____________________________________________________________________________ | | | | WHERE IN THE USA IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? | Transferrable : Ring Lord and | | | Version by : The Talisman | | By: Ken Bull, Gene Portwood and | | | Laureen Elliot | Special Thanx : The Hitman | | | | | MAIN DOCUMENTATION FILE | Supplied by : Professor Prom | |______________________________________| The Dark Hold | | The Shrink | Case number: AD14-2236 | Mind Mechanic | | | Subject: Carmen Sandiego | Documentation : Ring Lord | | | Compiled by: Acme Detective Agency | A == TOP GUN == release 10-27-86 | |_____________________________________| Where in the U.S.A. is Carmen Sandiego? And you were dreaming of palm trees and sunshine... 8 a.m., a miserable, stormy morning. After an hour-long commute in the pouring rain, you slosh into the Acme Detective Agency, grunt hello to your secretary, pour yourself a cup of scalding coffee and slump down at your desk. It's been a tough year. The only good thing about it is that you've earned a vacation and you're scheduled to leave at 5 p.m. today. You take a swig of coffee and grab a travel brochure from your desk. Visions of sandy beaches, swaying palms, and cool blue waters fill your head. Suddenly, you're snapped back to reality by a newspaper slammed down on your desk. "Read it and weep," a voice growls. Matt Brannigan, a beefy-faced lunk and one of the agency's top men, is looking down at you with a twisted grin. You scan the headlines and your heart skips a beat. You can't believe your eyes: Carmen Sandiego has escaped from the toughest prison in Europe! "The Chief has cancelled all vacations and put everyone on 24-hour-a-day alert," your colleague says. "We've got it on good authority that Carmen's headed for the USA with the worst gang of thugs and criminals ever assembled. No one rests until she's behind bars again!" As you slam dunk your now worthless travel brochure into the metal trash basket beside your desk, you can't help but wonder at Carmen's timing in re- establishing her Villain's International League of Evil (V.I.L.E.) in the USA. Why couldn't she have waited? Just a few hours more and it wouldn't have been your problem. Grimly, you gather your trench coat around you and head for the door. "Maybe you'll get to see a bit of the country during this caper," your fellow detective offers as you head for the door. "Yeah," he chuckes, "just think of the whole thing as one big vacation - it'll make it easier." ** Ready for Duty ** - Getting Started - Insert the WHERE IN THE USA IS CARMEN SANDIEGO? disk, label side up (Side A), into the disk drive and close the drive door. Turn on your computer and monitor. The program will load into memory and begin an animated intro- duction. After you've watched the introduction (or any time after the disk drive light goes off), and you're ready to start the game, press any key or joystick button. During the game you will be prompted to flip the disk when necessary. (Always make sure you wait until the red disk drive light is off.) ** You're on Your Way ** - Signing In - To get your assignment, you first need to sign in. Type in your name, and then press RETURN. If you make a mistake or run out of space, use the Delete key (or left arrow) to erase, then re-type. If you're new on the job, you need to indicate when asked (type Y for yes and press RETURN). Once you've signed in, you'll be given an assignment and send on the trail of the thief! - Tools of the Trade - The items on the Main Menu at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen help you track down and identify the villain. - Controls - To select an item, use either the keyboard or a joystick. Highlight the item you want by pressing the arrow keys or pushing the joystick up and down. Select the item by pressing RETURN or button #0. Press ESC or buttone #1 if you accidentally select the wrong item or if you want to choose another. Select items from other menus in the program in the same way. - Special Keys - CONTROL-L lists your current rank at the Acme Detective Agency CONTROL-D permits you to delete a detective's name from the Detective Roster CONTROL-R ends current game and starts a new one CONTROL-F permits you to view the Detective Hall of Fame CONTROL-S turns sound off and on CONTROL-Y flips y-axis on joystick - Briefing - The villain you're after is hiding out in a city in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia (Washington, D.C.). He or she has left clues along the way, though. These clues point to the city itself or to the state where the city is located. Carmen's gang has 16 members, including Carmen herself. Any one of them could be the villain, although Carmen is generally more elusive - and smarter - than the rest of the V.I.L.E. gang. You begin at the bottom of the detective ranks, but as you prove yourself, promotions will come your way. Persevere, catch the crooks, and you'll climb your way through the ranks - 10 in all - to reach Master Detective status. Even then, you'll need your own quick thinking and hard-nosed investigative skills, plus the Crime Computer, the special included Map of the United States, Fodor's USA travel guide, and your own purloined copy of Carmen's secret scrapbook. [Sidenote: The "special map" is just an ordinary map of the USA which has the] [ cities in this game printed within the states - just use any map ] [ if you need it. The travel guide is 879 pages and can be bought ] [ at a book story or else you can use an almanac or another travel ] [ guide - the information is rarely needed if ever. The Scrapbook ] [ is in the documentation file titled "SCRAPBOOK" -RL ] You have only a limited amount of time to solve each case before the villain gives you the slip. Watch the clock and note the deadline indicated by the Crime Computer at the beginning of each game. - Hot on the Trail - Your starting point is the city where the villain (who has just swiped a valuable state treasure) was last seen. Refer to your official Map of the United States to check locations by city and state so you'll know where you are and where you're going. The upper-left portion of the screen always gives your present location, day of the week, and the time. Be sure to read the descriptions of the city and state that appear on the screen. These contain valuable information that may