1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 HH HH AAA CCCC KK KK EEEE RRRR HH HH AA AA CC KK KK EE RR RR HHHHH AAAAA CC KKKK EEEE RRRR HH HH AA AA CC KK KK EE RR RR HH HH AA AA CCCC KK KK EEEE EE RR TM COPYRIGHT 1985, 1986 ACTIVISION INC. CONCEIVED AND DESIGNED BY: SSSS TTTTT EEEE V V EEEE S T E V V E SSSS T EEEE V V EEEE S T E VVVV E SSSS T EEEE VV EEEE CCC A RR TTT W W RR I GGGG H H TTT C A A R R T W W R R I G H H T C AAA RR T W W RR I G HHH T C A A R R T WWW R R I G GG H H T CCC A A R R T W W R R I GGGG H H T ADAPTATION BY INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS FAQ v1.00 BY MOO MOO MONKEY SCROLL DOWN TO START CONTENTS: 1. CREDITS 2. INTRODUCTIONS 3. SOLUTION 4. DETAIL WALKTHRU 4.a Map 4.b Logon Please 4.c SRU Test 4.d World Map Screen 4.e Commands 4.f Mission 4.g Order of Locations 5. SUMMARY TABLES 6. DIFFERENT VERSIONS 7. EPILOGUE 7.1 Translation 7.2 Game Name ================================================================================ 1. CREDITS: ================================================================================ STEVE CARTWRIGHT for conceiving and programming such an interesting game that standout from back then the typical arcade or text adventure game and kept me still going at it since I got this way back in 86. :-) ACTIVISION for publishing this great game that I am still trying to solve upto these days and also continuing making great game such as the Call of Duty series INTERPLAY PRODUCTIONS for porting this great game to DOS and all the games that I have enjoyed: Bard's Tale, Borrowed Time, Fallout, Neuromancer, Wasteland JON LaCURE for creating the FAQ of this game in APPLE II section of which I have based on for this PC version with added clarification, corrections and improvement on the map for PC ALUN BESTOR for designing boxer and the DOSBox Team for creating DOSBox so that I can run this old DOS game on my new Mac even after so many years ================================================================================ 2. INTRODUCTIONS: ================================================================================ HACKER is a graphical adventure game that has been frustrating me ever since I got this way back in 86. All I remember that it stand out because it doesn't play like the typical text or graphic adventure game in those days. (i.e. Infocom or Sierra) Plus the fact that the game package as I recall it only have a small instruction sheet and nothing else. I also don't recall the instruction give much hint as to what to do etc. There's no "feelies" or novelty as well. But what kept me going back to this game is the premise that you have to discover all the things by yourself, which kinda like what the hacker in the game would do as you managed to stumble into something big. And the game does a wonderful job of this by giving the gamer the "What the!?" feeling right at the beginning with a LOGON PLEASE: prompt. which to this day not that many game is able to reproduce. As back then it right away reminded me some unknown or secret BBS phone numbers that I have dialed with my modem. The genre of this game is in was also new as well. Not only much later that the cyberpunk culture kicks in but I believe this might be the first back in the days relating to this topic. The premise of the game isn't something new when you break it down as it is just another adventure game where you travel in the correct location and you give and get correct items. But this game is a perfect example of how a simple premise but with great execution can make a game from mediocre to great. ================================================================================ 3. SOLUTION: ================================================================================ For those who are already familiar with the game basics and just want the solution, here it is in a summarized form. Just follow the directions exactly without any wrong turns etc and give and buy the items listed, it will allow you to see the ending. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIRECTIONS PLACE GIVE BUY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6e 8n France $5000 both 4w 2n 6e 4s 1e Egypt chronograph both 1e 2n 1w Greece tut none 1e 4n 2e 6s 1e India scarab none 1w 6n 16w 2s New York swiss chalet bonds 6w 2n 14w 4s 5e Japan bonds both 4w China pearls jade 1e 6s 2e 2n 4e 2s 2e 2s 2e 2s 8e 6n Brazil jade none 8e 4n 2w 2n 3e UK camera beatles 3w 4s 12w 2n 1e San Francisco beatles none 1w 2s 10e 4n 2w 2s 3w Washington DC document LOGON PLEASE: AUSTRALIA LEVEL 1 SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY COMPANY NAME: MAGMA, LTD. LEVEL 2 SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY SRU MODEL #: AX-0310479 LEVEL 3 SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY MOTIVATOR TYPE: HYDRAULIC LEVEL 4 (MAXIMUM) SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY LOCATION OF TEST SITE: AUSTRALIA If you are playing this on C64 or APPLE II, please refer to the DIFFERENT VERSIONS section for the differences in the solution. ================================================================================ 4. DETAIL WALKTHRU: ================================================================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.a MAP: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | + - - - - - - - - - - - - - + + - + + - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - + | | | | | | | | | | - - - - - - - - - - - - - + - + - + - N + - + + - - U - - + | | | | | | | | | | | + C + - - J + + - - - + + S - - W - - + + | - + - F | G + | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + - + - - - + - + - - - + - - - - - + - + | | + E + + I | | | | | | | + - - - + + - - - + + - - - + | B - - - - - - - + | | + - + | | | | | | | | | | | | + - + - + - - - + - + - - - + - - - + | + - + - - - - | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | + - + + - - - - + - + + - - - + | + - X - - - - - + | | | | | | | | | | + - - - + - - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - + - - - - - - - - - - - + + - + X - Starting Point F - France E - Egypt G - Greece I - India N - New York J - Japan C - China B - Brazil U - UK S - San Francisco W - Washington DC I will start off with the map of the grid in the game. You can refer to this section again when you need know where to go. This will help those who want to finish the game on their own but needed some help on the navigation in the grid. This map is base on the PC version. For C64 or APPLE II, please refer to the DIFFERENT VERSIONs section. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.b LOGON PLEASE: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Once you start the game, you will be immediately prompt to logon. You can type anything in here for the first time assuming you don't know the password already. Whatever you enter, it will tell you to try again. After the second time of trying to guess the logon, it will tell you to type H for help: LOGON PLEASE: ? LOG-F-SYNTAX ERROR PLEASE TRY AGAIN LOGON PLEASE: ? LOG-F-UNRECOGNIZABLE COMMAND (TYPE H FOR HELP) LOGON PLEASE: H LOGON PASSWORD HAS BEEN CHANGED- CURRENT PASSWORD IS LOCATION OF TEST SITE. Here is the first clue in the game that the logon password is the location of the test site which you will need to discover later on. The logon prompt display again and as usual you can enter anything. But this time, the system is unable to log you on after this many attempt and is going to disconnect you But suddenly, the security system malfunction and now you are able to connect: LOGON PLEASE: ?lOG-F-INVALID USER NAME OR PASSWORD ?LOG-F-SORRY, UNABLE TO LOG YOU ON CONNECT 00:00:00 CPU 00:00:02 BEGINNING TERMINATION SEQUENCE DISCONNECT IN: 5 4 3 #&L0K4@lAnTis+=2 sdjs ()@&=~//IBM+CMD SECURITY SYSTEM MALFUNCTION CONNECTION COMPLETE. WELCOME TO MAGMA, LTD. ENTER TERMINAL TYPE 1) COMMODORE 64 2) IBM PC COMPATIBLE 3) MACINTOSH 4) APPLE ][ 2 Enter 2 as we are running this in DOS. (Interestingly that this doesn't show up in the APPLE II version) Here is the first time that tells you what site you have stumble upon on - MAGMA, LTD. An important info that is useful later on in the game. After entering the correct terminal type, you will be in the Subterranean Remote Unit (SRU) screen. