SEAMAN US RELEASE WALKTHROUGH v0.1 for Sega Dreamcast written by Xevo - [email protected] ******************* TABLE OF CONTENTS ******************* I. Revision History II. Introduction III. General Tips IV. Evolution V. Coming Soon VI. Special Thanks VII. Legal Disclaimer ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I. REVISION HISTORY ___________________________________________________________________________ Version 0.1 - 08/15/00: - First version, a glorious beginning! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ II. INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the world of Seaman! If you've just bought the game, then I take it you have a taste for original and unsual games like I do. If you are reading this but haven't decided whether or not to buy the game yet, then I hope my guide can shed some more light on the trials and tribulations of what it takes to raise and evolve a very unique creature. Regardless, I created this guide for two reasons. There are no guides out that explain even the basic strategies of raising a Seaman from the egg you are provided with, and also no one has mapped the evolutionary process of the Seaman as far as is possible with the kit provided by Vivarium (some may call it a game, but it is far more I assure you!). However, one should be warned: for some people, part of the fun of raising Seamen is that you have to experiment with all the different settings of the aquarium and also make your own decisions on how to take care of them. This guide will explain in detail how to evolve a Seaman through all the stages our kit allows when it is completed. If you would rather be surprised by the evolution of your Seamen, then you should definitely skip section IV which details exactly what steps to take when raising a Seaman and what happens as a consequence. Feel free to read the General Tips section below if you need help getting started, however. Finally, Seaman can, at times, be quite offensive. If you are offended by talk of sex, politics, religion, or are just generally unwilling to share very personal information with a virtual lifeform, then this game probably isn't for you. However if you go into it with an open mind, hoping just to have fun and maybe learn some things about yourself and even about human nature than you should love it. Remember, though- Seaman is rated T for Teen for "Comic Mischief, Mild Language, and Suggestive Themes" per the ESRB, although I would've added Animated Violence on as well... again, consider yourself duly warned! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ III. GENERAL TIPS ___________________________________________________________________________ Before you begin playing with Seaman, you should at least read pages 12-23 of the instruction manual so that you can manuever around the aquarium and also interact with your new pets. One thing the manual doesn't explain that well is that there are several key factors to making sure Seaman evloves as quickly as possible: 1) Keep Seaman happy- Once your Seaman has a face, try to keep it smiling. A happy Seaman will evolve for you much more quickly. 2) Attend to Seaman's daily needs as quickly as possible- Every time you enter the lab, Seaman will likely be cold, low on oxygen and hungry. Be sure you fix these levels before interacting with Seaman, or else he will likely not respond or worse, could die. 3) Interact with Seaman regularly- Early on, you'll only be able to tickle or have one-sided conversations with Seaman, but later on he will actually ask you questions. If you ignore these, or don't spend time interacting with Seaman at all, he will not evolve! You also don't need to interact with every Seaman individually, just make sure at least one is very happy and content with having interacted with you. 4) Allow time to pass- You can do this in one of two ways. If you simply play the game, 1-2 times a day (2 is preferred, 3 is really unecessary, 1 time a day is minimum), then you will generally have something new happen every time you play. You can also reset the dreamcast (hold down A+B+X+Y and press start) after ending your session with Seaman, then go to Settings, then Date/Time. I generally played with Seaman between 09:30- 11:00 and then between 20:00-21:30. When you've played with him at the night time mode, simply change the day one day ahead then set the clock to an AM time. Doing this, I was able to beat Seaman over what would've been about 2 weeks of real time in just 3 days. Seaman's evolutionary stages do require time to pass before he will evolve, however. 5) Pay attention to Leonard Nimoy- Yes, Leonard Nimoy is the game's narrarator, and if you ever find yourself stuck he generally has pretty good advice on what to do next. Also, he will often tell you when Seaman is nearing an evolutionary change, so if you want no help whatsoever, you might want to hit start to skip him when he says "If I may divulge the schedule for today..." or something to that extent. Other than those general tips, just try to have fun and enjoy the game. If nothing else, Seaman can be very intriguing to watch, as the programmers spent a lot of time making his evolutionary cycle seem realistic. Also, be ready to undergo a psychological evaluation- Seaman will eventually want to know everything about you (and I do mean EVERYTHING), and he will offer some very interesting insight over the course of his lifetime. Try not to abuse this by lying to him, it can be much more interesting to tell the truth and perhaps learn things about yourself you hadn't realized before! