 CORRUPTION

   Part 1

 CORRUPTION, by Magnetic Scrolls, is a surprisingly small and slightly
less "political" game than many of their others. But they've done it
again, and the graphics are even better than those in JINXTER. A major
hint: There are a couple of situations similar to those in all their
games which are included for the sake of completeness. In CORRUPTION,
there are three such sections -- complete with graphics -- that are
simply red-herrings: One is entirely useless, and the other two will
take you up toward the end with no place to go and nothing to do.
 Also, beware of hints regarding the end of the game, because an attempt
has been made to mislead you. On the other hand, it's worthwhile to use
these hints, because you'll learn something about what Magnetic Scrolls
may try to do with graphics in the future. Save first, though!
 One feature is a perpetual clock that keeps time, on which one minute
equals one move. This makes things a bit more linear, but saving
regularly (and some precautionary "snitching") should make it easy for
you to try something else whenever you're stuck. Just keep in mind you
may need to patch up your saves if you don't have time to complete all
necessary actions before going into the endgame. Only other people's
movements happen according to the clock; yours need not. Generally there
is some leeway on what you must do and when you must do it. For
instance, most of the morning needs to be spent collecting information
and evidence -- let's say, in the manner of a private detective. While
most overheard information will happen at specific times, physical
evidence will remain in place much longer. Also, you can place yourself
in position to hear things as soon as it's safe to do so, and simply
WAIT until you hear them. This will become clearer as you play the game.
 During play it may or may not become obvious that there is a specific
schedule which the programmers had in mind. It wasn't clear to me until
I spoke with Rainbird. However, so long as you get it all done, they
have allowed for you to do things in whatever order you choose. At one
point, I became badly stuck in the endgame and called Rainbird in
California. After quite some discussion, it became clear I had done
everything. The only problem seemed to be a puzzle I inadvertently
solved early in the game which is semi-automatically set up to happen
later. When I went back and did it in Rainbird's order, the end didn't
work any better than it had before. It turns out that wasn't the problem
at all: The puzzle can be solved at any time. (The person in California
had not actually played the game and was working only from notes sent
from Magnetic Scrolls in London.) What I'd neglected to do was read a
couple of items in my latest save, and the game hadn't been "told" I
knew about them. Therefore, a major word of caution is in order:
 The word EXAMINE is _not_ the same as the word READ, and you _must_
READ any document that might in any way be incriminating or pertinent to
your case.
 Part 2 of this walkthru includes a timetable, but not the events. You
should fill it in as a way to make sure you've found and heard
everything. One more thing: If you can't seem to make it into the
afternoon, you haven't collected all the evidence you needed to in the
morning. The game lasts for approximately one full working day.
 I played the Atari ST version of the game which came with instructions
for the Amiga and IBM versions. All three versions are now available,
and I have also seen the C64/128 version. Apparently, the IBM version is
not copy-protected to allow installation on a hard disk. When I tried it
with the ST version, it didn't work at all, although I didn't have a
hard drive at the time. There are many hidden files which will not copy,
and a complete disk copy (drag one icon to the other with the mouse)
results in a message saying the game disk is a different format from a
standard single-sided, formatted disk (a problem not normally
encountered with a hard drive). This didn't bother me very much, though.
I simply put my desktop and clock installer on my save disk, booted the
machine with it from Drive A, used Drive B to boot the game, and
prefaced my save commands with "A:". Seemed to work fine. One thing to
keep in mind: The game disk is _full_! Do _not_ try to save games to it!
Use a separate disk.
 While playing, remember there are many situations where you cannot
possibly do things right the first time, so judicious saves are
extremely important. One area in particular cannot even be explored well
enough in the time you're given to successfully complete the actions
required to solve the puzzle there. A couple of quick EXAMINEs will blow
the time schedule enough to result in your death. Save often!

