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So, gentlemen, today we turn our attention to another masterpiece. We will consider a game that rightfully deserves a place in the golden collection of the best programs for "ZX-SPECTRUM". This game is called "HIJACK". It was created in 1986 by Electric Dreams Software, known to many for such games as "ALIENS", "BACK TO THE FUTURE", "THE EXPLORER", and others.
"HIJACK" ("HOSTAGE TAKING") remains a mystery for many players to this day.
Descriptions of this game in the collections "500 Games" and "Best Games" did not lift the veil on the mysteries of this game. The most detailed description, published in the collection "BEST GAMES N1", despite its verbosity, did not clarify much, and some of the author's "observations" lead the novice player down the wrong path.
In this article, we will try to understand the game, if not in full detail, then at least enough to understand the goals, as well as the tactics and strategies leading to the traditional happy ending.
(c) Yuri Matveev
HIJACK
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Electric Dreams Software 1986
So, you are in the position of the Secretary of State of the USA. However, your position is not mentioned anywhere. Or maybe you are acting as Vice President? But that is not the main point. The only important thing is: you are the second person in the White House after the President himself. And your new day begins with trouble: a school bus has been hijacked by bandits. Your task is to use all available methods (financial, political, military) to prevent the death of the hostages. Otherwise, you can expect a position as an ambassador in Tibet (understood to be in China).
In general, they have a very poor understanding of Eastern geography over there in the West. But let's return to the game.
The goal is clear. How to start acting? We'll discuss that a bit later. For now, let's get acquainted with the controls and interface of the game.
After loading the game, you can enjoy the beautiful 48th "speaker" music. For those wishing to delay unpleasant news and listen to the music again, we recommend pressing the "T" key. By pressing any other key, you are prompted to choose controls and separately assign keys for the "PICK UP" and "QUIT" commands. After that, the smart program will ask how satisfied you are with your choice (y/n). And finally, the game begins.
INTERFACE
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The screen is divided into three parts. At the top of the screen are (from left to right): a timer counting down the time allocated by the terrorists for fulfilling their conditions, as well as pictograms with portraits of all the officials you will have to work with. There are ten people:
1. PRESIDENT - PRESIDENT.
2. MILITARY ADVISER - MILITARY ADVISER.
3. POLITICAL ADVISER - POLITICAL ADVISER.
4. FBI AGENT - FBI AGENT.
5. CIA AGENT - CIA AGENT.
6. MILITARY ASSISTANT - MILITARY ASSISTANT.
7. POLITICAL ASSISTANT - POLITICAL ASSISTANT.
8. PUBLICITY OFFICER - PRESS SECRETARY
9. FINANCIAL OFFICER - FINANCIAL ADVISER.
10. SECRETARY - SECRETARY.
In this same part of the screen, to the left under the timer, is the elevator indicator, which is represented by arrows. A blinking arrow indicates that the elevator has arrived at the floor where you are located.
At the bottom of the screen are indicators (from left to right): the presence of any object or item, three resource indicators (more on them later), and an indicator showing whether you have any item with you.
The central part of the screen displays the main action.
You control your character using the "left"-"right" keys. The "up"-"down" keys control the cursor for selecting various pictograms. You can examine an item in the lower left window using the cursor.
The key you selected for the "PICK UP" command allows you to take certain items with you. By pressing the designated "QUIT" key, you enter an additional menu where you can adjust the color palette for prehistoric monitors, turn the sound on or off (if your neighbor is not sleeping), and leave or remove the window with the name of the office (better not to do this to avoid getting lost in the corridors of power).
There are also two options here - continue the game or interrupt the game. By issuing the "QUIT" command, the game stops, i.e., this command can be used for a pause to quickly grab a bite and continue the game.
If there are other characters in the same room with you, their pictograms at the top turn white. This means you can select this character with the cursor for communication.
COMMUNICATION WITH CHARACTERS
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When communicating with the characters in the game, you, as the second person in the White House, give orders to everyone except the President. You cannot command the President; you are only allowed to ask him for something.
PRESIDENT. When addressing the president, you enter the communication menu:
REQUEST FINANCIAL SUPPORT - request financial support.
REQUEST POLITICAL SUPPORT - request political support.
REQUEST MILITARY SUPPORT - request military support.
REQUEST DEADLINE EXTENSION - request an extension of the deadline.
REQUEST TRANSPORT - request transport.
QUIT - exit.
At the beginning of the game, the President is not inclined to communicate with you, and his attitude towards you leaves much to be desired. You understand - his prestige is at stake. And he cannot risk his political image. Therefore, it is useless to ask him immediately for financial, political, or military support. The most he can do for you at the beginning of the game is to at least delay the deadline. It is understood that the president will personally ask the terrorists to delay the execution of their threats a bit.
