|  Desperados | |
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| | Description | In the days when the Wild West was roamed by bandits and murderers, lawmen had a lot to deal with. Honest sheriffs and brave rangers tracked outlaws over wild terrain, but very often they had to stop at the Mexican border, because they had no jurisdiction in Mexico.
Countless gangs of bandits used this to their advantage. They would cross the border to rob and kill in the southern states, then return to Mexico to spend their stolen loot.
In your role as the sheriff of Tucson, Arizona, you had experienced this humiliating situation many times, but this time was different. Manolo Ramirez and his gang had attacked a small community of settlers, kidnapped the girls and killed everyone else. That day, you decided that jurisdictional boundaries shouldn't be used to allow these criminals to get away with murder. There comes a time when humanity, compassion and justice must prevail.
So, you left your tin star on your office desk and entrusted the care of the town to your deputy. You were soon in hot pursuit of Ramirez and his gang.
The first three days of your search lead to nothing but dead ends. On the fourth day, your horse was spooked by a rattlesnake and galloped off, leaving you alone on foot without any supplies, apart from your weapons. Tired, and low on ammunition, you trudged on until you reached the outskirts of a small village, but there was no sign of life. Normally, there would be dogs and chickens and the children would run out to meet a stranger. You had a horrible feeling that the desperados had been here and the hoof tracks attested to that.
As you approach the village, your nostrils are accosted by the stench of death and decay. You are now sure that Ramirez's gang has once again ravaged a small, defenceless community. It's time for this to end once and for all. It's time to track down these murderers and make them pay!
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| | Instructions | MOVEMENT
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To move around, use commands like GO NORTH and GO SOUTH. You can move in any of the four cardinal compass directions, as well as UP and DOWN. To save typing, movement commands can be abbreviated to N, S, E, W, U and D. You can sometimes use other movement commands such as IN, OUT, ENTER, EXIT, GET IN or GET OUT. These will be reasonably obvious when the time comes.
EXAMINING THINGS
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Make sure you EXAMINE everything you come across, even insignificant things like scenery and objects mentioned in room descriptions, as subtle hints and clues are scattered everywhere. To save typing, EXAMINE can be abbreviated to X. For example, EXAMINE HORSE can be abbreviated to X HORSE.
You can also try your other senses when it seems appropriate, e.g. SMELL, TOUCH or LISTEN. Unlike EXAMINE, these actions aren't necessary to solve any puzzles but may prove useful later in the game.
MANIPULATING OBJECTS
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Apart from examining things, most of your time will be spent manipulating objects. Use commands like GET or TAKE to pick up an object, e.g. GET PISTOL. Use commands like DROP or DISCARD to drop an object, e.g. DROP PISTOL.
To see what you're currently carrying and wearing, use INVENTORY (or I). As you're not a pack horse, you can only carry ten items at a time.
There are many other verbs that can be used to manipulate objects. These will be fairly obvious when the time comes. Common verbs include OPEN, CLOSE, EAT, DRINK, READ and so on. Use PUT, PLACE or INSERT to put objects into containers or on supporters, e.g. PUT NOTEPAD IN POCKET.
COMMUNICATING WITH CHARACTERS
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You will encounter a lot of characters in this game. When you first meet new characters, in addition to examining them, you should try talking to them, e.g. TALK TO SHAMAN. To get further information from them, try asking them about something relevant, e.g. ASK SHAMAN ABOUT BANDITS. This game is primarily about gathering information, so you will need to ask lots of characters about lots of things.
ADVANCED FEATURES
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You can use IT or THEM to refer to the noun used in the previous command, e.g. EXAMINE BAG, OPEN IT (for a singular object) or TAKE BEANS FROM BAG, DROP THEM (for plural objects). You can also use HIM and HER to refer to male and female characters used in the previous command, e.g. ASK BOY ABOUT RAMIREZ, ASK HIM ABOUT RAMIREZ, or EXAMINE BOY, TALK TO HIM.
You can refer to multiple objects by separating the objects with AND, e.g. GET PISTOL AND RIFLE. Using IT and THEM in the next command will only refer to the last of those objects, e.g. EXAMINE IT will refer to the key.
You can use ALL to refer to all the appropriate objects with GET and DROP, e.g. GET ALL to get everything in the current location, GET ALL FROM TABLE to get everything on the table, DROP ALL to drop everything you're holding, but not wearing.
When using ALL, you can use EXCEPT or BUT to exclude some objects, e.g. DROP ALL EXCEPT STOOL.
Finally, you can enter multiple commands on the same line by separating them with a period, e.g. EXAMINE BOX. OPEN IT.
OTHER COMMANDS
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Use LOOK (or L) to refresh the display.
Use VERSION to get the game version. Use ABOUT or INFO to get background information and credits for the game. Use CREDITS to get the credits only.
