
    NINE GREEN MURDERS SYSTEM. COPYRIGHT (C) 1988 LEVEL 9
    -----------------------------------------------------


INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM 

"Nine Green Murders" is the first game to use Level 9's new animated 
adventure system for 16-bit micros. This is a bit like Sierra 
On-line's "Leisure Suit Larry" or "Police Quest" system, but with: 
* unrivalled compression, 
* huge sprites and lots of 3D animation, 
* lengthy background music and digitised sound effects, 
* control by pull-down menus, 
* the advanced features of Level 9's traditional adventures: 
  realistic "game people", UNDO, SAVE/RESTORE, RAM SAVE/RESTORE etc. 
 


DISPLAY 

The display occasionally changes to show close-ups, but normally 
it consists of:
* 3D graphic window, (140 by 320 pixels), within which the player 
  and other (64*32 pixel) people move. This view is overlayed in 
  the extreme foreground by a face (the hero or the person 
  interacted with) and a status box, at top right and left. 
* Pull-down menus to enter commands (not always visible). 
* Scrolling text window, about 6 lines, with further information 
  about what is displayed and details of what people say etc. 

           +----+------------------------------+----+
           |face|                              |stat| 
           |    |                        XXX   |    | 
           +----+                        XXX   +----+ 
  graphic  |   |        XXX <- people -> XXX    |   | 
  window   |   +--------XXX--------------XXX----+   | 
           |  /         XXX                      \  | 
           | /          XXX                       \ | 
           |/                                      \| 
           +----------------------------------------+
  menu     | SAVE THINGS POSSESSIONS PEOPLE SYSTEM  |
           |                                        | 
  text     |                                        | 
           +----------------------------------------+

The large sprites (people are typically 64*32 pixels) allows for 
smooth animation. And, allied with a fast rate of 8 frames per sec 
(not bottom-end IBMs), this gives great realism. 

When showing close-ups, the game is paused and the graphic window 
is replaced by what the hero sees. In this mode, the joystick (etc) 
cannot move the hero and so it always moves a pointer (as below).



JOYSTICK INPUT 

The game is controlled by joystick, mouse or keyboard. 

Normally, when using the joystick, you move it to make the hero go 
in that direction. 

Wher
    NINE GREEN MURDERS DESIGN. COPYRIGHT (C) 1988 LEVEL 9
    -----------------------------------------------------

DESIGN OUTLINE 

"Nine Green Murders" is an animated detective adventure from Level 
9. It includes nine alternative crimes to solve, ranging from the 
obvious to very obscure, and so can be played many times. The idea 
is to give value-for-money, while avoiding the frustrations of a 
long, single-solution adventure. 

It is the first game to use Level 9's new animated adventure  choose a command (even if it's 
just "exit"). 

When you have selected a command then the menus are removed, the 
command is typed in the text window and passed to the game, and you 
go back to using the joystick to move the hero. 



MOUSE AND KEYBOARD INPUT 

By default, moving the mouse or pressing a cursor key corresponds 
to a pushing the joystick in that direction, and pressing the left 
mouse button or space is the same as "fire". 

Thus the game is controlled as with the joystick except that, when 
using a mouse to select commands, it moves a pointer across the 
screen as you wish (whereas the joystick jumps a highlight from 
menu option to menu option) and that the right mouse button toggles 
the menus on/off without needing to choose any option. 



MENU STRUCTURE 

When "menu mode" is selected, the titles of the menus appear in a 
line below the picture. The hightlight (or pointer) can be moved 
left/right along the row and, if necessary because there are too 
many menus to fit, the row could scroll horizontally when the end 
is reached. 

Only one menu is displayed at a time (superimposed on the top of 
the text, below the currently selected title) and the highlight 
pointer can be moved vertically down it. If necessary, because 
there are too many options to fit, the menu could scroll vertically 
(though the titles row would not move). 

To select an option, move the hightlight pointer over it and press 
fire. If this just selects a deeper level of menu, this    SAVE       things     things    people  MUSIC OFF 
       LOAD      on ground    held             PAUSE 

Only objects within reach are displayed in the list. On selecting 
one, the menu shows possible actions, presumably from a table, eg: 
* full glass:    drop, examine, taste, drink, empty. 
* gun:           drop, examine, fire, empty.
* gun on ground: get, examine. 
* open door:     close, examine. 

The same sort of thing happens on selecting a person, e.g: 
* person: speak, examine, follo   SAVE       things     things    people  MUSIC OFF 
       LOAD      on ground    held             PAUSE 

Only objects within reach are displayed in the list. On selecting 
one, the menu shows possible actions, presumably from a table, eg: 
* full glass:    drop, examine, taste, drink, empty. 
* gun:           drop, examine, fire, empty.
* gun on ground: get, examine. 
* open door:     close, examine. 

The same sort of thing happens on selecting a person, e.g: 
* person: speak, examine, follow. 

(Note. The reason for selecting object then verb, rather than the 
other way around, is that it allows a wide range of possible verbs 
without leading to a great long list. The alternative, where the 
verb is selected first, would seem to entail a uniform "use" verb 
and give problems with such things as drink or eating - an 
important distinction if the liquid is poisoned.) 
 