Covert Action

[Kosta]

Feel free to comment and discuss this game here. Also, if you have any useful tips or tricks don't hesitate to share them with the others! Thanks!

Review and Download (if available) (http://www.abandonia.com/en/games/139)

[Havell]

The first time you break into a building there is a 3-4 minute wait, after that everything should be OK, this happened to me and I thought that game had crashed so just wait.

[Dream]

If you run the game in old windows or something like that, it should help you if you use alt+TAB and then get back to game.

[Havell]

This is going to sound stupid but when you are breaking into a building, how do you go through doors? I can open them but when I try to go though them I just walk into the wall next to the door.

[Tom Henrik]

I don't remember exactly which button did it, but this is what I do know.

There are two ways of moving your character, either by the cursors or by the number pad (with Home, PgUp, PgDn & End). It was one of these buttons. You open the door and walk straight for it. The cursors however will not help you here.

I might be wrong, but this is how I remember it.
Good Luck!

[D-1-Viper]

can anny one tell me how to deode the letters in this game i have never been able to do it oh enter is the use button and F1-F5 or F6

[scorch3000]

Originally posted by D-1-Viper@Nov 3 2004, 09:21 PM
can anny one tell me how to deode the letters in this game i have never been able to do it oh enter is the use button and F1-F5 or F6
I guess you mean decoding the terrorist messages? It's rather simple, you look for 2 letter words, and you decode them, for example LS you be to, or, or even he, you just try them, but if you get the letter t in the middle of a 3 letter word, youve got it wrong. It takes time, but soon it gets easy. Here's an example

GSV XZZP TMVH MGH.

THE CALL GOES OUT.

A crap example, but it'll do.

[punch999]

acctually i thought this was a great game just have to figure out the controls.
this definatly diserved a 5 in my oppinion.


and to all u haters of this game,

:bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bannana::bann ana:

[Loxuz]

I have a couple of problems with the game. First of I can't get the mouse to work at all. And I can't save my game, or quit with out using ctrl + alt + del.

[Jake]

how do u install it, it keeps asking me to put in the disk marked A into a drive, whats the abandonia way of installing it

[Icer]

Guys, this used to be my favourite game:) I even got promoted to something like agent 006, beter than Bond, James Bond. I wish they made a 3D version of Covert!! Cant wait.

[Guest_Nick]

does anyone here know the controls for this game...

I mostly don't know how to save my game. If someone could tell me that, it would really help.

[The Steve Man]

In order to save you have to hit the escape key until you see the option of "Go to Hotel" Hit enter and then you get the option to save.

You should download the manual - many of the answers as far as what keys do what are in there.

[Max]

"You should download the manual - many of the answers as far as what keys do what are in there."

Where can I download the manual? Is it on this site? I don't see it on the Covert Action page--

[drummond13]

Last I checked the manual for this game was at Home of the Underdogs. Search for that site. If you haven't already seen it, it's a pretty good site to visit anyway.

[Minti]

I love this game! I have been playing it for years and years, but I never got tired of it.
About the controls, in case someone is still wondering: Use the number arrows (on the right on your keyboard,,) to move around and get from room to another. If you use the arrow keys, the character you are playing kinda "ducks" and is crawling from place to another, and can't go from room to another. If you want to go over a couch or some other object, use the arrow keys for that. It allows the character to "jump" or something over the objects. :D

[pigpen]

you can control your character with the numpad keys, and use the bugs, camera, etc. with the function keys. i don't remember exactly which keys, just play it and try and you'll get it.

[Reyth]

Woot! This game rocks! The best I've found in any genre, on any site.

My only complaint is the combat is a little difficult. Everything else works great and is enough of a challenge to be super fun!

Wouldn't you know it, the one skill you need to really make headway is COMBAT...

Well since this is my first day playing (I played for like 8 hours straight at least) I hope to get better at combat as I go.

Reyth

PS I am using a Moslo clone called turbo and I have my comp set at 50% speed. This seems to normalize the speed for me -- anybody else notice this?

[bigpadguy]

I bought this game new and have never really stopped playing it. I just started to play it again this past week after a few years hiatus.

This time around though the sound I have to use is only the pc sounds so it's not as fun as I have had in the past.

I still enjoy playing though

[dodginess]

Hi All,

A few years back (ahem...) I remember reading a review about a very similar 'update' of this game - not actually a follow-up but similar in practice and with better graphics, though the review wasn't very good ;) Anyone remember it? It was probably released in about 1993-1994.

On that note, looking at the game manual again made me think how ahead of it's time this game was - I can't think of any game that I've played since that offers complex, unlimited gameplay. The only problem I have with it is the huge number of little scraps of paper I used to generate with all the possible suspect names written on it. I also reckon this game would be superb on a portable gaming system - those long-haul flights would melt away in no time!

[Guest]

Hi :D

i played this game a long time ago, and would like to play it again, but i really have no idea of how to install it! could you guys help me out here?

[A. J. Raffles]

Originally posted by Guest@Aug 14 2005, 12:03 AM
Hi :D

i played this game a long time ago, and would like to play it again, but i really have no idea of how to install it! could you guys help me out here?
Have you tried using DOSBox?

[Eado]

I’ve played this game a bunch and here are the controls to the best of my knowledge.
Menus
Navigate the menus with the arrow keys, select with the space bar and go back with the escape key.
Wiretap/Tracing
When you are placing a wiretap or tracing a car you are trying to stop the dotted red lines from reaching the boxes on the far right (alarms, phones, or transmitters). To do this swap the extra piece (the one on the bottom) with the selected piece (the blue one) by pressing the space bar. Select pieces with the arrow keys and press the space bar to switch. Once you have completed the wiretap you will automatically head back to the hideout page, or you can press escape to exit at any time.
Breaking and Entering
As someone above mentioned, the first time you select “break into building” you have to wait a minute or so for the game to load. After this you will get to select your equipment. I would suggest taking the bulletproof vest, the headset (motion detector), the safecracking kit, the camera, and the Uzi. When you are finished, press escape and select which door you will enter.
The basic movement keys are on the keypad:
Left = 4
Right = 6
Up = 8
Down = 2
Crouch/Stand = 5
(NOTE: this only works on the keypad, not on the numerical keys above the letter keys.)
To fire your gun, press the space bar.
The other action keys are the function keys:
F1 = Open
F2 = Take picture
F3 = Place bug
F4 = Use terminal
F5 = Grenade short throw
F6 = Grenade medium throw
F7 = Grenade long throw
F8 = Trigger remote
F9 = Set grenade trap (remote or booby trap)
F10 = Switch grenade type
Try everything to see what you can photograph and bug. If you see a red safe with a yellow X on top, make sure you photograph the contents!
To save the game or exit during missions, go to the hotel in any of the cities.
I never crack coded messages or trail suspects, so I have no idea how to do those.

[cmortensen]

:help:
I tried using DOS Box to run the game and it lets me get through the three setup questions but after the last one I get a "filename not found" error. Does anyone know what I can do about this?

Thanks!!!

[whatshisface]

Hi.
Anyone know what the difference is between an uzi and a pistol? The clip size is the same and damadge has no significant change in.

[Guest_guest]

hi. what does placing bugs in a building actualy accomplish in gameplay terms? i've place bugs in every room in a building before and haven't recieved any extra information.

[Borodin]

Originally posted by Guest_guest@Dec 24 2005, 12:44 AM
hi. what does placing bugs in a building actualy accomplish in gameplay terms?* i've place bugs in every room in a building before and haven't recieved any extra information.

Bugs let you know when somebody has entered a room you were previously in. So you can safely re-enter, without going into a shootout.

[Guest]

there is no difference between the uzi and pistol 'cept the extra weight, and the fact that a bigger gun picture on the screen makes u want to pump more bullets into people

i never use decode messages, i know how, u can press f1 and it will give u a letter, however pressing it too many times will eat at your time, so just place a wiretap on the building, get lots of info then break and enter photograph everything and arrest the perp, all the messages decode automatically anway once you arrest the originator, Tracing cars then become nessessary but its easy just learn to phone tap really quickly and with a car trace u only need to have like 5 not connected even tho there are 6 to untap.

[Guest]

ah - but you don't want to arrest people on a first come first serve basis, as if you arrest people who are crucial to the next part of the crime, then most of the other criminals will go into hiding. Although the immediate aim is to stop the crime, the main aim is to arrest as many people as possible (including the mastermind if you can).

There is a difference between the UZI and pistol - I think the UZI allows you to hold down the fire key, or maybe it has a faster rate of firing - one of the two. But it *will* cause the alarms to sound, so not good if you're going to sneak around. (to get the best scores, you should break into a place just to get info first, even if you see the guy in the chair, then go to your lab and decode the info before seeing if you should arrest this guy or not.)

