Tex Murphy
Overseer: A Walkthrough
By Dan Kennedy
December 2001
Introduction
You can't help but admire a long, complex game that throws the kitchen sink at you: a futuristic San Francisco with a 1940's feel, inventory puzzles, the guy who played Basil Exposition in Austin Powers, full motion video cut scenes, Jack Nicholson's ex-girlfriend in a bad blond wig, lots of logic puzzles, a dark political conspiracy, VR environments, and Ron Howard's brother Clint playing a mutant.
Here are some handy hints for playing the game:
This walkthrough has been written for Gamer mode, since I feel most game players can complete the game at this level. However, if you are looking for a walkthrough that will maximize the number of points awarded to you during the game, you best look elsewhere - this one concentrates on simply getting you through the game.
Beginnings
Begin by watch the opening credits - some of the themes present here will be repeated throughout the game, including time, chess, crazy old men, screaming people….general mayhem! The game begins with at a cut scene involving Tex being woken up from a nightmare by a call from his sort-of-girlfriend Chelsee. Have fun with the conversation that follows - any choice of dialogue path will get you safely over to Chelsee's apartment for your hot date. The next cut scene sets the stage for the story: Chelsee wants to have a serious relationship with Tex, but is bothered by a girl from Tex's past. Tex agrees to give her all of the details about Sylvia Linsky, and his first case as a private investigator. The scene shifts to a younger looking Tex looking lonely and bored in his empty office. We are then placed into the office environment.
Office Space
Tex's office is a great place to practice the keyboard / movement overlay controls for exploring the VR environments. The movement allows you to look under furniture, around corners, and get different perspectives on the same object. The kicker is that you really have to ferret out the clues; for instance, unless you are correctly positioned to see into each of the filing cabinet shelves, you may miss the clues and items hidden within.
There are several objects to examine and pick up in the office environment. Pick up and examine the magazine located on the floor by the main office door. Any item that can be moved or picked up will have a "moving chess-piece" symbol on it in addition to the "magnifying glass" look-at symbol. Notice that the item does not stay in inventory after you have looked it over - whenever items are unimportant, or lose their usefulness, they will automatically be deleted from inventory. Pick up Tex's PI guidebook off his desk and examine it. Also grab the tape measure located on the bookshelf immediately to the right of Tex's bedroom door (the door to the right of the desk). Be sure to play with Tex's perpetual motion machine over by the fax machine.
Have a look through the two filing cabinets to the left of Tex's desk. Notice that each shelf has to be opened separately using a "chessboard set" symbol. Look in the bottom drawer of the left-most cabinet - pick up and examine the toy mouse. The filing cabinet to the right of Tex's desk also has a note from Tex's former employer in the bottom drawer - it's an amusing read.
Tex's vidphone is located on his desk - click on it and hit the "turn on/off" symbol to start it up. If Tex has any messages waiting, his "Message" button will be flashing red. Access the American Information Database by clicking on the name in the top right panel, hit the dial button, and upon connection hit the "Ask About" dialogue path. A notepad with a selection of topic choices will be displayed. Click on the topic (in this case it's Tex Murphy), and hit "Done" when you are finished. To exit the database, hit "End Conversation", and then the Exit button. A fax will arrive a few seconds later, with an accompanying voice message - click on the fax to place it in inventory and examine it. Faxes are always disposed of immediately after reading.
Take a trip into Tex's bedroom next, and look around at his stuff - yikes, what a meager existence. Check out his stellar wardrobe in the cabinet, and drawers below. Click on the Parcheesi game lying on his cot to initiate the next cut scene, which involves Sylvia Linsky hiring you to investigate her father's death. Isn't that dress a bit snug? Your next step is to visit the police station and speak to Detective Eve Clements. Open the location panel (on the left side of the screen) or open Tex's front door and click to leave - and proceed to the police station.
All About Eve
After a short cut scene, you strike up a conversation with Detective Eve, who as a friend of your old boss the Colonel, is a little belligerent. However, don't worry about the conversation path - each thread leads to her allowing you to ask a few questions. Remember to ask about everything - for instance, a question about Carl Linsky will lead to further information about his suicide note and some mysterious surgery. Once you have exhausted the lines of questioning, end the conversation, and go to Carl Linsky's apartment.
Another scene with you and Sylvia leads into an opportunity to ask a few questions. She then leaves to pick up her father's effects from the police station, leaving you to look around in the old man's apartment.
Apartment Hunting
Begin in Carl's living room - a comfy couch, a roaring fire, and ….a game of dominoes? Grab and examine the piece of paper on the coffee table. The note suggests combining blackjack and dominoes, and the reverse side is even more explicit - 21 horizontal, vertical and diagonal. Now pick up and examine the domino set - this sends you into the first puzzle of the game. Simply follow the instructions on the note - the dominoes must be placed so that the sum of all dots in each row and column, and the two diagonals, must equal 21. Ignore the two different numbers on each domino - just add up the total number of dots on each when adding the totals together.
There are a number of solutions to this puzzle, one of which is displayed below. Don't let the time counting down in the upper left corner of the screen freak you out - this is not a timed puzzle. The amount of time you take to complete the puzzle affects the number of points that is allotted to you upon completion.
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4
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9
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8
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11
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7
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3
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6
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5
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10
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After completing the puzzle, Tex notices that lights are flashing next to the dominoes with 4, 9 and 8 dots. Remember this for later.
Try the kitchen next. There are a lot of shelves and cupboards to look through, but there are actually one two items of interest. The first is within plain sight on the counter just to the left of the fridge - looks like Carl may have had a "hard habit to break". The other item is in the fridge - notice anything that shouldn't be there? That's right, Carl's bananas are going to go all brown and funky unless you take them out of there. Examine both items before proceeding to Carl's bedroom, located across from the kitchen.
Go directly to Carl's desk, and pick up the note on the surface. Looks like he was writing a "Dear Delores" letter. Have a peek in the middle desk drawer for a note from Carl's publisher demanding his manuscript. Proceed over to the left bedside table, and pick up Carl's address book from the drawer. This provides Delores' address for a later visit. Walk around the bed, and examine the chess set on the other bedside table - note that it's missing a chess piece. Be sure to check out the dresser drawers for the opportunity to grab some new…underwear!
Go to Carl's attic next - from the living room, open the door just to the left of the bedroom door. Proceed up the ladder to the attic. Carl's attic contains lots of furniture, boxes, crates and soiled mattresses, but there really isn't anything of interest here. Proceed around the corner (watch those horns!), and enter Carl's home office.
Have a listen to the tape recorder on the table to the left - experiment in process I guess. Look through the two filing cabinets - there's a threatening note in the third drawer (from the top) of the right hand cabinet. Note that the credenza is locked - we'll have to come back to open up this one. Open up the top of Carl's desk, and peruse Sylvia's credit rating - yeeecccch!
Now its time to interrogate the mysterious Delores Lightbody (sic).
She's Not Heavy, and She's Not my Sister
Again, just sit back and enjoy the conversation with Delores - all conversation paths end with her allowing you to ask as many questions as you like. She doesn't think much of Sylvia, and suggests that Carl's daughter is untrustworthy. Once done, it's a good time to head back to Carl Linsky's apartment to have a word with Sylvia.
The cut scene involving Sylvia yields Carl's effects from the police station, although you manage to make Sylvia pretty angry. She'll get over it. Examine the effects - the manila envelope contains 2 keys, a copy of the suicide note, and Carl's wallet. Go back up to the attic, proceed to Carl's office, and use the small key (marked 1024) to open the locked credenza. In the top left drawer you will find a lease agreement for some warehouse space complete with address. None of the other drawers contain anything of note.
