Les Manley in: Search for the King (Walkthrough)
Search For The King: Part 1
SFTK is a graphic adventure game heavily influenced by the Sierra style (even though it is put out by Accolade). The parser, however, is not as good as Sierra's (which means it's really at the low end of the scale), and this is likely to cause some frustration in the game. Also, the graphics are mostly mediocre; the best pics are those of the sexy-looking women in the game.
In addition, there are many irrelevant actions you can do in the game that will increase the point score without bringing you any closer to the goal, which is finding THE KING (a cross between Elvis and Howard Hughes). So, if you end up short of the full 500, it's nothing to worry about. You can, of course, try going back to various spots in the game to see if you can find the missing points, but it's a tedious exercise at best.
It is wise to save the game often, since some puzzles require Les to do something in a very short space of time. It is also important because the game is linear, and once you leave a location, there is no going back, except by restoring the game. If you move on to the next location without a needed item, you will be out of luck. So always have at least one restore in a previous location until you are certain you won't need it (the game will give you a hint if you arrive at the next area without everything you need).
So here's Les Manley, a typical Leisure Larry type (perennial loser trying to make good), who figures he can find THE KING on his lunch break, collect a cool million, and get in good with the lovely Stella, secretary to the lecherous Mr. Burnbaum. Fortunately for Les, you're directing his actions, so he actually has a chance to do some or all of these.
The game begins in Les' grubby hole-in-the-wall office. There isn't much to look at, although a glance at the calendar provides an oblique hint to obtaining the key on Burnbaum's desk. Speaking of desks, Les should open the drawer of his own and take out the lunch bag and thermos.
That's about all that needs to be done, so march Les out the door and straight right into Burnbaum's office. You can ask him whatever you like, but the important subject is a raise, and Les should ask for one (his probationary period is up, as noted on the calendar in Les' office). Burnbaum will call in the secretary with Les' file; while he's ogling her, grab the key from the desk. You don't have much time to do this, so be ready.
Once you have the key, you can unlock the "authorized personnel only" door. Inside is a toolbox and other objects; only the box is important. Look inside and you will see a reporter's ID. Get that and leave the room. Outside, open the thermos and fill it with water.
You're finished down here, so take the elevator up to the lobby. Note Dave the guard sleeping at the desk. If you wake him up, he will mention that he was having a nice dream. Wonder what it could be? Leave the lobby (via door or elevator) and return. Dave will be sleeping again when you come back, and now you can "look at dream" (of course, you can save some time by doing this without waking him up!). This gets you some points, although looking at the dreams is not essential to finishing the game.
Once that's over (and with Dave still sacked out), "ask for dream". Amazingly, you get one. This will be helpful a little later on. You're done with the station now, so open the door and go out. You will find yourself across the street in front of the bus station, which has nothing at all to do with the game, and you can safely ignore it.
Go east (right) until you reach the apartment house. Go up the steps and knock on the door. Show the ID and you will be invited inside by Bobbi, a big fan of THE KING. Not only are her walls decorated with pictures galore, she has an actual memento in the shape of a scarf she got at one of his concerts. It's the scarf you want.
However, nothing much will happen until you sit next to her on the couch, so you might as well make yourself comfortable. If you looked at everything in the room, you got a message that the coffee table is just perfect for sharing a soda. So go ahead and ask for one. Too bad she puts it just out of your reach. And there's no way for you to stand up just now.
This isn't a problem, though. Ask her to show you the scarf ("show scarf", a poor way of doing it, since generally the "show" command would be used by Les to show something to someone else). After she puts it on the table, spill soda on it, then get out of there as soon as you can.
Go east to the next screen, climb the fence, and get the scarf which is hanging on the line (Bobbi having washed it). You're done with this area, so after climbing back over the fence, send Les all the way west to the circus (by the way, the subliminal message on the fence says "Designed by Steve Cartwright").
