\ \ \ -~o~o~O>O>O>O(----------------------------------------------------------------- / / / flOw and flOw expansiOn FAQ -- PS3 by Princess Artemis Version 1.0, 11/25/2007 Version 1.1, 11/27/2007 -- added a strategy for Electric Eel, clarified an ability for Jelly Fish, some helpful hints for pausing the game, and updated the credits section. Version 1.2, 3/21/2008 -- Added a note about the PSP version of flOw and clarified what some food does, also added some strategies for some fish walkthroughs. Updated the credits section. Version 1.3, 6/1/2008 -- Added information on Multiplayer and Dualshock 3 controllers. Version 1.4, 12/22/2008 -- Added some experiences others have had with multiplayer and non-standard controllers. Introduction: There are three different versions of flOw: Jenova Chen's original Flash version, the PS3 version, and the PSP version. This FAQ is for the PS3 flOw and flOw expansiOn. Please see the credits section for more information on the Flash version. flOw is a PS3 game available for purchase and download over the PlayStation Network. flOw expansiOn adds a new creature to play plus some new features. flOw expansiOn melds seamlessly to the original flOw. It requires 170 MB for both flOw and flOw expansiOn to play, though screenshots are a seperate issue. flOw supports up to 1080p video and THX supplied 5.1 surround sound, provided you have HDMI output on your PS3 and the proper stereo and HDTV equipment. The Parental Control for flOw is Level 3. The objective of flOw is very simple: eat things, grow bigger, and dive deeper into the abyss. The game uses DDA - Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment - to adjust the difficulty of the game as it's played. flOw should always be just enough of a challenge to most players to be fun rather than frustrating or boring. Please see the credits section for more information on this. flOw has multiplayer, so up to four people play at once. flOw expansiOn allows players to use any of the available creatures. There are a lot of ways to play flOw...swim around, watching the scenery and marveling at the beauty and the flow...watch it as a "trippy screensaver"...or be a bit more active. The walkthrough portion of this FAQ is geared to a very active single player game. The rest of the FAQ applies to any style of play. The multiplayer section has some tips for playing flOw single player in new and challenging ways, if there are enough controllers around for it. For simplicity's sake, this FAQ will generically refer to the creature you control as a "fish" and the various edibles as "food", though they look more like small prehistoric creatures and the edibles can vary in appearance from single celled organisms to very tiny jelly fish. I've given the fish nicknames based on their appearance and activity, and also nicknamed the edibles based on what they do. For the most part, the level layout is very similar to the PSP version of flOw, so if you want, you can look up my PSP flOw FAQ for a different take on things, as I wrote the walkthroughs seperately as I played each version. They aren't identical by any means, but they're similar. \ \ \ -~o~o~O>O>O>O(----------------------------------------------------------------- / / / Table of Contents: You may use the find function to skip directly to a section. Controls ---------------------------------------------------------------[CNTRL] Basics (Game start, fish status, food, level layout, how to advance) ---[BASIC] Walkthrough basics -----------------------------------------------------[WALKT] Snake ------------------------------------------------------------------[SNAKE] Jelly Fish -------------------------------------------------------------[JELLY] Manta ------------------------------------------------------------------[MANTA] Electric Eel -----------------------------------------------------------[ELELL] Predator ---------------------------------------------------------------[PREDA] Man O' War -------------------------------------------------------------[MANOW] Credit Snake -----------------------------------------------------------[CSNAK] Multiplayer (Plus tricks for one player using multiplayer) -------------[MULTI] Credits, disclaimer, copyright -----------------------------------------[CREDS] [CNTRL]------------------------------------------------------------------------ The controls for flOw are very simple. Move your fish with the SIXAXIS motion control. To swim slow, tilt the controller slowly. To swim fast, tilt it faster. The same goes for turns. If you want to immediately go in the opposite direction, quickly flick the controller in the right direction. Having non-standard controllers plugged into the PS3 can have unusual effects. Domenic I has reported that having Guitar Hero peripherals plugged into the PS3 caused the game to recognize the two regular controllers as 3 and 4, starting a multiplayer game that had more fish unlocked than should have been as well as starting the multiplayer game with more fish than controllers. Reportedly, removing the non-standard controllers allowed normal play, but nothing was saved. flOw supports the rumble feature on a Dualshock 3 controller. In my opinion, some of the rumble features are flat out annoying (Manta makes the controller shake constantly) while others seem appropriate to the fish, such as a little shake when evolving, or when growing a health circle. Pressing Start will pause the game--this looks like having your fish rise up one half-level to an empty ocean except for the two advancement foods. Your fish will randomly float around while the game is paused and it's possible that it may eat one of the advancement foods on accident which will either return your fish to the main "menu" or un-pause the game. To un-pause, eat the red food or press start. To quit playing one fish, pause, eat a blue food, then eat the egg in the "menu" for the fish you want to play. I've had a fish accidentally quit the game on me after pausing--it accidentally ate a blue advancement food, then ate an egg for another fish in the main "menu". Pausing in flOw is somewhat risky! It may be better to pause the game by pressing the PS button. It inturrupts the flow of the game, but if you need to pause for a long time, it will make sure your fish doesn't accidentally un-pause the game on you. The game can also detect when there has been no movement made with the SIXAXIS for a few moments and will enter a 'dormant' phase--your fish will swim around but not eat anything, just as with a paused game. Same risks apply, however-- the fish may eat something on accident. Pressing any other button on the controller will allow your fish to use its special ability. Each fish has its own unique ability. The game will auto-save at different points, usually to save your new unlocked fish or a screen shot if you have flOw expansiOn. [BASIC]------------------------------------------------------------------------ ---Starting the game--- When you first start flOw, the PS3 will prompt you to sign in. If the sign in fails or you exit out of the process, you can still play flOw, it doesn't affect the game at all. The first screen describes the controls for flOw. After it finishes, press a button or move the controller. The second screen is the logo for flOw with a small fish swimming. Direct the fish to the food to reach the main "menu". At the main "menu", you will see one fish, five to six other eggs depending on how many fish you've unlocked and if you have flOw expansiOn, and a red advancement food. The eggs are displayed in this order: Snake, Jelly Fish, Manta, Electric Eel, Predator, Man O' War (if you have flOw expansiOn), then Credit Snake. To choose a different fish, eat the egg for that fish and it will hatch into the chosen fish. To begin the game, eat the food. ---Multiplayer--- To