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Contraptions / Contraption Zack
WALKTHROUGH
by Christian Schmidt (cs216@gmx.net)
_______________________________________________________________________________
/ THE GAME
One Man Against a Maze of Machines!
Join Zack on his first day as repairman at Gadgetco, Inc. where things
are just a little out of hand. There are major system malfunctions
everywhere. The employee manual reads like the ramblings of a mad
scientist. Fellow workers have "borrowed" Zack's tools and "lost"
them.
The boss is screaming!
Zack's up against incredibly intricate, interrelated, and fiendishly
finicky gizmos - six levels and over sixty rooms of them! How's he
gonna handle the ancillary functions of the feeder system? He's never
even heard of the crystalline boron compound mix, let alone the fric-
tion inhibitors or phalanx resistors. The retro theething and auxiliary
spikes are deviously delicate. And of course, anything can happen if he
forgets to depress a primary diode implode button before activating the
electronic gate circuits.
Even though he's quick, and nobody's fool (for long anyway), Zack needs
all the help he can get. Whoa! A fusion reduction button just went!
Things are hoppin' at Gadgetco!
Welcome to Contraptions, the fully animated, 3-D puzzle-action game.
It's a wild rush to find the tools of your trade, fix all the discombo-
bulated contraptions in the elaborate, six-level maze, and show 'em
what you're made of! If you can make it through the first day, get
ready for even more outrageous tinkering tomorrow!
Thus speaks the backside of the box. Contraptions (or Contraption Zack, as it
is called in the US) is an isometric puzzle game, developed by The Software
Toolworks and published by Mindscape in 1992. It's reminiscent of D/Generation
(also a Software Toolworks game), but different in gameplay, with an emphasis
on combinatory thinking rather than reflexes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
GAME MECHANICS
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_______________________________________________________________________________
/ TOOLS
Zack's toolbox contains nine tools - or at least it did before Zack's work-
mates took them away. One of your objectives is thus to retrieve the tools
that are scattered over each level and employ them to repair machinery and
activate mechanisms.
Some tools can only be used in combination with each other; to repair a broken
power line, for example, you need replacement WIRE as well as some TAPE to
fasten it.
Some repairs that you have made can be undone. For example, you may cut a re-
paired power line with the WIRE CUTTER, or remove a replacement pipe with the
PIPE WRENCH.
You start each level with an empty toolbox, no matter how many tools you found
in the previous level. In most levels, there are more tools than you actually
need to solve the puzzles, so don't worry if you didn't put a tool to use.
Also, you do not need to have all tools to finish a level. There is no bonus
if you do.
Electric Power
WIRE
If one of the brightly colored power lines in a level is broken, fix it
with a piece of wire. You need TAPE to fasten the wire. Power lines usually
supply doors and conveyor belts, but also some buttons and switches. There
is an endless supply of wire on the spool.
TAPE
Required for fixing power lines. Your supply of tape is endless.
WIRE CUTTER
Power lines may be disconnected at certain gray nodes with the wire cutter.
Useful, too, if you need to undo your previous repair work.
Hydro Power
PIPE WRENCH
Indispensable for inserting and removing replacement PIPES in broken pipe-
lines.
PIPE
The replacement pipe fixes leaky pipelines. You must have a PIPE WRENCH to
insert it. Pipework usually regulates the water level in canals and powers
hydraulic doors and machinery. Sometimes you need to find and open a valve
to regulate the water flow. Note that you can remove pipe pieces again to
use them at another location. Zack can only carry one pipe at a time.
Mechanical
HEXNUT WRENCH
Now for the, ah, less useful tools in the game. Loose, red hexnuts on gray
wall panels need to be fastened with the hexnut wrench. Since there are
only two hexnuts in the game, the wrench will likely rust from disuse.
SCREWDRIVER
Used to fasten loose screws on big, gray wall panels. In fact, there's only
one such screw in the entire game, so the screwdriver competes with the oil
can for the title of most useless tool.
