Crime Fighter - documentation

A round game for 1-4 players

Documentation

This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware
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CRIME FIGHTER : © Copyright 1993, 1997 by Peter Steffen, all rights reserved

CRIME FIGHTER - documentation : © Copyright 1993, 1997 by Peter Steffen, all rights reserved

Contact the author

If you have questions regarding to this program or suggestions how to make this game better, feel free to contact me under the following addresses:

Peter Steffen
Postfach 1371

32270 Kirchlengern
Germany

Tel.: (+49) 05223/761865
Fax : (+49) 05223/761866
Email: PeterSteffen@compuserve.com

Homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PeterSteffen

Warranty Disclaimer

PETER STEFFEN MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND/OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

PETER STEFFEN DOES NOT ASSUME ANY LIABILITY FOR THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE BEYOND THE ORIGINAL PURCHASE PRICE OF THIS SOFTWARE.

IN NO EVENT WILL PETER STEFFEN BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY ADDITIONAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING FROM THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF PETER STEFFEN HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

Changes to the files belonging to the software are strictly prohibited! Also it is not allowed to disassemble or to patch any part of the program or it's files.

Contents

What's it all about
The goal of the game
Controls
Start
Course of the game
Functions of the buildings
The fight
Short summery
Shareware information
Registering
License agreements

I) What's it all about?

A vision in the distant (near?) future:
The war rages in the streets, new gang wars daily. No store is secure from raids and protection money collectors. Nobody dares to go unarmed on the streets. Everyday banks are attacked and mail trains are robbed. Even the heaviest weapons are free available. From the police no help can be expected, because even the chief constable is open to bribery.
In this maze of crime and corruption four gangsters just now released from prison fight for the leadership of the underworld. They stop at nothing....

In this game you can put yourself in such a gangster's place and try to seize the power in the underworld. But to reach this goal you have to commit many crimes.
Besides up to three additional players try exactly the same.

II) The goal of the game

The course of the game mainly consists of running around in a from above visible town and of entering different houses there. For example, when you enter a bank, you can either raid it, break the safe or blackmail the owner of the bank. Or you go to an arms dealer, where you can buy new weapons or let your men train. So every house has special functions in the game.
For every crime you commit you get one point. With increasing score your status in the underworld also increases. When you start, you have only the status "Beginner". But with this status you cannot make a great deal in the underworld. For example you can't collect protection money with this status, because you still aren't taken seriously. Therefore your authority only increases with increasing score. The people have more respect for you, but also the police get more dangerous. So you must try to scrape through with little crimes first before you dare to tackle more serious crimes.
Aim of the game is to reach the highest rank, "Boss of the underworld". If you play the game with several players, the player wins who reaches this rank first.

III) Controls

The game can be played either with mouse or with keyboard. At the beginning of the game you are asked for the desired kind of control.

Mouse control

The most inputs you must make with buttons. This kind of control should be known from Windows or other programs. But anyway: If you want to select a button, you have to move the mouse pointer on this and press the left mouse button. Then you see that the button looks pressed. To execute the button's function you have to release the mouse button.
You can input numbers with the mouse also. In these cases a keyboard appears on the screen which keys can be pressed the above described way. You confirm your input with the key with the green hook.

Keyboard control

At the keyboard control you are confronted with buttons too. But here you select with the cursor keys. Always the button appears pressed which is just selected. Now you move with the cursor keys from button to button and select the function with <Enter>.
You make number inputs with the normal number keys of course.

IV) Start

After the start of the game you are asked to enter the maximum score. This number describes with which score a player will win the game. If you play with several players, 50 is quite good. For short games 20 points are also enough of course.
(Information: In the shareware version the maximum score is limited to 25 points. But this should be enough to test the game in detail.)
After that you are ordered to enter the number of players. With several people the game is more fun because of the motivation to be better than the other players. But of course you can play the game alone particularly since you don't have to wait for the players.
Then you have to enter your name and the name of your gang. At the beginning you are alone, but you can sign on gangsters in the course of the game.
After that you must determine your characteristics. Random numbers from 1 to 99 are shown, which can be stopped by pressing the left mouse button (mouse control) or any key (keyboard control). The first value is the strength of the person. This value determines how fast the energy of a person rebuilds. The energy is important for the fight, but later more. The second value is the intelligence. This is important for committing crimes. A person with a low intelligence isn't very suitable for being a pickpocket for example. The person will be caught more often than one with a high intelligence. Also persons with low intelligence can't be equipped with complicated weapons. The last value is the brutality. This value is important for the weapons equipment too. To serve for example a machine-gun in an unscrupulous way the person should have a high brutality. But you can let all these three values train at the arms dealer.
Hint: If "your" intelligence should be very low at the beginning you could try to let it train, because otherwise you won't succeed in many crimes.
At last your starting capital is viewed which has been defined randomly.
After every player has made this inputs, the game begins:

V) Course of the game

The players play one after another. At the beginning of each turn important messages are shown sometimes, for example that you haven't paid your rent or that you still sit in prison.
If you were so successful in the last month that your prestige has considerably risen, you are informed here also.