 CORRUPTION
   Part 2

 The following timetable lists the times that are important. You can
fill it in with more specifics as you go along.
 9:00 a.m. - The game starts.
 9:03 a.m. - Information only.
 9:07 a.m.
 9:15 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
 10:00 a.m.
 10:11 a.m.
 11:00 a.m.
 11:24 a.m.
 11:32 a.m. - Opportunity ends for you.
 11:37 a.m. - Opportunity ends for you.
 11:55 a.m. - Only semi-relevant.
 12:00 noon - Opportunity starts.
 12:09 p.m.
 You start out in your new office, and it's certainly not very nice.
Your secretary is very unattractive and unpleasant, and the furniture is
terrible. Only the view and your new BMW are any improvement over your
old job. Oh well, maybe things will get better when the firm moves the
way your new partner, David, says they will.
 For the start of the game I've used measured moves which are slightly
arbitrary. You don't have to do things in this exact order; these are
simply the moves I used to reach the necessary times and to see all the
graphics. You can alter them to suit yourself. My moves are also
separated but can be strung together in most any way you want. I tend to
be a bit paranoid about closing doors, drawers, etc., behind me. But if
I ever forgot to do so, the game never caught me at it. So, it's
probably not necessary, and no one ever commented on what I was carrying
with me.
 The first couple of moves aren't particularly important. EXAMINE DAVID
and EXAMINE BOOKINGS will do fine. Follow David out into Margaret's
office by going north because you want to know what he says to her. Then
go east, north, and west into -- and automatically back out of -- the
Dealing Room with a message for David. If you used the same number of
moves I did, he'll be out in the Corridor; so, TELL DAVID ABOUT SERIOUS
FRAUD OFFICE. If he's not there, you can tell him later, although I
never did find out if it's necessary to do so.
 In any case, he'll be casual about it and go into Hughes's office to
the east. Since this is sort of suspicious, LISTEN AT WOODEN DOOR, and
you'll have a better idea of what's going on. (The time he goes in is
specific and is indicated on the schedule. But you can do the listening
at any time he's in there, which will be for about 5 minutes or so,
although I didn't check that part.)
 Now is a good time to go exploring. Go south and east into the
bathroom. Go south to enter the cubicle, OPEN CISTERN, LOOK IN CISTERN,
and GET BAG. EXAMINE BAG and you find it has some powder in it. EXAMINE
POWDER. Although it doesn't exactly tell you so, it's cocaine. CLOSE
CISTERN (just in case), then go north, west twice, and south to your
office. There's a cabinet here. OPEN CABINET. LOOK IN CABINET. GET
LEDGER, CERTIFICATE. EXAMINE LEDGER. READ LEDGER. EXAMINE CERTIFICATE.
READ CERTIFICATE. CLOSE CABINET.
 If you've done an inventory, you should have noticed a briefcase. OPEN
BRIEFCASE and LOOK IN BRIEFCASE. READ ORGANISER. (Note the spelling with
an "S," rather than a "Z." This drove me nuts.) READ TIMES, and PUT
LEDGER, CERTIFICATE, BAG IN BRIEFCASE. It doesn't seem to be necessary
to close the briefcase, so I frequently didn't. By now (after 9:15
a.m.), the check David mentioned to Margaret should be done and on her
desk. Go north and GET ENVELOPE. ASK MARGARET TO CALL JENNY (just for
information), and go east into the Corridor. READ ENVELOPE and READ
CHEQUE. Now, for more information, go north then east into Bill Hughes's
office, ASK HUGHES ABOUT INSIDER DEALING, and EXAMINE RED LEATHER CHAIR.
These actions will give you information about Hughes personally, and
what his and David's frame-up is about. (He's a creep. The accusation is
major securities fraud similar to the one which happened on Wall Street
recently.)
 Now, go west, south twice, down twice, and north to the Reception area.
EXAMINE JARVIS, and EXAMINE BARBARA for information, then go south and
down to the Car Park. There are three cars here: your new BMW, David's
Porsche, and Hughes's Volvo. EXAMINE VOLVO, then go up twice, north, and
west to Theresa's (David's secretary) Office.
 It should now be 10:00 a.m., and Theresa will leave for her 10-minute
break. (If it isn't 10:00 a.m., you can wait until it is.) This is one
of the areas where you don't have much time; hopefully, you have
explored it by now. GET LETTER from the shredder, OPEN DRAWER in
Theresa's desk, GET BRASS KEY, and CLOSE DRAWER. Since this is the key
to David's office, OPEN DOOR WITH BRASS KEY, which unlocks and opens it
in one move. Go west into David's office, GET TAPE, and east out. CLOSE
DOOR, LOCK DOOR WITH BRASS KEY, go east to the Corridor, and east again
to look at the Board Room. (This location has a nice graphic but is
otherwise irrelevant.)
 Go west, south, and down twice to the Car Park, and OPEN BMW WITH CAR
KEY. (It was in the pocket of your jacket.) Get IN, READ LETTER, PUT
TAPE IN STEREO, GET TAPE, OPEN GLOVE COMPARTMENT, GET SCREWDRIVER, CLOSE
GLOVE COMPARTMENT, and EXIT. Well, now you know you're being framed by a
couple of guys who profess to be your "friends." It's time for you to
start getting rough back! BREAK WINDOW WITH SCREWDRIVER, which will get
you into the Volvo so you can get the folder you overheard David and
Hughes talking about earlier. GET FOLDER, OPEN FOLDER, EXAMINE
AFFIDAVIT, READ AFFIDAVIT, CLOSE VOLVO, CLOSE BMW (not that it will
help), PUT ALL IN BRIEFCASE, and go up three times, west, and south to
your office.

