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MDb FRIEND VOUCHERS FAQ - v 2.5 (11.09.07)

By CapCom
Additional Editing by AMetroidGuy and Infinity's End

This is the official Friend Vouchers FAQ made by the Metroid Database for its community. This document contains information about how Friend Vouchers and Friend Credits work, how to get them, and what to do with them when you do get them.

It is unfortunate that we even have to start an FAQ on this matter considering how poorly documented the Friend Vouchers system has been by Nintendo. If somebody from Nintendo is reading this, I hope you will see to it this matter is fixed for Metroid Prime 3 as well as all future games that use this system.

INDEX

1.0 - ABOUT FRIEND VOUCHERS

1.1 - What are Friend Vouchers and how do I get them?
Friend Vouchers are credit vouchers you get from performing special tasks in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption such as defeating bosses, visiting new areas, scanning lots of objects, performing specific tasks (like Chozo Bowling), and killing large numbers of enemies. Friend Vouchers can be sent to other players on your Wii Friends list who have Metroid Prime 3: Corruption . Players who receive Friend Vouchers from others may then redeem them for Friend Credits.

1.2 - What are Friend Credits?
Friend Credits are a special kind of credit used to unlock bonuses in the Extras section. Not all extras require Friend Credits to unlock, but in order to unlock all the extras, you'll need some Friend Credits. You can get a Friend Credit if someone on your Wii Friends list sends you a Friend Voucher. When you receive one, you will have the choice of converting it into a Friend Credit.

Note that all bonuses will require credits OTHER than Friend Credits, such as Red, Blue, and Gold credits. (Friend Credits are green.) These other types can only be received by scanning Creatures and Lore, and defeating bosses (& Red Phaazoids) respectively.
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2.0 - FRIEND VOUCHER ETIQUETTE

Because Friend Vouchers and Friend Credits are rather scarce and can only be received through special channels, please keep in mind some basic Friend Vouchers etiquette when sending and receiving Friend Vouchers:

2.1 - SHARE!
If somebody sends you a Friend Voucher, be certain to send one back! This way, everybody gets a voucher and everybody can get Friend Credits and unlock their extras.

2.2 - DON'T HOARD!
If you receive a Friend Voucher and have already unlocked your extras gallery, then you probably have no more need for these Credits. Because Friend Vouchers, once received, cannot be redistributed, you will want to let people know you do not need any more Friend Credits.

2.3 - STAY UPDATED!
Some board members have been putting their Friend Vouchers information in their signatures. While this isn't required, if you have or need Friend Vouchers, you can do the same! Just be sure to keep this information updated, or you might get some unintended Friend Vouchers or requests!

2.4 - BE PATIENT!
Please do not demand that everybody send you Friend Vouchers and insult them when they don't or aren't fast enough in sending them. Nobody likes people who demand things and are mean about it.
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3.0 - HOW DO I GET FRIEND CREDITS?

In order to get Friend Credits, you must do the following:
  1. Play some Metroid Prime 3: Corruption to earn Friend Vouchers!
  2. Have your Wii Connected to the Internet.
  3. Register your Friends' Wii addresses through the WiiConnect24 Address Book.
  4. Configure your WiiConnect24 to DISCOVERABLE.
  5. Have friends on your Wii Friends Roster who have Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and are willing to send you Friend Vouchers.
  6. Keep your Wii connected to the Internet so you can receive Friend Credits.
  7. Once you have received a Friend Voucher, convert that Friend Voucher into a Friend Credits.
3.1 - Play Metroid Prime 3: Corruption to earn some Friend Vouchers!
You can't send Friend Vouchers unless you play the game! (See Section 4.0)

3.2 - Connect your Wii to the Internet
Connecting your Wii to the Internet is pretty well documented by Nintendo. You can do this either wirelessly or by purchasing a USB/Ethernet adapter from Nintendo's online store (I recommend this over third-party models).

