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[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.

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]

Originally Posted by Aegeus

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]

Originally Posted by fbouthil

Here is my new website:
Covert Action Remake for Windows

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.

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, so you too can enjoy this remake.

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. :-(