MEAN STREETS Manual [All drawings omitted] Prologue I enjoy sitting in my office watching the sun slowly set past the Golden Gate Bridge. The deep red hue of the midday sky begins to fade, first to orange then to black. The sky wasn't always this color. When I was a little guy, just over thirty years ago, it was deep blue. Then a few nuclear missiles were accidently launched and things changed in a hurry. It blasted so much debris into the atmosphere, the sky at midday was almost black. Gradually the color lightened to a deep rich red. It's 9:00 p.m. and almost dark, so I'm getting ready to leave the office. It's been slow today, but that's the way it is in my business. Nothing but time on your hands one day, somebody placing their life in your hands the next. Being a private detective isn't easy. At times it can be downright dangerous. Yet for some strange reason, I like it. But you quickly find out if you've got what it takes to be in this business. If you're not tough and smart, the people you deal with will rip you to shreds. The only way to solve a case is to carefully put each piece of information together in a logical process, then piece by piece, the jigsaw puzzle begins to reveal itself. Finding clues is sometimes difficult, so I have to be thorough and precise in my work. If you dig deep enough, however, you find everyone has something to hide and my job is to uncover the facts, no matter where it takes me... Table of Contents LOADING INSTRUCTIONS................................5 PLAYING THE GAME....................................5 GAME OPTIONS........................................5 THE STORY...........................................6 OVERVIEW...........................................12 WHO'S TALKING......................................12 WHAT'S YOUR GOAL...................................12 GETTING AROUND FROM PLACE TO PLACE.................12 WHAT DOES NC MEAN..................................13 WHERE TO GO........................................13 GETTING STARTED....................................13 USING THE NAVIGATION COMPUTER......................14 USING THE AUTO PILOT...............................15 LANDING AT YOUR DESTINATION........................15 USE YOUR SECRETARY AND INFORMANT...................16 QUESTIONING WITNESSES AND SUSPECTS.................16 SEARCHING A ROOM...................................16 WRITE DOWN CLUES...................................18 TAKE THINGS WITH YOU...............................18 PROTECT YOURSELF - SAVE OFTEN......................18 THE INVENTORY SYSTEM...............................19 HOW TO GET CASH....................................19 FLYING INSTRUMENTS.................................20 FLYING CONTROLS....................................21 PLAYING TIPS.......................................22 IF THE PROGRAM FAILS TO LOAD OR OPERATE PROPERLY...23 LOADING INSTRUCTIONS Please follow these instructions carefully: ------------------------------------------- 1. Before playing the game, we strongly suggest that you make backup copies of the game disks. You will be saving game information to your playing disks. Please stop now and make backups. 2. JOYSTICK: Plug the joystick into joystick port #2 (rear). 3. Turn on the disk drive, monitor and computer. 4. Place the MEAN STREETS disk 1, side A in the disk drive and close the drive door. 5. Type: LOAD"MEAN STREETS",8,1 and press RETURN. MEAN STREETS will load and run automatically. Start-up Sequence: ------------------ As the game loads, you will be asked to select fast or normal loading. Fast loading requires that you have a 1541 or compatible disk drive. PLAYING THE GAME Read the following pages carefully before starting play. The section called "GETTING STARTED" is especially important. GAME OPTIONS Adjust the sound ---------------- You may choose to adjust the sound filter settings of the game to provide the optimum sound for your computer. THE STORY A steaming layer of thick fog hangs over the city. It's late, Wednesday night, the end of September. The weather report says the next few days will get warm, real warm. The radiation count should climb over 70. Very unpleasant. It's the kind of day that moves with the mercury, thick and slow. Funny how the work drags out with the humidity. My body and brain are trying to talk me into taking a few days vacation when the office door swings open. The silhouette in the doorway tells me this isn't the pizza man. My eyes follow curves up to where the lady's silken blonde hair kind of clasps her cheek near her eyes, which are exotic, not blue exactly, deeper than blue, sad and dangerous. If ever a woman is trouble, she's it. "Are you Tex Murphy?" she asks, Her bottom lip pouts at me, and I can tell that I'm probably looking at it too long. "That's me," I say, real professional, real cool. "Ms...?" "Linsky, Sylvia Linsky." Her eyes cloud over suddenly. They are murky and preoccupied, like mud puddles on a wet road. "It's my father." Her pause is long and sad. "I want you to investigate my father's death." "Have you been to the police?" This is my standard reply. I don't want anybody accusing me of breaking the law. Nobody messes with the boys downtown. "Of course I've spoken to them. Detective Clements thinks Daddy committed suicide. It wasn't suicide! Daddy would never kill himself. It's murder, I know it's murder." She's getting upset. The careful line of her lipstick draws my attention to her mouth and chin that trembles, just a little bit. "How did you find me?" I ask as I sit her down on the wooden chair that faces my desk. The chair looks dark and gritty next to her. "Detective Clements said that if I insisted on throwing money