Minimum System Specification

In order to get the most out of Discworld Noir you will need:

• P133 or greater IBM-compatible computer (P166 recommended).
• 16 MB of RAM (32 MB recommended).
• Windows 95 or Windows 98.
• 8-speed CD-ROM drive (16-speed would be even better¹ ).
• Sound card and amplified speakers or headphones.
• Single hemisphere electro-colloidal brain with cognitive functions (twin-hemisphere recommended²).

Installing the Game

Insert the CD in your CD-ROM drive. If you have Autorun enabled, it will (unsurprisingly) automatically run and all you need do is follow the instructions on screen.

If not, select Run from the Start menu, select your CD-ROM drive using the Browse button and select Setup.exe from the file menu. You should then be in the same boat as the people whose Autorun is working, except they got there first and will have eaten all of the supplies.

After installation, you will be asked if you want to put a shortcut to Discworld Noir on your desktop (your choice - no pressure) and then you will be asked if you want to play Discworld Noir now - and of course you do, so select yes and you are on your way.

Playing Discworld Noir

Starting the Game

From the title screen you can start a new game or resume the last game you were playing. Since you haven't started playing yet, you'll probably want to start a new game, although you may feel the need to play about with the Options because you just can't see a button without feeling an irrepressible need to push it. When you start a game of Discworld Noir, an introduction to the game will be shown. If you have already watched it, you may bypass it by pressing the ESC key.

Hint: In general, ESC will allow you to skip any animated sequences in the game, or to advance through the conversation you are having with a character.

After the introduction (whether you watch it or not), the game will start. If you wish to load a previous game, press F1 to call up the Options menu (see later).

Using the Mouse

All of the game activities in Discworld Noir can be controlled by using your mouse. If you do not own a mouse, see the Using the Keyboard section later in this manual³. The mouse buttons are used in three different ways:

• Click means to press the left mouse button once.
• Double click means to press the left mouse button twice in quick succession.
• Right click means to press the right button once⁴.

The lead character in the game is Lewton, a private investigator. You are in control of him from the moment when the cursor first appears on the screen.

Using your mouse, move the cursor around the screen. You will soon notice that any areas or items of interest on the screen are tagged. This means that their names are displayed on screen whenever you point at them with the cursor. While you may explore anywhere on screen, it is only these tags that are important in completing the game. As well as text tags, there are also exits. When you point at an exit from a room, the cursor changes into an arrow pointing in a particular direction according to where the exit leads.

Hint: If you are stuck, it is worth checking that you have found all the tags in the rooms you can get to. A good habit to get into is 'sweeping' any new room you visit for tags. It is also worth remembering that some tags may change with time - it is up to you to decide which tags are likely to change.

Lewton's Mouse Controls

The following describes Lewton's basic commands:

• Walk: To make Lewton walk to a specific point on the screen, click on the place you want to go to. He will then walk across to it, or as near to it as possible. If you click on a tag, Lewton will walk over to it.
• Interact: To cause Lewton to interact with a tag, double click on it. The result of the interaction depends on what the tag is and possibly also on what Lewton has previously done. It will also depend to a great extent on what you have in Lewton's 'hands'⁵.
• Look: To have Lewton look at a tag, right click on it. Lewton will then describe what he sees.

Hint: There is a big difference between looking at a tag and interacting with it. For example, if you see some soot in a chimney, looking at it will cause Lewton to examine it closely. Interacting with it might cause Lewton to take some of the soot, or to try and clean it from the chimney.

Change of Views

In some locations, walking to a certain part of the area will cause the camera angle to change, providing a close up or alternative view of the location. Changes of view may also occur when you look at or interact with a tag.

Exits

The exits from a location are shown on screen by arrows. Some exits will take you to a new location, some to a different part of the current location and some back to the streets of Ankh-Morpork. To use an exit, simply click on it and Lewton will walk over and go through it.

Hint: If you are too impatient to wait for Lewton to walk to an exit, you can double click on the exit tag (a pointing arrow) and the scene will immediately cut to the next location.

Interacting

Lewton's interaction with tags will include talking to other characters (see Conversations) and looking for clues. Occasionally, Lewton may interact with a tag in a more physical manner. There are no hard and fast rules, but you will quickly get the hang of how interacting works⁶.

Inventories

The Notebook

Clues

The notebook is an inventory for clues. When Lewton hears or sees something of interest, he writes it down in his notebook as a clue. As the game progresses, Lewton will accumulate more and more clues which can be used to solve the game. You can access Lewton's notebook either by pressing F3 or by clicking on Lewton and selecting the notebook icon from the window that opens.