play multiplayer, just have another person pick up an active controller and press a button to join. Up to four people can play flOw at once. If you begin flOw at the egg "menu", each player can play a different fish with the exception of Credit Snake--Credit Snake can only be played on its levels of the abyss, so all players must be a Credit Snake. Each fish will have noticable differences so that it is easy to tell them apart. Multiplayer is always co- op. If someone is already playing flOw and another player wishes to join, simply picking up a controller and pressing a button will cause a new fish of the same type to join on the current level. Quiting multiplayer is equally easy--set the controller down. That's it; eventually flOw will realize the controller is no longer in use and the extra player fish will float away. "Death" is handled differently in multiplayer--the 'dead' fish will not cause the other players' fish to retreat a level. It will remain blue and 'dead' until it can find a basic food to eat and recharge a health circle. There are more details on the mechanics of playing multiplayer and some fun single player things that can be done in multiplayer in the [MULTI] section of the FAQ. ---Game play basics--- Every level for a fish has at least four components--two advancement foods, the fish itself, and a blurry view of the next level below. The levels below you are active! If there are fish in them, they may eat food on those levels. If another fish eats the advancement food, another will spawn immediately. The exception is the Credit Snake, which has a special level design. To dive deeper, eat a red advancement food. To retreat, eat a blue advancement food. A visual description of advancement food is provided below. To unlock the next fish, you must reach the last level with your current fish and eat the ball in the center of the level. When you do, you will leave behind your original fish and become the egg for the new fish, returning to the main "menu". Each fish has a different shape for its mouth. To eat something, direct the fish so that the food gets in its mouth. Each particle of basic food eaten will help your fish to grow and recharge its health. The health of a fish is shown by colored circles on its body. They may be a variety of colors, depending on what fish you're playing. An injured fish will have the segment missing its health circle go dim. Recharge it with basic food. Each fish starts with one health circle. ---Edibles--- Basic food: A white object with one to five dots or spikes. Very rarely a six dot food will show up. Each fish has a different basic food, but they all share one trait in common--the more nutritious the food, the more dots or spikes it will have. Basic food swims around. Sometimes it will flee. Eating basic food will make your fish grow longer or bigger, as well as recharge health circles. Eating more nutritious basic food will make your fish grow faster. Evolution food: A colored circle with three white extensions, giving it a triangular shape. The color depends on the fish you are playing. Evolution food is the only way to increase your fish's health and to make it a stronger fish. A fully evolved fish will not use an evolution food--after it travels through the fish, the evolution food will be ejected with a distinct sound. Flowers: A large white puff-ball with many long extensions that make it look a bit like a flower. Eating one will make your fish turn red and cause the growth process to move much faster; it will also make your fish's mouth bigger. The effect will wear off after a while. Camera food: A circle with two curly bars on the sides. Introduced in flOw expansiOn, this food will cause a bright yellow light to travel the length of your fish's body. When it reaches the end, the game will stop for a split second and take a screen shot. The screen shots are saved to the PS3 hard disk and are available to view and download in the photo section. This food serves no other purpose, so if you don't want your picture taken, don't eat it. Advancement food: A circle with a small flagellum that has either red flashing arrows or blue flashing arrows. Eating a red advancement food will cause your fish to dive down one level into the abyss; eating a blue advancement food will cause your fish to retreat a level. Other fish: You can eat other fish! But watch out, most of them can eat you, too, and some of them are fast and mean! Some fish are harmless, even useful. I will describe them in the walkthrough for each fish. To eat a fish, eat all of that fish's health circles. Eating a fish's health circle acts like eating basic food and will recharge your own health circles. If a fish eats your health circles, it will recharge the enemy fish. Game Complete ball: This is in the center of the last level for every fish. Eat it to finish the game with that fish. If you haven't unlocked the next fish, eating this will unlock the next fish. ---Evolution and growth--- For the most part, fish grow and evolve the same way, except for two fish. To grow your fish, you need to feed it basic food. Each dot or spike in a food will add that many white disks to your fish. An unevolved segment will fill up with one dot, while an evolved segment will require up to five dots to fully light it up with disks, depending on how evolved that segment is. When your fish is all full of white disks, more basic food will add a new, unevolved segment to the fish, then empty the fish of its white disks. To evolve your fish, you need to feed it evolution food. An evolution food will travel down the fish until it reaches the last lit segment and evolve it. The first evolution for any segment is the addition of a health circle. If none of the segments are lit, it will evolve the first segment it reaches that isn't fully evolved. Each segment has five stages of evolution, so if all your fish ate were evolution foods, it would take six evolution foods to fully evolve the first segment and then move on to add a health circle to the next segment. To make a fish with more health, it's best to feed it basic food until an unevolved segment is the last lit, then feed it an evolution food. To make a highly evolved fish, either feed it only evolution food or make sure the last white disk is on an already evolved segment when it eats an evolution food. In my opinion, it's best to start the game with the intent to get as many health circles on the fish as possible in the first few levels. Then let the segments start evolving more, because a highly evolved fish is a faster, more capable fish. The exceptions to this are Manta and Credit Snake. Manta and Credit Snake grow and evolve in a completely different way, which will be described in their walkthroughs. ---Fish status--- Food can be some of these colors also. These colors generally apply to 'enemy' fish as well. White: This is the normal state for your fish. You can judge the health level of your fish by how much of it is bright or dim. Blue: Usually means your fish has just been hurt. Your fish will often flinch if it has been hurt. Eating blue food won't harm your fish. Red: "Angry". A red fish will grow much faster and its ability may be more useful. It may also swim faster and its mouth will get bigger. Yellow: Stunned. Your fish will be sluggish and can't use its special ability. Eating yellow food will turn your fish yellow, but it won't make it sluggish. It will prevent the fish from using its special ability, though. ---Nutrition Value of Other Fish--- It seems that the number of evolution foods and basic foods a defeated fish will release depends essentially on how many health circles and how many segments are lit up on the other fish. More health means more evolution food, while more lit segments means more basic food. Sometimes this means that the fish one