away, you were the one to throw it to." "Well, Ms. Linsky, before we play catch, give me the background on your father's death, then I'll decide if there's a ball game." I hear the rustle of silken stockings, Ms. Linsky crosses her legs and starts her story. "My father was a professor of neuropsychology at the University of San Francisco for fifteen years. He was well respected in his field and had received many awards and research grants. About eight months ago, he took a leave of absence from the University to work on an independent consulting contract. When I askeel about it, He said he couldn't tell me anything. Not even who hired him. I ralrely saw him after that." "One night I went to his home. He was terribly upset. It was obvious that he had been drinking. He was very evasive when I questioned him. I was worried about him, he was not a drinking man. I asked if I could stay with him, but my persistance only made him more angry. Finally, he agreed to come to my apartment for dinner the following Sunday -- that was three days ago." Ms. Linsky's body is very still. I am not sure she's even breathing. While she's looking right at me, her eyes which are as shiny as glass, melt. Two tears spill from them and run down her cheeks. "Last Sunday morning I got a call from the San Francisco police department. They told me that my father had apparently jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. They needed someone to come and identify the body. They said a witness had seen my father jump. His car was found on the bridge. Because there was no sign of foul play, they're calling it a routine suicide." I interrupted her. "The police are usually pretty good in these matters, from what you've told me..." "My father did not kill himself!" Her anger made her eyes viciously beautiful. "He was in serious danger. Even if he had killed himself, he never would have thrown himself into the Bay." "Why not?" I ask. Her anger faded, she uncrossed her legs and continued. "As a child he nearly drowned swimming in the bay. From then on he'd been afraid of water. He never went swimming. He wouldn't even go to the beach for picnics." "There's one more thing. I found this FAX note in his desk when I went through his things." She slipped the note out of her bag and across my desk top. It read: Professor: You were right about these boys. They play for keeps. Watch your step. S.F. "Did you show this to Clements?" "Yes, but he didn't consider it to be very important. He wasn't able to connect to anyone or anything. I just know whoever wrote this note, knows what happened. And I'm willing to back up my belief." Ms. Linsky's hand went back into her bag, this time it came out with $10,000, Cash. I sit straight up. "This is my life savings," she says, "I want you to find out the truth. If this is a suicide. I want to know. I will accept whatever evidence you can find, but if this is a murder, and I know it is, I want to know who did it and why!" Her story wasn't convincing me that this was a murder, but it did pique my curiousity. So did her face and her 10 G's. "O.K., I'll do some checking for you." Ms. Linsky, suddenly cool, straightened her skirt, and offered her hand. "Thank you, Mr. Murphy, I trust you will find the truth." She turned then and walked out of the office, and left me starting at the ten grand. This is a lot of money in advence, even for my rich clients. My gut feeling tells me something is wrong. Maybe I'm just too cynical. I scribble a note to my secretary, "Dig up any and all information on Dr. Carl Linsky." I'll start my investigation in the morning. [This is part of a newspaper's page in the manual:] Well Liked Professor Jumps to His Death --------------------------------------- San Francisco (AP) - Police say prominent University of San Francisco professor Carl Linsky was found dead early Sunday after jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge. West precinct detective Steve Clements said a witness allegedly saw Linsky jump from the bridge at about 11:20 Saturday night. Police divers located the body just before dawn and Linsky was pronounced dead at the scene. A suicide note, addressed to his daughter Sylvia, was later found at his home. Linsky's fiancee, Delores Lightbody, indicated that the professor had been under a great deal of stress recently, and had taken a leave of absence from his teaching duties at the university. Funeral services will be at 10:00 am Wednesday at the All Saints Church. [A note from Vanessa:] Tex - You might be interested in this article in the papers. Vanessa OVERVIEW Mean Streets is an interactive movie where you become the main character, Tex Murphy. Tex is a rugged, handsome, private investigator with a typical P.I. mentality that sometimes gets him into trouble. The movie takes place in the year 2033 in San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities along the West coast. WHO'S TALKING In this interactive movie there are two basic levels of narration. The first level uses the pronoun "I", as if Tex Murphy is narrating his own story. Imagine your favourite "Magnum" type movie with the hero's voice being played over the "drive of the beach" scene. The second level uses the pronon "you", and is reserved for the room search sequences. This gives more of a feel that "you're actually there" and the usual "Adventure Game Ghost" is talking to you and executing your requests. WHAT'S YOUR GOAL Your goal is to solve the mystery of what happened to Sylvia's father, Professor Carl Linsky. (Sylvia is the person who hired you.) Find out why Professor Linsky was murdered, and who was behind it. GETTING AROUND FROM PLACE TO PLACE Your vehicle