TIMESPLITTERS 2 WALKTHROUGH

Level 1: Siberia, 1990

Objectives - Normal
-Deactivate the Communications Dish
-Investigate the secret digging site
-Restore Power
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Destroy the bio-hazard container at the digging site
-Access the top of the dam
-Eliminate the gunship
-Escape through the time portal

Secondary
-Burn all evidence in the filing cabinets (5)
-Don't allow any mutants to survive (5)

Grab the rifle and pistol in front of you, zoom in, and take out the guard on the left, on the stairs. Shoot the camera to his right in the lens, so it's disabled. Head a bit to the left, and you'll see a guard between the two right-most buildings, finish him with a shot to the head. Head all the way to the left, and look between the two left-most buildings to see a female guard standing there. Take her out, and move forward, through the gate. Head to the last building on the right, and take out the guard inside with a headshot. Head back to where the opening in the fence was, and hug it until you reach the stairs. Take out the guard walking around here, then head around the communications building. Turn to your right and take out the camera you see. Head up the stairs, into the room, and hit the switch. Exit, then turn left and head over the wooden planks between the roofs. Drop down into the hole on the roof of the last building and grab the timed mines. Once you leave, you'll find there's a sniper around. Aim to the top of the dam, all the way on the opposite side, and take him out. Go into the building in the corner opposite from the comm. building, open the filing cabinet and plant a mine on it. Head over to the building next to the comm. building, connected by the wooden plank. Head in, open the filing cabinet, and plant a mine. Throw a timed mine up onto the roof of the communications building to take out the dish. Finally, head into the last building to grab some ammo. Head into the dam.

Head up the stairs, duck underneath the steam vent, and take out all the guards on the way up, silently. On level 2, there is a security camera, so shoot its lens before it sees you. Once you're up, look through the window in the door, and you'll see a few guards. Take out the one on the left with a headshot, then open the door and head into the opening on the left. Inside, you'll find the Soviet S47, ammo, and some armor. Turn the valve on the opposite side to turn down the steam pressure, then head out. As you continue down the hall, you'll come across a bunch of guards. Take cover and pop out to shoot them to avoid taking too much damage. Keep moving, and head into the next opening on the left. Turn the valve, then continue down the hall. You may or may not encounter another guard, depending on how loud you've been in the hallway. Either way, head into the last opening on the left, and turn the valve to put the steam pressure at 0%. Head out the door, and down the stairs.! Keep a look out for more guards as you go down the stairs. Once you're at the bottom, open the door, and take out the camera above you to your right. Then, head out of the door, and turn to take out the sniper on the other side of the dam. Head up the stairs, and head to the right to take out another guard. Go around the building and you'll come to another camera at the corner, take it out, along with any other remaining guards, then head into the building.

Go forward, then left at the opening and take out the guard behind the boxes, then turn more and take out the other guard skulking around. Go down the stairs and turn to the right, then right again. Launch a grenade at the guard in the corner, then another one at the security camera in this room. Take out the remaining guard in the room, then look around the entrance of the room for a tiny storage room. Head in, open the cabinet, and place a timed mine to torch another file. Head forward, and just before the stairs, on the right, will be the last 2 filing cabinets. Open them and use a timed mine to torch them, then continue on. Head down the first set of steps, and halfway down the second, stop to snipe the guy on the walkway in front of you. There's two more guards in the room, and one more guard outside the control room above. Before you enter the room, take out the two turrets just outside the windows for the control room, with normal S47 fire. Once they're toast, head up! into the room and hit the button on the left of the panel, closest to the glass, and a door will open up in the corner of the large room. Head through it, and into door 1 on the right. Grab the goodies in here, then head into door 3 for ammo. Once you're stocked up, head into door 2 and go in the first door on the left. Access the panel on the left and aim the gun at the guard, then fire. Hit the two switches on the right, then head out, and continue down the hall and around the bend. Pick up the guard's Tactical Shotgun and head down the hallway, watching for the guard at the other end of the room. Take him out, and grab the computer disc from his corpse. Once you do, zombies will arise in the room. Take their heads off to release the lockdown. Leave, and head back into the corridor leading down to the digging site. Head up to the large room, then up to the control room and access the panel to put the disc in. Once you do, the power will be reset. Head back into the corridor, and into door 1. Take out the zombies in here and grab the flamethrower. Re-equip your weapon of choice and head out into the corridor, down to the digging site. You're bound to be stopped by a couple zombies on the way, so shoot them up and go to the digging site. Here, you'll find a few more zombies, the Time Crystal, and a bio-hazard container. Blow up the container with a couple timed mines.

Now, you have to head to the top of the dam. Some special forces will show up to neutralize the zombies, so you'll have to deal with them, and the zombies, AND some mutants for good measure. Just blast everything that moves, and if it's undead, go for the head. Make your way back through the building, blasting with the Soviet and the Shotgun. Once you get outside, in the snow again, head back into the dam, but head into the first elevator you see. Take out the couple zombies in the way, hop in, and head up. You'll arrive on level 3, keep going. Level 5, still not high enough. Next stop is the top of the dam, which is exactly where you need to be. Head out and use the turret slightly to your left. You now have to take down a helicopter with these turrets. Make sure you keep an eye on the sides of the dam. As soon as enemies come from the left or the right, take them out with the Machine gun (primary fire) and continue blasting at the helicopter. If you have a nice, clear shot at it, use alternate fire to shoot a missile at the helicopter to inflict some major damage. You should be able to finish it off with one turret, but if not, run and dodge your way to the next. Once the helicopter's down, the time portal will open in the middle of the dam. Hop in.

Level 2: Chicago, 1932

Objectives - Normal
-Drain the whisky barrels (4)
-Rendezvous with your informant
-Protect Marco as he returns to his hideout
-Obtain the night club pass card
-Eliminate Big Tony
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Escape through the time portal

Secondary
-Prevent Tony's brother from escaping
-Minimize civilian casualties

Head to the right and drop off of the walkway. Kill the gangster walking around near you, then head over the small "bridge" and take out the gangster to your left. Head into the opening across from the "bridge" and take out the gangster mulling about in here. On your right is a barrel of whisky. Shoot it near the bottom to completely drain it, then head up the stairs. Once up the stairs, look out the window, to the right, and you'll see a gangster standing around. Take him out with the silenced luger, then do the same to the gangster on the ground, to your left. Head around the bend, and down the stairs, take out the remaining guard here, and underneath the window is another whisky barrel. Shoot the bottom of this one, then head out into the streets. On your right, across the street is a ringing telephone. Answer it, and the informant will tell you to meet him by the newspaper stand down the street. Be prepared for the gangster a bit down the street, to the right. Once he's down, pick up his tommy gun and get ready to use it. Continue down the street and a car will pull out into the streets. Start shooting at it with the tommy gun, avoiding its fire back at you. Once it starts flaming, it's all done, so continue down the street. To the right of the pub is a small alcove, containing ammo, a whisky barrel, and some armor. Head back, past the pub and you'll see a shady-looking guy behind the newsstand. Go up and talk to him, and he'll tell you there's trouble brewing at the bar. Head into the bar, and take out everybody you see, making sure you take cover to avoid taking damage. Once everyone's dead, head back out the front door and meet up with the informant. You'll have to protect him as he makes his way back to the hideout, so follow him and keep an eye out for gangsters coming from in front and from behind him. If you hear any shots, look in front of and behind Marco, there will be a gangster there. Once you turn the corner, there's a gangster !to the right, up on a balcony sniping. Take him out before he can hit Marco, and keep protecting him until he makes it into his hideout. Once that's done, grab the TNT on his table, and head out.

On your right is a big building with an open door. Head inside and down the stairs to your right to take down a few gangsters in here. Next to the stairs is the last whisky barrel. Once it's drained, head up the stairs into the next room, and go up more stairs. There's a couple gangsters around this level, so take them down, grab whatever items are in the room, then head up to the next floor. Continue until you reach the top floor. You'll know it when there's no more stairs heading up, and a tougher-looking gangster is guarding a door. Take him down easily, and head into the room. There's a shotgun on the chair, and a safe in the corner. Equip the TNT, plant it on the safe, then head out of the room. Once it explodes, head back in and grab the member card and answer the phone. Marco will tell you there's some guys waiting for you. Go down to the windows and you'll see one guy in a window across from you, one on street level across from you, and one on a lower balcony to the !right of you. Once you've made quick work of them, head down the stairs, and out of the building. Head right, and you'll find some gangsters waiting for you, so take them down, and continue. Down this street, there's another gangster on the right. Where the street forks in two, there are a few gangsters on the left, and one in the large windows to the right. Take out the right one first, so you can use the end of the buildings for cover, then take out the ones on the left, including the one in the large windows on the left.

Head into the Members' Area via the gate, and take out the two gangsters on the right, in front of the restaurant. Head up the stairs and to the left, then around and down until you reach a door marked 'Members only'. Through the door, there's one gangster level to you on the right, and one below you to the left. Take them out, and head into the door on the left. Once you move forward, there will be a gangster who pops out to the left. Go past him, then to the left, and backwards into the small corner to get the dual tommy guns. Head into the next room and take out the guy around the turn to the right. Once he's gone, in the next room, there's a guy on the left to take out. Keep moving forward until you find yourself in a large room, where you meet Big Tony. There's a gangster behind the pillar on the left, so take him out first, quickly. Then, take out Tony on his way down the stairs on the right. Shred him with the dual tommy guns, grab the Time Crystal, then run through the stabilized portal.

