SKID ROW presents Hill Street Blues Introduction "Welcome to the Precinct, Capt. Furillo. I'd better warn you, Hill Street is a tough neighborhood - the toughest. There's tension on the streets and bad types lurking in dark corners, waiting for a chance to prey on the unsuspecting public, to make a quick buck with an opportunistic bag-snatch, or worse... much worse. Not everyone's on the make - most of the residents in the area are good people, but they are easy pickings for someone with little experience and a real bad attitude. "The public need protecting - not by vigilantes, or self-appointed "keepers of the peace" but by the proper authorities - the men and women trained to do the job - the professionals. And you've got a good team of professionals at the Hill Street Precinct, Captain, they're the best... they need to be." In the role of Capt. Furillo, you have complete control of all the forces and resources of the Hill Street Precinct. The officers, their vehicles, the full power of the Justice system and, if need be, the strong arm of the law are all at your disposal. Use them wisely and efficiently. Keeping the streets safe is important, but people do not want their neighborhood turned into a battle- ground. Start a war on the streets and the Mayor gets edgy, very edgy. Edgy enough to start looking for a new Captain, maybe? Loading the Game Amiga: Insert disk and switch on machine. Controls Hill Street Blues is played by using a mouse, which will enable you to control the mouse pointer. As a general rule, "clicking" the left mouse button will activate an icon or active area of the screen, and "clicking" the right button will exit from current sub-screens. The universal Cancel icon will exit from alternative modes during the game. Introduction Sequence Hill Street Blues will give you a chance to familiarize yourself with the various characters invloved in the game during the introductory sequence. Press a key or mouse button to bypass this section. Playing the Game Hill Street is a simulated city with a high level of realism and complexity. With careful planning and wise use of the police resources, you must control its criminal elements. Crimes will occur and you must act swiftly and efficiently to deal with them. Act too slowly, and you will find that the streets are out of control. Act too hastily and you will make mistakes. The people of Hill Street do not take kindly to this - they are not keen on gun battles and corpses littering their sidewalks. They want a safe and peaceful neighborhood, and will push for a change in the police captain if your popularity falls too low. All the inhabitants of the area are unique, having their own individual appearance and behaving in their own specific ways. Trains are timetabled, commuters will wait on platforms and vehicles will obey traffic regulations. The game has its own "realtime" - night and day cycles are fully implemented and the behavior of the Hill Street inhabitants alters in accordance with their own daily schedules. People react to events in the Precinct in a realistic way - pedestrians finding corpses on the sidewalk will tend to lose confidence in the police force. Traffic follows the rules of the road, but congestion and traffic jams from excessive use of roadblocks will lose the police force popularity. Frequent gunbattles on the streets will also tend to reduce public confidence. Roll Call The game will begin with Roll Call and then you will be presented with an opportunity to organize the patrols. The screen will present a schematic view of the Hill Street Precinct, with the crime rates displayed in the various patrol areas. Click on the officer's name, then the patrol in which you wish to place them. Crime rates will tend to be reduced just by the presence of an officer on patrol, but position them wisely so that they can easily get to one another if any officer should require backup. This Patrol screen can be accessed at any time by going to the office - move the cursor pointer to the door and click on the left mouse button to enter. Click on the right mouse button to exit. The Main Game Screen The top section displays a birds-eye view of the streets and blocks of the Precinct. The game itself is played from this perspective. It will display the area around your currently selected officer, and will scroll to follow his progress. In the bottom left hand corner is either AJ Hill (the radio operator), your police belt, or the dashboard of your car, depending on your current mode of transport. AJ will inform you of crimes as they occur. The game time and date are also displayed. In the bottom right of the screen are the control icons. From here you can access all the various options for Hill Street Blues. These icons are: 1 - Arrest suspect 5 - Use radio (in car) 2 - Enter car 6 - Use radio (on foot) 3 - Exit car 7 - Select officer 4 - Approach suspect 8 - Enter office 9 - Study map 14 - Save game 10 - Park car 15 - Load game 11 - Drive to selected destination 16 - Move left 12 - Assume direct vehicle control 17 - Move right 13 - Assume direct officer control 18 - Move up 19 - Move down 24 - Call out SWAT team 20 - Approach suspect 25 - Siren mode 21 - Send officer to selected destination 26 - Radio for back-up 22 - Cancel 27 - Call out the coroner 23 - Set up roadblocks 28 - Use firearms 29 - Stop 34 - Officer Bates 30 - Officer Coffey 35 - Officer Belko 31 - Officer Hill 36 - Officer Hunter 32 - Officer Washington 37 - Officer Goldblume 33 - Officer Renko 38 - Officer Bluntz 39 - Warn suspect 44 - Savegame4 40 - Load/Save 45 - Savegame5 41 - Savegame1 46 - Savegame6 42 - Savegame2 47 - Radio for paramedics 43 - Savegame3 48 - Radio description back to computer operator Furillo's Office Enter your office by clicking on the office icon at any time. From here you can access the Computer, the Precinct Map, the Patrols and the Officer/Game Statistics. The Police Computer Use this by clicking anywhere on the desktop computer. Stored on the computer are details of all unsolved crimes. From here you can browse through the case details and select a crime to investigate. Use the Previous and Next icons to search through the records. Select the magnifying glass icon to accept a crime for further investigation, then