Another thing you should try for is to get the evidence which will make the guy into a double agent. Then the crime will still happen, but you get lots of info - this really helps to arrest the other people involved.

Hope this helps - and remember, that if you've played the easiest level for a while and think it's too simple, try it on a harder level. Theres a lot of things you don't get until the difficulty is up there, such as prision breaks, people following you and doing firefights in the middle of the street, as well as more complex plots. Great game - just a pity they took out most of what happens if there's a double agent in the CIA (they were meant to give you fake info, etc. But that was replaced with the terrorists just have more awareness of you - bah!)

[Knogget]

I, for one, can only say, that this is the greatest game ever... I hope that Mr. Meier makes a new version...
Love it -love it.

[Harpam]

Need help in saving game. Every time i try and save it says error. Any advice would be great

[Guest]

Originally posted by Harpam@Mar 24 2006, 01:23 PM
Need help in saving game. Every time i try and save it says error. Any advice would be great
You know how to save, right? Only at the hotel, right.

Does it make a difference whether you overwrite a previously saved game or save in an empty slot? In that case it may be that the savegame file is set to read-only (because you copied the game from a CD?), and you should go to the directory which holds the game, open the savegame files (CVX.SVE where X is a number) properties and unselect "read only".

Otherwise, are you using DOSBox? If you're using Windows try an enviroment where the game is more native.

Yours sincerely,

Maximilian Remington :-P

[Guest]

Originally posted by Guest@Feb 7 2006, 11:46 AM
There is a difference between the UZI and pistol - I think the UZI allows you to hold down the fire key, or maybe it has a faster rate of firing - one of the two. But it *will* cause the alarms to sound, so not good if you're going to sneak around.
The difference between the UZI and the pistol, according to the manual and my own experience, is that the UZI has a greater chace of hitting the target, that is, a shorter time passes until the grey crosshair over your picture turns white meaning that Max has taken enough aim. It does make a difference. And the UZI doesn't necessarily set the alarm asound, the activation depends only on how long you let an enemy look at you (or your face if you're disguised) -before killing him.

The rest of the info is right. By the way, one of the more handy features of turning terrorists, apart from scoring double, is that you can't lose him any longer -he won't go into hiding.

[Japo]

Just registered, gotta turn up around here more often.

Yours sincerely,

Maximilian Remington :max:

[Joe Fajita]

Originally posted by Jake@Dec 11 2004, 09:40 PM
how do u install it, it keeps asking me to put in the disk marked A into a drive, whats the abandonia way of installing it
Are you clicking on the button that says "COVERT" or "GAME"? Because COVERT is the one to start the game. :wall:

[Guest]

I really like this game and I reopen it every few years.

I saw a poll on the Firaxis site that asked which game people would like to see a remake. Covert Action has 1% of the votes, so I don't see why they would remake it.

I got VB recently and that gave me an idea: why not try to do a remake of it myself? The logic of the game is pretty simple and VB is handling most of the graphic parts. I am pretty sure I can do everything easily except the car chase and the sneaking into building, but I think I can make them with more time. I would need some help coming up with the crime chronologies and getting some faces and other graphics (to replace the VGA graphics). Would anyone be willing to help with that?

[The Fifth Horseman]

I'm not bad with graphics myself. If you need some specific pieces, just ask.

[fbouthil]

Thanks horseman! :D

I started on the coded message part, so I don't really need graphics for that part. I will post the game once that part is finished.

Next, I plan on working on the electronics, to get used to custom drawing in VB (I never did it in VB, but I have done some in C++). I guess I could do a few screenshots of the original game, but it would be fun to have an improved look for it.

I am also thinking of a web-like interface for the data section, with hyperlinks to jump between a suspect and its organization or town, etc. Each suspect could have a collection of photos, with one attached in its file, but we could see any of the other photos when watching a house! Of course, I plan on using photos of myself and friends and family, but I will need a couple of hundreds of suspect photos so we don't fall on the suspects every few games.

Of course, I am not far enough to reject any idea at that point.

[Japo]

I got VB recently and that gave me an idea: why not try to do a remake of it myself?

:Brain: Really? There are quite a few people who will appreciate this work, and I'm definitely one of them. I think you're not the first one to think about this project, but I hope that you'll be the one who will actually carry it out. I've got no idea of game programming myself (just... "program programming" with C), but you've got all my moral support! :whistle:

I am also thinking of a web-like interface for the data section, with hyperlinks to jump between a suspect and its organization or town, etc. [...]

COOL! :kosta: In the original game it's somewhat annoying going up and down the menus--clues, suspects, organizations, cities...

By the way, when it's done you could ask Abandonia Reloaded (http://www.reloaded.org/) to publish it, since that's the site where the same guys who make Abandonia host freeware (including remakes) instead of abandonware, if I'm not wrong...

[fbouthil]

I have done most of the practise crypto part. It is missing the "clue" and the "erase guesses" button. There are no difficulty settings and there is only one message to decode so far.

I tried to put it on the website my provider is, hum, providing, but he does not accept .exe or .zip files. :crazy: So, I had to attach it somewhere else. Anyone knows a better place to download my work in progress?

Here it is: Covert Action Remake Project (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=122923&d=1144634878) (19k) :ph34r:

I plan to work on a way to load the missions from text files in a readable format so that anyone can create new kinds of missions. Once that is done, I will change the practise crypto to use a random message from a random mission so it can be played by itself.

[Japo]

Here it is: Covert Action Remake Project (19k) :ph34r:

I've just downloaded and checked it out, but it won't run because I don't have a certain MSCOREE.DLL. :wall: Is this because I use Win98 instead of WinXP?

[fbouthil]

Looking at the properties of that dll, it says it is "Microsoft .NET Runtime Execution Engine". So, you probably only need to install Microsoft .NET framework or something like that.

I will try to use only components that are not .NET components but since I am using Microsoft Visual Basic, I am not optimistic. It will most likely be a limitation.

EDIT: I checked my VB project, and ALL its components are .NET components. This is probably due to the fact that I have one of the latest version of Microsoft VB and they don't want to promote non .NET applications. I don't know where to get other components that are not .NET, or how to migrate to them. So, it will be a limitation: you need to install Microsoft .NET framework. :(

Sorry about promoting this empire of evil. j/k :D

[fbouthil]

I did a second version of the game. Here is what it new:
- Crypto now shows a random message from a random plot from the plot folder.
- I started working on the structure to keep plots in memory as I needed it for the random message for Crypto.
- Electronic
- Plays a random mp3 file in the corresponding activity subfolders of the Music folder. I did not include mp3 files, but I suggest songs of one of the mission impossible movies.

I am going to work on car chases next.

If anyone wants to help, I will need furniture graphics from an almost top-down view (as per the original game). I will also need top-down views of Max and of Bodyguards. That will be for combat practise.

I expect I will also need suspect photos. It will probably be faces of about the size of a forum avatar. I have not decided on the details yet.

Windows Covert Action (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=124153&d=1145503409) (165K)

The program requires Microsoft .NET Framework (http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/) which is free. It probably requires DirectX also as I used a DirectX class to play the MP3 files.

[Japo]

Okay I'll se if I can download everything I need to run the game :crazy: and I'll check it out as soon as possible. :ok:

EDIT

All right it's taken ages to install and now half my system talks English instead of Spanish (my fault for downloading the wrong version) but now the thing runs. :w00t: But for the moment being the only thing I can play is crypto--waiting imapatiently for your next release. :kosta:

As for the graphics you need, I don't have any experience myself but I think 'Horseman offered help above. Anyway the right place to ask for help in is the Programming Forum (http://www.abandonia.com/forum/index.php?showforum=19) ("Got a project going? Looking for more ppl to involve?").

[fbouthil]

All right! One person likes what I am doing! :Brain:

Electronics should work too (unless you downloaded the first version (19k) instead of the second (165k)). If it is not, please tell me. I actually enjoy it more because we can simply click on the chip we want to switch and the mouse cursor changes into the chip you are carrying. It is much more user friendly than using the arrow keys and the space bar to move the cursor and switch chips.

Thanks for the tip, I will post in that other forum.

[Japo]

Nope, no go. :( When running the second version you posted (165k) Practise>Crypto works (with the same single message every time), but Practise>Electronics doesn't. Perhaps I still lack something. As a matter of fact, selecting File>New is the same as Practise>Crypto.

I was thinking, since one of the differences between your first release and the second is that the latter actually consists of more than one file, might the problem be that for some reason the program can't find the other files in my computer?

