Motherload
Created by Xgen Studios (xgenstudios.com)
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.: Table of Contents :.------------------------------------------------
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To jump to the section you are looking for, hold CTRL+F and enter the
code listed beside each section.
(EX: If you want to jump to “Walkthrough”, type in [WALKT])
1. Update History [UDHST]
2. Introduction [INTRD]
3. Plot Synopsis [PLOUT]
4. Basics [BSICS]
5. Shops [SHOPS]
-Fuel Depot [5.1]
-Mineral Depot [5.2]
-Junk Shop [5.3]
-Repair Station [5.4]
-Save Pod [5.5]
6. Walkthrough [WALKT]
-0 ft [6.0]
-500 ft [6.500]
-1000 ft [6.1000]
-1750 ft [6.1750]
-2100 ft [6.2100]
-2500 ft [6.2500]
-3100 ft [6.3100]
-3500 ft [6.3500]
-4100 ft [6.4100]
-5812 ft [6.5812]
-6200 ft [6.6200]
-7000 ft [6.7000]
-7300 ft [6.7300]
-66666 ft [6.66666]
-Playing again [6.PLAY]
7. Challenge Mode [CHLNG]
-Challenge 1 [7.1]
-Challenge 2 [7.2]
-Challenge 3 [7.3]
-Challenge 4 [7.4]
-Challenge 5 [7.5]
-Challenge 6 [7.6]
-Challenge 7 [7.7]
-Challenge 8 [7.8]
-Challenge 9 [7.9]
-Challenge 10 [7.10]
-Challenge 11 [7.11]
-Challenge 12 [7.12]
8.  Secrets [SCRTS]
-”Mr. Dog” [8.MDOG]
-The Martian Oilers [8.MOIL]
- The Ancient Relics [8.ARLC]
- Cheats [8.CHTS]
9. Copyright info. [CRGHT]
10. Credits and Contact info. [CRDTS]
(Type in [GOLDIUM] To search for Goldium Edition Notes)
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1. .: Update History :.-----------------------------------------[UDHST]
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-06/12/08 3:00AM
Idea started for the guide.
-06/20/08 6:06PM
Version 1.0: Finished version 1.0 of the guide, submitting to Gamefaqs.
-06/20/08 3:27PM
Version 1.1: Noticed a few format issues with the titles, Now fixed.
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2. .: Introduction :.-------------------------------------------[INTRD]
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Welcome! I am DJxChrome, and this is the very first walkthrough I have
written. I decided that for my first guide I would tackle a relatively
small game, and I decided to write a guide for Motherload, since I’m
absolutely fascinated and a little obsessed with the game. Motherload
is a game made by Xgen Studios, and it’s more of a flash game than an
actual game. However, with the release of Motherload: Goldium Edition,
which is an expanded version of the original game, the game became a
little bit more than that. Motherload is a game similar to Dig-Dug, in
which you dig up ores and minerals from Martian Soil. Motherload is
hosted on many sites, such as Miniclip.com, Shockwave.com, and of
course Xgenstudios.com. Xgen Studios offers Motherload: Goldium Edition
on a CD or a downloadable file, on a CD for around $20.00 and the
download for $15.00. The CD is actually pretty cool, with the artwork
and details on the game bundled with it, but you of course get
everything you would need from the download. The regular version of
Motherload is just as fun, and can be played from any of the hosts
mentioned above. But without further ado, let us continue with the
walkthrough!
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3. .: Plot Outline :.-------------------------------------------[PLOUT]
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You are a human miner sent to Mars to excavate valuable ores from
the Martian soil. You operate a digging pod called an AATV, which is a
ship will a massive drill that is capable of digging into the ground
many feet per second. As you are dropped from a spacecraft onto the
surface of Mars, you receive a transmission from your boss, Mr. Natas,
welcoming you to Mars and giving you details on your job and mission.
As you dig further and further underground, however, you start noticing
strange happenings behind the scenes...
