Walkthrough by MrLipid
July 2003

Overview

Panic in the Park is a Windows 3.1 game that was released in 1995. Unfortunately, there is a fatal error that crashes Panic when one attempts one of its arcade games (Shuffle Puck) on any version of Windows other than 3.1. Since Panic cannot be completed without playing Shuffle Puck and no patch was ever issued to resolve the problem, gamers who had upgraded to Win95 pretty much ignored the title, as did most reviewers. Fortunately, a simple solution to the problem has been found that enables non-Windows 3.1 gamers to finally play Panic.

This document discusses basic hardware and video issues, how to fix the Shuffle Puck problem yourself, where to look for the really big clues in Panic (as well as the rest of the clues) and how to solve the game's last nonarcade puzzles.

Basic Hardware and Video

CD Drives: If you have three CD drives in your system or have three virtual CD drives on your system, Panic can be set up to enable you to completely avoid disk-swapping. The trick is a modest edit of the game's CONFIG.INI file. The README.WRI file in the Panic directory provides all the details.

Video Acceleration: Have a firebreathing 128 MB video card? Good for you. Panic would appreciate it if you knocked video acceleration down to one notch over from the far left.

Color Depth: Set it to 256.

Resolution: Set it to 640×480.

Memory Management: Panic is a very leaky program. It takes what memory it wants and never gives it back. Probably it's a good idea to start your system fresh, close anything you don't need and check your system resources when you shut down Panic, especially if you have jumped in and out of the game a few times to do some hex editing of the game.sav file.

DIY Hex Editing

For those already comfortable with hex editing, here's what you need to know.

200 Tokens Cheat: Assuming you are editing the first or only saved game in the game.sav file, you can give yourself 200 tokens by changing the value in hex address 210 to C8.

Shuffle Puck Workaround: Again, assuming you are editing the first or only saved game, here's what you need to do once you have entered Concourse 3.

• First, listen to Peter Potter. He will welcome you to Easy Street.
• Move forward until you meet Sheila, who will talk about the Champ, laundry hampers, dogs and meat wagons.
• Once her clip is complete, save your game. Exit Panic and open game.sav in your hex editor. Go to hex address 237. Its value will most likely be 42. Change this to 56. Save and close game.sav. Restart Panic. The game will now believe you have beaten Shuffle Puck. As long as you don't click on the Shuffle Puck concession and start the FMV that leads to the crash, you should be fine. Enjoy the rest of the game!

DIY Hex Editing ... for Newbies

For those who are new to the dark art of save game file manipulation (why do you think they call it hex?), you will find an illustrated guide to what needs to be done here.

If you really want to know what the Shuffle Puck barker has to say, here are the quotes. You can also play his comments by clicking directly on the files.

Introductory Shuffle Puck Comment (MOVIES3\CCCM1GA.AVI): "Hey, just a word to the wise. I wouldn't believe a word that Peter Potter says. They call him Teach ... (laughter). He's only teachin' 'cause he ain't doin'. Just like the rest of them fancy pants professors. Now if you want to do it, take a shot at Shuffle Puck. Couldn't be easier. It's five pucks for one token. And you want to get your pucks to the places with the most points. It takes 200 points to win. Be careful not to hit your own pucks. Now, get shuffling."

Closing Shuffle Puck Comment (MOVIES3\CCCM1G2.AVI): "Slick. You musta done this before. I loved the last move. We still appreciate style around here, even if it's real scarce. Course the park wasn't always a dump like you see today. But then, you know that. Me tellin' you's like teachin' my grandmother to suck eggs. Now get on ... and see if you can't help that girl find her daddy's deed. And remember, the best way to succeed is to keep tryin'."

Panic in the Park—The Story

You play a dashing reporter who is trying to help Jamie (Erika Eleniak) save her late father's amusement park. You are going to do this by finding the deed for the park and correctly identifying which park employee stole and hid the deed. Opposing you is Jamie's identical twin, Janie, who may just fool you into failure. As the blurb says, "Solve the mystery or the park is history."

Panic in the Park—The Game Structure

Panic is an arcade/adventure. There are four concourses or midways, each with three arcade games. Once a concourse is entered, the only way out is by playing all three arcade games and winning (or buying) the special coin from the operator of the third game. In addition to the three arcade games, there are clues strewn about each concourse that may prove useful later.

Once the special coin is won, it is fed to the Oracle Machine in the Gazebo. The player then moves forward to the next concourse. And the next and the next.

When all four special coins have been fed to the Oracle Machine, several slider puzzles must be solved. The second slider reveals a clue that will be essential to escaping the Oracle's Secret Chamber.

The successful solution of the second slider moves the player to the park's main office. A stairway that must be climbed in the proper pattern leads to the Oracle's Secret Chamber. Within the Chamber, four books with switch settings must be found and the switches on the control panel set. The object mentioned in the second slider must be found and touched before the player can proceed.