level below you that are busily eating food will usually only 'return' part of the food--they've used the basic food to grow, so it's no longer available to release. Same with an evolution food--if another fish eats it and it doesn't add a health circle to the fish, that evolution food is gone. That's why a humongous fish might not release any basic food--few or none of its segments are lit. ---"Dying"--- You can't really die in flOw. If your fish loses all its health circles, it will retreat one level and automatically regain one health circle. [WALKT]------------------------------------------------------------------------ Walkthrough notes: flOw uses Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment to change the difficulty level on the fly as you play. So my walkthrough might not describe exactly what you'll encounter. You might run into more challenging levels with larger, meaner fish...or you might have an easier time with smaller, less active fish. Perhaps there will be a different number of fish. The level layout is the same though. It's not random as far as I can tell. I've played through flOw several times and while I have noticed some levels have bigger fish or more fish than the first time I played, there are still those fish on those levels. Please keep that in mind while following the walkthrough--your experience might be somewhat different. Also remember, the game is active--you can see the level below you, and if the fish below are active, they might eat all the food and evolve! There are a number of times I suggest leaving a level full of food because there is a large or difficult fish battle ahead. This is so that if you 'die', you will retreat to a level full of food to recharge more health circles than the one you'll automatically get. If you do choose to do this, come back and get the food even if you don't need to recharge after finishing the fish fight. That goes for every time you leave food--it's always a good idea to go back for it and grow bigger. \ \ \ -~o~o~O>O>O>O(--[SNAKE]-------------------------------------------------------- / / / Snake is the first fish available. Its mouth looks like a C. At the beginning of the game, it has one health circle and one empty segment. Its special ability is to swim faster. The larger and more evolved the fish is, the faster it can swim. If it is red, it can swim quite fast. ---Walkthrough--- Level 1: Full of two dot basic food. Go around eating the food so that your fish has a good start for growing further. While you're doing this, you can see the fish below eating the basic food on that level, so you may want to dive down and eat those fish first and then come back up to eat the food on level 1. It's entirely up to you. Level 2: Contains a couple small Snakes and basic one dot food. The Snakes eat the food here and grow. Eat the Snake's health circles to defeat them and to acquire basic food and evolution food in order to get more of your own health circles. Make sure one of the unevolved segments has a white disc glowing in it so the evolution food will work to make a health circle instead of further evolving a segment that already has a health circle. Later it's OK to let the evolution food evolve your segments, but at the beginning, it's a good idea to have more health. Each Snake will release some basic food and an evolution food. Level 3: Contains a longer Snake and one dot basic food. This Snake will grow as it eats the basic food. Eat the Snake--it will release basic food and two evolution foods. If you have flOw expansiOn, there may be a camera food here. Level 4: There are several Jelly Fish on this level along with some food. Depending on how leisurely your pace is, the Jelly Fish may have eaten the food before you reach this level. The Jelly Fish will get mad if you eat them, and they can, if you aren't careful, take off quite a few of your health circles. Take advantage of your speed. They can eat the food that a defeated Jelly Fish leaves behind, so be quick and pick up the evolution food. Level 5: Contains several varieties of basic food. You can see below you a large Jelly Fish, so you may want to go down immediately to eat the Jelly Fish just in case it hurts you badly. Then you can use the level above to recharge. Or, if the fish doesn't have many lit, unevolved segments, eat some basic food so that when you eat the next fish, the released evolution food will give you health circles. Level 6: A large Jelly Fish inhabits this level. Use the speed boost to eat the Jelly Fish without taking too much damage from it. It will release three or four evolution foods and many nutritious four dot basic food. Level 7: Contains two small, fast Snakes and one large Snake, along with basic food. Each small Snake releases one evolution food and the large Snake, when eaten, releases three evolution foods and several nutritious basic foods. Level 8: Has several flowers surrounded by large numbers of basic food. May also have a camera food. Below you can see Jelly Fish, so you may wish to leave some of the basic food to recharge with. Level 9: Several Jelly Fish are in this level. Each Jelly Fish releases two evolution foods and some basic food. There are also flowers on this level that respawn. Level 10: Full of three and four dot nutritious basic food. Visible below is an extra large Snake, so think about leaving some basic food for retreat and recharge. Level 11: An extra large Snake lives here, along with some basic food. This Snake will get angry and chase you if it sees you when you nip off one of its health circles. Will release four evolution foods and lots of nutritious basic food upon defeat. Level 12: Lots of two dot basic food to be had. It will flee from you on this level, but usually swarms around in tiny circles. Below you will see Predators. There might be a camera food here. Predators are dangerous, so leaving the food here in case you 'die' or to retreat and recharge isn't a bad idea. Level 13: There are three Predators on this level along with basic food. Predators will angrily charge at your fish, homing in on your health circles. They release basic food and three or four evolution foods each. Predators are difficult opponents because of their ability to home in on your health circles. Because the next level has a lot of nutritious basic food, you may wish to advance and recharge if you get in trouble. Level 14: Chock full of nutritious five dot food. There is a large Predator visible below, so again, you might want to leave a good bit of the basic food here for a tactical retreat. Level 15: An extra large Predator lives here. Again, Predators are dangerous, so be careful and use your speed boost to your advantage. It's easier to sneak up on a large Predator and take a bite without it getting angry. It Will release two flowers, many evolution foods and many basic foods. Might have a snapshot food. Level 16: The last level. Has four very small Jelly Fish that pose no harm to your fish. Each will release an evolution food. There are plenty of other basic foods swarming around the center, which has the game complete ball. Eat the ball and you will leave your Snake behind and become a Jelly Fish egg. This will unlock Jelly Fish the first time you play. - --(*)--[JELLY]----------------------------------------------------------------- - Jelly Fish is a round fish, with all its health circles on its perimeter. Its mouth is in the center and looks a bit like three triangles pointed inward. At the start of the game, it has one health circle and four small tentacles. I will refer to them as segments in this walkthrough. Its special ability is to spin, pulling its health circles in closer to its body so it is harder for enemies to eat them. It also makes its mouth bigger and causes a suction that will pull in some surrounding food. It