You may 'pick up' a clue by clicking on it, and then use the clue by interacting with game tags while the clue is in Lewton's 'hands'.

Hint: Clues are the key to completing the game. Whenever you get a new clue, you should think about how that clue impacts on what you already know, and who you can usefully talk to about that clue. Also, just because you've talked to someone about a particular clue doesn't mean you shouldn't talk to them again, if something else sheds new light on the situation.

Notebook Structure

The notebook consists of a number of pages, upon which are written the clues that Lewton has found. Each page has a title that will allow you to find the clue more quickly in the future. The first two pages in the notebook are the contents pages. On these pages are the titles of all the other pages in the notebook. Double clicking on the title of a notebook page will take you to the appropriate content page, and double clicking on one of the entries on a contents page will take you to the page with that title. Note that the cases entry on the first contents page will take you to the second contents page.

Some clues will appear on more than one page in the notebook. Such clues are known as hyperclues. Double clicking on a hyperclue will take you to the other page that the hyperclue appears on. This allows you (with a little experience) to zip around the notebook to your heart's content.

Notebook Commands

The following commands can all be carried out from the notebook:

• Muse about clue: Right click on the clue you wish Lewton to think about, exactly as if you were examining a tag. Do this if you've forgotten what a particular clue was about, or to hear Lewton's thoughts about a particular clue.
• Holding and Linking clues: When a clue has been clicked on, it becomes 'held'⁷. It can then be interacted with (double clicked on) another clue or a tag in an attempt to make a connection between them. Most of the time, clues will have no connection to each other, but occasionally attempting to link clues like this may cause Lewton to make a realisation that may add a new clue to the notebook.
  

  Hint: Lewton can also Link clues to tags and objects as well. All you need to do is 'hold' the clue and double click on the appropriate tag or object.

• Exit notebook: Click outside of the notebook window (or press ESC) to exit from it.
• Next page: If you click on the bottom right hand corner of the notebook, Lewton will turn the page onto the next page in the notebook. You can achieve the same goal by pressing PAGE DOWN.
• Previous page: Clicking on the bottom left hand corner of the notebook causes Lewton to turn back to the previous page. Note that this is the page before it in the notebook, not the last page you were displaying. If you use hyperclues to move between pages of the notebook, clicking here will not send you back to the last page displayed. The same effect can be achieved by pressing PAGE UP.
• First page: you can go to the first page in the notebook by pressing HOME.
• Last page: similarly, you can go to the last page in the notebook by pressing END.

The contents and size of the notebook will grow as the game proceeds. Also, clues that Lewton has decided are no longer important will become crossed out. If a clue is crossed out in the notebook, you can be certain that you have done everything that you needed to do with it⁸.

Hint: to 'drop' a clue you no longer need, you can right click. This will only work if there are no inventory windows open and you do not have a tag selected on screen. Alternatively, you can double click on Lewton or the Notebook to get rid of the currently 'held' clue.

The Object Inventory

Lewton's Bag

As well as his notebook, Lewton has a bag in which he puts any objects he happens to find⁹. This is the object inventory (often, 'the inventory') and can be accessed by clicking on Lewton and then on the bag icon, or by pressing F2. At the start of the game you will have one object - Lewton's purse. You will collect others as the game progresses. Unlike other computer adventure games, the number of objects in Discworld Noir is quite small. Most of the game depends on clues, not on objects.

You may pick up any object in the inventory by clicking on it, and then use the object by interacting (double clicking) with game tags while the object is in Lewton's hands¹⁰.

Inventory Commands

• Muse about object: Just as with clues, if you right click on an object you will get Lewton's comments on that object.
• Examine object: for a more detailed commentary, you may double click on an object. Lewton will then examine the object closely, and make any appropriate comments.
• Pick up object: clicking on an object allows Lewton to pick it up.
• Drop object: clicking in an open space in the inventory window will cause Lewton to drop the object he is carrying.
• Combine objects: this is the equivalent of linking clues (see above). Pick up an object and then click on the object you wish to combine it with. If it is possible for the objects to be combined, Lewton will tell you what happens. Otherwise, he will respond as if you attempted to link them. Objects can sometimes be combined with tags.
• Exit inventory: Click outside of the inventory window (or press ESC) to exit from it.
• Scroll inventory: Clicking on the arrows by the scroll bar will move the inventory up or down one row. clicking above or below the scroll bar indicator will move the inventory, and dragging the scroll bar indicator will allow you to scan through the inventory at high speed. You may also use the PAGE UP, PAGE DOWN, HOME and END keys to move around the inventory window (see Using the Keyboard).

Hint: the quickest way to put a held object in the inventory is to right click when there are no inventories open and there are no selected tags on screen. As with the notebook, you may also double click on Lewton or the Object Inventory for the same effect.

Other Inventories

There may be other types of inventories hidden in the game. It is up to you to learn how these work, but there will always be at least one character who can explain how they work. If you gain access to a hidden inventory, you can use F4 as a keyboard shortcut for opening it.

Conversations

Hard Boiled Monologue

Lewton, being a private investigator, has a private hard boiled monologue going on in his head. This is quite convenient for you, the player, since Lewton's hard boiled monologue lets you know what he is thinking about.

The Conversation Window

How to Talk to People¹¹

You can converse with almost all the characters in Discworld Noir. These characters often say important things which may help you to complete the game. It is always advisable to return and talk to characters at some later time, as they may have something new to tell you. Whenever you get a new clue, it is worth thinking about which characters you might want to talk to about that clue.

To open a conversation with a character, you simply double click on that character. After any preamble, the 'conversation window' will open. This window contains topics that Lewton can talk to the character about. Which topics are available at any particular time depend on what Lewton has learnt from his investigations, what he has already talked to that character about and on what has happened in the city recently.

Hint: Which topics are available depend on what Lewton has examined or looked at, what the character knows, what Lewton has already spoken to the character about and what is happening in the city. It is often worth having a look around the character's location before talking to them, as this can open up new conversation topics.

How to Stop talking to People¹²

When you have finished talking to a character, select the goodbye topic, or click outside of the conversation window. Lewton will say goodbye and you will be back to pounding the streets, searching for clues. Usually, you can return to a character and talk to them later. However, for various reasons, this may not always be possible. You will have to decide what to tell characters and what not to tell them. In some cases, Lewton will decide that it really isn't a good idea to tell (or ask) a certain person about some particular matter, in which case he will make a hard boiled comment to that effect.

Talking about Clues and Objects

You can make Lewton talk to someone about particular clues and objects by selecting the appropriate inventory icon from the conversation window. This will open that inventory, just as described above in Inventories. However, when you click on a clue or object in that inventory, instead of picking it up, Lewton will talk to the character he is talking to about it. If Lewton feels talking to that character about that clue or object is a really bad idea, you will hear hard boiled monologue explaining Lewton's reasons for wanting to keep quiet.

Confrontations

Occasionally in a conversation someone will say something which contradicts some evidence or clue gained from elsewhere. In these instances, you may want to make Lewton confront the individual. To do this, select the appropriate inventory icon (the notebook, for example) from the conversation window and then choose the relevant clue or object. Lewton will proceed to confront them accordingly. In some cases, a successful confrontation will add a topic allowing you to drive the point home.

The Options Window

What is the Options Window?

Erm... well, it's a window with options in it. What did you expect? A kiosk selling shares? You can open the Options window by pressing the F1 key thus accessing the bounteous wonders within.

The Options

Load a Game

When you select this option, a window containing a list of previously saved games will appear. To load one of these games, select it by clicking on its description and then click the tick icon. Alternatively, you may simply double click on the description. The cross icon can be used to cancel the load game attempt.

Save this Game

You may save your current game at any time (so that you can return and play from that exact place) by selecting this option. A list of previously saved games will appear, as well as an empty slot for saving a fresh game. You may either rename an existing game by clicking on the description and typing a new one, or you may create a new saved game by typing a fresh description in the empty slot. Once you have entered the description, click on the tick icon to save the game. You can also save over an old game by double clicking on it.

Restart Game

This option takes you back to the title screen. Use it when everything is going really badly, or when you want to see the intro movie again, or because you just happen to like the look of the title screen.

Sound Controls

This displays a window with sliders allowing you to alter the volume of the game's music, sound effects and voice volume. Subtitles are provided for the hard of hearing, the hard of listening or the hard of affording a decent sound card. From this option you can also enable or disable the subtitles or alter the speed at which subtitles are displayed. For versions with multiple languages, select the flag of the country whose language you wish to use for the subtitles. You may also turn on or off the Speak All Text¹³ option from this window.

Quit Playing

This causes you to exit the game¹⁴.