Then a big menu appears in which you can select the following actions:

Overview

Here you can look up all information about you and your gang. For example you get your current status and your score, information about your car, credits, rents, etc.
On the next page you get an overview of your men. You see with which weapons the men are equipped and which values they have. (E = Energy, S = Strength, I = Intelligence, B = Brutality)
In the beginning you see only your own values of course.

Run through town

This is the main part of the game. Every player can select this action only one time per round. Then the next player is on turn. A from above visible town appears. Your figure is displayed as a little white man or a blue car, if you own one already.
You move this figure with the mouse by pressing the direction buttons in the right part of the screen or by using the cursor keys on the keyboard.
In this way you can move through any street and in any building. You have only a limited number of steps available, however. On normal streets for every step exactly on step is subtracted, on the motorway it is only a half step. The motorway however has a special lane for every direction, so you have to drive till the next exit to chance direction. Also the motorway is only passable with a car of course.

When you enter a house, the number of subtracted steps depends on the time you stay in there.
By moving with feet you have altogether 25 steps available, but it can increase up to 46 steps depending on your car. After exhaustion of these steps your turn is over and the next player gets his chance.
In the top right corner a city map is displayed from which you can gather your exactly position in town. When you click on the below button, a selection of the houses in town appears. Here you can select which houses shall be especially marked. This is quite practically when you want to know the nearest arms dealer for example.
If you select the help button you are given the possibility to inform yourself about the actions that can be made in the houses. For this again a city map appears in which you have to point on the house in that you are interested. At keyboard control you move the red frame with the cursor keys on the respective house.
Information about keyboard control: The buttons are accessible with the tabulator key.

Police check

So when you go unsuspectingly through the streets, it could happen that a police check awaits you. If you are unlucky it could be that the cops have a "wanted" poster of you or that counterfeit money is found at you.
In this case you have two possibilities:

Escape attempt
You break away and try to slip away on foot. Here a labyrinth of walls appears in which you and also four policemen are. These guys try to encircle you with clever movements and want to arrest you. Here you control your figure with the cursor keys. Mouse users also have to use them because a very fast reaction is necessary to escape from them. But this is not possible with the mouse.

Try to stand 20 seconds, then the policemen will give up. At the first times you probably won't have a chance here, but instead of giving up quickly, better train it at the arms dealer. Then you should have more success.
When the flight succeeds, you can play further in a normal way, but if you were caught you have no other chance than meeting the policemen in battle.
You will meet the fight very often in the game. For this please read chapter Gang war first.
If you win the battle, the game goes on in a normal way. But especially in the beginning you probably won't win very often. Then you are brought to court and condemned to prison. The length of this imprisonment depends on your status and is for beginners usually one or two months long. That means, that you have to miss one or two turns.
When you have a higher status though, you are given the possibility of taking a lawyer. He can lower the punishment depending on his payment.

Bribe policemen
Since all policemen (in this game) are open to bribery, you will have the least problems with this method. As bribe the cops demand an amount of money that depends on your status. Normally the cops will let you go after you have given them the money, but sometimes they only take the money and want to arrest you because of the bribery. In these cases you have to meet them in battle also.

You will meet these actions very often in the game, because always when you are caught by the police, you have the choice between escape and bribery.

VI) Functions of the buildings

But now to the actual function of the buildings.

Car dealer

At the beginning it would be useful to buy yourself a car, because you are then able to be longer in town.

Buy a car
This is the easiest and the most harmless method to come into a car. A selection of three different cars appears, which powers and prices are displayed beside them.
Each car dealer has a different supply of cars. So for example one only has small cars and another only medium-range cars. Who has which supply differs from game to game.
If you have a car already the dealer takes your old in part exchange of course.

"Organize" a car
This method involves a higher risk than the above one of course. You get a list of cars that stand in the dealer's car park at the moment. If you are lucky, you can get hold of powerful cars that you are not able to buy legally. So if you want to get a real good car you have to steal it.
Further you should see to it that the man you assign as a thief possesses a quite high intelligence, otherwise he won't be very successful.
Hint: If "you" haven't got a high intelligence in the beginning you should decide to buy a car first.

