An early guide to Neocron
This short synopsis of gameplay was taken from the original NC1 guide, first published in September 2002. It is written in the style of a veteran's advice to a new citizen, and contains information still relevant today. Enjoy!
"Welcome to Neocron, the city where you can find your fortune and which will make you feel at home soon ..."
This is what is written in the official immigrant welcome note NCN277.C3 of the city
administration. And it is in fact true: Of course Neocron will 'make you feel at home',
for who would want to live in the radioactive poison of the wastelands? But will you
really 'find your fortune' here? Well – one thing is for sure: If you don't find your
fortune in Neocron, you will find it nowhere else, as there are only two more cities
on the world apart from Neocron. And both Tokyo 2 and the Dome of York are so far away
from Neocron that you won't even think about traveling there across the poisoned Earth.
The most interesting and at the same time most disturbing thing about welcome note NCN277.C3
however is the following statement: 'Thousands of friendly inhabitants are looking forward
to meeting you!' ... Mhmmm ... Well, I've been living in Neocron for more than 20 years,
and in all these years I've met only three people who could be classed as anything near
'friendly'. The majority of the population is rather deceitful, greedy and partly armed to
the teeth. And let's be honest: NOBODY is looking forward to meeting you. The good news is
that nobody hates you either .... That's something at least. On the contrary: You just don't
matter to the majority. You're an unknown quantity ... a nothing ... And it's up to you to
either come to terms with that or try to show the others that they cannot afford to
ignore you.
But we don't want to rush things. Some lines further down, NCN277.C3 says: 'We owe it to
our wise and most generous ruler Lioon Reza that you and any other citizens in this city
are assigned an apartment free of charge.' Big Deal: After the majority of the population
traveled to the OffWorld Colonies, more than half of the skyscrapers were left empty.
Therefore, the government's generous sacrifice consisted in giving some of the tiniest and
shabbiest apartments to the newcomers. Well, whatever ... You don't need to worry about
housing. Perhaps you will be able to afford one of the better apartments in the Via Rosso
district. For the time being you will have to make do with your micro apartment though.
In order to change this in the course of time, I'll give you some tips about how you can
get ahead in Neocron.
Earn your first money!
No matter which career you choose ... at the beginning you are nothing. Most newcomers swear
by earning their first bucks in the city's canalization. The sewers below the Plaza and
Via Rosso are not too dirty, but teeming with vermin. Therefore it's not a bad idea to start
by hunting vermin. The CityAdmin credits a reward for each killed crawling pal to your
account ... Besides, hunting vermin exercises the usage of small-bore weapons, knifes etc.
The canalizations below the districts of Pepper Park and Outzone however are a more difficult
strip. Even fully grown mutants and other dangerous opponents are said to live there.
Take on orders from companies and organizations (factions).
Consider taking on missions for one of the numerous companies in Neocron, when your equipment
and your skills have improved. There's always work to do for the companies and organizations.
Just go to a CityCom terminal (these are not only to be found in your apartment, but also
everywhere in town at central locations) and download the available missions. It makes sense
to remain loyal to a faction. The more missions you successfully complete for them, the more
they will trust in your abilities. The loyalty you show to a company or an organization will
pay in the course of time.
Found a clan and take on complex missions.
When you have accomplished a couple of missions for the companies and organizations, you will
realize that the factions are not always at peace with each other. Real complex missions are
only rarely given to individuals. The factions prefer to commission whole groups of their
most royal supporters. When you have proved trustworthy for a faction through your loyalty,
they will offer you the chance to found a so-called faction clan. This clan enables you to
take on complex missions from the factions reaching from simple escorts to declarations of
war against other companies and their clans. On the other hand, you can also join an already
existing clan and fight your way up the job ladder as a useful member.
Conquer factories, labs, communication facilities etc.
If you succeed in founding a powerful clan, it won't take long until the conquest of so-
called outposts (factories, labs, communication facilities, mines and defense systems) in
the Wastelands is on your to-do list. The factions pay high rewards for gathering and stocking
development resources. Never forget that there are other companies and clans in Neocron as well
... Just when you feel cozy and warm in an outpost with your clan, a surprise attack could be
on the agenda.
Some amount of time will pass before you progress from a greenhorn to a powerful clan member
or even a leader. Until then I can only advise you to find as many friends and allies as
possible in Neocron ... since a group is always stronger than a lone fighter.
Good luck, my friend ...