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ IV. EVOLUTION ___________________________________________________________________________ ///WARNING -- This section does contain detailed game SPOILERS, and may take some of the fun out of scientifically observing and learning how to care for Seaman through trial and error. Proceed at your own risk =) *STAGE 1 - MUSHROOMER* --Quick Profile-- The Mushroomer is a Seaman's first stage of evolution. Having little personality whatsoever and even less ability to interact with you, they serve basically one purpose- to feed off the Nautilus and evolve into their next stage. --Stage Walkthrough-- The first thing you will be greeted with is the voice of your Narrarator, Leonard Nimoy. He will be able to offer much advice and encouragement, and will have something different to say after every step of the evolution of your Seamen. If you get stuck somewhere, the hints he give can often put you on the right track, but to get advice you must first end your current session through the Start button button menu then reset the system. If you reset 3 or more times a day, he will begin to question your visiting the tank so often, however! After you have moved on to the aquarium, you will notice it is in a dismal state- checking the levels of the tank, there is no air whatsoever and it is at 0 degrees Celsius! The water is also thick and brown after years of neglect. Your first job should be to get the temperature of the aquarium into a comfortable living range for the Seaman, somewhere between 15-19.9 degrees Celsius. Too much below or above that is uncomfortable, and will hinder the progress of your Seaman. BEWARE THOUGH! The analog nature of the heater makes it very tricky to control, and once you start heating the water it will heat very rapidly and you should let go of the up button to keep from overheating it! Also note that if you pass the 20.0 mark, there is no way to cool the tank down besides letting time pass. Get the water to 25 degrees or beyond, and you could be sitting at the game for quite some time before the water cool down sufficiently. I suggest stopping when it hits 15, then working your way slowly into the upper 19's. Next, simply adding air to the tank also effectively filters the water out, which means you now have enough oxygen for your Seamen to breath and also have a nice, clean living enviroment. I suggest keeping the air level as near 100% as possible, with the minimum being around 80%. Finally, turn the lights on to see the glory that is your Seaman's new home. Now, you're ready to hatch Seaman! Just access your storage matrix and drop the egg into the tank. Assuming you've kept it at peak condition (15-19.9 degree temperature and 80-100% air level) then your egg should hatch within 3-5 minutes of dropping it in the water. If you zoom your view over the egg, you can see the cells dividing inside, and you know the tank's settings are good if the egg bobs up and down in the water. Once your egg hatches, you will have you first glimpse of a Seaman- the small and energetic Mushroomers! The are basically just little balls with tails, and have very little ability to interact at all. Zooming in on them generally makes them "look" at you with a small black eye, and besides picking them up you can really only tap on the glass to get them to move towards you. Their lifespan is only 4-5 days, so in that period of time you must find a way for them to evolve... If you've been checking with Nimoy, you will notice he mentions the Nautilus quite often as "playing a key role" in the Mushroomer's evolution. What you need to do now is zoom in on the Nautilus (it's the big spiral- shaped shell) and "tap" on it with the right mouse button just like you would do with the glass. Make sure the Nautilus is "shadowed" which indicates you have selected it under your cursor before you tap on it. After tapping it, zoom out to see if your Mushroomers are swimming towards it. If they have not, then simply tap several more times on the shell before they do. Once your Mushroomers get close enough, the Nautilus will come alive, revealing its squid-like form, and begin chasing down and eating your Seamen! Do not fear, however, because the Mushroomers are essentially parasites, and the Nautilus is the only thing that will provide them with the nutrition they need. You can allow the Nautilus to eat as many or as few of your Mushroomers as you wish, but they will all die soon enough so at least 4 is recommended but he can eat all 8 without any negative consequences. You know your Mushroomers are doing their job because the Nautilus will occasionally shoot off of the tank's floor, spewing ink in his wake. This tells you the Seamen inside of him are eating him up, giving themselves extra strength as well. I have found that turning the lights off makes