Blackmail car dealer
Here you can blackmail the dealer. Of course, you need material to burden the dealer. Perhaps the bartender in one of the pubs will offer you some. If you are lucky the dealer is willing to give you money or something other for the material. But now and then it could be that the dealer isn't worried about the situation, for example when the photos show him with his wife instead of his mistress. Tough luck in this cases!

Arms dealer

To assert yourself in the underworld you have to arm your men with suitable weapons. But you can also let the abilities of your men train here.

Buy a weapon
You get a selection of weapons of different prices and qualities. When buying a weapon, you should pay attention to a sufficient reach, a good hit precision and at best also a good effect. Certainly the best weapons are the machine-gun and the hand- grenades. But not all arms dealers have the full supply of weapons so you have to search for good weapons a longer time.
Consider also that the person who shall get the weapon should have a sufficient intelligence and enough brutality for it. For use of a machine-gun a certain intelligence must be available namely.

Let people train
If you failed buying a weapon because of the person's lack of intelligence or brutality, you can let these abilities train in the training camp. The same can be made also with the strength of the person. Either you let each ability train individually or you choose a combination training and do it for all abilities. After that you are asked for the quality of the training. Level 1 means single, 2 double, etc. After the training the abilities of the person will be quite better.
A further training you can do is the flight from the police. You train the escape attempt here with four gangsters who has disguised themselves as policemen. You should train the flight here sometimes, because in case of emergency your abilities here decide if you come in prison or not.
In addition to it you can train the race with a little boy who has stolen a suitcase from you. This is important for kidnapping children. See more in chapter kidnap a child.
And finally you are given the possibility to train creeping past some guards. This is important for several actions in the game. Read more about it later.

Gangster's Pub

This is the meeting place of many gangsters. You can sign on men here, sell stolen goods, get assignments, buy blackmail material and sell workers to the bartender.

Sell/Buy stolen goods
The stolen goods are car radios from broken cars. You can buy them only in the station's pub, because the bartender there has a good supplier. Then you can sell this stuff to the bartenders of the remaining pubs. Of course, you should try to sell the radios for a lower price than that you have bought them for.
Further you could try to get rid of the electronic devices that you have stolen in the department stores or in the residential area.

Sign on gangsters
If you reached the status "Crook" you are given the possibility to sign on own gangsters for your gang. If an interested gangster is in the pub he comes to you and you get a short description of the guy. Of course, you should try to sign on gangsters with high abilities, so that you aren't forced to let them train. But don't be deceived by the descriptions!
Each gangster demands a certain amount of money, so that he follows you. When you consider him for suitable, you have to pay this, and he will do anything you want.

Get assignments
The bartender offers you different things here:

Legal work
Here the bartender suggests you a legal work in a local business. You only have to specify for how many months you want to work there. The jobs are well paid, but for this period you have to miss the turns. So it is actually only meaningful when you want to make a short break while the others go on playing.
Mission
Here you offer your services as a killer. You get a mission in which you have to kill a certain person or a group of persons. Sometimes it could be that the persons are protected by bodyguards. So be careful, otherwise you'll be the victim. The actual assassination then goes on in the form of a fight. For this please read chapter gang war first. After you have successfully completed your mission, you get the payment.
Material for blackmailings
Here the bartender offers you to blackmail a certain person in town. At first sight this material seems to be very expensive, but the thing is quite profitable. After you have bought the material, the bartender shows you, whom you are able to blackmail with it. Then you have to go to this person and present the material. In most cases the guy will offer you money or another special deal. This special deal depends on the person you blackmail.
Smuggle a suitcase
The bartender offers you a suitcase that has to be brought abroad. For this you must go to the airport.

Sell a child
To tell the truth, this method is a little bit lousy. So you only should choose this if you can reconcile it with your conscience. Here you are given the possibility to sell a kidnapped child to the bartender as a cheap worker.

Hotel

Here you can rent a room. Or you just rob the box.

Rent a room

A hotel room is necessary for some important actions in the game. At these places you will be given the information that you first need a room to complete the action.

Pay the rent
Here you can pay the rent for your hotel room. Note that the rent is always paid in advance. But you can specify for how many months you want to do this.

Raid hotel
This here depends on your fortune. Either the porter is scared stiff and hands over the money without resistance or he defends himself with a machine-gun. If you are even more unlucky it could be that some friends are on a visit at the moment....

Bank

Here is money in abundance. You may have it for the asking! Either you commit a normal bank raid or you try to break into the safe of the bank.

"normal" bank raid
You force the cashier to hand over the money. But you should note that the gangster who shall threaten the guy has to be in possession of a suitable weapon for a bank raid. If you are unlucky the cashier sounds the alarm, so that you have to fight against the guards.