Before proceeding to the warehouse, you might take this opportunity to go back to Tex's office and use the database to gather information on some of the names and places you've heard about during the investigation. The search yields a number of faxes to look over - none of the information is critical, but adds some detail to the characters and story.
Best Little Warehouse Not in Texas
A virtual treasure-trove of items to examine and take! Start with the conspicuous-looking cardboard box in the centre of the room. Open it up and pick up the circuit repair kit inside - as Tex says, this may come in handy later on. Next, proceed to Carl's cot, and move the pillow to reveal some sleeping pills hidden here - these could be useful.
Is that a letter sitting in Carl's in-box on the table next to the cot? Pick it up and examine - someone named Wanda Peck was causing some trouble for Carl. Have a look through the drawers on the drafting table behind you - there's a bunch of deposit slips credited to Carl's account, indicating someone has been sending money. In the top drawer you'll find a newspaper article about the poisoning death of Ronda Morgan, a former employee of a company named Gideon Enterprises. Carl must have been interested enough in this to clip and save the story.
There are a bunch of notes and messages on the bulletin board between the tables, but none of it is relevant. However, move the board over and grab a note with "HIP S.O.P." scrawled on it. Could this be another password or code? Have a quick look at the computer - we'll need to find a pass-card reader (and a pass-card, of course) to operate this equipment. Both the middle and bottom drawers of the filing cabinet located left of the computer contain interesting notes. The first is a hand-written fax to Linsky from "SF" concerning the deaths of people on an unknown list. The second note is a memo about the use of the pass-card reader for information and transmission security, and something about a project. Carl's notes at the bottom mention "SF" again, and refer to someone named "Overlord". The mystery deepens.
Proceed to the first-aid kit on the left wall, and open it to reveal a container of Band-Aids. Examine the container, and pieces of a pass-card will fall out. There's a piece missing, so we'll need to keep an eye out for it later on. Now look at the boxes on the top shelf of the shelves behind the step-ladder. The boxes can be moved to reveal….a swimsuit calendar!….which in turn can be moved to reveal….a safe! The safe is protected by a numerical password.
Now, do we have any numerical codes in our inventory? Well, the domino game gave us "498". Try punching in 498 and hit enter. Success! The safe contains a pass-card reader (hmm…useful) and the much talked about life insurance policy listing Sylvia as the benefactor.
Putting it to Bed
Since we don't have an operational pass-card right now, there isn't much more we can do here. Open up the location panel, and proceed back to your office. Your vidphone should be indicating that you've got a message waiting. Just hit the message button to replay a drunken "come hither" message from Sylvia. This action sends you into several cut scenes that play out without any interaction needed. Of course Tex goes to Sylvia's place to take care of her, and afterward we get to see a touching scene in which Tex and Chelsee first meet. Next Tex tells us that he's gotten an appointment with Arnold Sternwood at the North Hill Clinic, and we are transported directly there.
Your conversation with Arnold Sternwood is idiot proof - all conversation paths end with his approval to be questioned. Depending on your path, you may find out what Arnold thinks of Sylvia - she really isn't the most popular of people. Be sure to exhaust your questions for Arnold. He gives you information about Wanda Peck, and her organization C.A.P.R.I.C.O.R.N. Once you are finished, proceed to C.A.P.R.I.C.O.R.N.'s headquarters to interview Wanda Peck.
No need to worry about the introductory conversation with Wanda - no matter how many times Tex hits on her, she is still receptive to some serious questioning. We learn a little about the Law and Order party, and a few other tidbits.
Now what to do? Who would be close enough to Carl Linsky to know who or what "S.F." is? Well, Delores Lightbody knew him best over the last few months - try visiting her once again. Choose whatever conversation path you want, and ask her about all available topics, including "S.F.". Turns out it stands for Sonny Fletcher.
Go back to your office now, and access the vidphone database. Do a search for all available topics, and read the faxes for some in depth information. You must read the fax on Sonny Fletcher - looks like he's been in some trouble with the law, but we still don't know where to go to find him. Who would have information on a felon? Why, Detective Clements!
Proceed back to the police station and talk with Eve - select any responses you wish, and be sure to ask about everything, particularly the questions about Sonny Fletcher and his checkered past. The detective is kind enough to supply Sonny's address. Go on over to Sonny's place.
10 Easy Pieces
Sonny lives is a real nice place. Choose whatever conversation path you like with Sonny, and watch the extended cut scene with Tex interrogating the broken down P.I. Sonny finally gives Tex a bishop that Carl had given him. Back at Tex's office, examine the bishop - looks like the final piece of the pass-card is hidden in the chess piece's base. Grab the lone piece out of inventory, and click on the rest of the pieces to combine the two together. Then examine the completed set of pieces.
This puzzle requires you to assemble the 10 pieces of the pass-card so that they form a rectangle. Use the black strip as a guide to placing the pieces. Turn each piece around by clicking the left mouse button on the piece and, while holding the button down, hit the left or right arrow keys on the keyboard. The solution is shown below:
Examine the "E" pass-card that you have now created. Pass-card plus pass-card reader equals COMPUTER ACCESS!!! Proceed back to the warehouse and attach the pass-card reader to the computer (just hold the pass-card reader and click on the computer, its that simple). Then grab the pass-card, and click on the reader. Now we need a password. Remember the letters on the note we found behind the bulletin board: HIP S.O.B. Think about where we found the last piece of the pass-card while you are re-arranging the letters…that's right, BISHOP.
Type the password into the computer, and read Carl Linsky's message from beyond the grave (ooh, scary). He gives us the name of another lead - Bosworth Clark - and the address of an office in Fresno which may further the case.
Proceed to the office at the Fresno address. This place is pretty empty, but notice the electric bill by the door - mail is still being delivered (this is important later). There is an address book located on a packing box near the wall map. Examining it will reveal three appointments in three cities (San Francisco, Paris and Sydney) on three different days, plus a cryptic message (3 sets of 3). The map on the wall reveals more information - Sydney time (10PM) is 9 hours ahead of Paris time (1 PM), which is in turn 9 hours ahead of San Francisco time (4 AM).
Moving the bookcase along the opposite wall reveals a safe attached to the commemorative plate display hanging on the wall. Click on one of the plates to start another puzzle. The object here is to enter each appointment time on the appropriate clock, with the corresponding times on the other two clocks. Set the time on the first clock (the picture of the Golden Gate Bridge indicates that this is San Francisco) to the San Francisco appointment time (6 PM). Paris is 9 hours ahead, so set the Paris (Eiffel Tower) clock to 3 AM. Sydney is another 9 hours ahead, so set the Sydney (Opera House) clock to 12 PM. The light above the San Francisco clock should turn red.
Repeat this operation for the other two appointments in Paris and Sydney:
Paris appt.: 2 PM San Fran: 5 AM (9
hours behind) Sydney: 11 PM (9 hours ahead)
Sydney appt.: 9 AM San Fran: 3 PM (18 hours behind) Paris: 12 AM (9 hours
behind)
The safe should now open revealing a photograph of Carl Linsky with an unknown man. Who can we get to identify this person? Why not Sylvia? Head over to Carl's apartment and listen to her hangover-slurred apology for slobbering over you the night before. Ask Sylvia about all of the topics on your list - she will identify the man in the photo as John Klaus, Carl's old friend.
Now, let's try tackling that Bosworth Clark lead. Sonny Fletcher might know something about the guy since his name was likely on that list he was investigating. Go over to Sonny's hotel - he's not around, but he's left a note for you. Looks like he was looking for Bosworth Clark at an Anasazi ruin near Tucson. This is a good place to pick up the trail. Open up the location panel, and speed off to Anasazi-land.
