Spectrum 48K Running Instructions for Special Agent ======================== Imagine that you are a special agent for MI6, based in London. Your latest mission is to catch a devious enemy spy who is on the loose in Europe. The spy is travelling by rail and plane and can only be caught when you intercept him in a city. Your fellow agents around Europe will help you be sending intelligence reports whenever they can. These reports can help you track down the spy. Sometimes an informer will offer you an intelligence report. This information may be very helpful but it will cost you money. Remember, you have to find the enemy spy as quickly as possible because they will be trying to eliminate all your agents around Europe one by one. How to load this program ======================== You will need: 1 A Sinclair 48K Spectrum 2 A cassette recorder 3 A T.V. set Setting up your equipment ------------------------- Connect your Spectrum, cassette recorder, and T.V. set as instructed in your Spectrum manual. Starting the program -------------------- 1 Insert the cassette 2 Rewind cassette, if necessary 3 Press [J] 4 Hold down [SYMBOL SHIFT] and press [P] twice 5 Press [ENTER] 6 Press [PLAY] on the cassette recorder 7 The program will now start to load On your screen you will see coloured rectangles, followed by coloured horizontal lines which show that the program is loading. This process will last about 4 minutes. During this time the title screen will appear. 8 Approximatesly 3 minutes after the title screen appears the program will be loaded and will start to run automatically. 9 If the program does not load, the volume control on your cassette may need to be adjusted to a lower or higher level - do this, then repeat the above process. Running the program =================== To help you use this program place the keyboard overlay, included in this package, over the top row of keys on your ZX Spectrum. When the program has loaded press [6] and the map of Europe will appear. You start your journey in London. Whichever town you are in will be shown in red. As soon as the map appears, the clock in the top left hand corner starts to record the passage of time. 1 Intelligence reports ----------------------- At first you have no idea where the spy is hiding. If you wait, an intelligence report will appear on the screen. The city from which it is being sent will flash. The intelligence report is being sent to you from your agent in that city. Clearly, if the enemy spy has eliminated your agent in that city no report will get through. Other intelligence reports will appear during the game. Sometimes an informer's report will appear. The informer's report will cost you L100. If you want to use the informer's report, press [5] and the record of your total costs (in the top left hand corner) will increase by L100. If you do not buy the informer's report when it is offered, the informer will get bored and leave. Sometimes your agents will be forced to send their reports in code. Press [3] to see your cipher (and [3] again to remove it). Advice on solving the cipher can be found on page 15 of the book. If you get stuck you can get the back-room boffins in London to help you. Press [4] to get their help. This will also cost you L100. 2 Hiring new agents -------------------- You can hire new agents to replace those that have been eliminated by the spy. To hire a new agent you have to travel to the city where your agent was eliminated and then press [5] to hire a new agent. New agents cost L200 to hire. You can now expect intelligence reports from that city again. 3 Making a journey ------------------- The city you are in is shown in red on the map. Pressing [1] allows you to see a timetable of departures from the city you are in. Press [SPACE] to highlight the journey you wish to select and then press [ENTER] to confirm the booking. If you make a mistake, and want to cancel a booking, press [6] before you press [ENTER]. 4 Planning your route ---------------------- To help you plan your route you may find it useful to look at timetables for journeys from other cities. This information can help you to work out where the spy could have gone. (Hint: The spy often stays in one city for about two hours before catching the next train or plane.) Look at the map, and press [2]. Then keep pressing [SPACE] until the town you want is highlighted. Press [8] to cancel the entry if you make a mistake. You can now press [ENTER] to see the timetable. Press [6] to return to the map when you are ready. If, after looking at the timetables, you wish to make a journey you should follow the procedure in section 3 above. 