Level 3: Notre Dame, 1895

Objectives - Normal
-Rescue the maidens (4)
-Fight off the Portal Daemon
-Make your way to the roof to escape Notre Dame
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Escape through the time portal
-Eliminate Jacque de la Morte

Secondary
-Help the hunchback escape with the maiden

Head forward down the corridor. You'll come to 3 zombies. Only one will animate, the other two will animate once you've passed them. After they're down, head into the passage on the left and flip the lever. Two more zombies will animate, so take them down, and continue through the opening on the left. Two more zombies here, you know the drill. Head down into the sewer pipe on your left, and flip the lever before the blue grate. Head up the short steps to the right, grab the armor, and take out the zombie that spawns. Head through the opening and take out the zombie on your left. Up the stairs, behead the zombie that appears. Once you reach the top, ignore the corpses and move past the racks of barrels. Once you reach the last rack, stay right to avoid the blast. Take out the zombie in front of you, then the two zombies to get you from behind, and you'll find a few more flaming zombies coming for you from the other side. Once they're gone, continue on into the next passageway. There's a shotgun to your left and a maiden in front of you. Once you get close, a zombie will spawn in. Carefully take him out, as to not injure the maiden, and then take out the one lumbering towards you from the left. Free the maiden then head to the left to pick up the shield. Two more will spawn once you move forward. Once they're down, turn to your right, and shoot off the lock on the locked gate, and rescue the maiden inside. A zombie will spawn, so leave and take him out. Next section, two more zombies spawn, you know the drill. Behind you, on your right, the maiden isn't really a maiden, look closer. Just shoot her, and continue forward to rescue the last maiden. Now head up the stairs and take out the zombie. Move through the hall, and into the cathedral. Once in here, turn to your left to take out the undead priests and grab the Time Crystal at the alter. Turn around to blast another undead priest and head forward. At the other end is an opening, so head in, and down the corridor on the left, taking out the priest. Grab the armor and head up the stairs. A zombie will attack a little ways up the stairs, just behead him and continue. At the top, you'll find an undead priest and two ropes. Take out the priest, and pull both ropes. The right one will lower the maiden and the left one will open a door. Head back down into the middle of the cathedral, where the maiden is, and some zombies will show up along with the good ol' hunchback. You'll have to fight off a bunch of spawning zombies with the aide of the hunchback. Just don't get in his way, because he'll blast you too. The hunchback will get most of them, so just pretend you're really helping. Once they're gone, you'll get a new objective to help them escape. Head back the way you came in, and down the stairs. Once you reach the dungeon where you first found the maidens, the objective should be complete. Head back to the cathedral, and run across to the only door you've yet to go into.

Grab the armor and head up the stairs. Grab the ammo on your way up, then take out the zombie that surprises you. Once you're at the top, head across the room, past the crucifix, and into the balcony of the cathedral. You'll encounter a mean guy, the Portal Daemon. Strategy here is easy, just keep moving to avoid his blasts, and take out the zombies that are close behind you. If there are no zombies near you, you can unload a few shotgun blasts into the Portal Daemon. Keep checking behind you between every couple shots for zombies. It's not too hard. Once he's dead, go around the balcony, taking out the few remaining zombies. Grab the shotgun shells, then head into the small hall, and open the door leading to the roof. Once you're on the roof, you'll have to keep moving forward, while contending with the undead priests that stand in your way. After a few rounds of priests, you'll encounter Jacque de la Morte himself. Kill him as you would any other human "boss". Once he's down the portal will stabilize, so hop in.

Level 4: Return to Planet X, 2280

Objectives - Normal
-Repel the beach attack
-Locate the crashed UFO
-Fight off the raid on the crashed UFO
-Shoot down the escaping UFOs
-Find the UFO base
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Escape through the time portal

Head straight and grab the Scifi handgun while dodging UFO fire, then head down the hole. Go into the next room, around the large pillar in the center, and bag your first alien. Make your way forward, taking out a few more aliens (watch for the one up above). When you come to the next hole, drop down and grab the shield. Hug the right wall, Grab some ammo, then make your way quickly to the opposite corner of the beach, near the red force field. Use the nearest turret to blast all the aliens you see, making their way towards you. Just keep an eye out to make sure none sneak up on you. If you run out of ammo in this turret, make a run to the one next to you. Once you finish them off, run around the beach to grab all the ammo. Head through the new opening. Keep going and you'll find a Plasma Auto rifle, some ammo and grenades. Feel free to spout one-liners as you blast through the aliens in the next section. You'll encounter some little flying...things. It's best to just run by them and into the tunnel you come to. Once inside, take out the alien, and grab the shield you see to the right as you exit the tunnel. You'll grab a weapons part as you locate the crashed UFO. Now you've got to fight off the raid. The best strategy here is to head to the other end of this area and take out all the aliens that spawn in, as soon as they spawn in. After you defeat a number of them, you'll see a portal open up underneath the UFO, and some aliens will start coming out. Blast them as you make your way to the portal. Spawn into the UFO, and find the entrance to the outer edge, you'll know it because the space between the metal rods is larger than the rest. Once you find it, look for the panel along the outer edge and access it. Look at the third camera to get a new objective, then exit the cameras, and drop through the hole in the outer edge.

Once you drop through, head to your right and take out the alien standing guard. More aliens will come from the other side, so take them out too. Keep going into a small valley. There's an alien up top for you to take care of, and a shield right in front of you. Head back past the crashed UFO and keep moving forward. Take out some more aliens, and head through the small tunnel, with more aliens inside. You'll come to a very large clearing with the two races of aliens duking it out. Just let them wipe most of each other out, and then head into the fray and clean up the mess. From where you entered, to the side is another tunnel. Head through, take out the aliens. Run forward, over the makeshift bridge, avoiding the flying creatures. Go through another tunnel, and over a bridge. Getting bored yet? Some more aliens will pop up, so shred them, and run past the flying creatures. You'll come to a metal lift on your left. Ride it down to find another weapons part, this will complete the Homing Launcher. Ride the lift back, and when you exit it, to your left, is another small tunnel that's easy to miss. Head in, push forward into the next tunnel and open the door to find yourself in an alien base. Once inside, head straight, past the lift, and right, then use the turret to blast all the UFOs. Not hard at all, just hit them all a few times. Once they're all downed, head back and ride the lift down and head out to take out the aliens in front of the doorway you just opened. Run inside, take out the alien at the bottom of the ramp, and continue down the hall. You'll come to the large room with the UFOs, and a couple aliens on the walkway. Continue on, through a small hall and into the next room. No point in wasting time, energy and ammo, so hop into the portal on your left to get inside another UFO with some nasty TimeSplitters. Find the opening for the outer edge, and run either way around until you come to a door. Open it and grab the Time Crystal. Some! TimeSplitters will spawn, and the time portal will open in the middle of the room. Exit the outer edge and run through it.

Level 5: NeoTokyo, 2019

Objectives - Normal
-Follow the hacker to the research area
-Obtain the hacker's password
-Give evidence of TimeSplitter research
-Upload the evidence to the local police server
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Deactivate the TimeSplitter machine
-Escape through the time portal

Secondary
-Minimize civilian casualties

Follow the hacker with your temoral uplink equipped. Stay close, but not close enough to be detected. Follow her down this long stretch of walkway until she gets close to the end. You'll see an airborne police unit scanning the area. Hide from its field of vision using the pillar on the left, when it goes by. Wait for the hacker to go all the way down the stairs, otherwise she'll see you. Once you make it down, head straight, and on the opposite side of the street as the hacker, to stay behind the cameras. Around the second camera, she'll stop and look around. Stay some distance behind her so she doesn't see you. When she gets to the end of the street, she'll turn right in front of a camera, so wait for it to pan the other way and run past it. Head to the left, behind the next camera, and wait for a space to open up between it and the next, and head right, diagonally, behind the next camera, and hide behind the pillar in front of you to avoid being seen by the flying police !unit. Head to the left of the next camera, and follow her down the next street. There's a camera right above the stairs she takes down, so head to the right, then hug the wall underneath it to pass it by. Follow her down the sewers, down the ramp, and down the hall until the end, when she turns and opens the door into the research center. Hang back until you see another hacker step out and follow her down the hall, then run into the small room on the left and access the camera. Turn off the first two, and watch the third one. She'll put in her password on camera, so you'll get it. Stealth section over.

