There's murder afoot on the high seas!

It is the maiden voyage of the luxury liner Pacific 1. Amongst the passengers is HRH King David whose security is your responsibility.

Five days into the voyage, miles from the nearest port, you receive a telegram. Intelligence sources on shore have uncovered a plot to destroy the liner.

The fanatical Mr. Sinister, somewhere on board, is disguised as a passenger or member of crew. Prepared to sacrifice his life he has smuggled a bomb, cleverly disguised as an everyday object, onto the liner.

To save the liner, its crew and passengers, including the King, you must find the bomb, the room in which the detonator is planted, and identify Mr. Sinister.

You may move to any of the five rooms on each of the five decks by using the command:

GO [name of room]

You may not move to a room on another desk however without first moving to that deck:

GO [deck]

You may take any person or object with you by using the command:

TAKE/PICK [name of person/object]

At any given time you may carry with you:

either:
Two objects and one person (single player game)
One object or one person only (multiple player game)

You may leave an object/person in any room (providing there is sufficient room) by using the command:

PUT/DROP [name of person/object]

You may ask the whereabouts of any object or person by using the command:

WHERE [name of person/object]

The response will give the deck and room in which the person/object is to be found. This feature can be particularly useful as both objects and people have a habit of moving from room to room during the course of the game.

In the Multiple Player version of the game, if the desired person/object is with one of your opponents, the response will indicate this.

You may at any time enter the command:

SUSPECT

The screen will first clear and then you will be asked to enter your suspicions:

1. location of detonator
2. identity of bomb (everyday object)
3. identity of Mr. Sinister (passenger or member of crew)

Note: You may only enter the name of the room that you are in at that time. You may only enter the name of a person/object in the room or with you at that time.

In the Multiple Player version of the game, you may enter the name of a person/object who is with one of your opponents.

When you have entered the three elements of your suspicion, the program will respond with one of the following:

1. all three innocent
2. one element guilty
3. two elements guilty

You will not be told which element(s) is guilty. That is for you to deduce.

Warning: The Suspect feature is designed to help solve the mystery by process of elimination. Once you believe that you have the correct solution, you must use the Accuse feature (See below). If you enter the correct solution using the Suspect feature, you will automatically lose the game.

Once you are confident that you have the correct solution you should enter the command:

ACCUSE

The screen will first clear and then (as in the Suspect feature) ask you to enter the three elements you believe to be guilty. If you have entered the correct solution then you have found Mr. Sinister, saved the liner and, of course, won the game. If any of the three elements are incorrect, however:

In the single player game, the game is over. You have failed to prevent Mr. Sinister from destroying the liner. The correct solution will appear on the screen.

In the Multiple Player version of the game, leaving your opponents to continue until one reaches the correct solution. If only one player remains then he is deemed to have won by default. The correct solution will then appear on the screen.

At any time you may choose to end the game, and discover the correct solution. Simply enter the command:

GIVE IN

The screen will first clear and then the correct solution will be given.

At the beginning of the game you have 50 commands. When the number of commands remaining to you falls below 15 you may choose to look for the Tablet which will appear somewhere on board. If you find it you should enter the command TAKE TABLET

The Tablet will then disappear from the screen and the number of commands remaining to you will increase by 25. If you run out of commands the game is lost, the screen will clear and the correct solution will be given.

Mr. Sinister has enlisted the help of several undesirables whose aim is to stop you. In order to protect yourself you must ensure that you always carry a Bullet with you. If you enter a room where there is an Assassin, the program will check whether or not you have a Bullet with you. If you have, then you will be able to shoot the Assassin and then continue with your investigation. If you do not have a Bullet, the Assassin will shoot you, the game is lost and the correct solution will appear on screen.

For the first ten minutes of the game (approximately) your score gradually increases as you move around the liner. After that time you will notice that your score starts to decrease. Time is obviously of the essence if high scores are to be achieved. If at any time your score falls below zero, that game is lost.

These are awarded as follows:

1. For each Assassin shot
2. For correctly entering one guilty element during the SUSPECT feature (once only)
3. For correctly entering two guilty elements during the SUSPECT feature (once only)
4. 1,000 point bonus for correct solution
5. Time bonus - awarded only if correct solution achieved

At the beginning of the game each player is given either the whereabouts of the detonator or the identity of the bomb. As each player receives his clue the other players must look away from the screen.

Players take turns and the number of commands available to them at each turn (0-10) is decided by pressing the ENTER button when requested to select a random number. When the number of commands remaining reaches zero the screen will clear and the next player's name will appear.

Players should decide at the outset of the game whether during the SUSPECT feature, the other players will look away from the screen.

Deck 1 - Bridge, Swimming Pool, Tennis Court, Sun Lounge, Gift Shop
Deck 2 - Library, Card Room, Royal Suite, Restaurant, TV Room
Deck 3 - Disco, Sauna, Bar, Coffee Shop, Cinema
Deck 4 - Crews Mess, Kitchen, Food Store, Office, Sick Bar
Deck 5 - Cargo Hold, Engine Room, Boiler Room, Store Room, Garage

Binoculars, Lifebelt, Racquet, Sunglasses, Ornament, Dictionary, Cards, Candlesticks, Teapot, Wallet, Record, Towel, Purse, Handbag, Suitcase, Flash, Tray, Kettle, Vase, Wheelchair, Pram, Spanner, Haversack, Drill, Wrench

King David, Captain Ocean, First Mate, Librarian, Disc Jockey, Liz White, Jack Green, Terry Day, Lifeguard, Tim Red, Lee Sharp, Fred Bell, Chef, Dave Blue, Boatswain, Kim Kite, Professor Keen, Tina Grey, Sir George, Lady Kay, Noel Wish, Waitress, Don Dice, Sam Short, Des Winter, Gary Glum, Les Heart, Neil Page, Cindy Nice, Geoff Badger, Ken Clark, Usherette, Dr. Virus, Nurse Ann, Count Edward, Mary Ball, Judy Doll, Cliff Fall, Mr. River, Ruby Stone, Rita Page, Rick Card, Hilary Fell, Shamus Sun, Martin May, Cyril Creep, Albert Jnr., Anna Field, Susan Rose

Lee J. Brookes is 27. After teaching himself BASIC last year, he now owns a Dragon and a Spectrum and dabbles in Oric. Since completing DEATH CRUISE, he has taught himself assembly language and hopes to compose future programs in machine code.

His ambition is to create a game that will transport the player into a scenario similar to a horror film.

He likes music, sport, good company, horror/sci-fi books and films, and Mars Bars.

CLOADM (ENTER)
EXEC (ENTER)