Mean Streets
Platform: Commodore 64
Gametype: Undefined
_________________________

Description

Private investigator Tex Murphy is hired to investigate the murder of a university professor. It turns out that he was one of eight scientists involved in Project Overlord, a mission to remotely control people. You soon learn of the deaths of other related figures. Suspects may include the British intelligence head, a surveillance company owner, and the professor's daughter.

Tex's first adventure (and the only one released for systems other than DOS or Windows PCs) takes you through the seedy West Coast world of 2033. The game is icon-driven, with object puzzles less significant than detective deduction and character interaction. 

Mean Streets features dozens of characters to interact with by asking questions or offering bribes. Fights often arise, but a diplomatic approach is more successful with characters whose guilt is unproven. Although it is largely an adventure game, travel between cities involves piloting your Lotus Speeder in a flight simulation section.





Trivia

The US box art bears a striking resemblance to Blade Runner's original theatrical poster.

There are many references to TV shows and movies in Mean Streets. For example, turn on the TV in Ron Morgon's Cabin and the sound resembles Star Trek. The robot in Cal Davis's Secret Lab is a reference to Lost In Space. The scene where you meet Larry Hammond is a spoof of a joke The Bob Newhart Show. Also, the president is called Michael J. Fox, and a final joke refers to the first Back to the Future film he starred in

The game was released in French on the Atari ST and Amiga two years after the original release.

In 1998, Access released the last Tex Murphy adventure, Overseer. It is a remake of Mean Streets.



The Mean Streets intro music is also used in a TV commercial.
(They've plagarised music in the past; see the trivia for Crime Wave for another example. --Editor)



Mean Streets was the world's first popular PC game to fully support VGA graphics. Not content to stop there, it was also the world's first PC game to also support EGA, CGA, and Hercules graphics modes with real-time quantization and dithering. (By "real-time", I'm referencing the fact that they didn't include pre-converted graphics, which would have taken up twice the disk space, but rather they converted each graphic as it was loaded to fit the graphics mode being used.) Most games that supported VGA didn't support any lower standard at all because it was considered too difficult to convert graphics utilizing 256 colors down to 16 or even 4 for EGA or CGA.



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Mean Streets - Manual
 Mean Streets, the Player's Handbook ³
  


Note : Manual is from Amiga.

Commodore 64  Keys are :

@ :  Auto Pilot
W:  Warp on/off
V :  Call Vanessa
L :  Call Lee Chin
Left-Arrow:  Navigation Panel
P:  Inventory / Pawn Shop
Right-Shift : Scenery Detail  (1-3)

+:  Forward
- :  Reverse
Space:  Full Stop
Up-Arrow :  Up
*              :  Down        
F1:  Bank on/off
F2:  Auto Pitch on/off

D:  Load/Save


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(Amiga)

      GAME OPTIONS;

           Sound Level: Sets the volume of all sounds in the game.

           Fight Level: Sets the dificulty of all gunfights in the game.

           Reduce Swapping: (only applicable if played from floppy)
                            Selecting "YES" for this option will cause
                            the program to AUTOMATICALLY bypass optional
                            sound and graphics files to reduce disk swapping
                            as much as possible.
                            Selecting "NO" for this option will cause the
                            program to prompt for a disk swap if it cannot
                            find a particular file. if you'd rather not swap,
                            you can press the <TAB> key.  The Program will
                            then bypass the swap if possible.  If not, it will
                            continue to prompt until the proper disk is
                            inserted.


        THE STORY;