You can't do much of anything at the circus until you have a ticket, so maneuver Les to the lower left corner to the lot where the trailer sits. Knock on the door, and Col. Bob will come to the door. Ask for a ticket; he'll mention that you can get one in return for some work. Ask for a job and he'll send you to clean up around the elephants.
Go south, pick up the shovel, and Les will start work automatically. He'll keep at it until you tell him to stop ("stop work"). When he's done, go back to the trailer, knock on the door, and ask for the ticket. There isn't much point in asking about anything else, so leave the trailer and return to the main grounds.
Walk Les over to the trailer in the lower right hand side, near the rocket ride. Position him just in front of the trailer steps and look. The scene switches to a close-up of the trailer exterior. Send Les up the steps, and he will go inside automatically.
Here is Mme. Zarmooska (aka Angelina, daughter of Luigi). You can ask her about your fortune, your future, and whatever else you like; her responses are not very important. When you're ready, try touching her, and she will fade away. Now that she's gone, you can get on with the important stuff. First get wax, then touch the lizard. A card (very important) appears from the lizard's mouth. Take the card and leave.
Now send Les to the strongman exhibit, and have him look again. The scene switches to another close-up. If you examine the depressed Luigi, you will note that his mustaches droop terribly. This (and not anything else he tells you about when you talk to him) is what really has him feeling morose. So give him the wax.
After he spiffs up his mustaches, he will go into his act, and this is when you can take the rosin he was holding before. Walk Les carefully around and behind the strongman exhibit (which will save you a move), then straight north, to Helmut Bean, world's smallest man.
Helmut is unhappy; life in the circus is rather dreary these days, and he feels he has nothing much to look forward to, no real future in store. So pep him up by giving him the dream you took from Dave. Now he's your friend for life (or at least for the duration of the game), so you can take him with you.
From here, maneuver Les over to the popcorn stand outside the big top entrance, and look yet again. The persistent man will be important later. Right now, all you want is some popcorn. Good thing no one is at the stand, since Les doesn't have any money (and won't, either, throughout the whole game).
Once you have the popcorn, send Les into the big top. Oddly, he's not in the stands, but in the ring itself, along with several lions, including one that has him pegged as dinner. Fortunately, this cat has a yen for popcorn, so throw the popcorn at the lion. Les will actually set it down on the floor (another instance of poor parser design). When the lion starts nibbling, move Les right to the next screen.
Here we have Frederick Von Leep, who has a strange reluctance to climb up the ladder and get on with his act. Wonder why? Probably, it's the damp rungs. This is where the rosin comes in handy. Give it to Fred (you don't have to bother with Alona, she's just there for show). Fred scurries up the ladder and dives down. OOPS! Guess he was off the mark a trifle, and it's doubtful we'll be seeing him again. Tough luck, Fred.
However, Fred's bad luck is your good luck. Get his cape, then leave the big top. You've done almost everything, and it's almost time to take off for Las Vegas and the second part of the adventure (or search).
If you've taken the Vegas express before, you know that getting Helmut there safely is a problem: he usually burns up on re-entry. You can carry him only in the thermos, which will protect him from the heat. But, you can't do that if it's filled with water.
You have two choices here. One, you can just drink the water (which is needed for a totally irrelevant and unnecessary jaunt into the desert that provides some points but nothing else), stuff Helmut into the thermos, and take off for Vegas.
Or, you can do method number two, which is go back to the bus station, and put Helmut in the mailbox. That's right, just as he is, no stamp needed. He will turn up in the Las Vegas mailbox when you arrive.
Whichever you decide on, once you've made up your mind, go back to the big top entrance and the Test-O-Strength. Position Les carefully on the machine (you'll know when you've done it right), then sit back and watch as Les takes a quick trip through the stratosphere and ends up in glitzy Las Vegas.
