Gumshoe

[gumpy]

I re-visited this game, and I still can't figure it out!

It is Dave's puzzle detective game from LS #111.

I'm guessing the key is to find out which suspect arrived first (or is it last)?

 

[Rev. Dave]

The problem is to find the First person to arrive, their first and last names, and occupation. I forgot most of it - but the real trick is that the guilty person LIES!! So the detective must figure out inconsistencies.

 

[gumpy]

Is this based on an existing game / logic puzzle?

 

[Rev. Dave]

Actually, no. I was big on logic problems from magazines at the time, and started writing some of my own. So I figured I could get my machine to generate the solution. But then I needed a way to have the questions. I decided to use a query method, with several detectives trying to get the answer first. But since the killer was the first to arrive, it would be a spoiler for a suspect to say "OH - I was the first at the party!" That was when I added the liar gimmick.

This was my second submission (after Sea to Sea), and I was still figuring out how to make the display snazzy. I recall using an underlying sprite to add an extra color to the screen (no longer sure where). Fender wanted a detective list for sorting out the answers. I used the cross-check method, but Fender wanted it (and I wanted the sale)! To be honest, I wrote something like this a couple of years earlier, but it just scrolled up the screen, like an old Star Trek game.

Thanks for taking a look at this. It brings back memories!