Brick by Brick
Here we are at the ruin - is Sonny waiting for us, or perhaps Sonny's nemesis Slade? What are we looking for here? Your best bet is to proceed off to the right towards the two blue doors, and go through the further one (the closer one is locked). One you are through the door, head straight for the leafless tree visible off in the distance straight ahead. Once you get to the tree, pick up and examine the guidebook on the ground. Read about the 8 bricks that, when placed correctly, will reveal a "deep secret". Time to collect your bricks.
The first brick is located quite close by - turn around and look behind the staircase leading up to the ceremonial chamber. The first brick is located just to the right of the base of the stairs. Proceed up the stairs, and enter the chamber itself. Along the wall to your right you will see another brick in a small recess - unfortunately a snake is currently guarding it, and you'll have to return later. Go and grab the small pile of sticks on the far side of the room, and be sure to grab the rope hanging off the wall in one of the corners opposite the snake.
Go back out, climb down the stairs, and proceed back towards your starting point at the ruin. As you advance, you will see a "No Trespassing" sign to your right - another brick lies on the ground to the left of the sign. Keep heading towards the blue doorway that you originally came through - a set of long wooden poles, and a wooden box should come into view to the right of the door (the box is in a small alcove off to the right). Go over and pick up the poles and the box. Proceed to the next small alcove to the right of the wooden box - there's another brick in here (that makes 4!).
Leaving the alcove, veer off to the left - you should see another blue door here. Open it up, and go in - a wooden smoking pipe is located to your right just after entering the room. Follow the passageway around to the left, and pick up the clay pot visible on the ground here - surprise, another brick!. Keep going along this hallway, through the s-shaped turn, and around another big bend to the left. A vine attached to a stick will be lying on the ground in the middle of the hallway. Before returning outside, sneak a peak into the room ahead - the 8 x 8 board where you'll be placing your bricks is located in here.
Retrace your steps back outside, and go back to the ceremonial chamber - its time to deal with that snake. Combine the vine and stick with the wooden box to make a makeshift trap, and then add the toy mouse from your office as bait. Grab this contraption and click on the snake. After the snake is captured grab the brick, and head back towards your original starting point.
Back by the entrance to the ruins, you may have noticed a large well off to the left. Go over to the well, get real close to the edge, and look down to see another brick. To get the brick out, combine the rope with the smoking pipe, and use it to retrieve the brick. Next, head towards the staircase behind you, go up the steps, and through the blue door. Another brick will be lying on the ground behind two pots in this room.
Go back outside, head down the stairs, and turn left towards the painted cogs on the wall. Click here to initiate another puzzle. The object here is to match up the three red dots on the wall with the three red dots on the three cogs. The levers above the cogs turn each cog directly below one full turn - unfortunately, the other two cogs turn different distances:
When Cog 1 rotates one turn, Cog 2
rotates (16/7) turns, and Cog 3 rotates (16/17) turns.
When Cog 2 rotates one turn, Cog 1 rotates (9/16) turns, and Cog 3 rotates
(9/17) turns.
When Cog 3 rotates one turn, Cog 1 rotates (17/16) turns, and Cog 2 rotates
(17/9) turns.
Confused yet? Tired of this puzzle? From the beginning of the puzzle, pull Lever 1 down 6 times, followed by Lever 3 up 5 times, and the dots will all align. A panel on the wall opens, and the last brick is yours for the taking. Now that all of the bricks have been collected, head back to the 8 x 8 board to place your bricks.
The guidebook mentions that the bricks must be placed on the grid so that no two bricks lie in the same horizontal, vertical or diagonal line. Bricks also cannot be placed on the two main diagonals of the 8 x 8 board. A solution to this puzzle is shown below (dots represent bricks):
Once you've placed the bricks in the correct locations, the doors at the top of the stairs to your left open up. Proceed through the doors, down the hallway, and into a room where you will find a pile of leather strips on the floor to your right. Pick them up, and continue straight ahead by going up the stairs. This will trigger a cut scene with Tex checking out a gap ahead that is too wide to jump. After the scene has played, combine the short sticks (from the ceremonial chamber) with the long poles and the leather straps to make a ladder. Grab the ladder and click on the gap to watch an entertaining clip of Tex trying to negotiate the gap. Once "safely" to the other side, survey the room beyond.
There's no slab in this lab
Just to the left of the locked metal doors ahead of you, there is a pair of eyeglasses on the floor. Pick up and examine the glasses to retrieve the electrical tape from the nerd-goggles. Turning to your left, past the alternative entrance to the room (which can be opened), you will find a pocket-watch on the floor near the corner. Pick up and examine the watch to extract a spring.
Continue turning to your left, past the debris from your "entrance", to the next corner, where a dime can be found on the floor. Pick up the dime, and use it to open the metal panel to the right of the locked doors. The broken wire here can easily be fixed by first applying the spring to connect the wires, and then the electrical tape to seal the deal. The doors open to real Bosworth Clark's secret lab (hey, wasn't he on Charlie's Angels?)
Hmmm…blood on the floor - that can't be good. Have a look at Bosworth's equipment, particularly the strange colour and tone-coded entry system on his computer. You can turn on the overhead monitors by clicking the small white panel on the front of the centre computer console (the big-radar screen-looking things). Wander over to his living quarters, and pick up the ashtray on the table. Examining it reveals a burnt matchbook.
There's a pass-card reader located in the shelf to the right of the table. Also, look under Bosworth's bed - pick up and examine his videodisk player. Where can we find a videodisk to play? Go back over to the entrance and examine the chair by the door - Tex thinks it's in a strange place. Could it have been used as a stepladder? Look up on the wall, and grab the smoke alarm here. Examining it reveals that the smoke alarm is actually a camera, with a videodisk inside (told ya!). Combine the disk and the player, and examine it to watch a movie of Bosworth's final moments (the database fax said he had 5 kids…sadL). That must be the Evil Big Jim Slade doing the Russian Roulette thing.
Did you notice the tone password that Bosworth inputted into his computer just before Slade came in? Watch the movie several times, and try to repeat the password into the computer entry system. For those of you having trouble, the correct sequence is red, yellow, blue, white, red, yellow, green. A shelf opens up revealing a pass-card. But we'll need a password too. You will find it on the side of the left console (on the other side of Bosworth's empty chair) held to the wall by a magnet. The note tells us the password is TCAHCMEKE. Can you think of a chess term that those letters will re-arrange to form? How about CHECKMATE?
Attach the pass-card reader to the computer, scan the pass-card, and input the password. You'll learn a few details about the secret project, and see a visual of a satellite spinning in space.
Where do we go from here? Well, we haven't seen Wanda Peck for a while - maybe she knows something about STG, and the man in the photo with Carl (John Klaus). Go see Wanda - she seems very interested in the photo (in fact, she wants to keep it), and she sure doesn't like Klaus.
Schimming with Sharks
Now might be a good time to go back to the office, and check the database for some background information. Once you are finished, proceed back to C.A.P.R.I.C.O.R.N. to check on Wanda's progress with the photo. The only thing she has learned is that both men in the photo were wearing STG badges (just like what's printed on those pass-cards!). She also mentions a letter from Poison Pawn, and a contact name - Jorge Valdez. Once again, go back to the office to check the database for these new subjects. Turns out STG is a company (or was) owned by Gideon Enterprises.
Now, who would know about STG's parent company. Errr…Wanda? That's right, go back to C.A.P.R.I.C.O.R.N. once more and speak to Wanda (the conversation path here doesn't matter) about Gideon, and all of the resulting topics, including J. Saint Gideon and Frank Schimming.
It's back again to the office we go, except now there is a fax waiting for us with (surprise) Frank Schimming's direct phone number. Dial the number and speak to Frank - he may hang up on you if you say the wrong thing (i.e. looking for hot tips, saying you are a cop), but if he does hang up, just call him back again, and all will be well. It helps if you are able to mention anything about C.A.P.R.I.C.O.R.N. and/or Wanda Peck. Be sure to ask about everything during questioning - Frank doesn't know much, but he gives you J. Saint Gideon's address.