 CORRUPTION
   Part 3

 Take a few minutes to take stock and see what you've discovered so far.
 First, you know David's been doing some illegal stuff -- insider
dealing (called "insider trading" in the U.S.) probably -- and something
to do with drugs -- cocaine from the looks of it. (If you leave the bag
in the cistern and wait around, David will come along during the morning
and take it away; so, it's his rather than belonging to some irrelevant
addict from the Dealing Room or elsewhere.)
 Second, you know David and Hughes are working together to make you the
scapegoat for it. You overheard the conversation in Hughes's office at
9:07 a.m., you've listened to the doctored tape from your promotion
conversation, and you've read the affidavit. In addition, your ledgers
are altered, and the stock certificate is in your name. It looks
innocent, but it could be construed as "suspicious."
 Third, you know that David and your wife, Jenny, are having an affair.
So far, you don't know much about it because, if you ask him, David will
tell you it's all in her mind. But judging from the letter, he's just
stringing her along. (You don't need to read the letter in order to ask
him about the affair.)
 Fourth, you know that someone, at what is supposedly a "security" firm,
is getting paid a _lot_ of money (from the envelope and cheque), and it
isn't for making sure the building doesn't get robbed. (Remember
Jarvis?)
 Margaret goes to lunch at 11:00 (at which time, if she still had it,
she would have taken the envelope to David, and you would be unable to
get it). Now you need to see to it that you have her phone in your hand
at 11:24 to overhear an "interesting" conversation. Go north and GET
PHONE. You can make some calls if you want (call Jenny), or just hold on
to it by waiting.
 At the proper time, Bill Hughes will call David to tell him the Serious
Fraud Office is in a bit of a hurry. It is this phone call that prompts
David to start running around the building, picking up the various
pieces of "evidence" against you. Pretty soon, the folder in the Volvo,
the certificate and amended ledgers in your cabinet, the tape in his
office, and the plastic bag in the cistern would be gone if you hadn't
already collected these things. (I never tried it, but I assume you
would be arrested and convicted if you hadn't collected enough of these
items first; however, if you just missed a piece or two, they can be
collected later.)
 Things are nasty and getting nastier. Theresa will go to lunch at
12:00, and you need access to her telephone shortly after that. WAIT
UNTIL 11:45 (or however you want to do it), then go east, south, down,
north, and west to her office. You can wait anywhere you want, but make
sure you have the phone in your hand (either hers or David's) by about
12:09. GET PHONE, WAIT, and you'll overhear David call M. Charpontier
(the head of the erstwhile "security" company). Uh-oh! Now you know what
David's doing with the drugs, where he gets them, and that there's now a
contract out on your life!
 (In case you were wondering, prior to 12:11, the traffic will block you
from driving your new BMW out of the Car Park; after 12:11, it will
explode and kill you if you turn it on. Useless sort of vehicle.) It's
time to head back to your office for a bit of business before lunch.