A magic cabinet in the Secret Chamber transports the player back to the Gazebo. Good Jamie and evil Janie pose a logic problem regarding which door or doors in the Gazebo should be opened. If the correct choice is made, the player moves to the Back Lot where a word puzzle will reveal a clue to the whereabouts of the deed.

Upon finding the deed, the player returns to the main office and must identify the thief.

With nine suspects, the hints offered in the conversations with the suspects and arcade concession operators tend to be pretty general. Also, since the conversations cannot be replayed, it's easy to miss what few clues there are.

Fortunately, Panic is a very generous game. There are three places where the game will drop huge clues about the identify of the thief.

The Three Really Big Clues

Every suspect in Panic has a nickname. Listen closely to the conversations and you can sort out who is called what. The Three Really Big Clues are tied to the nicknames. Figuring out who the thief is once you know who is called what is a breeze. Here's a list of who is known as what as well as the three places to find the clues.

Nicknames:

		Nickname: Champ Real Name: Champ Occupation: Late owner of Skyview Park
		Nickname: He-Man Real Name: Sammy Occupation: Skyview Park's bookkeeper
		Nickname: Neat Real Name: Dollar Dan Occupation: Magic Mile guide
		Nickname: Pacer Real Name: Narrator Occupation: Barker in front of Skyview Park
		Nickname: Peach Real Name: Annabelle Lee Occupation: Street of Dreams guide
		Nickname: Preach Real Name: Senator Struggles Occupation: Museum of American History Curator
		Nickname: Teach Real Name: Peter Potter Occupation: Easy Street guide
		Nickname: Tramp Real Name: Charlie Champion Occupation: Bughouse Square guide
		Nickname: Trance Real Name: Sheila Occupation: Friend of Champ and Jamie

Really Big Clue #1
Concourse 1—Street of Dreams—Summoning the Magician

You can summon the Magician on the Street of Dreams, and he will show you a trick that ends in a card. The card gives away the thief.

When this is what you see ...

Turn left until you see this ...

Turn left again ... the Magician will appear, perform a trick and show you one of nine cards.

Images of cards tied to nicknames:

Champ	He-Man	Neat
Pacer	Peach	Preach
Teach	Tramp	Trance

Really Big Clue #2
Concourse 2—Magic Mile—Spelling Bee

If you can pop all the green balloons without popping all the orange balloons, the concession operator will reveal another clue in the form of a sentence that has been snaked into the 5×4 grid of Spelling Bee. Start with the highlighted letter and move from one square to another to decode the sentence. You can ignore the Xs. They are just placeholders.

Champ: Gone but Not Forgotten X

He-Man: Dollar and Cents Make It

Neat: Never Gave a Sucker Time

Pacer: He Sure Talks a Good Game

Peach: Face Value Is Nothing XX

Preach: A Last Call for Old Glory

Teach: Never Too Late to Learn X

Tramp: Every Dog Has His Day Too

Trance: Beauty Will Season Soup

Really Big Clue #3
Concourse 4—Bughouse Square—Lost and Found

When you first enter the concourse, there are lost-and-found lockers to your right. The item in the lower right locker provides a clue.

Champ: Boxing gloves

He-man: Green Visor

Neat: Cards

Pacer: Megaphone

Peach: Tiara

Preach: Bible

Teach: Decorated canisters

Tramp: Top hat

Trance: Wand

Panic in the Park Walkthrough

Note: While this walkthrough points out most, if not all, of the clues to be found in Panic, no effort has been made to identify every possible FMV clip a player might encounter. Given how Panic randomizes clips, there seemed little point in trying to develop a complete list of the slightly different clips one might trigger.

Opening

Once the opening FMV has played, you will find yourself in front of Skyview Park.

Clicking forward brings you to the main gate.

You'll find a court order closing the Park.

Back away from the order and click on the paper on the ground. Cryptic directions for the adventure ahead?

Back up and move toward the smaller gate at the far left of the front wall.

(The wooden doors on either side of the wall with the gates are employee entrances. You can't get through them. Try, and you'll meet the night watchman.)

You can, if you choose, play through the concourses in any order. The order has no effect on the outcome of the game. Take care, however, with Concourse 3, home of the dreaded Shuffle Puck crash.

Concourse 1—Street of Dreams

As you enter Street of Dreams, you'll see some security lockers on your left.

While you cannot open the lockers, you can look inside the blue recycling box to the left of the waste receptacle.

Hmm. Looks like a toolbox ...

Moving past Bumble Ball in the main plaza of Street of Dreams, you'll find a bulletin board.

Wonder if Bob Simpley's School of Dance means anything?

Back up from the bulletin board and turn to the right. There will be a white gift shop on your right.

Move forward and turn right so that you are facing the gift shop.

Click on the Closed sign and find another clue.

Back up from the gift shop and turn left.

