Virtual On -- Cybertroopers
FAQ v 0.9
By
Ian Mak
Introduction
Virtual On is the latest arcade video game presented by Sega. It is
basically a 1-on-1 Doom deathmatch game but this time you are
controlling some huge mechs called Virtuaroid (VR). Once you get into
the game, you will be attracted by its deep, fast and exciting
gameplay. This game has been a great hit in Japan, mainly due to the
large number of Gundam fans there.
Game story
Note: This is the official story of VO in Japan. I have read from
different sources that tell a different story. Maybe it is the story
in US.
Earth has entered the Virtual Century (V.C.). The whole world is now
being controlled by some great syndicates that operating the media
industry. The Earth is in a "dark age" in both politic and culture.
Human has switch their focus to space. Compare with the Earth, the
colonies outside Earth are expanding at a great speed. The syndicates
on Earth have bewared of this new power.
In V.C.0084, one of the syndicates on Earth, DN, has found the "ruins"
of a civilization that contain technology that is far more advanced
than on Earth. DN hide this technology and use it to produce weapons
that is much more advanced than other sydicates'. These human-like
robots are called "VirtualRoid".
VR are difficult to control. Only people who are "Virtual On
Positive" can control a VR well. In order to search for these people,
DN made a video game called "Virtual On" and put it in the arcade game
center to test the "Virtual On Positive" of the player. Moreover,
there is a remote control system in the game machine. Of course, the
players of this game do not know this.
However, the ruins on Moon has become out of control. The ultimate
weapon -- Sun Cannon has beed started up. DN has decided to destroy
the ruins with their VR. The code name of this plan is "Operation
Moongate". Players who are "VOP" are forced to join this operation
through the game machine. Can you finish the "game"?
Characters
MBV-04-G Temjin
The most all-rounded VR in the game. It is fast, well armored and has
good weapons. It is suitable for close to mid range combat. In the
right hand, Temjin can be the most deadly VR.
Weapons:
Beam rifle, bomb, beam sword
HBV-05-E Raiden
Raiden has great firepower. Its laser is the most powerful weapon in
the game. Raiden is also the most well armored VR. But its
maneuverability is the lowest.
Weapons:
Bazooka, ground bomb, laser
TRV-06k-H Viper II
Viper II is based on the skeleton of Temjin, but its armor is greatly
reduced. As a result, it has great jumping ability and its dashing
speed is very high. Its weapon system is also one of the best.
Weapons:
Vulcan, 7 way missle, homing beam
HBV-10-B Dorkas
A cost-down version of Raiden. But it is absolutely not weaker than
Raiden. Its Phalanx can pass though obstacles. It hammer has great
homing ability. Moreover it is small and does not fall down easily.
It is very good at close to mid range combat.
Weapons:
Fireball, hammer, phalanx
MBV-09-C Apharmd
Another VR based on Temjin. It is designed for close range combat.
Apharmd has better armor and higher speed than Temjin. Its tongfer
is the most fearsome close range weapon in the game. But its shotgun
is quite useless. Great skill is required in controlling Apharmd.
Weapons:
Shotgun, bomb, tongfer
SAV-07-D Belgdor
Another cost-down version of Raiden. Due to the reduction of armor,
it has better maneuverability than Raiden. It is designed for long
range support attack. Its homing missiles can hit enemies miles away.
But because the homing missile launcher is located on the head, it is
very unbalanced and will fell down easily.
Weapons:
Grende, napalm, homing missle
SRV-14-A Fei-yen
Being a female VR, Fei-yen is the fastest VR in the game. Compare
with Viper 2 Fei is more agile but she does not have a good weapon
system. But when her life is reduced to half, she will switch into
"hyper mode" and all her attack will be twice powerful.
Weapons:
Hand beam, bowgun, heart beam
XBV-13-t11 Bal-Bas-Bow
A prototype VR. It has no leg and its speed is low. But its jump is
the best one. Its weapons do not have good damage but they are
difficult to evade, especially Floating mines. But still it is the
weakest VR in the game.