After the conversation is over, proceed to Gideon's mansion for a lengthy movie in which Gideon talks about himself, and his company. After the movie, you get a chance to ask him some questions. He knows Jorge Valdez, and after the interrogation is over, you can head over to Valdez's rank and File Chess Shop.
Again, don't be too concerned about the conversation path with Valdez - all paths lead to the questioning, but mention Gideon to get some immediate co-operation. Valdez doesn't actually know very much - for instance, he has no idea who the Poison Pawn is. After you are done, go back to your office. That's your phone that is ringing. Click on the vidphone and receive a good lead about Val Davis from a strange looking mutant man. The game takes you directly to Davis' lab after the phone call.
Goin' Ape
Ah, another lead, another lab. Begin by checking out the computer and the microscope - guess you'll need another pass-card and reader. Grab and examine the note on the counter beside the microscope - it simply says "NEQUE". Could this be a scrambled password?
Next, go over to the area surrounding the examination table. Have a look in the cabinet marked "Ape Toys" - there's a toy mouse in here just like the one you had before. Grab it. You can also look at some of the items on the counter here, but there's not much of interest. None of the other cabinets or drawers open.
On your way across the room to the animal cages, swing by the big metal doors marked by a radiation symbol (but don't go in yet). There will be a big pole resting up against the wall to the right of the doors. Grab it and proceed over to the big ape's cage. He's awake, and guarding a metal box. Try using the pole to get the box - no, not gonna work. What do we have that the ape might want? The bananas of course. But how can we get the ape out of the way? Try combining the sleeping pills with the bananas, and give one to the ape. Perfect - he falls fast asleep. You'll grab the box with the pole, and retrieve a pass-card from the box. Be sure to check out the strange looking cats on the second floor before going on.
Time to check out those radiation doors. Note: save your game now - timed sequence ahead!!! Open the doors and proceed in. Suddenly the doors close behind you, and a big radiation thingie comes out of the ground. Sirens a' wailin', and a voice warns of radiation exposure that begins to rise. You must act quickly. Head off to the right and turn around to face the wall. Don't bother clicking on the button to open the door from the inside - someone has tampered with the circuits for the override. Grab your circuit repair kit from your inventory, and click on the black panel on the wall.
The object of this next puzzle is to re-connect any two wires (the white lines) crossing the circuit board: one horizontally, and one vertically. To do this, use the four kit pieces over to the right. Look for wires that are already almost connected across the board. Meanwhile, the radiation levels are getting higher and higher. Remember though, you can't die - after all, you're telling the story here, so you must have survived. If the radiation levels get too high, we switch back to Tex telling Chelsee that he did not die, he just did the puzzle a different way. The game then lets you load up your last saved game to try again.
The puzzle is built on a 15 by 15 grid - if the pieces are placed in the following way, the wires will be re-connected:
Remember that you can rotate each circuit piece by clicking and holding the left mouse button down on the piece while pressing either the left or right arrow keys on the keyboard.
Congratulations, you've saved your life. Take this opportunity to go look at the creepy experimental chair, and be sure to pick up the pass-card reader on the floor beyond the chair. Proceed back into the main room, set up the pass-card reader on the computer, and scan the pass-card. Have you unscrambled that password yet? How about "QUEEN"? Put the password in and see the "microscopic" view of the pass-card (that's a pretty low-power machine!). The symbols (Qxd7) represent the shorthand of a chess move - essentially, Queen moves to space d-7, and "takes" (denoted by the x) another chess-piece. Check out the other two pass-cards in your possession: Card G has Rxe7 printed on it, and Card E has Rd1 on it. Interesting. Time to head back to the office.
Once back at your office, check the floor by the front door - there's a message waiting for you from Sonny Fletcher, who apparently has some info for us on Big Jim Slade. Proceed over to Sonny's hotel, where Sonny has a pass-card for us, but has been mortally wounded by Slade. Have a drink for Sonny as he passes on (so that's when Tex started drinking!). Tex finds Slade's lodge location (remember the burnt matchbook from Clark's lab?), and you should proceed there next.
Run Runaway
The visit to Jim Slade's room at the Big Surf Lodge is a tricky one, since he's actually there. You obviously want to avoid him, so remember two rules - choose good hiding spots, and put everything back the way you found it.
Start by retrieving the key to Slade's sliding glass doors by combining the magnet with your tape measure. Now, look through the window into the kitchen - a key should be barely visible on the countertop on the right side. Use your magnetized tape measure to grab the key, and use the key to open the door. Remember to shut it behind you after you go inside.
Go over to the bed and examine the briefcase handcuffed here. We'll need a key for this. Go back over to the table immediately left of the sliding doors, and pick up and examine Slade's wallet. We find two items of interest - a lottery ticket, and a piece of paper with a scrambled password on it. Remember to put the wallet back on the table where you found it. Skip the closet over on the right side for now - we'll be using this as a hiding spot later.
Go through the door into the living room / kitchen, and turn left into the living room. There appears to be something behind the right hand cushion on the sofa. Move the cushion, and pick up some sort of word puzzle grid - save it for later! Remember to put the cushion back the way you found it.
In the kitchen, go to the set of drawers along the same wall as the fridge and open the second drawer from the top - you will find a bible here that will be useful later. Now approach the set of drawers next to the door into the bedroom - there is a small bottle of chloral hydrate in the second drawer from the top. Remember to shut both drawers, and any of the other cabinets that you open in the kitchen. Unfortunately, there are no bananas in the fridge.
Proceed back into the bedroom, and open up the closet. Turn around, and close the doors behind you. Now pick up Slade's clothes - since this is the last item to look at, this will trigger Slade's "old-fashioned" cell phone to start ringing. Just sit tight for a minute - if you've remembered to cover your tracks, you can listen to Slade's conversation (if not, Slade comes out and shoots you, and you'll have to load up a previously saved game). Once Slade has gone into the kitchen, examine his clothes and retrieve a mailbox key from his pocket. Remember to put Slade's clothes back before leaving the closet.
Proceed to the bathroom - open the door and go inside. Have a look in the mirror, open up the shower curtains by clicking on them, and then turn around and pick up Slade's jacket hanging on the back of the door. Examine the jacket - there's a handcuff key in the pocket! - and put the jacket back on the door. Ooops…here comes Slade for his jacket. Quickly get into the shower, close the curtains behind you, and duck down as low as you can get. Slade will come in and pick up his jacket. Once he leaves, get out of the shower and go back into the bedroom. Use the handcuff key on the briefcase to liberate it, and immediately travel back to your office via the location panel. Whew!
Going Postal
Back in your office, examine Slade's briefcase. We need some sort of combination for the lock. Did we get anything from Slade that indicates a numerical lock combination? How about the lottery ticket number? Dial in the number into the lock in groups of threes; first "6, 1 and 3" (the green light will flash a couple of times), second "2, 2 and 2", and third "7, 3 and 1". The case magically opens to reveal two items - a grid object, and a piece of paper with some sort of word puzzle on it.
The paper with the word puzzle has some bible notations on it - try combining it with the (J. Saint) Gideon's Bible we retrieved from Slade's kitchen. Click on the combined object to start a puzzle. Each of the 5 lines containing a blank space has a bible book, chapter, verse and word code on it; for example, the first one reads Book of Job, Chapter 9, Verse 25, Word 8. The appropriate verse is displayed at the bottom of the note, so counting 8 words along we get "POST". Type in the word, and click on the next bible book label on the list. You should end up with the five blank spaces reading "POST OFFICE BOX NUMBER 969". But where is this post office?
