A thread on Baldies

[Cobra Kai]

There is practically nothing in this forum on this game. Searching through old posts have only given me the general idea that most people who've tried to play this game have quit trying, and after not much effort. I definitely understand why, firstly it has a horrible instruction manual that after you read it you realize that it just doesn't tell you enough.

 

Personally I've found myself through the years popping this game in and frustratingly popping it back out within 10 minutes due to lack of understanding of the gameplay. I finally got the game figured out I think, and I'll say I've played worse real-time strategy games. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but on a system with exactly 1 rts, I'll give it a fair shot. It's also understandable for the lack of threads on this game in the sense that not only are there few Jaguar owners, but there are even fewer of us that have a functioning JagCD player, so I'm not surprised that this forum isn't hopping with excitement for Baldies.

 

I'm going to use this thread as a general purpose Baldies topic on gameplay and strategy as I play through the game and find its quirks and hopefully post in here some clarifications on the rules of the game. I'm on stage 5 of the forest level (level 1) right now and am quickly getting the hang of it. I'll update the thread when I have something of substance to add.

 

The first major thing that you need to know about this game, is that you need about 1 hour to play a stage, and you can only save to the memory track between stages. So have an hour at hand when you play.

 

The first thing you should be doing in-game, is building a Barracks. Click on the house, then click on the house icon in the upper left corner and choose the GREEN building (barracks). This is super important because your little soldier guys do not fill up your green ammo meter unless they are working INSIDE THE BARRACKS. This is not explained anywhere in the manual, the Barracks part that is. It took me awhile and alot of frustration to figure this out. This makes the game actually quite good afterwards because your soldiers can then shoot bullets and grenades.

 

There's a few weapons that become available that have no mention in the manual. There's a boxing glove called 'Final Stand' that blows up the entire world and your army battles it out with the enemy army to the death. I used this once and it appeared that my army kicked ass but at the end it said I lost. YMMV. I probably won't use it again until I understand it exactly, or I have time to completely waste. (not likely).

 

Build a Science lab (choose the White building). Drop a skunk, snake, rock or prairie dog into the science lab for a one-time bonus tech you can build. When finished with whichever one you build, you can use it once to drop on an enemy, I think they are all bad for the enemy, no good ones for you. The skunk will empty a building. The snake weapon will empty a tree. The Dog weapon supposedly reduces the capacity of an enemy building.

 

Another thing not mentioned in the manual. Most of your weapons that you build require a Scientist to be used to 'plant' the weapon in the ground. You need to keep alot of scientists walking around outside to constantly fill your white science power bar, and also to have them ready at your disposal so that you can deploy land weapons. To deploy a weapon, click on it on the bottom bar of your screen, then put it where you want it, it will mark an 'X' on the ground and one of your scientists will fly to this spot and become that weapon.

 

 

That's it for now. I actually like this game, I'm going to keep playing it.

[GKC]

There is practically nothing in this forum on this game. Searching through old posts have only given me the general idea that most people who've tried to play this game have quit trying, and after not much effort. I definitely understand why, firstly it has a horrible instruction manual that after you read it you realize that it just doesn't tell you enough.

 

Personally I've found myself through the years popping this game in and frustratingly popping it back out within 10 minutes due to lack of understanding of the gameplay. I finally got the game figured out I think, and I'll say I've played worse real-time strategy games. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement, but on a system with exactly 1 rts, I'll give it a fair shot. It's also understandable for the lack of threads on this game in the sense that not only are there few Jaguar owners, but there are even fewer of us that have a functioning JagCD player, so I'm not surprised that this forum isn't hopping with excitement for Baldies.

 

I'm going to use this thread as a general purpose Baldies topic on gameplay and strategy as I play through the game and find its quirks and hopefully post in here some clarifications on the rules of the game. I'm on stage 5 of the forest level (level 1) right now and am quickly getting the hang of it. I'll update the thread when I have something of substance to add.

 

The first major thing that you need to know about this game, is that you need about 1 hour to play a stage, and you can only save to the memory track between stages. So have an hour at hand when you play.

 

The first thing you should be doing in-game, is building a Barracks. Click on the house, then click on the house icon in the upper left corner and choose the GREEN building (barracks). This is super important because your little soldier guys do not fill up your green ammo meter unless they are working INSIDE THE BARRACKS. This is not explained anywhere in the manual, the Barracks part that is. It took me awhile and alot of frustration to figure this out. This makes the game actually quite good afterwards because your soldiers can then shoot bullets and grenades.

