The Contest and the Solution

Well, it seems that nobody had even tried to win the 2013 contest in its English version

That's not very surprising though as unfortunately the English translation has some serious bugs. I mean the 1987 C64 (probably Amstrad CPC as well) edition, and that's the one I have in my collection (on two cassette tapes). I have an impression that the game and the clues were translated into English by two different persons, as there is some inconsistency in the puzzles. For example, the note found on Celestine is still being called as 'torn from a spiral notebook' like in the French version, but the physical clue in fact has no traces of that spiral notebook. The notes were written on one side only in English, while in French sometimes the other side was used as well. Moreover, none of the clues (with the sole exception of the ink cartridge we get from von Druben) is denoted with the asterisk in the game itself, so sometimes it is quite difficult to tell, which item is found where. At that, the Morse coded message is just plain wrong, as well as the elevator riddle!

I have played through the English Oric version, and I have to say that Dom50 has done a great job! Almost all the mistakes of the 1987 English translation has been corrected (like * added and Morse code rewritten). Still, some errors remain - as, for example, the missing 'Mozarella' name in person #2 testimony. It is not possible to answer one of the contest questions without it, you know, as we can understand that he is Domonique Mozarella, the father of Antonio Mozarella, only in the French version. Some persons could also be found in different locations than in C64 version, like the maid is in crew's quarters instead of the cabin she is cleaning, and Charlie the stowaway is in the Theater instead of the holds (which is rather more funny).

Well, of course I am late for the contest anyway  
However, you can never be late to solve another great game by Bertrand Brocard! I have first kind-of completed it in 2017 with the help from another player from Finland - we were discussing the solution on some other forum, and he was able to decipher both the Morse code and the Geheim! letter. Of course, we had a lot of questions - and most of them are now clear with the help from Dom50, Maximus, NightBird and other authors of the 'official' solution in CEO magazine. Thank you guys - and great thanks to Bertrand and Serge Poupart, of course!!!

Still, I do have some more questions - even if the major plot is clear (who killed whom etc.), some minor issues are not. I hope there are people here who are still interested in this game!

1. The Sesame problem: you have to know this code word to get to the locked areas, and the note with it is found only in those locked areas (on the frozen body). Why, is it an oversight? You should better have it written on the back of Lucien's letter, as this letter is otherwise useless: we are told there is a 'magic word', but the only way to discover it is to look through the clues we have not yet 'officially' found...

2. What is the ‘With Jenny in Deauville’ picture for? Is it the one bin Silmane/Slimane has in his cabin? There is an asterisk there, and it is the only women's picture we have among the physical clues, but that is still rather improbable (how and why would he get it?). Then this picture is nowhere to be found in the game? It should belong to Lola Trax from cabin 422, I think. We do not meet her, but we meet her friend Jenny Reeves in the same cabin.

3. Who is Louis Pignerot and what does his card (found in Daniel Lahaye's cabin) mean?

4. What does von Druben’s ‘Haiphong 1937’ picture mean?

5. The ‘News on Board’ poster seems to be useless as it is dated April 12th, while we are investigating the events happened on April 16th. That means that poster is from the previous journey of 'Burgogne', with other passengers! Well, maybe Altman was there, and Allison (whose wallet signed JW was found then), but not the others. It does not seem to be a mistake, as April 12th was indeed Tuesday in 1938 (and not Saturday like April 16th), and there is certainly no Mr. Skansen from cabin 555 on April 16th. Then again, if the April 12th was the 4th day of the crossing, then 'Burgogne' had to unload one group of passengers in Europe and load another group going to US very, very quickly...

6. The ‘Fabric with a hole’ picture seems to be denoted by '*' twice: when performing an autopsy on the frozen corpse and when searching the photographer's shop. But how the photographer could get it??? The lower parts of the ship are off-limits, and nobody seems to have found the body before we did it on the next day.

7. The Pellton's gun, which is called 'Cobra' according to the test program, is certainly an anachronism: this model of Colt Cobra was not produced until 1950s or 1960s! In 1938, there was a similar model called Colt Detective Special – but the Test does not recognize it as a right answer, and it is not clear why a MI5 agent would use a US police weapon. Still, this inconsistency is rather understandable as Bertrand probably could not resist adding his company name into the game.

