Bad Material at GameFAQs, FAQ division

So I was emailing with adaml, the person on GameFAQs who is trying to solve every North American NES game ever released. He's at 11. One of them is Ultima: Warriors of Destiny.

This is not a good game. As a port from the PC and Apple, it runs into disk-space problems, and so the programmers decided to keep...the endlessly looping sound.

As bad as the game is, though, the current FAQ is equally crummy. I think I gave Orochi K permission to use whatever he found in my guide, if it was helpful, several years ago. I did not expect him to take some of my stuff, some of the other guide, some game genie codes and hope this worked for the NES.

It didn't. I'm finding that out working through the game. It started when I mapped the whole thing out (COMING SOON TO A GAMEFAQS NEAR YOU!) Then I realized the sextant gave coordinates like 08E03S instead of A'B' C'D'.

At that point, I realized the reason for his "This is the last update. I will take no more questions concerning this FAQ." It's hard to be mad at something like this, and in fact it's useful to determine what is in one game and not the other. It just can't have been useful to any poor saps tempted into playing the remarkably heinous WoD all these years. They got doubly suckered with his FAQ.

Still, I figured enough cheat codes to figure what to do, and I am working through it honestly now. Between this and overdrive's Pool of Radiance FAQ (NOT part of the Bad Material,) that should knock it down to 9. He has a bunch of strategy games left. Wish I could help him with those. But I have so many other semi-bad old school games to play, and I never was much for strategy games.

Comments 7

JANUS2 Sep 7, 2009

Wait, he has eleven games to go before he's beaten EVERY North American NES game? That's crazy.

aschultz Blogger Sep 7, 2009

Yeah. He worked his way through the easy ones first. A lot fell with emulation. Now only the complex ones remain. I helped him with Hillsfar a few years ago but Real Life (read: his wife had kids) got in the way.

He's also apparently somewhat fearing Miracle Piano, which requires an add on that is hard to emulate.

overdrive Staff Sep 7, 2009

Yeah, my PoR one will give him everything he needs to know to beat the game. It's not perfect, but is easily good enough to get the job done.

And Warriors of Destiny is a really bad game. I know I beat the game, but I've mentally blocked out most of that experience.

zippdementia Sep 7, 2009

I think I would STOP at 11... I mean, after 11 games.

Congratulations on beating Warriors of Destiny, somehow, Overdrive! I'm having trouble beating the game with cheats. I think I just might be missing the right magic item to use. I can't seem to find good ways to raise gold. I just found there was a huge underworld beneath Britannia, not counting the dark-walled stuff between them. Shoulda known from playing U5. Hope this doesn't bring any memory back for you. The game's expansively huge without having anything cool and memorable.

And Zipp, there are at LEAST 11 good NES games. Be fair now.

overdrive Staff Sep 8, 2009

When I beat it, I was in high school and, therefore, had absolutely nothing better to do than work with it. No emulation, so when I got a game, I played it like a job to get the most out of the $40-50 spent.

The closest to a guide I used was the very detailed instruction book that came with the game. Which, like Quest of the Avatar, was essentially a mini-FAQ.

It's the kind of thing, I simply couldn't pull off today. Heck, I've been playing Wild Arms again recently and can't count the times I've walked to my computer to figure out something after struggling with it for a whopping 2 minutes or so. When I played it the first time, I believe there were two places I conceded and looked for help. One (in the final dungeon) I blamed on personal stupidity. The other (in the De La Metallica dungeon).....well, I honestly don't know how a person could get through there without pure dumb luck.

aschultz Blogger Sep 8, 2009

I see what you mean. I sometimes wonder if I'd even be able to play Ultima on the Apple now. Or play it honestly. There are just so many cheats, speedups, etc. I tried replaying Bard's Tale III etc. and kept tweaking things and looking for ways to avoid leveling up, which used to be so fun.

Your comment about playing a game too much to make it worthwhile is something I relate to. It's the best way to stretch things out and not play too much. It wasn't til Apple games went on deep discount at Babbage's that I really started trying to get through them quicker. But I do have fond memories of parental paradoxes. "You need to make your money/stuff last" contradicted "YOU'RE STILL PLAYING THAT GAME?"

Actually, with Ultima V, I still sort of am.