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4. .: Basics :.-------------------------------------------------[BSICS]
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Your pod is controlled by the four arrow keys on your keyboard. It can
also be controlled with the W, A, S, and D keys (W= Up, A=Left, S=Down,
D= Right). When you move your pod toward diggable soil, it will
automatically drill into the soil. It impossible to dig straight up.
You may notice some discolored patches in the soil. These are, of
course, the minerals, and they are what you are after in the game. Just
dig into the patch like you would regular soil, and you’ll collect the
mineral. It is instantly stored into your cargo bay, or inventory. Once
you are done collecting the minerals you need, you can trade them for
money at the mineral depot on the surface.
At the title screen, there are two 3 options: New Game, Load Game, and
Instructions. New Game will start you out at the beginning of the game,
Load Game will load a previous game played from exactly the point in
which you saved at the save pod, and Instructions will tell you the
basic basics of the game.
If you click New Game, you will see your digging pod dropped from the
spaceship and Mr. Natas will send you a transmission.
The interface is as follows:
-Hull meter: This is the red cylinder directly in the top-left corner
of your screen. This is your health. If you drop too hard onto a solid
surface, or you hit a lava of gas pocket (explained later), you will
lose health. You must be extremely careful in the beginning of the
game, because you don’t start out with a lot of health. Later in the
game, though, you can purchase upgrades which will give you more
health. You can refill your hull meter at the Repair Station located on
the surface for a certain amount of money. If you run out of Hull, it’s
game over.
-Fuel meter: This is the brownish cylinder located right next to the
Hull meter. You will notice that over time, it will start getting lower
and lower. You must refill it at the Fuel Depot located on the surface
for a relatively small amount of money. This means that you only have a
limited amount of time before you are required to return to the surface
and refuel. You have a very small fuel meter at the beginning of the
game, and can only mine a few minerals before you’ll have to refuel.
However, later in the game, you can purchase upgrades which will slow
your fuel meter from emptying, giving you more time to mine. If you run
out of Fuel, it’s game over.
-Score: The score is located right next to the Fuel Meter. The number
increases when you dig up minerals and perform other actions. If your
score is high enough, you can submit the score online to the High-Score
leader boards. If you are playing Goldium Edition, and you play an
offline game, however, the score is relatively useless. Your Score
resets to 0 if you are playing an online game and you save your game at
the Save pod.
-Altimeter: The altimeter is located directly under the Hull meter. The
altimeter is a very useful tool that tells you how far you are
underground, or, if you feel like it, how high you are in the sky. The
surface of Mars is located at 0 feet. At different depths underground,
you will receive certain transmissions that further the plot of the
game, and you can also use it as a checkpoint to remember how far
underground you dug when taking a trip to the surface.
-Money: The amount of money you have is located at the top of your
screen, in the middle. Money is used to purchase upgrades to your pod,
fuel, Hull repairs, and certain objects that help you throughout the
game. Your money increases when you sell your minerals to the Mineral
Depot, and sometimes under other circumstances. When you purchase
something, the cost is subtracted from the money you have. You start
out with $20 with which you can purchase little more than fuel (In
Goldium Edition, you have $0), and as you progress through the game,
the value will increase greatly.
-Inventory: The Inventory button is the green button shaped like your
digging pod with the letters “INV” stamped on it, and it is located in
the top-right corner of the screen. If you click it, it will bring up
the Inventory Menu, from which you can view various things.
At the top left, you will see a percentage that tells you how full
of minerals your cargo bay is. The percentage increases with every
mineral you collect. If it gets to 100%, you cannot hold any more
minerals in your pod. You can upgrade your cargo bay in order to store
more minerals. You can lower the number by dropping minerals, which can
be done by clicking on the mineral.
Under the percentage is the weight of your pod. This number also
increases with every mineral you collect, and usually the more a
mineral is worth, the heavier it is. The heaviest minerals can slow
down your pod’s upward acceleration. How fast your pod can fly or move
can be improved with the purchase of an engine upgrade.
