Commandos 2 FAQ
Version 1.2, 30/Dec/2001
By Jurcoane Aurelian
====================
Table of contents:
====================
I. Before anything
II. Tips
- Quicktips
III. My opinions
- My dictionary
- Blabber-mouth (SPOILER)
- Commandos top
- My results
IV. Bugs/Dislikes
V. History of changes
VI. Credits
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I. Before anything:
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1. This FAQ is intended for Commandos 2: Men of Courage v1.00
2. This FAQ is best viewed with Microsoft (R) WordPad, font Courier New 10.
3. I'm not a fan of those people that fill their FAQ with useless info that you can
get by reading the Help. Therefore, I will not write about obvious things. If, while
reading, you don't understand something, just start the game. It's there.
4. Many FAQ writers slap you with some charts, facts & other stuff, but never state
an opinion. People, this is why I read the FAQ...to hear what others THINK about this
game that I liked so much.
5. I tried to keep the balance between my own way of seeing things and your wish to
discover the game by yourselves. If I have, in any way, spoiled your fun, e-mail me
so as not to do it again... though I hope you'll be kind.
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II. Tips
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1) There are two important keys of which the Readme says nothing about: F10 & F11.
F10: This one highlights all the doors and "interesting" furniture. It also shows
you any items lying on the ground (sometimes useful when unconscious bodies
keep cigarettes and stuff). But there are some things it doesn't reveal:
mechanisms (elevators, handles, etc), vehicles, stairs.
I can't begin to tell you how useful this key is! It must have shortened to
half my total play time.
F11: Highlights all hostiles. It is pretty useful, because it makes a better
connection between the mini-map and the actual field-view. For example, when
you know from the map that there should be enemies around and still can't
spot them, their contour will be shown in red. Another advantage is
differentiating between the enemy and the civilians in just a quick glance.
2) There is a viewing ability perhaps unknown to many (the help doesn't mention it):
Rotating the camera while inside a room.
Press ALT + arrow keys (right, left), or, if you have a three-button mouse, try
holding ALT + middlebutton. The room starts spinning continuously, not just 90
degrees at a time. Very, very useful!
Before I discovered this (accidentally), I had doubts on the 3D nature of the game!
Note1: This option doesn't work outside. Probably, it would have took too much time
to render the scene.
Note2: I prefer much more the middlebutton-turn, because it reminds me of 3DMax
(for those who know it).
3) SHIFT-split items in the inventory!
Am I not right when I say you didn't know about this? Well, at least I didn't (see
Credits). This works for anything that stacks upon each other (e.g. recipients,
guns, cigars, clothes(!)). If I had known this in the 9th mission...(!!!SPOILER:
so many prisoners, so many clothes to get; END OF SPOILER!!!)
4) Difficulty setting: I propose "Very Hard".
Well, it's true that I played C2's predecessors (C1Bel & C1Btcod), but I advice you
to choose the same way I did. Rather then finish the game with "Easy" setting and
then start over with "Hard" and so on, you defeat the game completely on your first
try. It isn't that difficult, and the feeling is great. Warning: afterwards, be
prepared to be bored with C2 (nothing else to win in the game).
5) Shortcut-keys tips:
Note: I still haven't figured out why the wise guys at Pyro didn't allow changing
the shortcut keys from the in-game Options!
-You should map the "throw bottle" option. I found the bottle very useful as a
back-up for the magnificent Cigarettes (didn't I tell you about the Cigarettes?...
allow me: THE CIGARETTES ROCK! so you'd better learn the "T" key like nothing else)
-You could learn the important shortcuts and then not use the rightside toolbar
anymore (" ~ "). This expands your screen and gives a natural look to the game.
-You should also learn (besides "T"): "Q", "U"/"J"
6) Opening doors: Stay on the side where the door knob is.
