I'm taking on two levels today because there really isn't a lot to discuss in either of them. Together they form a sub-plot and an important transition from a story revolving around an alien attack on the New Phoenix Colony to one involving an alien culture on the planet around which New Arizona orbits - the real story behind Phoenix Falling. But first, we must help the hunters at their last stand in a solid waste facility.
The armored warriors (hunters), who were humiliated by our defeat of the enforcers, are being attacked by the other warrior castes. They have been surrounded and divided, and their leader is among them. By helping them, we may be able to get them to come to our side. We start out in a room with a lot of ammo. This should probably be a hint but, frankly, I find I don't need a lot of ammo for this level, if any at all. Using the 3X shield recharger is probably a good idea, however, before jumping into the action. Remember before making your jump, you won't be doing the hunters any good if you're dead - protect yourself at all costs - let the hunters do most of the fighting and step in only when you need to. You'll also get some help from the crew members of the kinetic, but you may or may not see them because more often than not, at least on TC, they end up getting killed.
The basic strategy can be summed up in a few sentences. Jump down, kill what you have to, find a switch to shoot (it's too high to hit - sorry, John) and ascend a stairway to the next battle scene, where you must again kill all the aliens, using the 2X recharger here if you have to before stepping into an obvious teleporter. Now in a small elevator shaft, rather than stepping on the platform, which is on a delay, step on and back off - this activates the enemies, who will take most of each other out - now jump down, kill whatever's left and flip two switches, opening access back to the start of the level. A new door has opened here, granting access to a major battle scene between hunters and juggers - ignore the fight, head around the hunters and flip 2 switches that will open access to the final area, which contains the one PB on the level, a view of a final battle between the golden leader of the hunters and the other aliens, a terminal and an exit door, which is on a delay, to the exit teleporters. Please note that once you leave the PB, return access will be blocked, and the delay on the exit door effectively forces you to watch the final battle, although there's nothing you can do as per the message on the terminal, which is garbled for reasons that will become clear on the next level.
Matt, I know that you're probably aware that there is a major problem with hunter congregation that virtually forces the player to kill some of them to get by them. I'm not sure there's a way around that, however. A bigger problem is with that final battle scene. Firstly, the leader of the hunters does not always survive - at least not on TC - you may need to increase his vitality, make him immune to enforcers or troopers, or reduce the monster count. Also, the so-called bullet-proof glass is not grenade proof. Standing in front of that window, I took multiple hits from trooper grenades which, considering the next level, is not a good idea. Although you might not want to consider this if you plan to port PF to AO, did you consider making this a rescue mission? The M1 engine does allow you to do this and it would give the player a real incentive to be more aggressive in helping the hunters. Let too many hunters die and you skip the cathedral, which could perhaps have a 3X recharger as a reward. It's just a thought . . .
