Grundislav Games Presents

Case 7: The Cardinal Sins

Contents

Foreword

Playing the Game

AGS Game Settings

Foreword

Welcome to the penultimate case in the Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator series. This file is intended for first time players, or those who may have forgotten what to do.  Also included is an excerpt from The Paranormal Investigator’s Handbook.  I hope you enjoy this game as much as I enjoyed making it.

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The Story

It's Christmas Eve in Rome. What should be a joyful occasion becomes a senseless tragedy as a priest is murdered in cold blood. Back home in Philadelphia, Ben Jordan receives a phone call from the man accused of the crime, begging him to go to Rome and clear his name. Seeing this as a chance to prove his career choice to his disapproving family, Ben calls up his friends and starts another investigation. However, Ben doesn't realize that this will be the toughest case he's ever had, as many questions will be answered, and some lives will be lost...

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Credits

A graphic adventure game by Francisco Gonzalez
Original music by Peter Gresser

Additional music by Andreas Slotte and Adam Hay

"Intervention" written and performed by Arcade Fire

Beta Testing by Adam Hay, Edmundo Ruiz, Jakob Katz, Andrew MacCormack, Chrille Blomquist, and Ryan Keepence
Adventure Game Studio by Chris Jones
Ben Jordan logo by Edmundo Ruiz

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Voice Credits

Ben Jordan: Eric Feurstein
Simon Booth: Adam Cronan
Alice Wilkins: Jade Garcia
Percy Q. Jones: Chris Jones
Cardinal Genovese: Phillip Sacramento
Vincenzo Bianchi: Cameron Urquhart
Desk Sergeant: Francisco Gonzalez
Father McNamara: Christian Taite
Alessandro Renzi: Matt Gardner
The Usher: Aileen Neri
Swiss Guard: Peter Gresser
Father Ryan: Ryan Keepence
Bianchi's Neighbor: Ryan Keepence
Bill Jordan: Dave Gilbert
Helen Jordan: Mercedes Gonzalez
Peter Jordan: Taylor Minor
Jeannie Jordan: Amberle Johnson

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Playing the Game

To run the game, double-click on the bj7.exe file. For more information on setting up the game, check out the section entitled AGS Game Settings.

Most of the screen is taken up by the main view window. This shows Ben Jordan and his current surroundings. Several objects in each room can be interacted with, and these are called 'hotspots'.

A gray bar appears at the top of the screen. This bar displays the game title and the current score. Whenever you accomplish something siginificant in the game, you will get a score point.

Move the mouse cursor there and the icon bar will appear. The pictures on the bar represent the following, from left to right:

  • Walk to
  • Look at
  • Interact with
  • Speak to
  • Interrogate
  • Current Inventory Item
  • Open inventory
  • Notepad
  • Save game
  • Restore game
  • Quit
  • Settings
  • About

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Basic Commands

The first five pictures, when clicked on, will change the mouse cursor to the appropriate symbol. Then you may click on a hotspot in the main view window to use the appropriate symbol on said hotspot. You can also scroll through these commands by clicking on the right mouse button.

  • WALK (walking mini-Ben): Click on any point in the room you want Ben to walk to, and he will do so if he can, otherwise he will go as close as he can to it.
  • LOOK (eyes): When used on a hotspot, Ben will examine it and you will get a message describing it. Click to close the text windows.
  • INTERACT (hand): Click on a hotspot and Ben will walk over to it and then try to do an appropriate action - e.g. use a button to press it, use a door to open it. If he can't do anything or if he doesn't know what to do, the game will tell you.
  • TALK (small speech bubble with exclamation mark): Use this icon to make small talk with other characters. 
  • INTERROGATE (large speech bubble with question mark): Clicking this on a character will cause Ben to open up a discussion with other characters.

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The Inventory

Click on the pocket icon to open the inventory. This displays all the items Ben is carrying with him - obtained by either interacting with them or being given them. Click first on the magnifying glass and then on an object to examine it in more detail. Click on the hand icon and then on the item to interact with it.  Alternatively, inventory items can be held in Ben's hand and used on another interactive object. Click on the arrow and then on an inventory item - the cursor will become the same item. Now click again on something in the inventory to try and combine the two objects, or click 'OK' and click on a hotspot in the room to use the item on that.

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The Notepad

Click on the picture of the notepad to open it. As Ben learns things in the game, he may write them down in the notepad. If you forget what you're supposed to be doing or just want to make sure you're on the right track, you can check the notepad. Click on the "Put Away" button to put it away.

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Settings

The icon that looks like a cog or gear opens up the settings menu. This menu is also available from the title screen. Here you can select the voice mode for the game (Voice Only, Voice and Text, Text Only) as well as the option to turn the Designer Commentary on or off.

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Saving and Restoring

You can save your progress by clicking on the 'Save Game' icon and entering a name for your save game. Later on, when you come back to the game, you can click the 'Restore Game' icon and reload your saved game, so you don't have to play through the whole game again.

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Hot Keys

  • F5: Save game dialog
  • F7: Restore game dialog
  • F9: Restart game
  • F12: Take screenshot (it will be saved as scrnshot.bmp in the game's folder)
  • Alt+R: Record replay
  • Ctrl+T Toggle between Voice Only, Voice and Text, and Text Only Modes
  • Ctrl+C Toggle Designer Commentary On/Off (Only when voices are turned on)
  • Ctrl+Q: Quit game

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AGS Game Settings

Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator comes with default settings so that you don't have to run the setup first in order to run the game. However, if you want to change any of the settings, you can access the game's setup by double-clicking on the winsetup.exe file.

  • Resolution: You can change the game's resolution between 320x200 and 640x400. Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator was designed for 320x200 and it will run best at that resolution. However, if your screen can't handle 320x200 as a full-screen resolution, then try selecting 640x400.
  • Run in a window instead of full-screen: It allows you to run the game in a standard window instead of filling up the whole screen.
  • Use 85 Hz display (CRT monitors only): In case that the screen flickers while you run the game, check this option and it will get rid of the flicker. However, this will only work on CRT monitors and not on flat screen monitors.
  • Force alternate letterbox resolution: This changes the aspect ratio of the game, showing black bars at the top and bottom of the screen.
  • Anti-alias scaled sprites (fast CPUs only): Characters will look a lot smoother as they scale (become larger or smaller) on the screen.
  • Downgrade 32-bit graphics to 16-bit: In case that your computer cannot handle a 32-bit graphic resolution, you can check this option. However, Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator was designed in 16-bit mode so this option will not affect the game.
  • Digital Sound: Changes the kind of sound system the game will use to play the digital music and sounds.
  • MIDI music: Changes what kind of midi music system the game will use. However, Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator only features digital music and therefore this feature will not affect the game.
  • Use digital music pack if available: Plays digital music instead of midi music. Ben Jordan: Paranormal Investigator comes with the digital music pack and only features digital music; therefore, unchecking this feature will turn off the in-game background music.
  • Use speech pack if available: Characters speak if there is a speech pack available.
  • Game language: Changes the language of the game if you have downloaded a translation.

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Advanced

  • Replay: This option allows you to select the replays you recorded. You can record the game by pressing Alt+R anytime. When you quit the game, it will prompt you for a description and a file name and it will save it into a replay file.
  • Maximum size: As explained in the window itself, you can limit the maximum amount of memory the game can use for its sprite cache. Usually, this option doesn't need to be changed from its default selection.

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Copyright © 2008 Francisco Gonzalez