Evil Genius FAQ

GAME SYNOPSIS/FAQ META-INFO

 This game is similar to Dungeon Keeper.  You're the evil boss and you have an
 underground lair to manage.  Carving out rooms from a mountain, laying traps
 and managing minions will be familiar to players of DK.

 Beyond that, you have to research new base design options, send your minions
 out into the world to commit evil acts on your behalf, and have all the fun 
 the evil Bond-villains seem to have.  If you enjoyed setting up devious traps
 in dungeon keeper, then you'll be right at home here.

 The latest version of this FAQ can be found at GameFAQs:
   http://www.gamefaqs.com/

 If you found it somewhere else, make sure to get the latest version before
 sending me any questions or comments.   Other sites are free to post it 
 without asking me so long as:
   1) It's posted in it's entirety
   2) You don't charge people to see it

NEW IN THIS FAQ:
  Version 1.1 
    Misc: Corrections, sections reorganized, quick-find tags added,
          'New in this FAQ','Uses for Topside Shacks' sections added
    FAQ: Four more questions answered
    Missions: Heat effects section added
    Rooms: Cost of building room tiles added
    Traps: More traps & strategies listed, cash rewards table.
    Henchmen: Moko & Ivan descriptions updated, XP-Per-Agent table
    Advanced Tweaking: Editing max population, tweaking game startup,
      changing hiding duration, fixing monkey-cage, several mods.
    Notoriety: Rank names, #free minions per rank table
  Version 1.0
    More questions answered in Frequently-asked, stealing values for Mercs
    and top-tier military units added.  Several missions added, loot table
    updated to show what loot leads to research.  Room objects list updated
    to show which items are researchable.  Minions section completed.  
    
    Research section finished & reorganized into a more useful tree so you
    can find what tools to use on an object quickly and what to research &
    build to lead to further research.  Trap section started.

    Notoriety section started.
  Version 0.8
    Research section added, Agents added, a few tips added, more... 
    [I forget what changed between 0.5, 0.6 and 0.8]
    
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QF2 STARTING OUT/BEGINNER'S GUIDE

 This isn't a walkthrough, just suggestions for a beginner trying to learn the
 game.  Your first game is probably going to be a scratch game as you figure
 out stuff.  You may have an easier time after you restart with better design
 ideas.

 You may want to swap your mouse buttons in Windows.  The game was set up for
 left-handed people: the RIGHT mouse button does the default action, like
 selecting, moving, clicking, etc (usually) and the left does stuff you 
 probably don't want it to, like jumping to the henchman instead of selecting
 him, etc....

 Picking an Evil Genius avatar:
 
  - Maximillian -- Research incentives cost less??  Ability is unknown.
    His area of influence is medium sized, his minions loyalty & attention
    regen at a medium rate, and he starts with Jubei as a henchman, who's 
    great at killing things and defending you.  If you murder a minion in
    range of other minions, they get +5 regenerated to all stats.

    (The game files says his special ability is 'ResearchIncentives', but 
    since his cost the same as everyone else's, this may be broken)

  - Alexis -- Minion loyalty drains much slower.
    Her area of influence is massive but her minions regen loyalty & attention 
    40% slower than Max.  She starts with Eli Barracuda as henchman, who 
    doesn't suck but is probably the worst of the three starters.  She gets
    a huge bonus to nearby minions for murdering a minion (+10 regen all stats)

  - Shen Yu -- Agents spend a much shorter time on his island.
    Area of influence is small, but regen rate is 3x Max's.  He starts with 
    Lord Kane, who's great for quickly disabling super agents when they arrive
    later (when he's teamed up with any other henchman).  He gets a medium
    bonus to all nearby minions for murdering one of your own minions (+7)

 * Thanks Sulfuras for the Alexis's special abilities.

 Everyone starts with $250,000 and the same stats.

 You can decide how secure you want your base to be.  Minions seem to fetch 
 things to build your base from the helipad and dock.  If you give your base 
 a second entrance by the helipad, you'll speed up purchases.  If you opt for 
 the single-entrance, it will be more secure.

 Build a stronghold inside your base, put a door on it.  Move your briefcase 
 rack into the new hold, then demolish the old one.  All your gold will be 
 moved automatically.

 Don't bother with any traps at first, they suck and aren't able to kill even 
 the weakest investigators.

 DO build a large barracks.  Put 3 or 4 bunk beds in it, then TONS of lockers.
 In the beginning, 1 locker = 1 extra minion, and it's the fastest way to get 
 them.  You need to have enough to man at least 3 control panels (6 minions, 
 plus 1 or 2 spares), AND a bunch to send on missions.  20 or 30 lockers 
 isn't overkill at this point.

 Go to the minions screen and set the 'workers' section to the max number 
 of minions it will let you have.  Build a control room deep inside your base 
 with 3 or 4 panels, then a power station to power it.