OIL CAN
If you discover a wall socket with the inscription "OIL", sprinkle some of
the black fluid in it. There's only one oil socket in the game, and it's
not part of a puzzle. Yawn.
HAMMER
A.k.a. The Mystery Tool. Though there's a slot for it in Zack's toolbox,
and though we can see Zack's colleagues running around with a hammer in
hand, it does not appear in the game. Luckily, you don't need it either.
Phew. Let's simply suppose that Zack's co-workers took the hammer and hid
it in a very secret place. The infantile bunch.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/ MECHANISMS
Most of Contraptions' puzzles consist of only a few standard elements, such as
buttons and spike barriers. The challenge lies in figuring out how these ob-
jects are linked, and in what order to activate them.
FLOOR BUTTONS
The most common form of trigger in Contraptions. Zack must step on a
floor button to press it. This will activate a mechanism somewhere
in the level; usually, buttons raise or lower spike barriers.
Most floor buttons are color-coded, meaning that their color links
them to the item they manipulate. For example, a green button would
control a green row of spikes.
If a button does not move, it needs to be activated first; usually,
this means restoring the electric power. Check if a power line runs
from the button, and follow it to find the problem.
SQUARE floor buttons can be activated only once. Their effect is
usually irreversible, so think carefully before you step on.
ROUND floor buttons are timed. Once activated, their effect lasts
for a set amount of time, after which they return to their normal
state. For example, stepping on a round button might open a door for
five seconds. Round buttons can be used multiple times.
WALL SWITCHES
Wall switches serve pretty much the same functions as floor buttons,
with the exception that you can turn most of them on and off at
leisure. Thus switches often appear in puzzles where you have to
figure out a combination.
Some wall switches are timed (cf. round floor buttons) and stay
activated for a specific amount of time.
SPIKE BARRIERS
The generic obstacle in Contraptions. Spikes block your way. And
that's all they do. To lower a row of spikes, look for a button or
switch of matching color.
LAUNCH PLATES
Launch plates are square, gray floor tiles that fling Zack over ob-
stacles such as walls, canals or spikes. While most launch plates
are reusable, others stay sprung after one use. Unfortunately, there
is no way of distinguishing them other than trial.
DOORS
Zack cannot open doors by hand, and there are no automatic gates in
Contraptions. Every door is remotely controlled, most commonly
by a button or a switch.
When doors are linked to a timed button, they will close after set
amount of time, blocking the way back. Some doors are set in
patterns and open consecutively, so timing is essential in passing
through.
CONVEYOR BELTS
Conveyor belts are essentially one-way streets: Zack can only pass
them in the direction they move, and cannot go back unless he shuts
the belt off or reverses its direction. When stepping on a conveyor,
make sure that you know a way back, or that you can safely leave
that part of the level behind.
The direction of a conveyor belt is usually controlled by a wall
switch.
WATER
Water is an impassable obstacles. With two exceptions: 1) Zack may
cross a canal using a launch plate. 2) If there's a float on the
water, Zack may cross if the float is level with the floor. If it
isn't, Zack needs to raise the water level by opening a valve or re-
pairing a broken pipe.
POWER LINES
Power lines running along the walls of a level are indicators of how
objects are linked. If you see a wire coming from a floor button,
for example, following it usually leads you to the object that the
button manipulates. Keep an eye on lines and their color.
If a line has no traceable origin, but a broken section, it likely
serves as a sophisticated switch: Once you repair the broken wire,
power is restored to the object that it is connected with, which
will then activate (e.g. a door would open).
SAVEPOINTS
If a tile or doorway is marked by a set of bright green columns, it
is a savepoint. Once you pass over it, the game will drop you here
whenever you choose the "Restart Area" command from the menu.
| ___| _ | \ | |_ _| _ \ /\ | _ \|_ _| | _ | \ | | ___|
| | | | | | \| | | | | |_| |/ \ | |_| | | | | | | | | \| | |___
| | | | | | | | | | // /\ \| __/ | | | | | | | |___ |
| |___| |_| | |\ | | | | |\ \ /__\ \ | | | | | |_| | |\ |___| |
|_____|_____|_| \_| |_| |_| \_\ \_\| |_| |_|_____|_| \_|_____|
Contraptions / Contraption Zack
WALKTHROUGH
by Christian Schmidt (cs216@gmx.net)
_______________________________________________________________________________
/ THE GAME
One Man Against a Maze of Machines!