             A Steaming layer of thick fog hangs over the city.  It's
          late, wednesday night, the end of september.  The weather
          report says the next few days will get warm, real warm.
          The radiation count should climb over 70.  Very unpleasant.
          It's the kind of day that moves the murcury thick and slow.
          Funny how the work drags out with the humidity.
             My body and brain are trying to talk me into taking a few
          days vacation when the office door swings open.  The silhoutte
          in the doorway tells me it isn't the pizza man.  My eyes follow
          curves up to where the lady's silken blond hair kind of clasps
          her cheek near her eyes, which are exotic, not blue exactly,
          deeper than blue, sad and dangerous.  If ever a woman is
          troubled she is.
             "Are you Tex Murphy?" She asks, her bottom lip pouts at me,
          and I can tell that I'm probably looking at it too long.
             "That's me," I say, real professional, real cool. "Ms...?"
             "Linsky, Sylvia Linsky." Her eyes cloud over suddenly.
          They are murky and preoccupied, like mud puddles on a wet road.
          "It's my father." Her pause is long and sad. "I want you to
          investigate my father's death."
             "Have you been to the police?" this is my standard reply.  I
          don't want anyone accusing me of breaking the law.  Nobody messes
          with the boys downtown.
             "Of course I've spoken to them. Detective Clements thinks Daddy
          committed suicide.  It wasn't suicide!  Daddy would never kill
          himself.  It's murder, I know it's murder." She's getting upset.
          the careful line of her lipstick draws my attention to her mouth
          and chin that trembles, just a little bit.
             "How did you find me?" I ask as I sit her down on the wooden
          chair that faces my desk.  The chair looks dark and gritty next
          to her.  "Detective Clements said that if I insisted on throwing
          money awat you were the one to throw it to.
             "Well, Ms. Linsky, before we play catch, give me the background
          on your father's death, then I'll decide if the balls a game."
             I hear the rustle of silken stockings, Ms. Linsky crosses her
          legs and starts her story.  "My father was a professor of neuro-
          psychology at the university of San Francisco for 15 years.  He
          was well respected in his field and had recieved many awards and
          research grants.  About 8 months ago, he took a leave of absence
          from the university to work on an independant consulting contract.
          When I asked him about it, he said he couldn't tell me anything.
          Not even who hierd him. I rarely saw him afterthat."
             "One night I went to his home. he was terribly upset. It was
          obvious that he had been drinking. He was very evasive when I
          questioned him. I was worried about him, he was not a drinking
          man. I asked him is I could stay with him, but my persistence
          only made him more angry. Finally, he agreed to come to my
          apartment for dinner the following sunday -- that was 3 days ago."
             Ms. Linsky's body is very still I'm not sure she was even
          breathing. While she's looking at me, her eyes which areas shiny
          as glass, melt. Two tears spill from them and run down her cheeks.
             "Last sunday morning I got a call from the San Francisco police
          department. They told me that my father had apparently jumped off
          the Golden Gate Bridge. They needed someone to come and identify
          the body. They said a withness had seen my father jump.  His car
          was found on the bridge. Because there was no sign of foul play,
          they're calling it a routine suicide."
             I interrupted her. "The police are usually pretty good in these
          matters, from what you've told me..."
             "My father did not kill himself!" Her anger made her eyes
          viciously beautiful. "He was in serious danger. Even if he had
          killed himself he never would have throuwn himself into the bay."
             "Why not?" I ask.
             Her anger faded, she uncrossed her legs and continued. "As a
          Child he nearly drowned Swimming in the bay. From then on he'd
          been afraid of the water. He'd never went swimming. He couldn't
          even go to the beach for picnics."
             "There's one more thing. I found this FAX note in his desk,
          when I went throught his things." She slipper the note out of
          herbag and across my desk top. It read:

                   Professor:
                   You were right about these boys.
                   They play for keeps.
                   Watch your step.
                                      S.F.

             "Did you show this to Clements?"
             "Yes, but he didn't consider it to be very important. He wasn't
          able to connect to anyone or anything. I just know whoever wrote
          this note, knows what happened. And I'm Willing to back up my
          belief."
             Ms. Linsky's hand went back into her bag, this time it came out
          with $10,000, cash.
             I sit strait up.
             "This is my life savings," she says, "I want you to find out the
          truth. If it is a suicide. I want to know. I will accept whatever
          evidence you can find, but if this is a murder, and I know it is,
          I want to know who did it and why!"
             Her story wasn't convincing me that this was a murder, but it
          did pique my curiousity. So did her face and her 10 G's.
             "O.K., I'll do some checking for you."
             Ms. Linsky, suddenly cool, straightened her skirt, and offered
          me her hand. "Thank you, Mr. Murphy, I trust you will find the
          truth." She turned then and walked out of the office, and left
          me staring at 10 grand. This is a lot of money in advance, even
          for my rich clients. My gut feeling tells me something's wrong.
          Maybe I'm just too cynical.
             I scribble a note to my secretary, "Dig up any and all
          information on Dr. Carl Linsky." I'll start my investigation in
          the morning.

        NEWS PAPER CLIPPING FRON VANESSA:

                    Well Liked Professor Jumps to His Death
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                San Francisco (AP) - Police say prominent University of
             San Francisco professor Carl Linsky was found dead early
             Sunday after jumping from the Goldem Gate Bridge. West
             precinct detectives Steve Clememts said a witness allegedly
             saw Linsky jump from the bridge at about 11:20 Saturday night.
             Police divers located the body just before dawn and Linsky was
             pronounced dead at the scene. A suicide note, addressed to his
             daughter Sylvia, was a later found at his home.
                Linsky's Fiancee, Delores Lightbody, indicated that the
                Professor had been under a great deal of stress recently,
             and had taken a leave of absence from his teaching duties at
             the university.
                Funeral services will be at 10:00 am Wednessday at the All
             Saints Church.


          SLS NOTES;

                Alright, that;s it for the basic story ... boy I didn't
             enjoy typing that one up!
                Okay, the story takes place in 2033, and is told through
             the life of Tex Murphy. here's a basic command summery:

                     When ever you want to know the available
                     commands just hit "H" for Help which will
                     bring up a chart of available commands.
                     Most Sections have Help Screens.
               Getting Around:
                    Your vehicle is a 21st century "flying car"
                    called a speeder. It's rather easy to fly,
                    but it has an AutoPilot ("A") option
                    Which'll allow you to fly anywhere in the
                    DATA BASE under full computer control.