To use the grid, combine it with the word scramble puzzle that we found in Slade's couch, and click on the combined object to start a second puzzle. The object here is to place the grid on the rows and column of letters so that ten hit-list names show up in the "holes" of the grid (plus the green numbers 1 through 10).
Begin by grabbing the grid and placing it so that the green number "1" is visible in the hole closest to the upper left corner of the grid (the 1 is located near the upper left corner of the letter puzzle). The rest of the letters form the name "Rona Morgan", and it appears as the first number on your list. Now move the grid so that the green "2" shows up in the hole closest to the bottom right corner of the grid (the 2 is located about half-way down on the right side of the letter puzzle). Val Davis' name now shows up on your list. Follow the rest of these steps:
Once completed, a hit list is placed in your inventory. Those red letters that were present on the grid (you may have noticed that one red letter showed up in each scrambled name) spell out MILL VALLEY. Open your location panel and proceed to the Mill Valley Post Office, but not before "taking care" of Sylvia.
I Fought the Law
After Tex retrieves a Law and Order Access Badge, and Slade's coded orders from the post office box, he goes directly to the Law and Order Party Headquarters. After entering, he comes face to face with Harry Rice, the night security guard. The conversation paths all lead to Harry taking the badge away to check it out, leaving you free to roam in the lobby for a short period.
Immediately, go over to the coffee pot on the table to your right, get up close, grab the mickey from your inventory, and click on the pot. Tex makes a bumbling attempt at spiking Harry's coffee, and only barely gets away with it. Once Harry goes back to check on the badge ID again, immediately go off to the right from the front desk, down a short hallway, and into the first door you see on the left - the men's room. From there you'll see the guard drink his coffee, and collapse.
Now its time to look around the men's room. Open up Locker Number 11, and grab the Law and Order Party Credo. This looks like it may be the decoding document for Slade's orders. Combine the credo with the coded orders, and examine the two documents. In order to get each letter in the coded order, simply count the number of letters from the start of the credo (not including the title) according to the number underneath each space. The final message will read "MR. SLADE PRIORITY TARGET: ROBERT KNOTT HIS OFFICE PASSWORD: PIRANHA". Before you go to Knott's office, open up Locker 5, and grab and examine the Law and Order brochure located here. Also, try to open Locker 17 - looks like its locked. Proceed out the men's room door.
Don't bother with any of the other doors on this side of the office - they're all locked. As you pass the sleeping guard, grab his keys lying in front of him on the floor. Go past the desk into the other side of the office, turn to your left, and pick up your Law and Order ID badge on the small table here. Use the keys from the guard to open up Knott's office, which is located opposite the table. Once inside, Knott's alarm is ringing - turn around, click on the wall unit located immediately to the right of the door, type in "PIRANHA" and then hit ENTER to shut off the alarm.
This is a pretty nice office. Move the chair located closest to the painting of the finch, and pick up the small key lying on the floor (Locker 17, anyone?). Come around Knott's desk and grab the Post-it note on the seat of his chair - a mysterious address to check on later. Knott's left desk drawer also has some interesting information indicating he was using Wanda Peck to check out John Klaus. Notice that Knott's phone can be dialled - more on that later. Examine the ugly lizard painting on Knott's wall - it can be moved to reveal a safe with a numeric keypad entry. One last thing: there is a photograph on one of the shelves behind Knott's desk chair, near the centre of the room and about halfway up the wall. It's a picture of…Sylvia and Frank Schimming????? Whaaaa?
Proceed back to the men's room, and open Locker 17 with the key from Knott's office. Inside you'll find an index card with a strange set of letters and numbers on it. But is it really that strange? What do the letters spell out backwards? "MY TELEPHONE". Go back to Knott's office and input the numbers into the phone, but in the reverse order than what is written on the page (read them right to left - 69835374663). A message on the phone should read "EMASES NEPO", which of course backwards reads "OPEN SESAME".
Is this the code for the safe? Not completely, since we can only enter numbers into the keypad on the safe. Look at the phone keypad, and pick out the numbers that are represented by OPEN SESAME - 6736737263. Enter this number into the safe keypad, press enter, and retrieve a CD in the safe. You can now leave party headquarters, but you will have to go back out into the lobby, and use your ID badge on the front door to get out (for some reason you can get extra points for trying the door without the pass-card first.)
Proceed to the "mysterious" address, and watch Tex walk into an obvious trap. Someone plays drums with his head, and he is injected with some strange looking caulking gun. Do you think he will have MONO later? (heh heh). Tex explains to Chelsee that he felt terrible afterwards, but manages to get Wanda Peck to agree to meet him that night. Tex gives her the CD from Knott's office, and gets the address of Knott's secret cabin (gee, how did Wanda know this? Hmmm…). Time to check out Knott's cabin for some answers.
Tangled Knott
Ah, a nice peaceful cabin in the woods. Turn to the right, and have a peek at the aquarium - is that a metal box inside? Try grabbing the box out of the tank - Youch! That's where Knott got his office password from. Move the horse picture above the tank, and grab the bent nail sticking out of the wall. Now turn back to the front door, and open up the skylight by clicking and turning on the switch. Walk over to the fireplace, and pick up the log lying in front of the hearth.
Next, proceed over to the kitchen, and look in the large-sized cabinets across from the stove. You should find a coil of rope hanging on the right hand side of the right cabinet. Look under the counter - you will find both a monkey wrench, and one of those barbeque-lighting mini-torches in two different spots. There's also a water purification hose attached to the tap on the kitchen sink - use the monkey wrench to unhook the metal hose.
Your next move is into the bedroom, where you'll find a…ahem….blow-up doll under the bed. Tex takes this opportunity to blow her up. Proceed back to the living room, and go to the aquarium. Combine the bent nail and the metal hose to form a crude fishing tool. Use it to fish out the metal box from the fish tank. Examine the box - inside you will find Knott's Level 4 clearance ID badge for the Law and Order Party headquarters.
Knott isn't around, so time to leave. Head out the front door, and go back to your office. But wait - who's that waiting outside the door? Looks like Knott with a cross-bow. Don't worry about the conversation - just mention Wanda first chance you get, and Knott will trust you. The cut scene with Knott reveals some important information, but he is shot before you can question him.
You end up back on the floor of the cabin with bullets pang-pinging around. DO NOT GET UP - IF YOU DO, YOU WILL BE SHOT! Staying at floor level, move over to Knott's body and get the key lying on the floor by his foot. Crawl over to the bedroom door, open it, and using the key, open the closet. There's a jacket and hat outfit in here - grab it, and combine it with the blow-up doll to make a decoy dummy. Take this opportunity to combine the rope with the fire-log to make a quick anchor.
Now crawl back out into the kitchen, grab the dressed doll from your inventory, and click anywhere in the direction of the living room. You'll see Tex using the doll to invite the boys in for a party. After they accept, grab your makeshift anchor, and click on the skylight. The shooters realize the decoy, but you manage to climb up through the skylight, and using the torch blow up the cabin good. Real good.
The next portion of the story is told in movie form, with Sylvia putting a full-court press on Tex back at his office, and some tender moments with Chelsee (awww…). After taking Sylvia back to the luxurious warehouse, the phone is ringing for you when you get back. Its our mysterious mutant friend, with some advice to investigate the recently departed Greg Call. The police may know something, so we are automatically taken to Eve Clement's office. Mention Slade (The Hitman) to her, and she's ready to give you all the help you need. Apparently they found a mysterious chip in Call's head. The police can't make heads or tails of it, so she gives it to you.
Examine the chip once you are back at the office - but do it quickly, since we don't have the tools necessary to solve it yet. Exit the puzzle. Where can we find out information on Greg Call, one of the lead researchers at STG? How about the STG office in Fresno (remember - mail is still being delivered there)? Follow this rather dubious line of reasoning and proceed back to the Fresno office. By George! There's a courier package waiting for us by the door. Examine the package to reveal two items: a Braille chart, and a note. Combine the chart with the computer chip from Call's head, and fill in the code word at the bottom - you should get "NEXUS".