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.c SRU TEST: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here you are presented with the schematic drawing of the front and side view of the SRU along with it's model # AX-0310479 (Another useful info) which is available for clandestine operation. The system then request you to use joystick/arrow keys to point out the location of the parts on the SRU. I would suggest to use the side view of the SRU as it can pin point all the requested parts. INFRARED VIDEO IMAGE SENSOR : the camera lens unit on the head of SRU ASYNCHRONOUS DATA COMPACTOR : the hand of the SRU (pacman thingy) HYDRAULIC MOTIVATOR : basically the shoulder thingy in middle of SRU (go directly left from the ASYNCHRONOUS DATA COMPACTOR) PHLAMSON JOINT : middle of the rear wheel THELMAN PORT : on a pipe at back of the SRU (go all the way on a pipe thingy to the left from HYDRAULIC MOTIVATOR) Important info to remember is the type of motivator - HYDRAULIC. And If you do this correctly with no error, then you will proceed to the next screen. Otherwise, you will have to do this all over again...and agin until you got them all correct. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.d WORLD MAP SCREEN: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the main screen of the game where you will spend the most time on. (And boy how many hours I have spent here :-) The system then request you to enter your name. Easy enough. (Interestingly the game allow 35 characters maximum, but 20 characters is the maximum displayed later on in the game) Next the system then request you to select the time over your current location. (i.e. say if you are on the west coast such as San Francisco and current time is 9:00am, then you will move the time 0900 on the top of San Francisco) All essentially it does is the give you an accurate feel of day and night when you visit other places in the world. (i.e. continue with the above example, San Francisco, New York and all the way to Greece, Egypt will be in daylight. China, Japan and India will be night time) So at the end, it doesn't really matter too much as it has no effect on the game. After finish selecting the time, the system then tells you that your SRU is in the South Atlantic. Now the top portion of the World Map Screen is divided into 3 sections. Left is the list of Commands. Middle is the Video Screen which shows you what SRU is seeing thru it's video. Right shows you a Compass which indicates which way you are going and right below is the incoming MSG indicator. And also right off the bat you will be greeted with the flashing MSG indicator accompany by a soothing alarm sound from the game. So hit M and you will see the first of many project updates from Magma, LTD.: MAGMA, LTD. PROJECT UPDATE: FINAL TEST BORE APPROACHING TARGET DEPTH SUCCESSFUL HARNESSING OF MAGMA- SURFACE TEMPERATURE DIFFERENTIAL ASSURES UNLIMITED ENERGY SOURCE AND WORLD DOMINATION WARNING! SEISMIC PROJECTIONS INDICATE POSSIBILITY OF THERMAL RUNAWAY RESULTING IN CONTINENTAL DESTRUCTION ALL UNITS REMAIN CLEAR OF TEST SITE!!! (ENTER) So just like any major corporation, they are simply after world domination with discovering unlimited energy source. Meh, I had similar projects that also would end up destroying the World. Note here that it says all unit must be clear of the test site....hmmm... But before going any further, let's explain the controls and the list of Commands for the SRU. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.e COMMANDS: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the list of commands you see display depends whether the SRU is under- ground or up in surface. SRU - UNDERGROUND PRG: this is always selected as default; use ARROW keys to navigate the SRU IR: press I to turn on infrared after you surface when it's night time CLL: press C after you surface to contact spies MSG: press M when MSG flashes to receive messages UP: press U to go up DWN: press D to go back underground SND: press S to toggle sound on/off SRU - SURFACE INV: press I will cycle thru your inventory YES: press Y to buy merchandise NO: press N for not buying the merchandise EVI: press E to see your collected evidence UP: press U to go up DWN: press D to go back underground SND: press S to toggle sound on/off Navigation of the SRU is control via the ARROW keys. This is not DOOM as the arrow press doesn't indicate you have move the SRU yet. You have to confirm it by pressing SPACE or ENTER. Remember you are "programming" the SRU to navigate to the location you wanted it to. Also, the game won't allow you to plot a course with corners so you can only control the SRU to go in one direction at a time. Once you select the location and press SPACE / ENTER, the Video Screen will display the animation of the SRU traveling in the underground tunnel. 