Head down the hall, and punch the hacker in the head to take her down. Grab her pistol, then head into the next room and punch in the password. The door up the stairs on your left will open. Head up, take out the hacker here, and two more will appear. Head straight, through the doors, and grab the digital camera and the armor. Then, open the lockers to get the machine gun and the AstroLander cart. Head out and to the left. Right in front of you is a window to the TimeSplitter room. Take a picture of the TimeSplitter machine, then head into the room on your left. Take a picture of the plans on the wall. Head back into the room with the lockers, and access the computer to upload the pictures to the police. Head out into the corridor, and take out the turret in the corner of the ceiling when it activates. Head into the hall on the left again, and take out the turret on the ceiling on the left, before it spots you. Head into the TimeSplitter room, avoid the electricity, and thro!w the switch to the right of the machine. Head out, taking out the guards that appear, and backtrack to ground level. On your way, you'll encounter many hackers, use the machine gun to make very quick work of them. When you make it to the tunnel, zoom in with the machine gun to take out the couple hackers at the end. Go to the end of the tunnel, and head up the stairs quick, to the right to take out the hacker directly to the right of the tunnel. There are two more around the bend, so wait for them, then shoot them. Head out of this alleyway, and head right onto the main street, taking out hackers along the way. When you reach the end, follow it to the right, and you should locate the Time Crystal. Head onto the leftside of the street and go into the small area with the stairs, and you'll run into the leader of the hackers. Standard human "boss" strategies apply, just blast her nonstop until she's down. Grab the Time Crystal and make your way all the way back to where you ju!st came from. You'll come across some law enforcement on the way, so take 'em down, and bear right when you come to the street leading to the hackers' research area. Follow the road right, taking out the last few hackers and police, and you'll find the time portal. I trust you know what to do.

Level 6: Wild West, 1853

Objectives - Normal
-Rescue Ramona from jail
-Put out the fire in the barn and rescue the girl
-Eliminate the Colonel
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Escape through the time portal

Secondary
-Destroy the Wanted posters to clear Ramona's name (5)

Quickly equip the revolver and take out the cowboy that pops out on the right. Head into the alley where he was and head up the stairs. Look through the windows to see a guy across from you, sniping. Take him out, as well as the guy running towards you, on the ground. Go out the window, and to the right, then right again, then down the stairs. Once you're in the tavern, there's a wanted poster behind the bar. Also, out the window of the bar, you will see a cowboy on a low roof on the right. Take him out from here. Exit the bar, and head right, towards the sheriff's. A lawman will come towards you. After you defeat him, tear down the wanted poster beside the entrance, and grab the gun powder inside. Upon your exit, hug the left wall and through the alley. In this open area, there's a sniper high up, to the right. Get him before he gets you. Go to the left, tear down the poster and head through the opening. Push the cart across from the cell window over to the cell. From the b!ox in the corner, next to where you came in, lay down a steady stream of gun powder to the cart. Shoot the box a couple times with the revolver and it will ignite the gunpowder, and make the cart full of explosives blow up. Ramona will escape. Head back through the alley and you'll come across quite a few cowboys to take down. Head past the Sheriff's and through the door on the left. Slowly strafe back and forth, and shoot quickly to take out the ton of cowboys on this street. There's one in just about every building, waiting to git 'ya. Once you've taken out as many as you want, head forward and to the left, past the barrel, and into the small alcove with the armor. Come out slowly and take out the guy in the barn. Head into the barn, up the stairs, and shoot the barrels above the fire. Come out, and keep moving down the street, taking cover and popping out to shoot anyone you see. Keep moving, and once you get to the bank, if there are no more enemies around, you're home f!ree (at least for this section). Be sure to turn to the left facing the bank, and rip down the poster on the building there.

Go further down the main road, and you'll come to an opening. On the left in the next area is a guy with dual revolvers. He'll play it smart and keep popping out to shoot you. Get him when you can and grab his dual revolvers. Test them out on the miner who runs towards you. Go forward, and get close to the house on the right. Once you turn the corner, there's a window with a gunslinger right in front of you. Surprise him, then strafe left and another guy should hop out from a corner on the right. Turn left, and then strafe right to take out the guy waiting next to the other building. Head up the stairs behind you to find the last wanted poster, then head forward into the mine. Pick up the armor in an alcove to the right, and head down the left path. Prepare for alot of fighting. A couple of cowboys will be waiting around the corners, and will pop out when you approach. There's another cowboy on a wooden walkway, slightly to the right, waiting to be sniped. As you exit the mine, the Colonel will be on the left. Follow him, shooting, around the bend and up to his shack. He'll sound an alarm right before you reach him, so take him out quickly. Now, it's you against..maybe a dozen or more enemies. They're all on their way to you, and will reach you at different times. The trick is to minimize the damage you take as much as possible. See where the nearest enemies are, take cover, and come out firing where they were, or where you think they will be. Any strategy you want, just take cover, and take them out as quickly as you can. Nothing worse than battling a few cowboys, then seeing a few more headed towards you. Once you've cleared this area of bad guys, head up to the Colonel's shack. On the side opposite the burner and the alarm rope is a small lever, tucked away behind the table. Flip it, then head back to the mines. Push the mine cart all the way to the section of tracks where there's no longer solid ground underneath. Wait for the cart to explo!de, then head into the door it opened and grab the Time Crystal. Your best bet is to just run out of here, now that TimeSplitters are around. Keep following the tracks until you're back on solid ground, then head to the right, past the shack, onto the small wooden walkway, then take a sharp right at the end, and make your way down to the time portal.

Level 7: Atom Smasher, 1972

Objectives - Normal
-Activate the reactor
-Defuse the bombs (5)
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Escape through the time portal
-Eliminate Khallos

Secondary
-Minimize scientist casualties (3)

Wait for the laser to hit the panel by the door, then go into the next room, grab the Temporal Uplink, and open the door. Wait for the camera to sweep away from you, then head down the hall, and to the left. Punch the guard in the head, grab his gun, and hide from the camera behind the stacked crates. Once the guard passes by, head behind him, and punch him to get his weapon. Hug the wall underneath the camera to avoid behind seen, and make your way down the hall. Avoid the next camera as you head into the next room to take out the guard with the pistol. Once he's down, get the scientist to defuse the bomb for you, then go back down the middle of the T-shaped hall and enter the door at the end. In this hallway, take down every guard you see with a headshot from the silenced pistol, so they don't all notice you and gang up. At the end of the hall, you'll encounter a guard in black with dual pistols. Pry them from his cold, dead hands, and open the door. Make a quick U-turn to! the left to have a firefight with half a dozen guards at once. Yipee. Strafing helps alot here, as do your newfound dual silenced pistols. Once they're all down, go near the scientist to have him defuse the bomb. Make your way down to the end of the hallway, and take out the turret. In the next room, there's a guard up and to the left, and one up and to the right. Make quick work of them, grab the fire extinguisher to the right of the door, turn the valve, grab the mines underneath the stairs, and head upstairs. A guard will come towards you when you start to go up, and another with a sniper rifle is on the top level in here. Once they're disposed of, equip the fire extinguisher and put out the fires in here to open the door.

When the door opens, take out the guard on top of the trailer in the next room. As you approach it, the trailer will open to reveal a guard with a soviet S47. Forcefully take it away and keep moving down the hall. Take out the guards you encounter on the way down. Just remember to keep moving, and dodge fire. Head into an open trailer on the right to grab the grenades. Go into the first door you come to on your right, with the red glass next to it. Turn the valve, then head out, and into the door on the opposite side and access the panel. Move the magnet to the right, and hover over the bomb, and hit primary fire. It may take a few tries, but once you lift up the bomb, go all the way to the right and hit primary fire to drop the bomb. Once you leave the room, take out the turret to your left, on top of the trailer. Keep heading down the hall until you reach a turn in the hallway. There's a turret in the corner, so take it out with a grenade, and keep moving. When you pass th!e two trailers on either side of the hall, guards will pop out of them and surprise you, so be ready. Grab a fire extinguisher and put out the fire at the end of the hall. This will open another door, with a guard up and to the left. Take him out with the S47's zoom, and then head into the room, turn left, and take out another guard the same way. Go down the hall, and turn right to find yourself in an open area with a bunch of trailers. There's a guard on a walkway on the opposite wall, up and to your right. Take him out, and head into the big maze of trailers firing. There are 3 guards in here. Once they're taken care of, have a scientist defuse the bomb, while you open the door.

Once through, head to your left, and round a corner to find a clueless guard. Put him out of his misery, and round the corner to head up the ramp. Fire on all the guards you see heading up, and you'll come to a scientist and a bomb at the top. Have him defuse it, while you hit the switch nearby to open the door ahead. Move forward, and when the door opens, you'll have an opportunity to snipe 2 more guards across the way. Do so, then drop onto the left-mose pipe. Steam will be shooting out of vents. Wait until it dies down, then cross to the next part. Rinse and repeat as needed. Once you're at the end, head in the door. When you take a right, you'll come upon a turret in the corner. Launch a grenade its way and head into the main control room, and disable the laser trip wires. Feel free to just drop down off of the pipe outside, and go to where the trip wires used to be. Head around the corner to find a couple more guards. Take them out, and go into the next room. You'll hav!e to hit all the switches here, while under fire from Khallos and TimeSplitters. Hit the one in front first, then the one on the right, then the last one on the left. Turn around to finish off Khallos easily. Grab the Time Crystal, then just hop through the portal.

