Gangsters Strategy Guide - Guide for Gangsters

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      Gangsters Strategy Guide
      by  "Madd"  Matt Jedrych
      Version 4.69  - 11/13/99

 What all is in here?

    I. Intro
       a) The Game
       b) What's New?
   II. Getting Started
       a) First Orders
       b) The Hoods
  III. Moving On In The Game
       a) Buying Businesses
       b) Illegal Businesses
       c) Accountants & Lawyers
       d) The Election
   IV. Your Opposition
       a) Other Gangs
       b) Those Damn Cops
    V. Smart Keys
   VI. Frequently Asked Questions
  VII. The Cheats

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I. Intro
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   a) The Game
   Gangsters is a game of city wide domination. It varies from giving
   orders, running business, dealing with other gangs and cops, 
   committing crimes, and doing whatever it takes to gain income. It
   may sound hard trying to all this, but it's not... well, it won't be
   if you read this damn strategy guide I wrote up. Mainly, I learned
   these things either by myself, or by flipping through the Gangsters
   manual. Heck, a lot of it was taken from the manual.. but that's
   how I learned how to play the game. Everything else is original,
   nothing was stolen.. hell, to my knowledge, this is the only
   Gangsters FAQ out there.

   Now, for the game specifics...

   Platform: Win95  
   Publisher: Eidos  
   Developer: Hothouse Creations  
   Genre: Strategy  
   Origin: U.K.  
   Max. Number of Players:  4  
   Online Support: YES  
   Minimum Requirements: Pentium 133MHz; 4xCD-ROM; 16 MB RAM; 2 MB SVGA; 
   DirectX-6.0  


   b) What's New?
   Let's take a look...

   Version .69 - 2/24/99:
   This was the first one I threw together. It had just the basic
   strategy guide alone, nothing special. This was about a month after
   I got the game and at that point, I was very interested in it.

   Version 1.69 - 3/22/99:
   This came out only about a month after the first version and I added
   the hot keys to it as well as a Q & A section. I had been getting
   many, many, many questions, so I decided to answer them. At this
   point, I was still interested in the game, greatly. 

   Version 4.69 - This one:
   Can you see the time difference? This was thrown together 8 months
   after the last one and I'm doing this one for a single reason. To
   answer more questions. Also, folks... I haven't played the game in
   over four months, and EVERYTHING I know is in here. SO, if you're
   question isn't answered here, chances are that I won't know it. Also,
   I added a cheats section.

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II. Getting Started
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    a) First Orders
    You first orders should be to extort and recruit. Those two things
    should be all you're doing in the first week. In the second, you 
    should add Money Collection to your priorities. Hence, the main 
    three things to think of at start are: collecting money, getting
    more territory (by extorting) and recruiting new hoods. Protecting
    your area is something you could consider, but it isn't necessary
    since in the first weeks nobody will be starting a war.. not yet.


    b) The Hoods
    Your boys, your gang, your men. You need to use these guys in the
    right way, or your orders will fail time and time again. The gang
    leaders are called Lieutenants, and should always be high in two
    things: intelligence and organization. Along with that should be
    a high rating in the skill needed for his team's task (ex. the
    Lieutenant of an extortion team should have a high intimidation
    factor). 

    At start, you should build four teams. One for protection, 
    extortion, money collection and another for recruiting. The 
    protection is the team that will guard businesses and patrol your
    territory. The hoods in this group should have high rating in 
    firearms (at least four stars), and a good rating in fists would
    help as well. The extortion team will get more territory, and each 
    hood in it should have at least four stars in intimidation. The
    recruiting team should include gangsters with high ratings in 
    intelligence. As for the collectors team, it doesn't really matter
    since anyone can collect cash. 

    Equipping your Lieutenants is important, and you should consider
    whether they actually need guns or vehicles. Give weapons to those
    who really might need it- patrol teams and gangs that are going in
    to commit a crime. Give guns to the people who have a rating in
    firearms of at least four stars- they'll know how to use it best.
    As for vehicles, give them only to the people who you are sending
    far away. Cars don't come cheap- use them wisely.

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III. Moving On In The Game
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     a) Buying Businesses
     Once you have some dough, think about buying a business. This 
     brings in legal money. Since the business are legal, the FBI
     won't raid them as they would your illegal businesses. Legal
     cash will hide the amount of illegal money you have, somewhat.
     If you're making too much illegal money, the FBI will get 
     suspicious- not something you want. However, if you have a good
     accountant, you don't have to worry about this- a good accountant
     can cover up the amount of illegal money you pull in.

