Hints, Tips, & Tricks
Compiled by Sandy Kettenhofen and Tuncer Deniz

Pax Imperia
Tip: In the ship build window, when you choose a planet to build on, the shipyard and factory capacity of that planet will be shown next to the factory and shipyard capacity needed for the ship you're building. If the shipyard and factory capacity is less than that of the ship you are building, it will take more than one turn to build.  Moral: Shop around for planets to build things on.

Trick: After the initial turn you'll have very little money left over. You'll want to immediately hike your tax rate to 15-20%. You always want to pump up technology. I devote 1/4 – 1/3 of my surplus to technology. I hold off allocating anything to espionage until I actually encounter another race. If population is getting to be a problem I increase social spending. This also has the benefit of allowing me to increase taxes even higher, but decreases the productivity of your factories and shipyards. I always allocate 100% to fleet and 100% – 200% to colonies depending on how fast I want them to grow. Chris Stehlik

Tip: Alternate between high and low tax levels. Once you've built an adequate number of ships for current needs, stop building ships altogether, and concentrate on R&D until your tech levels have gone up by about four to six in each category (weapons & shields particularly). When you're ready to replace the worst of your ships, bring the tax rate down and replace a whole class. Then crank the rate back up. A reasonably productive homeworld can build a fair-sized squadron in three turns with a low tax rate. Alan Cherry

SIM ANT
Trick: Try making walls of rocks around the food areas, leaving the side toward your nest open. This keeps all but the soldier ant that guards the food out.  

Trick: The ways to kill off the red colonies work very well, if you do them correctly. First, right at the beginning of the game (Quick or Full), go over to the red nest and fill it with rocks. That gets them mad and lets your colony thrive. Kill the weak ants when they get to the surface. 

Trick: Border the red ant hole on the surface with rocks. Don't put one on top or they will dig another hole. This tricks them into not digging another exit. Then they get killed by the lawnmower.

Trick: If you want to be cannibalistic, then early on try to encase the queen in rocks and take her eggs to the surface. Eat them when your health gets critical.  

Trick: For the full game only: Try to breed quickly and take over the house BEFORE killing off the red colony in your sector. This lets you win immediately after killing the red colony — it doesn't allow another red colony pop up.  Shawn Jordan

King's Quest VI
Hint: The flowers in the garden are too shy to respond to any of your inquiries, but, they can be approached if their attention is diverted by something musical.

Tip: After discovering how to travel between islands visit the Isle of the Sacred Mountain first, then travel to the Isle of Wonder. You will not be able to get very far if you visit the Isle of Wonder first. 

Hint: "Talk" to everything. You may get a smart-aleck answer back but you may also be surprised. 

Hint: Keep your eyes open for the twinkle in someone else's eye. It helps a lot throughout the entire game.

Tip: Once you sneak into the castle, you will not be coming back out again. Make certain that you have accomplished everything you need to before gaining subversive entry. Sandy Kettenhofen 

Tip: For those who are wondering why the game quits when you drink the potion marked "Drink Me" (found in the garden), it's because you're only supposed to drink it at one specific location. According to Sierra, Prince Alexander should drink the potion in the pawn shoppe AND ONLY when the genie is present. Gary Le - San Jose, Ca 

Might & Magic III
Tip: Purchase the skill of Master Merchant for all you party members. This will save quite a substantial amount of gold throughout the course of the game. Not only in buying and selling items but in obtaining training as well. Burt Johnson

Trick: While in the chamber of the Dragon Lord use your Wizards' Eye spell. There is a very valuable hidden chamber off to the side that can be reached only by teleporting. 

Tip: The dungeon below Castle Blackwind is an extremely frustrating maze. All of the necessary statues occupy the corners of the room. Teleport to the corners and you will be able to complete the dungeon without having to find the correct path.  

Tip: The Swampy Island has deadly areas of quicksand. Whenever you are exploring outside of Swamptown be sure to "levitate" your party.  

Hint: In the dungeon below Castle Greywind "some" of the piles of treasure are real.  

Tip: There are four hourglasses in the dungeon of Castle Greywind. You can make the fourth one appear by turning the three visible hourglasses so the sand is at the top and then ring the gong.  

Trick: The Ultimate Power Orbs that are the most difficult to obtain are the ones located in the Main Engine Sector. When the crystals along the corridors are touched they produce artificial aging, however, there are places where there are crystals behind the foremost ones. If you are able to locate these crystals they will transport you into a room where another UPO has been stored. Sandy Kettenhofen 

Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Trick: One of the reasons why the graphics in LeChuck's Revenge look so great is the addition of customized graphics smoothing techniques that boost the resolution beyond the original DOS version. Type "rough" anytime during the game to see a frightening demonstration of this feature. Features like this really do make LeChuck's Revenge a Macintosh game in its own right, not just another flimsy DOS port. Douglas Kiang 

If you have a Hint, Tip, or Trick, we will include it in the magazine. Send it to Sandy Kettenhofen on CompuServe (75020,512) or Tuncer Deniz on America Online (IMGames).