ninjabee.com

Okay, I'm stuck on level 7. I've checked out the forum, and I have version 1.0.4 from the NinjaBee site, but it's still a damned hard level. My income seems to just stop, like everything is working fine, chugging away, and then all of a sudden, interest is lost and the money stops coming in. My stuff is all maintained and in decent shape.

Is there anywhere I can go (like here, for instance) where I could maybe get some specific help? I hate relying on straight-up spoilers for my games, but this one is driving me nutso.

Thanks.

Nobody's posted a FAQ or anything like one on gamefaqs.com yet, and that's the usual place I'd expect something. We can usually give hints, though .

Level seven is one of the first times you really need to start paying attention to the profitability of expansions. There are a couple of ways to make expansions more profitable:

1. Turn up the appeal meters. Usually, the second-highest setting is a good balance between cost and profit. You can turn up appeal by double-clicking on the expansion.

2. Don't have too many expansions of the same type. If you have 3 science expansions, for example, you probably won't have enough traffic to keep them all profitable. Sell the LOWER LEVEL expansions first! High-level ports cost more, but they more than make up for it in how much income they bring in -- but only if they're busy. I usually keep two of each type, if I have enough room.

3. Pay attention to the "Profit" meter in the lower right corner when you click on a port. It's next to the "condition" indicator. If it's a negative number, you can save money by selling the port. If you don't want to sell the port for some reason, you can turn it off. Ports that are turned off still cost money for repairs, but they don't drain money for operating costs.

4. Don't build too much power or too many repair bays. These all cost money, and they don't bring any in. Also, it's better to build the more expensive power stations if you can afford them, because they generate more power relative to their maintenance costs. Since this level (iirc) requires you to generate a lot of power, it's a good idea to build all your power at the END of the level, so that you don't have it draining your money the whole way through. Alternately, you can build your power a bit at a time, but turn off the ones you don't need (so that you don't have to pay operations expenses).

Hopefully some of that will help. Post again if you're still stuck, and maybe I'll do a proper walkthrough of the level .

AdamH's suggestions are great. I'll repeat a few here and add a few more:

It's good to have an appeal rating of around 80%, generally. Higher than that and you're spending too much money on it, and lower than that and people won't spend enough time at the expansion to dump much cash.

Similarly, you don't need everything to be in perfect condition, but maybe 90% good condition most of the time.

I try to get at least one basic expansion in any desired category as fast as possible, without worrying about higher-tech expansions until I've first started satisfying all category needs a little.

I also play pretty aggressively, turning off anything I'm not using. For instance, if I have 0 extra power and I need to build a new trading post, I'll build a power source of some kind, then start building the trading post, but immediately turn off the power source while the trading post is building. Basically, any time your power is over 0, you're potentially wasting money.

I'll try to post a walkthrough as soon as I can, but in the mean time, I think focusing on activating the stuff you need only when you need it might help.

-- NinjaBee

!!SPOILER WARNING!!

Here's a walkthrough for Level 7, courtesy of Woody Thrower. This is one possible solution, but there are variations, for sure.

Walkthrough for Outpost Kaloki Level 7 (Homeward Bind)

- Build a Chem Lab and a Collector Prototype immediately. (Adjust the Chem Lab one notch up to "Happy Juice".)

- Once the Collector Prototype is functioning, turn it off until you have $350 so you can build the Hall of Records (then turn it on and build the Hall of Records, adjusting it one notch up -- always adjust science expansions one notch up).

- After the Hall of Records is built, wait until you have $700, then build a Generator.

- When the Generator is built, build a Janitor Closet (when you have enough money) followed by an Observatory. You'll find that you have exactly enough power for this without adjusting the Collector Prototype or the Generator.

- Once the Observatory is built, build a Dynamo Generator.

- Now that you have a good power source, it's time to get the visitors to stop whining. Give them a Singles Line to increase your cash flow. Adjust the Singles Line one notch up (to "Love Lines Teleprompt").