Level 8: Aztec Ruins, 1920

Objectives - Normal
-Find the lost temple
-Defeat the golems (7)
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Escape through the time portal

Follow the monkey to the clearing with a bunch of monkeys. Follow those monkeys down a tunnel, and emerge to meet a native. Grab his crossbow after you've killed him, and head left, facing the way you came in, along the wall you came in through, and you'll find a small torch. Walk in front of it with the crossbow equipped to light your bolts. Head over to the other side, and shoot the beehive with the flaming bolt, then head forward, and you'll lure out the wood golem. Shoot him with the flaming bolt, and he'll run around for a while on fire, then burn out. Keep moving forward and you'll encounter another native. I'd recommend using the crossbow exclusively here to save ammo for later. Head into the tunnel on the right to take down another native. Light your bolts, and when you emerge from the tunnel, shoot the wood golem. TO the right of the exit is another beehive, so take it out and head forward, then left when you reach a wall. Another native, so take him down, and keep !moving forward through this tunnel. Once you make it out, you'll be in a clearing with

six pillars in the center, and an angry native coming at you. Take him down, then, I'd advise you to take out the monkeys on top of the pillars. Yes, they're cute, but they throw bombs. Now, here comes a hard part. It's...

THE ONLY REAL PUZZLE IN THE ENTIRE GAME!
What you're supposed to do is make sure all the pillars that are next to, or across from another pillar have the same symbol facing the other pillar, and vice versa. Now, in the middle, all the face symbols have to be facing each other. There are a couple of pillars that only have 1 face symbol, so we're sure that those are in the right place. Use those pillars you know are right as a guideline to put the other pillars into place. Just remember that a pillar next to another pillar has to have the same symbol facing that pillar, as well as all pillars must have the face symbol facing the center of the clearing. Once you get it, a door will open up in the next area, and a couple of natives will come running at you.

Take out the natives, then head down the tunnel. Go across the wooden bridge, and a little further down, you'll come to a lever. Flip it, then head back over the bridge. Natives will come by the barrelful now, so take them out quickly and keep moving. After the bridge, head right, and keep moving straight. At the end, head right and go into another tunnel, one you've been in before. Head down, and upon exiting, head to the right and drop down the hole. Go forward and into the temple. A native will come from the right, then another from the left. After they're taken care of, head either way, and when you reach the other side, another native will come after you. At the bottom of these stairs are two more natives. Once they're down, grab the armor to the right of the idol at the bottom of the stairs, then head underneath the back of the stairs and pull the lever. Go into the door that opens, and down the stairs. You'll encounter 2 more natives on your way down the stairs, so take them out.

Once you reach the bottom, equip the crossbow and zoom in on the bomb-throwing monkey. Shoot him, then move out a little bit and get the other monkey to the left. Head in his direction to face a golem. To defeat the golems, you need to lure them into one of the wooden tiles, and step on the corresponding raised tile to drop the golem down into a pit. Head back, past the entrance to this area to come across another golem. Once this one's down, head into the small opening on the wall and down the hallway. Once you're at the exit, take down the closest monkey with the crossbow, then head out and defeat this golem. Approach the next set of monkeys, and once you're close enough, take them out with the crossbow. Finish off the last golem, and a door will open on the opposite wall. Grab the armor in the small building to the right if you need it, then head through. In this tunnel, there are a few traps. They're easy to spot and easy to avoid. Just inch up until they're triggered, then rush by when they move back into place. You'll come to a wooden bridge, with no way across, and the way you came in blocked off. Grab the vintage rifle, and keep watching the stone faces on the wall. When you spot one turning, shoot its red-eyed side with the rifle. One you take down the last one, the edge of the bridge will extend. Once it's done, you'll have natives coming at you from both sides, so I recommend backtracking to get that one, then turning around to get the next one. Head forward into the small tunnels and make your way through. Once you're through, you'll be in a hall of stairs with a few natives. Take the one up top out quickly, then get the two on the bottom while you're running down the stairs, to avoid the boulder. Once you're safe, move forward to encounter 3 more golems, and the Time Crystal. Grab the crystal, then head to the left to get the grenade launcher. Let them have it with Primary fire. Each golem should go down in about two hits. Once they're dead, the portal will open.

Level 9: Robot Factory, 2315

Objectives - Normal
-Gain access to the inner processing area
-Locate and collect the ElectroTool
-Overload the energy nodes with electricity
-Find the factory core
-Retrieve the Time Crystal
-Defeat the Machinist
-Escape through the time portal

Take out the two droids that open the door. When you enter the room, 3 more droids spawn. Take them down and head into the door to the left. Go through the hallway and take out the laser trip wire machine in the next room. Take out as many droids as you can in this room, because once you shoot one, they all animate. Once they're fried, keep moving forward. You'll come to a terminal. Access it to use the Security Railbot. Just move it forward, into the force field. Head past the small hall and grab the armor. Then, head into the middle hall and grab the plasma grenades and flip the switch. 3 droids will spawn into the other end of the room. Take them out and backtrack all the way to the first room. You'll come across a few droids here, so once you've finished with them, head into the doors on the right. There's 2 turrets to your left, one close and one far. Take out the close one, then move to take out the far one, and take out the droid that spawns, then the turret. In the next room, you'll see two large robots lumbering along. Shoot a plasma grenade at each of their backs, and back into the room. After they explode, finish them off if they need it, with the autorifle. There's a turret to your right in this room, and another to your left. Head into the next room, and there's 2 turrets in here as well. Blow them up, then make your way into the next room. A few droids will spawn in, so take them out from the doorway. Once they're done, back into the room, and shoot a plasma grenade at the big robot on the ramp. Finish him off, then head up the ramp. Take out the turret here, then the three droids that spawn on the bridge. Another turret on the left, and head to the right. A small, floating, bomb-like thing will shoot out of a capsule and come at you. Shoot it before it gets too close, because it will explode on you. Keep moving forward, and head down the ramp.

Grab the shield underneath the ramp, and head into the room close to the bottom of the ramp. Shoot a plasma grenade at the big robot, and shoot him with the rifle a couple times to ensure a quick death. Turn around and head into the next room, (watch out for the flying-grenade things) and do the same to the big robot in here. Head past him and through the door. On your right will be a small robot. Take it out quickly, then the turret on the left will transform into a pretty tough robot. The easiest way to take these guys down is just by hitting them in their head area with your weapon of choice, and dodging their shots. You should take it down before it can get its second shot off. Grab the ElectroTool on your left, and 2 droids will spawn in. Shoot them with the ElectroTool to stun them, then take them down as you see fit. Two more will spawn, so do the same to them, and continue on through the door. Go into the center and shoot the node with the ElectroTool until it explodes. A bunch of droids will spawn, so stun them with the ElectroTool, then take them down. More will spawn in when you kill these guys, so take them out too. Once they're all done, you'll see that a doorway was opened. Head up the ramp and through it. Equip the LaserGun, charge it up a tiny bit, then strafe into the opening and let the big robot have it. Do it again and he should go down. Make your way down the hall and into the small alcove on the left. Another turret will come to life, so take it out quickly. A few more droids will spawn when you move forward, so take them out, and leave the hallway. Access the terminal to take control of a Railbot. Take it into the next room, and look for the node. You have to shoot the 3 things connecting the node's shield to the ground. Once you do that, just shoot the node continually until it explodes. Deactivate it, and move on. In the next room, there's nothing but flying-grenade things and Security Railbots. Just slowly make your way through to the safety of a checkpoint.

From the checkpoint, head to the left. Take down the turret droid, and then the flying-grenade thing. A normal turret awaits you a little ways down the hall, and after that, a big robot will spawn in. Plasma grenade is in order for him. Slowly make your way into the next room, and take out the big robot you see in here with a plasma grenade too. Droids will spawn in, so take them out. When you head up the ramp, a droid will spawn in above, as well as a turret droid animating. Take out the droid quickly, then back up while firing at the turret droid's head. Once it's dead, head up and activate the crane on your left. Across from the walkway, a node will slowly be moved towards you. Just overload it with the ElectroTool, and a few mode droids will spawn in. Make an example of them. Go forward, activate the terminal, and head into the next room, full of big robots. The best way to get these guys from afar is with two charged shots of the LaserGun. When you make your way closer,! use the plasma grenades and autorifle. Make your way to the top of the room, then down and to the left, and keep going down until you reach the bottom. Turn around and grab the armor behind this ramp, and continue up the opposite ramp, and across the railway. Take out all the turret droids that animate here with headshots from either the Scifi Handgun or the Plasma Autorifle. At the end of this stretch of floor, activate the transporter and grab the Homing Launcher, if you haven't already. A ton of new droids and big robots will spawn into this room. Stay in this doorway and take out the droids with handgun or rifle fire. Slowly make your way back to the top, taking out the big robots with the LaserGun or the Homing Launcher. Grab the armor behind the ramp on this side of the room if you need it, then head across the ramp, down and up the next ramp. You'll encounter a big robot here. Take him out, and again when he respawns. Once you've killed all the robots, the red forcef!ield will be taken away.

Head forward past where the red forcefield once was, and down the ramp. Through the doors, you'll find the machinist. You should focus on the panel in the center of his machine. There are droids that come out of the doors furthest away from the machinist, so keep an eye on them too. Once the machinist is taken care of, head into one of the doors on the side of his machine, up the ramp, and around the back of him to grab the Time Crystal. TimeSplitters will show up, so make your way down into the center of the room and through the time portal.