Break into the safe
You vanish and come back at night. After you have succeeded in getting into the box, you only have to break the safe.
For that purpose you must try to find out a three-digit number. You use a stethoscope for this.
The mouse control differs a little bit from the keyboard control.

Keyboard control:
You turn the safe's first wheel with the keys <up> and <down>. At every rotation you hear a tone. The right number is reached when this tone differs a little bit from the other ones. To go to the next wheel press the key <2>. After you have found out this number also, you can go to the next by pressing key <3>.

Mouse control:
Two buttons at a time are fixed above each number. With one button you turn the wheel down and with the other up.

The safe opens automatically when the right combination is set. But you have to hurry, because you only have a short time of about eight seconds before the siren sounds and the police storm the strongroom.

Hint: Since not the intelligence of the player's character but the one of the player is important for breaking into the safe, you have here a good chance of coming into possession of money and points if your character hasn't got a high intelligence at the beginning.

Blackmail bank chief
You blackmail the chief of the bank with your material. Read more about it in chapter car dealer and gangster's pub.

Duds-Dave

At Duds-Dave you can buy high-quality duds or new passports.

Buy duds
The quality of his duds is very high, so you can buy them without hesitation. Only the police become aware of it sometimes.
You are asked how much money you want to change into counterfeit money. Duds-Dave then will give you a higher amount of duds back.

Have a new passport made
When you are stopped by a police check, you often have to show your identity card. Since the police possibly have a criminal file of you, they could identify you. If you had a new pass the chance of recognition would be much lower. So at Duds-Dave you are given the possibility of getting a new one. If you have several gangsters already you can choose either to get a pass for an individual gangster or for the whole gang. The more people are equipped with passports the better are the chances of not getting in trouble with the police.

Underground station

The town possesses a big underground system that you can use for fast movement over longer distances. In addition to this the overcrowded platform presents good opportunities for pickpockets.

Play pickpocket on the platform
If you have several gangsters already you choose the one whom you want to assign as pickpocket. Of course, you take one with a high intelligence lest he should go about the stealing clumsily. If he has stolen something useful the thing is resold immediately and you get the value of the thing in cash.

Play pickpocket in the underground
Here again a gangster goes on tour, with the difference that he does it in the underground this time. Here he has the advantage that the people stand more crowded than on the platform, so that the chances of success rise again.

Go by underground
If you have to go over a long distance you are quick to be on the move for several turns. By underground you are able to do this quite faster.

You stand in front of a tickets machine on which the town's map is shown. The underground stations are set off. The other buildings are displayed also, so that you can orient yourself. At keyboard control move the sparkling frame with the cursor keys on the station where you want to go to. At mouse control please click directly on the station.
With increasing number of men the fare increases also of course. But don't be surprised at the high costs. They are so high because of the many advantages over the moving by feet or car. At a lower price nobody will go by these methods then.

Police station

This is the headquarters of the police. The arrested gangsters are billeted here as well.

Free arrested gangster
If you play with several players it happens often that one of them has to go to prison. Especially in case of a high punishment this isn't very pleasant to the convict. But you can be gracious and free him. For this you then could expect a high reward from the arrested. But first you should inform yourself about the account's balance of the person, because if the one is broke you aren't able to get anything from him. Of course, you can make a private arrangement under the motto "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" for example.

Bribe chief constable
This is a useful method if you intend to commit some bigger crimes in the next time. The chief constable then will instruct his men not to arrest you if you are caught at a crime. You only have to specify for how many months you want to bribe the police, and in this period you won't have any problems with them.

Blackmail chief constable
You blackmail the chief constable with your burdening material. Read more about it in chapter car dealer and gangster's pub.

Station

This is the main station of town. You can try your luck on the platform and wait for a mail train there. Or you while away the time as a pickpocket.

Visit station's pub
The station's pub differs not very much from the other pubs in this game. But the bartender in this pub is the only one who can sell car radios to you.

Go on the platform
Here you are given the possibility to play pickpocket on the platform or in a train.

Attack a mail train
In criminal history mail trains always had a great attraction for gangsters, because here in most cases is a lot of money to get. So in this game.
If you are lucky a mail train is on the way through town at the moment and only waits to be attacked.
Before you can get at the loot though, you have to stop the train. For this you go to the station's container area on which many containers stand around. To stop the train you must try to push these containers as fast on the track as possible.