can spin for a while, but it will get 'dizzy' and be hard to control for a moment as it slows down from its spin. Because of the set up of the Jelly Fish levels, it will tend to get health circles and evolve evenly, though it certainly can become lopsided. After all the segments have a health circle and are as evolved as possible, it is a waste to eat an evolution food without first eating enough basic food to add a segment. The light will travel around the perimeter of the fish and then it will make a sound and release the evolution food. This isn't common in other fish, but it can happen. ---Walkthrough--- Level 1: Full of evolution food and a few basic foods. If you eat everything here, you will have a Jelly Fish with four fully evolved segments and four health circles. If you're careful and eat the basic food first before any evolution food, you *might* get another segment, but you'll probably have to dive down a level, grab a basic food, then come back up and eat the evolution food. Level 2: Has three Jelly Fish and some basic food. Each Jelly Fish will, when eaten, release a few basic foods and two evolution foods. Try to eat the basic food first so there's more segments to put health circles on. Below, you will see three Snakes. Level 3: There are two small Snakes and one large Snake here, along with an assortment of basic food. The large Snake will get angry if it sees you nip a health circle off of it. The large Snake releases many nutritious foods and two evolution foods. Small Snakes are good for one evolution food and a few basic foods. May have a camera food. Level 4: Another level full of evolution food with only a few basic foods. Because of this, your fish may not be able to eat many of the evolution foods. Come back when it has more segments to evolve. Level 5: Has three puffer fish, several two and three dot basic foods, and some evolution food. Puffer fish can't harm your fish. To defeat them, get near one until it puffs up and repels you. Then swim in and eat a health circle. Puffer fish have two health circles each. Defeating one releases several two dot basic foods and an evolution food. Puffer fish make a noise like a low horn and turn red when they detect a fish. Level 6: Full of excellent basic food. Lots of five dot basic foods to be had. Below, there are Mantas visible--Mantas can wreak havoc on a Jelly Fish, so it may be best to leave the basic food here in case you need to retreat to recharge. Level 7: Home to several Mantas and a good bit of basic food. Mantas will get angry and charge if they are harmed, which can take off a few health circles at once. Get out of the way once you bite one! Don't spin! If you spin, and a Manta rushes you, you've just handed most of your health circles to it on a platter. It's difficult, but possible, to sneak up on a Manta and eat it if it didn't take a health circle back when it rushed you. A defeated Manta releases two evolution foods and some basic food. Mantas have the annoying habit of recharging very easily on your health circles. "Dying" on this level will cause you to retreat, where you get one health circle back and a basic food will spawn. Level 8: Filled with small, fast moving Snakes. Probably some basic food, but Snakes do tend to eat it. Each Snake is worth a few basic foods and an evolution food. Some will also release a flower. Level 9: Packed with nutritious basic food and some flowers. You can see below some puffer fish and a medium sized Snake. Do what you think is best. Level 10: About seven puffer fish, a medium sized Snake, some basic food, and maybe a camera food. Get the Snake first so it won't eat the food you get from the puffer fish. The Snake will release several nutritious basic foods and three evolution foods. Below, you will see a *lot* of small, fast moving Snakes. I recommend eating the Snake on Level 10, then venturing into the swarm of Snakes. That will leave you the harmless puffer fish to recharge on in case something bad happens with the Snakes. Level 11: So many small, fast Snakes it's hard to count them. It's not easy dealing with so many Snakes! Each one is worth a couple basic foods and an evolution food. Some release flowers. Get them fast, because these Snakes will recharge and possibly evolve. Level 12: Filled with lots of good basic food along with some flowers. You can see those pesky Mantas below, so I absolutely recommend leaving the food alone and coming back to recharge your health circles if you get low. Level 13: A good amount of basic food and six or so Mantas. Mantas are a pain for Jelly Fish, so be careful. Plus, several of the Mantas are larger, so they're harder to take out. A Manta is good for three evolution foods and some decent basic food. Level 14: Another level filled to the brim with nutritious basic food. The next level has a difficult enemy that looks like a real fish, so leave the food and come back for a recharge unless you need to recharge now. Level 15: Whatever that fish is, it's mean. There is some good basic food on this level, and maybe a camera food. To get the fish, try to eat a health circle...and then spin so the red angry tiny fish it shoots at you turn into food. It has six health circles; the first is obvious and reveals the second two when eaten, and when those two are eaten, two more will show up and eating those will knock off its fins. When the fins get knocked off, the last health circle shows up in the center. Be careful with the spin--it does protect you from the little angry babies, but leaves you an easy target when it rushes. When finally defeated, it will give up five evolution foods and one or two basic foods. Level 16: The last level for Jelly Fish. Has six small, harmless Mantas, a good bit of basic food, and the game complete ball. Each Manta is worth one evolution food and one basic food. Eat the game complete ball to leave the Jelly Fish behind and become a Manta egg. This will unlock Manta in the main menu. \\ ->>>><ooo>--[MANTA]------------------------------------------------------------ // Manta looks the most like an actual fish. Its mouth is the pointed end on the front. At the start of the game, it has one health circle and two tail segments. Its special ability is to rush. Each rush will turn it red and use up one tail segment. If the whole tail is used up, after a moment or two, it will regrow two tail segments. Growth and evolution is a special case for Manta. Basic food recharges and lights up its health circles, but the rest is strictly for growing its tail. There seems to be a limit to how long Manta's tail can get. After a while and some evolution, it just gets fancier. Eating evolution food is good, but won't show any immediately obvious effect--what they do is add decorations along the sides of the Manta, and when a certain number is reached, it will gain a new health circle along with fancier fins that make it look more like a manta. Manta can have three health circles in all, which can make it easy prey... protect your fish by having it rush away from other fish trying to eat it. Due to how Manta evolves, you don't have to do anything special to make sure the evolution food will have the desired effect. Just eat it. A note for players with a Dualshock 3 controller: I believe the Manta's rumble feature is glitched. The only time the controller doesn't shake while playing Manta is when it rushes, which strikes me as exactly backwards. It can be very annoying, so turning off vibration while playing Manta might make it less of an irritation. (You will need to press the PS button to turn off the vibration function for your controller if you wish to do so, as flOw does not have any standard menus.) ---Walkthrough--- Level 1: Only a few basic foods. Eat them to grow your tail. Visible below are a few Mantas. Get used to controlling the Manta--it can