[fbouthil]

Sorry, the reason is that I am an idiot. I forgot to recompile the game in release so I included the first version of the program in the zip file. :crazy:

Here is a better version (I learned to test my zip file first): Windows Covert Action April 23, 2006 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=124564&d=1145819481)

You will see that I started working on the practise driving too, but the only thing you can do is search for the airport or the CIA office.

[fbouthil]

I got the practise driving working, except for the tracking and some sound effects.

I had to split the zip file in 2 because of the file size limit of the forum I used to host the files.
Windows Covert Action April 30 part 1 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=125318&d=1146414417)
Windows Covert Action April 30 part 2 (http://forums.civfanatics.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=125319&d=1146414417)

Someone on another forum suggested I make a website to show what I am planning, so I will work on that next. I will try to find a free host that accept large enough files.

[Japo]

I can't run your two latest releases, :cry: they yield this message:

Application has generated an exception that could not be handled.

Process ID=0xfffcd15d (-204451), Thread ID=0xfffc3aa5 (-247131)

Click OK to terminate the application.
Click Cancel to debug the application.
:( That's for the latest release, the previous one yielded a similar one with different numbers. I guess this happens in my machine but not in others. I use Windows 98SE by the way.

Can't wait to see your own website, especially since we're a little :ot: here. :D

[fbouthil]

Here is my new website:
Covert Action Remake for Windows (http://geocities.com/fbouthil/)

It explains every ideas I have for every part of the game. If you disagree with anything or have new suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know.

For faces, I decided to go with 100x100 pixels jpg files of faces taken from actual photos. That way, every one can be part of the game! Simply send me pictures in the appropriate format. :D

As for the error Japofran got, Japofran and I found out that it was due to the fact that he did not have DirectX or, if he did, not a recent enough version of it. I have put on the website a version of the game that does not requires it.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I'll go and see how it plays. :D
Loved the electronics part of the original CA... could play it for hours.

[Grand Dad]

Originally posted by fbouthil@May 6 2006, 07:43 AM
Here is my new website:
Covert Action Remake for Windows (http://geocities.com/fbouthil/)



It appears to be a remake of the original MPS Covert Action I played ages ago. I fun running around, flying to Central America onto Rio etc.
Good luck and I am sure Good Work! fbouthil

[fbouthil]

:brain: I now have a partially working combat activity in my remake!

The most important things missing are the grenades, jumping, an inventory system and disguises. I realized I was spending more time playing with what I had done so far rather than adding things, so I thought I should post a new version. The mouse lets you walk, shoot or stand/crouch, but you are better using the keyboard for the latter (5 on the keypad or space). Here is a complete list of what is working and what is not: Combat Activity (http://www.geocities.com/fbouthil/Combat.htm)

I would like feedback from those who will try it. Is it too easy or hard to shoot guards? Is it too easy or hard for guards to shoot you? How many guards do you think should be in the house depending on the alert level? Are there enough inside doors or too many rooms with only one door? Are you walking and crawling too slowly or too fast?

[Japo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(fbouthil @ May 26 2006, 11:30 PM) 232474</div>:brain: I now have a partially working combat activity in my remake![/b]
I'll get to it as soon as possible... Now I'm *awfully* busy. :(

[Grand Dad]

Same here, I'll try it soon as I can. Meanwhile good luck in your efforts :ok:

[Guerrillero]

This game looks great, but still i can't break in a house....i' waited a couple of minutes and nothing happened.(i'm using windows xp)....can anybody help me?

[Japo]

This game stops for a minute when you enter a house because of the fading graphics -same as Sword of the Samurai-, but it usually goes okay after the wait. In fact the same graphics run smoothly thereafter if you stay in the same gaming session.

[JiAwEn]

is there a walkthrough for this game? i dont really care if there isnt but i have no idea what im supposed to do when i have to find bad guys that are in 'hiding'... also, how do you become a double agent? :sos:

[Japo]

Once they're "in hiding" there's no way you're catching them, that's why you must hurry. An agent goes in hiding once either he's accomplished his mission or he isn't able to any longer because you've foiled the crime. Everything depends on each agent's role in the crime, "Organizer", "Initiated plan" or "Contacted parties" are the first to hide and you should get them as soon as possible. Afterwards don't arrest anybody necessary for the crime until you've got the others located, then arrest everybody fast. If you need more time to find them steal some item (money, weapon, etc.) necessary for the crime but just steal, don't arrest the guy who has it if he's still necessary. Stealing that will delay the crime while the terrorists get another item. Once an agent necessary for the crime is arrested the rest will soon go into hiding.

You don't become a double agent, you get terrorist to act as so. Sometimes you find "incriminating evidence" when breaking into a building (always in the big red safes), and when you arrest the guy he accepts to serve as a double agent for you. You get twice as many points compared to just arresting him (that's how you can get scores over 1000 ?/oo), his comrades aren't alerted because he appears to continue working with them, and he informs you of his moves and meetings.

[Guest]

oh... okay thanks :kosta:

[Trehek]

I've got good enough in this game to be successful on the second highest difficulty, but when I try the highest I have no chance. Any tips on how to get started with clues and how to survive combat and alley fights on that difficulty?

[uk_john2005]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Max @ Mar 2 2005, 01:22 AM) 73735</div>
"You should download the manual - many of the answers as far as what keys do what are in there."

Where can I download the manual? Is it on this site? I don't see it on the Covert Action page--
[/b]


You can download the Covert Action manual here:

http://209.120.136.195/game.php?id=236

Not only will you have the key commands, but it is one of the great 1990's manual's with great reading and comments from your spymaster, etc! The manual certainly matches the heights the game has reached in cult classic status!

[Guest]

Hi!

I've tried to follow all the instructions to break into buildings, but after waiting more than 10mins i quited. So i went to fbouthill's page (good job, btw) and downloaded the Windows Remake. Installed the .Net frameworl launched the game and: error! "Covert Action jas encountered a problem and nees to close".
In the Error report appears:
"EventType : clr20r3 P1 : covert action.exe P2 : 1.0.0.0
P3 : 44768ef6 P4 : covert action P5 : 1.0.0.0 P6 : 44768ef6
P7 : d P8 : c6 P9 : system.invalidoperationexception"

Any1 knows what the problem is?

Thanks!

[uk_john2005]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest @ Aug 28 2006, 07:59 PM) 251535</div>
Hi!

I've tried to follow all the instructions to break into buildings, but after waiting more than 10mins i quited. So i went to fbouthill's page (good job, btw) and downloaded the Windows Remake. Installed the .Net frameworl launched the game and: error! "Covert Action jas encountered a problem and nees to close".
In the Error report appears:
"EventType : clr20r3 P1 : covert action.exe P2 : 1.0.0.0
P3 : 44768ef6 P4 : covert action P5 : 1.0.0.0 P6 : 44768ef6
P7 : d P8 : c6 P9 : system.invalidoperationexception"

Any1 knows what the problem is?

Thanks!
[/b]

On entering a building after 3-5 mins or so I have always got in by Alt tabbing and then Alt tabbing back.

[Guest]

Try the version without music. For most of the people that have that crashing problem at startup, it is because they do not have the correct version of DirectX that I use for the music.

[tilko]

this is great game why not

[heng]

superb game
thanks for this!
at last, a game again that makes me take written notes!
i love it

[Japo]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(heng @ Oct 21 2006, 02:14 PM) 262727</div>at last, a game again that makes me take written notes!
i love it[/b]
Oh, there are plenty of those round the site. :D

[Guest_Fox_*]

Love this game! :ok:
Was wondering if anyone knew how to edit the plots. This remake of CA has a nice simple plot scriptting method. Was wondering if anyone had found a way to create your own plots on it.
The files "CrimeXX.DTA" seem to be these plot scripts. But not particularly readable or changeable. Anyone have a clue? :kosta:

As a sidenote, If you fail a few missions you get a "SuperCannon" plot, where they make a supercannon....Except that it always says you foiled the crime at the end (even if you do utterly nothing you get the 100pts for preventing it) and it replays every time from there on...Anyone else noticed this?

[FrenchBum]

Just installed this old classic again. Sooo much fun. I'm running a dual core e6600 with a ati x1950xtx and a 5 disk raid... and I'm playing covert action. :blink:

I bought this game back in 1990 and I've still got my original manual here if anyones got any questions. I'm downloading the version from the underdogs to see if its the same.

fbouthil incredible work man. I'm toying with the idea of making a covert action mod for Unreal Tournament 2004. I'm a graphics person so if anyone know unreal script... :whistling:

[Guest_Fox_*]

:titan: Good plan! The odd car chase in scorpians! Haha. Tho taking pics of documents could be a challenge....Good luck ;P

[FrenchBum]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Guest_Fox_* @ Apr 10 2007, 02:01 AM) 286510</div>
:titan: Good plan! The odd car chase in scorpians![/b]

Haha.

