FOUR MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
8th Day Software
Spectrum 128

Hints:

This is a most challenging game, made more so by the chance elements in it. 
There are five people to collect for your party, all of whom have a role in 
helping you: Sue drives the bus, Dave and Bill when strength is needed, Sam who 
worked at the fairgrounds and knows the generator, pretty well everyone to get 
the computer on the trolley, and Sylvia and Sue to calm the madman. Your goal is 
to rescue all of them and disarm the bombs. 

I found a comprehensive hint sheet on the Internet provided by 8th Day Software. 
Since I cannot recall how I found it, it is attached below.

FOUR MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT.

A hint sheet compiled by 8th Day.

At the start of the game the correct sequence to follow would be WEST, TURN OFF 
PUMPS, IN, RECRUIT DAVE, and OUT. Sue is the only one who can drive the bus. The 
pumps will need to be switched back on in order for you to fill the bus. Use the 
bicycle if you wish to speed up the crossing of the long highway to the east of 
the petrol station. When in the city, Sue will need rescuing, you will need to 
have some strong character's for you to be able to unbolt the lift door on the 
first floor of the department store. You will also require a spanner, from the 
boot of the car which is in the tunnel. It is advisable that you do not take any 
character's with you when you go up the cables in the lift shaft, they will 
fall. You will need to wear the gloves you found in the hotel, and jump at the 
top by the 2nd floor. Before all this though, get the rope, it should be in the 
warehouse which is south of the ground floor. On the 2nd floor move to and then 
open the window, get the object from the ledge. Recruit Sue, go to the store 
roof, tie the rope and descend to the street floor. Using the lathe in the 
stores, turn the metal bit into a key. A high degree of engineering will be 
needed by the party to achieve this. We need the key for access to several 
buildings. To get Sue back through the tunnel, you will have to knock her out, 
but dont worry she will wake up on the other side. The phone that rings can be 
ignored, its a red herring. Two tools and a high degree of engineering are 
required to repair the fairground generator. Insulated boots are to be worn 
here. When its fixed, go south until the bumper car arrives, ride this to the 
top of the big dipper and get out. You cannot return here so use your initiative 
and go down back to the base of the 
dipper. Now the bank vault, take the book but leave the money as you dont 
require it, and having Dave with you (the strongest) you will be tempted to take 
both objects, but this is not necessary. Your speed is tested when you enter the 
small town first. The bus runs out of petrol, go to the church and with the can 
that you also found, climb the gas-tanks and fill with petrol, then fill the 
bus, get in and drive away. This section is visited only once. When you enter 
the computer centre, the madman can only be calmed by the party of Sylvia and 
Sue. You will need to wire up the computer in the command centre, first of all 
we need to get the computer there, a high level of strength is required as well 
as a trolley and the computer. Then insert the wires and turn on the power. For 
access to the computer menu you need a number from the pocket book, it is the 
entry found to be the odd one out under the A to Z headings namely DIAL 1922.
Everything should shortly be working in the computer centre, the correct input 
in response to the first prompt will be YES. You will now have to EXAMINE the 
screen after every action. Do not leave the room, the computer will self 
destruct. There is also a time limit set to disarm the three Nuclear strikes. 
The Disarm (or fire!!!) commands are found in the FOUR menu's. To Disarm the 
three strikes and score a certain % of marks the commands are:- TYPE 0XC, TYPE 
0YB, TYPE 0ZA. The computer will shut down after increasing your score. A bottle 
of bacteria is now required from the plague centre. You need to depressurise the 
Vacuum chamber before opening it by pressing the correct button to turn it off. 
EXAMINE PANEL. When you encounter the road block, it will disperse if you have 
the bottle. To get through the Refugee camp only take one character at a time 
and keep an eye on your food level.

Some extra helpful tips:-

MAZE: (Icewarehouse) IN-SW/NE, OUT-OUT (from furthest room where rope is found).
MAZE: (approach to city) NORTH TO SOUTH-N/N/S, SOUTH TO NORTH-W 
MAZE: (desert - plague city) WEST TO EAST-W/NW, EAST TO WEST-W/E
MAZE: (desert - mountain pass) WEST TO EAST-W/SW/SE, EAST TO WEST-W/E.


Additional Hints (by Terri Sheehan):

TYPE HELP for additional verbs and hints.

Once in the bus, there are four locations to the south. The first is north of 
the street; the second is outside the fairgrounds, the third is below the tanks, 
and the fourth is on the drive. After you have visited all these places (as well 
as all the locations beyond them), go east when on the bus.

You should only hit Sue once.

I am not sure how once comes to the conclusion that dialing 1922 is the correct 
choice. Press ON to turn the computer on. The rest is logical, though the order 
ZA0, YB0, XC0 seems more logical, given you have typed 1, 2, 3, 4 in order. 

There are many chance elements in this game. To avoid losing a member of your 
party (when you have all of them), LEAVE one of them in a nearby location when 
it gets dark. 

Another good place to also leave members of your party (when you don't need 
them) is in the food locations, or in the bus.

Sylvia is the one most likely to "drop out" when you have a full party. The 
"dropouts" occur randomly.

SLEEP twice, then WAIT once. The need to sleep appears to occur after a fixed 
number of moves.

Each general area has its own food source (unlimited).

To get the bottle, you need to OPEN DOOR, not OPEN PANEL.


Terri Sheehan
2007-03-11

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