     Buying a legal business it pretty simple, and you don't need to
     worry about sending someone to run it- it's automatically done
     for you.


     b) Illegal Businesses
     Once you feel like it, set up some of these. However, as with
     normal businesses, you have to place them correctly (ex. a casino
     would go in a wealthy area, prizefights go in poor areas). Want
     to know more? Hell, I'm a nice guy...

        Card Games: put these only in the poor areas. Best location for
	card games is a pool hall or a book store.
	
        Counterfeit: these won't bring in any profit, but will be 
        spread out throughout your legal businesses. The best location
        for this is the Printer, however the Bank is fine as well.

	Casinos: put these in wealthy areas and you'll get tons of 
	cash. The Main Bank is the best location.

        Gambling Den: let's just call this "the casino for the poor."
        The best location is the pool hall.

        Dice Games: these go in the real poor areas of town. The best
        location is either a pool hall or a hotel. 

        Insider Trading: these belong in the commercial centre. Good
        locations are finance companies, banks and real estate.

        Loan Sharks: these can be anywhere in the city, but do best
        in banks, real estate and finance companies. 

	Grifters: also known as pickpockets. They belong in the poor
	areas of the city, and the best locations are poll halls.

        Moonshine Stills: no profit comes from these, but they are
        essential for your speakeasies. Best places to put them are 
        drug stores.

        Speakeasy: probably the best illegal businesses. It gets
        its liquor either from the moonshine stills, or you can steal
        it from other places. These can be easily hid in breakfast 
        bars, cafes, milk bars and restaurants. 

        Teamsters: can only be set up behind the Union Building. This
        will let you control the strike of the industrial area and
        can also call on the block vote during an election.

        Prizefights: boxing and gambling make a good couple. Doesn't
        matter what part of town they go in, as long as they are 
        located in a gym or pool hall.

        Numbers Racket: the lottery with one catch- it's fixed so that
        nobody ever wins. They do best in poorer areas and should be
        located in general stores, cafes or printers. 

        Whorehouses: these can go anywhere in the city, since everyone
        wants to get laid =) Good locations are dance studios, massage 
        parlors and hotels.

	Offices: no profit here, but they are important. Your hoods 
	will depart for their jobs from the local office, so having
	more then one can improve your gang efficiency. 


     c) Accountants and Lawyers
     You should get both of these early in the game. The accountant
     covers up your illegal money, preventing an FBI raid. The more
     stars an accountant has, the better he is at this.

     A good lawyer is also a necessity. He helps keep your men out of
     prison and bribe officials.


     d) The Election
     If you decide to enter an election once it comes around, you'll
     need three things: an excellent lawyer, lots of cash and lots of
     land. Something to try is reducing the protection money, which
     will make the people happy and get more votes for you. As said 
     before, the Teamster building helps you in the election. It will 
     automatically give you at most 10% of the votes.

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IV. Your Opposition
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    a) Other Gangs
    If they're bothering you, you'll have to take care of them- at one
    point or another. First off, try locating their office. Explore,
    and do it often. Try exploring areas in which you often see the
    opposing hoods, and sends a lot of people at once. Kidnapping
    is another way of finding the enemy base. To do this, you must
    find a building in which you often see the opposing hoods. Pulling
    this off will require a group of hoods that have high ratings in
    intelligence, intimidation, stealth, firearms, and organization.
    Succeed, and you will gain a list of businesses owned by the enemy.
    Investigate these buildings.

    Once you find the office, decide what you really want to do. You
    can try to get the leader arrested. Destroying that gang's legal 
    business will increase the suspicion of the police towards that 
    gang. If the suspicion gets real high, the leader will get 
    arrested. You can also take the hard way to it- kill the leader. 
    If you decide to do just that, make sure you send a lot of hoods,
    make sure they have vehicles and guns, and make sure you have a lot
    of cash to get new hoods since many of yours will get killed. Send
    every hood that you can, and hit 'em with all you got.


    b) Those Damn Cops
    There's no way around this- the cops will be after you. They patrol
    the city every week looking for crimes, or those who are accused
    of it.