You move your figure with the cursor keys (also at mouse control). Note that you are only able to push one container at the same time. So you can't push two containers that stand one behind the other. Also you should hurry up a bit, because you only have a short time to place enough containers on the track. To stop the train you need eight containers in best cases and twelve in worst cases. If you are ready before the time is over or if you have blocked up your way you can shorten the time with <ESC>. Upon expiration of time the mail train appears. With every collision with a container the train is damaged a little bit and becomes slower. If the train becomes so damaged that it has to stop, immediately several guards come out of it to defend the train. Now you have to fight against them before you can set about the loot.

Go by train
In this town there are two stations. Here you can go from one to the other.

Casino

If you have no luck with committing crimes you can try it in a legal manner.

Gambling
You have the choice between three different games: Black-Jack, poker and roulette. The games are played automatically. You have no influence on the course of the game. Merely you are asked to specify the stake and to choose the gangster who shall play for you. Of course, you should select a very intelligent gangster. After the game you are told if you have won or if you have lost. The three games differ in chance and in the height of winnings. At Black-Jack you win easier as at poker and at poker you win easier as at roulette. The height of the winnings depends on the chance of course. In clear, at roulette the chance of winning is lowest, but when you win, then the winnings are the highest.
Hint: If you have a gangster with a very high intelligence than you should try a game perhaps. The chances are not all that low.

Blackmail casino owner
You blackmail the owner with your burdening material. Read more about it in chapter car dealer and gangster's pub.

Playground

Either you kidnap a little child here or you steal the grandma's handbags.

Kidnap a child
This method is a promising source of income. Because when it's about the welfare of their children, the most parents will pay the ransom at all costs. So you choose a child of which you think that it has affluent parents and try to kidnap it. But here it is possible that you first have to fight with the father or with other people before you can vanish with the child.
When you succeeded in the kidnapping, you have to choose either to demand ransom (the common method) or to sell the child in a pub as a cheap worker (the lousy method). If you have decided to demand ransom you have to select where it shall be deposited. Wouldn't it be funny to let it be deposited in front of the police headquarters for example. The policemen would be very angry about that.
After that you have to specify the height of the ransom. But the higher this demand the higher is the chance that you will be fooled by the parents.
Then you can try to pick up the ransom in the next time. For this you have to go to the place that you have determined as delivery place. There you are told if the delivery succeeds or if you are fooled. For example it may be that the money lies in the rubbish container as arranged, but that the child tears itself away from you and runs away with the suitcase. Since you don't put up with that, you have to try to capture the boy. Here you are placed in a labyrinth together with the child. You have only a short time to capture the fugitive. You should train this a few times at the arms dealer, otherwise in case of emergency you will get bad problems with it.

Pocket larceny
Here you are given the possibility to try your luck as a pickpocket on the playground. Since a lot of affluent grandmas stay there, you will have good chances of success.

Supermarket

Supermarkets are excellently suitable for collecting protection moneys. But normal raids will be profitable as well.

Attack supermarket
This here depends on your authority. If the storekeeper hasn't enough respect for you he possibly will take up arms himself or he will call over some friends. Then it looks bad for you of course.

Collect protection money
This is the nightmare of all supermarket owners: the protection moneys. Here the owner has to pay a certain amount of money lest his store should be demolished.
Of course, you should possess a higher status before you begin to collect money. A little gangster possibly won't be taken seriously when doing this. Also it may be that the owner already has a protector who wouldn't be very pleased.

Beg for alms
Only very unsuccessful gangsters should try this. Because for a criminal it is the biggest shame to beg for money. Also the owners kick those gangsters out of their stores usually.

Harbour

This is the harbour of town. You can visit the dockland pub or try to steal a few containers in the container area.

Visit dockland pub
Here you can sell car radios, sign on men, get assignments or sell children.

Pocket larceny on the beach
Here you send your men to the beach to steal the clothes and the valuables of the swimmers.

Steal containers
You go to the port's container area where many containers with valuable goods stand around. You must try to push as many containers as possible on the fields before the time is over. The containers standing on the fields at the end of the time come into your possession. But you have to go through the exit in time lest you should be caught by the police. If you have blocked your way you can give up by pressing <ESC>.

Loan shark

If you are completely unsuccessful you are given the possibility to raise a credit here to get hold of at least a start-up capital.

Raise a credit
If you haven't got any chance of getting hold of money you can borrow up to 30000 DM here. Typically for a loan shark the interest is veeeeery high, namely 5% per month! Also the term of the credit is limited to five months, so if haven't paid the money back in this period the collectors come and take all money you possess. But if that isn't enough to settle your debts they seize your car also. If that still isn't enough you have to go to prison for some months depending on how much money misses.

Repay credit
Here you can specify how much money of your running credit you want to pay off. Hurry up with this, otherwise the collectors will come.

Buy credit store
If the owner is willing to sell his store you are able to become a loan shark also. The business is run automatically by the staff, but you receive the profits at the beginning of the month. You must let the store have a certain business capital for that it can make profits. The more capital you make available the higher will the profits be.

Change business capital
If you are owner of the store you can increase or decrease the capital here. Or if you are in need for money you can help yourself here. But then the store makes lesser profits of course.

Collect debts
Here you can ask from time to time if a debtor is behind with paying back his credit. Then you can collect it yourself.

Department store

Here you can break into the electronic storehouse or attack a money transport.

Steal electronic devices
You try to break into the department store at night. Several things may get in your way here, for example guards.
But if you have succeeded you can get down to emptying the storehouse. Here you have to push the devices on the fields. But you should vanish before the time is over, otherwise the police will get you. If you want to give up you can do this with <ESC>. Perhaps the bartender in one of the pubs will relieve you of the taken devices.

Attack a money transport
To attack the money transport you have to hide in the inside of the department store first. The only problem is that it is guarded by several guards in the evening. You have to manage to pass by. For this you are placed into a labyrinth together with four guards. Your aim is to reach the door without being noticed by them. Here you have to know that the guards only patrol on their given route and only look to the front, to left and to right but not to the back. So you sometimes may run behind a guard to reach your aim.
Since this part of the game is very difficult, you should train this a few times at the arms dealer first.
If you succeeded in getting past the guards you only have to wait for the money transport. As soon as it arrives at the department store you are forced to fight against the escorting guards.

Blackmail the department store owner
You blackmail the owner with your burdening material. Read more about it in chapter car dealer and gangster's pub.

Villa

Here you can do several things. You can steal electronic devices, kidnap children, steal cars or blackmail the owner.

Steal electronic devices
If you succeed in getting into the house without being noticed you can get down to looting the electronic devices in it. Read more about it in chapter department store.

Kidnap a child
Here you can kidnap one of the children playing in the garden. But be careful, some dangers lie in wait for you. Read more about it in chapter playground.

Steal a car
You choose one of the luxury cars standing in the car park. Read more about it in chapter car dealer.

Blackmail the owner
You blackmail the owner with your burdening material. Read more about it in chapter car dealer and gangster's pub.

Townhall

In the townhall you can either loot the town's pay office, kidnap an important state visitor or blackmail the mayor.

Blackmail the mayor
You blackmail the mayor with your burdening material. Read more about it in chapter car dealer and gangster's pub.

Attack the town's pay office
If you are lucky the cashier offers no resistance. But maybe he defends himself or he calls over a security service.

Kidnap a state visitor
Should the president of an important industrial nation be in town at the moment you are given the possibility here to kidnap him. The problem is that he is protected by several bodyguards. So you first have to try to get past the guards without being noticed. Read more about this in chapter department store.
If you succeeded in this you are asked to specify the height of the ransom and where it shall be deposited. To pick it up simply go to the specified location.

Airport

At the airport you can go on holiday or be active in smuggling.

Go on holiday
From time to time every gangster needs holidays to recover from the strenuous gangster's life.
Here you get a selection of several destinations that differ in the intensity of recovery. Also you have to specify how many months you want to go on holiday. For this period then you have to miss the turns.
After the holiday you will notice that the values of your men have increased considerably. Especially for the energy this is very useful, because here the restriction to 35 energy points is lifted. That means that your men can build up very much energy, so that they will be nearly unbeatable in the next fights.
Since the holidays are especially with several men and for a longer period very expensive, this is actually only suitable for established gangsters who are already very successful.

Smuggle a suitcase
If you have got a corresponding assignment in the pub you could try to smuggle a suitcase through the customs examination here. Read more about it in chapter department store.
In the terminal area you will meet somebody then who relieves you of the suitcase and gives you the payment for the assignment.

If you have exhausted all steps the round is over for you. The next player is allowed to play.
When all players were on turn, the month - the round - is over. Then an overview is displayed, so that the players can see the current order of precedence.

Gang war

The gang war only works if several players join the game. Here the players are given the possibility to fight against each other. So if anyone of them has made a big coup in the last month you could try to relieve him of the loot again.

VII) The fight

The fight is a very important element in the game. It often happens that you have to fight for example against the police or against other gangsters. Your performance in this discipline usually decides over your success.

When you compete in a fight, you see yourself, or your people, on the left side of the battlefield. Your enemy is located on the right side. In the bottom area an additional field is displayed in which data about the two opponents can be read.
The two parties always move by turns. First the left player moves his figures and then the right.
At the beginning of the fight each man has a certain energy. For every hit he loses a part of it. When the energy is exhausted, he is disabled and dropped out of the fight. The energy rebuilds in the course of the game again and depends on the strength of the person. So if you just had a serious battle your men are weakened and stand not very much.
Each man can do only one action in one round: He can either move one step or do a shot, respectively a stroke, in a certain direction.