Use SAVE to save your progress. Use RESTORE to restore a saved game.
Use UNDO to undo the last move. This is handy if you change your mind or make a mistake. You shouldn't be able to get into an unwinnable situation in this game, but it is possible to get killed, so save the game when it looks like you're about to get into a dangerous situation.
Use AGAIN (or G) to repeat the last command.
Use WAIT (or Z) to do nothing apart from pass the time.
Use HELP to get a brief reminder of how to play the game or HINT to get a context-sensitive hint related to your current location or current situation.
Use RESTART to restart the game from the beginning. Use QUIT (or Q) to quit without restarting.
Use UP and DOWN CURSOR KEYS to cycle through your past commands. This is handy if you want to repeat the previous command or correct a typo.
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| | Solutions - Complete | Desperados
By Gianluca Girelli
For Z-code interpreters
Solution by Garry Francis
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This is a minimal solution. You'll need to EXAMINE lots of things for this solution to make sense. Some optional (but significant) commands are shown in parentheses. These can be omitted once you know what to do.
W
N
W
W
(X MIRROR) (as a kid, you recall blinding your friends with a mirror like this)
GET MIRROR (it reveals the plug in the wall that it was hanging on)
DROP IT (you put it down carefully so it doesn't break)
GET PLUG
E
S
(X CUPBOARD) (it's closed)
OPEN CUPBOARD (you find a knife)
GET KNIFE
(X SCRATCHES) (they've been left by someone moving the table)
(LOOK UNDER TABLE) (there's something there)
MOVE TABLE (you reveal a trapdoor)
(X TRAPDOOR) (it's closed)
OPEN TRAPDOOR
D
GET BOTTLE
U
N
E
N
W
(X WOMAN) (do something to give some dignity back to the poor woman)
(SEARCH HER) (you can't get to her because of the vultures)
(X VULTURES) (they're nibbling on the corpse)
SHOOT VULTURES WITH REVOLVER (they take flight and leave feathers behind)
SEARCH WOMAN (something falls out of her pocket)
(G) (you find a cotton handkerchief and place it over the woman's face)
(L) (first object was a small key)
GET KEY
(N) (the door is closed)
(OPEN DOOR) (it's locked)
UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY
OPEN IT
DROP KEY
E
N
N
E
(X BODY)
SEARCH MAN (you find some bullets)
GET BULLETS
(X THEM) (they're rifle bullets, there's a dozen of them)
LOAD RIFLE WITH BULLETS (you're now ready to make the world a better place)
(X RIFLE) (it now has 12 bullets)
W
N
(N)
(PUSH LEVER) (you hear clattering from sacristy, but lever won't stay down)
(S)
E
CUT ROPE WITH KNIFE (a short length of rope falls to the floor)
DROP KNIFE
GET ROPE
WN
(TIE ROPE TO LEVER) (it's too thick, try unravelling it)
UNRAVEL ROPE (a cord falls to the floor)
DROP ROPE
GET CORD
TIE IT TO LEVER
PUT PLUG IN HOLE
TIE CORD TO PLUG (you also pull it taught and hear clattering from the sacristy)
S
E (there's now a ladder here)
UU
(X BOY) (he's scared of something)
(TALK TO HIM) (he's terrified of your weapons)
DROP GUNS
(X BOY) (he now understands that you mean him no harm)
(TALK TO HIM) (he gestures that he's thirsty)
(G) (he doesn't speak English)
(SHOW BOTTLE TO BOY) (he gestures to give it to him)
GIVE BOTTLE TO BOY (he drinks it and runs off, you hear something in the square)
(X SQUARE) (there's an outlaw there)
(X OUTLAW) (you need to shoot him from this safe distance)
GET GUNS
(SHOOT OUTLAW WITH REVOLVER) (you need a long-range weapon from this distance)
SHOOT OUTLAW WITH RIFLE (he falls out of your line of sight)
DDWSSS
(X OUTLAW) (you should search him)
(SEARCH HIM) (you should hide the body)
GET SOMBRERO
(X IT) (you should wear it as a disguise)
WEAR IT
DRAG OUTLAW TO WEST
DRAG OUTLAW TO NORTH
S (boy appears from west, he's carrying a bottle, desperados are coming)
X BOTTLE (it contains a rattlesnake, boy gestures to go east)
E (boy gestures to go east)
E (boy gestures to sit on rocking chair)
SIT ON CHAIR (boy shows you the mirror from the inn)
Z (boy gives you bottle with rattlesnake, shows throwing gesture and runs off)
Z (you hear the rumbling of hooves)
Z (desperados arrive in village square, one of them calls out to join them)
Z (boy reappears and shines mirror in their eyes, chaos ensues)
THROW BOTTLE AT DESPERADOS (it breaks, horses rear and you shoot them all)
***THE END***
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