 Now you can start sending your workers out...  you have considerable leeway
 in the world before you capture and interrogate the maid.  Send 10-20 workers
 to the USA midwest in 'stealing' mode.  Send 5 more workers to each of the
 missions available at the start of the game (not simultaneously; complete
 each mission, replenish your workers, then move on to the next.  You may want
 7-8 for the West Africa mission).  Now send those 5 workers out, 1 per 
 country in 'Plotting' mode, to North China, Middle East, West Coast, Cuba, 
 and Siberia.  Each of those regions has at least 1 hidden 'Act of Infamy'
 that can be completed with only Workers (Cuba has two).  Wait till these
 have been uncovered, then recall those 5 workers.  Now send workers to each
 of these missions, for the Risk 1 missions (Middle East, Cuba, Siberia,
 West Coast), it's a good idea to send twice as many workers as needed.  If
 you attempt the North China and Cuba #2 mission, send at least 3-4 times
 as many.

 If you want to get ahead of yourself while you can still do anything you want
 in the world for free, you can do any of these:

 - Send 1 worker to every region of the world in 'Plot' mode to discover as
   many missions as possible.  Don't bother sending anyone to Europe, East Bloc
   or Southeast Asia though.  Check the mission list to see what you can find;
   A total of 36 missions are discoverable at this point (including the 4 you
   started with), of which 10 can be completed.  Although your notoriety wont
   let you discover missions in the hardest 3 countries, you can still plot
   there if you like so that the missions show up immediately as soon as your 
   notoriety is high enough.
 - Rack up huge amounts of cash by stealing from the Middle East or Mid-West.
   Some of the later stuff costs tons of money.  A million bucks or so should
   tide you over for a while.  50 workers sent to one of the $9-rated regions
   will bring in $20k per minute.
 - Build a hotel or two.  You can build one with 3 wings in the far part of
   the island; make 1 wing and the hub be Lobby, another Lounge and leave the
   3rd wing closed till later in the game when you get Casino.  Hotels work
   much, much better when there's a bunch of them; build several small before
   you build one huge one.
 - Build a topside shack next to the docks and airport for later.
 - Let the heat die down in the countries that you were stealing from
 
 When you're ready, capture the maid, build the interrogation chamber, then 
 interrogate her to get your first Valet.  That completes Objective 1.
 
 Now you can build other rooms and start working on the next objectives.

 After you steal the research machine and start working on the doomsday ideas,
 you'll be attacked by wave after wave of enemies carrying doomsday data.  If
 you don't want to rack up the XP, make sure to capture at least 1 person in 
 the wave (you'll see a doomsday piece icon when you left-click them if their
 squad is carrying it) and interrogate them.  If you keep killing them, their
 country will just send more and more waves till you get it.

 This is one game where it can pay to rush through trying to keep notoriety 
 low till the end.  Check the 'NOTORIETY' section for details, but it would
 be nice to not have all 5 super-agents poking around slaughtering your minions
 when you're in the middle of building your second base.
 
FAQ

  These questions are frequently asked by newcomers to the game, so check here
  before posting or emailing me:

  - How do I convert the agent in objective 2?  
    Torture him with the mess hall mixer ($12,000 item for the mess hall)

  - Why are agents tunneling into my base through the floor?
    If you have any space that's blocked off so that no-one can get to it,
    agents will come through the floor in it.  Make sure every part of your
    base is accessible.

  - How do I get rid of the super-agents? 
    You can't until you get to Island 2.  Then their missions will become
    unlocked as you progress through the plot.
 
  - Why are waves and waves of enemies attacking me?  My freezer is full and
    they just keep coming.
    You're likely on the 'collect doomsday pieces' objective; click on an
    enemy agent; if they have a logo of a doomsday piece, you must capture and
    interrogate at least one of them.  If you don't, that country will keep
    sending waves after you till you do.

  - How do I get more than 100 minions?  
    This is the cap initially.  I find it sufficient to play through with 10
    of each top-tier minion, 5 each of the middle ones, and 10 workers.  If you
    want more though (more is always fun), see the end of the FAQ for the
    'ADVANCED GAME TWEAKING' section.  Be cautioned that the game may bug out
    if you have more than 100 minions when you move to island 2; some of your
    loot may be lost.

  - My base is going nuts!  The Alert level jumps to yellow or red, and my
    doors get bumped down to security level 1.  Is this a bug?
    Unfortunately not.  You're being tormented by the SABRE agent John Steele.
    You probably want to nail this guy as soon as he lands on your island and
    before he makes it into any of your buildings (once he does he'll 'Cause
    Base Chaos' constantly till he's captured or leaves)

  - Do I need 5 of each crate?
    No, you just need 25 crates.  It's probably better to piss off only one
    territory instead of all 5.

  - How do I build the rocket cavern & pieces?
    Right-click on the big cavern in the middle of the 2nd island.