them attack more aggressively, but I am not entirely sure. Regardless, after 2-4 minutes the Nautilus should start spitting the ink out more quickly, signaling he is near death. Finally the squid-like Nautilus will retreat from the safety of its shell, letting you finally see its full form. For around 2 minutes it will writhe furiously, with ink and blood flowing from its body, as the baby Seaman try to free themselves from inside of it. They will finally be shot towards you, revealing their new form- the Gillman! *STAGE 2 - GILLMAN* --Quick Profile-- Seaman's second stage of evolution, the Gillman, has a very interesting form. As should be familiar to anyone who has seen the hilarious Seaman commercial, this form has a fully formed human head attached to a small translucent fish body! Gillman starts out talking gibberish, but after a short period of time will repeat words you say to it and eventually speak full sentences. --Stage Walkthrough-- Just some quick facts for now- Gillman can only respond to a few words at first, as it usually only speaks a baby-sounding generally language until around 2 days in this stage. However, even the "baby" Gillmen will respond to you if you say "English". Try it several times, there a some very funny responses! Eventually, you Gillman will begin to repeat several words: a short list would include "Hello", "Play", "Fun", "Yes" and "No". Experiment to see what you can get it to say. Your Gillmen will also feed off of eachother, slimming their numbers down by natural selection. This is necessary, and until the "Insect Cage" is unlocked this will be the Gillman's only source of nutrition. Once you get to around 2-4 Gillmen or after about 2-3 days, your Gillman will begin speaking full sentences! This only happens if you constantly spoke to your Gillmen before, and if enough time has passed. You should notice this when you first enter the tank, as they will begin demanding that you turn up the heater and add more air! At some point, you will need to decide which one you like best and say to it "I will give you a name". It should say ok, and then ask that you have it repeat its name 3 times. After doing so, your named Gillman should change to a bright gold color. This helps you to remember which one you named. You should also be able to start conversations with this Gillman by saying "Let's talk" or something along those lines. You'll know you did this right if instead of it just responding the Gillman instead begins to ask you questions and discussing different subjects. You should be able to keep saying "Let's talk" after he is done talking until he tells you that he is done talking for the day, at which point you should set all the levels to a comfortable point and end the session. *STAGE 3 - PODMAN* --Quick Profile-- The Podman is basically a Gillman that has grown tiny hands and legs. Podman is the final stage of evolution for the aquatic Seaman, and will open the way for amphibious Seamen to evolve. --Stage Walkthrough-- More extensive guide to follow, but for now-- once you are down to just two Podmen, they will end up mating. The "male" Podman (although neither really seems to be female) will end up dying. If this was your named Seaman, simply tell the surviving Podman "I will give you a name" and it will change colors after going through the naming process again. At some point, your Podman will tell you that he can help you move the big rock. The only thing is you will have to answer a riddle before he will help you, and will make you answer 3 successfully. I will compile a list of as many questions and answers as I can find, but here are the couple I remember: "What does a man who types for 6 days a week, 8 hours a day, over 6 months get?" Answer: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or Tendonitis "If you're in a room with white walls, and one yellow light bulb and one blue light bulb, what color are the walls?" Answer: White "What do you get if you drop a cat in a pool of water?" Answer: A Wet Cat They're all basically trick questions, so generally the most obvious answer won't be correct. Once you get 3 right, you will reveal a drain in the tank, which drains out all the water except for the deep portion in the lower- right of the tank. You now have a terrarium, and have opened the way for amphibious Seamen to evlove. Finally, your last Podman, the final survivor of your original 8 Mushroomers, will crawl to shore, lay 6 eggs, then pass away. This part is actually very sad, as at this point you have bonded with Seaman heavily, having answered many of its questions, and hate to see it die. However, look carefully at the eggs- there are Tadmen in each and every one, Seaman's next step in evolution! *STAGE 4 - TADMAN* --Quick Profile-- The Tadmen are tiny, especially compared to how bloated your Podman got before giving birth to them! They do, however, have all the memories of your Podman, and you should give one a name so that you can remember which one to play with and talk to every day. --Stage Walkthrough-- Again, more coming soon... Soon enough, your Tadmen will feed off of eachother, narrowing it down to just 2. These 2 will begin to develop legs and feet again, and will soon