THEREFORE, ADVICE: As soon as you start the game, wait for the president in your office and ask him for an extension of the deadline.
And this is the only thing he can do for you at that moment. Once he manages to negotiate with the terrorists, you will gain more time to solve the main task.
MILITARY ADVISER.
RETURN TO YOUR OFFICE - return to your office. (This phrase can be used in communication with other characters, so we won't mention it further)
HELP MILITARY ASSISTANT - help your assistant.
GO TO HIJACK - head to the bus hijacking site. (This phrase also appears in communication with other characters, so we won't mention it further).
FIRE YOU - I will fire you! (You won't have the opportunity to say these words for a while).
POLITICAL ADVISER.
HELP POLITICAL ASSISTANT - help your political assistant. (Here and below, we will consider characteristic phrases used by you when communicating with characters).
FBI AGENT.
QUESTION EMPLOYEE - interrogate an employee. When selecting this option, the agent will offer you to choose a person for interrogation. It should be understood that after communicating with the FBI agent, uncommunicative employees become more accommodating.
CIA AGENT.
RESEARCH HIJACKERS - investigate the hijackers. That is, find out what they are trying to achieve, understand their demands, etc. When selecting this option, you are asked to determine the length of the report: 3, 8, or 12 minutes.
MILITARY ASSISTANT.
DEPLOY MILITARY FORCES - deploy military forces. When giving this order, you will need to specify the number of combat units to be deployed.
POLITICAL ASSISTANT.
SEND DIPLOMATS TO HIJACK - send diplomats to the terrorists for negotiations. Here, you also need to specify the number of diplomats being sent.
PRESS SECRETARY.
ISSUE A PRESS RELEASE - prepare a message for the public. Here you will need to specify the type of message: newspaper article, press conference, or television appearance. Just remember that if the financial situation is poor, you may not have enough money for expensive television. In this case, the type of message unavailable due to financial difficulties is shaded and cannot be selected.
FINANCIAL ADVISER.
RAISE FUNDS QUICKLY - raise money quickly.
RAISE FUNDS SLOWLY - raise money slowly. That is, there's no need to rush.
SECRETARY.
FUND AN EMPLOYEE - find an employee. Here you specify the character you need at the moment. By this command, the secretary will suggest you go to her office and wait for the named character.
FEATURES OF COMMUNICATION
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Of course, communication with characters is somewhat complicated by the fact that sometimes at the right moment it is difficult to find a specific person in this huge building: either the elevator does not go to the right floor, or something else. But if you study the map well and use the secretary's services in a timely manner, finding the right person should not be too difficult.
Now about the principles of communication: try to bother people as little as possible with your talented leadership. Everyone's nerves are as frayed as yours. So try to communicate briefly and as infrequently as possible. Otherwise, instead of clear answers like "yes, sir!", you will receive responses like "I'm already doing this for you!" up to "stop bothering me" and "leave me alone!". In general, "leave me alone!" (GET LOST!) is most often said by the President. But that is what a President is for. However, if the secretary says these words to you - your situation is dire. It means you don't know how to communicate with people. You are too tedious. Overall, a character's tendency to quickly and clearly execute your orders is determined by their parameters. Let's consider them.
CHARACTER PARAMETERS
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In the communication officer's room, you can find a dossier on each employee in one of the cabinets. Up to the President. There you can evaluate the parameters of all the characters in the game. There are only two parameters:
EXP (EXPAND) - the capacity of the character. The higher it is, the more communicative the character is, and the more opportunities they have to fulfill your plans.
LOYAL - the degree of loyalty of the character to everything happening and to you in particular. The higher this value, the more willingly and quickly the character executes your orders. Conversely, the lower it is, the worse it gets. Up to refusal to execute.
Of course, it is desirable for both parameters to be at maximum. But, as a rule, they depend on how successfully you act. To solve short-term tasks, you can try to improve the character's parameters by "setting" the FBI agent on them.
You can determine the value of the parameters by the indicator under the data on the employee. By the way, the data includes the character's name, place of work, and position.
The parameters change from minimum values, denoted as (-), to maximum values (+).
Now it should be clear to you that as long as the parameters do not approach maximum, you will not be able to use additional lines in communication with subordinates. This also applies to the President: obtaining political and other support from him is impossible until he, simply put, is satisfied with the course of events.
RESOURCE INDICATION
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At the beginning of the article, three types of resources were mentioned: military, financial, and political. Let's consider them in more detail. The main ones are financial resources. The indicator for these resources is located at the bottom center.
It is clear that without finances you cannot order messages for the public (and the President loves those brave messages! Take note). Moreover, other orders cannot be executed without money. To ensure your finances do not sing romances, consult your financial adviser (again, not too often).
Military and political resources grow constantly, and if you do not too often consult the political adviser or the military adviser with requests to send diplomats or military personnel to the terrorists, there is a chance not to deplete these types of resources completely.
However, on this matter, as with finances, there is a certain "doctor" who will help you improve the situation. In the case of political resources, this is the political adviser, and for military resources - the military adviser. But do not forget about their personal parameters and your tediousness.
ABOUT SECRET CODES
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Look at the bulletin boards often; they may have access codes to information networks written on them. Without them, you will not be able to obtain complete information.
PICK UP KEY
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A few words about this feature. Sometimes it is necessary to have fresh information at hand. Thus, you can take the dossier on all employees from the communication officer's room and carry it with you all the time. By selecting the right window with the command cursor, you will always be able to access the information you need (this is, of course, only if you took the item with you using the PICK UP option in the left window). What exactly you will carry with you depends on which information interests you the most at that moment. You can only carry one item.
This can be a dossier on employees, information from the CIA agent about the terrorists' demands, as well as just data on the number of diplomats and military personnel sent to the crime scene and those remaining in reserve. Moreover, the information changes over time, and you will not need to run to the communication room for data clarification. That is, all fresh information will be at your fingertips.
To get rid of an unnecessary item, use the bins. (PICK UP option on the bin - and all is well, you can take another item).
ABOUT TERRORISTS
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Terrorists usually make one of two demands (DEMANDS): either a large sum of money or the release of political prisoners. You can find out the bandits' demands, as mentioned earlier, from the CIA agent's report. Subsequent reports from the agent usually contain characteristics of the bandits, namely which group they belong to. In the FBI office, you can (if you obtain the code) look at the data on three types of groups:
EX-GREEN BERETS - Former "green berets".
DESPARATE ESCAPED PRISONERS - Desperate escaped prisoners.
FAIRLY HARMLESS POLITICAL LOONIES - Very harmless political loons.
Before each group name is a code of three letters. These letters are used by the CIA agent in their report.
USEFUL TIPS:
1. Do not rely on the President's help until you calm the public with strong television appearances.
2. Do not forget to timely ask the President for an extension of the deadline.
3. Do not annoy your subordinates.
4. Remember that with positive parameters of the political adviser and assistant, the sent diplomats work more effectively: the terrorists' demands melt away.
5. Distribute diplomats and military evenly.
6. Carefully monitor the characters' parameters.
P.S.: Despite all of the above - this is only the tip of the iceberg of this interesting game. Curious players will notice that there is a secret door in the President's office, which can only be opened by entering a three-digit code. When this door can be opened is unknown.
It is clear only one thing: you need to use all means and resolve the conflict, minimizing the bandits' demands. And what next? Assault? We currently have no answer to that question.
And one more mystery, but this is just for your information (since this has only happened once): about half an hour into the game, the military adviser Sanders suddenly disappeared. Desperate searches led to nothing. Had to call for help from the secretary and the FBI agent. Both went to search and disappeared for a long time. Waiting in your office was no longer bearable, and you had to catch the secretary again and order her to find the military adviser, to which she replies that she is already looking for him...
A full half hour! Given that usually it takes her no more than three minutes. The FBI agent also could not find and interrogate Sanders. Hoping for a glitch in the program, we go down to the FBI office and read on one of the walls: WERES PETE?
WE AWAIT YOUR LETTERS!
Contents of the publication: Spectrofon #10
- Экспертиза - Matthias
Analysis of the game 'HIJACK' for ZX Spectrum, detailing strategies, tactics, and interactions with characters to achieve success. Discusses the management of resources and communication within the game. Provides insights and tips for playing effectively.
- Дебют - Владислав Благовидов
Discussion of the game's mechanics and progression in 'MARSPORT'. Exploration of game strategies and item usage. Insights into game puzzles and unsolved mysteries.
- Презентация
A dramatic space battle leaves a pilot stranded on an unfamiliar planet. Explosions and maneuvers highlight the intense confrontation. The pilot contemplates a new, mundane life on a distant world.
- Обзор
The article discusses the correspondence from Velichutin N.V. about the "ANIMATION" software package for ZX Spectrum and various educational programs for children. It highlights the potential of "ANIMATION" in multimedia and educational contexts. Critiques and responses to readers' queries on various topics are included.
- С миру по биту
Discussion of software development for ZX Spectrum, focusing on Zonder Commander 2.0 file manager and GO KNIGHT logic game. Features and improvements for both programs are detailed. Authors are invited to submit works for publication.
- Система
Discussion of hardware improvements for the ZX Spectrum, focusing on optimizing the BETA DISK interface using specific chips. The article provides detailed instructions and theoretical explanations. User testimonials confirm the success of these modifications.
- Реклама
Advertisement for the SPECTROFON magazine, collaboration offers, and distributor information.
