Return to Atlantis - Help

  Return to Atlantis is the long awaited Electronic Arts adventure game of
 undersea exploration. I found it to be completable in approximately
 20-25 hours of play, if you have a good sense of direction and have mastered
 the joystick controls.

  This file is designed to offer some brief suggestions on ways to complete
 the adventure in a reasonable amount of time and avoid getting "stuck" on
 the puzzles that come with the game. It will begin with some general
 observations and then move to a detailed description of how each of the
 adventures in the game is resolved.

  GENERAL OBSERVATIONS-
  1. To my knowledge, interaction with the inhabitants of the Sea Thief is
 not necessary to complete any of the missions. Indeed, it is normally in
 your best interests to completely skip this section and move on to your
 assignment. This is a shame since one of the most entertaining facets of
 the interface is watching the animated characters on the screen converse
 with your character. I suggest that if you are going to talk to them to do
 so and then reboot your machine to start the assignment fresh.

  2. I found it NEVER necessary to threatean another character. Bribery is
 important for McGregor and Modibo, but seldom useful with the others,
 particularly the Arabian.

  3. Learn early on to master all the undersea controls at your disposal,
 especially the transporter and your weapons systems. They will become
 extremely useful later on and the game can get frustrating when you spend
 time trying to master them in more advanced missions.

  4. When scanning, a scan radius of 5-6 squares in each direction is probably
 the most you will need. There are only a couple of exceptions when you will
 find objects outside this area.

  5. If you fail a mission (ie- the mission is terminated and you have not
 recieved a "reward" screen) DO NOT return to base or you will lose all the
 health points spent on the current assignment. Re-boot your machine and play
 the assignment over, that way you will be able to keep those precious
 experience points each time you re-play the assignment.

 6. Keep yourself up-to-date on ART's messages. Sometimes they are critical
 at the exact moment they arrive.

  7. When using RUF, set him on "Agressive". This way, he can identify the
 things you are looking for very quickly.

  8. When generating a new character, AWARENESS, ATHLETICS and WEAPONS are
 the most critical- especially awareness since it controls how long you can
 stay underwater without having to surface.

 AN EPISODE-BY-EPISODE DESCRIPTION OF THE ADVENTURE

  1. This assignment is fairly simple. Swim around until you find the treasure
 chest, scan it, and beam it up. That's it. Spend some time practicing
 shooting Crabbots.

  2. The "cable" in this scenario bears a striking resemblance to a volcano
 and the patch looks like a mountain that is far off. Scan ANYTHING that
 looks unusual to you to make sure that it isn't the patch or cable.

  3. This assignment is simply a matter of beaming up the barrels to the
 ship. However, MAKE CERTAIN you find the TOXICITY SENSOR while you are
 diving. It is critical on the next assignment.

  4. This one, along with number six is by far the most frustrating of all of
 them. The problem is that you must float over all of the medical packs and
 use your toxicity sensor to discover which ones aren't poisoned (there are 3).
 The best method I know of to do this is to position yourself directly over
 the package and look at the meter. If it registers nothing, then it is toxic,
 if it constantly points in another direction then it is probably clean. Beam
 it up. Once you have three packages in the hold, beam them down to an area
 far away from where you found them and use the sensor. If it picks up nothing,
 you have the right ones. Now beam them up again and swim North to Aquacity.
 Using the transmitter to open the doors, beam down the packages inside the
 entrances to the domes.

  5. Your first priority in this assignment should be to swim north and locate
 the HOMING BEACON and PROPULSION UNIT. These are virtually indispensible in
 this assignment and others. Then use the homing beacon to find the fish.
 BEAM THE FISH UP, do not release it by turning your transmitter on.

  6. This is the most frustrating of all the assignments. You have to find
 12 independently moving spheres and beam them up to the ship in the alloted
 time. Just a matter of carefully and efficiently searching the seabed.
 Use RUF to help you find them.

  7. After you land, swim south to the area the "mystery ally" tells you to
 and take the equipment. It will help you later. The rest of the assignment
 is a matter of isolating the bomb, finding the shield and beaming the shield
 over the bomb.

  8. First, gather the recorders, then shoot the power generator. After that,
 it is just a matter of wiping out all of the equipment in the area.

  9. The bouy marker for this assignment should be in the hold of your ship
 when you leave.

  10. On the seabed you will find 2 columns. Swim BETWEEN them and the stations
 will shut down. Destroy each part of all the krill stations and you will have
 completed the assignment.

  11. In the North East part of the target area you should find a Comm Dish,
 beam it up and then swim toward the psychotransmitter (RUF should be able to
 find it). When ART tells you to, beam the Comm dish down. It will disrupt the
 signal to RUF2.

  12. As you swim, you will eventually discover a map in the target area.
 It will blow up into six pieces. In order to complete this one, find the
 various pieces of the map and beam them up.

  13. After you are captured by Slingjaw, he will release you. When you see
 all of the images of him, look very carefully at the band of lights that are
 right along his neck. One of them will be the inverse of the others. This is
 the one to shoot with your weapon. After that, it is just a matter of
 destroying the pumps.

  14. If you swim toward the northward objects, you will encounter your Arch
 Foe. Surface immediately. Read the information ART provides and return to the
 same area. QUICKLY shoot at the small transport/pod vehicle as much as
 possible. You will eventually disable it. Now swim to the center of the
 collection of objects and you will find a Comm dish. Use your transmitter to
 jam it's signal and you're done.