Hidden sky
The play area is 40 character squares high, but only the bottom 38 (y-coordinates 2-39) are ever displayed. In other words, the top two rows (y-coordinates 0 and 1) of the play area are always hidden - even though the graphic data for them exists and is not garbage.
However, the top two rows of the play area are not very interesting; for the most part they are the same as the third and fourth rows. The only exception is the area above the Hotel Royale. Normally that area looks like this:
But if you could see all the way up to the top row (y-coordinate 0), it would look like this:
$46 or bust
Sam must have at least $46 when he's arrested, otherwise the game will end immediately (see
31642). When Sam is released from jail, the bail amount is set low enough that Sam can pay it (see
31594).
Cash chances
The banknotes flying through the city streets are denominated in $1, $5, $10 and $20 amounts. However, they are not distributed evenly across those amounts. The probabilities of obtaining a banknote of a particular value are as follows (see
25039):
$1 - 1 in 2 (0.5)
$5 - 41 in 128 (0.32)
$10 - 19 in 128 (0.15)
$20 - 1 in 32 (0.03)
The policeman always knocks twice (or more)
When a policeman knocks on a door, he knocks continuously until someone answers (or the door is busted open); other characters knock once and wait for a while before knocking again (see
62325).
Talk is expensive
Whenever Sam picks up a telephone that is not ringing, he is charged $2 - even before he starts dialling (see
30458).
Lana rings in a hurry
The phone message entry at
27506 (DAISY SAID 'LANA RANG - SHE HAD TO GET OUT IN A HURRY - OH AND I HEARD NOISES IN THE CEILING') is activated before a new game starts. This means that Sam can phone Daisy before going to the top floor of the hotel (where the man's body is on the floor) and still get the message.
Dark room
The right-hand jail cell in the police station is unique among all the rooms in the play area in that it is always dark and has no light switch. To add a light switch to the room:
Missing key
There is no key to no. 19 to be found anywhere in the game, but setting bit 7 at
32746 gives Sam access to that house without knocking.
'M' for messages
The 'M' key toggles the speed at which messages are displayed on the screen, but according to the original instructions, the 'I' key is supposed to do that. 'POKE
49993,27' would make 'I' do the same as 'M'.
Silent hangup
Pressing 'H' while Sam is on the phone makes him hang up. No message is displayed to confirm that event, but the unused message at
27113 (I HUNG UP) indicates that there probably used to be. That unused message is used by the unused routine at
31284, which queues the message urgently and plays a sound effect. Perhaps this feature was removed before the game was released because pressing 'H' while reading a phone message would make the message fly by too quickly, making it difficult to take in.
Don't call Daisy - she'll call you
The only phone message from Daisy that Sam doesn't have to call the office to receive is message
63: 'DAISY SAID 'SAM - A GANGSTER'S WATCHING FOR YOU OUTSIDE THE POLICE STATION''. It is the first message received on the phone on the third floor of no. 15 after Sam has entered that house using the key. Exactly how Daisy knows where Sam is at that time remains a mystery, however.
Snipers and keys
The probability that a sniper will appear at any moment depends partly on how many keys Sam has collected - the more keys, the more likely it is that a sniper will rear his head and start shooting (see
25307).
Bullet speed
As Sam gets more money, the snipers' bullets fly faster through the air (see
26075).
The bullets are slowest when Sam has less than $256; they are bit faster when Sam has between $256 and $511; they are a bit faster still when Sam has between $512 and $767; and they are fastest when Sam has between $768 and $1023 (twice as fast as when Sam has less than $256, in fact).
The good news is that should Sam be lucky enough to get past the $1023 barrier - a difficult task given that the sum total of the cash available in the game, not including banknotes, is only $950 ($550 in bonuses plus $100 for each of the four keys) - the bullets return to their slowest speed.
Stun settings
Exactly where Sam hits a character by falling onto his head determines how long that character will stay down and stagger afterwards before recovering. If Sam's x-coordinate matches the character's x-coordinate at the time of collision, the stricken character will stay down for twice as long and subsequently stagger around for twice as long as when the x-coordinates differ by 1 (see
64162 and
64005).
Gangsters and disguises
The gangsters at no. 19 will allow Sam to enter their house and roam freely inside if he uses disguise no. 7 (the man with a cigar):
This disguise enables Sam to pick up the ringing phone on the top floor of no. 19; if he answers it as ED (press 'E' when asked who's there), a voice says 'OK ED - THE FAT MAN HAS THE KEY TO NO 27'. The disguise doesn't fool the gangsters for ever, though: after Sam has crossed the roof of no. 19 using the hook (and someone below says 'CRUISE WAS DRESSED AS THE OIL MAN. DONT LET ANYONE PAST'), the disguise becomes useless (see
64836).
Unfortunately, none of the other gangsters are ever fooled by any of Sam's disguises.
A cat's tale
The two cats in the game use a simple two-phase animation sequence (animatory states
118 and
117) in which the tail is always pointing upwards at an angle:
But sprite tiles 215 and 216 (which are unused) also look like the body and tail of a cat - this time with the tail pointing horizontally - and may once have been used as an alternative second phase (or additional phase) of animation for that creature:
To modify animatory state
118 to show this phase:
POKE 58614,0: POKE 57590,215: POKE 58870,216
Skinny Man
The graphic data contains unused sprites (animatory states
64-68/192-196) of a skinny man wearing a hat:
To bring Skinny Man into the game, use one of the following POKEs (which must be made before the game starts):
POKE
65312,64 (makes Skinny Man walk up and down in the shops below no. 15 and no. 17)
POKE
65282,192 (makes Skinny Man walk between the sidewalk outside the first-floor window of no. 19 and the third floor of no. 15)
Lurking Lana
In game mode 3 (after Sam has had the phone call about the key to no. 74 and gone to the top of the apartment building at the far left of town), Lana hides on the far left of the first floor of the apartment building next to no. 19 (see
57650) until Sam phones her while in possession of the budgie. To see her emerge, call her (on 7162) using the phone in that location.