The other note mentions that we have been exposed to "P333", and gives us the two ways that Greg Call uses to encode messages. We'll need to find out more about this "NEXUS" word. Who is the only one to really know Greg Call? Why J. Saint Gideon, his former employer. Proceed over to Gideon's mansion and catch him just before he leaves on an extended trip. He will be happy to answer any of your questions. Gideon relates that the location of NEXUS is in Washington State, but doesn't think anything is there. But we know better. Proceed to Call's NEXUS lab.
Call of the Wild
The lab's scanner all but confirms that we've been outfitted with one of those brain bugs that is driving everyone to suicide. Once in the lab, go directly to the examination table, and grab the piece of paper from the clipboard hanging underneath. The sheet lists all of the different kinds of implants, as well as the "kamikaze" implants that will neutralize the original ones. Since Tex has been tagged with a P333 implant, a "N216" kamikaze should do the trick. Be sure to grab the access card that is still attached to the clipboard (it was underneath the paper) before moving on.
Move over to the smaller table behind the examination table, and pick up the implant syringe. Nasty looking. Next, proceed back to the entrance, and turn on the switch immediately to the right of the door. The x-ray examination light will come one. Isn't that the shadow of an object near the bottom of the light? Click on the light to remove the light cover, and grad the pass-card located inside the light fixture.
Have a quick look at Call's computer, and pick up / examine the newspaper article about the death of Val Davis beside his keyboard. Call knew his time was up soon. Walk over to the other side of the room, and pick up a pass-card reader located to the left of the storage containers with the round doors. We'll need a password before we can access Call's computer files.
Notice the card swipe next to the storage containers with the round doors. Grab the access card you found on the clipboard and click on the swipe to open the storage containers. Different numbered implants are stored in each container. Kamikaze implant N216 is located in the top-right container. Next, combine the Kamikaze implant with the syringe, and examine the loaded syringe to carry out this gruesome deed. One question: where's the blood?
Before continuing, you'll need to go over to the implant removal station (past the examination table on the far wall) and "guide" the Kamikaze implant to the bad P333 one inside your own head. When you turn on the station, a maze of your brain's blood vessels appears. You first must choose which blood vessel to inject the implant into, and then find the green diamond in the middle of your brain, all the while avoiding the little antibodies trying to destroy the Kamikaze implant.
A good place to start is a blood vessel near the power bar, as shown in this diagram. Once you've injected the implant into the blood vessel (point the little syringe at the end of the vessel and click) the cursor turns into a small blue cross that can be moved around the veins.
The following path will get you to the P333 implant. Note that most intersections are 3-way junctions, so invariably there is a "left" and a "right" fork to choose between, although sometimes the configuration of the blood vessels makes it tough to distinguish between left and right. For the record, all of my directions are taken from the perspective of the blue cross travelling within the vessels:
Left, left, middle (this is a four-way branch), left, right, right and right.
Once completed, you hear someone coming - turns out its our mysterious mutant friend Larry Hammond. Larry isn't nearly as helpful as he made out he would be, but he does fill in some knowledge gaps, and gives you his pass-card and an envelope from Greg Call.
Once Larry has departed, examine Greg Call's "In case I die…" envelope, on which Larry has written his pass-card's password ("WARD" rearranges to "DRAW"). The envelope contains a note detailing information about the chess moves available to combat the "Stalemate" program (make sure you understand the chess notation, but no need to study this too closely), and a note addressed to Larry.
The note contains a code indicating Greg's password. What did the courier message say about Greg's coding techniques? Try writing down every third word from the note starting from the name "Larry". Comprehensible? Nope, but try every fourth word - you should get a message that reads "If you can figure this out my password follows. In the first letters good am most brain in the". Huh? Well, the message gives us 6 words after the phrase "In the first letters" - taking the fist letters of those last six words gives us "GAMBIT" - our password!
Proceed over to the computer, install the pass-card reader, swipe Greg's pass-card, input the password, and watch the taped message from Greg Call which pretty much lays out what's going on - both Gideon and the Law and Order Party are fighting over a method for controlling people's minds. Call implores us to use the Stalemate program to stop the madness.
Time to head back to California. Tex indicates that the Law and Order Party headquarters is the next destination.
Rice to See You. Harry
Stellar security guard Harry Rice is nowhere to be found in the Law and Order Party lobby, so take this opportunity to go into the open door behind the main desk (off to the right a bit). You are now in the Reception Hall, but there's a security camera mounted on the wall between the two doors to the lobby. Go over to the wall of windows, and pick up the music stand located just to the left of the windows (you get a quick shot of Harry on the prowl). Examine the stand - Tex extends the stem as far as it will go. Next, combine the stand with the Law and Order brochure. Now take the brochure/stand over to the security camera on the wall, and click on the camera to use the photo in the brochure to cover your tracks.
Be sure to stop by the side bar for some delicious Law and Order treats (grab the chopsticks while you're at it), and note that there is a phone to the left of the bar that is accessible.
Approach the Law and Order tapestry hanging on the wall at the back of the room, and move it aside to uncover a secret door. The pass-card swipe doesn't seem to be working though. Use the chopsticks to poke the swipe bar out of the wall, and use Knott's Level 4 Law and Order pass-card to gain entrance to John Klaus' secret lab.
Note: Klaus' lab seemed to have a few graphical and movement bugs in it, so be sure to save before you go in.
Klaus has been doing some nasty things in the little dingy room. Grab the paper on the floor by his desk - apparently Officer Rice has to answer Extension 107 whenever it rings. This may be helpful on the way out. Check out all of the pictures of mediaeval knights on the wall, and peruse Klaus' list of movies to avoid - recognize any common words? Could his password be KNIGHT?
There's a photo on Klaus' desk - uh oh, Sylvia and Gideon hamming it up. Open up the first desk drawer, and examine the Law and Order memo inside - not actually that useful. Proceed over to the other side of the room, and have a quick look at the implants list sitting beside the examination table (if you can get close to it, that is). Have a look at the printout in the corner - Carl Linsky's name is displayed here. Was it here that the implant was inserted into Linsky?
Play the tape recorder for some disturbing memories of Klaus' handiwork. Open the drawer found below those nasty surgical tools to reveal a small framed picture of a cat, with the title "LESCAT". Examine the picture, and then examine the pieces of the cat itself, which are actually the pieces of a cut-up pass-card like the one from Linsky's warehouse. The 7 pieces fit like this:
Now, how can we arrange LESCAT to get a chess term? How about CASTLE?
Since we're finished in the lab, go back out into the reception hall. Pick up the phone, and dial Extension 107 - since Harry has to go answer it, you can make a break for it. Go back out into the lobby (I'd use the right door, I had trouble going through the left one) and use the Level 4 Law and Order pass-card to get out.
Go back to your office - there should be two phone messages for you from Jorge Valdez (who has received a message from Poison Pawn for you at his store) and Wanda Peck (who invites you to dinner…um, I mean thanks you for the CD you dropped off before going to Knott's cabin). Time to go see Valdez at the Rank and File Chess Shop.
Valdez has an e-mail for you on his computer from Poison Pawn instructing you to come to the San Tomas Mission at midnight. Off you go!
San Tomas Mission Impossible
After arriving at the Mission, you end up downstairs below the tower, which is accessible via a freight elevator. But its not working…yet. First, turn back towards the door and look around until you see a broom leaning up against the wall (its located to the right of the door). Do you see the rock in front of the bristles of the broom? Pick up the rock - you'll need it for later. Now turn to your left until the red tool box on a shelf to the left of the door comes into view. Open the tool box and pick up the penknife - you'll need this too.
