THE PETTIGREW CHRONICLES, PART 1: THE SEARCHING
Shards Software, 1984
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Solution by Exemptus - May 2023
Overview and general hints:
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The Pettigrew Chronicles is a compilation of two games that were first published
for the Dragon 32: Pettigrew's Diary and Operation Safras. The compilation was
published for ZX Spectrum and C64. However, the games are different enough: not
all parts of the original games were included in The Chronicles and some puzzles
and settings are different. Even more, between the C64 and Spectrum versions
there are further divergences, so solutions have to be version-specific.
This solution is good for the ZX Spectrum version, but this is not to say it
won't be totally useless for C64 players, as most of the content is the same. So
if you want to follow this on your C64, you will have to fill in some details
yourself. Caveat Emptor.
This walkthrough covers only Part 1, "The Searching", which matches the main
game from "Operation Safras". We play the role of Rupert James Pettigrew, secret
agent extraordinaire, and the goal of this part is to locate and rescue five of
our fellow secret agents, which are in distress hidden in different parts of the
UK, and by doing so finding the legendary Safras Sword.
The game is undoubtedly a text adventure, but it deviates from the usual
conventions in many aspects, which can be confusing to the player:
* Instead of a static map we can move about, the geography consists of 25
discrete locations corresponding to UK towns and cities, which we can travel
arbitrarily between. Movement within some of these locations is sometimes
possible, but it's typically one-way and limited to entering places, with one
notable exception (Newport).
* The display is unusual. Descriptions are very terse and scroll by a one-line
ticker, there is no proper inventory (although we can take and drop objects)
and we can permanently see a display that shows the time left for each one of
the five agents until they die (and we fail our mission) and the one closest
to our current location, which is marked by a flashing asterisk.
* The whole game is real-time constrained: we have about 1 hour of clock time to
rescue the five agents. Each agent has a limited time to live, and the times
are shown on screen and constantly updated. These clocks follow a subjective
time axis: it also moves by real clock (1 minute of clock time decreases all
counters by 1 hour), plus travelling between locations decreases it in fixed
amounts, depending on the geography.
* To make things more interesting, the times allotted to each of the agents are
random (within certain parameters). This means that the order in which we need
to rescue the agents may have to be altered in some playthroughs. The
walkthrough given below follows a typical sequence. If you find it impossible
to have enough time to rescue any of the agents, you'll have to start again
and hope that luck gives you a more relaxed set of times. Sorry about this,
but there's little that can be done about it short of cheating.
* The vocabulary is relatively wide, but sparsely used. The parser is the
simplest, strictly verb + noun, and the word T is used to travel while
allowing the use of a map for location reference within Great Britain. This is
useful for those not familiar with the towns mentioned. The player can also
use GO <place> to move directly, without a need for the map.
* The player has a limited amount of money, which is spent by travelling. The
game ends if the player runs out of cash, so optimising travel is another task
to manage.
The game is definitely difficult, a good part of the reason why being the
confusing interface and lack of situational awareness clues for the player. The
idea is to explore the game travelling between locations and noticing where one
can enter places, do some things, and interact with NPCs. Little by little a
picture forms that suggests a certain order to things: some places provide
clues to the location of the hidden agents, so they have to be visited before
others. Puzzles are plentiful, as well as red herrings. This is a spy setting,
after all.
The most restrictive factor, by far, is time. There is literally not enough time
to follow a completely logical solution clue by clue. The player is supposed to
gather clues in advance across a number of playthroughs, then find an optimal
route that uses all the info gathered in previous sessions. This is not
compliant with the Player's Bill of Rights, as completion depends on information
obtained from previous playthroughs, but this was 1984, so who you gonna call.
In light of this, what I do below is note in the solution where the clues come
from and where you can go to get them, but most of the time I'll save time and
follow a direct route. This is particularly vexing with Agent 2, who is hidden
in a location that can be accessed only one out of five times we visit it, at
random. Nothing gives a hint that this is random, so the player is likely to
view it as a puzzle to solve.
Sole locations are complete duds and have nothing of value. Others can be used
for auxiliary purposes: for instance, there are several ways to increase the
money we have, but they require visiting otherwise useless locations. There is
one location which gives the subjective time of day, which is important since
some events depend on it. Others just provide clues (either genuine or false
ones). It's up to the player to sort out the locations and decide what's what
and the right order of things.
In case you want strong / spoilery hints, all locations and their purposes are
as follows:
London: Start location, good for an initial clue.
Birmingham: A trap is here, baited by a false clue.
Bristol: A good clue can be obtained, but it's redundant and not needed.
Liverpool: Both a good clue and an object which will provide another clue.
Manchester: Location of Agent 1.
Sheffield: Gets the player robbed at best.
Leeds: Offers a way to increase money (by gambling).
Hull: A false clue can be found here (this can be gleaned in advance).