3D, yeh! The SRU travel within a grid like system. While you are navigating, you can see the available branches. (i.e. on a spot in the grid it will sometime show that a spot have multiple paths) The Video Screen also will reflect the additional path by showing you the tunnel or another wall if there is no path leaving to that direction. It's quite daunting the first time playing this game as you have no idea where to go or how the navigation works. And now this should be the first task for this game (or basically any adventure game) and that is to map all the possible paths. Here you will discovered the grid has some deadends, loops and some locations only have one path to them. And here is also where you will find out the location of the TEST SITE. Yes, if during the course of your mapping, you enter anywhere in/thru AUSTRALIA, the system will disconnect you: YOU HAVE ENTERED A RESTRICTED AREA ALL REMOTE UNITS HAVE BEEN ORDERED TO EVACUATE TEST SITE VIOLATION OF THIS DIRECTIVE HAS RESULTED IN TERMINATION OF YOUR DATA LINK GOOD-BYE (ENTER) So there you have the final piece of the important information for this game. Next time you replay the game, you can simply logon using AUSTRALIA and bypass the SRU Test section. Neat! And by the time you have mapped out the game, you will get so good that you no longer needed to look at the World Map or the Video Screen by just the direction and amount of steps needed. There is one thing I will mentioned and that is there is a time limit, which seems to cause trouble for a lot of people. The "time limit" in fact is the available number of steps you can move the SRU. The total allow is 214 and base on the solution, in order to go to all the location, you will need 213 so basically you can only screw up with 1 step! Otherwise you will get disconnected: YOU HAVE EXCEEDED THE NECESSARY COMPUTER TIME LIMIT DUE TO RECENT INTRUDER ALERTS, YOU ARE CONSIDERED A SECURITY RISK YOUR DATA LINK IS NOW TERMINATED GOOD-BYE (ENTER) Now you have solved the first puzzle for the game and that is to know all the paths to each location. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.f MISSION: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mapping the grid is fun, but mapping is not all that you do. There must be some objective to all of this. Otherwise, you better off playing Wizardry (Not that Wizardry is a bad game; it's a great game, but that's all I remember was mapping and a pile of graph papers) No doubt while you move around in the World Map, there are messages for you. The first one will be after you have moved 14 steps anywhere: MAGMA, LTD. PROJECT UPDATE: HQ INTELLIGENCE REPORTS THAT SPIES HAVE STOLEN PIECES OF A SHREDDED DOCUMENT WHICH CONTAINED PROPRIETARY INFORMATION CONCERNING "THE MAGMA PROJECT." YOUR MISSION: USE THE SRU TO NEGOTIATE WITH THESE SPIES FOR THE RETURN OF ALL PIECES OF THE DOCUMENT BEFORE THIS EVIDENCE REACHES FEDERAL AGENTS. (ENTER) YOU BEGIN WITH THE STANDARD AMOUNT OF CASH FOR OPERATIONS OF THIS NATURE. YOU MUST BUY EVIDENCE, OR BUY MERCHANDISE WHICH CAN BE TRADED FOR THE EVIDENCE. CAUTION! ALTHOUGH INTELLIGENCE COULD NOT DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT EACH SPY WANTS IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS PIECE OF THE EVIDENCE, IT IS BELIEVED THAT SEVERAL SPIES MAY ACCEPT ITEMS WHICH OTHER SPIES WILL REQUIRE. (ENTER) So there you have it, finally you now have a purpose in life besides updating Facebook with photos of all the public washroom in your city. The premise of the game is that you will need to navigate the SRU to travel to various cities on the World Map. Negotiate with the spies in each location by trading something they want for a piece of the shredded document that contain proprietary information on "The Magma Project". On each location (except for one), the spy will sell you 2 items. These are the items you need to make decision as to whether you need it or not. So the second puzzle of the game then is to find out, via trial and error, what each spies in each location needs or don't need so that you can find out the correct solution as to what to give and what to get from each location. Remember you only have limited money and also the caution from the project update, which multiple spies would accept the same item. And with trial and error, you will know you gave something wrong previously if you have nothing to give to a spy. You can refer to a list of locations and the merchandises in the SUMMARY TABLES section. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4.g ORDER OF LOCATIONS: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Without further ado, below is the correct order and the items for you to beat the game. (1) France (2) Egypt (3) Greece (4) India (5) New York (6) Japan (7) China (8) Brazil (9) UK (10) San Francisco (11) Washington DC Notation for the direction use here is number and then direction. (i.e. 5n means move SRU 5 steps in north direction) == (1) France =--------------------------------------------------------- 6e 8n GIVE $5000 BUY both *Once you reach France (or the 14 steps), you will be given you mission. MAGMA, LTD. PROJECT UPDATE: HQ INTELLIGENCE REPORTS THAT SPIES HAVE STOLEN PIECES OF A SHREDDED DOCUMENT WHICH CONTAINED PROPRIETARY INFORMATION CONCERNING "THE MAGMA PROJECT." YOUR MISSION: USE THE SRU TO NEGOTIATE WITH THESE SPIES FOR THE RETURN OF ALL PIECES OF THE DOCUMENT BEFORE THIS EVIDENCE REACHES FEDERAL AGENTS. (ENTER) YOU BEGIN WITH THE STANDARD AMOUNT OF CASH FOR OPERATIONS OF THIS NATURE. YOU MUST BUY EVIDENCE, OR BUY MERCHANDISE WHICH CAN BE TRADED FOR THE EVIDENCE. CAUTION! ALTHOUGH INTELLIGENCE COULD NOT DETERMINE EXACTLY WHAT EACH SPY WANTS IN EXCHANGE FOR HIS PIECE OF THE EVIDENCE, IT IS BELIEVED THAT SEVERAL SPIES MAY ACCEPT ITEMS WHICH OTHER SPIES WILL REQUIRE. (ENTER) == (2) Egypt =--------------------------------------------------------- 4w 2n 6e 4s 1e GIVE chronograph BUY both == (3) Greece =--------------------------------------------------------- 1e 2n 1w GIVE tut BUY none *Once you leave Greece (36 steps or the 22 steps from Egypt): MAGMA, LTD. PROJECT UPDATE: WARNING- A POWER SURGE IN THE MAIN REACTOR HAS DAMAGED THE GRID-LEAK BIAS DETECTOR INTERMITTENT OPERATION OF THE LONG RANGE SCANNER IS EXPECTED (ENTER) Now your sensor will only be able to intermittently show you the various branches in the tunnel. == (4) India =--------------------------------------------------------- 1e 4n 2e 6s 1e GIVE scarab BUY none *Once you are close to NY (72 steps or 36 steps from Greece): MAGMA, LTD. PROJECT UPDATE: INTRUDER ALERT! SECURITY BREACH DETECTED SOURCES INDICATE THAT THE SUBTERRANEAN TUNNEL SYSTEM HAS BEEN INFILTRATED EVIDENCE CONCERNING THE EXISTENCE OF "THE MAGMA PROJECT" MUST NOT REACH WASHINGTON, D.C. SECURITY SATELLITES ACTIVATED (ENTER) Now you will see satellites on the map screen and when you are underground and the satellite touched you, you will be required to answer security questions in order for you to further control the SRU. If you answer incorrectly, you will be disconnected. And if you have been doing the homework so far, you should already have all the answers. Here are the questions and answers for all the security check: LEVEL 1 SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY COMPANY NAME: MAGMA, LTD. LEVEL 2 SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY SRU MODEL #: AX-0310479 LEVEL 3 SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY MOTIVATOR TYPE: HYDRAULIC LEVEL 4 (MAXIMUM) SECURITY CHECK IDENTIFY LOCATION OF TEST SITE: AUSTRALIA == (5) New York =--------------------------------------------------------- 1w 6n 16w 2s GIVE swiss chalet BUY bonds == (6) Japan =--------------------------------------------------------- 6w 2n 14w 4s 5e GIVE bonds BUY both == (7) China =--------------------------------------------------------- 4w GIVE pearls BUY jade *Once you leave China: CAUTION- DAMAGE REPORTS INDICATE A PHASE SHIFT IN THE TELEMETRY GUIDANCE UNIT. SYSTEM INOPERATIVE PROCEED WITH CAUTION. (ENTER) To make this game even more challenging, now you will not longer see the location of you SRU. Meaning that you are "in the dark" so make sure you are familiar with the route on the map and you must count the "bleeps". As the test site is in Australia, you can't navigate the SRU thru it, so for the route from China to Cuba, you have to take a winding route. And to add the difficulty, once you have China you have to do it "in the dark" so make sure you either are familiar with the route or you count the blips. == (8) Brazil =--------------------------------------------------------- 