Now its time to get that elevator working. Starting at the elevator, turn to your right until a set of shelves comes into view. Do you see the set of three non-descript boxes sitting on the second shelf from the floor? Click on these boxes, and move them aside to reveal an electrical panel. Open the panel, and switch on the elevator power switch. Now proceed back to the elevator, and press the button to the left of the door. The next movie shows Tex travelling up the tower in the elevator, and stepping out to meet the Poison Pawn.
The sight of Sylvia tied to a chair with blood on her face is a sure sign that we've run into trouble. Watch the entire exchange between John Klaus and Tex, and later with Jim Slade. We enter an interactive conversation with Slade after he's broken Klaus' neck in an attempt to get the pass-cards for himself.
Save your game before starting the conversation - this is the one conversation where the choices you make determine whether you live or die. This is a very difficult puzzle to get through unscathed - be prepared to die at least a few times. If you choose a conversation path that gets you to another set of choices without dying, save your game - this way you don't have to keep replaying the entire conversation after starting over. Remember to use the items you collected on the floor below.
The correct and only complete path through the conversation is as follows: Make a last request; Kiss Sylvia goodbye; Slip her the penknife; Challenge Slade; Shut off the lights and hide; Throw the rock; Grab a shield and run to the landing; Stall for time; and Throw the pass-cards into the clock.
After you and Sylvia take care of Slade, and she begs you for forgiveness, proceed over to Gideon's mansion to find that Overlord computer.
Maniac Mansion
You are transported directly to Gideon's bedroom (thank you, Sylvia). The carpet here resembles a giant chessboard. Move into the centre of the room and grab the note on the checkered table. The paper describes the alarm in Gideon's gallery. We'll need this later to get through the gallery. Walk over to Gideon's bed, and pick up the dumbbell bar lying on the floor to the right of the bed. Then, go over to the left side of the bed and open up the box on the floor - it's a 6-piece chess set. Pick the pieces up and take them over to the chessboard table in the centre of the room.
The object of this puzzle is to place the six pieces in their "proper" spots on the chess board. But how? Remember how we noted that the rug looked like a giant chessboard? Have a look at the statues atop the pillars about the room. Find the larger version of the six pieces on the rug, and plot out their locations. The correct solution is shown below:
Kn - Knight (horse)
Kg - King (tall piece with cross on top)
P - Pawn (shortest piece)
B - Bishop (taller pawn)
Q - Queen (tall piece with crown)
R - Rook (castle tower)
After the puzzle is completed, the large picture on the wall opposite the bed lifts to reveal an elevator. If you are trying to maximize points, this is a good time to go over to Val Davis' lab to look at the chess moves on the rest of the cards. Come back to Gideon's bedroom when you are done. Enter the elevator, and press the button to the right of the door. You will be taken to a balcony that overlooks Gideon's gallery.
The object here is to get onto the retaining walls down below, and travel along the tops of the walls until the alarm panel is found. Before we do this, we've got to find something to get us over to the walls. Walk back towards the two staircases that run down towards the gallery, and click on the long part of the central hand-rail - it should be loose enough to pull off. Do the same for the hand-rail on the other staircase. Combine both rails with the dumbbell bar to form a long pole. Now go back to the balcony overlooking the gallery. Turn around to your right and see the small switch on the wall. Hit the switch to lower the chandelier, and click on the chandelier with the pole. Tex will shimmy across the pole and land on the top of the nearest retaining wall.
At this point the entire floor of the gallery is alarmed, but the walls are not. Tex must now find the alarm panel to start the alarm sequence shown on the sheet in Gideon's bedroom. As you move along the wall, be sure to look down at all times - a fall will kill you. From where Tex is now standing, go forward until the wall ends, then turn right and go forward until the wall ends. Turn left, and go forward until the wall ends. Turn to your left and go forward, but turn towards a wall going off to your right at the first opportunity. Go about half-way along this wall and stop. Looking down, and turning to your right, you should see the red and black alarm panel once you have turned almost 180 degrees. Go ahead and open the panel.
It's probably a good time to look at the alarm pattern sheet, since once you turn the alarm on, you will have to get off that wall almost immediately. If we assume that the top of the drawing is north, we've travelled from the south end of the room to the northeastern corner. The inside portions of the gallery are safe for the first part of the floor alarm sequence, so a good strategy will be to fall off the wall into the northeastern interior room immediately after switching on the system. Simply hit the switch, and then fall backwards off the wall into the northeastern room.
There are several ways of avoiding the alarmed portions of the floor - areas that are armed are lit up, while unarmed areas of the floor are not. Your ultimate goal is to make it to the door along the north side of the room.
The following strategy will work:
The Longest Hallway
Go through the door into one of Gideon's really long hallways. Isn't it a relief not to worry about the floor zapping you? Turn to the right, and proceed down the hallway until you reach a bench located on your left side. Pick up the CD that is lying on the seat. Keep going straight ahead until you reach the door to Gideon's study, and go in.
Proceed straight ahead to Gideon's desk, and look at his dinosaur coin holder. Try placing the dime you got back at Bosworth Clark's lab into the dinosaur - out pops (poops) a key. Grab it and have a look around the room. Tex seems to think that the bookshelves may be hiding something. Go to the bookshelf in the back left corner of the room (from the perspective of the doorway) and click on the books that are located on the right side of the top shelf. Open up the secret compartment, and take the ornate cross.
Now proceed over to the stained-glass picture of the sword on the other side of the room. Grab the cross from inventory, and click on the picture. You must now place the cross in one of the bronze-coloured squares that surround the picture. The puzzle flashes the outline of a number of shapes on the squares every few moments, and you are to find the specific spot the cross belongs in. The cross should be placed in the bottom left corner square, with the top of the cross up against the top of the square, and the left side of the cross up against the left side of the square.
After the cross has been properly positioned, a panel will open up to the right of the stained glass picture. Grab the blue pass-card in the compartment, and go back outside to the hallway.
Go forward, and take the hallway going off to the left. Follow this around until you reach a door, and using the key from the dinosaur, unlock the door and go in. This is Gideon's games room. Go over to the pool table, and look at some of the balls. The solid ones, 8 in all, can be picked up. Examine the balls, and note the numbers and corresponding colours for later.
You can try Gideon's Mean Streets video game in the back corner of the room. This resembles the original Tex game back in the 1980's. If you have the patience, play for a while - you'll get some points out of it. Otherwise, forget the game and head over to the other side of the room.
Have a look at the side tables next to Gideon's fire-side sofa - there is a mixed up puzzle for you to try. Pick up the puzzle and examine it. This is to be solved like any other jigsaw puzzle - find the edge pieces (the dark blue ones are water and belong along the bottom, and the light blue ones are sky, belonging along the top). Rearrange the pieces to form a picture of…Alcatraz! The puzzle flips over and gives you the 8 passwords for the 8 pass-cards you've been collecting.
Proceed back to the hallway, and retrace your steps back to your starting point at the door to the gallery (follow the hallway until it ends, and then turn left, or use the location panel to go there directly). Now travel in the direction away from the study, and follow this hallway until it ends at another set of locked doors. Approach the security panel to the left of the door and click on it. This panel requires that a number be entered for each of the 8 colours displayed, which just happen to correspond to the eight pool balls you've collected. Go ahead and enter a number for each colour (press the colour button and then enter the number): red (1), green (2), black (3), orange (4), burgundy (5), blue (6), purple (7), and yellow (8). The doors will now be unlocked, allowing you access to Gideon's control room.
