Mean Streets manual

1. Mean Streets
2. manual

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 " appears in the lower window, press the
JOYSTICK BUTTON to bring up the SEARCH SYSTEM.

NOTE: You cannot move the man while the SEARCH SYSTEM is activated.

3. Use UP or DOWN on the joystick to select an ITEM from the ITEM LIST
(i.e. DESK, KEY, ETC.).

4. Use LEFT or RIGHT on the joystick to select a COMMAND from the
COMMAND LIST (i.e. LOOK, GET, ETC.).

5. When the appropriate COMMAND and ITEM are highlighted (i.e. LOOK
DESK), press . The program will then execute your request,
such as OPEN DRAWER, GET KEY, LOOK CHAIR, etc.

6. Use the get command to take an item with you. It's best to LOOK at
an item before you GET it, but if you forget, you can always LOOK at
it from your inventory screen. You'll have to wait until you are in
your speeder however.

7. Use the "F7" key to go back to moving the man.

NOTE: When you first enter the SEARCH SYSTEM, the ITEM LIST contains
all major items which are visible from that location in the room. This
is called the MAIN LIST. There may be additional objects on, inside or
under these MAIN LIST ITEMS. By trying commands such as LOOK, OPEN,
MOVE, etc.  on the MAIN ITEMS, you may reveal more items. These
"revealed" items will appear on a separate list called the SUB-LIST.
To get back to the MAIN LIST, press "F7" or select "BACK" from the
COMMAND LIST. You will also use "F7" or "BACK" to regain control of
the man. Remember, you cannot move the man while in the search system.


WRITE DOWN CLUES

Write down everything that seems important, especially NAV CODES (NC),
people's names, company names, passwords, etc. We've included some
work sheets which should prove useful. Remember, to SPELL the
INFORMATION CORRECTLY. It will save you a great deal of frustration


TAKE THINGS WITH YOU

While searching rooms, you'll find things that will be useful in other
places. For example, a key found in one room may open an important
drawer in another room. Use the GET command to take thinks with you.

NOTE: If you get thrown in jail or are killed, all the items in your
possession will be returned to their original locations. Be sure to
use the SAVE game feature to protect yourself against having to start
from the beginning in the event that this happens.

If you forget to "LOOK" at something before you "GET" it, don't worry.
When you return to your speeder, the item will be in your inventory.
Use the "LOOK" command while at the inventory screen to re-examine the
item.


PROTECT YOURSELF - SAVE OFTEN

Save your game often to avoid having to start over at the beginning if
you're killed or sent to jail. Press "D" for DISK while in your
speeder.  You can save up to ten individual games. Each player should
save their games under a different game number. If you do get killed,
choose "RESUME SAVED GAME" from the select screen. Use the up or down
JOYSTICK to select the previously saved game number, then press "L"
for load. You will be restored to the location in the game where the
last save was done under that game number. All objects, clues,
passwords, etc. will be restored to you.


THE INVENTORY SYSTEM

An inventory of all items you have collected is available by pressing
"P" while in your speeder. You can also pawn items for cash from the
inventory screen. Be selective about pawning things, though, since it
will cost you twice as much to reclaim them.

NOTE: Occasionally you will pick up an item without having carefully
examined it for clues. You can read any message associated with an
object by selecting LOOK when in the inventory system.


HOW TO GET CASH

There are two ways to get cash.

1.You'll find some cash as you search through rooms.

2.You can pawn items for cash.


FLYING INSTRUMENTS

[Cockpit drawing omitted]

1  - Distance to Destination (in miles)
2  - Velocity Indicator (solid white when in Warp Speed)
3  - Rate of Climb Indicator
4  - Reverse Velocity Indicator
5  - Rate of Descent Indicator
6  - Forward Velocity Indicator
7  - Your Current Bearing
8  - Destination Bearing
9  - Artificial Horizon
10 - When current and destination bearings are the same, you're flying
     straight towards your destination
11 - Altitude
12 - Destination Bearing Bar
13 - When the bar is in the Center, you are flying straight towards
     your destination (turn towards the bar)
14 - Pitch Indicator
15 - Bank Indicator


