HARDWARE SET-UP
If you're having problems with your configurations, check the comments below to see if they can help. If you have Metal & Lace ver. 1.42 or Metal & Lace CD-ROM, you shouldn't encounter any of these problems.
1. Setup for the Media Vision PAS 16 isn't quite what it should be. Leave "Base I/O Address" at 220H, or whatever you have in your CONFIG.SYS file for Sound Blaster compatibility. You can't get the supposedly correct value of 388H the way it is now. Set DMA channel to 1, or whatever the PAS says it uses. Put "DMA IRQ Number" to "Auto Detect" or the correct IRQ number for the PAS if you can.
2. The digitized voice during the "It's 2053..." scroll in the introduction is very scratchy if a 486-DX 33 is used with the external (256K on motherboard) cache or internal (8K in processor) cache turned on (turbo mode) with a ProAudio Spectrum 16 sound card. Turning off the cache solves the problem in this case. This appears in both the demo and full versions of the game, but was not noticed for the demo on a DX2-66 machine. It's probably a problem with the motherboard and sound card not being able to operate at high speed.
3. There are cosmetic problems with the scrolling graphic of the armor during the game introduction, if you have a Tseng Labs chipset VGA or SVGA card (ET-4000/W32 definitely, maybe others). First, at the beginning, the part of the screen below the feet of the armor appears to be memory garbage, since it changes if the system's memory is configured differently. Second, near the end, a horizontal line appears across the screen just before the helmet moves. Then, when the girl changes from armored to nude, there is more garbage on the lower 2/3 of the screen while the animation is changing frames. I first thought this was a problem with the demo and the game, but the demo showed no such problems with a Diamond Viper SVGA card, or an old Orchid (possibly Tseng ET-2000 chipset) VGA. Mine is a local bus SVGA with 1 Mb and Tseng ET-4000/W32 chipset.
MISCELLANEOUS
1. Not mentioned in the manual is that you can "left-click" (with a mouse) while a digitized speech clip is playing to silence it. However, this seems to cause problems after a while; sometimes after a lot of these, you hear fragments of other clips at the start of one, or just static/noise plays, or nothing plays for what seems like a long time. There may be the same problem if you use the keyboard to select things, though I haven't tried that a lot.
2. Also not mentioned in the manual is that you can "right-click" (with a mouse) or press ESC on the keyboard to exit many menus and special locations like "Armor Al's" and "the Old Man's".
3. The default assignments for the keyboard are not what it says in the manual. Left is "6" in the program, and right is "4", but these can easily be reconfigured.
4. The 580K mentioned as a requirement is really 560K bytes according to the program. I know this only because one configuration has 574,688 bytes (561K) free but still runs fine as far as I can tell. I have detected no differences in operation if, by unloading a virus checker TSR, I get 601,936 bytes (588K) free, or even more by unloading a disk cache TSR. Anyway, just make sure you don't get "thousands of bytes" and "kilobytes" confused, because they really are different.
5. The list of things you can click on in the bar is incomplete; it should also include the Bartender, Ashtray, Radio, the "DT" sign (the one left of the "!"), the Generic Babe (blonde), the Poster of the girl, the Other Posters of armor, the Keg, the Floor, the Mirror, Jaimee (who says the same thing as Gordie & Mudd), the Graffiti on the rear column, and Jaimee's beer can/mug (both the down and up positions). While some of these should be left to the player to discover, at least the Generic Babe should have been added to the picture on page 5 of the manual, and had a little section later on.
6. The explanations in both the manual and the program of the Battery I and Battery II are in error. They restore "HP", not "Hz", although if you pronounce it as "hurts" you get the right idea.
HINTS FOR PLAY OF METAL & LACE
1. There are a lot of different things to click on in the bar, many of which aren't mentioned in the manual. The special messages give a bonus or penalty only once each time you start the game or have a combat, so you can get them again and again if you either keep battling or quit and restart the game. They are part of the random sequence of messages that each item in the bar has. Changing to a different character will not restore the bonuses. You can save after a bonus, try to get a special message, restore if it is a penalty, and it won't appear again in that sequence. For the penalties, if you don't have enough money or armor so that the penalty could be applied, it won't appear.
