GENE WARS HINTS & TIPS
The Alex Trowers Guide To... Genewars: The Early Levels. 



Level One: Exceland.
Instruct your Engineer to start building the base immediately.  There is only 
one mineral patch, so start there and work outwards.  If you use your 
Geneticist, be careful as it is all too easy to get him killed by the 
indigenous Mules that are located to the West.  The best bet is to try and lure 
just one of them away before you research, as a single Mule can easily be 
stunned by a Geneticist. 

Level Two: Krell.
Try to work up to a Genepod as soon as possible.  You will need an Extractor, 
First Stage Distributor and a Photon Processor first.  Your Botanist should be 
planting around the base and harvesting any new plant types he sees.  Use the 
GOOP from the Extractor to make as many Mules as you can.  Take this 
opportunity to ensure that your Mule research is up to 50% (It is impossible to 
research any higher than this at this stage).  When the Ethereals next arrive, 
send your entire Mule army to the marked Zone and wait.

Level Three: Madami.
As your base is pretty much established, all you really need to worry about is 
getting the GOOP cycle going.  Get your Genepod and Recycler up and running as 
soon as possible.  While this is happening, your Botanist should be replacing 
his seed supplies with those for the new Root plant.  These are a more 
efficient grassland plant than the Bulbs.  Your Geneticist is not so useful on 
this level as by now you should have Mule research at 50%.  Use him in 
emergency to defend the base from enemy attacks.  You will need to make a GOOP 
Vat or two to hold the right amount of GOOP to win the level.  In reality you 
will also only need around 5 - 8 Mules to work the forests.  Try to let the 
Roots get established before unleashing your recycling horde.  There is another 
base on this level but it is largely inactive.  Explore it if you wish, maybe 
even practice an assault on it.  The base isn't a threat to you, though. 

Level Four: Roach.
The Zones on this level will be contested by another player, so you should be 
prepared to act fast.  Again, getting your Genepod up and running is the top 
priority.  A core of Mules should be used to maintain the GOOP cycle and defend 
the base, while a larger group should be assigned to go after the Zones and 
kill any enemy Mules they find.  Just to the North East of the base is a group 
of indigenous creatures that should not really be angered; it is more hassle to 
try and deal with two different foes.  Your Ranger should be used alongside 
your Geneticist to protect the base, as this level will be over before you get 
a breeding programme underway.  Be warned that letting the computer player deal 
with the Zones will result in the Ethereals punishing you for not pulling your 
weight.  Watch the direction the Ethereal Scouts travel when they arrive - this 
shows which zone you should be concentrating on first. 
Level Five: Brown.
From here on in, it starts to get a bit tricky and even more interesting.  This 
is the first time you get to pick which particular Specialists you take to the 
surface of the planet.  Don't waste your best Specialists here, unless you are 
sure you can handle it.  As it's a Zone mission, there is plenty of opportunity 
to upgrade them - just make sure that you select at least one of each type.  
You should dispatch your Geneticist almost immediately to the Zone in the North 
East.  Here he will find a herd of indigenous Crabs which he should obviously 
research as much as possible. 
Build one Extractor in the middle of the closest mineral patch, build a 
Distributor mid-way between the two mineral patches (making sure that the first 
Extractor is in range) and build a second Extractor on the Northernmost mineral 
patch.  Two Extractors should provide you with a constant GOOP supply in the 
early stages; they will also increase your storage capacity.  When this is 
done, it will make your base building much easier. 
Your next problem is dealing with attacks.  There will be Mules (and indigenous 
Crabs if any are left) approaching from the Zone, plus Crabs sneaking through 
the water to the South.  Note that when creatures are underwater they do not 
appear on the scanner map.  You should try to establish a base defense force of 
several creatures, ideally Crabs.  Position them in such a way that they will 
be in the path of advancing creatures; that way they should automatically 
intercept any attackers.  When the first Zone is depleted, another one will 
appear.  It is quite near the enemy base, which gives him a big advantage.  
Immediately steam the Mules that you used in the first Zone (you were 
responsible for the Zone depletion, weren't you?) up to the second.  This can b
e reinforced by Crabs which you can send through the water (a more direct 
route).  There is another plant type here, too It's a more efficient version of 
the Bloom for the desert, but it means your Botanist will have to go out on a 
limb.  This is also the first level that you will be able to get Hybrids 
(cross-bred creatures) and upgrade buildings.  Hybrids aren't really a problem, 
but upgrading buildings can be quite tricky.  Just make sure your Pulper is 
full, and you have at least three Crabs and three Mules.  If you do upgrade 
your Genepod, you should try to research all available creatures to the new 
limit of 75%. 

The rest of the levels.
You will usually have to act fast.  Get your base established quickly, and get 
as many defensive creatures out as possible.  The other levels become a lot 
easier if you attempt to neutralize the enemy bases early on, although this is 
not always possible.