Thanks for sending me all the clues in the book, Amby. I have a few comments, which I was going to send you via private message, but I think that anyone attempting to solve this game will perhaps benefit from these, so I will post them here.Amby wrote:Next big events seem to be paying the ransom then meeting the courier.
I am not entirely sure that whoever wrote the "hints" in your book really finished this game. Here are some of the reasons why I think so. In one of the clues you sent me he says:
Unless the Commodore 64 and Apple II versions differ at this point, I am a bit puzzled by this statement. I have gone to the museum (where you meet the informant) before answering the phone call, and I was not prevented from leaving by anything or anyone. For the moment being I am playing the C64 version, but later on I will try the Apple II version to see whether this is the explanation for this discrepancy. Then he continues:14) 2nd Ave & 135th St: Find dead man. This is bug city - dont go here before getting the phone call because then you cant leave the room.
According to this statement, he did not manage to get the key either. But how does he know that such an object exists, since there has been no mention whatsoever of it within the game? The answer lies in the next "clue":Probably a key on the body, book author couldn't get it. Blowgun and Dart are of no use.
In other words, this guy obviously had to do what I also was forced to do in order to try to make further progress in the game: take a look at the actual program. When you get into the program with a hex editor, you indeed can see that there's a key to a locker. This key seems to be in someone's pocket (the dead informant, maybe? so far I have not been able to figure this one out.) The "hint" book says that it might be for the locker at 6th Ave & 21st St (where the sports complex is) but looking inside the program I found that the key has writing on it which says it's for locker N-7 (the one at the bus station in West & 21st St.)15) 6th Ave & 21st St: The locked locker is presumably what the key is for. The game code indicates that there are barbells in a duffel bag inside.
Then he says this:
I suspect that this is no "bug" but that you must do something before this courier shows up. I have tried doing this way before you told me about these "clues", and no one ever showed up (so far I have tried it only in the C64 version.) The ransom note says: "Deliver one million dollars in unmarked bills to locker N-7 etc..." It is not entirely clear if the money must be just dropped at the locker area, as the "hint" guy says, or if it must be placed inside the locker. I have tried quite a number of things here and all have failed to result in anyone showing up. The locker key that neither the author of those "hints" nor I have been able to make appear seems to be for this locker (in order to be able to place the money inside it, maybe?)17) West & 21st St: Deliver ransom by dropping suitcase at lockers at 9:00pm, not before.
18 ) West & 21st St: Wait and watch for Crowded Corridor. If no one comes by 10:00pm, he (Livwell the courier) wont come due to a bug in the program..
Finally, I find it curious that the person who wrote the "hints" does not seem to be aware that there are other "missing" things, like the basketball ticket and the pawn shop, but which are clearly there within the program.