Search For The King: Part 2
So, here is Les, making a big impression in Las Vegas. Not, perhaps, exactly the kind of impression he had in mind, but at least he got here in one piece. If you used the thermos to bring Helmut along, open that, take him out, and skip the next paragraph (you DO NOT want to go into the desert with an empty thermos!). If you used the mailbox, walk over to the box on the sidewalk, open it, and get Helmut from the box.
Now walk east into the desert. Ignore the buzzard and wagon, which are just there as window dressing. Continue on to the next screen, and move Les over to the telephone. Just by coincidence, it happens to be ringing. Answer the phone. Well well, it's Stella (this whole bit is just to give you another look at her). After the call, drink the water in the thermos, go in any direction (you always end up at the wagon), and then west back to the street.
Move west again to the hotel, and go up the ramp. In spite of the hotel's size, you will only be seeing a little bit of it. Walk east across the lobby to the very end of the hall, where you will see the elevator. Go inside and push the button.
The elevator delivers you to a typical floor. Go east and Les will be at the end of the hall, where a maid is doing some cleaning. Maneuver Les into the room, then into the bathroom by the sink. Look in the sink. Whoever was staying here left behind some dental floss. Get the floss, return to the bedroom, and sit on the bed.
Messy, messy, Les! You've made more work for the maid. Only, as you probably know already, she doesn't speak-o English-o (although her Japanese seems pretty good!). So, how to get her into the bedroom, while you swipe the skeleton key off the cart?
Well, this is a tricky one, because you can't see the room door. If you look at the door (invisible thought it is), you will note a sign on it. In fact, it's the typical hotel sign that says "Do Not Disturb" on one side, and "Maid Service" on the other. Right now, "Do Not Disturb" is uppermost.
So, Les takes the sign from the door, turns it over, and then replaces it. When Juanita reaches the door, she will see the sign and the messy bed and go in to fix it up. Meanwhile, Les moves over to the cart, and as soon as Juanita bends over the bed to straighten it out, he grabs the key (you have to wait until she actually starts on the bed).
Les is done here, so send him back to the elevator, where he pushes the button again. This time, though, instead of descending, the key allows him to go to yet another floor. In fact, the elevator opens directly onto a very fancy apartment (from the look of things, it probably belongs to Mr. Fabulous).
Leave the elevator and go left to the next room. Maneuver Les to the top of the hot tub. Look in the drain. Something is stuck in there, but even Les, skinny as he is, can't reach inside. Here is where Helmut comes in useful.
Of course, you can't just put Helmut into the drain; you'll never see him again. So tie the floss to Helmut, and watch as he makes his way to the dry cleaning receipt that's been down there for years (and how it managed to survive all these years, I don't know). After he returns with it, make sure you get the floss that's still in the drain, because you will need it later on.
That takes care of hotel rooms. Send Les down in the elevator and over to the dry cleaning establishment. He shows the receipt to the clerk, who brings out a fancy white suit. Since Les had the receipt, he can take the suit.
If you've played the game to this point before, you know that you can't talk to Lyla at poolside while Fabulous is around; his bodyguard, Vito the unpleasant, will make life unpleasant for you very quickly. So you have to get Fabulous out of the way first.
Since he's waiting for a call from his agent, this is easily done. Simply ask Mr. Bernardo to page Fabulous. When you go back to the pool, he will be on the white courtesy phone, and Les can sit down next to Lyla.
Unfortunately, he won't get much chance to talk to her about THE KING or anything else. Lyla feels the need to cool off and promptly dives into the pool. However, she leaves behind her fancy shades, and that's all Les really needs. So snarf those, then go back to the hotel exterior.
This takes care of Las Vegas. But, how will Les make it from here to the Kingdom (THE KING's tourist-attraction mansion)? Well, Les has no money. How do people with no money usually travel (when they aren't taking the Stratosphere Route)?
Of course, they hitchhike. So do just that. Eventually, a hippy, complete with painted van (possibly caught in a time warp), arrives to give Les a lift to the Kingdom and the final section of the game.