It sometimes happens that an enemy is facing a closed door. If you want to get him,
you should use, let's say, a cigar. In order for him to see it, you have to
open the door, but not be seen, which is a difficult task, I might add. Keep in mind,
when I say "Stay on the side where the door knob is", I'm thinking of a door that
opens towards you. :-)
7) The "adrenaline rush":
A burning wish for staying alive animates the gagged soldiers when you try to squash
them using a vehicle (why do that? well...). They will instantly rip their bindings
and get up. You should know this applies only to patrols.
As much as this may sound as a bug to you, I realized I would do the same think as
they do when seeing a maniac trying to run me over with a tank.
8) The bait-body tactic:
Especially when preparing for those invasions in the bonus missions, you may try this:
after positioning your men properly (after a corner I mean) put a gagged soldier in
their field-of-view so as to be seen by incoming soldiers. The enemy prioritizes
the living comrades to the dead ones, so they will run "to the rescue", blindly
getting shredded by your crew.
9) The unachievable goal: 5 stars in mission 1
Pyro was a bit piggish about this one. If you're one of those people that try and try
to get a merit of 5 stars, get used to the idea of not being able to. Mission 1 has
a lot of impenetrable doors, therefore you loose credits for "Visited areas". They
should have warned us! BTW, don't you agree that such a success as getting 5 stars
should have been rewarded in some way?
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Quicktips (in no apparent order)
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01 Start walking before the enemy's view field has passed you (your commandos have inertia)
02 When in a hurry, just after you knocked-out someone, tie him up and lift him in quick
succession (the animation for tying is useless)
03 The above tip works for other animations as well (e.g. unlocking with the thief), but
for others it doesn't (deactivating mines, unlocking safes)
04 Usually, when you enter a building, you can take your German uniform off (being a
tight space)
05 Enemies can see bodies at high altitude
06 Sometimes the view-field of an enemy is false, especially behind vehicles (but don't
count on it)
07 Use QuickSave(Ctrl-S)& QuickLoad(Ctrl-L) a lot
08 By using F10, the furniture you have inspected is shown in dark yellow. If a cupboard
contains a BonusBook, you have to visit it twice in order for it to turn dark yellow.
09 If you want to get an enemy further and further, use cigars, then wine bottle.
10 There are some special patrols which can spot even the Spy. "Dismantle" them using the
above technique.
11 When seen, your best bet is to hit SPACE
12 If you're spotted/injured and have high hopes for a merit of 5 stars, shorten your
misery and reload. :-<
13 When in a vehicle, use arrow keys for a tighter control and SHIFT for speed.
14 The white rope is used by the Thief, who hangs it as a ladder.
15 The shovel is used for hiding bodies. Just drop the body in the hole.
16 After deactivating a mine, the Sapper can pick it up for later use.
17 Dropping a body over a mine does not activate it, but it's a good bait.
18 A sentinel may not move when seeing a dead body, but will, when seeing a gagged comrade.
19 Don't be afraid to waste Aid Kits. There are plenty of energizers in the game (quite too many!).
20 Should you get a message like "one of your men has died", don't think you're being
granted the favor of finishing the game. You only get to test tactics for future reload.
=========================================================================================
III. My opinions
=========================================================================================
There are two ways to play Commandos II: my way or the highway... just kidding.
Seriously, you can play either to get those nice little stars at the end (my way),
either to have some fun as a butcher (from inside a tank, :-)). I hope I made it
clear which type of game I like. If you want a challenge, prepare for this: forget
about the riffle, the gun, the grenade, even the so much loved Sniper rifle. Instead,
start using excessively the Q-Hand, sleeping gas, the Spy's syringe. Remember though:
you must say good-bye to all the other nice gadgets. Kinda spoils the fun, ey? Not at
all, because now you have an objective: a merit of five(5) stars!
Pyro thought of us, so they gave us the Bonus Missions: kill all you want, get shot,
play loud music on the battlefield... you'll only get a medal.
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Blabber-mouth (this whole section is a !!!!!-SPOILER-!!!!!)
