Cutthroats

In Cutthroats, you are a skilled diver living on Hardscrabble Island, a small seaport past its prime. You will try to salvage a sunken treasure from one of four shipwrecks; if you are successful, you will be fabulously wealthy and enormously respected among old salts. Some characters in the story will help you; others will try to stop you any way they can. If you can think logically and keep your throat intact, the treasure can be yours.

Source:

Unknown Source

CUTTHROATS places you on an out-of-the-way island populated by some of the most disreputable characters this side of Alcatraz. You're a diver for hire, and as decent, competent and stalwart as they come. The plot is hatched when a motley band of local salts gets wind of a shipwreck laden with sunken treasure somewhere in the waters surrounding the island. They offer you a piece of the action in exchange for your diving skills and your knowledge of the area's shipwrecks and their locations. (This information you have gleaned from a book of shipwrecks, which is included in your CUTTHROATS package along with your Outfitters International price list and tide table, and the amazing High Seas issue of TRUE TALES OF ADVENTURE magazine.) Now you must survive the perils of the deep - and the even greater danger that your crew may harbor a cutthroat - if you are to recover the treasure and save your neck. STANDARD LEVEL

Source:

"The Incomplete Works of Infocom, Inc." Catalog

YOU'RE ABOUT TO GET YOURSELF INTO VERY DEEP TROUBLE

INFOCOM INTRODUCES CUTTHROATS

*Nights on Hardscrabble Island are lonely and cold when the lighthouse barely pierces the gloom. You sit on your bed, thinking of better times and far-off places. A knock on your door stirs you, and Hevlin, a shipmate you haven't seen for years staggers in.

"I'm in trouble," he says. "I had a few too many at The Shanty. I was looking for Red, but he wasn't around, and I started talking about.... Here," he says, handing you a slim volume that you recognize as a shipwreck book written years ago by the Historical Society.

You smile. Every diver on the island has looked for those wrecks, without even an old boot to show for it. You open the door, hoping the drunken fool will leave. "I know what you're thinking'," Hevlin scowls, "but look!" He points to the familiar map, and you see new locations marked for two of the wrecks.

"Keep it for me," he says. "Just for tonight. It'll be safe here with you. Don't let--." He stops and broods for a moment. "I've got to go find Red!" And with that, Hevlin leaves.

You put the book in your dresser and think about following Hevlin. Then you hear a scuffle outside. You look through your window and see two men struggling. One falls to the ground in a heap. The other man bends down beside him, then turns as if startled and runs away. Another man then approaches the wounded figure. He kneels beside him for a long moment, then takes off after the other man.

It isn't long before the police arrive to tell you that Hevlin's been murdered. You don't mention the book, and hours later, as you lie awake in your bed, you wonder if the book could really be what it seems.*

That is just the beginning of Cutthroats, Infocom's newest title in the Tales of Adventure genre. Written by Michael Berlyn (Suspended, Infidel) with the assistance of Jerry Wolper, Cutthroats promises to be another Infocom classic.

The story takes place on Hardscrabble Island, a dying little seaport all but forgotten. The island hasn't got much to offer, and diving off the treacherous reefs has long since lost its charm. So when the chance of a lifetime is dropped into your hands, you're ready for action. True, your cohorts are untrustworthy. Granted, keeping the sunken treasure a secret is practically impossible on such a small island. Naturally, diving alone in new areas is dangerous. But if you keep your head and get the treasure, the riches will more than offset the risks you have to take.

There are a number of new twists in Cutthroats. Dealing with a group of shady characters is one thing, but having to cooperate with them as you do in Cutthroats is another. The character interactions differ from those in other Infocom stories since the plot requires everyone involved to agree on taking risks together. In Cutthroats, you're not the leader of the expedition, you're one of four people whose survival depends on working together.

Cutthroats comes with a book entitled "Four Shipwrecks Off Hardscrabble Island." There's also a map showing where the shipwrecks went down, a price list from Outfitters International, a tide table and, of course, the True Tales of Adventure magazine. It is a standard level game and will sell for $39.95 on most systems.

Source:

From The New Zork Times, VOL.3 No.3 Summer 1984

You

are about to see the fantastic worlds of Infocom unfold before your very eyes.

CUTTHROATS You're a backwater island's top diver and expert on local shipwrecks. When a motley band of local salts gets wind of sunken treasure, they offer you a piece of the action in exchange for your skills. Now you must survive the perils of the deep - and the even greater danger that your crew may harbor CUTTHROATS.

Source:

From the first Infocom fold-out catalog, 198?

CUTTHROATS

Hardscrabble Island is a little seaport that's about as picturesque as it sounds. "Past its prime" is being polite. You're hardly the polite sort yourself, but as an expert diver, you have agreed to help salvage the sunken treasure from one of the four local shipwrecks. The only thing between you and the treasure is the gang of cutthroat characters you're working with. Of course, the only link between you and the treasure is the gang of cutthroat characters you're working with.

Think logically, choose your friends carefully, know your enemies well and you may live to play another game, going after the treasure on another shipwreck.

"We have said it again and again: Infocom can't be beat. For richness of description, unfolding of storyline, sharpness of wit, and challenge of puzzles, Infocom has no equal in the software business."

-Creative Computing

Source:

From PASSPORT To The United Products of Infocom 1986

(caption)Adrift in every CUTTHROATS package: your CUTTHROATS disk; TRUE TALES OF ADVENTURE magazine; Book of shipwrecks; and Outfitters International Price List and Tide Table.

YOU'RE ABOUT TO GET YOURSELF INTO VERY DEEP TROUBLE.

You're a backwater island's top diver and foremost expert on local shipwrecks. Which makes you perfect for the job a band of the island's shadiest characters has in mind for you. It's a simple business proposition: all you have to do is locate and salvage a fortune in sunken treasure. You stand to gain millions. The only drawback is, it could cost you your neck. Because to successfully recover the treasure, you'll have to survive the perils of diving in unknown waters - and the even greater danger of an untrustworthy crew. But none of that will stop you from taking the plunge. You're the type who believes that when stakes are this high, even when your odds are this low, it's worth running the risks of dealing with CUTTHROATS. ### GET INSIDE A STORY. GET ONE FROM INFOCOM!

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Source:

Back of Box - Amiga/C16/C+4/C64/DOS (US)