2. The Keg (bottom center of screen) has several special messages: get $150, lose $1000, get one Neural Amplifier, and damage one armor.
3. The Bartender has several special messages: pay $100, get $250, and (if you don't mind stolen goods) pay $1500 (or get them for free if you don't have that much) for 3 Battery III. Note that this is a bad deal for you unless you have less than $1500, so while it could be a penalty, if you go and spend money on things first it is a bonus.
4. The Floor (on either side of the Keg and Posters) has several special messages: get $200, get a (random type) armor, damage an armor, lose an armor. Note that the armor that you get will have only 1 HP, so sell it to Al if you don't want to recharge it and keep it.
5. The Mirror (top center of screen) has several special messages: get $20, duplicate an armor you already have, and (after you have been in combat once) send you to the combat opponent select screen for free. Note that the duplicated armor will be the cheapest type you have, and will have only 1 HP and no power-ups installed, so sell it if you don't want it. This message can also take a long time to show up, so don't count on it. Also, the "teleport your ass out of here" can appear multiple times if you "chicken exit" until you are ready. Even though it may take a while to appear, I prefer using the mirror instead of clicking on the Generic Babe or double-clicking on the Other Posters.
6. The Ashtray (on the bar to the left of the Generic Babe) has several special messages: get $200, pay $75, and (after you have been in combat once) add one win to your record. The effect of the last one can only be seen by clicking on the "CASH" box (see below).
7. The "DT" (or is it OT?) sign to the left of the "!" sign has a sequence of messages: click on it (then wait for the message to clear) to get 15 messages which act as an internal credits list for the game. After sitting through all of them, you get $1000 the first time through, $500 the second, $250 the third time, and so on. The counter is apparently separate for each fighter, and this is one of two bonuses you can get as many times as you like in one sitting, if you want to sit that long. If you are persistent, it will eventually go down to $5 and then back up to $1000, but it appears to "decay" twice as slow on the second cycle. There are much easier ways to get money in the game. If you really want to see the credits list, its in the endgame anyway.
8. The Tough Guy (sounds like AHHHnold to me) has several special messages: get $250, get $500, get 3 Batteries (a I, a II, and a III), and damage all your armors.
9. The Radio (towards the upper left of the screen) has several special messages: get $500, have 1/2 price sale at Armor Al's (if you go right away), and lose an armor.
10. Jaimee (the short brunette standing next to Gordie & Mudd) just tells you the same thing they do. You pay $25 to enter two player mode; there must be at least two fighters with armor available. Her name is also used as the password for the Old Man, but you only need it the first time for each player.
11. The Generic Babe (the blonde at the bar) can be paid $100 (a Big Ben) to tell you that the Old Man wants to hear "Jaimee" as a password, or paid $150 to send you to the "select a combat opponent" screen (battle a Robo Babe). You should never need to do the first, and you only need to do the second once. After one fight, use the Mirror to save the money, and ignore her for the rest of the game.
12. Note that if you go to the "next battle" after a combat with a Robo-Babe, you will pay $150 for registration. Avoid it by going back to the bar so you can get more bonuses, save the game, and then come back through the Mirror for free. Tournaments are a different story, since you must do all the combats in one session without returning to the bar.
13. The Crate (below the Mirror) just has the "Metal & Lace" magazine in it. I never saw it change the whole game, and couldn't find anything I could do while in it.
14. The Other Posters (of mecha on the pole in the center of the screen) have several messages, which are not really bonuses or penalties. When the game starts, they just have a single message from Gunder. After fighting a combat, you get some advice from them: "Don't jump, it will lower your max energy - Gunder", "Be defensive and let the enemy punch you and tire out", "Keep punching and kicking to raise offensive power", and "Gunder is a liar!" are the only useful ones. But, if you double-click on the "Other Posters" you will go to the combat screens, automatically paying $150 if fighting a Robo Babe, or for free to a tournament with a champion if you are at that stage.