I haven't really made up my mind about the specifics yet but I was planing on a total conversion. So it would look and play like Covert Action but 3D! I haven't decided if sections would benefit from being changed. For example would the break in section be more fun if it was a first person? I don't know. Its hard to judge if your hiding properly from the 1st person. 3rd person gives you camera issues, I think the birds eye view would still work best. Also would you use the mouse to aim? Not sure.

[Japo]

I'm not particularly enthusiastic about 3D everywhere, but a standard FPS conversion of the combat section could be swell in my opinion.

[Leon]

The page for Covert Action on the Home of the underdogs site isn't loading for me... :blink:

Really great game but I too feel i need to read the manual before I really know what to do ^^ Does anyone else have another link perhaps?

Thanks

[The Fifth Horseman]

Try replacementdocs.

[Leon]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Jul 2 2007, 02:30 PM) 297590</div>
Try replacementdocs.
[/b]

Alright I got it, thanks. Hotu just takes ages to load for some reason...

Anyway, really love Covert Action...it's fun to try n figure out how to both prevent the crime and get all the people involved.

In 5 'rounds' i've only once managed to get the Mastermind. ;)

[pellets]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Leon @ Jul 3 2007, 11:45 PM) 297825</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(the_fifth_horseman @ Jul 2 2007, 02:30 PM) 297590
Try replacementdocs.
[/b]

Alright I got it, thanks. Hotu just takes ages to load for some reason...

Anyway, really love Covert Action...it's fun to try n figure out how to both prevent the crime and get all the people involved.

In 5 'rounds' i've only once managed to get the Mastermind. ;)
[/b][/quote]
This game i can play over and over and over again :brain:

[Hypoc]

Does anyone know where I could find a copy of the manual?

Home of the Underdogs isn't working properly (it's been semi-defunct for some time now) and ReplacementDocs doesn't have a copy of the manual.

[Luchsen]

Manual (http://rapidshare.de/files/41073265/covert-m.zip.html) [ZIP|4.37MB]

[Hypoc]

Argh, I'm trying to use your link, but when I click on the Free button for downloading and wait the 60-or-so seconds, I get no image when I'm to type the numbers in the image. :(

[lone lee]

Man I loved this game, it's a real gem, but the controls annoyed me so much I'm seriously going to put up a simple guide for this game and host it somewhere. It took me several hours to figure out simple things like how to save the game, how to go through doors, how to move "normally" in buildings (not leaping like a frog), what's cool, what's not and so on.

Now that I think of it the controls aren't that bad, but as most very old games that happen to be more complex than Pong go, you need a manual very badly, and this game's manual is nowhere to be found.

I see many here felt it just as annoying as I did, so if anyone have questions about this game I might help (PM me).

Edit: great, I see someone posted the manual formerly found on HotU a couple posts back. It's considerably hard to read as it is, but this and the guide that comes along with the manual in the zip might prove useful. At least I hope I can figure out all the several blanks I still have in this game's controls.

[Japo]

This is the reference I use, I made a plain text file from the manual:


COMBAT
******

F1
examine, open / close (door, filer, safe, drawer...)

F2
microfilm (content)

F3
place bug (in suitable furniture)

Space
shoot

NumPad
move

Shift + NumPad
jump

5 (NumPad)
crouch / get up

F4
access computer
(each terminal provides one letter of the password after examining with F1)

F10
select grenade type
(fragmentation red, gas green, white normal)

F5 / F6 / F7
throw grenade close / mid / far

F9
place trap (booby or remote-controlled)

F8
detonate remote-controlled trap


DRIVING
******

F10
enable / disable automatic following
(steering manually disables automatic following)

- / =
decrease / increase speed

Space
switch car (when pursuing)

F2
escape to safety (when pursued)

F1
arrest suspect (when pursuing)

[Saccade]

I uploaded the manual for this ages ago - I wonder why it's not up..?

[ed]
LOL
I guess that's why.
I must've not removed the watermark...
The copy protection is cracked, so you can just choose any and it'll work.

Japofran's key list is pretty much all you need to play the game, if you can figure out the mini-games (they're not that hard and easy mode gives hints).

[jpfagapeu]

I uploaded the manual for this ages ago - I wonder why it's not up..?

Do you still have a copy of it? Could you link to it or email a copy. I can't find it anywhere.

How are people getting past the old fashioned copy protection, naming the head of the random agency, without the manual?

[Luchsen]

The manual will be added tomorrow. :)

[Luchsen]

Now I see. It's from HOTU, hence it wasn't and won't be added. <_<

[deanolium]

Hey there,

Wow, interesting to still see interest in this game. I'm the guy who scanned the manual for HotU (after spending stupid amounts for this on eBay just for the manual) several years back, though I doubt I still have the original scanned file (before it was then marked with the HOTU seal) on a workable hard disk.

I still think this is one of the most underrated Sid Meier games (along with Sword of the Samurai, though only a small section was Sid's) which could really do with a little updating and improvement - in particular make more interesting plots which requires less mechanical working once you know what to do.

One curious thing I've also found is that there's an error in the original floppies -- I think it's the high score file is set to read only (or something like that) which stops the game from appending all the recent scores to the list -- which gives me the feeling that the game was probably 90% done and then was rushed out (also note that the manual describes a more interesting Double Agent behaviour which was changed in the technical suppliment -- originally, cities with Double Agents in the CIA would provide you with false information; so you'd have to try and figure out whether your data was accurate, before narrowing down who might be the double agent. Which was changed to the mediocre the-bad-guys-will-be-more-aware-of-you -- I wonder if this was due to time constraints or just because it made the game too hard?)

// deano

[deanolium]

The other thing which also suggests the game was unfinished is the lack of consequence if a Mastermind finishes the main plot (for the unaware; each case is usually a minor part of a much larger plot which gets more complete each time you fail - usually culminating in things like an explosion in the Olympics) -- indeed, if the Mastermind succeeds in the large plot, then the next case is a repeat of this. It feels like the game is bugged by doing this -- perhaps they didn't have time to put in code for a failure ending?

[Saccade]

Hey there,

Wow, interesting to still see interest in this game. I'm the guy who scanned the manual for HotU (after spending stupid amounts for this on eBay just for the manual) several years back, though I doubt I still have the original scanned file (before it was then marked with the HOTU seal) on a workable hard disk.


Hi Deano!

Cool - I don't suppose you happen to have the original manual to scan still, do you..?:whistling:
I was gonna clean the watermark, but plundering another ship's booty is kinda frowned up. Even between pirates.
If you don't, would removing the watermark from HotU copy be acceptable? Seeing as you are the originator of the scan...

I printed out the manual and use it for reference (the mugshots help sometimes) nearly every time I play.

If I put the amount of effort into doing real life stuff as I do in playing this game (the piles of notes!) then I'd probably be queen or something.

[deanolium]

I do have the original manual still; though right now it's in storage. I'll have a hunt around in case I still have the original scans, to save some work, otherwise I can rescan the thing (especially now I can get better quality scans).

Hi Deano!

Cool - I don't suppose you happen to have the original manual to scan still, do you..?:whistling:
I was gonna clean the watermark, but plundering another ship's booty is kinda frowned up. Even between pirates.
If you don't, would removing the watermark from HotU copy be acceptable? Seeing as you are the originator of the scan...

I printed out the manual and use it for reference (the mugshots help sometimes) nearly every time I play.

If I put the amount of effort into doing real life stuff as I do in playing this game (the piles of notes!) then I'd probably be queen or something.

[Saccade]

:rocks: Deano!

[DarthHelmet86]

Just found this game on a youtube video, liked it straight away. Then found it here. :OK: for me. Anyone know where to get a manual for it, I couldn't find one on replacement docs.

[dosraider]

You'll find the manual@ HoTU. (covert-m.zip)

[DarthHelmet86]

Thanks Dos, you know to much to be a normal human.

[humorguy]

FYI everybody, I have just uploaded to replacementdocs a much better scan of the Covert Action manual. It was on a budget CD I got of the game as a backup to my original boxed with manual, etc floppy disk version. I checked out the HOTU manual and while it's readable (after the introduction page!), it's not very good quality.

Replacementdocs usually take about 7-10 days to get make the pdf available.