Weapons:
Ring laser, floating mines, hand bit
The Game Screen
On the screen you can find the following:
1. The life meters, both yours and your enemy’s.
2. The timer
3. Three weapons charge gauges, each for one weapon. You cannot fire
weapon if its charge gauge is in red(it may be running out of charge
or just reloading).
4. Lock on sight. Normally it is a single circle around your enemy.
Most of the weapon will automatically track your enemy if there is a
lock on. When you are close to your enemy, there will be a double
circle around the enemy. This is called a double lock on. At this
time, some of your weapons will switch to close combat mode. Weapons
in close combat mode are in yellow charge.
5. Distance meter. It tells you the distance between you and your
enemy.
Basic control
Controlling VR is through two flight sticks. On each stick there are
a trigger and a dash button. With the sticks, your VR can dash, jump,
crouch and many other actions.
Slow speed movement: You can walk with a low speed in any direction
by holding one stick in that direction.
High speed movement: You can walk with a high speed in any direction
by holding both sticks in that direction.
Jump: You can jump by pulling the left stick to the left and the
right stick to the right at the same time. I.e.
o--- ---o
<-- -->
Dash: You can dash in any direction by holding one or both sticks in
that direction that press the dash button.
Turning: You can turn clockwise by pulling the left stick forward and
the right stick backward and vice versa.
Guard: Your VR can guard against close range attack by pulling both
sticks inward. I.e.
---o o---
--> <--
Note: You can guard only when there is a double lock on and long
range attack cannot be guard.
Firing weapon: Each VR has 3 weapons. On the screen you can see
three gauges. Each represents one weapon. You can fire the right
weapon by pressing the right trigger, left weapon by pressing the left
trigger, and the center weapon by pressing both triggers. You can
fire your weapon during standing, walking, dashing, jumping and
crouching.
Crouching: VR can crouch only when firing a weapon. A crouch attack
is done by pulling both stick inwards and press the trigger. That is
---o o---
--> <-- *must fire a weapon at the same time in order to crouch
Generally crouch attacks have better homing ability and faster speed.
Most of them can be used as anti-air defense.
Advanced control
Dash cancel: You can stop a dash by pulling one or both sticks to the
opposite direction of the dash and press the dash button. For
example, to stop a left side dash, you have to pull the stick to the
right then press the dash button. However, you cannot cancel the dash
after a dashing attack.
Jump cancel: You can also cancel a jump by the guard (or crouch)
motion. Your VR will land immediately. But you cannot cancel a jump
after your VR has reached the highest point or after a jump attack.
Weapon cancel: There are two types of weapon cancel in this game:
crouch cancel and center weapon dash cancel.
Crouch cancel - when you fired a weapon in standing or walking
position, you can immediately fire a crouch shot. For example, Temjin
can fire a walking laser beam, then immediately followed by a 2 shots
crunch laser beam. So in the screen there will be 3 beams. This
technique is very useful in close range combat. For example,
Temjin: thrust(right trigger) --> crouch bomb
Apharmd: tongfer --> crouch bomb
Raiden: bazooka strike --> crouch laser(!)
Your opponent cannot guard the second attack because the crouch attack
is not a close range attack.
All center weapons except Temjin’s sword and Apharmd’s tongfer cannot
be canceled by this way, however.
Center weapon dash cancel - After firing a standing or walking center
weapon(except Raiden’s laser), you can immediately dash away. Of
course you can attack during the dash. For example, Dorkas can do a
standing phalanx then dash forward and fire fireball immediately.
Apharmd can do a tongfer attack then dash away. This technique can
greatly reduce the freeze time after an center weapon attack.
Quick recovery after downed: If you eat a certain amount of damage,
you will fall down. If you wish to get up faster, just continue to
move your sticks(only 1 stick is O.K., you may accidentally make a
jump if you move both sticks) and your VR will soon get up.
Rising dash: You can dash immediately after you get up. Method is to
hold one or both stick in the direction you want to go and hold the
dash button also when you are down. BTW this dash is a special one.
Your attacks during this dash will contain some amount of "forward
dash property". For example, Temjin will shoot four BIG beam if you
fire the beam rifle during this dash.