Level 10: Space Station, 2401

Objectives - Normal
-Collect the Time Crystals
-Activate the self-destruct sequence
-Shoot down the incoming TimeSplitter ships
-Escape the Space Station

You're under very tight time constraints in this level, so move quickly. Grab the Time Crystals to your left, and head straight and into the door. Head down either way, and activate each working console you see, there's three. Once they've all been activated, the timer starts, so make your way to the very bottom point in this hall, and exit. Hug the right wall and enter the Hangar. Go through the hall and through the next door to encounter 2 TimeSplitters. Focus on one at a time, while staying hidden from the other's view. Once they're dead, hit the button so the platform comes up, and contend with the other TimeSplitters that come from behind. Once the platform rises, take it down and head to the right. Go through the door, and take out the TimeSplitters and TinySplitters that spawn. Grab the armor and in the far left corner of the room is an environment suit. Be sure to grab it, and head back. Go past the elevator, and in the next room, there's a turret on your left, near !the ceiling. Take it out, then get the TimeSplitters that spawn. Head into the next room, grab the ammo and crush the TinySplitters. Next room, take out the couple TimeSplitters here, feel free to use the plasma grenades. The next room contains another turret, and some TinySplitters. Go into the next room and open the door at the end. Get into the airlock, and wait for the door behind you to close, and the one in front to open up. Make your way to the end of the wing and use the turret here. Just take out all the TimeSplitter ships as they fly by.

Once the ships are taken care of, head back into the airlock. When the door closes, you'll be surprised by a TimeSplitter. Take him out, and get ready for the few TimeSplitters that are in the room when the door opens. Keep moving forward while you take them out. Make your way to the room with signs saying 'Elevator' pointing left. head left, and when you open the door, you'll be greeted by a turret. Take it out and grab the armor and the all-powerful Minigun. Equip it, and hit Secondary fire to prime it for all the TimeSplitters you're about to shred. Move forward, taking out TimeSplitters with ease, and into the Elevator room on the left. There's a turret above, in the center. Once that's taken care of, hit the button and wait for the elevator to rise. TimeSplitters will keep spawning in here, so keep them at bay with the minigun until the elevator comes. Hop onto it when it arrives, and just ride it down. As soon as it lands, you need to hit the ground running. On the rig!ht is a small ship. Just run as fast as you can to the ship to finish the game.

Walkthrough - Hard Mode
Hard Mode gives you no rewards whatsoever, except for bragging rights. Every level is exactly the same as it is in Normal Mode, except for the fact that the Secondary Objectives are now Primary, and shields are scarce, while enemies are much more numerous. That said, refer to Normal Mode's Walkthrough for help on Hard Mode. 

THE SIMS

When you create your own Sim family, you select their heads, bodies, and their personality traits.

How Personality Affects Sim Behavior

When you construct a Sim, you assign points to five personality traits—Neat, Outgoing, Active, Playful, and Nice—in the "Create a Sim" screen. Changing the totals for these traits changes your Sim's attraction to certain activities and to other Sim types.

Assigning points from zero to ten for each trait is like moving a slider bar between opposites. At zero points, your Sim actually manifests the opposite of a particular trait. Thus, there are really ten personality traits in The Sims, set up as pairs of opposites. These traits are: Neat/Messy, Outgoing/Shy, Active/Lazy, Playful/Serious, and Nice/Grouchy. Smooth-running Sim households often mix Sims with different traits for an efficient division of labor.

Personality and Fun

Interacting with certain objects can increase a Sim's Fun score. Although each object's point increase has a limit, certain personality traits raise the maximum Fun points a Sim can earn by as many as ten.

Personality and Skill

Sims can't advance in their world without increasing certain skills. They do so by using "skill-building" objects. Some personality traits accelerate the speed with which they acquire some skills.

Sim Zodiac Signs

When you assign points to the five Personality traits, you also create a zodiac sign for your Sim. Each zodiac sign also has a pre-configured trait "prototype."

How Mood Is Calculated

The Motive Engine averages the motives' eight scores to calculate your Sim's Mood rating. But it's not a simple average. It's a weighted average: that is, each motive carries more or less weight, depending on how high or low it is. For example, a very low Hunger score puts a Sim on the verge of death. So naturally, the lower the Hunger score drops, the more weight it carries in the Mood calculation.

A Sim's Eight Basic Needs

Sims have eight needs. They satisfy these needs by interacting with objects or other Sims. Not only do different objects increase motives at different speeds, but many objects can bring only the motive they satisfy to a certain maximum value. When your Sims hit this "Max Motive" value, they disengage from the activity (except in a few special skill-building activities). This Max Motive factor is why Sims sometimes don't take wholeheartedly to the activities you select for them. Motives, of course, decay over time, creating increasingly dire needs.

Hunger is the primal need, the foundation of all other needs, and the one you can least afford to ignore. Much of life is organized around the regular consumption of food. The Sims is no different.

First, Get a Refrigerator!

In The Sims, the food chain starts at the refrigerator. Basically, without a fridge, your Sims have only one other food option—Pizza. Get a refrigerator. First thing.

Food Prep

Once your Sim gets a fridge and grabs ingredients for a meal, the next link in the food chain is the food prep area. Sims can prepare food in only two places—on a counter or in a food processor. Sims won't use tables or desks for food prep. Nor will they prepare food on counters cluttered with other stuff. If no food prep area is available, your Sim stands in the kitchen with great pathos, eating cold beans from a can.

Cooking Appliances

You've prepped the food. Now your Sim looks for someplace to cook it. Sims can cook food in the toaster oven, microwave, or on one of two stoves. Note that when you cook a meal, your Sim's Cooking skill affects both cooking time and Hunger point increase.

After-Meal Cleanup (Or Not)

Sloppy Sims leave dirty plates, pizza boxes, snack bags, and other trash lying around the kitchen. Neat Sims, on the other hand, wash the dishes (or load the dishwasher) and throw away trash. When throwing away trash, a Sim picks up the pile (it becomes a plastic trash bag) and seeks to dispose of it.

Dirty dishes and platters, Quick Meal boxes, and pizza boxes spawn flies after eight hours. All uneaten food goes bad and spawns flies after eight hours, too. Candy goes bad after twenty-four hours. Again, fruitcake never goes bad.

Comfort is a straightforward need. To be comfortable, Sims need good furniture for seating or sleeping. In general, the better the chair or sofa or bed, the more Comfort satisfaction it provides. But note that a nice hot bath can provide excellent Comfort, too.

Sims may acquire Comfort in tandem with other needs. Tubs boost Comfort and Hygiene at the same time. Beds boost Comfort and Energy at the same time. And, in some cases, you can build skills while boosting Comfort levels.

Hygiene and Bladder

To raise Hygiene scores, engage your Sims in activities that clean them. Take showers or baths to max out Hygiene. For quick boosts, go to the sink and wash hands or use the medicine cabinet to brush teeth. You also gain a decent Hygiene boost from soaking in the hot tub.

To relieve the Bladder motive, you have two simple choices: use the toilet or have an accident. Bladder accidents provide full relief, but they leave an unsightly puddle and push the soiled Sim's Hygiene score to the red end of the scale.

Fun is a personal, individual thing. Each Sim's personality structure (particularly the Playful trait) determines the activities a Sim will find most fun.

Activities that provide fun usually have a maximum fun (Max Fun) value, that is, a limit to how high that activity can raise the Fun motive score. Again, personality can affect Max Fun by raising or lowering it for a particular activity.

TV channels offer differing amounts of fun, depending on Sim personality. Although TV channels affect the amount of fun Sims get from TV watching, the same isn't true of their choice of genre in music or art.

Fun matters more to kids, in general. It plays a bigger part in determining their mood and it drains quickly, so kids have to do fun stuff a lot.

Energy

Energy is the third aspect of physical motive—you can't ignore if it drops very low. If an Energy score bottoms out at -100, the Sim will keel over backward and fall dead asleep on the floor—or sleep standing up, if there's no floor space. The only way to replenish your Energy need is to sleep or nap. Sleep on any bed or nap on any sofa or recliner chair.

Sims spin happily into PJs before they go to sleep in bed. Generally, a Sim sleeps until "fully rested," that is, until their Energy score hits a full one hundred. At night, however, Sims sleep until at least 6:00 a.m. regardless of whether or not they're fully rested. In other words, even if the Energy score reaches a full one hundred points in the middle of the night, a Sim won't rise from bed until 6:00 a.m. unless ordered to do so.

In general, waking from sleep is long and slow for Lazy Sims, quicker for Active Sims. Sims arise in a cranky mood if you awaken them before they're fully rested. Sims don't like being awakened by something noisy, either. Alarms going off in the room wake up both adults and kids. So does a fire.

Other events also wake adults, but not kids, if they occur in the same room, like a baby crying, TV or stereo/radio on, phone ringing, Sim death, Sim playing piano, pinball, or computer game, Sim on exercise machine, or a ghostly howl.