Gideon has all kinds of surveillance equipment, cameras, and other doo-dads in here. The only one you're interested in is the computer on the right. Grab that CD from inventory, and click on the CD drive (thin grey strip between the monitor and the computer). The information on this CD details robot security at the Alcatraz installation - you may want to jot this down for later. Cell Blocks B, D and the lower levels are safe, while there are robots patrolling Blocks A and C. Now grab another CD sitting on top of the computer's monitor, and pop it into the drive. We get some additional background information on Gideon's secret Alcatraz lair.
Before going back, grab your blue pass-card from the study, and press the alarm panel immediately right of the doorway. This will turn off all alarms in the gallery. Now open your location panel, and transport back to the gallery (or get there via the hallways). Cross the gallery and go up one of the staircases to the elevator. Once inside, you are taken directly to Tex's office where a newly insurance-rich Sylvia gets testy when you announce your planned trip to Alcatraz to stop Gideon. After she storms out, you are taken automatically to Alcatraz, where a robot immediately zaps you, and you wake up in a jail cell.
Escape Into Alcatraz
Begin by moving one of the two bunk beds aside to reveal a portion of the wall that has decayed to show some of the brickwork underneath. Click to access a puzzle where the object is to open up a square-shaped hole for Tex to crawl through. You can take bricks out (as long as the bricks above are supported), but you must put all of the bricks back somewhere. You can turn them sideways (press down with your left mouse button and hit the left or right key), or put them on top of other bricks, as long as you don't cover up the lines between the bricks.
You've made it into the next cell. Turn around and pick up the one brick left over from the excavation. Now grab the chain and hook from the bed hanging off the wall on the opposite wall. Proceed up to the cell bars, and look to the left. You should see a shelf outside the cell with some items on it. Throw the brick at the shelf by grabbing the brick and clicking on the shelf. After the items have fallen onto the tarp on the floor, use the chain and hook to drag the tarp over to the cell.
You can now pick up the two items - a roll of electrical tape, and a small torch. Use the torch on the bars to cut yourself a hole in the door to get out of your cell.
Once out, immediately head into the open cell located directly to your left. Remember that none of the robots can zap you while you are inside a cell. This is a good place to get your bearings, find out where the robot is, and pick up a roll of barbed wire hanging from the wall here. Be sure to examine the wire in order to roll it out for future use.
The robot on Block A is not too evil - it won't zap you unless you are very close to it. Head out of the cell and go left. Make a right turn when the corridor ends, and proceed over to a set of doors on the right side. This is the door to Block B. You should see a patch of white beyond the locked gate. Grab the barbed wire and click on the patch to retrieve a key. The key can then be used to open up the door into Block B.
You can relax for a bit in Block B - no robots. Proceed over to the doorway into the visitation area and open the unlocked door. You should see an overturned chair immediately to your left as you enter the room. Move this chair, and pick up the old gas mask sitting on the floor. Continue through the room, have a quick look at one of the visitation booths, and open the next unlocked door. Head off to the right, and using the key again, open the doors that lead to the infirmary. There will be a pass-card on the floor of this little room. Pick it up, and proceed over to the doors on the other side of the room - the way into Block C.
The robot in Block C is more difficult to navigate around, since it can zap you from above, and from a farther distance away than the robot in Block A. Your destination in this cell-block is the third open cell on the left-hand side. Proceed along the hallway, making a bee-line for the first open cell on the left-hand side. Make your way down the hallway one open cell at a time (you can save your game within each cell), and use the sound of the robot to determine whether it is safe to proceed to the next cell. The key for the door to Block D is hanging on the back wall of the third open cell on the left side.
After getting the key, you must make your way back up the corridor to your starting point. Turn left where the corridor ends - you should see the grey doorway leading to Block D straight ahead. Use the key to unlock the door and enter.
Block D (no robots!) contains a series of ten locked cells, and a stairway leading underground. Quickly scan the interior of the ten cells - there are some interesting-looking items in the seventh cell from the Block D entrance. Go back to the Block D entrance and open the security panel located immediately to the right of the door. The lever on the right side opens the doors to the cells, and the two equations on the left describe how the position of the lever relates to which cell door will open.
Solving the two equations (e + o = 2, and o - e = 8) yields values for e (-3) and o (+5). What does this mean? Well, if you put the lever to an even number, the actual cell door number that will open will be 3 less. Example: Position 8 will open Cell door 5. An odd position for the lever will open the cell door number that is 5 more. Examples: Position 1 will open Cell door 6; Position 7 will open Cell door 2 (once you get to 10, go back to 1 and keep counting!). Using all of this high school math, we can determine that Position 10 will open Cell door 7. Or, you can simply try all of the positions until cell door 7 opens!
Once inside Cell 7, open up the small box on the floor in the back of the cell, and take out the explosives inside. Next, proceed down the stairs and enter the underground area.
Searching for J. Saint Fisher
There is a large metal door located immediately to your right after you enter the underground area. Open this door, and grab the new-looking garbage bag located front-and-centre. Examine the bag, and take out a dirty air filter. Go back out into the hallway, and moving forward, take your next right. Proceed to the end of this deserted hallway, and open the door at the end. Inside is a derelict maintenance robot. Pick up the filter removal tool lying on the floor next to the robot. Proceed back along the corridor, and go to the right.
When you get to the first of the high-powered fans operating up ahead, click on the control panel to watch a maintenance robot come out and change the dirty air filter. After the robot departs, make your way down this last hallway to the storage crates piled near the hallway's end. Click on the first crate you come to - it can be moved to access the area behind. Make your way behind the crates, and check out the live security guard stationed behind the glass enclosure. Proceed to the back corner, and pick up the screwdriver located on top of the last crate against the wall.
To complete our entry strategy, we will need some gas to take out the security guard. To do this, we'll need to get past the robot in Block C again (we needed the screwdriver first!) Open up the location panel and go back to Block C. As before, carefully make your way up the corridor running from cell to cell - this time you want to make it all the way to the end of the hallway. Once there, press yourself right up against the wall - the robot cannot detect you here. Look up and find the gas canister hanging from the wall, and unscrew it with the screwdriver. Now navigate by the robot one more time, and go back through Bock D to the underground area.
Go up to the fan located closest to the guard's enclosure, and use the robot tool to open up the air filter panel. Next, construct your super-duper gas bomb by combining the explosives with the gas canister, then adding the electrical tape, and finally the used air filter. Make sure you have the gas mask in your inventory (although you don't have to do anything with it). Now take your bomb and click on the clean filter currently in place. The robot comes out and takes your spiked filter back into the security area. The gas bomb takes out both the robot and the security guard.
Go ahead and enter the security area now. Step behind the guard's desk, and pick up Gideon's hairbrush that he conveniently forgot here. Examine the brush to remove some of Gideon's hair for later. Next, use the pass-card from Block B on the wall panel to the left of the glass doors to gain entry. Proceed up the hallway, and place Gideon's hair on the DNA scanner to gain entry to the inner sanctum.
Tex walks into a darkened area, and finds a computer terminal demanding the 8 pass-cards and their corresponding passwords. This puzzle requires you to insert each of the 8 pass-cards into the slot located over on the right side of the screen (use the arrow keys to turn the cards so they will fit in the hole). If you forget, the 8 passwords are: A-queen B-draw C-castle D-gambit E-bishop F-resign G-checkmate H-knight.
You will be taken into the Stalemate program where you must face off against Gideon in an already underway chess match with only the 8 moves from Greg Call's note to choose from. You must checkmate Gideon in six moves. The trick is to be aggressive - go after his king in the second move, or he will checkmate you with his queen. The sequence of moves is: Rd1, Rxe7, Qxe7, Bf5, Bd7, and Pxe7. Gideon is gracious in defeat, and takes the only way out. Tex lives happily every after with Sylvia, for about 15 minutes, and Tex and Chelsee get serious about their relationship, only to be kidnapped at the end by a dastardly Australian.