    Watch out for FBI agents near your businesses. If you see a group
    of them, you better get ready 'cause they're about to raid your
    illegal business. You can either attack them, or let them go forth
    with their actions if you have enough money to bribe the Judge to
    get yourself out of trouble. If you see an agent who is solo, it 
    means that the FBI has some suspicion towards you. Either kill him,
    or close down the illegal business.

    If one of your men gets arrested, bribe the judge. OR, you can 
    bribe the District Attorney. By doing this, you'll get the names 
    of the witnesses and jurors. You can either bribe them, or 
    intimidate them... and if they don't work with you, you can kill 
    them.

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V. Smart Keys
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   It's a lot easier sometimes to use your keyboard as a shortcut to
   perform several actions, rather then having to do them using your
   mouse. The following list comes straight from the Gangsters readme
   text file.

   THE GANG ORGANIZER
 
	FUNCTION					KEY

	Help						?
	Lieutenant Section				F1
	Accountant Section				F2
	Lawyer Section					F3
	Diplomacy Section				F4
	Newspaper					F5
	Graphs						F6
	City Maps					F7
	Game Options					F8
	Toggle City Plan / Rooftop view			Space
	Lieutenant 1					1
	Lieutenant 2					2
	Lieutenant 3					3
	Lieutenant 4					4
	Lieutenant 5					5
	Lieutenant 6					6
	Lieutenant 7					7
	Lieutenant 8					8
	Open Clipboard					C
	Hoods Section					H
	Vehicles Section				V
	Weapons Section					W
	Confirm						Return / Enter
	Reject						Escape
	Load Game					CTRL+L
	Save Game					CTRL+S
	Messages. (Multiplayer only)			F9 to F12
	Close Chat Window (Multiplayer only)		Tab
	Quit						CTRL+Q
 
   THE WORKING WEEK

	FUNCTION					KEY
 
	Help						?
	Pause						P
	City Plan					Insert
	Rooftop View					Home
	Street View					Page Up
	Toggle Street View / Rooftop View		Space Bar
	Cycle gangsters from team 1			1
	Cycle gangsters from team 2			2
	Cycle gangsters from team 3			3
	Cycle gangsters from team 4			4
	Cycle gangsters from team 5			5
	Cycle gangsters from team 6			6
	Cycle gangsters from team 7			7
	Cycle gangsters from team 8			8
	Accelerate time by one step			>
	Decelerate time by one step			<
	Remove / Replace buildings			B
	Kill Street Order				F1
	Assault Street Order				F2
	Tail Street Order				F3
	Go to Street Order				F4
	Cancel Street Order				Escape
	View Combat Messages				F5
	View Gangsters and Police Messages		F6
	View Failed Orders Messages			F7
	View Waiting / Priority Messages		F8
	Messages. (Multiplayer only)			F9 to F12
	Close Chat Window (Multiplayer only)		Tab
	Quit 						CTRL+Q


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VI. Frequently Asked Questions
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    Since putting out this FAQ, I've gotten quite a few questions. I've
    decided to answer them through here as a future referance for any
    others who may need my assistance.


   Q: I want to know that how can i recruit accountant and lawyer???

   A: Quite simple... just order your hoods to recruit. Then, to the 
      left of the map (on the bottom) you should see three icons. Each 
      one is for hoods, lawyers and accountants. Take your choice, and
      you're set. 


   Q: (a) How can I do illegal business???

      (b) I was Wondering how to setup an illegal business, my icon for 
          setup business wound show up.      

   A: To set up an illegal business, you'll need a front (or a legal 
      business) and an empty lot in the center of a block on which the
      business is located. Pretty simple. Then, and ONLY then will
      the icon become clickable.


   Q: How do I make my hoods to be teamsters, speakeasy, moonshine 
      stalls???

   A: The things listed are illegal business. Hoods can't "become" 
      them. Info on how to set up illegal businesses is above this Q.


   Q: Are there any cheats in Gangsters?

   A: Not that I'm aware of, and I've been searching hard.


   Q: Are you interested in playing on-line against me?

   A: No, I don't even play this game anymore.


   Q: (a) I just bought gangsters few days ago. I tried playing but 
      every time i start a new game or scenario, all of my hoods are 
      behind bars, i cant use any of them. I tried waiting a few turns,
      but then i get killed. Some of the scenarios, i can get hoods, 
      but then after 1 week (the first week), they are all arrested.

      (b) I've just started out a new game...and all the hood I've got 
      have got bars in front of their faces and I can't make them do 
      anything...please help out...
  