15. The Girl Poster (also on the pole) is the gateway to the sexy stuff in the game. When the game starts, or just after a champion is defeated, it is just a single message. After defeating at least two girls completely (so you can no longer select them on the combat opponent screen), the defeated girls start to appear behind the poster. You pay $50 for each girl you want to see. Their clothes are all on at first, but they have extra screens with less clothing (only one more with mostly clothed for the NR-13 version) for each level you achieve in the tournaments. If you are the Ultimate Champion, you get to see them for free.
16. Armor Al's has (1/2 price shown):
Name: cost($): / Offensive Power / Defensive Power/ Max Energy Level / Power Efficiency
MIMI: 1500 / 11 / 9 / 160 / 85%
ROGUE: 1000 / 8 / 11 / 165 / 100%
ANNA: 2200 / 10 / 11 / 175 / 65%
MISTRESS: 2000 / 11 / 10 / 180 / 70%
SKY HOUND: 3000 / 11 / 11 / 180 / 55%
SILVER DRAGON: 4800 / 11 / 11 / 100 / 50%
SUN C: 4000 / 12 / 10 / 190 / 70%
There's no explanation anywhere of what the power efficiency number means. I used a Sun C for all my combats because it has the highest number of HP to start with (that's what "Max Energy Level" is) and otherwise reasonable numbers.
17. The Towel Girl (Mia) can give you information about your upcoming opponent in combat. For $50, you get the name of the opponent's armor type. For $100 you get full information about the armor including installed power-ups.
18. A Booster III lasts for 5 to 10 seconds each, depending on the armor type. Unused fractions, measured in seconds, are retained after combat. Maximum Booster time is 60 seconds.
19. An AI chip lasts for 5 to 10 seconds each, depending on the armor type. Unused fractions, measured in seconds, are retained after combat. Maximum AI time is 60 seconds. The MIMI type can apparently never use AI, whether you buy one from Al or find it through a bonus. I've found that exactly when you activate the AI does make a big difference to the outcome of combat; a fraction of a second can apparently make the difference between winning and losing, and how long it takes. I found this only by going into the tournament with Gunder many times, and have no other explanation for why I can either win or lose the same battle even if I don't go up levels in the meantime.
20. A Neural Amplifier adds 6 to 10 HP to an armor, depending on the type, over and above the usual maximum. If the armor doesn't take any damage, or enough damage to use them up, they stay until destroyed in combat. Absolute maximum HP for any armor, with any combination of Maximum HP levels or Neural Amplifiers, is 250.
21. A combat lasts for up to 60 seconds. Money is given for winning (only $10 or so for losing), and a bonus is given for time remaining. A draw is if both combatants are still standing at the end of time, or they kill each other at the same time, which is pretty rare. As said above, you're usually better off going back to the bar after each fight, so you can get the bonuses, rather than continuing with another fight, except for a tournament with a champion. Those have to be tackled as three or six successive fights, so make sure you have lots of supplies before heading into one.
22. If you collect lots of bonuses, you can easily acquire one of each of the seven (7) types of armor, lots of batteries, and the cash to support your combat supplies. I don't think it's necessary to try to match your armor according to what your opponent has, e.g. that a Rogue is the best thing to use against an Anna (which I doubt). I just used a Sun C with a lot of power-ups, and let the AI do all the work! Even though some combats were lost, the character gains levels often enough to eventually beat all opponents, who apparently don't. The only really tough opponents for my Sun C were the Silver Dragon and Sun C types, and the tournament with Gunder wasn't won until I got to comparable levels.