8. There is a mysterious ‘Personal’ message in the newspaper, about birds, carrots and R-d-V dim. 19h – 21/71/89/58. Is it relevant?

9. The casing we have among the physical clues - what does it mean? Is it Prof. Dumont’s? My casing has letter 'E' embossed on it, and I have heard some other people have 'f' there. What is it all for?

10. I am curious, what did Allison burn in the Winter Garden (rubbish and match)? Some parts of the Sirius, just with a match? By the way, that 'match' is not marked by * in Oric version.

11. There is an inconsistence in Maurice’s words who says he stayed unconscious until about 23:30, but was actually found at 23:12 (according to 'Duties on Board'). Yes, it is a very minor issue as you can hardly judge the time being unconscious, but still a discrepancy of 18 minutes is rather too much for our investigation.

12. The ‘official’ solutions do not say much about the involvement of Celestine Turning and her mysterious boyfriend (she calls him Albert, but he stays in a cabin booked to Ernest) in the abduction of her uncle. I am pretty sure he must be that British informant mentioned in Geheim! – how else could he afford the money for the voyage on ‘Burgogne’? Both of those 'love birds' seem to have a strong alibi, but then they are quite sure Alan will be no more soon. They must know something about Operation X22...

OK, a few more comments and notes as for the English Oric version (besides the English testimonies sometimes being shortened comparing with the French originals).

1. As I have already mentioned, should not the match in the Winter Garden be denoted with asterisk as well?

2. The message of the elevator puzzle says "Assess your evidence".
I think it is misleading! When I first met this puzzle a several years ago, I thought it referred to the physical clues in the box - and I could not find anything there remotely resembling anything Boolean... I have figured this puzzle only after checking the French version - it was 'Valeur de rearmement' there (besides the whole puzzle looking correct, however this is fixed in Oric).

3. I am also curious, how much time do you have to spend in the game for the elevator to get broken? Dom50, is it some predetermined value or random, like in 'Meurtre à Grande Vitesse'?
Sometimes I am able to collect all the testimonies and find all the clues with the front lift working just fine...
And what about locating Turning, how is it being timed and programmed in Oric?

4. About the Morse code.

These are all mostly spoilers...:

5. It seems that in Oric version, the test question 14 was changed from 'Who is meant in the Morse code message?' to 'Who sent the Morse code message?' Why? I know the answer, of course, - but isn't it more interesting to identify the dangerous person, not just decode the Morse message?

6. The test question 4 is also somewhat strange: it accepts only '13h54' as the right answer. But that is some special French way to tell the time, I think! In English it is just '13.54' - that's how it is written in the radio log and that is the right answer accepted in C64 version.

Hi Iurius,
below, my perspective on your questions

concerning the First post

1. The cezame problem.
It is true that it seems strange that the password is in a room for which it is necessary to know the password in order to enter it.
But cheating is not the only way to find it. It is said: "there is a magic word". Personally, since I'm a kid the only magic word I know to open a door is "open cesame" (thanks to Ali baba and the 40 thieves). So, reflection and good memory can help.  

2. What is the ‘With Jenny in Deauville’ picture for?
We learn in the game, that Ben Slimane is a mafieu involved in the white slave trade. One can reasonably think that the photo of the two women found in his cabin was taken in tracking potential future victims of his busyness.

3. Who is Louis Pignerot ? He is a wine merchant. Mercurey is a well known appellation of  Burgundy wine.
   Probably a red herring

4 What does von Druben’s ‘Haiphong 1937’ picture mean?

This probably has to do with German-Japanese relations.
WIkipedia ==>
"In the 1930s, both countries adopted aggressive militaristic attitudes toward their respective regions. This led to a rapprochement and, eventually, a political and military alliance that included Italy: the "Axis". During the World War II,
Japan, in war against China since 1937, has not yet managed to stop the resistance of Chiang Kai-shek's armies. These are supplied by the Yunnan railway, which passes through Hải Phòng.
The main objective of the Japanese was to prevent China from importing arms and fuel through French Indochina along the Kunming–Hai Phong Railway, from the Indochinese port of Haiphong, through the capital of Hanoi to the Chinese city of Kunming in Yunnan"

This photo may suggest that Von Druben is not a simple tourist but is sufficiently involved in German wartime alliances for having been sent to French Indochina at the beginning of the war between Japan and China, perheaps for secret negotiations ? .

