cycle gangsters from team 5 5 Cycle gangsters from team 6 6 Cycle gangsters from team 7 7 Cycle gangsters from team 8 8 Accelerate time by one step > Decelerate time by one step < Remove / Replace buildings B Kill Street Order F1 Assault Street Order F2 Tail Street Order F3 Go to Street Order F4 Cancel Street Order Escape View Combat Messages F5 View Gangsters and Police Messages F6 View Failed Orders Messages F7 View Waiting / Priority Messages F8 Messages. (Multiplayer only) F9 to F12 Close Chat Window (Multiplayer only) Tab Quit CTRL+Q -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= VI. Frequently Asked Questions -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Since putting out this FAQ, I've gotten quite a few questions. I've decided to answer them through here as a future referance for any others who may need my assistance. Q: I want to know that how can i recruit accountant and lawyer??? A: Quite simple... just order your hoods to recruit. Then, to the left of the map (on the bottom) you should see three icons. Each one is for hoods, lawyers and accountants. Take your choice, and you're set. Q: (a) How can I do illegal business??? (b) I was Wondering how to setup an illegal business, my icon for setup business wound show up. A: To set up an illegal business, you'll need a front (or a legal business) and an empty lot in the center of a block on which the business is located. Pretty simple. Then, and ONLY then will the icon become clickable. Q: How do I make my hoods to be teamsters, speakeasy, moonshine stalls??? A: The things listed are illegal business. Hoods can't "become" them. Info on how to set up illegal businesses is above this Q. Q: Are there any cheats in Gangsters? A: Not that I'm aware of, and I've been searching hard. Q: Are you interested in playing on-line against me? A: No, I don't even play this game anymore. Q: (a) I just bought gangsters few days ago. I tried playing but every time i start a new game or scenario, all of my hoods are behind bars, i cant use any of them. I tried waiting a few turns, but then i get killed. Some of the scenarios, i can get hoods, but then after 1 week (the first week), they are all arrested. (b) I've just started out a new game...and all the hood I've got have got bars in front of their faces and I can't make them do anything...please help out... (c) Why the &%(@ are all my hoods in JAIL?! I just started a new game and they're all locked up!! WHAT THE %&@( IS GOING ON?! (d) When the game starts, all of the gangsters in the pool are behind bars, how do i get them out? I can't give them orders or upgrade them when they're like that. A: This is what happens if you have an illegal copy of the game, you damn poor bastards. Get some cash and buy the full copy! Q: the other gangsters keep moving in on my territory...why is this? what is the best way to stop this from happening short of killing the bastards? I'm looking for their bases so I can do just that but there must be some other way to stop them in the meantime. A: There's no way to stop other gangs from moving onto your territory. Everyone wants to explore and find new buildings to extort. The best thing to do at first is just to leave them the hell alone. There's no need to start a war just because one or two hoods are cruising around your land. However, if it pisses you off... then KILL 'EM ALL. In this game, it's all about the survival of the quickest. Q: I have a question that i don't think I found in the page. I have problems with stubborn store owners who don't pay their freakin' collection. I have hard times finding out who's not up to the offer. I tried looking in the clipboard, then under storeowners. I see the empty icon that says "Won't pay protection." How come its empty when I know someone isn't paying? Do I have to bribe someone to get the list or something? A: Simply go back to the previous week's order, and flip through the cards. Whenever there is someone who didn't pay their collection, it will be specified. A name IS given, so write that name down, or remember it, and where that person is located. Then you can kill, intimidate, bomb, or whatever you want to do to them. If their building isn't available for a crime (and I do not know why that happens sometimes), simply try getting your collection again. Q: what does raiding do? does it help you, or hurt you? A: Raiding is simply put- a robbery. You can get a great deal of money through this, but obviously only if you rob places that you know make a lot of money. Places like this would be the large banks and hotels. Q: It seems that the FBI are only very suspicious about me, and not the other gangs. After week 2 I mostly land up in jail! Do you know what I do wrong? A: If you're extorting a LOT and pulling in tons of illegal cash right away, the FBI is bound to have high suspicion towards you. Try to set up some legal businesses or get a good accountant to cover up the illegal money. As for you ending up in jail already by week 2... eeh.. I have no clue why you'd get sent to jail so quickly, unless you're committing crimes right from the start. Q: Hi, Can u explain how I take my hoods out of jail? A: If one of your men gets arrested, bribe the judge... blah, blah, blah. Grrr... I explained that already. Look under section IV, part B. Try reading the FAQ before asking a question. Q: What if I have even more questions? A: If it hasn't been answered here, I most likely don't know the answer. To be honest, I haven't touched this game in about four months... but if you must, than send your questions to me at SimFreak@aol.com. Q: Hey, can you send me Gangsters? A: Well... maybe if... NO! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= VII. Cheats -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Here they are, hooray (thanks to GameSages)! -> Easy $50,000 Go to the Liutenant screen, than after hitting the CAPS LOCK key, type in I LOVE HANSON. Than, if you're current amount of cash it under $50,000, than that's how much you'll get. -> Easy $3,000 Once again, go the the Liutenant screen. Once there, press D + A + R + T and voila! -> Money & Hoods Cheat Go to 'Run' in the Windows 98 Start Menu and type regedit. Now click through the following folders... 1. hkey_local_machine 2. Software 3. Hothouse 4. Gangsters At 'Default Money,' change 2710 to 207101FF for about 544,000,000 bucks!! At 'Default Hoods,' change A to FF to start with 255 hoods!! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= >>> E-mail me... SimFreak@aol.com <<< If you copy this strategy guide and try to take credit for it, I will rip your heart out, and feed it to a mad goat who will then proceed to wildly rape you. Got it? Good. If you're interested in using this little FAQ of mine on your website, simply e-mail me and ask. I won't bite... most likely. Redistribution of it, especially for profit is forbidden, and will not be tolerated. If you chose to do so, I will personally wipe out your entire family. Copyright 1999 Mathew Jedrych