Join Zack on his first day as repairman at Gadgetco, Inc. where things
are just a little out of hand. There are major system malfunctions
everywhere. The employee manual reads like the ramblings of a mad
scientist. Fellow workers have "borrowed" Zack's tools and "lost"
them.
The boss is screaming!
Zack's up against incredibly intricate, interrelated, and fiendishly
finicky gizmos - six levels and over sixty rooms of them! How's he
gonna handle the ancillary functions of the feeder system? He's never
even heard of the crystalline boron compound mix, let alone the fric-
tion inhibitors or phalanx resistors. The retro theething and auxiliary
spikes are deviously delicate. And of course, anything can happen if he
forgets to depress a primary diode implode button before activating the
electronic gate circuits.
Even though he's quick, and nobody's fool (for long anyway), Zack needs
all the help he can get. Whoa! A fusion reduction button just went!
Things are hoppin' at Gadgetco!
Welcome to Contraptions, the fully animated, 3-D puzzle-action game.
It's a wild rush to find the tools of your trade, fix all the discombo-
bulated contraptions in the elaborate, six-level maze, and show 'em
what you're made of! If you can make it through the first day, get
ready for even more outrageous tinkering tomorrow!
Thus speaks the backside of the box. Contraptions (or Contraption Zack, as it
is called in the US) is an isometric puzzle game, developed by The Software
Toolworks and published by Mindscape in 1992. It's reminiscent of D/Generation
(also a Software Toolworks game), but different in gameplay, with an emphasis
on combinatory thinking rather than reflexes.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
GAME MECHANICS
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_______________________________________________________________________________
/ TOOLS
Zack's toolbox contains nine tools - or at least it did before Zack's work-
mates took them away. One of your objectives is thus to retrieve the tools
that are scattered over each level and employ them to repair machinery and
activate mechanisms.
Some tools can only be used in combination with each other; to repair a broken
power line, for example, you need replacement WIRE as well as some TAPE to
fasten it.
Some repairs that you have made can be undone. For example, you may cut a re-
paired power line with the WIRE CUTTER, or remove a replacement pipe with the
PIPE WRENCH.
You start each level with an empty toolbox, no matter how many tools you found
in the previous level. In most levels, there are more tools than you actually
need to solve the puzzles, so don't worry if you didn't put a tool to use.
Also, you do not need to have all tools to finish a level. There is no bonus
if you do.
Electric Power
WIRE
If one of the brightly colored power lines in a level is broken, fix it
with a piece of wire. You need TAPE to fasten the wire. Power lines usually
supply doors and conveyor belts, but also some buttons and switches. There
is an endless supply of wire on the spool.
TAPE
Required for fixing power lines. Your supply of tape is endless.
WIRE CUTTER
Power lines may be disconnected at certain gray nodes with the wire cutter.
Useful, too, if you need to undo your previous repair work.
Hydro Power
PIPE WRENCH
Indispensable for inserting and removing replacement PIPES in broken pipe-
lines.
PIPE
The replacement pipe fixes leaky pipelines. You must have a PIPE WRENCH to
insert it. Pipework usually regulates the water level in canals and powers
hydraulic doors and machinery. Sometimes you need to find and open a valve
to regulate the water flow. Note that you can remove pipe pieces again to
use them at another location. Zack can only carry one pipe at a time.
Mechanical
HEXNUT WRENCH
Now for the, ah, less useful tools in the game. Loose, red hexnuts on gray
wall panels need to be fastened with the hexnut wrench. Since there are
only two hexnuts in the game, the wrench will likely rust from disuse.