 

There's a few weapons that become available that have no mention in the manual. There's a boxing glove called 'Final Stand' that blows up the entire world and your army battles it out with the enemy army to the death. I used this once and it appeared that my army kicked ass but at the end it said I lost. YMMV. I probably won't use it again until I understand it exactly, or I have time to completely waste. (not likely).

 

Build a Science lab (choose the White building). Drop a skunk, snake, rock or prairie dog into the science lab for a one-time bonus tech you can build. When finished with whichever one you build, you can use it once to drop on an enemy, I think they are all bad for the enemy, no good ones for you. The skunk will empty a building. The snake weapon will empty a tree. The Dog weapon supposedly reduces the capacity of an enemy building.

 

Another thing not mentioned in the manual. Most of your weapons that you build require a Scientist to be used to 'plant' the weapon in the ground. You need to keep alot of scientists walking around outside to constantly fill your white science power bar, and also to have them ready at your disposal so that you can deploy land weapons. To deploy a weapon, click on it on the bottom bar of your screen, then put it where you want it, it will mark an 'X' on the ground and one of your scientists will fly to this spot and become that weapon.

 

 

That's it for now. I actually like this game, I'm going to keep playing it.

 

Very cool hints thanks. I bought this game awhile ago but I have to be honest, other than checking to make sure it worked I haven't really played it. I generally don't play rts games on consoles but I decided to pick it up for the JagCD since there are so few titles as it is. Maybe with some of your tips in mind I will have to give it another try..... or a try for the first time.

[Willard]

Baldies is actually almost identical to the Amiga classic "Mega Lo Mania," with a few gameplay and graphic improvements. Mega Lo Mania was somewhat popular and received ports on several other consoles too. Kind of a beginners RTS without too much complexity, but there's so much going on and enough to do that it should interest most fans of the genre.

 

I agree, one of the biggest problems with the game is the length of time it takes to complete a level. Once you prepare for 40 minutes the battle will only last 5-10 minutes

 

One important tool you did not mention is the "flight" tool that allows you to select all your baldies and fly them accross oceans to enemy territory. That dramatically speeds up the game. There is also a tool that allows you to dig pits or build bridges accross water. You can also hijack enemy buildings and infiltrate their territory that way. Lots of cool stuff to do.

 

I'm a bit surprised baldies doesn't get too much mention either, pretty good game imo and easily within the top 15-20 on the Jaguar.

[Cobra Kai]

I purposely didn't mention things that are in the manual. I suppose I could write a thorough review and instruction, but I have to at least concede that people interested in playing will take their own initiative and read the instruction manual first.

 

But on the Shovel and Angel Wings tools, I've found you only need one or the other. You can either build a land bridge to the enemy island with the shovel, or like Willard said, fly your army over using the Wings. The thing is that you get the Shovel first, after you've built your 3rd house (4 houses unlocks the Wings), and 3 houses is all you really need, so I don't yet find the Wings useful, but that could change as I get deeper into the game.

[Atariman]

Huh! That's pretty crazy - I didn't know about some of those things! I'm (apparently) one of the few people who gave this game a fair shake awhile back and played it quite a bit with friends! Unfortunately, I didn't have a Memory Track to save my progress, so we usually stuck to the first few levels.

 

It makes me want to break it out again and give it another shot... the only complaint I ever had was that it was buggy enough that we always had to be prepared for it to crash! I always enjoyed playing it, though, and I think I'd put it in my top five Jaguar CD games!

[DracIsBack]

I love Baldies. You have to learn some of the cheats though, like making the rabbits. :-)

 

It's not perfect - it crashes a lot and stuff like that, but I always found it addictive. Except level 79. That's the meanest level in a video game of any kind I think!

[CD-i]

Oh yes Baldies... terrible instruction manual... I myself figured out how to play it and did a video review/tutorial. It's in German but you can see the gameplay and how it works:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXkyNB2oOao

[jvgs]

It's not perfect - it crashes a lot and stuff like that, but I always found it addictive. Except level 79. That's the meanest level in a video game of any kind I think!

 

I'll agree with that. I had fun with the game, and then I got stuck at level 79. Maybe I'll go back and try it again eventually.