is a 21st century "flying car" called a speeder. You'll be traveling up and down the west coast of the U.S. following leads and searching for clues. The speeder is very easy to fly, and it should take only a few minutes to learn to use the manual controls. It does, however, have an "AUTO PILOT" which will take you anywhere in the data base under full computer control. Refer to the section on FLYING for more information. WHAT DOES NC MEAN NC stands for NAVIGATION CODE. All important places (places you must visit) have Navigation Codes. For example, Dr. Linsky's office is NC 4663. You will be entering the NAV CODES into the navigation computer. WHERE TO GO You can fly anywhere in the data base, though some areas contain little or no detail, especially in the desolate regions known as "No Man's Land". All essential locations have a four digit address called a NAVIGATION CODE (i.e. NC2860). Entering the NAV CODE into the NAVIGATION COMPUTER will pin-point the location and program the "AUTO PILOT". It would be wise to write down all NAV CODES along with a brief description of who or what is at that location. GETTING STARTED Here is the information you have to begin the case: 1. CARL LINSKY is the professor that jumped to his death from the Golden Gate Bridge. He worked at the University of San Francisco (NAV CODE: 4663). 2. SYLVIA LINSKY is the person who hired you. She is CARL LINKSY's daughter and lives at NC 4421. 3. JOHN RICHARDS is the medical examiner. His office is at NC 4670. 4. DELORES LIGHTBODY was Carl Linsky's fiancee. She lives at NC 4920. 5. STEVE CLEMENTS is the police detective in charge of the case. The police station is at NC 4680. Go visit these people (or places) and ask questions about names you've found. Be sure to use peoples FULL NAMES. In addition to questioning them about other people, you should ask them about the following: MTC CORP GIDEON ENTERPRISES OVERLORD PASSCARD PASSWORD NEXUS LAW AND ORUER INSURANCE The following pages contain instructions on how to move around, question people, search rooms, etc. Please read carefully. Good Luck. USING THE NAVIGATION COMPUTER Your speeder is equipped with a very sophisticated navigation system, called the NAV computer. You can bring up the NAV computer by pressing "<--" while in your speeder. If you want to fly to a specific location for which you have a NAV code (NC), simply press "<--" again, then enter the 4 digit code and press [RETURN]. The AUTO PILOT is now programmed to take you directly to the NC address. If you wish to fly to the location manually, the destination "bearing", "distance" and "bearing bar" readouts on your dashboard will point to the NC address. Refer to the section on FLYING for more information. HERE IS AN EXAMPLE of how to program an NC address. Step 1. Bring up the NAV computer by pressing "" while in your speeder. Step 2. Press "<--" again. Step 3. Type the 4 digit NC (i.e. 4660) Step 4. Press the [RETURN] key. Step 5. If you wish to use AUTO PILOT, press "@" while in your speeder. USING THE AUTO PILOT The auto pilot is engaged or disengaged simply by pressing the "@" key while in your speeder. It will take you anywhere you'll want to go, but it must be programmed. Programming is done on the NAVIGATION COMPUTER in one of two ways. Method #1. Entering a NC (NAV CODE), as explained previously will set the AUTO PILOT'S destination to the NC address. Method #2. Moving the destination cursor (the red cross-hair) with the joystick will set the AUTO PILOT'S destination to the location shown by the red cursor. Use the "+" and "-" keys to zoom in or out as needed, and press the BUTTON when you're finished. NOTE: The location of the red cursor when you exit the NAV COMPUTER is your programmed destination. LANDING AT YOUR DESTINATION When an NC address is programmed into the NAV Computer, the location will be shown as a flashing landing pad. If you're using the auto pilot, landing will be done for you automatically. If you're flyng manually, you must bring your speeder to a full stop at altitude = 0 on the pad. When you do, a message will appear on screen that says, PAD CONTACT. TO EXIT, press "E". NOTE: Only locations with valid NC addresses will have landing pads. A flashing pad means there is something to see or do outside your vehicle at that location. To avoid confusion, only one flashing pad will be visible at a time, and that's your programmed NC destination. USE YOUR SECRETARY AND INFORMANT Your secretary, VANESSA, and your informant, LEE CHIN, are valuable sources of information. Call them on the VIDEO PHONE by pressing "V" or "L" from your speeder. To exit the videophone, press the "/" key. QUESTIONING WITNESSES AND SUSPECTS As you begin your investigation, you'll learn the names of several persons that you may know something or be involved in the case. Go visit these people (using their NAV codes) and question them. Be thorough. ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FOLLOWING: 1. PEOPLES NAMES. Be sure to use the entire name and spell correctly 2. THESE SUBJECTS: MTC CORP. PASSWORD GIDEON ENTERPRISES LAW AND ORDER OVERLORD NEXUS PASSCARD INSURANCE Some people may have to be bribed or threatened. SEARCHING A ROOM Several of the locations you'll visit are rooms that contain clues, objects, money, messages, etc. The objects are hidden and you must search carefully to find them. Agan, be thorough. Look at everything, and unless you sense danger, you should also try to MOVE and OPEN everything. To make searching easier, we've devised a new "tree search system" which requires no typing. TO SEARCH A ROOM do the following: 1. Move around the room using the joystick. 2. When "PRESS