Rising attack: You can attack a nearby enemy during rising. When you
fell down, and your enemy is
standing near you with a double lock on, you can attack him
immediately by continuously pressing the trigger of the weapon in
close combat mode.
Back attack: You can only do this at close range and with a double
lockon. Method is to hold one or both sticks in a forward diagonal
direction and press the trigger of the weapon in close combat mode.
This attack cannot be guarded. Your VR will quickly go to the back of
your enemy and attack. Apharmd, Temjin and Viper players should
definitely learn this move.
Special moves
Only three VR in this game have special move. Not very useful but
they are fun to watch.
Temjin’s Gliding Ram. Method is jump first, then at the highest
point, push both sticks toward and press both triggers.
Dorkas’s Mega Spinning Hammer. Method is to do a clockwise turn and
press both triggers.
Viper II’s S.L.C. Dive. Method is the same to Temjin’s Gliding Ram.
Viper II is invincible during the dive.
All these special moves are counted as close range attack and can be
guarded.
Vs CPU sequence
Temjin-->ViperII-->Dorkas-->Belgdor-->Bal-Bas-Bow-->Apharmd-->Fei-yen-->
Raiden-->Z-Gradt(last boss) | ^
|-->Jaguarandi--|
(mid boss)
Mid-boss
There is a mid-boss in this game. It is called Jaguarandi. It is
even more powerful than the last boss. Imagine a Raiden with thicker
armor, 8 way laser, super fast bazooka and maneuverability of Temjin.
It is a nightmare for beginner.
Jaguarandi is not a real VR. Instead, it is only a set of data
residue inside the simulation system. The original of this data is
the fighting record of a little boy, who is a tester of the simulation
program. The boy had faced a lot of difficult combats and these
combat records are being visualized into a powerful VR – Jaguarandi.
It is still a mystery that why this VR appeared in the program, but DN
has no plan to fix this bug…
Jaguarandi has 3 weapons:
Right hand - bazooka
Left hand - 4 way missile
Center - 8 way laser
Bazooka is the main weapon of Jaguarandi. It is fast and powerful. 3
hits of bazooka can kill a VR(Viper will die in 2 hit). But it does
not home well, luckily. For fast VR, you can evade them by walking
only. Heavy VR should dash, but never dash attack. Jaguarandi can
hit you with forward dash bazooka when you freezed.
4 way missile is easy to deal with since there are some spaces between
the missiles. If you are standing in front of it, the missiles cannot
hit you. So when you see it is going to fire the missiles, stay calm
and see if you are in front of it or not. You can also try to evade
it by jumping.
8 way laser is slow, and between the lasers there are spaces. Just go
into the spaces between and you are safe.
Jaguarandi will enter "berserk mode" when it is facing you and it is
at a distance 100-300. It will use 4 way missile-->8 way laser-->
missile-->laser continuously. At this time you should walk into the
space its fire and counter attack.
Jaguarandi will appear if you average spent more than 35 second in
each round of the first 5 stages.
Last-boss
After you beat Raiden, you will reach the core of the "ruins". The
last-boss, Z-Gradt is before you. It has five weapons:
1. Ring laser
2. Chain laser
3. Floating mines
4. Phalanx
5. Big laser cannon
Z-Gradt will first attack you with the first four weapons. At this
time, there is a energy filed around it. Your attacks will be very
ineffective at this time. But after a while it will start to
transform and fire the big laser cannon. This is the chance for
attack because its energy filed will be turned off.
Basic tactic against Z-Gradt is to evade its shot before it fires the
cannon. Once it started to do so(its color will changed into gold),
get close (so you only need to move a short distance to avoid the big
laser) and use the most powerful weapon first. Then use the normal
right hand weapon shot. Don’t dash, Use standing or walking shot
since it is much more effective. Don’t let the cannon hit you. After
it fired the cannon, dash away and wait for the second transformation.
You have to destroy Z-Gradt within time limit in order to beat the
game. You cannot win by time out.
Basic tactics
1. Catching your enemy
The most important thing in the combat is to keep your enemy in sight.
It has two advantages. First, when your enemy is in your sight, there
will be a lock on around him. This increase the homing ability of
your weapons. Next, you can see what your enemy is going to do so you
can react much more quickly and accurately.