 CORRUPTION
   Part 4

 Go east, south, up, north, west, and south to your office, then drop
the briefcase. You're meeting Jenny for lunch at 2:00 p.m., and you can
wait for the time to pass however you want. A stroll in the park is
pretty, but except as a passage to the Zebra Crossing and some nice
graphics, it is entirely irrelevant. Still, at some point in the game
you may want to look through the Park. There's a suspicious looking
derelict, a Salvation Army Band (which will actually give a concert
later in the afternoon), a Band Leader you can follow, a Band Stand, a
Duck Pond with ducks, a tempting trash barrel, and some rather nice
graphics. However, while it looks as if they originally intended to
write a larger game, it's all window dressing in the one they've
released.
 If you have not done so before, I suggest you go to the restaurant a
few minutes early, and wait outside for 5 or 10 minutes so you can
confirm your suspicions. To get there from your office, go north, east,
south, down three times, and west to the street, then north to Outside
Le Monaco.
 When Jenny arrives, she gets out of a red Porsche. Guess who has a red
Porsche? Right: David! Go east into the restaurant, and the waiter will
seat you at your table. All you can do is sit there and WAIT while Jenny
says some truly nasty stuff. Her actions revealed (to me anyway) that
she's a real...well, let's say her stinky little actions and speech made
me want some major revenge. You can't even usefully insult her right
now; so, WAIT UNTIL 2:26 (you'll have to use the WAIT command a few
times to get there due to Jenny's interruptions), go south from your
table, and west once onto the sidewalk. When you get there, wait for a
minute or two doing whatever you want. At this point, someone will push
you into the oncoming traffic.
 (There are a couple of other times during the game when you can go west
twice while the light is green and the cars are rushing past. The result
is the same, however, and this is the most convenient as far as timing
is concerned.)
 Whatever you do, you wind up in the hospital. When you get there, Nurse
Stephenson will be in attendance for six minutes to make sure you stay
in bed. Use this time to EXAMINE CABINET, EXAMINE EMPTY BED, and
whatever else you want. Keep the following points in mind:
 1. If your briefcase is in the cabinet, it's time to restore and leave
it behind; you will not get out of the hospital with it.
 2. If you don't get out of the hospital soon, you'll end up dead since
the doctor doesn't seem to care much about his Hippocratic Oath.
 3. Unless you're simply playing this game by following the commands in
this walkthru, you need a save here. This is the place to which I
specifically referred in the introduction. There simply isn't any way to
figure out what's going on here, or do any looking around (except while
the nurse is there, and then, not very much at that), and get out alive.
This is a particular pain because you die and have to restart before you
can restore.
 Okay, on to the method for getting out. As soon as the nurse leaves,
GET UP. GET PAPERS, PILLOW CASE from the other bed (add whatever other
small items you may have brought with you, using more commas because you
don't have much time), and go south twice to the locker room. By looking
at a previous save, you know there's a bear (by the name of Boris) in
here with a stethoscope around its neck, and that's exactly what you
want (the stethoscope, not Boris). OPEN LOCKER (it has your clothes in
it), and PUT CLOTHES, STETHOSCOPE IN CASE. (You can't take the bear; the
nurse will catch you with it later.)
 Go north and you reach another point in this scene where you need to
know what to do from a save. You want to go west and pretend to be the
"Mr. Davis" whose name is on the papers from the empty bed in your room,
but the nurse will come along too soon for that. So, what you do instead
is go east into the Accident and Emergency Lobby, then north, east,
and/or northwest (all of which will lead you in a circle right back to
the lobby) as many times as it takes, until one minute (move) after you
hear footsteps in the hallway (the second time).
 Now you can go west twice to the bed. Here you have approximately four
moves to WEAR the BANDAGE (it's on the bed), LIE ON BED, and WAIT. The
orderlies come and take you off to an ambulance waiting for Mr. Davis.
Once in there, DROP BANDAGE, PYJAMAS, WEAR SHIRT, TROUSERS, TIE, JACKET.
Then GET UP, OPEN DOOR, WAIT until the ambulance stops at a light, and
EXIT (or go south).
 You'll find yourself Outside Le Monaco. Go south, east, up three times,
north, west, and south into your office. GET BRIEFCASE. Then, go north,
east, south, down, north, and west into Theresa's office.