Using the Alarm Clock

If you have an alarm clock in the room, you may select Set Alarm. When you set an alarm clock, it rings two hours before the car-pool arrival time of any sleeping Sim in the room. However, note that the alarm awakens everyone in the room, regardless of car-pool time or whether they're asleep on floor, couch, or bed. Also, the alarm will go off once for each employed Sim sleeping in the room, even if they have different car-pool times. Once set, an alarm clock remains set until you direct a Sim to Unset Alarm.

Room

The Room motive is probably the least pressing. In the weighted average that determines Mood, Room carries far less overall weight (especially at the low end) than do other motives. But a critically low Room score still can pull a Mood level down a bar or two. A Mood hovering around zero can make a lot of difference in job promotion, skill-building, friend-making, and other social activities.

Some household items need your care. A wilting violet or murky water in the fish tank are not uncommon. If you want a good Room score, don't forget to do routine maintenance.

The Relationship Score

Good relationships are important to a Sim's ongoing struggle to get ahead. One primary objective in The Sims is to raise Relationship scores past the fifty point mark with as many Sim neighbors as possible. The more friends you make, the higher you can climb on your career ladder.

Daily Relationship Decay

Relationships decay two points on both sides every day, whether the other Sim lives in your house or not. When a Sim's Relationship score with a friend falls close to fifty, the friend calls to say, "We need to see each other more often."

Influence of Mood and Personality

Sim personalities influence the interactions they choose. Consult the astrological signs for clues about which Sims get along and which will clash.

Sims in a bad mood, however, are very likely to have negative social interactions regardless of their personality traits. If either Sim engaged in a one-on-one social interaction—talking, joking, and so on—is in a bad mood, that interaction is more likely to have a negative outcome.

Topics of Conversation

Talk interests are ingrained. Different Sims have different interests. Sims with similar interests are likely to have very rewarding conversations. Keep an eye on the topic icons that appear in the talk bubbles above the heads of conversing Sims. Keep track of which neighbors share common interests.

There are twelve general conversation topics in The Sims. Four are adult-only, four are kid-only, and four are available to both kids and adults. Every Sim has a high, medium, or low interest level (based on a scale of one to ten) in each conversation topic. These interest levels are assigned arbitrarily when a character is created and they never change.

How Sim Conversations Work

The person who initiates a conversation always leads with a high-interest topic. A conversation is capped at four back-and-forth volleys of talk, but may end before that point due to low interest. A listener with a high interest in the topic will randomly display one of the topics four icons. A listener with low interest in the topic, or one who changes the subject, will displays an "X" balloon—a talk balloon showing the topic's icon with an X through it.

There is a Relationship effect and a Social motive effect for the listener in each talk volley. A listener who likes the topic gets five Social points and three Relationship points. A listener who dislikes the topic gets three Social points and –negative three Relationship points. In other words, even low interest can raise a Sim's Social motive in a Talk interaction.

Group Talk

When Sims talk while doing something else (such as watching TV or eating), they run a different kind of conversation algorithm, called Group Talk. Sims take turns speaking about something of high interest to the speaker. (This is a good way to find out visitors' interests.) A speaking Sim gets eight Social points and one Relationship point toward everyone else in the group.

In Group Talk, Sims never disagree or worry about matching topics with each other. Thus, group activities present nice, safe ways to boost Social and Relationship scores without risking negative interaction.

Friendship is a key state in The Sims. Job advancement is impossible without building a network of neighborhood friends. Two Sims don't become "friends" until both have a relationship to each other of at least fifty. When this happens, you see that little blue smiley face appear below each other's picture in the Relationships sub-panel.

Friendships are two-way streets, though. If the relationship of either Sim toward the other drops below fifty, the blue face disappears and the friendship ends—at least, until you repair it with some good socializing. Fortunately, friends warn you via phone call when their score falls near fifty.

The Romance Bit

Romance in The Sims can be one-sided. If your Sim develops at least a seventy Relationship with another Sim and then performs a "romantic interaction" (Hug, Kiss, Flirt, Give Backrub) with him or her, your Sim will likely fall in love. Only then will the pie menu give your Sim the choice to Propose or Move In. Remember, though, unlike friendship, love can be a one-way transaction.

Weddings

The nuptial ceremony takes place automatically when a one Sim accepts another's marriage proposal. It happens pretty fast. Then the new spouse brings a job and an income into the household. If the spouse was the only adult in the previous home, the new partner brings his or her net worth . . . and kids, if any. (This leaves the ex-house empty and up for sale.) Interestingly, if a marrying Sim has kids and another adult remains in the old house, the kids stay put.

Family can be the warm, cozy hearth of The Sims. If you create Sim families with nice, outgoing personalities and guide them into similar schedules—eating and watching TV at the same time, for example—then families can do a pretty good job of taking care of their own social needs without micromanagement.

Sleeping with Housemates

Just because two Sims live together doesn't mean they like each other well enough to share a bed. If Sims won't sleep together, you'll have to improve their relationship to the Friendship level to get them both sleeping in the same bed at the same time. This doesn't apply to children, however. Children can sleep with a fellow household adult or child regardless of Relationship scores.

Babies

Whenever two household members of the opposite sex kiss with passion, they trigger a one in five chance the game will offer them a baby. If you choose to accept, the little bundle of joy appears in its crib, ready to be fed, played with, and sung to for three days. The baby's personality and gender are randomly assigned. After three days, baby morphs into a full-grown kid.

You can move cribs, but you can't delete them. Sims don't autonomously care for (Feed or Sing To) a baby. But they will choose to play with it. Only family members can interact with the baby, which is a "special object" with just two motives—Hunger and Energy. As these motives decrease, the baby cries. Crying babies wake up sleeping adults (but not kids) in the same room.

Sleeping Babies

Sim babies can sleep only when their Hunger rating is above zero. Once asleep, a baby continues sleeping for six hours. While the baby sleeps, its Hunger score won't drop below one; Hunger can fall below one only after baby wakes up. Sleeping returns Energy level to two.

Interacting with Babies

If a baby is quiet, you know both its needs are satisfied. If a baby cries, however, you can't be sure whether Hunger or Energy is low. Feed the baby first. If Hunger reaches zero while you playfully bounce the baby, you risk losing the baby to Child Protective Services.

If the baby cries quietly, one or both of the motives must be at one (and no lower). Feed the baby first. If the crying doesn't stop, you know the Energy rating must be at one. Now choose Sing. Singing puts the baby to sleep for six hours, which raises Energy to two. (Choosing Play also raises Energy to two, but it keeps the baby awake, which means its motives drop again in just two hours.)

A shrill cry tells you one of the baby's motives is at zero. Feed it first—and hurry! If that doesn't work, the baby's Energy must be at zero. Playing has no effect on an overtired baby. Only singing works. Again, the Sing interaction puts the baby to sleep for six hours, returning its Energy to two.

Losing Babies

If baby's Hunger rating goes to zero for more than sixty Sim-minutes, a Social Worker arrives and takes the baby. This sad episode can happen anytime (day or night) during the three-day babyhood period.

If a baby survives for three days after birth, he or she breaks out of the crib, stretches, and becomes a full-fledged, fun-loving Sim kid. Of course, you can add kids to your household right from the start in the Create a Family screen. Either way, you now face a daunting new challenge-Parenthood. Attributes: Baby-to-Kid A kid is a fully functioning Sim, with all eight motives working and a full set of talk interests. If you crafted your own kid at the Create a Sim screen, you allocated personality traits and The Sims assigned a random set of talk interests. If a kid comes into the world via babyhood, a Sim child "inherits" traits and interests from either mother or father, or from an average of both parents. Skills are preset to a random amount; kids can't increase skills during the game. Kid skill values determine only how well they play piano, paint, or play basketball. Kids and School If a kid misses a day of school, his or her Report Card grade drops a whole grade point. Kids can bring grades up by going to school in a good mood or by selecting Study for School at a bookshelf or computer. If a Sim child's grade drops to F and stays there for three days, the kid must go to Military School. If that happens, the family account is charged a one-time fee of $1,000. Worse, your kid leaves the household and disappears into SimSpace, never to return. Kids and Social Interactions As you might expect, kids are limited in their object interactions, as well. No stiff drinks at the bar. No cooking or lighting fires.

Visitors are neighbors. And neighbors, unless you import families or keep the Newbies and Goths, are Sims you created and placed in the neighborhood. Keep that in mind if they exasperate The Sims in your current household.

Calling Neighbors

The Sims makes it impossible to call neighbors who don't have a phone. Put a phone into every house before you do anything else. Without phones, Sims are hard to reach. Impossible, in fact.

Neighbors are more likely to respond positively to a phone invitation if they like the Sim who invites them. A neighbor who accepts an invitation has a twenty-five percent chance of asking permission to bring friends. (This is an option only if the neighbor actually has friends.) If you say yes, the neighbor may bring along as many as three more Sims.

If you call neighbors between 1 and 6 a.m., they won't come over and your Relationship with them decreases. If you call any Sim with whom your Relationship is under fifty they'll hang up on you.

Finally, all Sim kids wisely refuse invitations after 7:30 p.m., no matter what. Visitors go back home when the time passes 1 a.m. or any one of their motives falls below the critical values in the following table. If the latter happens, the exiting Sims' thought balloons indicate which motive caused them to leave.