flip back and forth very fast. Level 2: Five Mantas and some basic food fills this level. Each Manta will release a few basic foods and an evolution food. Below you can see two large Snakes. Level 3: Two large Snakes and a few basic foods if the Snakes haven't eaten it already. Each Snake will release two evolution foods and two basic foods. Level 4: Full of basic food and some evolution food. Below you can see several Electric Eels, so you may wish to save the food for a retreat. Eat the evolution food-- by now you'll probably get Manta's second health circle. May contain a snap shot food. Level 5: Five or six Electric Eels inhabit this level along with several bits of basic food. Electric Eels can stun you, and when they cloak, they can be quite hard to see on the screen. Don't eat a yellow food--it will prevent you from rushing. Once the Eels are gone, go ahead and eat the food. Below you can see a very large Snake. The Eels will release one or two evolution foods and some basic food. Level 6: This giant Snake will chase you, and with only two health circles, you're easy food for it. There's some basic food down here, but by the time you reach it, the Snake may have eaten it all. Try to sneak up behind the Snake to get its health circles, or rushing if it's chasing you. Defeating it releases a lot of nutritious basic food and three evolution foods. Level 7: Basically, evolution food and basic food. You can see an Eel below eating the food there, along with puffer fish, so you might want to go get the Eel before clearing out level 7. Level 8: A mid-sized Eel and several puffer fish live here, along with some basic food. The Eel is good for two evolution foods and a few basic foods. Below are about five Jelly Fish, and as much trouble as Mantas are for Jelly Fish, the opposite can be true, so you might want to save the puffer fish for a retreat and recharge. There may be a camera food here. Level 9: About five medium sized Jelly Fish live in this level of the abyss. Each Jelly fish will release two evolution foods and a few basic foods. They get angry and will chase you. The largest Jelly Fish will provide three evolution foods. Level 10: Contains basic food and three special fish. These fish aren't dangerous; in fact, they're useful. They spit out good quality basic food. Since the next level is swarming with angry, fast Snakes, leave these special fish alone and come back for them to recharge. Maybe even leave them until after you defeat the Eels on level 12. Each special fish is worth one evolution food. Level 11: The level of super fast angry Snakes. They're small, but they swarm. Because they each release a flower on top of the basic food and an evolution food, they can and will get angry and faster. You'll have to rush them to catch up to some of them. Below you can see two large Electric Eels. Level 12: There's some food around, if you get there before the Eels eat it. These Eels are large with a lot of health circles, so they may be troublesome to deal with. Make good use of rushing, and listen for the tell-tale sound of them cloaking. They're good for one evolution food and several basic foods. Level 13: There are four medium sized Mantas and two large Mantas here. There's also a lot of five dot basic food around. The Mantas release two evolution foods and several basic foods. Rushing is a good way to deal with them. Level 14: Full of basic food and flowers. Since below can be seen not one but two large Snakes, it may be best to leave the food in case you need it for a retreat. Level 15: Two very big Snakes live here. These Snakes get angry and will chase you. There may also be a camera food. One Snake releases a lot of high quality basic food, while the other is good for four evolution foods, a flower, and several basic foods. Level 16: The final level for Manta. Contains lots of basic food, the game complete ball, and three or so very small Electric Eels. The Eels are each worth one evolution food. There may be a camera food. Eat the game complete ball and you will leave your Manta behind and become the egg for the Electric Eel. This will unlock the Electric Eel in the main "menu". .\\. -?-o~%~%~%~@>}(--[ELEEL]------------------------------------------------------- .//. Electric Eel has yellow parts right behind its mouth. It has a hooked tail. Its mouth looks like a C. At the start of the game, it has one health circle, two yellow spots, an empty segment, and very short fins behind its mouth. Its special ability is to cloak and stun fish. It moves much slower cloaked, and cloaking hides all of the white parts of the fish. Cloaking allows the Eel to hide so that it can't be chased or lunged at. While cloaked, its yellow spots will turn dim one at a time. When all the spots are dim, it will uncloak. As you play, the yellow spots will eventually recharge. To stun a fish, the Eel has to cloak or be cloaked when it bites a segment of a fish that has a health circle. Once stunned, the Eel can easily eat the rest of the health circles of its prey. It can restun the fish it is eating by cloaking when the other fish recovers from the stun and biting it again. Eel won't turn yellow if it eats stunned food, but it can be stunned by other Eels. One highly useful trait is that the Eel can stun food by cloaking while the food is being touched by its yellow spots. Stunned food eaten by an enemy fish will stun the enemy fish and make it an easy target. It can be a bit tricky to do this without eating the food, but it is a good trap. As it evolves and grows bigger, will gain up to six yellow spots and increasingly fancy wing-like fins behind its mouth. The level layout will favor the Eel growing evenly. ---Walkthrough--- Level 1: There are a small number of one spot basic foods here. Below you can see a Snake and a Jelly Fish eating food, so be quick and feed your fish. Level 2: There is one Snake and one Jelly Fish. Some food, too, if they haven't eaten it all. The Jelly Fish will release two evolution foods and several basic foods. The Snake is good for one evolution food and some basic food. Watch out--they'll eat the food released from the other fish, so get it quick. Level 3: Two Snakes and an Eel are here. Might be food, but the Snakes do eat it. The Snakes are good for one evolution food and the slightly larger Snake will release more basic food than the other. The Eel will give up one evolution food and a basic food. Level 4: There are two Jelly Fish here plus some varying degrees of basic food. They get angry and chase you; stun them. Each Jelly Fish will release one evolution food and several basic foods. Level 5: This level has the helpful fish that spit out food. They don't give as much to Eel, but some. Below you can see a few Snakes eating. There may be a snap shot food. Each special fish is good for one evolution food. Very occasionally, a special fish will spit out an evolution food. Level 6: Five or so Snakes live here...and they're fast and can recharge by eating advancement food. Some are so fast that they're very difficult to catch--try to stun them or trick them with stunned food, because they flee from you! There's also a special fish here. Each fish will give you one evolution food; the Snakes are good for several basic foods also. Some Snakes will leave behind a flower. Level 7: Contains four Jelly Fish and any food they haven't eaten. Stun them for an easy victory. These Jelly Fish get angry and pursue you. May have a snap shot food. The smaller Jelly Fish are good for some basic food and an evolution food; the larger Jelly Fish will give up more basic food and two evolution foods. Level 8: A fast moving, medium sized Snake lives here along with a special fish. Any basic food that may have been here will have likely been eaten by the Snake. The Snake will release two evolution foods and some