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 dialling 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.
Solution:
Because of the chance elements of people "dropping out" of your party
and needing to be recruited again, the RECRUIT command may not always be
needed or may be needed with for a different person. To note who is
missing, you can leave and return, or type PARTY.
You begin at a gas station and see a car careening down the road to the
station), W (you see buttons), PRESS GREEN (you hear a cry for help),
IN, RECRUIT DAVE, OUT (the car explodes), HISTORY DAVE (he tells you the
food will suffer from bacter infection if it is moved), E, E, E, S (you
see a bicycle), TAKE BICYCLE, S, S, SLEEP (2 times), WAIT (you are in a
drugstore with food), N, E, E, DROP BICYCLE, IN, TAKE SPANNER, OUT, E,
S, N, N, SW, E, IN, TAKE GLOVES, OUT, W, IN, UP (you see a bolted door),
REMOVE BOLTS (the door falls down the shaft), DOWN, S (Dave stays here),
S, RECRUIT BILL, HISTORY BILL (he tells you there is a nuclear command
centre to the south where the bombs will need to be de-armed by the
command computer), S, SW, NE, TAKE ROPE, OUT, NE, LEAVE BILL, UP, W, UP
(you see greased cables).
WEAR GLOVES, UP, JUMP, W (you see Sue), OPEN WINDOW, TAKE WIRES, OPEN
WINDOW, RECRUIT SUE, HISTORY SUE (she tells you of a refugee camp), S,
UP, ASK SUE (she says you could go down with a rope), TIE ROPE, DOWN
ROPE, IN, RECRUIT DAVE, RECRUIT BILL, FEED SUE, FEED DAVE, FEED BILL,
EAT FOOD, OUT, NW, W, W (it's too dark for her), HIT SUE, TAKE SUE, W,
TAKE BICYCLE, W, W, N, RECRUIT SUE, N, W, W, DROP BICYCLE, IN, S, LEAVE
SUE, OUT, E (you see Sylvia), W, S, W, S, TAKE BOOK (ignore the
suitcase), N, E, N, EXAMINE BOOK (Cmdr Walker), READ BOOK, PRESS PAGE,
READ BOOK, PRESS PAGE, READ BOOK, PRESS PAGE, E, RECRUIT SYLVIA, HISTORY
SYLVIA, W, IN, RECRUIT SUE, LEAVE BILL, LEAVE SYLVIA, S, S, OUT, SLEEP
(2 times), WAIT (you are under a tank).
Go S, E, E, TAKE CAN, W, W, N, UP, UP, FILL CAN, DOWN, DOWN, FILL BUS,
IN, RECRUIT SUE, S, LEAVE SUE, OUT, S, TAKE BOOTS, N, IN, RECRUIT SUE,
N, LEAVE SUE, RECRUIT BILL, OUT, E, S, E, N, FEED BILL, FEED DAVE, EAT
FOOD, W, TAKE SCREWDRIVER, SE, N, RECRUIT SAM, HISTORY SAM, S, W, N,
WEAR BOOTS, FIX GENERATOR, S (a roller coaster car rolls down), IN,
PRESS GO, OUT, TAKE METAL, DOWN, W, W, IN, RECRUIT SUE, N, N, LEAVE SUE,
OUT, TAKE BICYCLE, E, E, S, S, E, E, E, S, N, DROP BICYCLE, N, SW, IN,
SLEEP (2 times), WAIT, UP, INSERT METAL (you make a key), DOWN, FEED
BILL, FEED SAM, FEED DAVE, EAT FOOD, OUT, NW, TAKE BICYCLE, W, W, W, W,
N, N, W, W, DROP BICYCLE.
Go IN, RECRUIT SUE, S, S, S, RECRUIT SYLVIA, RECRUIT SYLVIA, OUT, S,
LEAVE DAVE, LEAVE BILL, LEAVE SAM, OPEN DOOR (the madman runs away), N,
RECRUIT DAVE, RECRUIT BILL, RECRUIT SAM, RECRUIT SYLVIA, OPEN DOOR, E,
FEED SUE, FEED SYLVIA, FEED SAM, FEED BILL, FEED DAVE, EAT FOOD, W, S,
TAKE TROLLEY, (continue to check your party about who is missing and who
you need to feed), RECRUIT SYLVIA, RECRUIT SYLVIA, RECRUIT SYLVIA, N, W,
TAKE COMPUTER, E, S, INSERT ELECTRICAL, PRESS ON, DIAL 1922, TYPE YES
(you are going to play a game), EXAMINE SCREEN (you see a menu), TYPE 1
(security options), EXAMINE SCREEN, TYPE 2, EXAMINE SCREEN (you see
various locations and screens), TYPE 3, EXAMINE SCREEN, TYPE 4, EXAMINE
SCREEN, TYPE ZA0 (missiles de-armed), TYPE YB0 (missiles de-armed), TYPE
XC0 (missiles de-armed; leave Sylvia behind for now).
Go N, E (feed everyone and yourself again), W, N, N, IN, LEAVE DAVE,
LEAVE SUE, LEAVE BILL, LEAVE SAM, OUT, S, OPEN DOOR, S, RECRUIT SYLVIA,
N, E, FEED SAM, FEED SYLVIA, EAT FOOD, SLEEP (2 times), WAIT (23), W, N,
N, IN, LEAVE SYLVIA, LEAVE, RECRUIT SUE, E, LEAVE SUE, OUT, (25), W, NW,
OPEN DOOR, N, E, EXAMINE PANEL (on and off buttons), PRESS OFF, OPEN
DOOR, TAKE BOTTLE, W, S, W, SW, E, (26), IN, RECRUIT SUE, RECRUIT
SYLVIA, OUT, W, SW, SE, S, EAT FOOD, FEED SUE, FEED SYLVIA, LEAVE
SYLVIA, (27), N, E, E, NW, N, SW, E, E, E, LEAVE SUE, W, W, W, NE, S, S,
W, W, S, RECRUIT SYLVIA, (28).
Go N, E, E, NW, N, SW, E, E, E, LEAVE SYLVIA, W, W, W, NE, S, S, W, W,
W, W, IN, RECRUIT DAVE, RECRUIT BILL, RECRUIT SAM, (29), OUT, W, SW, SE,
S, FEED DAVE, FEED BILL, FEED SAM, LEAVE BILL, LEAVE DAVE, N, E, E, NW,
N, SW, E, E, E, SLEEP (2 times), WAIT, LEAVE SAM, W, W, W, NE, S, S, W,
W, S, RECRUIT DAVE, (30), EAT FOOD, N, E, E, NW, N, SW, E, E, E, LEAVE
DAVE, W, W, W, NE, S, S, W, W, S, RECRUIT BILL, EAT FOOD, (31)N, E, E,
NW, N, SW, E, E, E, LEAVE BILL. You are finished. Score 100%
Terri Sheehan
2007-03-11
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