This manual is just as excellent and entertaining with in-depth information on the game AND the subject matter as every other Microprose manual, so enjoy! :)

[DarthHelmet86]

It would be nice to have that manual here too, this game really needs it to be played properly, the controls arn't exactly obvious.

[gradea]

Alright, I can't get the game to run using dosbox on a system running Vista.

I get a run time error with a null pointer exception (Damn it system, point at the beginning, how hard is that?!) if I type Game.

I get "MS-Dos lied to us about how much memory was availableFilename not found" if I type covert. And yes, there is no space between the two error messages.

Install attempts result in it asking for me to put the disk in the A, B, C, or D drive, and mounting with those letters does nothing.

PS the image verification is impossible on this forum. I've never, ever had a problem with it before, but this just isn't legible.

[The Fifth Horseman]

How are your mounts configured? Did you modify the memory settings in DOSBox config file?

[Chronosv2_Guest]

Alright, I can't get the game to run using dosbox on a system running Vista.

I get a run time error with a null pointer exception (Damn it system, point at the beginning, how hard is that?!) if I type Game.

I get "MS-Dos lied to us about how much memory was availableFilename not found" if I type covert. And yes, there is no space between the two error messages.

Install attempts result in it asking for me to put the disk in the A, B, C, or D drive, and mounting with those letters does nothing.

PS the image verification is impossible on this forum. I've never, ever had a problem with it before, but this just isn't legible.

You should be running COVERT.EXE, actually. Then it should work. That's the launchpoint for all the other executables.

[Bumbucket44]

Great game, thanks for the post. :OK:

[Mintilicious]

I have been playing this game for years, but when readind those controls posted on this thread, I learned a lot. For example, I never knew I could access a computer, or at a car chase either escape myself of arrest someone. Gotta try that today when I get home!

One thing puzzles me though.. what's the idea behind those bugs you can place on certain furniture? Apparently you need that headset with them, but how do you get info from them?

And, lastly, some hints I can give:
- Enter the hotel, and then visit the lounge. You will get info from there.
- When breaking into building, the game sometimes asks from which door you want to enter. I have noticed that door nro 1 is always the best, because sometimes the other doors are dead ends.
- When in cryptography, look for certain keywords. For example, the title shows the place and organization, and often they appear in the text.

Sorry if I'm repeating hints or questions or something :D

[Japo]

The computers are usually your only way to find the mastermind. Otherwise you can look for information to complete suspects files (is he involved in the current scheme, etc.).

When being pursued by car, you can only escape at certain locations marked on the map (CIA, MI6, KGB). And of course you can only arrest someone when you come into him head on. Anyway perhaps it's more convenient for you just to tail him, to see where he's going.

The headset has nothing to do with the bugs. It's a motion detector, with it you can see enemies in other rooms as dots on the floor plan. It's very handy, I always pick it.

The bugs are for listening after you've left the building. It has the same purpose as taping the phone line from outside. I never pick them because they take a precious slot, and I know if a wiretap was successful or not when I make it, whereas I think (did I read this in the manual?) terrorist may search for bugs depending on their alertness, and remove them.

The hotel lounge can be useful, specially if you have nowhere else to resort, but you'll attract the attention of enemies and raise their alertness in that city, the same as if you failed a mission and were detected.

When breaking into a building, personally I always pick the door that's a better starting point for tracing a route to explore the whole building, or to go to the room that I want if I already visited that building and know the layout.

The encrypted messages are made up of the same few whole sentences (changing names of cities and organizations) rather than words alone. There can't be many more than two dozens of them:


Time is of the essence.
Our project here in (city) proceeds on schedule.
How is (city) this time of year.
Fellow warriors of the (organization) now is the time for action.
(Organization) is ready to reward you for your success.
...

[Mintilicious]

Thank you Japo, that was very informative. I tried using a computer yesterday, but nothing happened. I had the password, then I went up to a computer and hit F4, but nothing :whops:

[DarthHelmet86]

Pressing F4 should bring up a text box for you to enter the password....you don't need the whole thing spelled out, you can guess what it is. Once you have done that you have to write in a word to search for, people, locations and the like. But you only get one search per password.

[Mintilicious]

Tried it again, and nothing happens. What am I doing wrong?

[Japo]

What am I doing wrong?

Are you sure you have the correct piece of furniture? I just remembered there are "computers" and "terminals". This game is old, and "computers" are supposed to be big mainframe CPUs without interfaces, you can only place bugs on them. It's only in the "terminals" (supposedly clients of the "computers") where you can get the password letters, and later use the password to access and search.

For all purposes, "computers" are just more furniture, it's the "terminals" what you're looking for.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m87/japofran/games/Covert%20Action/tac_000-1.png

As Darth says, after some experience you can guess the password with few letters, just like encrypted messages they're taken from a very small dictionary.

By the way, another use of terminals is finding the headquarters of any organization in the same city, or the headquarters in other cities of the organization that the building belongs to.

[Mintilicious]

There's the problem! I have tried working on those big white things, I thought the terminals were only for getting the letters :hihihi: Using those things for info sound like a great idea, because there are always some things you just can't figure out no matter how hard you go through files, wiretap buildings and decode messages.

Thanks again, Japo :)

[Japo]

NP. :) Some more tips I still had left, now that I'm at it:

I't usually easy to prevent the crime, even if you leave most of the involved terrorist go away into hiding. If you want to get 1000 points you have to arrest everyone and confiscate everything. If you want to score above 1000 you have to turn some of the terrorists into double agents working for you.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m87/japofran/games/Covert%20Action/final_006.png

Once they're "in hiding" there's no way you're catching them, that's why you must hurry. An agent goes in hiding once either he's accomplished his mission or he isn't able to any longer because you've foiled the crime. Everything depends on each agent's role in the crime, "Organizer", "Initiated plan" or "Contacted parties" are the first to hide and you should get them as soon as possible. Afterwards don't arrest anybody necessary for the crime until you've got the others located, then arrest everybody fast. If you need more time to find them steal some item (money, weapon, etc.) necessary for the crime but just steal, don't arrest the guy who has it if he's still necessary. Stealing that will delay the crime while the terrorists get another item. Once an agent necessary for the crime is arrested the rest will soon go into hiding.

[...] Sometimes you find "incriminating evidence" when breaking into a building (always in the big red safes), and when you arrest the guy he accepts to serve as a double agent for you. You get twice as many points compared to just arresting him (that's how you can get scores over 1000 º/oo), his comrades aren't alerted because he appears to continue working with them, and he informs you of his moves and meetings.

If you really want to get as many points as possible, when you're going to arrest somebody and you haven't found incriminating evidence to turn him, just get out of the building and go in again immediately afterwards, to try and find the evidence. As long as there is at least one big red floor safe in the building (in a building with an agent involved in the current crime), you're sure to find it sooner or later, because it's random if you find that or anything else. If there's no such safe in the building (only the black ones on the walls), don't bother because incriminating evidence able to turn agents can only be found in the big red ones.

The objective of the game is to arrest the masterminds of all the terrorist organizations. Every mission has the same mastermind until you arrest him, and unlike everything else you can carry your investigation on him along as many missions as it takes you to identify and arrest him.

Masterminds are hard to catch because they (almost) never involve themselves in the crime in a way you can investigate easily, so you never identify them during the course of your normal investigations, like the rest of the agents. (Only once I saw one mastermind send a message, that I intercepted.)

This is my method to nab masterminds, AFAIK it's pretty much the only one. When you're placing a wiretap (not afterwards when you intercept a message thanks to it), and every time you examine (F1) file cabinets and desk drawers after breaking into a building, people's names appear. Some of these names belong to agents involved in the crime, others to random people unrelated to the crime. Within the former case, it's possible for the name of the current mastermind to appear--it will appear sooner or later.

The files about normal agents involved in the current crime can be filled with information coming from all sorts of normal sources (wiretaps etc.). But you'll never (hardly ever in my experience) be able to do the same with the mastermind. So what you have to do to identify the mastermind is, note down ever random name you get. Then search it in the computers at every opportunity, until you know the role of that agent in the current crime. Exclude the ones you already have identified, unless you need further information about them. You'll get a lot of random agents unrelated to the crime; but eventually after more or less tries, depending on luck, you'll get the mastermind. As with incriminating evidence, I have often broken into the same building repeatedly, only to be able to search in the computers as many times as I needed.

Once you have identified an agent's role as "mastermind" you can arrest him. Of course you need to know his organization and city.

[DarthHelmet86]

I am sure there are other ways of finding out the Mastermind, I recall after turning one of the members of the group that he gave me a layout of all the people and their jobs, listing the Masterminds name. The Mastermind does send messages, but only a very small amount.

I think I will go back and play some more and see if I can confirm my ideas.

