"Some Jabroni from Oklahoma Saves the World"
Note that the save feature in this game does save your progress, but only insofar as it keeps track of what "stage" you're on. So if you get to Atlantis and save your game halfway through the puzzles, it will set you back at the beginning of that segment when you reload!
Part 1: Chinook, Oklahoma
You'll start off right in front of a trailer, with a sock and a paper cup repeatedly blowing past you and getting snagged on the fence. Grab both, then walk up to the trailer itself. Click on the right-hand wooden pole to add it to your inventory as well. Return to the previous screen and pan the camera slightly to the left and you'll see a red and yellow object lying on the ground; click on it to get some wire pieces.
Pan a bit further to the left and you'll see Millibar (the robot) beneath a downed power line. Use the wooden pole to move the line aside, then use the wires on Millibar to begin a small minigame. The terminals on the screen will spark in a given order; simply click on the same terminals in the same order four times in a row to light up all the circuits and complete the minigame. Millibar will then say that her database is "jammed" and you'll need to find some way to unstick it. Okee doke.
Pan a bit further left to find the Stormrunner, which is leaking oil. Use the paper cup to catch some of the oil, then use the wooden pole to pry open the cockpit hatch. Enter the ship and click on the center drawer to find a fuel hose and a wrench; take both. Click the compartment on the left-hand side to find some computer chips and take those as well. Now return to Millibar and use the oil to unstick Millibar's database.
She will explain her functions as an Infobot and reveal to you the Database functionality, which will be helpful for solving many of the puzzles in the game (as well as showing you plenty of weather facts and grainy 90's full motion video). This also leads us to another puzzle to fix Millibar's atmospheric guidance.
Fortunately, we already have the chips and all the information we need can be found in the Database. From top to bottom, place the chips in the following order:
- Thermosphere
- Mesosphere
- Stratosphere
- Troposphere
Millibar has one more problem to fix; namely that she can't gauge the wind direction properly. But we have an easy workaround; use the sock on the small pole Millibar extends and you're done.
Now return to the Stormrunner. Millibar will comment that while the ship is mostly intact, its fuel cells have been drained and we have to find a replacement. Grab some more oil in the paper cup for now, then head to the wreckage near where we found the wires. Use the oil on the bolts there to loosen them, then use the wrench to free the propane tank. Collect it and return to the Stormrunner.
Use the tank on the ship, then the fuel hose on the tank. Now hop into the Stormrunner and you'll fly to Team Xtreme headquarters.
Part 2: Team Xtreme Headquarters (1st visit)
Attempting to visit the headquarters at first proves fruitless; the entrance is guarded by a robot that you'll need to disable before you can proceed. So let's back off for now and head down to the forested area to find a wrecked cabin. Pick up the hammer on the ground, and note the sundial and the air compressor here for later.
Now return to the central area and click on the water area to go donw to a small drainage ditch. Grab the swim trunks on the ground and continue forward a bit to see an alligator with a key in its mouth. You won't be able to get it from the gator just yet, so keep it in mind for now. Head back to the central area and pick up a rock off the ground, then go back to the robot guarding the headquarters. Use the rock on it (several times) to destroy it and it will drop a piece of metal. Pick that up, then click on the welcome mat to find a security card.
Click on the panel next to the door and you'll get another puzzle; you'll have to convert temperatures from Fahrenheit to Celsius (or vice versa) three times to enter. Millibar's database has the formula for it (F-32 / 1.8 = C and F = (1.8 * C) + 32) and the panel even provides a built-in calculator, so it shouldn't be too hard to do. (Or if you're lazy like me, just google a converter and punch in the answers directly). Once inside the elevator, use the Security Card on the slot and go up to the main floor.
Up here, turn to the Southeast and pick up the Super-Freeze-it Spray, then go over to the Hangar door and talk to Nimbo, who will tell you that he lost the key to the door. Guess we can't get in just yet.
(You can plug in the clock here, but it will flash 12:00 forevermore. As far as I know, there is no way to fix this. It's also not necessary to do this in any case).
Return to the central area and click on the hologram to see a recording of Stratus, who will tell you he has some money locked up in the safe. We can't get in there just yet, so instead let's turn our efforts to restoring more of Millibar's information. Click on the nearby console (colored pink) and you'll have to answer ten trivia questions correctly. All of the answers should be found in Millibar's database, and are randomly selected each time. (Or, if you're feeling lazy, just click random answers long enough and you'll eventually brute-force your way through). Once that's done, Millibar's navigational systems will be operational again. Dandy.
