Copyright: ®1996 P.D'Agostino and Centron Software


Index

- Murder She Wrote

- Basics

- Opening Screen

- Selecting a Mystery

- The Story

- Connecting the Puzzle

- The Finished Puzzle

- Solving the Mystery

- Saving the Puzzle

- Puzzle Options Menu

- Help, Minimize and Exit

- Graphics


Overview

Murder She Wrote

Jessica is confronted with 4 mysteries: The Unconventional Murder; Recipe for Murder; The Desktop Murder; and The Art of Murder. Select any one and join Jessica as she uncovers the facts. Watch as the police and suspects tell the story in their own words. Then assemble a jigsaw puzzle which contains the key bits of evidence which point to the killer.

Jigsaw puzzle fans will enjoy adjusting the number and shape of puzzle pieces making the puzzle as easy or as hard as you like. Clicking your right mouse button displays all the options available. Just drag the pieces around the screen and drop them where you want them. Matching pieces automatically lock together with a Snap.

When the puzzles is complete, it fills the screen putting you right there at the scene of the crime. Now when you drag your mouse it changes into a magnifying glass allowing for detailed viewing of each clue. Ready to solve it? Just select the killer and follow along as Jessica tells you how she figured out who done it.


Basics

Murder She Wrote contains over 170 audio and video clips. All but a few files remain on the CD. The CD must be in the first CD-ROM drive on your system to play these clips. The Opening Screen automatically plays the opening video. If the CD is not in the drive a message informs you that it can not access the proper file. This is perfectly normal operation.

You are automatically switched to the Selection Screen when the video ends. To leave the Opening Screen and enter the Selection Screen at any time press the Continue button. The Selection Screen allows you to pick any of the four mysteries. Just press the button representing the one desired.

The Mystery Story Screen shows Jessica surrounded by the police and suspects. Use the buttons at the bottom of the screen to Go Back to the previous Selection Screen, show the Story, go to the jigsaw Puzzle, select other Options and so on.

You may only solve the mystery after you have solved the jigsaw puzzle. Drag the pieces and drop them where you want them using your mouse. Only a section of the "table" is displayed in the upper window.  The entire table is displayed in the lower portion of the screen.  Use the scroll bar to slide over the table searching for pieces. Alternately you may drag the smaller pieces into view, sliding them along the table into the outlined display area.

When the puzzle is complete a click of the right mouse button (or ALT+O for Options) displays Solve as one of the options available. Selecting it will shift to the Solution Screen allowing you to select the murderer. Press the Solution button to see if you're right. If you like, Jessica will tell you how she solved it.


Opening Screen

The Opening Screen automatically plays the opening video. If the CD is not in the first CD drive of your system a message informs you that it can not access the proper file. This is perfectly normal operation. If this occurs just click the OK button to close the message box.

You are automatically switched to the Selection Screen when the video ends. The Continue button  at the bottom of the screen will, at any time, close this screen and open the Selection Screen. The Continue button may be pressed even while the video is playing. It will close the video before moving on. The Help button displays this page. The Exit button ends the program.


Selecting a Mystery

The four mysteries are displayed in the Selection Screen. To close this screen and go on to the Mystery Story Screen just press the button under the desired mystery. The Help displays this page. The Exit button ends the program.


The Story

To show the mystery press the Story (or Restart) button at the bottom of the screen. To move on to the Puzzle just press that button. The Help button displays this page. The Exit button ends the program. The Go Back button returns to the Selection Screen.

When the story begins, the Story button changes to a Pause button. Pressing this button pauses the video or audio clip. It also changes the button to a Resume button. Press this button to resume play. When the last clip ends, the button changes to a Restart button.

The Option button displays a menu with the options available. The first four effect the playing of the story. Restart starts the story from the beginning. Skip closes the current clip and begins the next one. Replay restarts the current clip at its beginning. Back up closes the current clip and replays the previous clip.

To view a text version of the mystery select View Text from the options menu. Minimize will shrink the application to an icon. Close ends the program. These can be selected even while the story is being played.


Connecting the Puzzle

You "drag" the pieces into position using your mouse. The pieces will lock together if the dragged piece when released, is in its correct position over an interlocking piece.

Only a section of the "table" is displayed in the upper window. The entire table is displayed in the lower portion of the screen. Use the scroll bar to slide over the table searching for pieces. Alternately you may drag the smaller pieces into view, sliding them along the table into the outlined display area. To enlarge a single small piece temporarily, hold the SHIFT KEY down while depressing the left mouse button.