- When you have $950, build a Museum.

- After the Museum is built, talk to your new Einstein visitor to get plans for the next two science expansions.

- Wait until you have $700 so you can build a Garage 2. You don't have enough power yet, so adjust your Dynamo Generator so the periodic cost is $11. If you slide it carefully, you can get it JUST under $12 and get the most power for your dollar. Adjust the Generator the same way to $10. You need 150 extra power, so adjust the Collector Prototype until you have 150 power, and build your Garage 2. Adjust it to 2 Repair Droids.

- Now you can build a Fusion I! Well, once you have $1600, anyway. Right now though, your customers are demanding a nature expansion. You have more science than you need, so sell off your Chem Lab and build a Flower in its place. (Oh, and you remembered to adjust your Observatory one notch up, right?)

- Now you have a nice revenue stream. Wait for $1600, then build your very own Fusion I.

- Adjust the Fusion I up to $11 and it should give you all the power you need to build the Cryonics Lab and Nanotech Facility. The money should continue coming in, so it's just a matter of waiting and building when you have the cash.

- With the Nanotech Facility built, you can build a Fusion II. You don't even have to wait long for the money. You can reduce your power consumption and increase your cash by selling off all your expansions except the power sources and the Nanotech Facility (which you can't sell because your scientists need it). Once you have the Fusion II built, crank up the power and you should have more than enough to finish the level.

There are ways to improve efficiency in this walkthrough, but they're left as an excercise to the reader.

I'm playing this game on XBOX Live arcade and can say I gave up on getting all gold on adventure story mode because of level 7. I placed in 2nd place at a time of 10 mins 15 secs left. That was just a silver medal and 1st place was at 10 mins and 17 secs. Hardly doubt he got the gold. It took a lot of tries and I mean the slightest error and you would be up ****s creek. I know if I really tried I could get a 10 mins 30 secs time left, but that is too much to ask. This stage really requires speed and efficiency over everything else.

Heres what I did:

Right at the start if I recall correctly you have enough to build 2 low level building and one cheapest power supply.

I built 1 chem lab, 1 love lanes, and 1 cheapo power supply.

I shutoff the power supply until the expansions were built.

I changed each of those expansions appeal to 80%.

I then waited to make money and once I had enough for 2nd lowest power supply I built it. Once power supply is done being built shut it down.

I then waited until I could build hall of records. Started building it. Just before it was done being built I turned on the 2nd cheapest power supply.

Turned Hall of records appeal to 80%.

Then I waited until I could build the 3rd cheapest power supply. Built it and shut it off once it was built.

I then waited for money. Maxed out power all power supplies even the one that was shutoff.

Built a repair shop and I think it was a flower. Waiting until they were built and turned on the 3rd cheapest power supply. Up appeal to 80% on flower shop.

Then build a generator. Build next science building. Turn off generator. Science building done being built. Turn on generator.

Now you just sell lowest science when you have enough cash to build museum. After that sell lowest science for cryogenic lab to be built, Then sell lowest science for nanotech. Then build that stupid toilet (if I recall right).

While all that is going on. Build power supplies that you turn off until you need them for the end. Then sell all non power supply expansions to get the power requirement you need to beat the level.

Well, its something like that. I know I made mistakes in my short FAQ, but its been a few days since I played that stage. This will get you around a 10 mins 15 secs time if you do it efficiently and quickly. You really have to be on the ball on this stage.

BTW what is the gold medal time for this stage?

PS Don't build higher than a generator or was it dynamo for this stage. Its one of the two. The other power sources are a waste of money and take too long to build.

Also, another general little tip.

Not only should your profit for a station be positive, but it needs to be greater than the repair and power costs of keeping it open. For example, if you have a base level port that uses 90 power provided by a solar windmill, and the port is only providing a long term 2 profit, then it's in your best interest to turn it off, because you're spending 3-4 on the power to keep it open. The profit (as far as I know) is calculated by sales - operation cost, and you'll have to take power into account on your own.