be useful in solving later cases. Hint: Take the time to jot some of this information down. You'll be glad that you did! Use the items on the Main Menu to help you track the villain down. See Connections lists all possible destinations reached by connecting flights from your present location. Check these first to see where the villain might have gone - they change from game to game, so be sure to take a look even if you've been to the city in a previous game. When you've seen the connections, you can clear them from the screen by selecting Hide Connections or leave them on the screen if you prefer. Depart by Plane lets you depart for the location of your choice once you've investigate and think you know where the villain has gone. An on-screen map of the United States shows your current location (black square) and the location of the connecting city that is currently highlighted (hollow circle). Once you select your destination, your travel route will be displayed. Investigate lets you unearth clues so you can track the villain to his or her next destination. Clues are found in three locations, which change from city to city. Visit as many clue locations as you want, but remember that the more investigating you do, the more time you use. Use Fodor's USA travel guide to help unravel the clues you turn up. Crime Computer helps you narrow down your list of suspects and get an arrest warrant for a specific villain. To use the Crime Computer: Select Crime Computer from the Main Menu. Then select Use Computer from the new menu that appears. In the upper right-hand side of the screen, you'll see a list of characteristics. As you gather clues about the suspect, enter information in the Crime Computer in the following way: Highlight a characteristic - hobby, for example. Then press RETURN or joystick button #0 to cycle through the possible choices until you reach the one you want. If you don't know a characteristic, leave that space blank. When you've finished entering all the information you know about a suspect, select Compute. A list of all suspects who have the characteristics you've specified will be printed out. When you've narrowed down the list to one suspect, the Crime Computer will issue an arrest warrant. Now you're ready to make an arrest as soon as you catch up with the villain. (If you need to change the warrant because new clues point to a different suspect, simply enter the correct characteristics in the Crime Computer and a new warrant will be issued.) - Time Out - Even super sleuths need a break. If you want time out, you can Save a case in progress, and then Continue the same case at a later time. To save your case, select Crime Computer from the Main Menu, then select Save Case. Follow the on-screen prompts to save your case. (Note that once you have saved the case, you cannot continue to play until you restart the game and tell the computer that you want to continue your case.) To Continue a saved case, simply start the game as usual. After you sign in, the computer will recognize that you have saved a case and will ask you if you want to continue the case at that time. Type Y (for yes) to continue and press RETURN. You will then be whisked to the city where you left off. If you don not want to continue your saved case, type N (for no) and press RETURN. Your saved case will be erased from the disk. Your rank and the total number of cases solved will remain unchanged. (Note: You can have only one saved case on the disk at a time.) - Investigative Pointers - o You know you're on the right track when you see a suspicious person or occurance on the screen. That's because the real villain stays in hiding and has a crony check you out. o The closer you get to the villain the more dangerous your situation becomes. Beware of deadly missiles - they mean you're closing in on your suspect and things are getting hot! o Don't waste time using the Crime Computer too often or investigating for too long at each location. Use Carmen's secret Scrapbook to pin down the villain's identity and your Fodor's USA travel guide to reveal the villain's route - if you use your head you'll advance faster than fellow detectives who do nothing but play their hunches. o Be sure you have an arrest warrant by the time you catch up with the villain. If you don't have a warrant, you can't make an arrest and the thief will slip through your fingers. And make sure your warrant is for the correct suspect - otherwise you could be in hot water with the Chief for risking a charge of false arrest! o Every case you're assigned is different. When you begin a new assignment, you'll start a new city, look for a new stolen treasure, and follow a new suspect over a new route with new clues. o As you advance through the ranks, you'll get assigned to tougher cases, with more difficult clues to unravel and a longer trail to follow. o If you reach the top of the ranks and have earned all the Special Commendations you can before mandatory retirement, you can always get back in action by using an assumed name when you sign in. This is a smart move. After all, your real name may be on Carmen's hit list! - Carmen's Scrapbook - Your Own Stolen Treasure - Lucky for you, the Acme Detective Agency has managed to purloin Carmen's own secret Scrapbook. In it, Carmen has collected mementos and information about every member of her gang. You can use this information to identify the V.I.L.E. villain you're looking for in your current case. For example, if Carmen notes that one of her henchman's (or henchwoman's) favorite snacks is tacos, you'll know that the villain's food preference is Tex/Mex (a category in the Crime Computer). Clues about Carmen are found in the Scrapbook, too. But like Carmen hersellf, these clues are elusive. You'll have to use all your detecting skills as you sift through the Scrapbook trying to identify this arch-villain's interests, hobbies, etc. - A Final Hint - Don't hesitate to use other reference books you may have on hand. The bio- graphical and geographical sections of a dictionary may be helpful, as well as an encyclopedia, a map, or an Almanac. Use whatever you can to help you unravel the clues, save time, catch the crooks, and earn those promotions! _________________ | | | Remember | | We're counting | | on you! | | - The Chief! | |_________________| Written by: Ring Lord 10/27/86 == TOP GUN ==