1e 6s 2e 2n 4e 2s 2e 2s 2e 2s 8e 6n GIVE jade BUY none == (9) UK =--------------------------------------------------------- 8e 4n 2w 2n 3e GIVE camera BUY beatles == (10) San Francisco =--------------------------------------------------------- 3w 4s 12w 2n 1e GIVE beatles BUY none *In San Francisco after you traded the beatles album, you will now see the entire evidence document: MAGMA, LTD. CONFIDENTIAL: TEST HOLE NEARING COMPLETION. TEMPERATURE DIFFERENTIAL REACHING CRITICAL LEVEL. FINAL COUNTDOWN ON SCHEDULE. ALL UNITS EVACUATE AUSTRALIAN NEXUS... THERMAL RUNAWAY MAY CAUSE CONTINENTAL DESTRUCTION. == (11) Washington DC =--------------------------------------------------------- 1w 2s 10e 4n 2w 2s 3w GIVE document *Once you surface to Washington DC, basically is automatic once you have called the spy as you don't need to GIVE the document. And if you have follow the direction without any backtracking or mishap, you should be able to see the ending that you have worked so hard for: "WELCOME TO WASHINGTON. I AM SPECIAL AGENT LEVY OF THE FBI. "THE WORLD IS GRATEFUL FOR WHAT YOU HAVE ACCOMPLISHED. ON BEHALF OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT, I CONGRATULATE YOU." Next then is a screen which tell you that you can press ENTER to see the headline from The Washington Post and also allows you to make a printout of you achievement to your printer. The newspaper article will mention your name which you have entered in the beginning of the game. Awesome! +like ================================================================================ 5. SUMMARY TABLES: ================================================================================ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIRECTIONS PLACE GIVE BUY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6e 8n France $5000 both 4w 2n 6e 4s 1e Egypt chronograph both 1e 2n 1w Greece tut none 1e 4n 2e 6s 1e India scarab none 1w 6n 16w 2s New York swiss chalet bonds 6w 2n 14w 4s 5e Japan bonds both 4w China pearls jade 1e 6s 2e 2n 4e 2s 2e 2s 2e 2s 8e 6n Brazil jade none 8e 4n 2w 2n 3e UK camera beatles 3w 4s 12w 2n 1e San Francisco beatles none 1w 2s 10e 4n 2w 2s 3w Washington DC document -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PLACE MERCHANDISE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- France swiss chalet ($9500) chronograph ($200) Egypt emerald scarab ($1500) gold statuette of tut ($1000) Greece ancient artifact ($1000) grecian urn ($1000) India star of india ($5000) jeweled lamp ($1000) New York uncut 3KT. diamond ($2000) stocks & bonds ($2000) Japan cultured pearls ($300) 35mm camera ($300) China ming vase ($2000) jade carving ($2000) Brazil spanish doubloons ($500) treasure map ($700) UK autographed beatles album ($900) crown jewels ($9500) San Francisco gold nuggets ($1500) 49er season tickets ($200) Washington DC ================================================================================ 6. DIFFERENT VERSIONS: ================================================================================ As the game was originally developed for Commodore 64 (C64), various ports were made for other system such as PC, APPLE II, Amiga, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST etc. There are some subtle differences that I see that caused some confusion on the solution that has been given out on the internet. Please note that this is not intended to be an exhaustive list and I also didn't actually complete the game entirely on either of these platforms but rather serve the purpose of point out that the differences that warrant of concern for not being able to follow some of the guides out there to complete the game. Mainly this section serve for me as just some curious tidbits on the various ports for the same game. For C64: - The logon screen doesn't provide any additional information as APPLE II or PC - The disconnect sequence have some pretty nice backspacing / correction of characters and display something about QUEST FROST BYTE: * ;J!CQU$E+ST WA*MI :T:L:FRO.ST*?B Y%TE9 - The SRU design is a little bit different (i.e. HYDRAULIC MOTIVATOR is rectangular instead of circular) - The SRU model number also is different as it is: AXD-0310479 - You can enter 22 characters in the name screen - World Map height is half of the PC; therefore the n/s directions are