5. Yes it seems normal, probably Allison did the round trip just to sabotage the SIRUS.

6.The ‘Fabric with a hole’ picture
In 1938 the cameras were perhaps not so common. So, It may be normal that a professional photographer was used to photograph the crime scene.
However, it is true that this clue should have appeared in the photographer's cabin only after the discovery of the corpse.

7. You are probably 100% right :-)

8. There is a mysterious ‘Personal’ message in the newspaper
I had'nt noticed this private message until you pointed it.

These are two french expresions.
Les carottes sont cuites : The game is up / The jig is up / The die is cast
L'oiseau s'est en volé: he's flown the coop.
rendez-vous  Sunday 19 O'clock  21/71/89/58
The numbers might be a code for people to whom this message is addressed . But in fact they are the four french departments numbers of the Burgundy region (Bertrnad B Sense of humor)
21 Côte-d'Or / 71 Saône-et-Loire / 89 Yonne / 58 Nièvre
The newspaper is dated tuesday april the 12 th... It is a morning new paper.
Is there a relation with Allison ? Who seemed to have done the round trip between the 8 and the 16 april ? being in France the 12th. Timing is really short

9. Sorry, I do not understand this question. I have not seen any casing among the physical clues -

10. No idea...

11.There is an inconsistence in Maurice’s words .
Perheaps not. It is written :"23h12 Delorme signals inanimate hold keeper. Evacuated to infirmary"
Well,that does not mean he was awake at 23h12. He might have been transported inanimated, to the infirmary.  


Concerning  the Second post.

3. I am also curious, how much time do you have to spend in the game for the elevator to get broken? Dom50, is it some predetermined value or random, like in 'Meurtre à Grande Vitesse'?

The answer is in mag Isent to you ... :-) (In MAXIMUS mêne l'enquête...)

"Si tu as libéré ce "gus" c'est que tu as appuyé plus de 2500 fois sur une touche pendant le jeu et que tu sauvegardes bien tes états d'enquête. Il y a une touche secrète "K" si tu appuis dessus un chiffre apparaît en bas de l'écran. Il augmente de 0,5 à chaque action sur le clavier... A partir de 1250 tu risques d'être bloqué dans l'ascenseur et à partir de 2500 tu peux libérer le "gus" qui jusque là était invisible... C'est un des endroits dans le jeu où le temps joue un rôle..."

These number have been a bit difficult to determine. To short, the game is too easy (you find Delavaliere early), too long the game is too difficult.

Hi Dom50!
Thank you very much for your replies and considerations

Dom50 a écrit:
3. Who is Louis Pignerot ? He is a wine merchant. Mercurey is a well known appellation of  Burgundy wine.
   Probably a red herring

Probably you are right.
I just thought that as Bertrand Brocard comes from a famous wine-makers family, maybe it could be some relative of his?
By the way, Bertrand's grandfather was named Lucien. Could it be the child who wrote the letter? However their age should be different though.

Dom50 a écrit:
These are two french expresions.
Les carottes sont cuites : The game is up / The jig is up / The die is cast
L'oiseau s'est en volé: he's flown the coop.
rendez-vous  Sunday 19 O'clock  21/71/89/58
The numbers might be a code for people to whom this message is addressed . But in fact they are the four french departments numbers of the Burgundy region (Bertrnad B Sense of humor)
21 Côte-d'Or / 71 Saône-et-Loire / 89 Yonne / 58 Nièvre

Thanks for the explanation! The Sunday in question is April 17th, so it could well be some message to Allison or whoever we have on our suspects list...