3.3 - Register your Friends' Wii addresses through the WiiConnect24 Address Book
Once you are connected to the Internet, you can add other people to your Friends list. There are many people on the board you can add to your list and who would also be interested in adding you to theirs! This step has also been fairly well documented by Nintendo and you can find more about it online as well as through the Wii console instruction booklet.
***DON'T FORGET: N. AMERICAN(NTSC) and EUROPEAN/AUSTRALIAN(PAL) friend codes are NOT compatible with each other, so always be aware of the other player's region before trading friend codes!***

3.4 - Configure your game file to be discoverable on WiiConnect24
This is a very important step that is easy to forget. You MUST make sure your system is discoverable so you can actually receive Friend Vouchers. Otherwise, you can't receive the ones your friends send you!

To turn on your Friend Connect to DISCOVERABLE, go to the Configure WiiConnect24 menu within the Extras menu of the Metroid Prime 3: Corruption title screen. You will be asked:
'Would you like to share your Metroid Prime 3: Corruption information with members of your Friend Roster?'

Select 'Yes' to make your Metroid Prime 3: Corruption save file discoverable to other players.
You will now be able to receive any Friend Vouchers your friends send you!
  • Friends who have their Metroid Prime 3: Corruption saves set to DISCOVERABLE will appear in BLACK.
  • Friends who DO NOT have their Metroid Prime 3: Corruption saves set to DISCOVERABLE or who do not have Metroid Prime 3: Corruption save data will appear in GRAY. They will not be able to receive the Friend Vouchers you send them until they become DISCOVERABLE. So bug them until they turn this feature on!
3.5 - Have friends on your Wii Friends Roster who have Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and are willing to send you Friend Vouchers
(Sending and receiving Friend Vouchers)

In the Friend Vouchers menu, you can select players you want to send your Friend Vouchers to. Because Friends are more likely to send you Friend Vouchers if you send them Friend Vouchers in return, feel free to send the Vouchers out to people on your list and let them know you are looking for them to send you Friend Vouchers as well. Sooner or later, your Friends will start sending you Vouchers! Friends who are in BLACK will be able to receive Friend Vouchers from you while friends in GRAY will have to make their Metroid Prime 3: Corruption saves DISCOVERABLE --- or get the game and make some save files --- in order to receive the Vouchers.
Simply select the desired Friend or Friends from the list and send them any number of Friend Vouchers you want. You can only send one Friend Voucher to one Friend at a time and only if you have Friend Vouchers to send.

3.6 - Keep your Wii connected to the Internet so you can receive Friend Vouchers
Remember that you can only receive Friend Vouchers when somebody send you them AND your Wii is connected to the Internet! If you haven't connected to the Internet for awhile, you may have received some Vouchers. It can take awhile to transfer Friend Vouchers, so don't be surprised if they don't appear immediately. If you're waiting, now might be a good time to play more Metroid Prime 3: Corruption!

3.7 - Once you have received a Friend Voucher, convert it into a Friend Credit
When you receive a Friend Voucher, open your save file. A message will appear telling you how many Friend Vouchers you have received and asking how many you wish to convert into Friend Credits. Remember that you don't have to convert all your Friend Vouchers into Friend Credits, particularly if you've already unlocked everything! You can save these for another save file that you or someone in your household has started (or will start later). It seems that the most Friend Vouchers you can convert at any one time is 8. To convert more, simply go back to the Main Menu, and pick your save file again.

BEWARE: Any save file that is opened while your Wii has received Friend Vouchers will ask you to convert them! While you can decline to convert these Friend Vouchers when asked, you cannot transfer credits or Vouchers from one save file to another. Make sure you select the file you want the Friend Credits to be applied to!