Under your weight is the list of equipment your pod is using. The
equipment consists of a Drill, Hull, Engine, Fuel Tank, Radiator, and
Cargo Bay. The functions of the different pieces of equipment are
explained in the “Shops” section. They can all be upgraded at the Junk
Shop, located on the surface, for a considerable amount of money.
Upgrading your equipment is crucial in progressing in the game.
Under the Equipment List is the Items. The different items are
Reserve Fuel Tank, Hull Repair Nanobots, Dynamite, Plastic Explosives,
Quantum Teleporter, and Matter Transmitter. The functions of these
items are explained in the “Shops” section. If you have none of the
item, it will have a faded picture of the item. If you do, then the
picture will light up, and a number will be beside it, telling you how
many of that item you have.
Taking up the right half of the Inventory screen is one of the
vital elements of the game: the minerals. The different minerals are
Ironium, Bronzium, Silverium, Goldium, Platinium, Einsteinium,
Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds, and Amazonite. The worth of these minerals
is listed in the “Shops” section, and the description of the minerals
is listed below in this section.
-Options: Beside the inventory button is the options button, which is a
green button shaped like a wrench with the word “OPTION” stamped upon
it. Clicking on this button brings up the options interface. From here
you can control the volume of the sounds and music in the game, and you
can also toggle the graphical features that look cool, but aren’t
really needed. It is also from here that you can choose to end your
current game.
-Help: Beside the Options button is the Help button, which is a green
button shaped like a question mark with the word “HELP” stamped on it.
This brings up the Instructions screen, which tells the basic basics of
the game, identical to the Instructions on the Title Menu.
Besides regular soil, There are a whole bunch of things that you can
dig up on Mars.
The minerals are discolored patches located underground. When you dig
into them, you collect them and they are stored in your Cargo Bay.
These are the minerals:
-Ironium: A dark grayish mineral
-Bronzium: A bright orange mineral
-Silverium: A white mineral
-Goldium: A yellowish mineral
-Platinium: A bright bluish mineral
-Einsteinium: A blueish green blocky mineral protruding from the soil
-Emerald: A green gem-shaped mineral
-Ruby: A red rectangle-shaped mineral
-Diamond: A white gem-shaped mineral
-Amazonite: A blue-greenish shiny mineral shaped like little crystals
Again, the worth of these minerals is explained in the “Shops” section.
As you dig, you will sometimes notice other things besides minerals in
the soil. There are valuable treasures and obstacles buried in the
Martian soil.
The treasures are like minerals, except they give you money instantly
instead of having you sell them to the mineral depot. The treasures
start appearing at about -1000 ft. They are as follows:
-Dinosaur Bones: A skull of a raptor and a bone. Worth $1000
-Treasure: A Treasure Chest full of jewels. Worth $5000
-Martian Skeleton: A human-like skeleton. Worth $10,000
-Religious Artifact: An Egyptian ankh, which is shaped like a cross
except with the top part in the form of a loop. Worth $50,000
Obstacles will hinder your performance. There are four different
obstacles:
-Boulders: Boulders are a big gray mass of rock that you cannot dig
through. The only way to get rid of boulders is by blowing them up with
dynamite or plastic explosives (or by using the Multi-Drill, only in
Goldium Edition). Boulders are very annoying when you are trying to
make a straight path to the bottom, and the further down you go, the
more boulders will appear.
-Lava Pocket: Lava Pockets are a bright red colored patch in the soil.
If you try to dig through Lava Pockets, they will damage your hull.
They start to appear after digging about 3100 ft underground. In the
early stages of the game, Lava Pockets are dangerous, perhaps deadly.
However, upgrading your radiator lessens the damage taken by Lava
Pockets. All in all, a strong hull and a strong radiator will save you
from death when hitting a Lava Pocket.