halved: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIRECTIONS PLACE GIVE BUY ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6e 4n France $5000 both 4w 1n 6e 2s 1e Egypt chronograph both 1e 1n 1w Greece tut none 1w 2n 2e 3s 1e India scarab none 1w 3n 16w 1s New York swiss chalet bonds 6w 1n 14w 2s 5e Japan bonds both 4w China pearls jade 1e 3s 2e 1n 4e 1s 2e 1s 2e 1s 8e 3n Brazil jade none 8e 2n 2w 1n 3e UK camera beatles 3w 2s 12w 1n 1e San Francisco beatles none 1w 1s 10e 2n 2w 1s 3w Washington DC document - As the World Map height is half of the PC; the steps to trigger the project update are different (i.e. 10 steps to receive the your mission) - The compass display is different as it shows all the possible paths in the grid as compare to the PC where the paths are only display in the World Map For APPLE II: - The logon screen is different LOGON PLEASE: ? LOG-F-SYNTAX ERROR PLEASE TRY AGAIN LOGON PLEASE: ? LOG-F-UNRECOGNIZABLE COMMAND (TYPE H FOR HELP) LOGON PLEASE: H LOGON PASSWORD HAS BEEN CHANGED- CURRENT PASSWORD IS LOCATION OF TEST SITE. USE CONTROL E TO ENABLE JOYSTICK CONTROL D TO DISABLE JOYSTICK CONTROL X TO SWAP JOYSTICK AXES CONTROL R TO RESTART CONTROL S TO TURN SOUND ON/OFF LOGON PLEASE: ?lOG-F-INVALID USER NAME OR PASSWORD ?LOG-F-SORRY, UNABLE TO LOG YOU ON (Personally I find that this breaks the atmosphere and environment for the game. At least the PC version just ask you to select the terminal type which fits in the game more closely.) - The SRU design is the same as C64 but with different coloring (HYDRAULIC MOTIVATOR is yellow in C64 where it is orange for APPLE II) - You can enter 22 characters in the name screen - World Map height is half of the PC; same as C64 - As the World Map height is half of the PC; the steps to trigger the project update are different (i.e. 10 steps to receive the your mission) - The compass display is different than PC where it is displaying all the possible paths in the grid. And unlike C64 where the paths is also shown on the World Map - There is only one satellite in the World Map ================================================================================ 7. EPILOGUE: ================================================================================ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.a TRANSLATION: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What made this game great is that there's different languages when you visit different country. For example, when you first play the game, France will probably the first country you visit and the spy is speaking with you in French. Again, quite daunting at first not sure what to do, but quite fitting for the game as it keeps you in this appropriate environment. Not sure whether they got a lot of people who speak different languages in Activision or they know friends who speak the language to come up with them, but for sure they don't have Worldlingo or Google Translate/Transliteration back in those days. So I find it fun to do some translation and transliteration on them and see how close they are. Again, this is purely for fun as I don't speak all the languages below so this is just for the sake of it. In France: FRENCH: QUE POUVEZ-VOUS M'OFFRIR POUR MON MORCEAY DU DOCUMENT? ENGLISH: WHAT CAN YOU OFFER TO ME FOR MY PIECE OF THE DOCUMENT? FRENCH: OUI, JE L'ECHANGERAI AVEC VOUS. ENGLISH: YES, I WILL EXCHANGE IT WITH YOU. In Egypt: ARABIC: MA HOWA AL AARD ALAZY TOREED AN TOKADEMUHU ALA HAZIHI AL WASSIKA? ما هو الارض الذي تريد أن تقدمه ألا هذه الوثيقة؟ ENGLISH: WHAT HE THE LAND WHO WANTS THAT HIS PROGRESS NOT TO THIS DOCUMENT? ARABIC: NAAM, ANA SAWFA OBADELAK. نعم، أنا سوف أبادلك. ENGLISH: YES, I WILL EXCHANGES YOU. In Greece: GREEK: TE EHES NA MOU PROSFERES YA TO KOMATE? τη έχες να μου προσφερς υα το κοματε? GOOGLE TRANSLATION SUGGSTION: τι έχετε να μου προσφερει για το κομματι? TI ECHETE NA MOY PROSFEREI GIA TO KOMMATI? ENGLISH: WHAT YOU OFFER ME FOR THE PIECE? GREEK: NE, THA TO PARO. νε, θα το πάρω. GOOGLE TRANSLATION SUGGSTION: ναι, θα το πάρω. NAI, THA TO PARO. ENGLISH: YES, I'LL TAKE IT. In India: HINDI: NAMASTE. MERA HAT MEN BERI KHAS KHAGHAZ HAI. IS KAYLIE APKO MUJHE KYA DEDUNGE? ENGLISH: GREETINGS. MY HUT KHAGJH BERRY IS SPECIAL. WHAT DEDUNGE THIS FOR YOU? HINDI: ACHCHA YE BILBUL TEEK HAI! ENGLISH: WELL IT IS TIK BILBUL ACCHA THE BILBUL TECH HE IS SURVIVED ACHCHA BILBUL OKAY THIS IS A PERIOD OF BILBUL In Japan: JAPANESE: WATAKUSHI NO TEMOCHI NO SHORUI O IKURA DE KAIMASU KA? 