When it's your turn, a frame appears around your first man. To let him move a step, click with the mouse in that direction where you want him to go. At keyboard control use the cursor keys for this. But when the man stands close enough to an enemy, he could also fire a shot to him.
This depends very much on the weapon with which the gangster is equipped. The most important thing for a weapon is the reach. Hitting and stabbing weapons reach only over one field, pistols over several fields and rifles even wider. So before a shot or a punch you should estimate if the reach is wide enough to hit the enemy.
Another important characteristic of a weapon is the hit precision. So it can be that the bullet may fly widely enough, but doesn't hit the aim anyway. So a machine-gun certainly has a far better hit precision than for example an ordinary pistol. The last characteristic of a weapon is the effect of course. It is quite a difference if the enemy is hit from a fist or an exploding hand grenade.
So, if you have decided to fire a shot or a stroke to the enemy you have to press the right mouse button (at mouse control) or the <Enter> key (at keyboard control) first.

The frame changes its color from white to black then. Now you choose the shot's direction in the same way as if you wanted to move the person. Of course, the enemy has to stand in a direct line for that he can be hit. Now you see the bullet flying over the screen.

If it has reached its aim you will see if it was a hit and which effect the hit had, therefore how much energy the enemy lost. If the energy is exhausted the enemy vanishes from the battlefield and you have one problem less.
After you have moved all your men this way, the enemy is on turn and does the same with his own people.

This crossing of swords then lasts as long as all men of one party are finished. Then the fight ends and you get an overview of the losses.
However, you are given the possibility to give up during the fight by pressing <ESC> if your enemy is too strong for you. If you know from the start that you won't have any chance winning the fight you could use this method. Then your men keep their full energy also.
Hint: If you have several gangsters already you should use a strategy to have better chances. For example you could use unarmed men as protection for men with weapons. So the "useless" gangsters are finished first while the gangsters standing behind are still able to fire. And note the reaches of the weapons. For example if you are equipped with a machine-gun and your enemy only with a pistol you should try to keep his distance, so that you are able to hit him, but he is not able to do this to you.

Next player

Since probably no player is willing to miss a round voluntarily, this method is actually only useful if one of the players is unable at the moment and the others don't want to wait for him. Normally you won't need this function.

Options
This is a menu in which you are able to change program options, save game scores, etc.

Noises on/off
Here you can choose whether to hear the noises and the music or not.

Show title graphics
This option determines how often the title graphics of the buildings are displayed. If you already got the benefit of the graphics you perhaps could do without looking at them each time you enter a building. Namely on slower computers this can take a few moments. With "only new" you can determine that the graphic is only displayed if you enter the house the first time in the game.

Change maximum score
Here you can change the number of points that must be reached to win the game. Changing the score is sometimes useful if you choose to play a little bit further or to break up the game faster. Of course, the ranks of the players are changed correspondingly. For example if you had the status "crook" already before you increased the maximum score, it may be that you are rated lower afterwards. Information: In the shareware version you can only play to a score of 25 points. But this should be quite enough to test the game thoroughly.

Load game
Here you can load a saved game again.
Information: Loading a game is only possible in the registered version.

Save game
If you play with several players and a high maximum score, a game can quickly take many hours. Here it is very useful to save the game and play further the next day.
Information: Saving a game is only possible in the registered version.

Delete a player
During a long game maybe one player loses the interest in playing, although the others still want to play further. Then you could delete him from the game and play without him.

Crime Fighter information
Here you are told who struggled so hard that you can enjoy yourself playing such a nice game now.

Change language
Here you can change the language of the game. At the moment you can choose between English and German.

End Game

Here you leave the game back into DOS.

VIII) Short summery

This is a short summery of all the actions that you can do in the buildings:

Car dealer buy cars steal cars blackmail the car dealer	Arms dealer buy weapons train men train running
Gangster's pub deal with stolen goods sign on gangsters get assignments sell children	Hotel rent a room raid hotel
Bank bank raid empty the safe blackmail the bank owner	Duds-Dave buy counterfeit money get a new passport
Underground station play pickpocket go by underground	Police headquarters free player bribe chief constable blackmail chief constable
Station visit the station's pub play pickpocket attack mail train	Casino black-Jack poker roulette blackmail the casino owner
Playground kidnap children play pickpocket	Supermarket attack supermarket collect protection money go begging
Habour visit the dockland pub play pickpocket steal containers	Loan shark raise a credit buy credit store
Department store steal electronic devices attack money transport blackmail the store owner	Villa steal electronic devices kidnap children steal cars blackmail the owner
Townhall blackmail the mayor kidnap a state visitor attack pay office	Airport go on holiday smuggle a suitcase

IX) Shareware information

Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with printed manual.

Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware.

Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it.

CRIME FIGHTER is distributed as shareware. It is neither public domain nor freeware!
You are allowed to test this game thoroughly for three weeks and check if it's that what you expected. If you enjoy the game and if you intend to continue playing it, you have to register it at the author. The use of this shareware version after expiration of the evaluation period of three weeks requires a purchase of a license.

But registration has other benefits too:

saving the game is possible
playing time is no longer limited to 25 points
additional weapon: hand grenades
the reminder screen disappears
the good feeling of having supported the shareware

Registration costs 20,- US$ (or 30,- DM).

X) Registering

The registration of the program is handled as follows:

After settling the registration fee I send you a code that is calculated from your name and your address. Then you choose "Enter registration info" from the starting screen of the shareware version. There you are asked to enter your personal data and the code. The program then checks whether the code corresponds with your data or not. If it does, the full version is activated and you are now able to use all benefits of the registered version.

The registration fee for the full version amounts to 20,- US$ (or 30,- DM).

There are two possibilities to get the code.

Direct order from me
Here you have to fill out the registration form first.
The easiest way to do this is to choose "fill out registration form" from the starting screen. An input field is displayed in which you have to write your name and your address. If you want you can enter your telephone- and fax-number and your email- address also.

Then you are asked how you want to pay the fee of 20,- US$. You have several possibilities here that should shortly be described:
1. credit card:
  At the moment the following credit cards are accepted: American Express, Visa, Diners Club.
  Eurocard and Mastercard will probably be accepted from September 1997.
  When paying with credit card you have to state the card type, the card number, the expiration date and the card's owner.
2. cash payment
  This is a very easy method. You simply enclose your order the 20,- US$ in cash. So far I haven't had any problems with this method. The possibility that the money gets lost on the way is very low. You can pay in DM (30,-), US$ (20,-) or in any other currency. But please note the current exchange rates and send only bills, no coins.
3. check
  You enclose your order a check to the amount of 30,- DM. Only checks are accepted that are drawn in DM on a German bank.
4. money transfer
  Parallel to placing your order you transfer the 30,- DM on the following account:
  But please note that the order will not be processed until the amount has arrived on the account.
5. international money order
  Here you pay with an international money order. Ask in your local post office for it.
6. cash on delivery (only in Germany)
  Here the fee is collected from the postman at the front door. Add 3,- DM additional postage and 3,- DM postal fee to the normal price. Cash on delivery is only possible in Germany because of the high shipping costs in other countries.
After you have selected the payment, you now have to choose how you want to get the code. You can select either to get it by mail, by fax or by email.

Finally you must decide if you want to send the form directly to the printer or if you want to save it in a file first. The last you should select if you want to send me the form by email for example.

Contact:
If you want to pay with credit card or cash on delivery, you could do this by telephone also:
My telephone number: +49 05223 / 761865

If you have no possibility to print out the order form or to send it by email, you could also send a short message with your address and the payment information.

Moreover it is possible to use the form in the file "register.doc" (English) or "register.txt" (German).

You could also fill out the form on my homepage. The demanded information are the same as above.
Homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PeterSteffen
Registration on CompuServe
If you have a CompuServe access, you could register there also. Choose:
and register the program #15204.
In the next days you will get the code by email or by mail. The fee is debited from your CompuServe account automatically.

XI) License agreements

Shareware version

You are allowed to test this game thoroughly for three weeks and check if it's that what you expected. If you enjoy the game and if you intend to continue playing it, you have to register it at the author. The use of this shareware version after expiration of the evaluation period of three weeks requires a purchase of a license.

The shareware version of this program is allowed to be copied, sold for a small fee, distributed on CD-ROM and uploaded to mailboxes and internet servers.

It is not allowed to distribute versions with missing or changed files. This will be reported at the start of the program. If you are in possession of an incomplete version you can order a new one for 3,- DM in stamps (Germany) or 3,- US$ (other countries).

The newest versions can also be downloaded from my homepage:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PeterSteffen/

Registered version

With entering the registration code the shareware version of the software becomes the full version. With purchase of this code the user becomes authorized to activate the full version and to use it on exactly one computer at the same time. For every additional computer the purchase of an additional license in form of a registration code is required.

It is strictly prohibited to give copies of the registration code or of the activated full version to other people. The possession of the code and the full version is only allowed to the registrated user. Violations of this regulations can be prosecuted.