-Gas Pocket: The deadliest obstacle you will encounter, the Gas Pockets
are most dangerous because they are undetectable. That’s right, Gas
Pockets look just the same as a regular, brown patch of soil, and it’s
impossible to tell the difference. Gas Pockets can appear as early as
4700 ft underground, so take caution at around 4500 ft. When you hit a
Gas Pocket, it will explode and clear the soil around your pod by one
square. The explosion is just like a dynamite blast, except it damages
your hull. There is no way to lessen the damage except by purchasing a
strong hull. Only the Einsteinium Hull and the Energy-Shielded Hull can
withstand the blast. If you don’t have it and you hit a Gas Pocket,
expect a Game Over.
-Earthquakes: Earthquakes occur after you’ve dug a certain amount of
feet underground. They only occur when you are on the surface, more
precisely just after you’ve left a shop. You’ll know when an Earthquake
occurs as the screen will tremor, and a big red flashing exclamation
mark will appear. Earthquakes upset the soil, meaning that any pathways
you’ve dug are now rearranged with soil patches, creating an incomplete
path.
[GOLDIUM] (In the Goldium Edition, you can also find an ancient
blueprint underground, which will give you one of the Ancient Relics.
See the “Secrets” section for more information about the Ancient
Relics. You can also dig up Oil from soil patches, also explained in
the “Secrets” section.)
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5. .: Shops :.--------------------------------------------------[SHOPS]
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On the surface, there are various shops operated by machinery, and not
by actual life forms. To access a shop, take your pod and run it over
to the shop. There are four main shops, and they are all vital to
progressing in the game. They are as follows:
-Fuel Depot [5.1]
The Fuel Depot is located to the very left on the surface. When you
access it, a menu pops up. On the left, It shows an enlarged meter of
your current fuel, and under the meter it shows how many liters of fuel
are in your tank opposed to the max it can hold. There are five
buttons: You can either purchase $5, $10, $25, or $50 of fuel, or you
can click the Fill Tank button to automatically fill your tank,
subtracting the corresponding amount from your money. I usually
recommend the fill tank option, but if your low on cash then you can
use the other options. Fuel is relatively low in price, and if you
don’t have enough you can usually mine a few Bronzium minerals from the
soil and you’ll have enough to fill your tank.
-Mineral Depot [5.2]
The Mineral Depot is located next to the Fuel Depot. This is where you
sell the minerals you’ve collected for cash. When the menu opens, you
will see a list of the minerals you’ve collected, how many, the value
of each mineral, and the total value of each mineral, which is the
value multiplied by the quantity. At the bottom right, you will see the
total value of all your minerals added together, and to the left of
that you will see an option that says “[SELL ALL]”. Click it, and you
will receive the total value of all your minerals in cash. The value of
all the minerals are as follows:
-Ironium:      $30
-Bronzium:     $60
-Silverium:    $100
-Goldium:      $250
-Platinium:    $750
-Einsteinium:  $2,000
-Emerald:      $5,000
-Ruby:         $20,000
-Diamond:      $100,000
-Amazonite:    $500,000
-Junk Shop [5.3]
The Junk Shop is where you buy upgrades to the equipment on your pod.
It’s located to the left of the Repair Station, and to the right of the
Save Pod. When you go to it, The Upgrades menu pops up. There are small
buttons in the top-left of the menu. If you mouse over these buttons,
You will see in the small screen above the buttons what section of the
menu these buttons will open. Also, there are small stamps on the
buttons which represent what they will open. There are 7 buttons:
Drill, Hull, Engine, Fuel Tank, Radiator, Cargo Bay, and an Exit
button. If you click on one of these buttons (except the Exit button),
you will open a menu to upgrade the part you selected. You will see a
picture of your current equipment and a list of upgrades that are
available for purchase. If you click on the picture of an upgrade, you
will see a small statistic and how much it costs under the picture of
your current part, and what it is called under the upgrade options. If
you would like to purchase it, press the “[PURCHASE]” option under the
cost.
The upgrades are listed by the name, the improvement, and the cost.
They are as follows:
-Drill: Upgrading your drill improves how fast your pod will dig into
the soil. Drill speed will slow down the deeper you dig into the soil.
Drill speed is represented in feet per second. There are 6 Upgrades.
Stock Drill: