D O D G Y G E E Z E R S its criminal wot they get up to! Fresh out of gaol after serving a three year stretch for your part in the Long Ditton Spaghetti Caper, you're itching for that one massive caper which will allow you to live on the Costa Brava for the rest of your life. But what is the caper, and who can you trust to be in your gang? And by the way, who IS that geezer in the white Gucci shoes? DODGY GEEZERS is the latest "real life adventure" from Trevor Lever and Peter Jones, authors of HAMPSTEAD and TERRORMOLINOS, and writers and performers of the diabolical DODGY GEEZERS song on the flip side of this tape. At least the lyrics may give you some useful tips . . . . . DODGY GEEZERS 'Ullo. Do I know you? Just checkin' The thing about DODGY GEEZERS is this: there's a caper in the offing. Well, I mean, when isn't there? But this one's a bit special. Let me explain . . . You've been, er, away for a while, as we say around here. For those who don't know, that means you've been doing a stretch in one of Her Majesty's establishments for the last three years. It was only going to be two, but they added a year for bad behaviour. That's the sort of person you are, to be honest. Or not It was the Long Ditton Spaghetti Caper which caused you to slip up. In fact you were done up like a kipper. Someone grassed. Anyhow, now you're back with us, I expect you'll be on the lookout for a bit of business . . .? Course you will. I can't say too much. But what I want to know is this: who's that geezer with the white Gucci shoes who's been hanging around a lot lately? Bullet proof George came out the same day as you, I notice. How is he? Not much in the way of grey matter, but a heart of gold. He means well. I expect you're wondering about your other old mates, and all. Well, Little Ken - bless him - he's still around, doing the odd bit of cat burglary. I don't know what he does with all them cats. Then there's High-Score, or Mr Video, or whatever he calls himself. He's what I call a shady character, and believe me I've known plenty in my time. He's from somewhere in Africa, very well educated. Not like old Cracker. Now there's a bloke who's one of the old school - I don't mean old school tie. Give him a detonator and some cable and he'll blow your own front door off its hinges. Have you seen Tweedle at all? Old Tweedle Dee? Saw him down the dog track the other day. He put a poodle on the 3.45, split a seven both ways, and the bleeder come back up. I ask you! Tricks wasn't pleased. He's just started working for Soapy. Oh, didn't you hear? Soapy's latest little racket is the Le Mans 24-Hour Car Company. Not one of his better cons. The first thing he does is hire Tricks as a driver - a bloke with so many motoring convictions, he shouldn't be let near a car. I mean, a steering wheel's an offensive weapon in his hands. Talking of which (and I can't really, but just so you know . . .) you'll probably need a few tools of the trade. You'll have to find them yourself. I don't know what you might need. What's that? What's the caper? Blimey O'Reilly, you don't half give me gyp sometimes. You don't think I'd tell you, surely? You'll have to find out for yourself! Let me just put his quiet word in your shell-like: you've got a chance to square it with the geezer what grassed on you. Especially now he's got that highly respectable job . . . sitting there surrounded by all that dosh. I go faint just thinking about it. I've said too much already. Must be off. Come again? Who can you trust? Out of that lot? You must be off your trolley! None of them! But to put it another way, if you put your mind to it, there's the making of a crack team there. It's just a question of keeping your eyes and ears open, putting the right geezers on the slate, and way you go. Go where? You're a bit previous, aren't you? Not many Be lucky! HOW TO BE A DODGY PERSON When the program is fully loaded, some instructions will appear. Read them carefully. Then . . . You will find yourself in a prison cell. It is your day of release, however, and outside the world of crime awaits you. Since you are a professional criminal, it should be quite obvious that you must find yourself a crime to commit, and a gang to help you commit it. But what is the most brilliant caper you can devise? There are people around who know certain facts, but it's up to you to put all the information together and come up with a plan. The more information you can gather by ducking and diving around the murky streets, the more your fellow villains will respect you, and regard you as their leader. To get moving, use the usual compass directions N,S,E,W,NE,NW,SE,SW, as well as UP and Down (U and D). Apart from movements, most of your commands will be in the form of VERB NOUN. For example, since you will need to pick things up and put them down, you will want to type in such commands as GET MATCHES and DROP MATCHES. If you want to take a closer look around your location, SEARCH WAREHOUSE/BETTING SHOP/JETTY or wherever you happen to be. Similarly with objects, EXAMINE POSTER/PICKAXE/BOOK etc. If you want to wait where you are for something to happen, the command is HANG ABOUT. To wait for several turns, add a number to the end of the command, as in HANG ABOUT 3. Several commands can be typed in on one line by separating them with AND or THEN or a comma. The computer remembers the last object you referred to, and you can call it IT in future commands. Loading Instructions 1. Place the cassette in the tape deck and ensure it is fully rewound. 2. Press the CTRL key and the small ENTER key simultaneously. 3. Press PLAY on the tape deck. 4. The game will now load and run automatically. 5. In the unlikely event of a loading error, please rewind the tape slightly and press play. If errors persist your tape deck may need realigning. 6. In the most unlikely event of a genuine fault, please return the complete package to Melbourne House Publishers at the nearest to you of the addresses shown. We will gladly replace it. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN IT TO THE PLACE OF PURCHASE. (This notice does not affect your statutory rights.) Playing the Game In DODGY GEEZERS you can also learn something about the various unsavoury characters you will meet. To help you, the authors have included the criminal record, if any, of each character, which will give you an idea of their particualr inclinations and skills. Other useful commands are I for Inventory, i.e. what yoy have with you; R For Redescribe, in case you've forgotten where you are and what objects are visible; QUIT, when you've done enough lurking, plotting and sneaking about for one day; and SAVE/LOAD to enable you to save the adventure up to the point you've reached and resume later. Check your computer manual for instructions. Graphics Some combinations of actions or events may result in the program displaying an appropriate picture. To return to normal game play from this display, simply press any key. (The BBC/Electron version does not have graphics) Two Sides To The Story So brilliantly complex is DODGY GEEZERS that the authors have divided it into two. If you can successfully assemble a gang, you will be given a password which will enable you to LOAD the second part of the adventure. Incidentally, this ISN'T the password you will have to use earlier on! It is impossible to get into Part Two until you have picked your gang. At that point you will be given full instructions on what to do next - at least, as far as LOADing is concerned. As for actually committing your crime, that's up to you . . . The Part Two program follows directly after the Part One program on side A of the tape. Scoring There is no scoring system in DODGY GEEZERS. Either you succeed or you fail. Life's like that, isn't it? Dodgy Geezers storyline developed on "The Quill" by Lever/Jones. Reprogrammed by Ashminster Computing Ltd. Graphic ideas by Valerie Saunders Graphic design by Consult Computer Systems Audio Track Copyright © Lever/Jones Extraneous noises by Murray Anderson, Colin Flint and Sally Cowlishaw Program Copyright © 1986 Lever Jones Cover artwork by Words and Pictures Ltd. Published by:- MELBOURNE HOUSE 60 High Street Hampton Wick Kingston-upon-Thames Surrey KT1 4DB United Kingdom 96-100 Tope Street South Melbourne 3205 Victoria Australia WARNING:- Infringement of copyright is a criminal offence. Copying, lending, hiring, public broadcasting, transmission or distribution other than in the original packaging are prohibited without express written permission from Melbourne House (Publishers) Ltd. All Melbourne House products are sold subject to our terms and conditions of sale, copies of which are available on request.