select the officer you wish to handle the case. The computer processes the crimes intelligently - along the base of the screen are displayed other victims of similar crimes who have given a description which matches the current photofit - this should give you help on deciding which cases are worth investigating first, since by solving them you are likely to solve several other unsolved crimes perpetrated by the same person. Additionally, it is possible to radio back to the computer a description of a suspect, so that it may be compared with photofits already stored. The Wall Map This is also accessed from Furillo's offic- click on the wall map. This displays a miniature layout of the Hill Street Precinct. The officers on patrol will be indicated by small highlights. Click on the right mouse button to exit. Officer Statistics By clicking on the filing cabinets you can access a display of all the details of your officers, and an overview of the game as a whole. Click on the portraits of the officers to reveal their details. Click on the upper section of the screen to view an overview of the game - crime rates, your popularity, body - counts etc. Main Game Control Officer Selection Click on the Officer icon, then the portrait you wish to control. A second portrait will then be displayed to the left. Officers who are injured and unavailablee will be deselected. Be careful not to select an officer for an investigation who is required for court duty that day. You have 9 officers at the precinct. Their individual statistics may be examined by use of the filing cabinet in your office. Officer Hunter has access to the SWAT team if you feel that use of this is necessary. The officers can all be used simultaneously by sending them individually to different crimes (or perhaps the same one). The Game Map In addition to the wall-map in the office, there is a game map. This is accessed by clicking on the Map icon. Moving the mouse pointer and clicking on a location will reveal its name. If you have selected a crime for investigation by an officer, and you are using the officer currently, then a highlight will show you the scene of the crime. Click om a location and then exit (right button) to select it. Travelling to the Scene of the Crime Once you have selected a crime to investigate, have chosen your officer and have found and selected the scene of the crime, you must send your officer there. You may send them by car or on foot. This will depend on the location - some areas may be easier to get to on foot. Travelling on Foot Click on the icon with the officer standing in front of a building. This will send the currently selected officer to the selected location on foot. The screen will follow the officer as they make their way. You may take direct control over them by clicking on the Control Officer icon. You will then have four direction arrows to move them, plus Stop and Cancel. Travelling by Car Click on the Enter Car icon, then the Drive to Destination icon. The police cars operate in a similar manner to the walking option, with the exception that they must follow the traffic system. On the way to the scene of a crime, you have various controls over the police vehicle. You may select to switch on sirens (Overtake icon) in order to arrive more quickly at your destination - other vehicles will allow you to pass. Excessive use of sirens may cost you popularity, though. You may select the Park icon to stop before reaching your destination - useful if you see another crime in progress and wish to stop and deal with it. If you find a suspect in this way, you can radio their description back to the computer (click on the Radio + Photofit icon). You can call for assistance by radio (Radio + Officer icon). At the Scene of a Crime If you have driven, then your car will automatically park once the destination has been reached. Click on the Exit Car icon to get on foot. You must now explore the scene of the crime - click on the Control Officer icon and then use the arrows to move them. If someone is lying injured, call the Paramedics to the individual. If someone has been murdered, call the Coroner. Explore the area and walk up to bystanders to see if they match the description you have for the suspect (red arrows will highlight a recognized individual). Watch out for anyone behaving suspiciously - either avoiding you or running away. If you have a suspect then you can choose to either: 1 Approach and warn them 2 Approach and arrest them 3 Shoot them If you decide on options 1 or 2 then click on the Approach icon, then your suspect. Click on the Ticket icon to warn them. This will have the effect of reducing their likelihood of recommitting. Click on the Handcuffs to arrest them. You will then automatically escort them back to the station (either on foot or in the car depending on which is nearest). If you have a potentially violent criminal, you may decide to shoot them or to call back-up, or both. Click on the Call Back-up icon. Any officers not currently on a case will attempt to rendezvous with your vehicle. To shoot a suspect, click on the Rifle icon, then take aim and fire. Be careful not to shoot any bystanders. If you successfully wound your suspect, then Approach and Arrest them. Do not call Paramedics to them or they may escape. Be careful - particularly dangerous criminals may shoot back. If your officer is wounded, get another officer to the scene as quickly as possible, and then get them to radio for the Paramedics (your wounded officer will be unable to do this for himself). He will be out of action for a period as he recuperates. You can restrict the movement of a suspect by the use of roadblocks - use the Roadblock icon. Place the cursor over a road section and click to place a vehicle block - pedestrians can also be blocked by clicking on the sidewalks. Roadblocks are removed by clicking on them again. You can have a maximum of 16 roadblocks in place at any one time. Be careful though, since they may cause traffic congestion which may slow down the approach of back-ups, ambulances, the coroner and demoralize the general public. Criminal Types The person who commits a specific type of crime will have other characteristics associated with them, their aggression levels and susceptibility