               What Does NC Mean:
                   NC stands for NAVIGATION CODE. All important
                   places (Places you must visit) have Navigation
                   Codes. For exaple Dr. Linsky's office is NC4663.
                   You will be entering the NAV CODES into the
                   navigation computer.

               Where to go:
                   You can fly anywhere in the data base, even
                   though some areas have little or no detail
                   (No-Man's-Land). All esential locations have
                   a 4 digit adress called a  NAVIGATION CODE
                   (i.e. NC2860). Entering the NAV CODE into
                   the navigations comp. will pin point the
                   location and enter the data into Auto Pilot.

               Getting started:
                   Here's your starting info...

                    1).. Carl Linsky - NC:4663
                         (the professor who jumped to his death)

                    2).. Sylvia Linsky - NC:4421
                         (She hired you, Daughter of the deceased)

                    3).. John Richards - NC:4670
                         (The medical examiner)

                    4).. Delores Lightbody - NC:4920
                         (Carl Linsky's fiance)

                    5).. Steve Clements - NC:4680
                         (The police detective in charge of the case)

               Make sure to always use full names!
                    Thing of interest:

                        MTC CORP
                        GIDEON ENTERPRISES
                        OVERLORD
                        PASSCARD
                        PASSWORD
                        NEXUS
                        LAW AND ORDER
                        INSURANCE

               Using the NAV. Computer:
                        You can bring up the NAV COMPUTER by hitting "N"
                        while in your speeder. A help screen is available.

                        1).. Bring up the NAV Comp. by hitting "N"
                        2).. Press "N" again
                        3).. Type the 4 digit NC (i.e. 4660)
                        4).. Press the [ENTER] key
                        5).. If you want to use auto pilot press "A"

                        NOTE: If you want to travel without auto-pilot
                              the "bearing", "distance" and "bearing bar"
                              readouts on your dash will point to the NC
                              adress.

               Using Auto Pilot:
                        The "A" key turns on & off auot pilot. it must
                        first be programed by way of the NAV. Computer.
                        Programing the NAV Comp. is dont in 1 of 2 ways.

                        1).. Enter a NC as explaned above.
                        2).. Moving the yellow cursor keys to set the
                             the destination.. Use the "<" and ">" keys
                             as needed to Zoom in and out.

               Landing:
                        After landing (when you come to a full stop at
                        altitude=0) - (The flashing area is the landing
                        pad) Press "E" to Exit the speeder.

               Questioning people:
                        1. Peoples Names. Be sure to enter FULL NAMES and
                           SPELL THEM CORRECTLY!!!
                        2. The Subjects Mentioned above

                   NOTE: Some people may be bribed or threatened.

             Everything else you should either be able to figure out, or
             can get on-line help with. (remember: "Just hit "H")


             NOTE: Hit "D" to Save/Load.

             If you have any questions you can contact the SLS at
             Operation ICON (We're on the TELEGARD BBS list).
             or you can contact us through Nick Danger (SysOp
             of The Player's Guild - FiRM Station #4), message
             base of choice on The Players' Guild, or Infinite
             Intoxication (NAP/PA node #7, E-Mail on The Pointe
             or through any Operation ICON (O/I) member.
 
                                     -Ron Hawks (SysOp of O/I)
                                       & the SLS Crackers

PS: Bounty Hunting Pad Coordinates

    PAD#    X-Coordinate           Z-Coordinate
    1 -.......-1286093..................-137280
    2 -........-893393..................-422400
    3 -.......-1364633...................487424
    4 -.......-2287478..................1362240
    5 -.......-1148648...................834240
    6 -..........78539..................-580800
    7 -.........657772..................-538560


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Description from the packaging:

It's the year 2033. Your name is Tex Murphy, private investigator in San Francisco. You've been hired by the beautiful daughter of a university professor to uncover the facts about her father's death.
As you begin your investigation, you uncover the deaths of several prominent members of the scientific community. Are these deaths coincidental or is there something more sinister going on? And which characters could have a motive? Could it be J. Saint Gideon, former head of British intelligence? Could Frank Shimming, president of the largest surveillance company in the world be hiding something? Or what about Sylvia, the professor's daughter. Is she as innocent as she seems? And why is an infamous Detroit hit man in town?

You'll interact with more than 27 digitized animated characters who respond to questions, bribes and threats.
You'll rummage through offices, warehouses and factories looking for clues. With our innovative "tree" system, you can search without typing.
Use your Lotus Speeder to fly to major cities along the West Coast. This land/air vehicle is a full 3-D solid flight simulator.
The Videophone inside your speeder can be used to contact your secretary and informant; the information they provide could help you crack the case.
She's beautiful. But is she deadly?




http://www.mobygames.com/game/c64/mean-streets/trivia