Now that you've got some Friend Credits, you can go to the Extras menu and begin unlocking some of the extras! Remember that you'll have to play through the game in order to open up all the Extras for purchase, and again on Hypermode difficulty to earn enough Gold Credits to purchase everything. Have fun!
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4.0 - FRIEND VOUCHER LOCATIONS

Each Friend Voucher can only be earned once, though a few have the same name. Once earned, a voucher can not be earned again on that save file, even when replaying the game on that file. An entirely new file must be started to earn additional vouchers one the supply is exhausted. The following is a list of all known techniques for earning Friend Vouchers (be aware that this list contains spoilers):
  • 100 Kills - kill a total of 100 enemies. (You can check on how many enemies you have killed in your ship, which keeps track automatically.)
  • 200 Kills - kill a total of 200 enemies.
  • 300 Kills - kill a total of 300 enemies.
  • 400 Kills - kill a total of 400 enemies.
  • 500 Kills - kill a total of 500 enemies.
  • 600 Kills - kill a total of 600 enemies.
  • 700 Kills - kill a total of 700 enemies.
  • 800 Kills - kill a total of 800 enemies.
  • 900 Kills - kill a total of 900 enemies.
  • 1000 Kills - kill a total of 1000 enemies.
  • Juggling Bonus - 20 - Score 20 or more at target practice in Docking Bay 5 of the G.F.S. Olympus. (Can be achieved at beginning or end of Olympus sequence)
  • GF Trooper Saved - Save the G-Fed dude from getting spaced (by shooting the blinking red emergency switch) when the hull is breached. (Saving other Marines yields Blue Credits, but this particularly tricky save nets you a Friend Voucher.)
  • Flawless Escape - Do not get hit by Meta Ridley during the Morph Ball sequence on Norion.
  • Short-cut Discovered - In the Gel Cavern in Bryyo Fire (room with all the Fuel Gel spouts in the ceiling), freeze the spout off to one side, go behind it, roll up and enter the mouth of the statue. Samus will be sent all the way back to the Imperial Hall.
  • Icy Reptilicide - Weaken a Reptilicus or Reptilicus Hunter with a charge shot, then freeze it with a missile just after it throws its chakram. It will be shattered by the return Ilight of its own weapon!
  • Perfect Execution - When disabling the second defense turret in the Thorn Jungle area of Bryyo, pull all 3 levers without any getting flipped back by the Aerotroopers.
  • Exterminator - Kill all of the small enemies in the first area (landing site) of any Leviathan Seed.
  • Stylish Kill - That unstable bridge on Elysia (Skybridge Hera) with a Steamlord? Ignore him and his minions, cross the bridge and drop it.
  • Bowling for Bots - Take out a bunch of the Tinbots in the Junction by knocking them over with the Boost Ball.
  • Crash Landing - set an Aerotrooper's jet pack on fire with the Plasma Beam, then rip it off with the Grapple Lasso.
  • New Area Discovered - Awarded automatically on the first visit to SkyTown East.
  • New Area Discovered - Awarded automatically on the first visit to Bryyo Ice.
  • 20 Commandos Defeated - Kill a total of 20 Commando Pirates. You will probably accomplish this during the fight for the Nova Beam, if not earlier.
  • Harvester Destroyed - That massive Harvester drone in the Mines? Once the planetary defense shield is disabled, stun it, then have your ship do a bombing run.
  • Leviathan Humiliated - Shoot the orbiting Leviathan's eyes multiple times while inside it above the Pirate Homeworld (after entering the terminal).
  • Secret Message Discovered - Find AU 313's final pre-abduction recording by entering a code found in the last room of the Valhalla into a terminal in the same room.

5.0 - FRIEND VOUCHERS AND SAVE FILES

For some strange reason, Nintendo placed bizarre limitations on Friend Vouchers beyond the transfer system. This will annoy some players to no end. We will not complain about them at this particular step, but we WILL warn players about this so they will be ready!

5.1 - Will Friend Vouchers screw up my game?
Friend Vouchers will not screw up your game by either corrupting your save files or deleting them. They will simply let you unlock Extras and nothing more.
However, the Friend Vouchers system is sort of strange, so there are some things you will want to be aware of:

5.2 - First come, first serve!
Note that when you send vouchers to a person, you are NOT sending them to a specific saved game. You are just sending them to a Wii. Anyone who plays Metroid Prime 3: Corruption on that Wii and loads up a save file will be asked to convert those vouchers. While you can decline to convert them, it is easy to simply convert them all at once without thinking and you can't transfer Friend Credits from slot to slot. So people should plan ahead before recklessly sending around friend vouchers, or else they might end up in the wrong save file. (From Shaktool and AMetroidGuy)
For this reason, you might want to tell anyone else who is using Metroid Prime 3: Corruption that you want those Friend Vouchers for your file! They might be mean and go ahead and take them anyway, but at least you'll know it wasn't by accident.