      (c) Why the &%(@ are all my hoods in JAIL?! I just started a new
      game and they're all locked up!! WHAT THE %&@( IS GOING ON?!

      (d) When the game starts, all of the gangsters in the pool are 
      behind bars, how do i get them out? I can't give them orders or 
      upgrade them when they're like that.

   A: This is what happens if you have an illegal copy of the game, you
      damn poor bastards. Get some cash and buy the full copy!


   Q: the other gangsters keep moving in on my territory...why is this? 
      what is the best way to stop this from happening short of killing
      the bastards? I'm looking for their bases so I can do just that 
      but there must be some other way to stop them in the meantime.

   A: There's no way to stop other gangs from moving onto your 
      territory. Everyone wants to explore and find new buildings to
      extort. The best thing to do at first is just to leave them the
      hell alone. There's no need to start a war just because one 
      or two hoods are cruising around your land. However, if it
      pisses you off... then KILL 'EM ALL. In this game, it's all about
      the survival of the quickest.


   Q: I have a question that i don't think I found in the page. I have 
      problems with stubborn store owners who don't pay their freakin' 
      collection. I have hard times finding out who's not up to the 
      offer. I tried looking in the clipboard, then under storeowners.
      I see the empty icon that says "Won't pay protection." How come 
      its empty when I know someone isn't paying? Do I have to bribe 
      someone to get the list or something?

   A: Simply go back to the previous week's order, and flip through
      the cards. Whenever there is someone who didn't pay their 
      collection, it will be specified. A name IS given, so write that
      name down, or remember it, and where that person is located. Then
      you can kill, intimidate, bomb, or whatever you want to do to 
      them. If their building isn't available for a crime (and I do
      not know why that happens sometimes), simply try getting your
      collection again.


   Q: what does raiding do? does it help you, or hurt you?

   A: Raiding is simply put- a robbery. You can get a great deal of
      money through this, but obviously only if you rob places that
      you know make a lot of money. Places like this would be the large
      banks and hotels.


   Q: It seems that the FBI are only very suspicious about me, and not 
      the other gangs. After week 2 I mostly land up in jail! Do you 
      know what I do wrong?

   A: If you're extorting a LOT and pulling in tons of illegal cash 
      right away, the FBI is bound to have high suspicion towards you.
      Try to set up some legal businesses or get a good accountant to
      cover up the illegal money. As for you ending up in jail already
      by week 2... eeh.. I have no clue why you'd get sent to jail so
      quickly, unless you're committing crimes right from the start.


   Q: Hi, Can u explain how I take my hoods out of jail?

   A: If one of your men gets arrested, bribe the judge... blah, blah,
      blah. Grrr... I explained that already. Look under section IV, 
      part B. Try reading the FAQ before asking a question.


   Q: What if I have even more questions?

   A: If it hasn't been answered here, I most likely don't know the
      answer. To be honest, I haven't touched this game in about four
      months... but if you must, than send your questions to me at
      [email protected].


   Q: Hey, can you send me Gangsters?

   A: Well... maybe if... NO!


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VII. Cheats
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     Here they are, hooray (thanks to GameSages)!

	-> Easy $50,000
	   Go to the Liutenant screen, than after hitting the CAPS LOCK
	   key, type in I LOVE HANSON. Than, if you're current amount
	   of cash it under $50,000, than that's how much you'll get.

	-> Easy $3,000
	   Once again, go the the Liutenant screen. Once there, press
	   D + A + R + T and voila!

	-> Money & Hoods Cheat
	   Go to 'Run' in the Windows 98 Start Menu and type regedit. 
	   Now click through the following folders... 

	   1. hkey_local_machine 
	   2. Software 
	   3. Hothouse 
	   4. Gangsters 
	  
	   At 'Default Money,' change 2710 to 207101FF for about 
	    544,000,000 bucks!!

 	   At 'Default Hoods,' change A to FF to start with 255 hoods!! 

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>>> E-mail me... [email protected] <<<

If you copy this strategy guide and try to take credit for it, I will
rip your heart out, and feed it to a mad goat who will then proceed to
wildly rape you. Got it? Good. 

If you're interested in using this little FAQ of mine on your website, 
simply e-mail me and ask. I won't bite... most likely. Redistribution
of it, especially for profit is forbidden, and will not be tolerated. 
If you chose to do so, I will personally wipe out your entire family.

Copyright 1999 Mathew Jedrych