basic food. Eating a special fish's health circle will make it spit out a flower. As usual, the special fish is good for one evolution food. Below you can see two Predators. You might see them attacking one another...and if you got here fast, you might see them eating a large Jelly Fish. Level 9: Two good-sized Predators are in this level of the abyss. So does a Jelly Fish if the Predators haven't eaten it. Predators are dangerous, so try to stun them quickly. Also, Predators can't home in on your health circles if you cloak. They each release some basic food and two evolution foods. Level 10: Full of basic food and some evolution food. Below you can see a swarm of small Predators, so you might want to save the food for a retreat. Level 11: Predators! Predators *everywhere*! They're small, but fast and mean, homing in on your health circles. Try to stun if you can, but eat as many as fast as possible to reduce the threat. Each one is worth an evolution food and some basic food. Make very good use of your cloak! That can sometimes stop a feeding frenzy, since they can't lunge at you if they can't see you. These Predators will also eat the food from defeated Predators, so they might even evolve! There may be a camera food here. Level 12: Two fast moving Snakes are here, probably having eaten any food that was there while you dealt with the Predator swarm. Each is worth two evolution foods and some basic food. They will recharge on advancement food. You might have an easier time catching them by stunning food they eat instead. Level 13: A very large Snake is in residence, along with some basic food. Defeat it for a small amount of basic food and three evolution foods. There may be a camera food here. Level 14: There are some special fish here. They occasionally spit out evolution food, but mostly they'll make clouds of basic food. Below, you can see a very big Predator and several smaller Predators, so keep the special fish in reserve for a retreat--you'll likely need them. Be careful; the food they spit out tends to swarm around them, so you might accidentally eat a special fish instead of the food. Each special fish is good for one evolution food. Level 15: A big Predator along with a swarm of smaller Predators. It's hard to say what you'll get for defeating them because there are so many and will tend to eat the food released. The big Predator is good for three evolution foods at least, and the smaller ones one a piece. All of them leave behind a few basic foods. Level 16: The final level for Electric Eel. There is the game complete ball, lots of one dot basic food, and six small, harmless Predators that are good for one evolution food each. There may be a camera food here. Eating the game complete ball will cause you to leave behind your Eel and become a Predator egg. Finishing this level unlocks the Predator on the "menu". \\\\\ -q-Q-Q-Q-{--[PREDA]------------------------------------------------------------ ///// Predator is shaped much like Snake. Its mouth looks like a C with small barbs. At the start of the game, it has one health circle and an empty segment. Its special ability is lunging at health circles. When it detects an enemy fish nearby, it will turn red, meaning you can use its lunging ability. Otherwise, pressing a button just makes it glow red for a moment. However, if it eats a flower, it can use its lunging ability on anything edible until the red wears off. One thing to keep in mind--if Predator 'dies', it will lose a segment off its tail end to recharge its first health circle! If this happens often, you could end up with a very small fish late in the playthrough! Predator is fast and mean, but pays for it by losing segments this way. When a segment is lost, a single one dot basic food usually spawns nearby. ---Walkthrough--- Level 1: There's one small Snake and several bits of basic food. The Snake will give up one evolution food and some basic food. Below, you can see two larger Snakes eating everything. Level 2: Two Snakes live here, along with some basic food if you beat them to it. Each Snake will release one evolution food and some basic food. Below you can see even more Snakes eating everything in sight. Level 3: Three small Snakes and one medium sized Snake live at this depth. There is also some basic food, but chances are the Snakes will get to it before you do. Each small Snake will release one evolution food and several basic foods; the medium Snake releases a flower, three evolution foods, and several basic foods. Below...another Snake. This time, it's huge. Level 4: Home to one very BIG Snake and lots of basic food. This Snake will get mad and chase you. It's faster than you are, so try to sneak up on it to eat its health circles. Careful about lunging--you might lunge right into its mouth. Try to time how you eat the red advancement food on Level 3 so that you'll dive down closer to the big Snake's tail. If you 'die' here, when you automatically retreat, a random basic food will spawn off you. This is a difficult battle, and worse, for the first time, you can lose segments! You *might* want to plan ahead for this by diving immediately down to Level 4 and then going back up to Level 1 when you finally finish off this evil segment eating Snake so you can grow lots of segments without fear of losing them to this monster. Once you put it down for good, it will release three evolution foods and a whole lot of basic food. Level 5: This level is full of flowers and basic food. Below you can see (and hear) several puffer fish and a few Electric Eels. So perhaps saving the food here and coming back for it when needed would be best. May be a camera food here. Some of the four dot food here moves as fast as you do, so to catch it, head it off. Level 6: Four puffer fish and two small Eels make this their home. Each Eel will give up an evolution food and some regular food. Visible below are two larger Eels, so you might wish to save the puffer fish for a retreat. Each puffer fish will release one evolution food and a lot of two dot basic food. Level 7: Two medium sized Electric Eels swim here. You can see below an even bigger Eel...so maybe save those puffers from level 6 until you beat the Level 8 Eel? There may be a camera food here. Each Eel will release two evolution foods and several basic food. The Eels eat the food, so get your evolution food before the enemy does! A note--when an Eel cloaks, your Predator won't sense it near and it won't be able to lunge. A good way to take on Eels large enough to pose a threat is to sneak up, lunge, and swim away. They defend themselves by swimming away and cloaking, so lunging at them willy nilly might just get you stunned. Level 8: A big Electric Eel lives here. It will get angry and chase you, but it's worse for it to stun you. Once defeated, it is worth five evolution foods, a flower, and many basic foods. Keep the strategy detailed above for Eels in mind! Because it's so big, a few lunges before swiming away might be safe. It's hard to see cloaked, so you might want to try to keep the barely visible Eel on screen so it can't sneak up on you as easily. Depending on how you did in this fish fight and how you planned, you might want to dive and surface to level 6 and back to make the best use of the evolution food. Level 9: There's a lot swimming around down here. There are special fish which spit out evolution food as well as basic food, basic food, and a Jelly Fish. Eat the Jelly Fish first; it will eat other food. It's worth two evolution foods and some basic food. Be careful lunging around the Jelly Fish if you plan to save the special fish for a retreat. Below are six Jelly Fish, so you might want the special fish around to recharge. Attacking a special fish will make it release a lot of basic food, while finishing it off will release an evolution