5.3 - Friend Vouchers and Replays
Keep in mind that all your scans and achievements and Credits and vouchers transfer over to your new game after you beat the game and start over in the same save file. This means that starting over is not a good way to get more Credits, because you can't get more Credits from re-scanning something you've already scanned. If you get a perfect game the first time around, then there won't be a single Credit or voucher that you can earn from re-playing the game... except friend Credits that other players give you. Your friends can start a completely new save file, earn a bunch of friend vouchers, send them to you, delete the file and start over from scratch again, and keep earning and sending more, and you can collect them all inside a single save file on your side. Not that there's any reason why you'd want to have hundreds of friend Credits in one save file, but it's possible.
This also means that if you miss one critical scan, and then beat the game, that one critical scan is the only thing left to scan the second time around, and you won't have to go around scanning all the trivial stuff. (From Shaktool)

5.4 - Friend Voucher Transfer Information
The Wii keeps track of how many vouchers that it has sent and received from other people's Wiis, regardless of which save files were involved. You can start a completely new save file, and on the Friend Vouchers screen it will still tell you about the vouchers you've sent and received in the past, even though you can't use them in the new save file. (From Shaktool)

5.5 - Saves Files and SD Cards
Note that when you copy save files from slot to slot, neither Friend Credits nor Friend Vouchers are copied, BUT when you copy the save data to an SD card and another Wii, they do carry over.
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6.0 - FRIEND VOUCHER COMMUNITY

This is information for players who are interested in sharing Friend Vouchers. The Metroid Database Message Board has a post where players can share Friend Vouchers here:
http://metroiddatabase.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=309

6.1 - Who can I get Friend Credits from?
There are many members of the Metroid Database Message Board who would be interested in helping you get Friend Vouchers and who would also like to receive Friend Vouchers from you. Visit the Official Wii Friends List in General Videogame Discussions to add your name to the list. Post below to specifically ask for vouchers.
http://metroiddatabase.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=89

6.2 - How many Friend Credits will I need to unlock everything in the Extras menu?
15 Friend Credits are required to unlock everything. Remember, though, that you will need to complete the game and earn lots of Red, Blue, and Gold Credits to unlock all the files. To earn enough Gold Credits, you will have to play through the game on multiple difficulty settings. If you find you have already recieved 15 Friend Credits, then you may want to let your Friends know you no longer need any so they can send their Vouchers to other players who do!

6.3 - Friend Voucher Farming
The work of Friend Voucher 'farmers' will be appreciated! Friend Voucher farmers are players who decide to play through Metroid Prime 3: Corruption a lot simply to create lots of Friend Vouchers and send them to players in need.
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7.0 - SPECIAL THANKS

  • LadyIcy
  • Shaktool
  • Miss Aran
  • Arrow
  • All Friend Voucher Farmers!
  • Retro Studios
  • Nintendo
  • Gunpei Yokoi
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8.0 - UPDATE HISTORY

  • 11.09.07 - Additional HTML formatting and editing by Infinity's End
  • 10.11.07 - Edited by AMetroidGuy including updated information and format changes. Added Friend Voucher locations.
  • 09.12.07 - Converted to HTML format. Definitive answer for 5.2 added.
  • 09.03.07 - First .txt version of this document created. Fixed errors and added new information about Friend Voucher transfers. Added number of Friend Credits needed.
  • 09.02.07 - First version created.
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9.0 - DISCLAIMER

    This guide copyright 2007 by The Metroid Database. Nintendo, Metroid, and all elements thereof where applicable are copyrighted and/or trademarked by Nintendo. The Metroid Database is not affiliated in any way with Nintendo or Retro Studios.
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