****************************************************************************** Sleuth (DOS) FAQ v0.01 by: Psycho Penguin Email Psycho Penguin at mcfaddenvg@yahoo.com Check out his homepage at http://www.geocities.com/mcfaddenvg ****************************************************************************** Last Updated: 9/20/03 First Started: 9/20/03 Feel like solving a mystery today?... One of the lucky few to own this classic?... Get ready, it's time to take a blast to the past... ****************************************************************************** * < Table of Contents > * ****************************************************************************** < 1.0 > Introduction < 2.0 > Frequently Asked Questions < 3.0 > Game Basics < 4.0 > Additional Tips < 5.0 > Other Information < 6.0 > Conclusion ****************************************************************************** Go get these songs while reading through this: "Two Princes" by Spin Doctors, and "Freaking Out" by Adema *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- { 1.0 INTRODUCTION } *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- I have finally decided to go ahead and do a quick FAQ for one of my all time favorite games, Sleuth. Taking place in a haunted mansion, your mission is simple: to gather clues to solve a mystery. Examining objects, talking to people, it's all part of your job. But beware, the longer you take, the shorter amount of time you have before the killer has you right where they want you... I love Sleuth so much, I decided to do this. It's not the biggest FAQ in the world, but it's got all the information you need in order to enjoy this absolutely tremendous game. I know it's not a Final Fantasy guide, so there, I do like other games besides those, and am perfectly capable of writing for them. ^_^ Hope you enjoy this, and email me with any questions. - Psycho Penguin *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- { 2.0 FAQs } *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- Here is a list of FAQs I threw together for Sleuth. I know this is not the most important part of this guide, so I'll make it short and sweet. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. How come this game won't work on my computer? I downloaded it and ran it in DOS, and it freezes up quickly. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A: I have come to the conclusion that the faster your computer is, and the newer it is, the less of a chance you have of running it. It's DOS-only, by the way, so no Mac users here, sadly. :( If you have a new computer, like in the last year, with Windows XP, there are programs you can download that will run a classic DOS for you in a slowed down format. That's pretty much the only way, because your computer will be too fast for it otherwise. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. There's no way I can get a DOS emulator for Mac, huh? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A: I wish there was. I think the only way to do it is to get Virtual PC, which does cost a decent amount of money. And I wouldn't even know if that would work. Your best bet is to get a really old tandy computer (that's what I grew up on, when I used to play this game a lot.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 3. What's this weapon doing in red for? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A: You just found the murder weapon. The object of the game is to find the murder weapon, and then find the killer. However, if you find the murder weapon, it is very important that you not carry it around with you, until you know who the murderer is for sure. You see, if you GET it now, he'll become very suspicious, and it's all over. Just try to find out the killer before picking up the murder weapon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. How do I solve this mystery, exactly? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A: You basically have to go around the house and pick up clues from witnesses, and find out what their alibis are. As you listen to more alibis, you may be able to notice a difference in what one person said, and that could be the clue that leads you to the killer. Once you find the killer, you find the murder weapon. GATHER all the people in the house to the murder room, and ACCCUSE the killer. That's all there is to it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 5. What happens if I don't do this in time? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A: Well, of course, the killer will start to get suspicious during your investigation, so if you don't find out who he is, and what the weapon and room is, in time, he will kill you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6. Man, finding the murder room is pretty tough. Any tips? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A: The way to find the murder room usually is somewhat tough and time consuming. You have to EXAMINE every inch of every room, in order to pick up signs of blood. However, people around the house, the innocent ones, will sometimes notice something amiss in a certain room, EXAMINE this room, and you may end up finding out it's the murder room. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- { 3.0 GAME BASICS } *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- This is an interactive text game you can populate with your friends, relatives and neighbors. As you begin a game of SLEUTH, a murder has just been committed! You must explore the house, question the houseguests for alibis and locate both the weapon and the scene of the murder. The challenge is to solve the crime, gather all of the suspects together and accuse the guilty party -- before the killer becomes suspicious and eliminates YOU! This fascinating crime-solving game works on a monochrome monitor, and needs only the keyboard for input. ----------------------- | COMMANDS | ----------------------- ------------ ITEM SEARCH ------------ EX (or EXAMINE) - Use this command in order to examine something in front of you. SEARCH - Use this command in order to search a closet, refigerator, etc. If you find something in there... LOOK - Use this command in order to look at it. Once you get the magnifying glass, you can use this command in order to find the murder weapon. GET - Pick up the murder weapon. ------ PEOPLE ------ Q (or QUESTION) - Just ask them a question, which may lead to clues towards the weapon or murder room. ALIBI - Ask them for an alibi. The one who has a different alibi is the murderer. GATHER - Gather your houseguests in a room. ACCUSE - Accuse someone of the murder. ------ OTHER ------ HELP - Pull up a helpful list of commands, making this list useless. GUEST LIST - Bring up a list of the people in the house. ESCAPE KEY (push the key, not a command) - Erase whatever you were typing. RESTART - Start the game over. QUIT - Quit the game. ----------------------- | GAME BASICS | ----------------------- The object of the game is to find a murder room, murderer, and murder weapon. First, you start off the game by entering various people's names. Once you do that, one person will be murdered, and you start off in the house. Time to begin your journey! You start off in a house, and your first objective is to start talking to people. Get some clues from them, and ask for alibis if you want. Remember these clues and what they said. At this point, you should have an