food and maybe a flower. Level 10: Six Jelly Fish roam around here along with a good amount of basic food. Each Jelly Fish is worth two evolution foods and some basic food--some Jelly Fish will release a flower. Below, you can see two large Jelly Fish eating and growing. Level 11: Home to two large Jelly Fish and whatever basic food they haven't eaten before you reach them. Each Jelly Fish is worth two evolution foods and some basic food. These Jelly Fish get angry and chase you, and below, you can see another huge Jelly Fish eating and growing. There may be a camera food here. Level 12: Wow that's a giant Jelly Fish! There might be some basic food left over from what it was chowing down on. Your best bet for this Jelly Fish which does get angry is to go to town lunging at it. Just be careful, it will snag some of your health circles in the process. It releases five evolution foods and only two basic foods. Level 13: A level with some flowers and a good amount of basic food. There's a swarm of small Predators below, so definitely save the food for a retreat and recharge. May be a camera food here. Level 14: Predator swarm! They're small, but they're still Predators, so watch out. Best bet is to lunge all over while they're lunging at you and hope you get the best of them. Each releases an evolution food and some much needed basic food. Below you can see a giant Predator. Level 15: Home to a very big Predator. Just as mean as you are, so go after it. You might be able to sneak up on it occasionally, but it's so big that it's hard to see where its health circles are. When defeated, it will release two flowers, five evolution foods, and many basic foods. There may be a snap shot food here. Level 16: Predator's last level. Has the usual small basic food, game complete ball, though there may not be any tiny fish. If you have flOw expansiOn, there will be Man O' Wars. Each one is worth a basic food and an evolution food. Eating the game complete ball will leave your Predator behind. You'll either become a Credit Snake egg or a Man O' War egg, depending on if you have flOw expansiOn. This unlocks either Credit Snake or Man O' War in the "menu". v ->(*)<--[MANOW]---------------------------------------------------------------- ^ Man O' War is the new fish gained by purchasing flOw expansiOn. A jelly fish like creature, it has all its segments around it in a perimeter. Its mouth looks like two overlapping circles with three teeth, and is in the center. At the start of the game, it has one health circle and five segments. Its special ability is to harden its shell and make a spinning attack with its blades. It can't keep up the protection forever; it's like the fish gets madder and madder until it can't help but attack. Everything hit by the attack will bounce away, turn blue, and be stunned for a very short time. While it is protecting and turning red, fish will bounce off the shell, preventing them from getting in to eat its health circles. The bigger it gets, the longer it can protect itself before it spins. Man O' War is a fast, voracious fish and plays meaner than the other fish. One thing about Man O' War's level design is that it seems to react to the game DDA much more obviously than the other fish levels do. I've played through several times, and occasionally a level will be empty when it had stuff in it before. The levels I've described as empty in this walkthrough are almost always empty when I get to them, but occasionally they aren't, and when they haven't been, I haven't had the FAQ open to update it. There is also a level or two that almost always have something in it when I play, but once or twice have been empty. I can say that if the level isn't empty and I've noted that it is, what you find there will be pretty much the same every time. Same goes for levels I've described that you may encounter empty--they've always been similar for me, except for the occasional time when they have surprised me by being empty. In these cases, I certainly wouldn't mind if someone feels like dropping me a line and telling me the basic layout for the empty levels. You'll get credit for it, and it doesn't have to be detailed at all. ---Walkthrough--- Level 1: Lots of one dot basic food that flees. Eat up. Level 2: Many baby fish of nearly every kind that you have played before. They could hurt you, but they shouldn't present a problem. If anything chases you, use your special ability to make them bounce off your shell. Each one is good for an evolution food and some regular food. Level 3: There are three small Predators here. That would usually mean trouble, but Man O' War can protect itself from their lunges and it eats fast. Each one releases a large number of nutritious basic food, a flower, and an evolution food. Level 4: About four puffer fish and a good bit of basic food, some five dot. Man O' War can eat puffer fish differently than other fish--it can get near enough to attack, then when the puffer fish is stunned, it can go eat its health circles. Each puffer fish is good for one evolution food and one regular food. Level 5: There are two lone special fish here. They spit out evolution food, but very slowly. Since Man O' War can attack without eating a health circle, you could attack them and make them spit out basic food without harming them. Very good for recharging! As always, they are good for one evolution food when defeated. It can be a little hard attacking them to make them spit out basic food; Man O' War is fast and might accidentally swim over them and eat them. You might want to plan far ahead and save these guys until you're done with level 8. Level 6: A swarm of small Mantas. They're pretty easy to deal with--attack them then swim over for the kill. Each one will release an evolution food and as many basic foods as it had tail segments. Level 7: There's nothing here but advancement food. Sometimes. Other times there's stuff on this level; I figure it's the DDA determining whether or not there's anything on this level. Level 8: Five or six fast moving, small Predators inhabit this level. They are *so* fast and small you might have difficulty eating them. A Predator swarm is a Predator swarm--always dangerous. Each releases an evolution food and some basic food, usually quite nutritious. Try attacking them and quickly eating them while they're briefly slowed down from being hurt. Level 9: Another Manta swarm. This one is bigger and more dangerous. Each Manta is, again, worth one evolution food and however many basic foods as it had tail segments. Below you can see a big Snake eating what looks like quality food. Level 10: A very big Snake. It will get angry and chase you. Attack it to stun it for a moment and swim all over its health circles. For its defeat, you get one evolution food and two flowers. Level 11: Another almost empty level, unless the DDA decides there should be something here. Level 12: A large Electric Eel lives at this depth of the abyss. There's some basic food here if you get to it before the Eel eats it. There's a camera food here. Defeating the Eel releases two evolution foods and a couple high quality basic foods. Level 13: A flower surrounded by evolution food. Below you can see a new enemy that looks like four spheres. Level 14: The new spike fish lives here. There's also a few five and four dot basic foods. Each sphere is chained to the next with a health circle. Eat a health circle to unlink a sphere. It will try to attack with spikes. Attack back and try to get the health circles inside the sphere before it recovers. Each sphere is worth one evolution food and possibly a flower. There's a snap shot food here, too. Level 15: Has many small, unattached spike fish. Attack them then eat them for one evolution food. There's a lot of basic food floating around here. Level 16: Man O' War's