Cardiff: The false clue leading to Birmingham.
Newport: A very necessary object is hidden here.
Plymouth: Location of Agent 2.
Nottingham: An object that can be used to increase funds can be found here.
Derby: A clue about how to increase money can be found here (randomly).
Middlesborough: Red herring.
Glasgow: Gives the time of day.
Dundee: Agent 4 is here, and we also need him to follow us.
Aberdeen: Good clue.
Southampton: Surefire money increase, far better than gambling.
Reading: The Safras sword is here.
Oxford: Location of Agent 3.
Norwich: Useless.
Coventry: Another good clue.
York: Location of Agent 5.
Carlisle: A good clue, but unnecessary.
Exeter: A clue can be obtained here with the object found in Liverpool.
Each of the rescued agents will give us a three-letter code. These codes are not
needed to find the sword, but will be useful in subsequent parts of the game.
Although we might feel compelled to rescue the agents in order or peril (that
is, going first for the one with less time to live) things are not as easy, as
it's likely we may need to first go for a different one first. Do keep this in
mind. As long as we get to all five agents before their time is up, and find the
location of the sword, all will be fine.
Walkthrough:
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[Due to time constraints, I will use clues gained from previous playthroughs and
work around the time and money constraints. I will explain where the clues are,
but in a normal playthrough there won't be enough time to get them and complete
the game.]
[We begin in London. There is a bolted door here and a man is lurking in the
shadows. The door, intriguing as may be, is of no consequence and we can ignore
it.]
TALK TO MAN [He says we can trust the triplets but beware one called Iron Fist.]
[This is the starting clue, which is literal enough: there are three brothers in
the game which provide good clues, and a character with a metal hand that does
not. It tell us nothing about where to find them, though.]
[One thing that the player can do right away is increase the money pot. There
are two opportunities to raise it significantly: one is GO LEEDS, GO CASINO, and
gamble away. It is risky and not recommended, but wastes little time. If we GO
DERBY, then randomly we can get a clue about finding a valuable item in
Nottingham. We then can GO NOTTINGHAM, GO LEFT, LOOK and we will find an
envelope. There is a tricky trap here: if we OPEN ENVELOPE we will find a cheque
to our name which we can try to cash by GO MIDDLESBOROUGH, GO BANK, CASH CHEQUE
but it turns out the date is wrong and the cheque is no good. The solution is
another: when we find the envelope we can EXAMINE STAMP and it will tell us it
is a valuable black penny. We can then GO SOUTHAMPTON, EXAMINE STALLS, SELL
STAMP to receive £2000, which will completely take care of all money issues. I
have checked it is perfectly possible to do that and finish the game, but it
cuts it really fine in terms of time. Consequently, we'll bypass all that and
rely on our initial £500, which will be plenty.]
[Now on with the game progress. The relative times left for each of the agents,
though random, are likely to show Agent 5 having the least time, so all
suggests to go for Agent 5 first, as he's the closest to demise. However, things
are not that straightforward. If we travel to Carlisle, we will be told to
quickly go to Manchester on a matter of life and death, so that's where our
first agent is.]
GO MANCHESTER [Outside a detached house, the front door is open]
[We can ENTER DOOR, GO UPSTAIRS and we will hear some muffled sounds outside a
door, but if we go in, we will manage to kill our fellow agent, as this is set
up as a booby trap. There is a roundabout solution.]
EXAMINE HOUSE [We go around the exterior of the house to the other side]
[There is a ladder here. Believe me, there is. The game tells us about it
randomly when we enter this location, which can make it easy to miss it.]
CLIMB LADDER [We climb to a window and see a man tied to a chair and a rifle]
[The rifle is obviously rigged to fire if anyone opens the door, but they
haven't counted on the window.]
GO ROOM [We rescue Agent 1, AKA Franz Miller. He gives us the code CIN.]
[Now we continue exploring. If we GO BRISTOL, LOOK VEHICLES, GO BUS, LOOK BUS,
GO UPSTAIRS, TALK TO MAN, GIVE MONEY we will be given the clue (in exchange for
£5) that we need to find three brothers - one blind, one deaf and one dumb, just
like the Three Wise Monkeys. This matches the "triplets" clue before, so it's
redundant, but it's a bit more detail that's useful to keep in mind.]
GO LIVERPOOL [A seedy nightclub]
GO CLUB [A murky room with a jukebox playing]
EXAMINE ROOM [There is a key here and a man behind the bar]
GET KEY [It has the number 21]
TALK TO MAN ["Say my name, stranger, and I will help"]
JOHNSON [We guess he's the blind brother]
[How did we know the name was Johnson? From a previous playthrough, by having
travelled to Coventry. This will become clear later. He says "Go to Scotland and
find my brother - he's deaf so blow your nose". Good tip, we'll do that right
away. We also have the key, but that's less urgent.]