[Japo]

That wasn't the only way to identify the mastermind, but the only one that you can always bring about, the others depend on luck--on exceptionally good luck.

I forgot, in the big red floor safes sometimes you can also find the "master plan", listing all the involved (but not including the mastermind in this case).

Just another note, every computer in any headquarters (including ones not related to the crime) has perfect information, so it's just as likely to find anything in any computer, even if it's located in a hideout unrelated to the crime. (Compare that to the CIA, who don't know the location of most of the terrorist headquarters in Washington.)

[Mintilicious]

Another thing that has kept me confused is the situation where you break into building, and then get shot enough times, and end up with the guy pointing a gun at you. What are you supposed to do there? I always choose the no thanks -option, and escape from the building. Does the other option make you a double agent for the terrorists?

[Japo]

You can choose, between losing time while the crime progresses, and freeing one of the arrested agents. At least that's the only other option I remember now, I don't know what they propose as an alternative, if anything, if you haven't arrested anyone yet, but they would spell it out clearly.

But you aren't made a double agent, you just trade something. If you have everything under control, wiretaps in place, etc., maybe you don't mind losing the hours it takes you to escape. Other times you may be short on time, and maybe you can arrest again whoever they traded for you, and even if you can't, it may be the best option depending on the circumstances. It's your call.

[flibble]

has anyone got the remake sites address as this one: http://geocities.com/fbouthil/
doesn't work.

[Japo]

The programmer posted in this thread, look for his posts:

http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/search.php?searchid=742016

Maybe there's something that didn't expire with the GeoCities website.

[The Fifth Horseman]

Reocities and Oocities didn't keep copies of that page. The Internet Archive seems to have caught at least some of it: http://web.archive.org/web/*sr_1nr_100/geocities.com/fbouthil/*

[ServantScope]

I know you disabled the copy protection but can you give me a version that has copy protection? According to the manual, violating copy protection will still assign Max to a case...just a very trivial one. And I want to know which one that is.

[The Fifth Horseman]

I remember having one with copy protection somewhere around here. Will check.

[ServantScope]

I remember having one with copy protection somewhere around here. Will check.

Have you found it yet?

[Guest]

It's been asked before in this thread, I know, but what exactly is the point of bugging rooms during a break-in BESIDES being able to see movement? I noticed that in the intelligence section of the CIA building, you can monitor the % of taps in any particular organization in any particular city. Does this % number actually mean anything, though? I've seen it go above 100% before, but I got no idea if that has any real impact, or if it's one of those things that got cut down in the rush to meet the deadline.

[DarthHelmet86]

According to the manual bugs my provide information long after you have left the building. Just like real bugs you get to learn a little bit more about the crime, however it is random and they can be found or expire.

The also as you said allow you to see movement of guards outside of your motion detector range.

[Japo]

This has also been answered before. Although I never knew they allowed you to detect enemies, because I never use them. The manual doesn't say what the tap percentage is, but my guess is the probability of intercepting any message from or to that hideout.

The headset has nothing to do with the bugs. It's a motion detector, with it you can see enemies in other rooms as dots on the floor plan. It's very handy, I always pick it.

The bugs are for listening after you've left the building. It has the same purpose as taping the phone line from outside. I never pick them because they take a precious slot, and I know if a wiretap was successful or not when I make it, whereas I think (did I read this in the manual?) terrorist may search for bugs depending on their alertness, and remove them.

[Aramazon]

I really like this game, is there any way to interrogate the suspects in jail?

[Japo]

You mean the terrorists you've arrested? I don't think so, and I think I've read the whole manual. Try opening the red floor safe boxes in his hideout.

[Aramazon]

okay thanks, speaking of manuals though: I can't find one anywhere...can you help me find a manual for the game?

[Luchsen]

What about a German one (http://hol.abime.net/3107/manual)? :unsure:

Or English (http://www.hotud.org/component/remository/func-startdown/16411/)?

[Aramazon]

Thanks I managed to find one on HOTU...anyways great game!
I started out on the second difficulty level and that was pretty easy, but then I switched it up to the 3rd and now it's kind of a challenge plus more fun! I can't wait until I can play on the hardest, though really, it seems like it's going to be insanely difficult. I love it though, like I'm already usually rushing through break ins, I run out of ammo, enemies throw grenades hardcore...and the jailbreaks are actually pretty difficult, though I managed to stop my first one!

I just can't get over the fact that in 1990 there was such an amazing real time game with so much action...I mean it's really intense, jumping over stuff, ducking to dodge grenades, throwing grenades back, shooting, hiding behind filing cabinets...this stuff is insane! I haven't gotten to a mastermind on 3rd difficulty yet, but judging from the amount of baddies on the 2nd diff level, it's going to be insane!

Anybody else loving this game?

[DarthHelmet86]

I really love this game...however Sid has said that he isn't to proud of it. Something about feeling too much like a bunch of mini-games, to me it is a really great game with lots of depth and replayability.

[Japo]

He reached that conclusion because he judged that this game hadn't been so popular as other of his games, or as it could have been. But myself, I don't know if you can really reach conclusions only because one game is not as successful as Civilization.

Covert Action was a moderate success and nowadays still many people remember it. Master of Magic was big too (bigger) and it had the battles "mini-game", which most people absolutely love, including myself. And judged from that point of view, Pirates! is a bunch of mini-games, and it was a huge success. But when Sid re-made it in 1993 and 2004 he didn't change that, for the latest version he even added the dancing mini-game on top of the others.

[Aramazon]

Okay so I'm on 3rd difficulty now and I find that I can't get the mastermind...I can only get him on the 2nd crime since then I'm given his name and I can search that in a computer.

What I want to know is: is there another way to root them out on their first crime? What would lead me to a mastermind since they don't seem to communicate with their underlings...?

[Japo]

Combat is quite impossible in the hardest difficulty level (just like in Sword of the Samurai), maybe if you train enough, dunno, I got owned mos times when I tried. You can pick the hardest level, but assign more training to combat. The rest of skills get also very hard at that level, but it's just a matter of learning them, they aren't about reflexes like combat.

About finding the mastermind:

Masterminds are hard to catch because they (almost) never involve themselves in the crime in a way you can investigate easily, so you never identify them during the course of your normal investigations, like the rest of the agents. (Only once I saw one mastermind send a message, that I intercepted.)

This is my method to nab masterminds, AFAIK it's pretty much the only one. When you're placing a wiretap (not afterwards when you intercept a message thanks to it), and every time you examine (F1) file cabinets and desk drawers after breaking into a building, people's names appear. Some of these names belong to agents involved in the crime, others to random people unrelated to the crime. Within the former case, it's possible for the name of the current mastermind to appear--it will appear sooner or later.

The files about normal agents involved in the current crime can be filled with information coming from all sorts of normal sources (wiretaps etc.). But you'll never (hardly ever in my experience) be able to do the same with the mastermind. So what you have to do to identify the mastermind is, note down ever random name you get. Then search it in the computers at every opportunity, until you know the role of that agent in the current crime. Exclude the ones you already have identified, unless you need further information about them. You'll get a lot of random agents unrelated to the crime; but eventually after more or less tries, depending on luck, you'll get the mastermind. As with incriminating evidence, I have often broken into the same building repeatedly, only to be able to search in the computers as many times as I needed.

Once you have identified an agent's role as "mastermind" you can arrest him. Of course you need to know his organization and city.

[Aramazon]

There must be a way to force the mastermind to communicate...like hiring someone new or something? No? Maybe not? What about making it so the crime cannot be finished, without getting EVERYTHING so it actually ends...and then sleeping in the hotel for a bit, and then seeing if the mastermind tried to start things up again?

[Aramazon]

Whoa! Okay so I found it all out...I jumped up to Global Crisis (hardest difficulty) and I'm almost used to the break ins now. Essentially you NEED to hide behind things, and jump for cover, and use grenades. I kind of like it. It's a lot more exciting since I had to sometimes give up and just escape with what I'd gotten so far.

Couple things I've noticed...
1) Hiding is very much awesome, any baddie is easy prey when he's got his back to you. you can duck behind most furniture and they won't see you. As for disguises, they recognize you pretty easy head on, but as they don't get too close to you and you aren't facing them you should be fine.
2) Setting grenade traps is a must for when you are fleeing.
3) Any time a group is alert to your presence, it's a much better idea to take a trip to another town, and then come back again before you actually break in. Alertness actually affects guard speed. On Global Crisis, it makes it near impossible.
4) Whenever you have a shot at someone, you'll notice a cross-hair over your image in the top left corner. When that cross-hair is solid white, you have a sure hit...if it is gray, you have a chance at missing, a really good one. You'll notice that in most cases, when you first spot a baddie, the cross-hair fades into the solid white, this is to show the effects of taking proper aim.
5) Use the Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys to jump diagonally. Jump...a lot!

