Abandonware DOS title

Sleuth: A Murder Mystery manual

I N S T R U C T I O N S   F O R   S L E U T H


As you begin a game of SLEUTH a murder has just been committed.
Your job is  to mingle  with the houseguests and  to search the
contents of the house until you feel you have solved the crime.
Every game of SLEUTH is different so you must fully explore the
house each time that you play.


You can  move through  the house by using the four  cursor keys
(udrl)  located on the numeric keypad.  Be particularly careful
when moving  on the stairways  since you must change  direction
each time you move from one floor to another.


You can  search  rooms, people  and  objects  by  using  simple
phrases such as EXAMINE DOOR, SEARCH VICTORIA, or  LOOK AT JAR.
When  you want to  SEARCH or ACCUSE  a person you  only need to
type in  their  first name.  To get more  information from  the
guests you may  QUESTION  them, or ask  for their  ALIBIs.  The
characters  tend to be rather moody and will  not always answer
your  questions  the first time  around.  They are also  rather
restless and will be  moving around the house  during the game.
*****
The murder weapon will  be obvious as soon as you  EXAMINE  the
correct object.  (Though you will  need to find  the magnifying
glass before you can  really conduct an  adequate search of the
various  objects.)  You probably  should not GET  the weapon at
first since the murderer is likely to become nervous if you are
carrying  the evidence  around with  you.  If you  accidentally
pick up  the object  at too early a point  in the game, you can
DROP the weapon.  But be  forewarned!  Once  dropped there's no
telling where the object might end up!


Finding the scene of the murder  tends to be somewhat difficult
since it is rarely possible to examine  every inch of the house
with  your magnifying  glass.  Fortunately for  you, one of the
keen-eyed guests  will probably notice  something amiss at some
point during the game. To discover the murder room you must pay
close attention to the behavior of the guests!


The murderer will be the one person whose ALIBI contradicts the
alibis given  by the other houseguests.  Be  sure to keep track
of everyone's story!
*****
Once you have discovered both the murderer  and the murder room
you  should  hurry  back to  GET  the  murder  weapon, and then
move as  quickly as  possible to the  murder room,  GATHER  the
suspects  together, and  ACCUSE  whoever you believe  to be the
guilty  party.   But  be  careful!   The  murderer  is  a  very
suspicious  sort and  may decide  to get rid of  you before you
have a chance to make any accusations!


Most of the strategy involved in playing  SLEUTH  you will have
to learn by playing the game.  Since  the  game  changes  every
time  that  you  play  you  should be sure to fully explore the
house.  Don't forget to explore  the room which has no  obvious
entrances since  the murderer often discards  the murder weapon
here.  Also, the murder is occasionally committed in this room.
The  occupants  will be moving  about the house  throughout the
game.  If you become confused at any time about who is actually
in the house, you can request a GUEST LIST.


As your investigation proceeds the murderer  will begin to grow
suspicious and  will most likely  start  plotting your  demise.
If you have not figured out who the  murderer is by this  point
in the game, your chances of survival are slim.  Be careful!
*****
To make things a little  more interesting, you can populate the
house  with  people  that  you  already know.  Just  select the
"Personalized"  option at  the beginning  of the  game and  the
computer  will prompt you  for the names of  seven people  (six
suspects and one victim!).


SLEUTH  uses a fairly limited  vocabulary, so only  one or  two
words should be  necessary to communicate  your intentions.  If
you like, you can abbreviate "QUESTION" as "Q" and "EXAMINE" as
"EX".  If you are having difficulties, you can get a summary of
these instructions by typing HELP. You may also QUIT or RESTART
at any  time during  the game.  To  get  a hard  copy of  these
instructions, just hit the `PrtSc' key as each page is shown to
you.  When you exit from  these instructions you  should be all
set to enter the world of SLEUTH.  Good Luck!


P.S.  You cannot use the four cursor keys (udrl)  while you are
typing in other information.  To clear  the message line on the
bottom of the screen simply use the  backspace key or the "Esc"
key.
*****
END