venture out onto dry land! This marks the beginning of the final form of Seaman evolution, the Frogman. *STAGE 5 - FROGMAN* --Quick Profile-- Representing the highest level of Seaman evolution, the Frogman shows just how far Seaman has evloved since you raised them from an egg. Frogman can walk around and even jump onto the side of the tank! --Stage Walkthrough-- Just a brief guide of what to expect: Frogmen unlock a new feature of the tank- a sprinkler system to keep them moist that pops up over the old air grate. They will complain that they are too dry if you do not use this often enough. Just like with Air, keep the Sprinkler as close to 100% as possible. Even though the heater is as finicky and hard to control as ever, the Sprinkler is easy to use just like the Air vent was, and the water spray effect looks pretty cool too! After much conversing with you, and some deep psychological evaluation, your Frogman will tell you that he needs to leave the tank. His story is that back during the 3rd Dynasty of Egypt, he was the son of the King and had fallen in love with a priest's daughter. Their marriage was forbidden because of the extreme class difference, but the priest prayed to Thoth, the God of Wisdom, for them to be able to come together. Thoth obligied, and made him into a fish while his true love was turned into a bird. The parents of the two asked Thoth why this was done, and he replied that after thousands of years they would evolve into their original states, and would still have all their memories, so they could be reunited and finally be together. Seaman implores you to help him escape, because the only way he can continue to evolve is by getting outside. Seaman says he thinks that pesky ring hanging from the upper-left of the tank (haven't you always wondered what that was for, it seems to be completely useless before this!) should be the key to getting out. He will try to jump to it from the big rock, asking that you say "Jump!" for encouragment. On his third try, he will reach it and the back panel of the tank slides down, revealing a lush jungle outside. Before Seaman leaves, he will tell you that he appreciates all the attention you gave him, and that he will always be just outside if you want to talk to him. At this point, Seaman is independent, and the game has effectively been "won". Where's the required "Credits" sequence to indicate the games ending? Well, in one of the funniest twists in video game history, Seaman tells you to tap on the glass for a surprise. Sure enough, rythmically tapping the glass (at least twice a second to keep it going) causes a song to start playing, which your Seamen will dance to, and the credits will appear on the screen. However, if you do not tap fast enough or stop tapping, the credits will stop as well! It can be pretty torturous to make it all the way through the credits, as it requires some serious tapping! I didn't find anything special besides the music, dancing or credits, but perhaps if you tapped long enough some sort of easter egg could be revealed...? ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ V. COMING SOON ___________________________________________________________________________ More in-depth info on the stage walkthroughs, as well as any other hints and tips I come up with after playing through the game several more times. Any suggestions/comments/corrections are welcomed- just send them to: [email protected] and please include Seaman FAQ in the subject line. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ VI. SPECIAL THANKS ___________________________________________________________________________ Thanks to Vivarium for bringing one of the most fun Dreamcast games yet to America! I never could've guessed this game would be translated and brought here, but I am very glad you made the choice! Thanks also to IGN.com's Dreamcast crew, who turned me on to the coolness of raising a verbally abusive fish-man at home! =P Thanks to everyone reading this, I hope you enjoy the game as much as I have had playing it and writing this guide! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ VII. LEGAL DISCLAIMER ___________________________________________________________________________ This FAQ is copyright 2000 by Brian Little. Seaman is copyright 2000 Vivarium Inc. Sega Dreamcast is copyright 1999 SEGA Enterprises, Ltd. This FAQ is not associated with or endorsed by either Vivarium Inc. or SEGA Enterprises, Ltd. This FAQ may be freely distributed for noncommercial purposes only if it is not alterted in any way and the author is given due credit. You may not use this FAQ as source material for any other publication without express written consent of the author. Author is not responsible for any damage caused to any animal, living or virtual, as a result of this FAQ. No Seamen were intentionally harmed in the making of this FAQ. Extra special thanks to Revolution reader Xevo!
Embark on an inspiring mission of human connection beyond the UCA. Sam — with companions by his side — sets out on a new journey to save humanity from extinction. Join them as they traverse a world beset by otherworldly enemies, obstacles and a haunting question: should we have connected?