私の手持ちの書類お幾らで買いますか？ ENGLISH: HOW MUCH DO YOU BUY IN THE DOCUMENTS OF MY HAND? JAPANESE: HAI, SORE O MORAIMASU. はい、それをもらいます。 ENGLISH: YES, I'LL BUY IT. In China: CHINESE: NI YOU SHUN MUH KUH YEE MAI WUH DONG SHIH? 你有什麼可以買我東西？ ENGLISH: WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO BUY MY THING? CHINESE: HAO, WUH YAO NA GIEN DONG SHIH. 好，我要那件東西。 ENGLISH: GOOD, I WILL HAVE THAT THING. In Brazil: SPANISH: QUE ME PUDE OFRECER USTED POR MI PARTE DEL DOCUMENTO? ENGLISH: YOU COULD PROVIDE ME FOR MY PART OF THE DOCUMENT? SPANISH: SI, ME DA ESO. ENGLISH: YES, GIVE ME THAT. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7.b GAME NAME: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One thing that amuses me is wondering how in the world does the spies interact with a robot. I mean, does it talk or display something? It doesn't seems to have any display base on the schematic drawing nor do we ever see it speak anything on all the exchanges among the spies. I presume then all the spies must have dealt with the SRU before as they don't seem surprise interacting with it. Also, the spies know where to meet the SRU and will come out right away when you CALL them. And just exactly how you CALL the spies I don't know. They don't have iPhone/Samsung Galaxy back then so I guess they must have something hi-tech and top secret back then such that once you CALL them, they are "BOOM" shows up at the right place immediately. Maybe some kind of teleporter or something. And I am glad that none of the spies try to steal the stuff from the SRU. I mean it's not like the SRU is a Star War Battle Droid with heavy weaponry. Heck, SRU looks like Johnny Five on training wheels! Any five years old can kick it's ass and steal that $9500 deed to a swiss chalet and move in there and then pawning all those crown jewel, ming vase, etc for mountain piles of Jujubes and set for life. ;-) Alright, game doesn't need to make sense, but point is, that this game made some interesting possibility that one day you can control remote robot to travel around the world and buy and sell things. If we consider for a minute that what if the tunnels and SRU is in fact the internet backbone - the fiber-optic link that is deployed in the ocean which span across the globe. (FLAG) This would make sense that you are in fact "HACKING" around different network to find the correct route to connect to different cities. And the tunnel view in the WORLD MAP screen you see is in fact a virtualization of the pipeline of the internet. The spies you see is in fact an avatar, just like your SRU. And the negotiation take place in cyberspace with virtual exchange of physical material where the actual physical object is held and transact somewhere else. (i.e. eBAY, Paypal) The shredded document is basically a scrambled email that each spies from different country somehow got a piece of. And that would mean that the spies are also HACKER. And this fits in more closely to the name of the game HACKER. Because where else in the game you are performing HACKING? You can't even call the initial LOGON screen hacking as you don't even need to hack into MAGMA, LTD. as their security system malfunction and you got in. The other activities you perform such as giving and getting items is not HACKING. There's no phishing/cracking for password, scanning system for vulnerability etc of which is typical associated with HACKER. But, in fact, this game is about HACKER. And this game demonstrates an important aspect of HACKING or the ethic of HACKER and that is to assert that there is a point to hack into a system - it is not about selfish desires to exploit or to harm people, but rather to use those imitate knowledge of technology to benefit humanity, to explain, pinpoint and offer solution to any system exploitation and to keep the world safe and free. (Hacker Manifesto) So, isn't that what is this game is all about? Using your computer knowledge to uncover a serious threat to the world? The game doesn't exploit and dwell on the what & how to HACK, but it's about the why you HACK. And that is why the game philosophical speak to me still to this day. (Or maybe because of 3 cups of espresso I got from Starbucks that I drank before writing this :-)