SCREWDRIVER
Used to fasten loose screws on big, gray wall panels. In fact, there's only
one such screw in the entire game, so the screwdriver competes with the oil
can for the title of most useless tool.
OIL CAN
If you discover a wall socket with the inscription "OIL", sprinkle some of
the black fluid in it. There's only one oil socket in the game, and it's
not part of a puzzle. Yawn.
HAMMER
A.k.a. The Mystery Tool. Though there's a slot for it in Zack's toolbox,
and though we can see Zack's colleagues running around with a hammer in
hand, it does not appear in the game. Luckily, you don't need it either.
Phew. Let's simply suppose that Zack's co-workers took the hammer and hid
it in a very secret place. The infantile bunch.
_______________________________________________________________________________
/ MECHANISMS
Most of Contraptions' puzzles consist of only a few standard elements, such as
buttons and spike barriers. The challenge lies in figuring out how these ob-
jects are linked, and in what order to activate them.
FLOOR BUTTONS
The most common form of trigger in Contraptions. Zack must step on a
floor button to press it. This will activate a mechanism somewhere
in the level; usually, buttons raise or lower spike barriers.
Most floor buttons are color-coded, meaning that their color links
them to the item they manipulate. For example, a green button would
control a green row of spikes.
If a button does not move, it needs to be activated first; usually,
this means restoring the electric power. Check if a power line runs
from the button, and follow it to find the problem.
SQUARE floor buttons can be activated only once. Their effect is
usually irreversible, so think carefully before you step on.
ROUND floor buttons are timed. Once activated, their effect lasts
for a set amount of time, after which they return to their normal
state. For example, stepping on a round button might open a door for
five seconds. Round buttons can be used multiple times.
WALL SWITCHES
Wall switches serve pretty much the same functions as floor buttons,
with the exception that you can turn most of them on and off at
leisure. Thus switches often appear in puzzles where you have to
figure out a combination.
Some wall switches are timed (cf. round floor buttons) and stay
activated for a specific amount of time.
SPIKE BARRIERS
The generic obstacle in Contraptions. Spikes block your way. And
that's all they do. To lower a row of spikes, look for a button or
switch of matching color.
LAUNCH PLATES
Launch plates are square, gray floor tiles that fling Zack over ob-
stacles such as walls, canals or spikes. While most launch plates
are reusable, others stay sprung after one use. Unfortunately, there
is no way of distinguishing them other than trial.
DOORS
Zack cannot open doors by hand, and there are no automatic gates in
Contraptions. Every door is remotely controlled, most commonly
by a button or a switch.
When doors are linked to a timed button, they will close after set
amount of time, blocking the way back. Some doors are set in
patterns and open consecutively, so timing is essential in passing
through.
CONVEYOR BELTS
Conveyor belts are essentially one-way streets: Zack can only pass
them in the direction they move, and cannot go back unless he shuts
the belt off or reverses its direction. When stepping on a conveyor,
make sure that you know a way back, or that you can safely leave
that part of the level behind.
The direction of a conveyor belt is usually controlled by a wall
switch.
WATER
Water is an impassable obstacles. With two exceptions: 1) Zack may
cross a canal using a launch plate. 2) If there's a float on the
water, Zack may cross if the float is level with the floor. If it
isn't, Zack needs to raise the water level by opening a valve or re-
pairing a broken pipe.
POWER LINES
Power lines running along the walls of a level are indicators of how
objects are linked. If you see a wire coming from a floor button,
for example, following it usually leads you to the object that the
button manipulates. Keep an eye on lines and their color.
If a line has no traceable origin, but a broken section, it likely
serves as a sophisticated switch: Once you repair the broken wire,
power is restored to the object that it is connected with, which
will then activate (e.g. a door would open).
SAVEPOINTS
If a tile or doorway is marked by a set of bright green columns, it
is a savepoint. Once you pass over it, the game will drop you here
whenever you choose the "Restart Area" command from the menu.
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- Contraption Zack solution by System on 09/03/2006, 09:50