Keeping Visitors Happy

Yes, visitors are smart. If you give them good choices, they tend to make good decisions. But it's up to you to be a good host. Sure, talking is important to raise Social and Relationship scores. But if you focus on social interactions only, your visitors will leave when other motives fall below their critical values.

Keep group platters of food on the table for Hunger. For Fun, keep the TV and stereo blasting; hit the hot tub or pool to invite followers. Also important—let your guests wander off to do their own thing at times. They need to sit down and relax for Comfort or use the bathroom for Bladder and Hygiene purposes.

Neighbors won't perform certain interactions until a family member does them first. A Sim who starts an activity can invite the visitor to join. Neighbors can join these activities autonomously, if they need the motives offered. Neighbors can also take care of their own needs, in many cases. The basic strategy: don't hog all of their time. Give visitors a chance to grab a cup of coffee, use the toilet, or sit on the couch if they need it.

The Sims features ten fabulous career tracks. Each track has ten position levels, starting with low-paying flunky jobs and building up to top-level glamour gigs.

As we pointed out earlier, having certain personality traits makes it easier to build certain skills. Therefore, the job you choose for each Sim should emphasize skills the Sim's personality will enhance.

Getting a Job

Sims never seek employment on their own. If you order Sims to look for a job, they'll comply only if they're in a good mood. Jobs are plentiful in the Sim world. You'll find one (and only one) position posted in the newspaper every day. If you desire a different career track from the one you see in the paper, you needn't wait for the next day's paper delivery, even if your funds are very limited. Instead, try the following trick:

When you first place your Sim family on a lot, don't buy anything until you check the newspaper for that day's job offer. If it's not the career you want, buy a cheap desk, chair, and computer. Do your job search on the computer, which offers three job choices instead of one. Take a job in your desired career track and then sell back the computer, desk, and chair. If you return the equipment the same day you bought the items, you get a full refund, no depreciation. If the three online job choices don't thrill you, either, return the equipment anyway and repeat the purchase/return trick the next day.

Job Performance

Mood is the key to job performance, which is updated daily. The game averages every working Sim's current mood with the previous day's performance rating. High mood ratings lead to promotions. Low ratings lead to demotions.

Promotions are nice things. The salary boost is usually significant and most promotions include a generous cash bonus. Each hop up the career ladder requires specific friends and skills. Regardless of mood, if your Sim doesn't meet these criteria, your Sim won't get promoted. Fortunately, the first promotion in any career track requires no specific friends or skills. Unless they're miserable, your Sims will find it easy to climb their careers' first rungs.

After a Sim builds enough skill and acquires enough friends to advance to the next job level, the random chance for promotion is skewed by daily job performance. In other words, the better the mood, the better the job performance, and thus the greater the odds for promotion. Thus, sending your Sims to work in a good mood is important.

Do your best to fulfill all your Sims' needs before they go to work each day. Send your Sims to bed early so they can rise at least two hours before the car pool arrives the next morning. This gives you time to satisfy basic physical needs, such as Hunger, Bladder, and Hygiene before they head to work.

Friend Requirement

The friend requirement for a job promotion refers to "family friends"—that is, friends of your household. So if another Sim in your household has made a friend, that person counts as a family friend for you, too. Fellow household members don't count as family friends for purposes of job promotion, however. If two or more members of your Sim household share the same friend, that friend counts as a family friend only once.

Demotion

A poor job performance increases a Sim's risk for demotion. In fact, performance is the only factor. Missing work is irrelevant. Losing friends or skill is irrelevant. To prevent demotions, send your Sims to work in a good mood.

Getting Fired

A Sim who misses work two days in a row gets sacked. This is the only way to get fired. (Note that you can skip one day of work with no repercussions other than lost wages.) Unfortunately, getting fired knocks a Sim completely out of the current career track and back to square one. Any new position will be entry level, even if it's in the same career track as the job the Sim squandered.

Workday Motive Decay

When Sims are home, their need scores drop at a standard rate, modified somewhat by personality traits and living conditions. This standard motive decay is turned off, however, when The Sims are at work. Each job affects motives in a different way. For example, Law Enforcement positions suffer far greater on-the-job Comfort decay than other careers, yet somewhat less Hunger decay. Pro Athletes come home with spent Energy and Hygiene levels.

Car Pool

Car pool vehicles arrive one hour before work starts and wait for an hour. Sims in a good mood go to work autonomously—that is, they don their work clothes and walk out to the car pool when it arrives. If they're in a bad mood, however, you must direct them to go to work. A worker leaving for the car pool with less than fifteen minutes to spare will run to the vehicle.

Chance Cards

Career "chance cards" come up periodically after work. These cards add or subtract skill points and/or money. Hitting Level ten (the highest level) in any career gives your Sim a one-in-twenty chance of drawing a chance card that switches him or her to another career!

Skill Building

Sims don't build skills autonomously. You must direct them to better themselves. Sims in a bad mood won't engage in any skill-building activity. Once a Sim earns a skill point by interacting with a particular skill-building object—say, playing piano for Creativity—the Sim may continue using that object until the mood rating drops below a certain value.

Sims may engage in skill-building activities even after maxing out their skills. For example, a Sim with a Body skill rating of ten can still work out on an exercise machine.

How to Improve Skills

Each succeeding skill point takes longer and longer to earn. A Sim may need to engage in a skill-building activity for only one hour to get the first skill point. Gaining the second skill point will take two hours, the third three hours, and so on.

Sim kids don't have careers, of course. But they do have to go to school and keep their grades up. Slackers face expulsion from the family by being sent to Military School.

The school bus arrives daily at 8:00 a.m. outside households that include Sim kids. Kids with mood ratings in the green go to the bus automatically unless you direct them to another activity. A Sim kid who goes to a bus that's been waiting more than forty-five minutes runs to it automatically.

The Report Card

Click on the Job button on the Control Panel to view your Sim kid's current Report Card, which displays a single grade. This grade improves a level every day the kid rides the bus to school in a good mood. Of course, the reverse is true, as well. The Report Card grade drops a level every day the kid leaves in a bad mood. Kids who maintain an A+ Report Card randomly get small cash awards, accompanied by dialog such as, "Beth just won the spelling bee at school. Grandma sends her ."

Studying for School

Each kid starts out with a B grade. Children with grades lower than A+ are given the pie-menu choice to Study for School when you click on a bookshelf. Kids don't have to study at home if they continue to attend school in a good mood. But it's one way to speed up grade inflation.

Kids with poor grades needn't study as long as higher-grade students to raise their grades. An F student need study only twenty minutes to get to a D-, thirty minutes to go from D- to D, forty minutes from D to D+, and so on. This way, you can home-school your kids if you want, but doing so requires far more effort than if they rode the bus daily to school.

Of course, Sim kids won't study autonomously; you must direct them to. Worse, kids won't study if they're in a bad mood. Overall, unhappy kids are unsuccessful kids.

Playing Hooky and Military School

Sim kids go to school autonomously in the morning if they're in a good mood. If they don't, you must encourage them to catch the morning bus. Every day a kid cuts classes, that kid's Report Card drops an entire letter grade. When the grade drops to D or below, a dialog box threatens your kid with Military School.

If the Report Card is already at D or below when the bus arrives in the morning, you'll hear warning music and view a flashing Report Card. If the grade drops to F, it's off to Military School with the little delinquent, who leaves the family forever and nails your household with a $1,000 one-time charge for tuition.

Net Worth

With the exception of the Goths and the Newbies, all families start with a net worth of 20,000 simoleans. Net worth includes lot price, the depreciated value of the house (and other architectural items), the depreciated value of objects, and household funds. Lots come in three sizes; size and location determine lot cost. When a family moves, all purchased objects are deleted from the house and the depreciated value is credited to the family's funds.

Object Depreciation

Object depreciation is relevant to your Sim family's net worth and bill amounts and to the amount of money you get when you sell objects. Each object you purchase (other than art objects, which follow different rules) has an initial and daily depreciation, as well as a depreciation limit.

Initial Depreciation

You may return the stuff you buy for a full refund within the first twenty-four Sim-hours after purchase. After your Sims own an item for one full Sim day, however, its worth decreases by an initial depreciation value—a percentage of the object's original cost. This percentage varies according to the object's category.

Daily Depreciation

An item continues to depreciate at a fixed amount every Sim day until it reaches a limit. This daily depreciation is one percent of the item's original value.

Depreciation Limit

Once an item reaches a given limit of depreciation, it remains there for the rest of its stay in your household.

Value of Broken Items

If you sell a broken object, you get only half its current depreciated value.

Art Appreciation/Depreciation

Paintings and sculptures appreciate and depreciate randomly every day. In general, the trend is upward.

A Note About Clothes

In The Sims, all clothes are free. You can change your Sim's daily outfit at no charge. Although, you do need a dresser or armoire in order to change clothes. If you have one, click on it and select Change Clothes. Your Sim will don a different outfit from the one you assigned originally back in the Create a Sim screen. Selecting Change Clothes creates a new default outfit. That is, whenever your Sim takes a shower or bath or gets out of bed, he or she puts on this new set of clothes.

