Manhunter is somewhat different from other 3-D animated adventure games. Most of the game is presented in a first person perspective. The perspective changes to third person several times during the game - mostly during arcade sequences.
Game cursors
A marker on the screen is used to move through the game and to manipulate various objects. The marker will change shape when it is positioned over something that is important to the game. You can search a room by simply placing the marker over the various objects in the room, using the arrow keys. Watch the bottom of the screen for descriptions of what you can do. Press ENTER or the SPACEBAR to perform the actions described at the bottom of the screen. The various marker shapes are as follows:
You cannot perform any special activities at this location on the screen.
You can move in the direction the arrow is pointing.
You can take a close-up look at the object.
You can take or manipulate the object displayed.
You can press (push) the object displayed.
Describes an object.
3rd person - you see yourself on the screen.
Traveling
You will be doing much traveling around San Francisco. As a Manhunter, you have less travel restrictions than other humans, but you are restricted to locations pertinent to the course of your duties. You can usually travel from one location to any other authorized location at any time. Press F3 to travel. You will then be shown a map of the city. All of the authorized locations you can visit will flash on the map. The number of locations you can visit will increase as the game progresses. Only a section of the full map is shown on the screen at any given time. To move to another section of the map, move the marker off the edge of the screen in the direction you desire to travel. You cannot travel in a situation that would not normally permit you to do so.
Manhunter Assignment Device (MAD)
MAD is a small portable apparatus linked by radio transmission to the Alliance computer. You can access or exit the MAD by pressing C. MAD has two functions:
Info:
This function provides access to limited information on all humans in San Francisco. After pressing the "Info" button, type in the full name of the human or mutant. If the name exists in the system, it will provide the address, age, occupation and ID number of the suspect. Suspect addresses, retrieved through the MAD, become unlocked on the city map and can be visited.
Note: The "notes" function of Manhunter: New York is no longer available in Manhunter 2 as all notes are simply kept and can be viewed again in inventory, along with the other items.
Tracker
All humans (and mutants since they used to be human) have a tracking disk implanted in their necks and as such their movement is recorded in the Tracking Records database of the Alliance computer. However, due to unforeseen difficulties with tracking disks, the target's identity is not recorded. Also, tracking is cut off if the suspect should venture under earth soil.
At the beginning of each day, you will automatically check the tracker after receiving your daily assignment - make sure to watch it until the end. You can watch the path of the tracked target again later by pressing the "repeat" button.
Only one suspect can be tracked at a time. When there are multiple people on the screen and you want to follow a suspect other than the currently tagged suspect, place the cursor of the suspect you want to track and press ENTER to tag him/her. The tagged suspect will be marked by a yellow rotating target.
Game menu
Press "Esc" (MS-DOS) to access the game's menu, located at the top of the game screen. Here you will find the following functions:
Sierra
- About Manhunter: main credits, game version and release date.
- Help: Display the help screen
File
- Save
- Restore
- Restart
- Quit
Action
- Travel
- Robe (inventory)
Special
- Sound on/off
- Joystick
- Pause
- Hard Arcade
- Normal Arcade
- Easy Arcade
Arcade difficulty is new in Manhunter 2. By default it is set to hard. Keep in mind that after you've completed an arcade sequence, the difficulty will automatically be reset to hard when you play the next arcade sequence.