There are three method to keep your enemy in sight:
I. By turning.
II. By jumping(or jump cancel). Your VR will turn to your enemy’s
direction automatically when you jump.
III. By dash attack. Like a jump, your VR will turn to your enemy’s
direction through out the dash.
You should use different methods at different situation. For example,
If you are very far away from your enemy and you have a covering. At
this time both I or II can be used to find your enemy.
If you are Apharmd. You have just attacked with Tongfer but missed.
Your enemy is dashing away. At this time I will be too dangerous
since it is slow and you will be hit if your enemy attack. III can be
used but you will lose the attack initiative in the next attack. The
most suitable way is to do a jump but immediately cancel it. You will
face the enemy again and you can attack your enemy when he freeze
after dashing.
If you know that your enemy is at your back and he is going to attack,
III is the best way to do. Immediately find an obstacle and dash to
it. Fire a weapon and you will face him again. Then wait for the
next chance for attacking.
2. Evading enemy fires
Most of the time in the battlefield, you will not have obstacle to
cover you. So you must know how to avoid getting hit.
For fast VR like Viper II or Fei Yen, walking is fast enough to evade
many attack like Temjin’s beam rifle or Belgdor’s grenade. They can
even attack back with hand beam or Vulcan. So if you know that you
can evade by walking, don’t dash.
Side dash is the most common way of evading. Side dash is safe
against most attack since it is fast enough. But you will be unable
to strike back your enemy during the dash. Although it is possible to
fire weapon during the dash, the freeze time after a dash attack is
fatal.
The way to overcome this problem is dash cancel. After you have
evaded all the enemy fires, you can cancel the dash and immediately
strike back. The good usage of dash cancel is necessary for you to be
a good VR pilot.
For Viper II, Feiyen and Bal Bas Bow, jumping is also a good way to
evade enemy fires as they can move a long distance in the air. During
the jump you can evade and attack at the same time. But you have to
find a cover for landing because you are defenseless at that time.
If you have been freeze and you see enemy fire coming, you can try to
do a jump cancel. It can reduce the freeze time after a dash.
Moreover the starting speed of a jump is very high. You can evade
weapons with low homing ability in this way.
The bomb of Temjin and Apharmd is great for defense because it can
neutralized most weapon(Raiden’s laser can go through the bomb, but it
will not do any damage to you). Use them wisely.
3. Attacking
Although most of the weapons in this game have some degree of homing
ability, your enemy can evade them easily simply by dashing or even
walking. Then how can you hit him?
The easiest way is to attack him during his freeze time after a dash,
jump, or firing a weapon.
But your enemy will have this idea also. So the winner of this game
is the one who can control the fighting pace and keep the attack
initiative. The most point here is to force your enemy to dash or
jump first.
If your enemy do a side dash attack before you, you should do a
forward dash attack immediately. By this way your enemy cannot hit
you but your attack will hit him. In fact, forward dash attack is the
most useful move in this game.
Other stuff
S.L.C. dive of Viper II can be easily evade by jumping. But homing
beam will hit you if you jump. If you cannot see what Viper is going
to fire(e.g. He is on your head), stay calm and listen. Homing beam
will make a "ding" sound when it is fired. So if you don’t hear this
sound, jump. If there is not, dash away.
Raiden’s laser is the strongest close range weapon in this game
because it comes out faster than any sword or tongfer. So don’t even
think of slashing him. If you really want to slash him(e.g. you are
Apharmd), use crouch attack. You can hit him but you will get hit by
laser also.
Dorkas’s phalanx can use to avoid Temjin’s sword or Apharmd’s tongfer.
I’ve seen a CPU Dorkas evade Raiden’s laser by phalanx, too but I
never made it.
Reference
Double lockon distance for each VR
left center right
Temjin 14.9 99.9 54.9
Dorkas 29.9 -- 59.9
Fei-Yen 64.9 -- 44.9
Apharmd 14.9 139.9 54.9
Viper II 44.9 -- 44.9
Belgdor 24.9 -- 39.9
Bal-Bas-Bow 24.9 -- 44.9
Raiden 24.9 -- 49.9