[+jeremiahjt]

Baldies is one of my favorite Jag games and I guess I'm one of the few people who have beaten every level. I can beat every level in under 20 minutes or so except for 79. Of course I didn't beat every level that quick because I occasionly liked to build up everything, especially once I got to a new world to see the new house designs, and just wreck the hairies with the helicopter.

 

When I first got to 79 I started a thread asking for help and then I beat it and I gave a little walkthrough on how I did it. One thing to remember if you research a weapon to its maximum level (usually level 3 if not always) then when you start the next stage you will automatically have the level 1 version of that weapon at the start of the next level. I had to use that to get past 79. I went back to 78 and researched everything to max so I started 79 with a little bit better weapon selection.

[DracIsBack]

Baldies is one of my favorite Jag games and I guess I'm one of the few people who have beaten every level. I can beat every level in under 20 minutes or so except for 79. Of course I didn't beat every level that quick because I occasionly liked to build up everything, especially once I got to a new world to see the new house designs, and just wreck the hairies with the helicopter.

 

When I first got to 79 I started a thread asking for help and then I beat it and I gave a little walkthrough on how I did it. One thing to remember if you research a weapon to its maximum level (usually level 3 if not always) then when you start the next stage you will automatically have the level 1 version of that weapon at the start of the next level. I had to use that to get past 79. I went back to 78 and researched everything to max so I started 79 with a little bit better weapon selection.

 

I never realized that! Thank you!

 

I always found that game level brutal - the Hairies kept swooping into my house and swiping my guys before I could build anything.

[+jeremiahjt]

Baldies is one of my favorite Jag games and I guess I'm one of the few people who have beaten every level. I can beat every level in under 20 minutes or so except for 79. Of course I didn't beat every level that quick because I occasionly liked to build up everything, especially once I got to a new world to see the new house designs, and just wreck the hairies with the helicopter.

 

When I first got to 79 I started a thread asking for help and then I beat it and I gave a little walkthrough on how I did it. One thing to remember if you research a weapon to its maximum level (usually level 3 if not always) then when you start the next stage you will automatically have the level 1 version of that weapon at the start of the next level. I had to use that to get past 79. I went back to 78 and researched everything to max so I started 79 with a little bit better weapon selection.

 

I never realized that! Thank you!

 

I always found that game level brutal - the Hairies kept swooping into my house and swiping my guys before I could build anything.

 

Its been awhile but I believe you have the level 1 weapon with a full bar ready to go so you can use it immediately. As I recall I had to use the flamehead weapon immediately upon entering 79 because there is a hairy that starts grenading you pretty quick.

[Cobra Kai]

While playing level 6 last night, I figured out that you can drop objects on traps to wipe them out. I dropped a rock on a large mine and it disappeared. I dropped a few rabbits onto a pit until it disappeared etc...

[walter_J64bit]

Baldies, I've figured out how play but what I can't get is how to make good working Weapons from my White Baldies scientist.

[Isgoed]

When I start a level, I will collect rocks and place them randomly on my "ground".

 

Then, when a cross from the enemy appears for placing a trap, I will put a rock on it, before a hairy flies to it.

When he arrives, he will place the trap, but it doesn't appear.

 

You can also put a fish in the scientisthouse to create a rain of fish.

This is a good way to let traps go off/get rid of them.

 

I also noticed that sometimes houses will grow to a large building, and sometimes they just stay middlesized, no matter how much room/ground there is.

Is this a flaw of the game?

[Cobra Kai]

When I start a level, I will collect rocks and place them randomly on my "ground".

 

Then, when a cross from the enemy appears for placing a trap, I will put a rock on it, before a hairy flies to it.

When he arrives, he will place the trap, but it doesn't appear.

 

You can also put a fish in the scientisthouse to create a rain of fish.

This is a good way to let traps go off/get rid of them.

 

I also noticed that sometimes houses will grow to a large building, and sometimes they just stay middlesized, no matter how much room/ground there is.

Is this a flaw of the game?

I know what you mean about the houses sometimes not upgrading. I hate how there's not a 'build meter' for the builders working inside the houses so you know how far along they are. But yeah, sometimes I try to just force a big house to upgrade to Castle by putting like 25 builders inside but it just won't upgrade! It's very frustrating, and there's no sense to it.

[Cobra Kai]

Baldies, I've figured out how play but what I can't get is how to make good working Weapons from my White Baldies scientist.

You need some Scientists walking around outside to build your White meter. The scientists you put inside a house then use that meter to develop weapons.