FLYING CONTROLS

Forward/Reverse                +/-
Turn Left/Right                Joystick Left/Right
Pitch Up/Down                  Joystick Up/Down
All Stop                       Space Bar
Hover Up/Down                  /*
Toggle Warp Speed On/Off       W
Phone Vanessa (Secretary)      V
Phone Lee Chin (Informant)     L
Navigation Computer            
Inventory/Pawn Shop            P
Load/Save Game                 D (Disk)
Abort Game                     /
Bank Control On/Off            F1 (Pivot only, don't bank)
Auto Pitch Center              F2 (Bring Pitch to Zero)
Auto Pilot On/Off              @
Scenery Toggle*                Right Hand Shift Key
Solid Fill On/Off**            Run/Stop Key


* There are three levels of scenery in the data base. The more scenery
in the data base, the slower the Flight Update will be.

LEVEL 1 - No structures, only grid bars (Fastest Update).
LEVEL 2 - Coastline and major ground structures (Medium Update).
LEVEL 3 - Complete Scenery (Slowest Update).

Use the Right Shift Key to select the level.

** Flight update will be slower with SOLID FILL ON.


PLAYING TIPS

1. Keep a sequential log of things you do, places you go, people you
see, etc.

2. Write down people's names, NC addresses and notes about them on the
Detective Information Charts provided. BE SURE TO SPELL EVERYTHING
CORRECTLY.

3. Be thorough and look for relationships between people. Be sure to
ask about everything who's name comes up. REMEMBER TO SPELL CORRECTLY.

4. You may come to a point in the case where you seem to have
exhausted all your options. Re-read your notes, look at and read all
of the messages associated with items in the inventory, and go back
and question some of your suspects. If you've come to a complete dead
end, you've missed an important name or NAV Code somewhere. Don't
forget your secretary and informant.

5. Save your game often. It will prevent a lot of frustration.

6. If you're having trouble flying your speeder manually, use the AUTO
PILOT as a tutor. Press "@" and observe the instrument readings. After
you've oriented yourself, press "@" again to disengage the Auto Pilot.

7. As you're flying, you should keep your eye on the "distance to
destination" readout in the upper left corner of your dashboard, and
the "destination bearing bar" just above the center control stick. If
you keep the Bar in the center, then the flashing landing pad will
always appear near the center of your screen and the distance readout
will tell you how far away it is.

NOTE: Don't forget to program your destination NC address into the NAV
Computer. Both the distance readout and bar position are relative to
the LAST PROGRAMMED DESTINATION.

8. When searching rooms, be sure and look at everything. You should
also attempt to MOVE and OPEN everything unless you sense danger.

9. Did we mention that it's very important to SPELL EVERYTHING
CORRECTLY.

10. Play with a friend. You may find it helpful and more fun to play
with two heads instead of one.

11. Playing with the room lights turned down will make the graphics
appear more vivid and will add to your enjoyment of the game.

12. IF YOU CAN'T FINISH: If you've tried everything you can think of
and still can't finish, we understand. Everyone gets brain lock
occasionally.  Call us at (801) 298-9077 during regular business hours
(8:00am to 5:00pm Mountain Time).


IF THE PROGRAM FAILS TO LOAD OR OPERATE PROPERLY

Try the following:

A: Remove the program disk, turn off the computer and try again.

B: If you're still unsuccessful, call us at 800-824-2549 or
801-298-9077.


Produced and Directed by:
  Bruce Carver

Programming:
  Brent Erickson, Roger Carver, Kevin Homer, David Curtin

Story and Game Design:
  Chris Jones, Brent Erickson, Brian Ferguson

Graphics and Art Direction:
  Doug Vandergrift

Graphics:
  Jon Clark, John Berven

Cinematography:
  Zeke McCabe

Data Base Design:
  Roger Carver, Brent Erickson, David Curtin

Documentation:
  Bruce Carver, Chris Jones, Jon Clark

Play Testing:
  John Berven, James Slade

Package Design:
  Doug Vandergrift