Using the Keyboard

Discworld Noir can be enjoyed equally well when played with the keyboard¹⁵:

• The cursor is moved around by using the ARROW keys.
• The SPACE key is the equivalent of a single click, for walking or 'picking up' clues or objects from inventories.
• The RETURN key is the equivalent of a double click, for interacting with or for switching to the other page a hyperclue appears on.
• The CTRL key is the equivalent of a right click, and is used for looking at tags and returning objects to their inventories.
• F1 opens the options window.
• F2 opens the object inventory.
• F3 opens the notebook.
• F4 opens additional inventories, if you have them.
• When the notebook window is open, you have some additional keys. PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN scroll up and down a page, and the HOME and END keys can be used to move you to the start and end of the notebook respectively.
• Similarly, in the object inventory, PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN scroll up and down, and the HOME and END keys can be used to move you to the start and end of the inventory respectively.

The ESC key is used to bypass any fixed animation sequences (cut scenes), and also to cancel or abort any window operation. Finally, ALT X can be used to exit the game entirely.

Copy Protection

Discworld Noir is the product of thousands of man-hours of effort, and was written by an independent software house, very talented but not very rich. Therefore, we will be very upset with you if you decide to pirate our game. What's more, if you do this, we will be forced to unleash our team of hardened mercenaries to hunt you down for sport. We don't like to do that, but these are desperate times.

¹ But we're not all made of money.
Click here to go back

² Yes, I know we used this gag in the manual for the previous game. But we figure you punters have a very short attention span, and how many good 'minimum system specification' jokes can there be?
Click here to go back

³ And ask yourself: "Why don't I own a mouse?" I mean, come on. Everyone has a mouse these days. Get with the programme.
Click here to go back

⁴ This style of text description is what is known in the industry as 'bloody obvious'. However, as a mark of our respect for you, the punter, we include it here anyway. Besides, how many of you read the manual anyway? I know what you're like - you get home with your new game in your hot and sweaty palms and you haven't got time to waste with the manual, you just want to tear it out of that irritating plastic wrapping and get straight into the action. I don't know, no patience in the younger generation, not like my day... when I was a lad, computer games were in black and white, and you didn't have CD-ROM drives, you had punch cards. You'd go to the shop and say "can I have the punch cards for 'Way of the Exploding Fist' please?" The shop assistant would punch you in the nose for being an impudent whelp. Ah, those were the days...
Click here to go back

⁵ This might be an object, or a clue. Strictly speaking, a clue wouldn't be in Lewton's hands, per se, so much as... oh, I don't know... in his consciousness. But we figure that if you managed to install the game you must be bright enough to know what we're talking about.
Click here to go back

⁶ And if you don't, well, the CD-ROMs make excellent coffee mats.
Click here to go back

⁷ If the notebook is selected from inside a conversation, this does not happen. Instead, Lewton talks to the person in question about the clue. See Conversations, below, for further details.
Click here to go back

⁸ This doesn't mean that you've definitely done everything that you could have done with it, but it does mean that a clue won't get crossed out until you've used it in the most appropriate way for finishing the game.
Click here to go back

⁹ Or, as the case may be, steal, pinch, pilfer, nick, prig, filch, purloin, misappropriate, peculate, hook, snitch, borrow, boost, liberate, heist, swipe or hijack.
Click here to go back

¹⁰ That is, the only difference between clues and objects is that when we were talking about clues we had to put 'hold' and 'hands' in inverted commas.
Click here to go back

¹¹ In the game, that is. If you can't talk to people in real life we can't really help you. I'd recommend calling a helpline, but if you can't talk to people how is that going to help?
Click here to go back

¹² In real life, this is usually the easy part.
Click here to go back

¹³ This is intended for use by blind people. Yes, you may think that it would be impossible to play the game if you were blind but we know of at least one blind woman who has completed the previous two games despite not being able to see. Frankly, we were stunned because most people who could see couldn't complete the first one. This option is affectionately dedicated to her.
Click here to go back

¹⁴ Perhaps because you haven't slept in days.
Click here to go back

¹⁵ This is in fact a flagrant lie. A mouse is obviously a better way of playing, but the keyboard can be used to speed up game play. To all those people with a P133 or above and no mouse I ask you: Why? What possible reason could there be? You have my sympathy.
Click here to go back

¹⁶ Discworld Noir did not spring fully formed to life like Athena from Zeus (or, for a more modern version of the same expression, like Xena from Hercules). Many, many talented people gave their lives so that you could play this game and you really owe them at least a cursory glance. I'll bet you're the kind of person who walks out of films before the credits have finished too. Shame on you.
Click here to go back