GO ABERDEEN [Standing by a newsagents]
GO SHOP [There's a frail man here]
BLOW NOSE
[We are give the message "Now go to Dundee to set your man free. Are you to be
one to see?" and also "Go to see my brother down south, and scratch your ear".
This tells us how to interact with the bookstall man in Coventry (which we
haven't yet seen). We'll deal with the agent in Dundee later.]
GO COVENTRY [At a street market, with lots of stalls]
EXAMINE STALLS [All draw large crowds, except for a bookstall]
EXAMINE BOOKSTALL ["Brian Johnson books", which is why we knew the name]
SCRATCH EAR [He puts a book into our hands]
EXAMINE BOOK [A paper slips out of it with the words PIERRE and 3876]
[This is what we need to rescue Agent 5. Time is of the essence now.]
GO YORK [There is a shed here]
EXAMINE SHED [It has a combination lock]
OPEN DOOR [Code?]
3876 [The door opens, we rescue Agent 5 (Pierre) and he gives us the code BAD]
[Due to a bug it is possible that entering "3876" may not work right away. If
that happens, repeat 3876, and the door will likely open. Two rescued agents,
let's go to Dundee now for the third one.]
GO DUNDEE [Outside a shop with darkened windows]
BREAK WINDOW [Don't wait here or you will be fined by the police]
GO SHOP [We are in - there is a computer inside]
EXAMINE COMPUTER [Code?]
[Now what code could work here? Remember the words of the deaf brother? Even if
the sentence makes grammatical sense, he was just spelling out the code for us.]
RU2B12C ["Are you to be one to see?"]
[The vault opens and we rescue Agent 3, Ron Tripp, who gives us the code ROK. We
will need him to come with us in order to rescue Agent 4.]
GET RON [He follows us]
GO OXFORD [Outside a farmhouse]
GO HOUSE [We are told to go upstairs, where we find Annie Gramm, AKA Agent 4]
[It is to be noted that without Ron Tripp we cannot enter the house; we will be
told to bring him, which is why we knew we had to. We are now given another
code, which is HOB, and just one agent is left. This one will, however, be a bit
of a pain. First we need to make use of the key we found in Liverpool.]
GO EXETER [We are at the station and there are rows and rows of lockers here]
USE KEY [It opens locker 21, where we find £100 and a note]
READ NOTE
[The note says "under the cross in the green and brown, you'll see Auntie Dote,
or she will go down". This is straightforward enough: it says we'll find a
bottle of antidote under a cross, we can guess within a forest. This is found in
Newport.]
GO NEWPORT [We are in a huge tree-lined valley]
[This is the only place in the game where the traditional directions N/E/S/W
work, and is kind of a maze. In reality we are in the middle of the West side on
a 3 by 3 square of forest locations. The place we seek is the middle of the
South side, *but* we won't find it unless we enter that location from the East.
This can be bemusing if the player is expecting "normal" geography instead of a
programmatic maze. But once we know the secret, finding the place is easy
enough.]
GO EAST
GO EAST
GO SOUTH
GO WEST [There is a cross etched on the oak trunk here]
EXAMINE CROSS [There is a hole beneath it]
EXAMINE HOLE [You find a bottle of clear liquid]
GET BOTTLE
[We are ready to rescue Agent 2 now.]
GO PLYMOUTH [On a rocky shore overlooking a cave, but on the other side]
[The problem is the following: the agent is in the cave, dying of poisoning (the
antidote will sort that) but the cave is on the other side of the Plymouth Sound
and we can't cross it until the tide is low. And the tide is low exactly with
random change 1/5 each time we arrive in Plymouth, so most likely if we try to
GO CAVE we will be told that's impossible as the tide is high. The most
practical way to deal with this is to go away and return to Plymouth until the
tide is low. I suggest going to Exeter, since it's only 1 hour away. So try the
sequence GO EXETER, GO PLYMOUTH until chance strikes. This can be frustrating,
because 2 hours will pass each time we make the round trip (and £12 will be
spent), and it's possible Agent 2's time will be up. Nothing we can do but
restart in that case: the game is unforgiving.]
GO CAVE [We can finally cross, and we find a lady lying in the cave]
EXAMINE LADY [We give her the liquid and she recovers - gives us the code LED]
[We are now done with the agents and we can go get the sword. I'll remark that
even if we know where it is, we can't get to the sword until all five agents
have been rescued. If we GO CARDIFF, GO HILL we'll be given the clue to remember
the word SARFAS, but it is a false clue (since the spelling is SAFRAS instead).
That leads to the Sword of Doom, which will kill us. There are other false
clues, including a fake code for rescuing Agent 5. In any case, the true Safras
sword is in Reading.]
GO READING [At the University, there is a bunker here]
ENTER BUNKER [We have the Safras sword and our code is TANGO].
[End of game.]
