Nuclear Wasteland 1 Wherigo Cache

Nuclear Wasteland 1 is a role-playing adventure game for the Wherigo. It has been designed to appeal to RPG fans of retro-style adventure computer games, particularly those who remember Wasteland from 1988. The year now is 2108. Devastating nuclear war has destroyed all life as we know it. You are an elite Ranger whose job is to keep the peace in the various settlements that have sprung up since the wars. The entire gameplay takes place within Green Park and St James's Park.

A devastating nuclear war between the superpowers has wrought devastation throughout the world. Now, almost two decades after the war, you take on the role of an elite Green Park Ranger whose job it is to investigate recent disturbances and skirmishes that have occurred in various settlements throughout this post-nuclear world. As a highly trained Ranger, you will operate independently and communicate with Base HQ via your kit Radio. You will receive your mission instructions and continual updates via your Task list.

Much of the world has been devastated by a terrible nuclear war and vast tracts of land still remain highly radioactive many years after the apocalyptic events. These areas are still highly dangerous and will kill you in an instant if you venture there without wearing proper protective gear! However, three main survivalist outposts, Farmers Ville, Silent Pool and Lakeside Nomads have been established in these wastelands. These small and disparate communities of survivors will eventually band together to build a new society. Your mission is to visit each settlement in turn to speak to the local community leaders and find out what assistance they need from you.

Farmers Ville is the closest settlement to the Ranger Center and it is also the community least afflicted by the radiation plaguing the rest of the land. Be aware that there is a dangerous radiation belt between Farmers Ville and Silent Pool/Lakeside Nomads, under no circumstances do you venture to these other communities without wearing some appropriate protective gear!

As a new Ranger, you are issued with the following. It is a good idea to familiarise yourself with these items before you leave the Ranger Center and start your first mission.

• Wallet - you are issued with a basic amount of cash to survive in the wasteland.
• Pistol - a standard issue weapon for any Ranger, you may need it if you are ever attacked by a mutant. Remember to always equip the pistol!
• Health Meter - you use this to check your health status. When your health reaches 0%, you will die. Remember that death in the wasteland is always FINAL.
• Radio - once you leave the Ranger Center, this is your only means of communication with Base HQ. Use this often to gain promotions and to learn new skills that will help you advance in your missions in the wasteland.
• World Map - an essential kit item that enables you to navigate from one settlement to another.
• Skills - this Skills object contains all the Skills you have acquired as a Ranger. You may use these Skills by selecting them in the appropriate context.

The full suite of Ranger skills are: Medic, Climbing, Assault Rifle, Lockpicking, Safecracking, Mechanics, Explosives, Melee and Perception. There are 9 skills in total and you acquire them using Skill Points. You start the game with 3 Skill Points which you can spend at the Skills Machine in the Ranger Center. Be careful to choose your initial skills carefully! You might want to take advice from our Ranger Advisors on how to select the best skills for your current rank. You do not have to learn any skills using the Skill Machine if you are unsure, you can always learn skills remotely using your Radio once you leave the Ranger Center.

As a Ranger, you receive training to be an effective soldier and peace-keeper but you start off only with the most basic skill: Medic. The Medic skill is pretty self-explanatory, you use it to heal yourself of battle injuries, provided you have bandages handy. You are also issued with a starter kit of 12 bandages and you may obtain more from various supply shops. Use your bandages judiciously or you may find yourself running out in the midst of battle.

Another example of a useful Skill is Lockpicking. If you find a locked door that you cannot get past, use Skills->Lockpicking to get the lock open. The rest of the Skills are self-explanatory and will be described in the cartridge.

Use your Radio frequently to contact HQ to see if you have qualified for a promotion in rank. Each promotion you obtain means that you get more Skill Points to spend. You gain experience for promotions by eliminating enemies and accomplishing tasks. Using the Radio, you can also learn new Skills to add to your repertoire. Remember that you do not always need to use up Skill Points as soon as you earn them. Save them up for the time when you know you're going to need a particular skill to achieve a particular task.

As soon as your health reaches 0%, you die. Remember that death is final in the wasteland, and you will have to restart your mission if you are unfortunate enough to get killed. To recover your health, you can either heal yourself with the Medic skill (and bandages) or consume food items. You may also be able to find a nurse or doctor in the wasteland who can help you (for a fee).