final level. Has the usual stuff--basic food (though some is four dot food), several small, harmless Snakes, the camera food, and the game complete ball. The Snakes are good for one evolution food. Eat the game complete ball to finish the level. If you got flOw and flOw expansion at the same time, you will leave your Man O' War behind and become the Credit Snake egg. This unlocks Credit Snake in the "menu" if it hasn't already been unlocked. ->>>>>>o(--[CSNAK]------------------------------------------------------------- Credit Snake is a special fish. Its mouth looks like a C. At the start of the game it has a mouth and two segments. Its special ability is to swim faster. Credit Snake grows in a special way: it will grow one segment by eating the the health circle next to each line of credits. It has no evolutions, so it just gets longer. It will never gain health circles. There are no camera foods to eat, just the health circles and a red advancement food. Eating a health circle will dim the text next to it, so if you want to easily read the credits, don't eat the health circle until you're done. There are a few harmless fish that look like they might be tailless Mantas on one level. To finish Credit Snake's game, eat the game complete ball on the last level. This will cause you to leave behind Credit Snake and become the egg for Snake. There's no real need for a walkthrough more specific than this, other than to say it can't retreat a level because there will never be a blue advancement food to eat. Credit Snake is just a fun way to present the credits for flOw and flOw expansiOn. \ \ \ .//. -~o~o~O>O>O>O(--[MULTI]--){<@~%~%~%~o~?--------------------------------------- / / / .\\. Multiplayer can be a fun way to play flOw with friends or make new challenges in single player mode. Each fish will have noticable differences so that it is easy to tell them apart --all will have some part of them a noticably different color, often showing off design features on the fish that would otherwise be difficult to see in single player mode. Player 1 has orange decorations while player 2 has dark green. Dominic 1 reports that the 3rd and 4th player fish are blue and a pinkish-purple. Some fish also have a differently shaped mouth (player 2's Predator will have an extra barb, for instance). Multiplayer is always co-op, though if one player is an Electric Eel while the others are not, the other player fish will be stunned by eating anything the Eel has stunned. Also, a fish 'angered' by eating a flower can hurt another player's fish. Predators can't normally lunge at other player fish and Man O' Wars can't turn other player fish blue. The only way to do any sort of harm to another player fish is by eating a flower and then attacking, while eating anything stunned with a fish not immune to stunning is just a bad idea. If someone quits multiplayer, flOw will recognize that the second controller is not in use and that fish will first lose its coloring marking it off as a multiplayer fish (it won't become a regular enemy fish), then it will just float off. In a two player game, both fish will lose the colors. If the controller is picked up again before the fish floats off, it will regain its multiplayer coloring and can be played again. If the fish has floated away already, the other player will have to rejoin as a baby fish. The game decides which fish level to play through based on the 'youngest' fish. This means that if player 2 choses a Snake by eating an egg and then player 1 chooses a Predator, the game will play through the Predator section of the abyss because the Predator 'hatched' last. An interesting fact about multiplayer is that it is possible to start one or more players' fish larger than it normally would be in a single player game. For example, if player 1 is a Snake and player 2 is a Jelly Fish and you are playing on the Snake level, you can play for a while, grow both fish bigger, then pause, return to the "menu", have player 2 eat another fish egg to switch fish, then go through the new fish's levels with player 1's Snake maintaining the size it had grown already, while player 2 would start with the standard new fish. By doing this multiple times, one could make a Snake that was ridiculously long. Some fish seem to have an upper limit to how big they will grow. If you wanted to, and have two controlers but not two players, you could use the way flOw decides what level to play through to play a single player game using a different fish than is usual for that level. To do that, use your main controller to choose the fish you want to play and the second controller to chose the fish with the levels you want to play through, then begin the game. Then set the second controller down, and the second fish will slowly drift off, leaving you in single player mode with the fish of your choice in a different part of the abyss. Another challenge could be made by a single player by seeing how big you can grow your fish. Start the game with which ever fish you like, then with the second controller, start another fish. Go through the levels one by one, either maintaining the second fish by moving the second controller once in a while, or let it float off. Never eat the game complete ball at the end of a playthrough--instead, make sure you have two fish, the one you want to see how big it can grow and the second fish, pause, go to the "menu", and use the second controller to pick another fish. Go through most of the next fish's level...keep doing it until it's obvious the fish won't get bigger or that Snake is really just far too large to easily control. The Jelly Fish levels are a very good place to evolve your giant fish. An interesting and challenging way to play flOw would be to play by yourself in multiplayer mode. Since the controls for flOw are based on the SIXAXIS controller movement and any button for the fish special abilities, it is entirely possible to play the game with two controllers, one in each hand. Give it a try--it can be very tricky controlling two fish at once, but it's fun! If there happen to be four controllers around, two players could do this together as well, for a challenging two player game with four fish. If you have enough controllers for it, these are a few good ways to mix it up playing flOw single player. If you find the game too easy the regular way, try playing the 'wrong' levels with different fish or try playing two fish at once. I haven't tried it with many different fish, but I know the large fish deep in the Jelly Fish level can be a nasty threat to a Snake, which has no way to calm those baby fish down! [CREDS]------------------------------------------------------------------------ Credits and disclaimers: thatgamecompany for making the beautiful game flOw. Jenova Chen at http://jenovachen.com/ for coming up with the game in the first place and working on implimenting Flow Theory in games. The Flash version is playable at that link. The official PS3 flOw site at http://us.playstation.com/flow/ for information on the HDTV and sound capabilities of flOw, that it uses DDA, and basic information on evolution food. Dominic I for providing some interesting information regarding non-standard controllers and also the colors for the 3 and 4 player fish. flOw is copyright (c) 2007 Sony computer Entertainment Inc. SCEI has nothing to do with this FAQ and has not endorsed it in any way. This has not been written for profit. This FAQ is copyright (c) 2007, 2008, Sara D. Green. I may be contacted at [email protected] -- please indicate that you are contacting me regarding this FAQ. Please let me know if there are any errors in the FAQ. This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal, private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. 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