How do you beat the game Motherload?

Answer 1

To beat the game you need to kill the devil. You know the guy who sent you on the mission? Mr.Natas. Spell natas backwards. That's right; you have to kill him, using your explosives. He is hiding in the bottom of the mine below 6666 feet (actually about 7200 feet because the depth meter breaks).

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As you dig and sell ore, you can buy upgrades to your digger: these include stronger hulls, lava heat radiators, engines, and larger fuel tanks. Buy these at the junk shop. You can also buy one-time products from the Repair Shop at far right: return transporters (quantum is risky, matter is safe but more expensive), fuel refills, nanobot hull repairs, and most importantly dynamite and C4 explosives that you normally use to clear boulders and lava from your path.

(*the special Goldium edition also had features that improve play, and added new items)

- Below 5000 feet, it is not safe to dig into plain dirt, because it can have invisible methane deposits that will explode your digger. Even the strongest hulls with radiators suffer severe damage. So you have to dig through ore, or lava with some damage, or blast away the dirt using dynamite and C4. This gets expensive. Fortunately, once you start blasting through the area below 5000 feet, you can find Diamond ($100,000) and Amazonite ($500,000) in limited quantities. To carry a large load, buy a strong engine for the digger. Use quantum and matter transporters to get back to the surface quickly to sell your ores.

- You need a relatively straight downward shaft to follow to reach the bottom right without wasting time and fuel. A few dozen C4 can blast you an open path down-and-across, or down at an angle to the right. Earthquakes can complicate the situation. Always keep at least 10 or 20 repair kits if you tend to blunder into methane pockets, to keep your hull at a safe level. You will need C4 and repair kits to fight Natas as well.

You can attack and beat Mr. Natas (who tries to warn you away) once you have enough to do the job:

HULL : Energy-Shielded Hull ($500,000)

RADIATOR: $100,000 minimum or $500,000 (suffers less damage)

FUEL TANK : $100,000 (with 10 to 20 refills) or $500,000 (with 5 or 6 refills)

RESERVE FUEL : (see above)

C4 EXPLOSIVE: at least 40 or 50, more if inexperienced (dynamite does little damage to Natas)

NANOBOT HULL REPAIRS : Natas can kill you with his devices, so you need at least 30 to fight him successfully, if you can avoid the most damaging attacks.

MATTER TRANSPORTER : for emergency escape (does not work in the battle area)

*You can save your game at the floating robot: if you die (from Natas or otherwise), you start with a fresh mine but keep your upgrades and money and can start back down with some benefits.

Battling Natas:

At the bottom right of the mine is a small hole that reaches the battle area. Entering will cause a Dandy Natas (top hat and hooves) to try to kill you. If you touch him in ANY WAY, you suffer damage. If he hits you with his laser, you suffer severe damage. Wait until he stops and makes his attack: then move in close to (or just behind him) and set off your C4. (C key) This will reduce his health (displayed): he starts at 1000 and a close hit will reduce it by 120...a direct hit reduces it by 240. But a direct hit will damage your digger, as will passing through him from side to side. For a direct hit, expect to need up to 3 repairs (R key); for sliding through him, usually 2 repairs is enough. A hit from the laser will need 3 or 4 repairs to return your hull to full strength. The 500,000 radiator that lets you dig through lava will protect your hull better than a 100,000 one. Keep your hull at full strength.

After hitting him, and quickly hitting repair, set up to hit him again. It should not take long if you dive in quickly, blast him, and then move off to repair your hull. When his health goes to zero or less, he collapses. It looks like you had more than you needed for the task. But wait...

He regenerates into a more menacing form (Robo-suit Natas) with 2000 Health and new weapons! Now contact with him causes more damage to your hull. He can strike you with his forked tail as you move past him. He will use one of two weapons that keep you off-guard: a metal mace that pummels you if you get too close, and an energy ball that blasts you if you stay too far away! This is a close-range battle that is much more difficult to master. You have to stay within visual range for the entire battle, and you cannot pause the fight. If you escape up the hole at the right, and return, you have to start the battle all over with the 1000-health Dandy Natas.

The best tactic is to wait for him to stop, and see which weapon he uses.

- If he uses the energy ball (just pauses for a second), you have to rapidly close on him and use your C4 to blast him (as before, hits range from 60 to 120 to 240 on his health). It is possible to blast either in front or behind him, but now only a direct hit takes off 240. You will need 2, 3, or 4 repairs depending on the damage to your hull. Move slightly away and prepare for his next attack. You will alternate attacking him as he follows you: from the left, then the right.

- If he uses the metal mace, you can stay away until he swings, then rush in to quickly blast him, or you can duck past and behind him before he swings (still causes you damage) and blast him from behind. For the experienced player, the direct attack saves time, as you only need 9 or 10 hits to finish him off. If you get into trouble, you can pass through him without setting off the C4, which does him no damage and you much less damage. He will have to turn back to attack you again.

- When his health drops to zero, you win, and you receive various awards, money, and points, none of which can be carried over to another round. :-(

If you save your game at the end, you lose your backup save but you can play the more challenging 2nd round of the mine: now you receive no help or money from Natas (he's recuperating) and all the ore values are HALF (topping out with Amazonite at $250,000). If you dig down to Natas again, you find that he now has a health rating of 2000 and 4000, does more damage to you, and takes twice as long to kill! (Your digger display shows that you have beaten him before.)

In the non-Goldium game, you can progress as far as the 10th mine (Natas is 10,000 and 20,000 health and ore is nearly worthless). The advantages of the Goldium version let you play up to the 19th mine, where it gets nearly impossible to kill off the bosses.