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Did you see the ending of the game? I really enjoyed it! I liked especially the
part with the retrospective of the commandos' photos. Made my peace with the game. About
those pictures: I think Pyro attached the figures to real photos as I recognize the diver
in a well known scene of the D-Day. If this is so, they did a really good job. Congrats
to them! Because we're at the movies subject, I must give another round of
applause to Pyro for making such a beautiful game that for creating the inter-mission
movies, they only had to render the scene a bit harder. Talking about rendering, did you
notice the long times for loading a savegame? You might have realized that the bigger the
physical size of the file, the longer it takes (9MB->55 sec) (All of you people with
better PCs then mine must be laughing their eyes out by now). It seems only normal. My
burning wish is for Pyro to reduce this time. It is possible, as they did it in C1
(bel=>btcod).
I like the Credits of the game. One of the best Sections of this kind I've seen in
a game. BTW, did you notice where does the cheat phrase "Gonzoandjon" come from?
Let's get down to business (this is not a walkthrough, but merely my organized
opinions):
M01,M02,B02: The first two missions are pretty big, one bigger then the other (guess
which is which). The second mission is somewhat HUGE. Not because of size, but because of
the ever-coming objectives. Only to get those "checks" at the Objectives, I had to do a
lot of useless "coming and going". And there is that submarine hall at the end that by
its size and flatness scares you. That is that. Next, Bonus Mission 2. This is a real
killer and my opinion is that every game should have one of this. Depending on the
Difficulty level you have 3, 1.5, respectively 1 minute to finish it. Of course, one who
plays on "Easy" has no idea of the blood/sweat/tears he would have paid on "Very Hard".
My first approach got me, by the end of 1 minute, just halfway. It was obvious clever
means were in order, so, with tons of patience, I started blowing-up mines by getting close
enough to them and then suddenly running (use arrow keys for this). I created a short-cut
through the circuit, but couldn't foul the game. So, I gave up. Only, later did someone
tell me the secret (see Credits): DO NOT USE the mouse, only arrow keys and SHIFT
(continuously). When you get to the ribbon, you must pass by it driving forward.
M03: Next, we have the ice-cycle mission. Niiice looking! Nothing special here, except
some critters (penguins, sea-lions) that are not very fond of you. I still don't understand
how do your commandos swim in that blistering cold. It makes me shiver! The Bonus 03 is, as
most other, simply a refreshment. In fact, the only bonuses that pose problems are 02, 04
and 08. We'll get there.
M04: The tyrant is the highlight of this one. Don't put a trip-wire in front of his
guards. Why not? Because nothing happens, that's why! I chose to put the tyrant to sleep
from beneath the bridge with the Driver. It's your choice, though. I've been told (and I've
tested it) that there's a more direct approach (kinda spoils the fun):
"This bug allows you to kill the tyrant at your leisure, even killing him before you call
him via radio! First, you have to switch to the angle that shows the 'Buddha' statue showing
it's back on you, and that the two windows on its back should be facing you... now if you
look on the side of the bridge where the tyrant first appears, you should notice that a part
of the bridge on the 'edge' is slightly shaded. Now, send one of your commandos to that
shaded area. If you walk near enough the edge, you can see the 'blue line of sight' as if
you're walking on the 'far' portion of a soldier FOV. Upon seeing this, you can either stay
put and wait, or go back, put a body on the shadow area, either way, the tyrant will come
out, alone. One more thing is that he cannot see beyond the shaded area until he steps out
of it." BY WAZA
B04: The Bonus is... yeah man, this is to my liking. My solution was a bit strange:
imagine, I positioned all the allied soldiers on their bellies, in line (|||||), in open field,
with the sniper behind them to get other snipers :-). The sapper was waiting at a corner
close-by, so that whoever escaped my firing squad would get some heat from his flames. BTW,
when you first saw burning, screaming bodies in Commandos 2 weren't you just terrified? I know
I was.
M05: There has been a lot of mystery around the Elephant. To begin with, there is a bug
about it (see Bugs section). Secondly, you will never manage to make it move if you don't use
the keyboard (stupid, isn't it?). Thirdly, it's quite useless in the scenario. Thanks for the
investigation go to Arm Claude (see Credits), who also discovered (haven't tested it though)
that you have to cross the river on the side where the captive officer is, otherwise you don't
get the check on your Objectives list. But you can't manage to cross without being spotted.