To re-Cut or Save a puzzle in progress or review any of the other options available see Puzzle Menu Options.


The Finished Puzzle

When the puzzle is finished the individual pieces merge and the image expands to fill the screen. Dragging the mouse over the image will change it into a magnifying glass and expand a portion of the crime scene for detailed viewing.

Clicking on the screen with the right mouse button (or ALT+O for Options) will display the options menu. Selecting Go Back will return to the previous screen, the Story Screen. Solve will leave this screen and display the Solution Screen allowing you to select the murderer.

Selecting Cut will cut the image back into a puzzle with the pieces spread on the table in a random fashion. The number of pieces will be the number last set as optioned in the Puzzle Screen.

Help displays this page. Minimize will shrink the application to an icon. Close ends the program.


Solving the Mystery

To select the suspect you believe is the murderer click your mouse on that persons name. Pressing the Solution button at the bottom of the screen will tell you whether youre right or wrong. You will also be given the option of hearing (if the CD is in its drive) Jessica explain how she solved the mystery. If you select this option, you are returned to the scene of the crime as Jessica points out the clues.

Go Back returns you to the Finished Puzzle. Help displays this page. Minimize will shrink the application to an icon. Close ends the program.


Saving the Puzzle

If you have modified the puzzle (and are not running Murder She Wrote directly from the CD-ROM) you may save the puzzle in progress by selecting Save from the floating menu. If you have not yet saved the puzzle, the system will ask you if want to do so when you exit the program or select a different mystery.

If you complete the puzzle, it is automatically saved in the completed state. The next time you select the associated mystery and enter the puzzle screen you be informed that the puzzle has been completed and ask you if you want it cut prior to display.


Puzzle Options Menu

Clicking your right mouse (or ALT+O for Options) anywhere on the screen will display the Puzzle Menu. Go Back returns to the Mystery Story Screen. Save, saves the puzzle in progress (if you do not change the mystery you do not need to save a puzzle to maintain its configuration when moving back and forth between screens). Cut will re-cut the puzzle into the number of pieces of shape specified under Options below.

The Options include:

Desktop - the color of the background screen.

# of Pieces - the number of puzzle pieces.

Shape - curved or straight edged square pieces.

Toolbar - displays a floating toolbar for Cut, Shape, Save, Sound and Help. Shape toggles between the two options. Sound turns sound on or off.

Sound - alternate connect piece sounds and on/off control.

Check marks indicate the option(s) currently in effect.

Help opens the Connecting the Puzzle page of the Help file. Minimize will shrink the application to an icon. Close ends the program.


Help, Minimize and Exit

Context sensitive help is provided when you press the F1 key, any Help button or selecting Help from any menu. Similarly, you can minimize Murder She Wrote by pressing the ALT+N keys or selecting Minimize from any menu. You can exit the program at any time by pressing the Escape key, pressing the Exit button or selecting Close from any menu.

Several additional 'Hot Key' combinations were provided. When the Continue button is visible you may move to the next screen by pressing ALT+C. While in the Story Screen ALT+S is equivalent to pressing the Story Button (even if it currently is displaying PAUSE, RESUME, etc.). Similarly, ALT+P will switch to the Puzzle Screen. To display the Options Menu in the Puzzle Screen you may use ALT+O instead of a right mouse click.


Graphics

Murder She Wrote works best when your system is set to display more than 256 colors (16 bit or 24 bit colors). Videos and other graphics will appear washed out and grainy on systems set to display 16 colors. Systems set for 256 colors will experience momentary flashes as the palette is reset when videos are opened and closed. Refer to your computer hardware documentation to determine its capabilities. If your system can support higher color depths use the Windows Setup program in the Main Program Group for Windows 3.x or right click on the Desktop in Windows 95 and select Properties to reset the number of colors which can be displayed.

When you start Murder She Wrote it tests your system configuration and informs you if it is set to display 256 or fewer colors. After you have installed the program and files to your hard drive you may disable this message by checking the "Dont display this message at startup" box and selecting OK.

Murder She Wrote is designed as a full screen application for systems using a screen resolution of 640X480. If your system is set to a higher resolution, for example, 800X600, graphics will be displayed in a narrow bordered window in the center of your screen. In all other respects the program works normally.