Nuclear Wasteland is a combat-oriented RPG and so fighting is an important aspect of the gameplay. You have to Attack a character repeatedly (and take hits from them) to finally subdue them. Overcoming the hostile enemies that stand in your way is the only way to gain experience to obtain rank promotions. However do bear in mind that you do not have to attack everything in sight, nor do you have to buy up the entire contents of a supply shop - use your cash wisely or you'll definitely run out before the end of your mission. There is no way for Base HQ to replenish your cash! Also, if you drop any item that you have in your inventory, it will vanish in the dust of the wasteland forever. Take care not to drop anything unless you are absolutely sure you won't need it anymore.

The entire mission will take approximately 2-2.5 hours to complete. You have to complete the set list of Tasks in your Task list to complete your missions in the wasteland. Upon successfully finishing your final mission, you will then have to find a physical geocache (a bison tube) and sign the log in order to log the geocache on geocaching.com. Your log entries may be deleted if you do not sign the actual cache logbook.

These two eminent Rangers have served in the hostile wasteland for many years and they have a few words of advice for novices just starting their first mission. It would be very wise to heed their words and take careful notes.

Colonel Holga Plastich (served 2089 - 2105)

"I will tell you, those early years were the toughest! We were continually overrun by mutants and other irradiated creatures. The huge scaly lizards were the worst! One thing that saved me was having very good Perception. To me, that is the most crucial and important skill a Ranger can have, after knowing the basic medical stuff. When something is slightly amiss or you're unsure about something a little odd in the room, Perception can make the difference between getting stuck or finding the right solution. My advice is to learn Perception as early as possible and to use it whenever you are the slightest bit unsure of what to do next."

"As for learning skills, I always wait until I know what new skill I will need before learning them via the Radio. That way, I know my Skill Points are always well-spent."

"Make sure you eat well to maintain your health. The survivors in the wasteland are pretty keen on burritos for some reason. They are delicious but they can make you fat so eat them sparingly! And stay away from the booze, you've been warned."

Sgt Major Frank Solida (served 2095 - 2106)

"In my day, when we were touring the various settlements, we found plenty of stuff that the survivors salvaged from before the war. Stuff like wooden clubs, jewellery, broken toasters and small knives. My advice to you is, these things are a dime a dozen in the wasteland. If you find anything like a club or a broken toaster, just sell it at your first opportunity. Most supply shops will accept goods and give you some cash. It's a good way to earn some spare cash if you are running a bit low."

"The standard issue pistol for Rangers these days is the M1911A1 pistol, it uses a .45 ACP round in a 7-shot magazine but we have since modified it so it fires automatically however many shots you like, it is auto-reloading. It will scare off some mutant cactus, but if you can upgrade your weapon, make sure you do so. Your life may depend on it."

"Last but not least, good luck, Ranger! Keep your wits about you and you'll do fine. It isn't going to be easy but then again, only the best can make it all the way to the top!"

Download Nuclear Wasteland 1

For general Wherigo instructions, visit the Wherigo website.

Location Information

Gameplay takes place within Green Park and St James's Park but the final geocache is hidden somewhere outside these parks. Take note that Green Park is open 24/7 and St James's Park closes at midnight. Please observe the park opening hours as there are CCTV cameras all over St James's Park and you may be approached by police. The final cache location is available 24/7 but please avoid behaving suspiciously. Disabled Cachers: Please get in touch with us before attempting this mission.

General Wherigo Tips

The cartridge takes up just under 1MB of space, ensure your GPS device or smartphone battery is fully charged and bring spares if possible. GPS devices can have sluggish response times so please wait up to 15-20 seconds for a response (especially when using the World Map) before pressing a button again. When you finish the game, you will be given a Completion Code to log the cartridge on wherigo.com. If the code fails to work, try using only the first 15-characters of the code.

Testing Notes

This cartridge has been tested extensively on the Oregon 200 and both of the most popular smartphone types. Because of its complexity, we cannot guarantee that the game will be free of unexpected glitches in every single device. Saving the game and resuming gameplay at a later date may occasionally cause problems on dedicated GPS devices. Saving your gameplay is highly advisable on smartphones, however. Your mileage may vary. If you experience any problems with the cartridge, please state your device and OS type if you contact us. As with all Wherigos, play at your own risk!

Game Credits

The original code and graphics were created by, and belong to Artemisworks. Extra thanks go to sTeamTraen for the Earwigo webtool which assisted in the creation of this cartridge.

Congratulations to -KROP- for a well-earned FTF!