M06: The guns of Savo Island. A mission for fish-guy. The thing is there is someone on
a hill that watches the ocean, sometimes through binoculars. When he does so, his field of
view becomes quite long. I find this realistic.
M08: This is the one with private Smith. Did you see the movie with Ryan? I find there
is a nice resemblance, once the invasion starts. Another round of applause for Pyro. About the
included Bonus: the invasions I like best in C2. It's a kind of math problem: here you have
the tools for resolving, now, without a time limit, think how to combine them to get what you
want. If you played TIM (The Incredible Machine), you know how it is to arrange the pieces and
then start your mechanism.
M09: I love the interior courtyard of Castle Colditz. It is a nice mission, if you don't
think of the prisoners that have no clothes and the long loading times.
M10: What a spectacular view from the Eiffel Tower! It deserves to end the game. This
mission allows the chance to see how a butcher feels like: get Sappy and the Driver in the
tank. It gets ugly!
END OF SPOILER!!!!
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The Commandos top (average usefulness, not specific attributes):
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1.The Spy
[Characterization]: He is by far the most efficient member of your team. Give him some
cigars and some tranquilizers and he is ready. Do not forget: you
first need a uniform (officer)( :-)). By himself, he manages, but
along with a carrier, he rocks! In fact, there are whole missions
that can be resolved with this deadly pair.
[Notes]: - while in uniform, you can issue orders to enemies lower in rank (the lower
the better). Not the officers, I repeat, not the officers.
2.The Driver
[Characterization]: ...sleeping gas...
[Notes]: - the trip-wire is silly (never really used it). Besides, there have been
reports that it doesn't always work.
- I used the smoke grenade once. It is nice ('cause it don't produce commotion)
3.The Green Beret
[Characterization]: He is faster then the usual others. He also has a gorilla look
(dumb if you ask me). I use him, rather then the others, because
of the radio and the slight speed bonus. But, on second thought, the
radio can be used by anyone with a remote.
[Notes]: - use the radio to clear groups: place it so as to be heard by only one enemy.
- use him for acrobatic jumps (and climbing, but there is no real occasion
in the 20 missions of the game)
4.The Sapper
[Characterization]: Too much noise. Still, sometimes you might need him for his grenades
(open locked doors, kill one(1) annoying soldier). His weapons are
the best in the game, among which I mention the flame-thrower (waw).
[Notes]: - by applying the "corner tactic", he is a real killer with his flames.
5.The Diver
[Characterization]: blah, blah, blah (remember, you're commandos, not a fisherman :-))
[Notes]: - the knife throwing is nice, but we want no killing, right?
- don't deflate his boat on the ground
6.The Thief
[Characterization]: This little kid (I want to offend him) is fast, but darn useless when
it comes to tying a body. I hate him for that. But did you see his
speed? (:-o).
He kicks artistically.
[Notes]: - when the map is cleared, run with him to find something you missed
- if you don't use his climbing or window breaking-in, you'll never finish the game.
7. The Seductress
[Characterization]: I'm not too attached to her. I wish she could distract officers. She
has too few actions. Besides, she's not that seducing.
8. The Sniper
[Characterization]: "I'm sorry for doing this to you, my boy, but you only know how to kill"
Still, I have a great respect for him, because of Commandos I.
9. The Stupid Dog
[Characterization]: I hate this dog. He causes commotion.
9'. The Stupid Robinson
[Characterization]: I hate this man. He causes commotion.
