Strife/New Front Base



After the Programmer is killed, the ../Castle/ is replaced by the New Front Base.

Changes resulting from the death of the Programmer

 * As noted above, this level replaces the ../Castle/, which is thus no longer accessible.
 * It also supplants the old ../Front Base/, which is replaced with the ../Abandoned Front Base/, so the former is also no longer accessible.
 * Other levels which can no longer be accessed: the ../Audience Chamber/ (demolished and replaced by Macil's HQ building); the Programmer's Keep (entrance blocked); the ../Training Facility/ (corridor which led to it blocked, a lot of building work south of that point destroyed).
 * Much damage to all parts of the castle (the jagged blue patches in the comparison map below are blast craters).
 * The south part of the river has become a sewer, and (probably for this reason) is screened off.
 * All Sigil doors have had The Front's logo painted over them.
 * The formerly locked doors on the battlements are now open. However, the supplies which were up there have been stripped.
 * The Hospital interior has been slightly rebuilt; this is now where the Front's armorer and arms trainer, as well as (of course) the medic, are to be found.
 * The guard post by the main gate that leads to ../Town/ has a teleporter that leads directly into the HQ building. Not that you're likely to need it...
 * The skies of the outside areas have changed from "daylight" to "stormy sunset" — or possibly "impending apocalypse".
 * Possibly other effects, on this or other levels.

The following is a map of all the differences (and identities) between the two above maps:

The above image is best viewed at full resolution (click on it). If you look at this image through a pair of anaglyptic (red/blue or red/cyan) 3D glasses, you will be able to see one or the other maps by closing one eye.

Sixth mission: Consult the Oracle
You awaken in front of Macil (A). Talk to him and he will tell you about the Sigil, and give you some gold, chits for more stamina and accuracy, and a mission to consult the Oracle about the other four Sigil pieces.

Leave Macil (turn around and go down the steps that were behind you) and emerge from the shiny new Front HQ building, you will find that it's where the Audience Chamber used to be. So cross the yard to the Hospital (where else would you find Gerard the medic?); you will also find that the trainer Feris has set up shop here, as has a guy named Justin who sells ammo and Teleport Beacons.

Head to the Castle New Front Base exit (B) and go through. You will end up back in the ../Town/, and as you do so, bars to your right (L on the Town map) will open. This will give you access to the ../Borderlands/, and you need to go there, but if you're a bit short of supplies you may first want to go loot the old ../Abandoned Front Base/ for what has been left there.

Interlude: The Fork

 * Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run...Led Zeppelin, Stairway To Heaven

You start in a sealed teleport chamber. You are supposed to land facing south, but for some reason this doesn't happen in my games, so check the automap and if not facing south, turn (press F to switch on follow mode if need be) until facing south, then switch back to game view. Walk forward and the chamber will open. It is probably a good idea to save here (before you talk to Macil), especially if you want to see both victory endings (or all three endings) without having to play an entire new game.

Talk to Macil (he's just west — to your right — of where you are) and he will tell you that it's the Oracle who is the traitor, and who secretly holds a Sigil piece. What the—!? What's going on? Who's telling the truth? Who can you trust?

Digression: the three endings
Actually, the Oracle and Macil are both telling the truth, so you can trust neither of them. Which one you (pretend to) trust determines your path through the rest of the plot:
 * Accept Macil's story and go kill the Oracle, and the storyline will go through the rest of the levels (including the one where the cure for the virus is to be found), so you will get the "good" victory ending — if you succeed in killing the Entity. This path is shown in the rest of this walkthrough by the "G" missions.
 * Trust the Oracle and kill Macil, and you will get a somewhat shorter game (the Order Commons, the Mines, both Catacombs levels, and all four Factory levels are skipped). This path leads to the "bad" victory ending, in which the Entity is defeated but no cure for the virus is known, so humankind is left without hope. This path is the "B" missions. You can also get this ending by using cheats to warp yourself directly to the Entity's Lair and then to equip yourself with the full Sigil (without which you can't even open the final door).
 * On either path, if the Entity kills you, you will get the "worst" (failure) ending.

Mission G8: Kill the Oracle
Accept this mission (and thus the "good" path) with the first option of the second conversation dialog with Macil. Blackbird will say "Let's make Mr. Ugly twist and shout!".

Leave the HQ and go across to the Hospital; cash the stamina/accuracy chits the Oracle gave you (unannounced), then return to the HQ and through the teleporter back to the Borderlands and from there return to the Temple (use the teleporter in the entrance hall to go straight to the inner sanctum).

Mission G9: Shut down the Conversion Chapel
Talk to Macil and he will tell you to go see Richter in the Commons; he will also give you the Brass Key so you can get in, and chits for stamina and accuracy upgrades. Cash those, then return to the ../Borderlands/.

Mission G10: Macil the Traitor
Talk to Macil and he will tell you, in an insane voice, that he is the One God, that the One God's spirit must be free, and other waffle along these lines; as soon as you finish talking, he will attack. If you wait too long before talking, he will attack anyway. Best take the initiative and attack first; in any of these three cases, any Front troops here will also attack Macil, though probably without any success. Macil seems to have extremely high hit points (even point-blank blasts from the Mauler in its high-power mode had no discernable effect), so it's probably best to shoot him with the Sigil. He will die in only one hit, although his Spectre will be a little tougher than that.

Mission G11: Onward to the Lab
The Lab is in the Factory. You won't be returning here, so this is your last chance to stock up on supplies (unless you do so in the Commons, which is your very last chance). Use the teleporter to the Borderlands, and enter the Commons; from there you have two or three ways of returning to the Factory, depending on how you exited the Conversion Chapel. You can take the direct route through the Factory gates (it probably doesn't matter if you have to destroy the forcefield, and in doing so set off the alarm and have the entire Commons after you, since you won't be coming back here either), or the somewhat roundabout route through the Mines, or if you exited the Conversion Chapel via the Catacombs you can re-enter it that way and through it to the Factory (this of course is a very roundabout route, and if you take it a vital set of bars won't open, so you will have to head as if exiting the Factory in one of the other directions until you hear the bars opening, then head back; all things considered, this route cannot be recommended). Whichever way you go, refer to the Factory page for the rest of this walkthrough.

Mission B8: Macil the Traitor
Remember that the Oracle gave you stamina and accuracy chits (see mission G8 above), so it's probably best to nip across to the Hospital to cash those, before embarking on this path.

Reject Macil's story and tell him that he's the traitor (using the second option of the second conversation dialog), and he calls upon the One God (in a mad voice) to avenge him. As with G10 above, he seems to be invulnerable to anything short of the Sigil, but will die in only one Sigil hit. His Spectre, however, is another story... You can also accept this mission (and thus the "bad" path) by attacking first.

Mission B9: Onward to the Lab
Go though the teleporter, and then the one in the Temple entranceway, to get back to the Oracle.

Secrets

 * Go into the main (northern) entrance of the building where the long corridor was, down the steps and straight ahead to a dark, blast-damaged area. In there are two bullet clips, some phosphorus grenades, some poison bolts, and 50 gold.