Now head back down the elevator and outside to the wrecked cabin; use the piece of metal you got from the robot to repair the sundial and get the current time (6:30). Head back up and input the time on the safe to unlock it and get a quarter. Enter the rec room and pick up everything you see on the table there: A pen, a roll of paper and a vial of mercury. Now use the quarter on the vending machine to get a candy bar. Return to the ditch with the alligator and give him the candy bar, then use the pole to retrieve the key.
Head back up once again and use the key to unlock the hangar door. Use the freeze-it spray on the locker to freeze the lock, then the hammer to shatter it. Inside you'll find - dun dun dun - yet more stuff! Grab the glyph reader, turbomercabulator and a roll of copper wire. Hop in the Stormrunner you see in the hangar, open the hatch on the right side, and plug in the turbomecabulator. We're off to the Salisbury Plain in England.
Part 3: Stonehenge
Cue up the Spinal Tap as we touch down near Stonehenge. At the central hub to this area you'll see a large rock (more like a boulder) and a wooden sign; collect both. Now face to the east and you'll see a large rock tilted over a smaller one. Use the boulder on this rock to tilt it in the other direction and create a ramp, allowing you to get atop one of the stone pillars.
Up here, you'll see an eight-piece slide puzzle (because every adventure game has to have one of those). Complete it to reveal a compass. Use the wooden sign on the hole in the center to create your own weather vane, then click the direction the wind is blowing (despite what Millibar says, the direction the wind is blowing from won't work) to open a hidden passage below the altar.
Before you can go down, you face another robot. This time, use the copper wire on it to short it out. Go down below and you'll find a hidden area. Grab the crooked piece of metal near the torn tapestry on the wall, then examine the door next to it.
This is a relatively simple tile-matching puzzle; there's no time limit or penalty for missing, so you'll get through it eventually. Once you're in, you'll see a wooden stool (take it) and a chart on the wall indicating a numeric system. Essentially, it's very similar to roman numerals; a lightning bolt is an I (1), a tornado is a V (5) and a sun is an X (10). A six-pointed star indicates zero.
Go back outside for a moment, then examine the stone column just to the right of the Stormrunner. You'll see a piece of gum on its underside that you can't quite reach; use the wooden stool and the wooden pole to get it, then head back down.
Examine the barometer on the other end of the room. You'll need four parts to make it work (and despite what the Database implies, the Vial of Mercury is not one of them). Use the gum on the hole in the cylinder, the roll of paper on the left slot, the pen on the top of the cylinder and the crooked piece of metal on the slot at the bottom. Now click on the handle and the cylinder and you should get a three-digit number.
Finally, go to the green altar and, using the numeric chart we saw and the number you got off the barometer, input the three-digit number on the panel. This will bring up an electronic panel, leading into another minigame when you click on it.
We'll be seeing this minigame a lot for the rest of the game, so pay attention. Place the mouse in the crosshair at the upper right, then move it into one of the four quadrants to move the targeting reticle on the larger screen. Your goal is to shoot the red targets before they float off the screen; each one that does will fill a red bar, while each one you shoot fills a green bar. Top off the green bar before the red one fills and you win.
NOTE: If you're playing this on a virtual machine or a computer well above the game's recommended specs (likely), these parts may be unreasonably fast and difficult. You may have to alter your VM's settings or use a processor slowdown program of some description to complete these segments.
Once you've completed the minigame, get back in the Stormrunner. We'll see another cutscene and then touch down on the Giza Plateau in Egypt
Part 5: Egypt
Well, hell hasn't frozen over just yet, but Egypt certainly has. Grab the shovel near the Sphinx, then head to the small awning left of the Stormrunner to find a dig site. Pick up the magnifying glass and chisel here, then use the shovel on the patch of dirt to find half of the scarab. Head to the oasis and on the way, you'll see something frozen in the ice. Use the chisel to free it and get the other half of the scarab. At the oasis itself, you'll locate a salt shaker and a thermos; take both.
Continue on to the pyramid, where you'll see a suspiciously scarab-shaped indent in the wall next to a (wooden?) door. Place both halves in the slot to open it up and continue inside. You'll see a scroll laying next to the wall here, but touching it causes it to crumble, leaving behind only a wax seal. Take that and continue on.
