Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Newbie Questions

Apr-9-2006 22:34
(sticky post)

WARNING GAME SPOILER!!

If you wish to enjoy the adventure of figuring out this game on your own, DO NOT read the rest of this post.

If you are too lazy to read through a page or two of threads to see if your question has already been asked a zillion times, then PLEASE read this first!

Welcome to Sleuth, and your new addiction.  There is no cure, so just accept it and enjoy it! Here are a few tips and hints that you should find helpful, and are among the FAQ of the newbie boards.

First, a great place to FIND ANSWERS and cool history threads about Sleuth is in the Moderator Picks Board. The Mods have picked out their favorite bits and made them easy to find. In addition to personal favorites, try looking over the Newbie FAQ. This can be found on the bottom of most pages as a tiny little grey link. Also the Help file at the upper right of most screens is packed with little useful tidbits.

HOW DO I SOLVE a case? First off…we recommend that you try the tutorial found on the front of the case page. It won’t count against your daily caseload, and it will give you an idea of how the game works. It’s not set up to walk you through the most efficient course through the game, but to show you how the game works, leaving you to find your own strategy. The following formulas will help you find your murderer.

PE+Fake/"none of your business" Alibi=guilty
WE+Fake/"none of your business" Alibi=guilty
2 WE = guilty

PE=Physical Evidence WE=Witness Evidence

Having a clammed suspect that will not give you an alibi is not the same as a fake/none alibi.

PE+WE DOES NOT = Guilty

Apr-11-2006 00:36

Ray, I used to do that too, but later on in the game, when you move up to more difficult cases, I guarantee you, you will want to save your townie questions to check alibis. I learned the hard way that hearing 'so-and-so thinks they know who the murderer is' is really only useful in cases with a handful of suspects. When the suspect list gets up around 9 or 10 with five false alibis it's pretty much useless. Plus, starting at the incredibly hard level, your suspects start running away like scared little lemmings, and unless you have the underground connections faction skill, the only way to get them back in play is to ask the townies if they know where the suspect went. As a rule, I only ever ask it of a contact.

cfm, I would have loved to see all this in one place when I started out. I thus nominate this thread to be added to your (or someone's) mod picks list. There's a lot of fresh gumshoe in sleuthville and a lot of old stuff on the boards. As a once-and-perma-newbie I thank you for your work, lol.

This reply has been deleted by a Moderator

Apr-11-2006 01:42

Crunchpatty is right. You do not want the townies to clamp up first. After checking research and contacts, I myself, start with alibis, and if I find that it's fake or the witness has none, the witness becomes a suspect immediately. Then I get more list of witnesses with motives by questioning these suspects. Depending on what the level is, I stop asking for alibis the moment I receive a certain number of suspects, (At hard level, it's 2 or 3). Then I check the PE, eliminating one suspect at a time. Finally, whatever suspects are left, I then check for WE against them one suspect at a time. So in the end, even if I cannot get 2 evidence to pin a suspect (which is uncommon), I can still use a system of elimation, and pin the murder on the remaining suspect.

Apr-11-2006 13:47

I have a question: is it possible that witness evidence can be false and lead you to accuse an innocent suspect? I ask because I think that I once almost accused an innocent person based on witness ev alone. I don't remember whether the person had a false alibi or clammed up before I could ask, but is it guaranteed that WE + no/fake alibi = guilty will always work?

Apr-11-2006 13:57

yes, witness evidence can be false. The only way you can trust WE is you have a false alibi, in which case, its definitely true

WE+False alibi = guilty

Apr-11-2006 14:13

Or if you have 2 WE pointing to same suspect. Then you can accuse without checking alibi.

Apr-11-2006 16:02

points above to the So and So says section....

"...Then they might actually give you a yes to your question. This is your WE (Witness evidence). But, that doesn't mean that the person they suspect is actually guilty, you'll need more evidence to prove that. (Please see the formulas above.) "

This reply has been deleted by a Moderator

Apr-11-2006 16:55

How probable is it that if you have no contacts you'll get a contact from a favor?

Apr-11-2006 17:04

Random Horace...Random. It could be your 5th, your 10th, or 50th solved favor. Usually though, the first contact happens rather quickly. The second can be rather difficult to gain, not always, but if you happen to struggle with it, at least know that by 150,000 exp, the chances of getting your contact increase.

*bows a thank you to Ben, still grateful for this change he made*