idea as to where the murder weapon is. Find a magnifying glass somewhere around the house, and then start examining things until you find the murder weapon. The room you found it in would sometimes be the murder room, but you need to ask more people and eventually get a clue as to what the room was. At this point, if you ALIBI everyone, you should know who the murderer is, as well. Once you know who the murderer is, the weapon he used, and the room he did it in, GET the murder weapon and bring it to the murder room. GATHER your houseguests in the room, and then ACCUSE the murderer. He'll admit it, and you will have won. ^_^ *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- { 4.0 ADDITIONAL TIPS } *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- What I gave you above is just a quick walkthrough of the game, but it does get a little more complicated than that, so keep that in mind. - People will usually move around the house during the game, so if they're not where you thought they were, they probably walked into a different room. Pull up a GUEST LIST if you have to. - If you find a hidden room, make sure to examine every inch of it, as this might be the murder room, or the place where the murder weapon was hidden. It's not all the time that this occurs, however. - Sometimes, people will not answer your questions or requests for an alibi right away. They are upset, as well, and so you may need to ask them a few times to get them to spill the beans. - To find the magnifying glass, you have to SEARCH a few objects during the game. The magnifying glass will be in one of those objects, more than likely. Sometimes it will just be lying around, as well. - If you find the murder weapon, and have no idea who the murderer is, DO NOT PICK IT UP. The murderer will become more suspicious. If you accidentally do pick it up, DROP it. - However, if you DROP it, chances are it will move to somewhere else, or the murderer will pick it up, and then use it on you.. so it's generally just good to leave the murder weapon where you found it for now. - The murder room is usually not the room where the murder weapon was found, but a room that has blood in it, and clear evidence that the murder did take place in the room. - You only have a certain amount of time to figure out who the murderer is, so make sure to ALIBI everyone and then figure out who it is that way. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- { 5.0 OTHER INFORMATION } *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- ------------- | CREDITS | ------------- I'd just like to thank the following people for their support: - Rebecca Skinner, aka Karpah on GameFAQs: My fiance, my soulmate, my everything. My life would be nothing without her, and I don't think I would be able to complete this guide if it wasn't for her love and support. She is everything I want in a woman, and her support means everything to me. - I dedicate this guide to the people that made this game and decided to emulate it over. The instruction manual they included was a great help in terms of me figuring out the commands, since it's been a while since I played this! - The group of friends I made on GameFAQs: Thanks to you guys for supporting me when things got tough, and you know I always got your back. Especially to Dan, Cyril, Mtincher, Fox, etc. You guys are the best friends a guy can ask for, and I appreciate it. I know some of you have bad taste in football teams, but you're all excellent people and great writers. ------------- | HISTORY | ------------- v0.1 - September 20, 2003 - K -------------------------------- - Decided to throw together a quick FAQ for this. Nothing too special. ------------- | OTHER | ------------- You can check out all of my other guides on GameFAQs, which will hopefully include a very sexy Final Fantasy Origins guide soon. I can't wait to finish that thing. I am most proud of FFTA and Legend of Legaia, but I did guides for a lot of Final Fantasies, as well as some random Castlevania and wrestling games, and both Tales of Destiny games. Check them out! In addition on my quest to write for all the Final Fantasy games, I will try to finish my Aria of Sorrow and Duel Saga guides, as well as some random NES games (Predator, NOES, Jeopardy Jr., and Puss and Boots, anyone?) and guides for the other 2 Castlevania games that employ the new style. Oh, and I might do a Wild Arms 3 guide. And a Grandia guide with my sexy Cyril. Stay tuned, kids. And there's always Final Fantasy X-2 to look forward to... I appreciate any information you can contribute, especially to art moves and side quests, as well as stuff I missed, walkthrough, etc. Anything can help. Also, feel free to email any questions that would be good for a FAQ section, as I plan to add one to a future update. Any errors and omissions that you may see can be corrected if you inform me of them. I'll also credit you, if your error or omission is actually correct and worth an update for me to fix. I am somewhat busy, you know. That's about it. If anyone would like me to add anything, you can always email me. AIM: JuanDixonFor3 MSN: mcfa4834@bellsouth.net YIM: nicklacheysnightmare If you contact me on one of the instant messengers, and I do not respond, it probably means I am busy. I am always talking with my girl, and friends, so sometimes I just ignore some instant messages from people I do not know. Be nice, and I will talk to you, just don't come out and ask the question and be all rude if I do not respond in five seconds, otherwise I probably will just block you. I will answer all e-mails about the game, however. You can contact me by emailing me at mcfaddenvg@#yahoo.com One last note: Only email me about the game at mcfaddenvg@yahoo.com, all emails about Sleuth sent to my other e-mail addresses will be deleted and/or ignored. Thanks to all those that have emailed me so far, I appreciate it! 1. Check my email backlog. If it's filled up, you may have to wait a while before you get a response. 2. I check my email once in a while. Please wait for a response, because I will respond to all emails. 3. Please read my guide before asking questions, thats why I have a FAQ and Reader Tips section. 4. I will only post your question/tip in my guide if it is good, and has not been answered in this guide. Also, I have AIM and Yahoo. My AIM name is JuanDixonFor3, but PLEASE do not harass me with annoying questions or I'll block you. I only wish to chat with people. *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- { 6.0 CONCLUSION } *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- This was quite an adventure. I am glad I did this FAQ. Everyone is asking me why I decided to do a FAQ for a game no one plays, and the answer is simple: because I wanted to. I added the game data, I added the first message board post, and now I added a FAQ. Soon, I will add a review. I own Sleuth on GameFAQs, baha. This was one of my all time favorite games, and I hope I helped you out if you decided to play it. Until next time, Psycho Penguin. Oh, yeah, and PS. - This guide may only be used for private and personal use only. You may not permit anyone under any patents to reproduce it, in part or in whole, or use it for profitable purposes. All content within this file is owned and created by Steve McFadden (me). Should you attempt to infraction under the fallacy that you are right, it must be be said straight out that you are a moron.