Dom50 a écrit:
9. Sorry, I do not understand this question. I have not seen any casing among the physical clues -

Sorry - I have said 'casing' because that's how it is named on MOCAGH.
You call it 'socket' in your pictures

Dom50 a écrit:
"Si tu as libéré ce "gus" c'est que tu as appuyé plus de 2500 fois sur une touche pendant le jeu et que tu sauvegardes bien tes états d'enquête. Il y a une touche secrète "K" si tu appuis dessus un chiffre apparaît en bas de l'écran. Il augmente de 0,5 à chaque action sur le clavier... A partir de 1250 tu risques d'être bloqué dans l'ascenseur et à partir de 2500 tu peux libérer le "gus" qui jusque là était invisible... C'est un des endroits dans le jeu où le temps joue un rôle..."

Oh, thanks! It seems that I have not noticed that line in the magazine.
I see that I m now only on 358.5 in Oric... I have done everything except freeing Alan, and I have already met a broken elevator.
Too bad there is no secret key in Commodore version - the last time I played it there it was the contrary: I have located Alan and the secret stack on M deck, but the lift has never broken for me.
I never use saves though, just emulator snapshots.

I agree with you on other topics!
And what about the test questions? Have you changed them on will, or is it how they were in some French version?
Thanks again

Iurius a écrit:And what about the test questions? Have you changed them on will, or is it how they were in some French version?

The questions are the same , If I remerber well, than those in the french Amstrad version.

I only added one question (the fourth one, as a kind of private Joke with the CEO Staff)
Quel est le nom du président de l’association, dont le conseil d’administration au complet, a filé avec la caisse pour s’offrir une croisière transatlantique ?
(What is the name of the president of the association, whose full board of directors has spun with the cash to afford a cruise transatlantic?)

Of course I also changed the passenger list, in order to add the names of CEO's board

Thanks, but I meant the test questions, not the Contest questions - like 'Who sent the Morse code message?' instead of 'Who is meant in the Morse code message?' (at least in C64 1987 version). Was it the same in French Amstrad CPC?

I have got that 'président de l’association' question should be non-original, as that's the only one I had no idea how to answer

Sorry I misunderstood
Here under, the DATA in the BASIC code of the TEST program. I changed nothing, the questions are the same than in french amstrad version.

Code:

300 DATA" Qui a écrit la lettre de menaces ?",7,536
310 DATA" Qui est l'étoile la plus brillante ?",6,479  
320 DATA" Comment s'appelle la machine que l'on voit sur
       le microfilm?",6,433
330 DATA" A quelle  heure est arrivé  le radio  
        télégramme?",5,277
340 DATA" Que représente la photo déchirée?",9,705  
350 DATA" Comment est  surnommé  le pistolet en
       photo?",5,359
360 DATA" Qui a tu{ de la Vallière?",8,522  
370 DATA" A quel endroit ?",10,609
380 DATA" Comment s'appelle la seconde victime?",7,522  
390 DATA" Qui a écrit le mot trouve sur DURANT?",6,449
400 DATA" Quel  mot  permet de fouiller tout le
       bateau?",6,446  
410 DATA" Qui est l'agent X13 ?",6,436
420 DATA" Dans quel pays habite M. JACOBSON ?",7,534
430 DATA" De  qui  est-il  question  dans  le   message
       MORSE?",7,530
440 DATA" Et  pour  finir,  quel  est l'âge  du
        capitaine?",2,104      
450 DATA"FIN",0,0

Dom50 a écrit:
Here under, the DATA in the BASIC code of the TEST program. I changed nothing, the questions are the same than in french amstrad version.

It is very strange then!
As in the French Oric version you ask about the person mentioned in the Morse code message (and it is Allison), while in the English Oric version you ask about the sender of that message (and it is certainly not Allison)!



Please believe me that in the English C64 version it is Allison

Not so strange, i think.
I 've strictly ported to oric the french and English Amstrad CPC versions. If there is a difference in the oric versions Itis just because this difference was in the CPC versions. But honestly, I did'nt notice this difference at that time.

Well, than it is still strange that it is different in English/French Amstrad CPC versions

OK, I got it!
It is just a little error in the question (not the answer).
The English Amstrad CPC version asks about who sent the Morse code message, but it still means who is meant in that message. As the correct answer is 'Allison', and not 'Federal Police of New York' or something.



So, Dom50, you chose the wrong 'right answer' ('FBI') for the Oric English version
(Unless it implies that Allison himself has sent the telegram to warn the captain about himself? That's improbable.)