to persuasion for example. Additionally, the more crimes an individual commits without being caught, the more likely they are to commit another, and to become more resistant to arrest. For example, a bag-snatcher who has committed just a single crime is likely to be easy to arrest with minimum force. However, a serial-killer who has committed several successful murders will be hard to find (they will not be highlighted as no descriptions will be available since the main witnesses are dead), and may not be very cooperative when questioned - they may even draw firearms if approached. Warning suspects before arresting them may pacify them, and the amount of back-up you have is likely to reduce the likelihood of them resisiting arrest. Shooting them (to wound only) should be used as a last resort, and calling out the SWAT team should only be used in seige situations. However, the successful arrest of a dangerous criminal and their subsequent conviction is likely to increase your popularity a great deal. Criminal types in Hill Street Blues Bag-snatchers -> Muggers -> Pickpockets (least dangerous) Drug pedlars -> Armed robbers -> Random killers -> Serial killers (most danderous) SWAT Team If you have selected Officer Hunter, you may call out the SWAT team. These are highly trained marksmen, and are specialists at dealing with siege situations (bank robberies). If you select this icon and are quick enough to catch the crime in progress, the SWAT team will rendezvous with Hunter's vehicle. Select the Shoot icon and the suspect will eventually be brought out (possibly wounded) for subsequent arrest. The Courtroom Crimes are quickly processed at the Hill Street Precinct. Minor crimes (below drug peddling) are automatically processed and the outcome of these cases will be reported to you. Serious crimes will require a trial, usually on the day of arrest. The relevant officer will attend the court (unless you are currently using him for another crime, in which case the accused will get off since the officer was not able to present evidence). After the initial court proceedings you will be asked to give evidence. You will be required to identify the accused in court - click on the correct portrait. Wrong identification will cause the case to be thrown out. If you have given reliable evidence, the case will proceed and the jury will come to a verdict, hopefully convicting your suspect. If the accused is found guilty, then all the other crimes they have committed will be presented and asked to be taken into consideration (these will all then be removed from the outstanding case file). If he is found not guilty, then you will be unable to arrest him again immediately for the same crime. (this is a constitutional right). You must hope to catch him again later is he commits another crime (which is quite likely). Popularity Your popularity is judged on your clean-up rate, and the way you go about getting results. Your popularity will fall if: A The crime rate rises rapidly B Crimes remain unsolved for too long C Victims of violent crimes are not helped quickly enough D You use firearms excessively E Corpses are left on the street F Traffic congestion clogs the road system G Innocent people are arrested by mistake H Innocent bystanders are injured by gunfire I The guilty are not satisfactorily sentenced in court If your popularity falls below 20% you will be fired. Keep your popularity above 90% for an extened period and you will be rewarded with promotion to Police Chief. The win or lose outcome will only take place after approximately 24 hours of game play. LOAD/SAVE Click on the Officer icon to access the disk operations. Click on the Save icon to save the current game status (DO NOT USE THE MASTER DISK - have a formatted disk ready, or select the Format icon). Choose a savegame number for the file. Loading the same number will restore your game at a later time. Dealing with a Crime - Example Case 1 AJ Hill the radio operator will inform you of a crime that has just taken place. You must decide to either ignore it or deal with it immediately. 2 If you decide to deal with it, note the scene of the crime. Go to the office and use the police computer to get more details - a description of the suspect (if available), the name of the victim, the type of crime. Select the Investigate icon to accept the case, and choose your officer. Exit the computer and then exit the office. 3 Select the relevant officer and examine the Game Map and note the location in question (highlighted). Click on this location to select it. 4 Decide how best to send them - by car or on foot. This will depend on the location - some areas (eg, one-way systems) may be easier to get to on foot. Enter the car if you wish to travel by this means. 5 Send the officer to the scene of the crime (previously selected from the map). 6 Exit the car (if driving). Ensure that any victims with injuries are swiftly taken to hospital. 7 Ensure that any murder victims are dealt with quickly by the coroner. 8 Examine the area and approach passers-by. If you have a description of the suspect, then close inspection will reveal if you recognize them (red arrows). If you do not have a description, then watch out for members of the public who are uncooperative or who are behaving suspiciously (eg, loitering or walking more quickly than normal). 9 If you have a suspect, then approach and arrest them. 10 Take the suspect back to the station (automatic). 11 They will automatically be charged with the relevant crime. Minor crimes will be dealt with automatically, but serious crimes will require a full trial. Keep a note of the details of the case for later presentation in court since your officer will have to be present as a witness. 12 Attend the court on the day of the trial (automatic). You will be expected to be able to identify the defendant in the courtroom. 13 If you have arrested the correct person, and have given satisfactory evidence in court, then the individual will hopefully be found guilty and sentenced. If found guilty, all other crimes that person has committed will be asked to be taken into consideration and will all be transferred from the unsolved to the solved crimefile. SKID ROW SKID ROW SKID ROW SKID ROW SKID ROW SKID ROW SKID ROW