5 Other keys ------------- Press [7] to speed up time while you are waiting for intelligence reports. Press [PAUSE] to stop the clock and give you time to think, and [CONT] to continue. Pressing [CAPS SHIFT] [A] starts the game again, but pressing [SYMBOL SHIFT] [A] ends the game. Summary of key functions ------------------------ [1] To book a journey [2] To look at timetables from other cities [3] Display the cipher (or remove it) [4] Helps you solve the cipher [5] Hires a new agent [6] Displays the map [7] Speeds up time [8] Cancels a timetable [PAUSE] Stops the clock [CONT] Starts the clock again [CAPS SHIFT] [A] Starts the game again [SYMBOL SHIFT] [A] Ends the game Hill MacGibbon. (C) 1984 Special Agent ============= Games for One or More People ============================ 1 Swift cop ------------ The deadly enemy spy is causing havoc throughout Europe. See how quickly you can catch him. Run the program until you catch the spy and record the time you took (days and hours); see if you can take less time when you play the game again. A few hints... 1 Planes are faster than trains. 2 You may find it best to wait for intelligence reports (press [7]) and from these work out where the spy is, before you move. Play the waiting game. You will find that the spy will only remain in a city for two or three hours before moving on. 3 When you know where the spy is, you might try to intercept them when they move to another city. This may be better than travelling to the city immediately because, while you are travelling they may move. Press [2] to see a timetable of departures from the city you think the spy is in. From this, see if you can guess where the spy will go next. Try to arrive at that city just after they do. 4 If the spy eliminates one of your agents, you might find it best to hire a new agent as soon as possible (move to that city and press [5]). 5 Press [M] to give you time to think and [C] to continue. 2 Agent shoestring ------------------- The British Secret Service is, as always, very short of money. See how little money you spend trying to catch the spy. Run the program until you catch the spy, and record the amount of money you spend. Play the game again and see if you can spend less money. A few hints... 1 Aeroplanes are more expensive than trains. 2 Don't buy informer's reports, get help from London or hire new agents unless you are stuck. 3 Back room boffin ------------------- Your agents use a cipher to disguise their messages. In a cipher each letter of the alphabet is replaced with another from a jumbled up list. An example of a cipher is shown below. Alphabet: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z Cipher: Z X C V B N M A S D F G H J K L P O I U Y T R E W Q Whenever an agent sends a message, every letter in the message is changed for the letter below it in the cipher. To decode you agents messages, you must try to work out their cipher. A few hints... 1 Every time you travel to another city, you may get one or two letters of the cipher. 2 Every time you get help from London [4] you get another letter. Example of how to crack a code ------------------------------ Suppose an agent had sent you this coded message. IQU SI SF GSFIO We find out that Q=P and U=Y in the cipher. You can change the Q for P and the U for Y. IQU SI SF GSFIO -PY -- -- ----- Look at the first word, -PY. It might be Spy. If it is then I=S. IQU SI SF GSFIO SPY -S -- ---S- Notice that there is an S in the second word. This word could be AS or IS. IS makes more sense, and so S=I. IQU SI SF GSFIO SPY IS I- -I-S- Since we know the first two words, we might be able to guess the third. It could be IS, IT or IN. IS or IT do not make much sense, and so it must be IN. Therefore F=N. IQU SI SF GSFIO SPY IS IN -INS- The message now reads: Spy is in -ins-. Where could this be? If you look at the map, you can see that there are only three cities with five-letter names. These are PARIS, DIJON and MINSK. The spy must therefore be in Minsk. About this program ================== Special Agent is a game that's fun to play as well as challenging. You will enjoy decoding your fellow agent's clues and working out how to catch the dangerous enemy spy. You will need to travel throughout Europe, by air and by rail. With twenty three European destinations to visit you must make the most of every clue and intelligence report you receive. Quick thinking and the ability to handle information from a number of sources will be needed if you are to complete successfully you mission for MI6. Good luck! Program design by Five Ways Software Ltd. 48 Chadcote Way, Bromsgrove, Worcs B61 0JT Published by Hill MacGibbon Ltd. 92 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH First Published 1984 Software (C) Five Ways Software Ltd. 1983 Book (C) Hill MacGibbon Ltd. 1983