 CORRUPTION
   Part 5

 If it's after 3:30, Theresa will have left for the day; if not, wait
until she has. OPEN DOOR WITH BRASS KEY, go west into David's office,
and MOVE TELEVISION. Behind it you'll find a safe which you plan to
crack. You've watched enough television to know the proper method. WEAR
STETHOSCOPE, PUT STETHOSCOPE ON DIAL, and TURN DIAL. Great! It's
working! TURN DIAL again, then a third time. Oops! The shredding machine
user nearly gives you heart failure, but TURN DIAL one more time, and
the safe is open. LOOK IN SAFE and you'll find a set of ledgers,
receipts, and some chips. GET LEDGERS, RECEIPTS, CHIPS. READ RECEIPTS,
READ LEDGERS (don't forget the "S" on the end of the words), and EXAMINE
CHIPS.
 It's now getting near 4:00 p.m. when Hughes goes home. Go east twice
and WAIT UNTIL 4:00. He'll come out and head off toward the fire escape.
If you have EXAMINEd the pocket in your jacket, you know that in
addition to your BMW car key, you have a credit card. If you also
EXAMINEd the lock on Hughes's door, you know it's pretty easy to get
past its lock; so, OPEN WOODEN DOOR WITH CREDIT CARD, and go east into
his office.
 His desk has a locked drawer, but the credit card is ruined. OPEN
DRAWER WITH SCREWDRIVER. GET the DOCUMENT from the drawer, and READ
DOCUMENT. Yikes! This is nasty stuff! While you're there, READ LAW
MAGAZINE which will give you a bit of information and a suggestion on
what to do with the chips you just "found."
 Check your score; you should have 150 points. If you don't, look in the
briefcase and READ everything in it because now you're ready for the
last few bits of the game. Make sure you have every bit of incriminating
evidence!
 Go west from Hughes's office, then south twice, down three times, west,
north, and east into Le Monaco. SHOW CHIPS TO WAITER, KNOCK ON WOODEN
DOOR, and you're in the Casino. If you want to play a few games, you
can. But it's not necessary since your goal is to get through the padded
door, and talk to the Manager.
 ASK FOR CREDIT, and you'll wind up face to face with M. Charpontier
himself! He's not a nice man, and he's certainly not someone from a
legitimate corporate security company. He'll inform you that he holds a
contract on your life but will make a deal for the document. (This
happens to be the one from Hughes's office which you have in your
briefcase.) Don't believe him! You're dead if you give it to him, and if
you come back at any time (with or without it), he'll kill you no matter
what you do. Use this for information and points only.
 When you get back to the Casino, go south, west twice, and EXAMINE
LIGHTS. Keep doing this until they change, and it's safe to walk across
the street. Go west twice to the Zebra Crossing. At the Zebra Crossing,
go north twice to the Police Station.
 If you go east before going inside and then north, you'll be in a
pharmacy (which also has a picture). At any time before you break into
Hughes's office, you can buy shaving cream, a razor, and film with the
credit card. You can use the first two to shave off your beard. Doing
this keeps the police from recognizing you after you break out of jail
(you'll mess up your chat with the Inspector). There are two graphics
for the jail cell. Don't look at them unless you save first, because you
won't be able to finish the game.
 These graphics may indicate a plan to change some of the graphics to
better correspond with the action in future games. It would be a rather
nice improvement, even though it's a major departure from their current
"bookplate" style.

 CORRUPTION
   Part 6
 You should now have 170 points. Sergeant Russell's standing in front of
you. TELL RUSSELL ABOUT DAVID. (You can show him the bag, too. The
result's the same.) Now you're in the Interrogation Room with a very
suspicious Inspector Goddard. I found the sequence here to be extremely
important. So, although there may be other ways to do it, this is the
squence I used.
 TELL GODDARD ABOUT DAVID. This will include the call from Hughes, so
TELL GODDARD ABOUT AFFIDAVIT, TELL GODDARD ABOUT CASSETTE, and TELL
GODDARD ABOUT CERTIFICATE. (This is where you'll run into major problems
if you haven't used the READ command enough. You won't be able to figure
out what to tell him, and that's the clue.)
 He'll start to get suspicious, but GIVE CERTIFICATE TO GODDARD, and it
seems to help; he wants to hear more. TELL GODDARD ABOUT ACCOUNTS, then
TELL GODDARD ABOUT RECEIPTS, which will prompt him to ask for them. GIVE
LEDGERS, RECEIPTS TO GODDARD and GIVE AFFIDAVIT, TAPE TO GODDARD. He
_still_ wants more! GIVE ENVELOPE TO GODDARD, which prompts him to ask
you what you know. TELL GODDARD ABOUT CHARPONTIER.
 Enough! Inspector Goddard is finally convinced and outlines a plan,
which includes rigging you up with a microphone, and sending you back to
the Casino. There's really nothing else you can do. SAY "YES" and he'll
have Russell wire you up. Keep in mind that you still have the document
even though it's the first thing you told him about. Go south twice, and
east, then EXAMINE LIGHTS. Go east when it's safe, then east again. SHOW
CHIPS TO WAITER, KNOCK ON WOODEN DOOR, WAIT a time or two, and watch the
end unfold.
 You did it! You beat CORRUPTION!
 CORRUPTION is published by Rainbird Software and distributed by
Mediagenic.
 This walkthru is copyright (c) 1989 by Sara Groves. All rights
reserved.