[Cobra Kai]

So, I'm up to level 12 and I have yet to tech the Car. Anyone know how to get the car to appear in the science menu? I assume you have to build the house w/garage instead of the castle (which gives you Helicopter), however I've built this house and it didn't pop the Car.

 

And I used that trick that Isgoed told us, where you put the rock on the spot where a trap is coming, oh man that is a great tip, thanks alot that makes things much easier.

[+jeremiahjt]

I've had a top level structure of each type: house, castle, nursery, fort, etc. and I have never seen the car. I don't know if it didn't make it in the Jag version or what, but I know I've never seen it.

[PFG 9000]

Wow, this brings back tons of memories. I used to play this game quite a bit. I think I played halfway through the Egypt levels before I gave up. There must be a code to unlock all the levels though, because I know I tried the Hell levels and the music gave me a headache.

 

I don't believe the car is in the Jag version. I remember being bummed about that back in the day. The helicopter is, though, and it's a great way to bomb the crap out of the hairy men.

 

One of the most important science upgrades comes when you drop a rabbit into a science house. You can develop an upgrade that you can put onto a house to make the Baldie "reproduction" rate increase, so you get more guys more quickly.

 

There is a bit of luck factor with the boxing glove, but I believe it comes down to which team has more men in the end.

[GrizzLee]

Not sure if it was mentioned here...

 

Baldies was released on the Playstation as a budget title (I'm not sure what/if differences there are). I picked it up some years ago.

 

I am ashamed to admit this, but I haven't played either version very much. It seemed to take too much time to really get into the game for me. Now that I've read this thread, I think I'll give it another whirl.

 

-GrizzLee

[Willard]

I am ashamed to admit this, but I haven't played either version very much. It seemed to take too much time to really get into the game for me. Now that I've read this thread, I think I'll give it another whirl.

 

I think the biggest flaw in the game is easily the amount of time it takes to get started and the sheer number of levels. The first dozen or so levels can be completed as long as you just keep your guys busy and do logical things, but that's about 6 hours of mindless gameplay you have to get past before you need to start thinking.

 

Guess the devs expected you to spend this time figuring out what everything does (either by yourself or observing the enemy kind of like a realtime tech race). I think some of the things mentioned here that are "not in the manual" were intentionally excluded because learning is part of enjoying the game (such as what the various animals .etc do).

 

Not sure if it was mentioned here...

 

Baldies was released on the Playstation as a budget title (I'm not sure what/if differences there are). I picked it up some years ago.

 

I am ashamed to admit this, but I haven't played either version very much. It seemed to take too much time to really get into the game for me. Now that I've read this thread, I think I'll give it another whirl.

 

-GrizzLee

 

Someone else mentioned awhile ago that the playstation version had a choppier framerate... looking at an actual youtube vid it looks like it got a semi-3d look and many of the graphcs were updated/enhanced a little. The saturn version also looks a bit like the psx version with some new anime FMV sequences.

 

know what you mean about the houses sometimes not upgrading. I hate how there's not a 'build meter' for the builders working inside the houses so you know how far along they are.

 

that usually happens to me when I space houses too close together or near certain things (trees, water, wells, possibly rocks but I don't entirely remember). Sometimtes these things don't look like they are close enough to interfere but somehow they do. Once I became a little more cautous about where I built the houses I never had any further issues upgrading.

 

If you plant the house near water and build some new land around it after it should have already upgraded it takes like 20 seconds for the upgrade to complete

Edited August 23, 2011 by Willard

[syntexerror]

Nice thread i just learned alot about the game great work guys.

[kevincal]

Of all the Jag games I found this game and Syndicate to be the most confusing and boring crap games lol. Then again I have the attention span of a hummingbird. Maybe if I sat there for hours I would actually figure out how to play the games and enjoy them?

[syntexerror]

Ya i love syndicate and tonight i played baldies to the 5th level took dam near forever.Got to put some time into baldies but all in all i think for a real time strategic game it is nice.

[syntexerror]

Ok so i made it to lvl 9 of the baldies and in this level i have run into a problem and don't know how to remedy this it seems when i begin to bombard the haries houses all the sudden my soldiers will burn to death the whole lot of them why does this happen and is there away to prevent this.I have tryed the stage multiple times and still every time i get the upper hand on the hairies my men will burn and die does this happen to anyone else and if so how do you get past it ty in advance.