Examine the floor in here and you'll be confronted with another puzzle, this time about the formation of snowflakes. Check the Database entry on snowfall, then place the icons in order from left to right, warmest to coldest. This causes another door to open outside.
We can't get through the door with the ankh-shaped slot just yet, so head back outside for now and go over to the sphinx. On the way you'll encounter another hostile weather robot. Use the thermos to destroy it, then approach the sphinx. Use the salt shaker to melt the ice on the steps and continue upward.
Examine the object on the wall with the sun and earth icons to see a small cutscene, then examine the glyphs with the glyph reader to get the solution to the puzzle - push the left arrow, then the bottom arrow to move the earth far away from the "sun" and rotate its axis. The first of the two mirrors is now aligned.
Next, examine the thermometer on the wall. Use the wax seal to plug up the hole, then the vial of mercury to fill the thermometer. Click on the thermometer to get a reading and note the number. Next, examine the table with the ankh-shaped hole in it, then use the thermos on it; the water inside will pour into the hole and freeze, creating an ankh-shaped ice key. Grab that.
That's all we can do here for now, so head back to the pyramid and unlock the door we saw earlier with the ice key. Inside, you'll find another puzzle and a clue to "reflect the light into the Eye of Horus". This is a fairly simple task; the light shines into the center square on the grid, and by clicking on various spaces on the grid, you can redirect the light in a different direction. With a bit of trial and error, you should be able to direct it right, down, and left around the broken panel and into the eye.
Once that's done, another passage will be revealed, taking you to the top of the pyramid and another earth/sun puzzle. This time, your clue is to position the Earth at the Summer Solstice. Easy enough; just push the right arrow, then the top arrow. That positions the other mirror and reflects the light beam into the sphinx.
Return to the sphinx and operate the control just above the door to rotate the sphinx's head. This focuses the light beam on the altar on the other end of the room. Place the maginfying glass in the slot on the altar, then click the circle that appears on the wall. This brings down a panel with more of those symbols we saw earlier. Input the number you saw earlier on the thermometer to bring up another target-zapping minigame. Complete that and we're done here. Return to the Stormrunner and we're off to the next segment of the game.
Part 6: Team Xtreme Headquarters (2nd visit)
For now, head outside and go to the wrecked cabin to find Nimbo again. You'll need some batteries for the radio and the air compressor knob to fill up the weather balloon. Grab the pen knife stuck in the wall and return to the HQ. Enter the Rec Room, examine the blimp toy and use the knife to pry open the battery hatch and get some batteries. Then examine the front wheel to get the air compressor knob. Return to the cabin to replace the batteries in the radio, use the knob on the compressor tank, and fill up the weather balloon with the tank. Now head back inside and examine the terminal in the main lobby.
Yay, more trivia questions. As before, you can do this either by looking up the answers in Millibar's Database or, if you don't have the patience, just click random answers until you get ten right. Once that's completed, you'll purge the virus from the terminal and link up with the satellite. Examine the green hologram project to get the coordinates of our next destination. Return to the Stormrunner once more and we're off.
Part 7: Atlantis
The Stormrunner dives under the waves and we end up in none other than Atlantis. Yes, really. This game was already silly, but now it's gone over the edge into madness. Head just left of the Stormrunner to a small dock, using the swim trunks on the pole there to create a makeshift weather vane. Now turn around to the north and enter the elevator. You'll see three switches, each with a symbol nearby (representing pressure, humidity and temperature). These mostly just serve to make things look a lot more complex than they really are; move the first and third switches up to the top to move the elevator up.
Up here, we encounter another panel, this time controlling the wind. Our goal is to push the gangplank below over to the other ship present here, so we'll have to control the wind accordingly. Move the top, left and bottom switches down and the right switch up to push the plank outward. Now head back down the elevator and over to the ship.
We get another puzzle, this time ranking weather phenomena in order from most to least deadly. Once again, Millibar's database has the answer. Click Hurricane, Flood, Tornado and Lightning, in that order, to open the door. Enter the sub and grab the magnifying glass next to the seat and the crystal fuse off the dashboard near the wheel. You can also examine the sticky note on the console for a bit of humor (and a reference to the Twilight Zone).
Exit and head east to another panel similar to the one in the elevator. Move the left and right switches down and the center switch up to create an ice bridge. Cross it to reach the power center of the city.
Here there are three things to interact with: a central hub that's missing a fuse, a triangular opening that creates arcs of electricity when you press a button, and what I call the "reverse Microwave", which flash-freezes anything put inside it. We can't do anything with the latter two just yet, but we do have a fuse for the first option. Put it in place, then operate the nearby panel (left switch down, center and right switches up) to power up the turbine. That will unlock the door to the control room.