Build Depreciation

During any Build mode session, you can undo any action you've taken during that session for a full refund. Click the Undo button to undo the previous action and get a full refund. Click again to undo the previous action (going back in time) and get another full refund. You can click Undo as many times as you want to undo actions back to the beginning of the current session.

Once you leave Build mode, however, you can't return later and undo actions. You can sell most architecture items from previous Build mode sessions, but only for a depreciated value that remains constant no matter how old the item grows.

Also note that in Build mode, using the Undo button is the only way to get a full refund. Any other means of deletion, even during the current session, results in the set depreciation.

The letter carrier delivers bills to your Sims' home every three days. (The red mailbox flag goes up to alert you when bills arrive.) It takes ten days for bills to become overdue. They turn yellow after three days, orange after six, and red after nine. Pay your bills by the tenth day, or the pitiless Repo Man will pay you a visit.

Bill Calculation

In general, the more items you own, the more you owe. To determine what you owe, the happy accountants at SimCity Savings and Loan calculate four percent of the depreciated value of all your billable objects.

Billable objects are everything you purchased (including Build mode materials) except columns, doors, paintings, dead plants, sculptures, shrubs, staircases, trees, and windows. Other rather obvious examples of non-billable objects are ash and trash piles, babies, bills, fires, floods, food, the mailbox, newspapers, and the outdoor trash can.

Repossession

Bills not paid by the tenth day after receipt prompt a visit from the green-clad Repo Man. The moment he arrives on the scene, both Buy and Build modes are disabled, so you can't quickly hock items and pay the bills.

The Repo Man sucks the most valuable object in the house into his Fantastic Asimov 2000 miniaturization gun to cover the bill amount. If necessary, he'll take multiple objects to equal the value of the bill—starting with the most expensive.

Sim families have an extremely efficient network of services available to them. Firefighter, Police Officer, Maid, Repairman, Gardener, Newspaper and Pizza Deliverers are all quite competent in The Sims. We highly recommend you take advantage of these services, regardless of your means.

Each service has a daily work-hour limit. Service providers work until they finish the job, unless the time exceeds the work-hour limit. When they finish their work, they flash the day's charge over their heads and leave. That amount is deducted from your household account automatically.

Not Enough Funds

If you don't have enough money in your account to pay a day's service fee, the service provider calls you a deadbeat and procures household objects until their combined value equals the fee. Like the Repo Man, service providers use the objects' current depreciated value, not the purchase price, and they start with the object that most closely matches the fee.

Newspaper Delivery

The Sim News arrives automatically, delivered daily near the mailbox between 8:45 and 9:00 a.m. by your spunky paper-kid. Every midnight, that day's paper turns to trash. If five newspapers pile up in the front lawn, delivery is suspended until you "recycle" (toss out) at least one of the old papers. Sims can use or read the newspaper as many times as they want before it turns to trash at midnight. But the paper features only one job offer per day.

Pizza Delivery

Pizza delivery is a twenty-four hour service. At forty dollars a pop, it's kind of pricey. When Freddy the Pizza Dude arrives, he won't hand over the pie if you can't pay. If you have sufficient funds, Freddy waits at the door until your Sim greets him and takes the pizza box. If no one answers the door within an hour, he'll leave.

Gardener

When hired, your friendly gardening service sends a highly qualified Gardener every three days. Work hours: 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Your Gardener waters all flowers, inside and out, and stays as long as necessary (until quitting time) to finish the work. Hourly Rate: ten dollars. Two interactions are possible with the Gardener: Dismiss means you send the Gardener home for the day; Fire means you discontinue the gardening service.

Maid

When you hire a Maid, she works every day. The Maid makes unmade beds, washes dirty plates, picks up and takes out trash, and cleans anything that can be cleaned—sinks, tubs, showers, toilets, mops up floor puddles, you name it. Hourly Rate: ten dollars. Work hours: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. And she stays as long as it takes (until quitting time) to finish the work. Two interactions are possible with the Maid: Dismiss means you send her home for the day; Fire means you discontinue the cleaning service.

Repairman

When you call for repair help, your local service sends the Amazing Mr. Fixit. This guy repairs any object that can break. He'll even unclog toilets and replace light bulbs. Hourly rate: fifty dollars—kind of steep, but with his super-high Mechanical skill, he rarely needs to stay more than an hour. If you're suddenly running low on funds, you can Dismiss the Repairman before he finishes his work.

When you hit bumps in the road, both little and big, just remember: keep a stiff upper lip. And keep the following tips in mind.

Floods

A "flood" is any spill or leak caused by sloppy Sims or accidents—broken appliances, bladder failure, and so forth. Naturally, Room score drops if a Sim must slog through puddles in, say, the kitchen.

When messy people get out of the tub or shower or clean the aquarium, often they leave a puddle of water on one tile of the room. This puddle can grow, but only if there's further activity. For example, if a messy person steps out of a shower where a one-tile puddle already exists, it becomes a two-tile puddle. And so on. Bladder failure also leaves a one-tile flood.

Floods created by appliance breakdowns are bigger, multi-tile spills. The puddle keeps growing as long as Sims keep using the source of the spill before it's repaired or removed. If you don't clean it up, a multi-tile spill evaporates after two Sim days.

Fire

Only three types of objects can cause a fire—fireplaces, stoves, and the Wild Bill THX-451 barbecue. Stoves and barbecues catch fire when unskilled cooks try to cook a meal. Fireplaces don't catch fire, but their sparks can set nearby objects ablaze. (Fire can't start on a floor tile.) Fire spreads quickly to flammable objects (including people) on adjacent tiles, so get them under control fast. Fires also can spread to empty tiles, but the probability is less. While a fire burns, Buy and Build mode are disabled. Fires awaken any Sims sleeping in the same room.

Burglars

Burglars strike randomly when a house is empty or if everyone is asleep. They steal objects, starting with the most expensive, pilfering up to five objects in a session. Your best defense: buy a burglar alarm for each room of your house as soon as you can! Buy and Build modes are disabled during a burglary, so you can't just purchase a burglar alarm when the fiend appears.

When your alarm sounds, the Police arrive on the scene quickly. If the Police Officer arrives while the burglar is still on the premises, the cop always catches his or her man. The cop also confiscates stolen items as evidence. But not only do you get simoleans from your insurance company to replace the stolen goods (based on their depreciated value when stolen), but you also get a $1,000 cash reward. Sweet! Be aware that if you call the Police when no burglar is in house, the cop scolds you about false alarms. Unlike false fire alarms, however, this transgression carries no fine.

When you goof up and lose a Sim to one of the mistakes listed below, you get this curious message: "Though the body is gone, the spirit will always remain."

Electrocution

Sims without Mechanical skill should keep their distance from a broken TV. Call a Repairman, instead. With zero Mechanical points, a Sim stands a one hundred percent chance of getting electrocuted if the Sim tries to repair a TV. With one skill point, the odds of death drop to twenty-five percent. With two points, the chance is only ten percent. At every skill level (three to ten) above that, the chance of electrocution is one percent.

Lamps can electrocute, too, if Sims change burned-out lightbulbs. But the odds are small-only one in one hundred for every Sim, regardless of Mechanical skill level. After any electrocution, an urn stands where the Sim once stood. Repairmen never get electrocuted.

Fire Death

When Sims die by fire, they flail around and kind of crumple. A burial urn appears immediately at the end of the gruesome spectacle. Once a Sim is set ablaze, however, another Sim can save him or her with a fire extinguisher. But you'd better be quick about it.

Starvation

A Sim's Hunger rating decays very, very slowly at low levels. Sims don't drop dead suddenly of hunger with little warning. They let you know when they're hungry by waiving, yelling, and displaying the "I Need Food!" icon over their heads. And they seek food autonomously (if you have Free Will checked in the Options box) unless you keep them busy otherwise.

However, Sims will starve if they have no means of obtaining food—no fridge and no money for pizza, or they're trapped somehow. When this happens, the poor Sim falls to the floor in the fetal position and turns into a burial urn.

Ghosts!

If Sims die on your property, they create an urn (inside the house) or tombstone (outside the house). But departed Sims don't consider urns or tombstones to be sufficient memorials. In fact, they want to keep their icy fingers in your business. So every night at 11:00 p.m., every urn and tombstone on your lot has a one in eight chance of spewing out the ghost of the dead Sim buried there!

Each ghost is a pale version of its pre-death self. However, ghosts are invisible much of the time. They glide around the house making a haunting, ghostly sound. This is amusing, but it has a downside. The moaning wakes up adults (but not kids) sleeping in the same room. So it's really bad for healthy sleep patterns.

If a Sim is awake when the ghost enters the room, things get even more fun. The ghost remains invisible until it slips behind the person. Then it suddenly becomes visible and scares the poor Sim. The scared Sim's reaction is to panic and run away. If more than two Sims are awake in the room, the ghost will scare the closest. If no one in the room is awake, the ghost will wander around sadly for a while and then disappear.

Getting Rid of Ghosts

Ghosts are pretty easy to exorcise. Ghosts are deleted if you delete their urn/tombstone or bulldoze the lot. If an urn among the objects in a house a family is evicted from, it gets sold with the rest of the stuff. However, if a tombstone is in the yard when a family is evicted, the tombstone remains as if it were an architectural object.