Anyways, that's what I've found on Global Crisis difficulty when it comes to break ins.

As for figuring out who the MASTERMIND Is...
Some things to keep in mind on Global Crisis difficulty
1) The name you search in the computer will only bring up results if you are using a computer of the same organization as the name.
2) The first step should be writing down all the names you encounter in files...and then figuring out which organization the mastermind is from...

Here's how I did it. I had gotten all of the other criminals figured out, and I had just left the photographer unarrested so I could keep stealing the photos and give myself more time. Anyways, when I was solving the cryptograms....which are very important, they give more info when you are in the solving screen than what you save in your records.

What you'll find is they'll say things like, "From Mercenaries High Command," or "Death Squad might also be assisting."

Anyways, each "might also be assisting" is actually a guaranteed member from that group. What I realized as I was trying to figure out which organization the master mind was from, is that I had seen the message "Death Squad might also be assisting," but none of the criminals belonged to the Death Squad...so hence, the mastermind had to be from the Death Squad. I broke into their base, checked the computer for the name (which can also be narrowed down by looking at all your extra clues, the masterminds leave no clues, so any clues with names associated, you can ignore those when trying names) and sure enough Jaime Garcia came up with a picture(you can check the manual, it has a picture of each mastermind, and they DO match up)and location and position...so now I knew that Jamie Garcia was the Death Squad mastermind in Kingston.

Then I just needed to break in and at the same time crack the computers one last time to type his name in and get his Role: Mastermind. Otherwise no arrest. Sounds easy right? Wrong, The mastermind's guards on Global Crisis are Satan incarnate compared to all the other guards...on anything other than no alert status, I'd say they're impossible...even so it took me 1 and a half hours to finally succeed. They basically shoot fast enough that they'll almost always get the first shot on you, and sometimes so rapidly that you can't even fight back. They don't hesitate before stepping through a door...they use grenades a lot, they will actually just crawl from room to room so you don't pick them up on your motion sensor, plus they recover from stunning WAY fast.

Anyways, I ended up winning by gassing a bigger room which took out quite a few of the guards, then I ran around and use booby traps to take out the other guys chasing me, I got the computer code, nabbed the mastermind, and ran out as fast as I could still leaving booby traps every door...I had 3 shots and almost got taken down on my way out...needless to say, that was my most satisfying arrest ever!

[DarthHelmet86]

Disguises are only meant to work when you have your back to the bad guys, the manual is rather clear about that. If you face them they will work out you aren't really from their group, you face the other way and they just walk by. Till an alarm sounds then all bets are off.

[Japo]

Wow good job.

Only once I intercepted a message from the mastermind. It might be that he's very unlikely to send any message. It also occurred to me that perhaps he always sends a message at the start of every crime, but so very early that you're unlikely to be able to intercept it, because at that time you don't even know where the hideouts are. I don't know. At any rate, to me only the computers proved useful in finding him.

[Aegeus]

Disguises aren't guaranteed even when your back is turned. If a guard stays in the same room as you for a long time and gets a good look at you, he'll raise the alarm anyway.

Also, I think they'll raise the alarm if you leave desks, safes, and doors open (maybe only if you do it a lot?), since I've seen the alarm go off even when nobody's in the room with me. I do know that the guards will follow you if you leave doors open behind you when they're chasing you. Close the doors behind you and you can shake them off.

[Japo]

Also, I think they'll raise the alarm if you leave desks, safes, and doors open

Yep actually I think that's in the manual, though I'm going by memory here...

[Silencium]

Does anyone here know how much I have to know about an enemy agent in order to turn him into a double agent? I know that you can find important evidence in those red safes, which will turn him into a D.A after you arrested him, but how much do I have to know about this agent (his name, his role in the crime, his photo etc...) in order to trigger a "...you found some evidence wich will turn XYZ into a double agent" message? Because it's very frustrating to enter and exit a building again and again just to open those safes and find nothing but grenades or a floor plan (and waste precious time).
Can I also use one of these computer terminals during a break-in to find the important evidence (or at least something which will trigger the evidence next time I search a red safe)?

[Japo]

I always though it depends on luck.

[Servant]

Here is my new website:
Covert Action Remake for Windows (http://geocities.com/fbouthil/)

It explains every ideas I have for every part of the game. If you disagree with anything or have new suggestions, don't hesitate to let me know.

For faces, I decided to go with 100x100 pixels jpg files of faces taken from actual photos. That way, every one can be part of the game! Simply send me pictures in the appropriate format. :D

As for the error Japofran got, Japofran and I found out that it was due to the fact that he did not have DirectX or, if he did, not a recent enough version of it. I have put on the website a version of the game that does not requires it.
Note that while Geocities is down, the entire website (including the download) has been backed up here (http://www.geocities.ws/fbouthil/Download.htm), so you too can enjoy this remake.

[Purple Toupee]

Man, I love this game. I can't get it to work right in dosbox though! When I'm moving in combat, I can't jump with the numeric keypad. Shift just doesn't do anything. (Numlock doesn't help.) Has anyone run into this before? I've gotten it on several different versions of dosbox. :-(

[Japo]

I jump with the cursor keys and move with the numpad. After jumping you end up crouched, you can get up or back down with numpad 5.

[Richthofen]

OK, so I joined this forum after lurking for years just to respond to Aramazon's post.

I haven't played Covert Action in a while, so most of this is personal opinion coming off the top of my head. I hope it helps. I've managed 10 mastermind arrests in 10 months (OK, I took a few advantages of the in-game mechanics to do this. I'll discuss this later in the post. Also, I'm not sure if it's 10, but it's at least 8.). Perfect scores (ie. all members turned into double agents, mastermind arrested, moles caught) are doable on Global Crisis, but it requires a lot of planning.

Wall of text coming up:

Whoa! Okay so I found it all out...I jumped up to Global Crisis (hardest difficulty) and I'm almost used to the break ins now. Essentially you NEED to hide behind things, and jump for cover, and use grenades. I kind of like it. It's a lot more exciting since I had to sometimes give up and just escape with what I'd gotten so far.
I agree that you indeed need cover. I find the use of grenades however, is generally unnecessary. Actually, I've found combat to be quite easy even on Global Crisis (with some caveats), if you know what you are doing.

Basically combat is fundamentally flawed in Covert Action. In any given building, there is only ever 20ish (I don't remember the specific number, but it was not 16 nor 32, which I found weird.) enemies in total that will ever spawn. So your main goal should be to get as many stealth kills early on, get their grenades (it's generally pointless to pack your own), and if you screw up, you should go hide in a corner, and duck and shoot or throw grenades. Throwing grenades is generally wiser, because ammo is limited. It should be noted, however, that you will have enough ammo to kill all the guards on lower levels of enemy alertness.

Killing the 20ish enemies from one spot is far easier than picking them off one by one and hoping you don't screw up. If you do set off the alarm and get cornered, this should be your only action. Escape is far too much of a risk.

Couple things I've noticed...
1) Hiding is very much awesome, any baddie is easy prey when he's got his back to you. you can duck behind most furniture and they won't see you. As for disguises, they recognize you pretty easy head on, but as they don't get too close to you and you aren't facing them you should be fine.
2) Setting grenade traps is a must for when you are fleeing.
3) Any time a group is alert to your presence, it's a much better idea to take a trip to another town, and then come back again before you actually break in. Alertness actually affects guard speed. On Global Crisis, it makes it near impossible.
4) Whenever you have a shot at someone, you'll notice a cross-hair over your image in the top left corner. When that cross-hair is solid white, you have a sure hit...if it is gray, you have a chance at missing, a really good one. You'll notice that in most cases, when you first spot a baddie, the cross-hair fades into the solid white, this is to show the effects of taking proper aim.
5) Use the Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys to jump diagonally. Jump...a lot!
1) Ducking and shooting is important, yes. But what is really more important is to "snatch" their body. The bullets apparently only stun the enemies for a short period of time. As I mentioned above, since you're killing them from one spot, what you essentially need to do is to jump over to their body from your one spot (hopefully it's in some corner with some cover). The difficulty in this is that enemies can come in at any moment to shoot you, and if you're not fast enough, they might throw a grenade with stun gas to knock you out (or they might walk right into you, in which case you take one hit). I prefer a small room, so I can exit quickly without the gas affecting me.