23. Another thing in the bar that you can click on is the "CASH" box. It will show a summary screen until you click on it again. The win record affected by the magical Ashtray is here. "Credits Now" is some sort of counter for how many tournaments you have won, and how many Robo Babes you have beaten at this level.
24. The beer mug (but it looks more like a can to me) in Jaimee's hand is the biggest special in the game. While in the "down" position, it has several special messages: gain money (random amount $100 to $500), recharge all armors, damage an armor, destroy an armor. While in the "up" position, it will always grant a random amount of money from $100 to $500 (in $50 increments) each time it is clicked on. This will work once if you click on it before clicking on the mug in the "down" position, but after the first time, you must click on the "down" mug before the "up" mug will give you more money. In practice, click on the "up" mug, save the game, then click on the "down" mug lots of times until it either goes up or gives you a special message. If a penalty, restore, then click on the "up" mug and save, and start again. If a bonus, click on the "up" mug, save, and start again. Once you have been through all the penalties for the down mug, you can either click multiple times while down to get the bonuses too, or just click once down and once up as many times as you like to get as much money as you need. Nothing happens if you click on the empty space where the mug would be but for it being in the other position, or on the mug when up after you get money once, and there seems to be no way to click on the mug when it is moving.
25. The pole behind the tough guy also has several messages. If you double click on it while a "hand" cursor appears, except for where the mug appears when up, you will get $500 the first time each player does it. There are several different messages on the pole, none of which seem to be really important, but in contrast to the rest of the things in the bar, these messages appear to be determined strictly by where on the pole you double click. Single click gets you nothing.
26. Characters gain levels in Offensive Power, Defensive Power, and Maximum HP in each type of armor for combat, whether successful or not. Levels are gained even if the AI does everything. Fractional levels don't seem to help, but when a whole number is reached it adds to the appropriate quantity (1 for power, 5 HP for Maximum HP) and any fractions are lost. These levels apply to all armor of that type, but there's usually no point in having more than one of each type for long anyway. In practice, if the AI is doing all the fighting, you will gain levels in Maximum HP, Offensive Power, and Defensive Power, in order of frequency.
27. Each player can have at most 99 items of any type. The game will not let you get more than that, so you might as well sell them if you accumulate close to that many through accumulation of bonus items. This is particularly easy with Battery IIIs, since you can get up to 4 each time without ever using any.
28. Let's talk about Wolf McGirt. I've ignored him up until now, because there is really no need to borrow money with the bonuses available. The amount you can borrow apparently varies with combat experience and character inventory somehow. I have a character who won all 4 tournaments and is trying to beat Gunder, and hasn't been able to borrow any money at all for a while. Another character has Credits Now of 32 (has defeated all 7 Robo-Babes in the first level) and hasn't won the first tournament yet, and could borrow up to $16,000. A character just starting out is not able to borrow anything either, so I guess you have to go into combat to have a reputation first.
29. Anyway, if you do borrow any amount, interest is added on at what looks like 5% per combat, which are apparently considered to be one per day, and Wolf takes a portion (1/2?) of your winnings to pay off the debt. If you don't borrow the maximum amount, you can "be funny" and try to borrow a negative amount of money. In that case, Wolf will take 10% of your cash as a penalty, but it doesn't go into paying the debt! Using a combination of this and other ways of losing money, it is possible to attempt to pay back more money than you have. If you "go negative", the cash amount will apparently wrap around to $4,967,295 (as -$1) (this is 5,000,000 - 32705 !?) and go down from there. While this might seem wonderful at first glance, the amount is apparently treated by the game as a negative number, and you can't buy anything! I've also found that if you make one or more payments on the debt, you can't pay more than you have or borrow negative amounts again, until you pay the whole thing off and can start again. I haven't been able to make this work as a source of essentially unlimited cash, but somebody else might.
30. Version 1.42a and later(CD-ROM also) have a cheat for combat: press Shift and F11 and F12 in combat to "recharge your powers". This can be done as many time as you'd like. But if you do this, you won't get the good ending.


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