[Note]: - seems like the 9 key is destined to non-use
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My Results
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Comments:
-I'm not self-centered, but I think this table could be useful to you (at least you would
make a good impression of yourself in comparison with myself :-()
-in the first two missions, I was blurry
-results for mission 8: because of the bonus
-results for mission 10: I was in a hurry
-the numbers represent stars
-Time =Mission time
Sec =Secondary objectives
Enem =Neutralized enemies
Shoot =Neutralized enemies w/o shooting
Kill =Neutralized enemies w/o killing
Inj =Not being injured
Det =Not being detected
Area=Areas visited
Merit=Merit
Difficulty: Very Hard
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| |Time | Sec | Enem | Shoot | Kill | Inj | Det | Area| Merit|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|1.The Night of The Wolves | 2 | 5 | - | - | - | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|2.Das Boot, Silent Killers | 1 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|3.White Death | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|4.Target: Burma | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|5.Bridge Over the River Kwai | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|6.The Guns of Savo Island | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|7.The Giant in Haiphong | 1 | - | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|8.Saving Private Smith | 5 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|9.Castle Colditz | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|10.Is Paris Burning? | 2 | - | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finished with the rank of Brigadier.
Because I do not have the necessary strength and patience to determine the time
barriers and the translations to merit-stars, I give you my data.
Do what ever you want with them, compare/calculate/anything.
(00:39:48, 03:25:47, 02:05:11, 01:37:35, 00:54:41,
02:32:27, 01:29:29, 01:06:38, 02:58:06, 01:35:00)
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IV. Bugs/Dislikes
=========================================================================================
01. Dislike: When prompted whether to overwrite a saved game, ENTER should mean "yes"
02. Dislike: The Load Game list should have scroll bars (only until very late did I
realize that a game I thought to be lost was in fact in the upper part of the list)
03. Dislike: There should exist a Delete savegame button
04. Dislike: The Options in MainMenu should be the same with the in-game Options.
05. Bug: When exiting a building sometimes the camera will keep returning to the door,
even if you leave the screen with your commando.
06. Dislike: Pyro should find a better save format. It takes toooooo long.
07. Bug: A miscalculation in joining uniforms from one commando to another:
Uniform1 (1/10, 53) + Uniform2 (8/10, 215) -> Uniform1 (11/10, 269)
caused a crash each time I loaded the game that contained it.
08. Bug: I finished mission 8 without getting all the BonusBooks and, when I reloaded and
finished the Bonus mission, I was told I got a medal, but it doesn't show up.
09. Bug: In mission 5, setting off the thief's rat and getting on the elephant causes crash.
10. Bug: When inside complicated rooms (2-3 floors), I once threw a grenade from one floor
to the upper one (remember, I was somewhere inside) through the upper window.
11. Bug: Killing the tyrant before calling him via radio (see Blabber-mouth section, M04)
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V. History of changes
=========================================================================================
Version 1.2: Added "Tips": 7, 8, 9
Added "Quicktips": 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
Added "Bugs": 11
Updated "Credits" with Arm Claude & Waza & Supported sites
Updated "Blabber-mouth" with M04, M05
Version 1.1: Added "Blabber-mouth" section
Added "History of changes" section
Added data about my mission times
Updated "Credits" with Arm Claude & Rahmat Putra & Supported sites
Updated "Tips" with Shift-Splitting
Updated "Quicktips" with 03, 12, 13, 14
Updated "Bugs" with 09, 10
Removed complaint about Bonus Mission 2
Removed complaint about not being able to split clothes
Other minor changes
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VI. Credits
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- blah, blah, blah,... me ..., blah, ... Pyro Studios...
- Arm Claude: insights on trip-wire, Bonus mission 2, arrow-keys use, the Elephant
- Waza: insights on bait-body tactics, the Tyrant bug, the "adrenalin rush"
- Rahmat Putra: for telling me about SHIFT-splitting
and in case you didn't get the impression that I'm thankful enough to Pyro Studios,
let me tell you this: I'm thinking to vote Commandos 2 as the "Best I've seen" (the
competition being very harsh: Diablo II, Heroes III, Thief, and a few others)
This FAQ is supposed to be posted only by the following sites:
01. www.gamefaqs.com
02. www.neoseeker.com
03. www.cheathappens.com
04. http://DLH.Net
Any suggestions/critics should follow the path of stefana@mailbox.ro