Exit out of here and head over to the last door to the north. Grab the flag nearby and examine the panel. It's one of those puzzles where you need to put four symbols in the proper place and the proper order, then press the button on the right side. The lights below each symbol serve as clues; green indicates the right symbol in the right place, yellow indicates a correct symbol in the wrong place, and red indicates that both are wrong. Fortunately you don't have to get it in a set number of attempts, so you can easily just brute-force your way in.
Once you've opened the door, enter and you'll get a scene with the game's antagonist, the Weatherman. You can't get over to him as the bridge has been retracted, so we'll need to fix that first. Head to the right to see a hydrometer. Grab the bucket on top (you can't interact with the goblet), then examine the panel on the other side of the room. You can't do anything with it just yet, but we'll be back shortly, so keep it in mind.
Exit the room and head to the dock. Use the bucket on the water here to fill it with water (you can't do this anywhere else for some reason...). Now return to the power control area. Use the bucket of water in the freezer to get a bucket of ice, then activate the triangular opening and use the flag on it to get a burning flag.
Return to the room where we saw the Weatherman. Use the bucket of ice on the hydrometer to get another number; note it down for later. Now go back to the panel we saw earlier. Use the torch on the left slot and the magnifying glass on the right slot to project a rainbow of colors onto the wall, then read the glyphs with the glyph reader to get the solution to the puzzle (Red, Blue, Green, Purple, Yellow). Push the buttons in that order to open a panel, then pull out the fuse for another cutscene.
The Weatherman will flee the room. Follow him back to the central lobby and check the dock his sub was parked on to get a key. Now head back to the room we were just in, put the breaker back in the panel, and examine the machine the Weatherman was working on for another shoot-the-targets minigame. Complete that and head back to the Stormrunner; we're in the closing stretch now.
Part 8: Return to Oklahoma
If you haven't been doing so thus far, I strongly recommend that you save the game here; the last segment can be very difficult, and having to do the whole game again because you messed up at the end really sucks. So save!
Anyhow, we're back where we started the game, in front of the very same trailer. Use the key on the door to unlock it and enter. Grab the rubber-handled umbrella from the canister near the door, then examine the statue to find a hidden button. Press it to reveal a passageway hidden under the fridge, and go down.
Why, it's a pair of tesla coils barring our entry. But lucky us, we have a rubber-handled umbrella to short them out. Do that and enter the Weatherman's studio. You can examine the map, but we can't do anything with it just yet. To the right, you can also talk to Stratus, who has been taken captive by the Weatherman. We can't free him just yet, though.
On the opposite side of the room you'll see a door guarded by three robots; we can't brute-force our way past them this time, so instead we have to solve a puzzle. Click on the computer to start.
On the screen you'll see fourteen nodes, each with a plus or minus symbol on them and connected by a web of green lines. Our goal is to jump from connected node to the next, alternating between positive and negative symbols, and go over each node exactly once. If you mess up, you can right-click the last node you clicked to back up one step, or click the Reset button at the bottom to completely start over.
This can be tricky and require a lot of trial and error, but there is a relatively simple solution:
---1---
--2-3--
4--5--6
--7-8--
9--A--B
--C-D--
---E---
Click on the nodes in this order:
1-5-2-9-7-4-C
D-6-8-3-B-A-E
After a scene with the Weatherman, you'll get another target-shooting minigame. However, this one is a bit different (and considerably tougher) in that you'll be competing against the Weatherman himself. When the regions on the map light up, the first to shoot them will get a point and that region will light up; whoever has more points when all of them are lit wins the game. You have to react very quickly to win this game, and if you're running on an above-spec machine, it can be all but impossible to do so. There's not really much advice I can give for it; this is purely a test of skill (or using a slowdown program if your computer is too fast for it).
Still, you should eventually be able to win out, which causes the Weatherman to be attacked by his robots and flee once again. Search the painting behind the console to find the tornado key, then return to the cell and free Stratus. You'll get another scene, indicating that you must return the three crystals the Weatherman stole to their rightful positions to return Earth's weather to normal. Go to the weather map, grab the three crystals (red, blue and green), and return to the Stormrunner. After a fairly lengthy series of cutscenes, the Earth's weather is restored to normal, the Weatherman is jailed and the game is over. Yay!