In principle, you don't need a bulletproof vest in this game. In practice, you're most likely to get shot and get tied up if you don't have one. It takes a lot of practice before clearing a whole building in Covert Action becomes easier. I still have lots of difficulty with enemy grenades and "snatching" the enemy body before an enemy comes in. I should mention again that moving over a living enemy instantly makes them disappear, at the cost of one bullet hole to your vest or body.

It should probably be noted that this also works for the random ambushes on the city streets. I've always found those to be the most annoying, because I'll almost always get shot, which costs me a few hours.

2) I've found grenade traps to be far too risky. You have to plan ahead of time and make sure you don't get caught placing the traps. You also have to hope that the enemies actually go into the rooms you want them to. And remember, grenades only incapacitate enemies. They'll be back before you know it. I tried grenade traps once or twice on Global Crisis difficult. I failed so spectacularly that I decided to switch to my camping strategy.

3) Doesn't matter too much if you're camping from one spot.

4) I take note of this early on before I settle on camping from one spot in the building. A miss usually results in an alarm. Once I start camping, I have to kill them quickly, so accuracy is not as much of an issue. If I don't, I'll get naded, or even worse - the incapacitated enemies get up again.

5) This. Fucking this.

I think that the greatest thing about taking out all the guards at once, is that I can actually use all 32 shots from my camera.

As for figuring out who the MASTERMIND Is...
Some things to keep in mind on Global Crisis difficulty
1) The name you search in the computer will only bring up results if you are using a computer of the same organization as the name.
2) The first step should be writing down all the names you encounter in files...and then figuring out which organization the mastermind is from...
So, I basically said I cheated in getting 10 masterminds in 10 months. Basically, I would just skip to the next case, in which case I will be given all relevant information on the mastermind before hand.

I then attempt to use this information to find the info on the mastermind by going back to the previous month (through loading of course). It's a huge challenge to arrest the mastermind while also turning all the members involved into double agents, while finding the moles and reporting them in the agency. It takes quite a few tries before you figure out what to do (and even then, the rng might play games with you and have the members go into hiding). You could also go into Athens (I think it was), load your game, and have all the organizations displayed on your loaded city.

Here's how I did it. I had gotten all of the other criminals figured out, and I had just left the photographer unarrested so I could keep stealing the photos and give myself more time. Anyways, when I was solving the cryptograms....which are very important, they give more info when you are in the solving screen than what you save in your records.

What you'll find is they'll say things like, "From Mercenaries High Command," or "Death Squad might also be assisting."
I'd like to add that all criminal actions are committed at 12:00 AM/PM. So you should play games with this information to get the most out of each of your in-game action. If Person A has object A, and acquires it at 12 AM, it will be at Person B at 12 PM. Person B will then turn object A into object B at 12 AM. Lots of time here.

so now I knew that Jamie Garcia was the Death Squad mastermind in Kingston.
Are the names for the masterminds kept constant throughout the games? James Garcia for Death Squad matches up with the information from my game. From my few gamplays, it appears that mastermind names locations are set in the game, but I do not know for sure. If anyone is interested, the names I've kept on file are in the spoiler below:


PIFA: Lexandra Kerensky
Marxists: Olga Baader
Direct Action: Emma Ballard
Mercernaries: Ian Olsen
Columbian Cartel: Pedro Diaz
Death Squad: Jaime Garcia
Libyan Embassy: Omar Khaled
Mafia: Pierre Baader
Haitain Junta: Franco Delarosa
Red Battalion: Bobbie Merrick
Stassi: Pat Cahill
Muslim Jihad (London): Yezid Musafir
Union Corsique (Paris): Lisa Ballard
PFO (Riyadh): Yezid Nidal
Dignity Battalion (Miami): Isabel Ramirez
Red Army Faction (Budapest): Ouida Konrad
Iraqi SP (Prague): Yezid Hammid
Red September (Baghdad): Pierre Verne
Revolutionary Guards (Riyadh): Ismaila Daoud
Jamaican Gang (Kingston): Ian Hansen
Shining Way (Nassau): Ramon Valdez
PRC (Washington): Alicia Merrick
Tupamaros (Tel Aviv): Julio Ramirez
FLN (Managua): Jaime Enriquez
Amazon Cartel (Caracas): Franco Delarosa (Why? Are the Masterminds not unique?)
M18 (Miami): Miguel Diego

Then I just needed to break in and at the same time crack the computers one last time to type his name in and get his Role: Mastermind. Otherwise no arrest. Sounds easy right? Wrong, The mastermind's guards on Global Crisis are Satan incarnate compared to all the other guards...on anything other than no alert status, I'd say they're impossible...even so it took me 1 and a half hours to finally succeed. They basically shoot fast enough that they'll almost always get the first shot on you, and sometimes so rapidly that you can't even fight back. They don't hesitate before stepping through a door...they use grenades a lot, they will actually just crawl from room to room so you don't pick them up on your motion sensor, plus they recover from stunning WAY fast.
Does combat training affect enemy reaction speed? I've found the difficulty between masterminds and regular members to be the same. I trained as many times as I could in combat; did you? It might just be because I use my preferred camping style for combat in Covert Action.

Anyways, I ended up winning by gassing a bigger room which took out quite a few of the guards, then I ran around and use booby traps to take out the other guys chasing me, I got the computer code, nabbed the mastermind, and ran out as fast as I could still leaving booby traps every door...I had 3 shots and almost got taken down on my way out...needless to say, that was my most satisfying arrest ever!
Ouch.

On a final note: I played with maxed out training and one training in wiretapping. The driving and cryptography minigames are simply too time consuming for me to play. I never could master driving in the game. The controls never seem to respond fast enough.

IIRC, I always tried wiretapping because I could get some additional information, at the cost of, I believe, one hour. If the timing is correct, this usually doesn't matter since you're only really worried about your stealing/reclaiming of an object to be before 12:00 AM/PM. Wiretapping is frustrating, but for me screwing up isn't too big of a deal, because heightened awareness doesn't affect my camping strategy.

Also, I believe that breaking into a building only takes a certain number of hours out of your day, no matter how long you were in the building. This can be easily be used to your advantage. I'm not sure how this affects the driving and cryptography minigames, but I suppose the effect is the same. I'm guessing that cracking the ciphertext by hand or by the game takes the same amount of in game time.

For those interested, I always carry a bulletproof vest, safe-cracking kit, and camera. I don't remember if you were allowed to bring in four or five objects to a building. So the other two items remaining that I think I ever considered are the Uzi and the motion detector. I generally go searching in safes first, and safe a few shots for all the pink safes. Those are the ones usually carrying the best information (double agent, incriminating information, etc.) It's best to go for the pink safes last, because you need enough information in order to have an enemy turn into a double agent in the first place. Also, I really wish the game would have allowed us to view information without photographing it.

My camping strategy involving killing all the enemies may seem like overkill - and indeed, it may be. If you can manage to use up all your photos without killing everyone - kudos to you. I've found killing everyone to be most helpful when I know the enemy is in the building. In that case, I can get shot without having to recover - if a member is arrested, the check for bullet wounds is ignored.

And for those wondering about how to maximize your score - you essentially need to turn everyone into a double agent. Only the mastermind can never be turned into a double agent. You'll have to play around with the game before figuring out how to turn everyone into a double agent. It's far too hard to even describe it. Needless to say it involves taking of items over and over again. In the end, I just save and load a lot in order to find incriminating information turning them into a double agent. Otherwise it's way too easy to just arrest anyone and stop the crime. (It's actually a pretty trivial thing to do. The hardest part really, is guessing the right initial organization involved).

One question for more experienced members here: Is it possible to break the game apart and tell us what is used to determine what actions occur at what time? I usually go with my gut feeling, and it generally turns out to be correct. I think that nothing occurs at all for the first few days, then everything is set in place every 12 AM/PM. Is this the case? I believe it takes about a week for the mastermind to go into hiding, and 3 days before the first enemy action occurs. If this is true, in order to achieve a high score and also arrest the mastermind while catching all the moles, you would need to find out the relevant information on the mastermind in the first 3 days (note, it's really two days because you do nothing on the first of each month). It seems like just a giant crapshoot and would make the whole gameplay mechanic behind the masterminds to have no absolute meaning (It just seems broken). It doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be any set time for an action to occur. (Given action x has occurred, action y may occur at the next occurrence of 12:00, but it might occur on the second or even third occurrence of 12:00.) There seems to be less of a delay on Global Crisis, but it still seems to occur quite often.

Also, does anyone know what "trivial case" you get for choosing the wrong mastermind on a copylocked game?


Incredible: You have arrested all 26 Masterminds! You retire to a well-deserved life of relaxation.

The ending is disappointing.

/end rant