Search For The King: Part 3
Finally, Les arrives at the gates to the Kingdom. However, he can't get in without a tour pass. Luckily, this situation is easily remedied. Move him either left or right to the next screen (doesn't make any difference, he'll end up in the same place).
The scene shifts to the same overhead view as in the circus. The only difference is that here, there aren't as many places to go. In fact, despite the fancy layout, there are only two locations of importance here. The first is Red's Bar, which is not easy to find.
Walk Les to the right side of the screen, then carefully up to the bottom of the top building, then across to the right. Les should be as close to the bottom as possible, or he will miss the bar.
You don't have to look here; the scene will switch automatically when Les steps on the right spot. Outside the bar is a big sign announcing a celebrity look-alike contest. Just the thing! Les can do his Sting impression (hah!).
However, the bar is full and only performers can get inside. This is no problem, though. Les need only step into the handy telephone booth and wear his costume. Of course, it's a little odd that he can do this in so public an area as a see-through phone booth, but we won't think about it.
Once Les has changed his clothes, send him into the bar, where he will immediately find himself on stage. All he has to do here is perform (or sing, or dance). Unfortunately, Les' performance is less than inspiring, and the best he can do is take last place.
But, it's not all that bad, after all. He gets entry to the mansion as a consolation prize, so maneuver him over through the gate and up the mansion steps. Les will go inside automatically.
If you've been here before, you know all about the nasty silent alarm that keeps Les from taking two items he needs from the exhibit room. Well, it won't be nasty much longer. The switch is cleverly concealed inside the mouth of the big bear rug in the foyer.
Again, Les can't quite make it, but he still has Helmut with him, so put Helmut into the mouth. The little guy marches in and turns off the switch. Les can now go right, and grab both the microphone and guitar from the displays.
A careful look at the guitar shows it has a broken string. My my. I wonder if we can fix it with something? How about that dental floss? String guitar (the floss is used automatically).
Good, you're halfway done here already. Go back to the foyer, then north to the dining room. Note the bowl of fruit on the table. Bobbi said THE KING liked peanut butter and banana sandwiches, so I'll bet there's a banana in that bowl. Get the banana, then go back out and up the stairs to the bedroom.
Les can't go very far into the room, but he doesn't need to. Move him over to the right side, have him open the bureau, and look inside. Aha! A secret mechanism. Wonder what it does? Well, push it and find out.
Look at that, a hole opens in the floor and a pole descends from the ceiling through the hole to a room below. Slide down the pole to the kitchen. "Drop pole" to stop Les from spinning around at the bottom.
Most of this place (including the jukebox) is just for show, so don't even bother with looking at things here. Go to the side of the counter, open it, and walk through to just before the stove. Get bread (I know you can't see it, but it's there). Now make a sandwich.
After he eats the sandwich, Les will look a little different (maybe those are supposed to be muscles, but on my screen, it looked like Les was in desperate need of a bra).
You're done with the mansion. In fact, you're almost done with the game. Take Les out of the house and back to the bar. Yep, he's going to try another performance. But this time, thanks to the sandwich, mike, and guitar, he does a far better job.
In fact, some people think he really *is* THE KING, and before long, Les is trampled by the marching morons. Alas, poor Les. His spirit rises up through the ceiling and on through the void to the pearly gates and beyond. At least he won't lack for company, seeing all the famous spirits floating around (how many can you name?). And there, yes, there is THE KING himself! The search is over!
Of course, it doesn't do much for Les, him being dead and all. Or is he? What about that free resurrection card? Sure enough, Les comes back to life in a hospital bed...and somehow, in some mysterious way, he has a photo of THE KING with him (really amazing, since he didn't have a camera along!).
And that just about takes care of the game. Everything that happens after Les starts his second performance is automatic, so all you have to do is just watch the sequences and enjoy the triumph of Les Manley, new owner and CEO of WILL.
Search For The King is copyrighted 1990 by Accolade.