When what you see looks like this:

Turn to your left so that you see this:

Turn again, and you have summoned the Magician!

Once the Magician is finished, you'll see this:

Click forward, and you will find yourself looking at the Playland building.

Click left twice and you will be facing the Gateway Theater.

Click forward and you will see a sandwich board sign.

Click on it for a bit of soul. (If you want to hear the clue again, you can find it here: MOVIES3\CCAM01.AVI. The key phrase appears to be the spelling out of STANDBY.)

Turning right three times from the sandwich board lines you up on Fuzzy Freaks, the second concession in Street of Dreams.

Turning right from Fuzzy Freaks points you toward the golden building you turned left away from to summon the Magician.

Move toward the golden building twice ...

... and then click on the clock for a surprise.

Wonder who that guy was?

Back away from the golden building and turn left. You'll see a small blue building with white trim. Clicking on the building twice will reveal a cryptic clue.

Click on the clue and turn right.

You will be facing the Bridge of Dreams. You can't cross it yet because you have yet to win the special coin at the Water Gun Game.

One click to the right will line you up with the stand of the Caricature Artist.

Click forward and click on Jim and Barb. Then click on Bob. (If you can read this message, you're better at this stuff than I am.)

Move to the Water Gun Game and collect the first of your four special coins.

Return to the Bridge of Dreams and proceed to the Gazebo.

Once you have deposited your coin, you will again find yourself in front of Skyview Park.

Concourse 2—Magic Mile

Once you've met Dollar Dan, your cursor will line you up with the Make Your Magazine building.

Click on it and you'll get a close-up of a winged golden creature.

Click on the creature and it will transform into the Oracle Machine.

Turn to the right away from the Oracle Machine and the first game of the Magic Mile, Rock'n'Roll, is on the right side of the screen. Turn to the right and try your luck. Once you have finished Rock'n'Roll, you can take a closer look at some of the posters on the building across the street. No clues, just fun.

As you move forward down the Magic Mile, you'll see the Ferris wheel and the parachute tower filling the night sky. You'll also see, almost dead center on your screen, a large smiling face. Meet Herman, the Amazing Worm.

As you click forward, Herman will remain near the center of the screen. To the left of Herman is Spelling Bee, the second concession of the Magic Mile. To the right of Herman is an alley with some suspicious digging in it.

There also is a box that will cause the cursor to change but that you cannot, at the moment, do anything with. If you turn left while backing away from the box in the trench, you may surprise someone.

The Spelling Bee will provide a second huge clue to the identity of the thief.

Once you have won Spelling Bee, turn around and look at the fanciful mock Arabian Nights building across the way.

Click on the doors to the right of the screen for another clue.

Clicking forward, you'll find the second bulletin board featuring Bob Simpley's School of Dance.

Odd that the steps seem different from the poster in Street of Dreams.

Back away from the bulletin board and then move forward. To your right will be souvenir shop.

Turn left toward it, and a few clicks will take you inside and reveal what appears to be a clue.

Back out of the souvenir shop and turn to the right. Click on the left gate of the Mansion of Mirrors.

Click again for another clue.

Click on Crossing the Chasm, the game you must play for the special coin. Before you click on the concession, however, turn right and click on the side window of the Mansion of Mirrors closest to the street to overhear a bit of plotting.

Click back to Crossing the Chasm and win (or buy) the second special coin.

Turn left away from the concession to proceed to the Gazebo and deposit your coin.

Concourse 3—Easy Street

This may be the trickiest part of playing Panic ... getting past the dreaded Shuffle Puck crash. Just follow the directions above on Hex Editing and you'll be just fine.

Once you reach the main plaza, turn to right. The cursor will become active over a ticket booth.

Click on the booth.

Click on the Four Tokens Each poster.

What's this? A While You Were Out message?

Back out of the message and start clicking toward the Grand Central Stage. Pity about missing the Norwegian Dancing Bears.

Click past the Grand Central Stage until you see this view:

Just ahead is the third of the Bob Simpley's School of Dance posters. And it is different from the previous two ...

Back away from the poster and turn left. Click forward, then click right twice to face the Swashbucklin' Souvenirs shop.

Click on the porthole in the door to peer in on a bit more plotting.

Click left three times until an urn is more or less center frame.

Click toward it twice and then click on it for this clue.

Back away one click and then click once toward the window on the "Sweet Shop."

Click on the window for a look at what Peter Potter finds so attractive about the place.

Click left and move forward.

Take care. Shuffle Puck is coming up. Don't get any closer than this—one more click and your game will crash.

Turn around to your right and you will see the Easy Street Cafe. Turn right twice more until you see a bright red arch in the distance. Click toward the arch three times and turn right. It is time to play Blind Man's Bluff.

Once you are done with Blind Man's Bluff, turn left twice. Click forward toward the red arch.

Turn left. You'll see a waste receptacle on the left side of a park bench. Click forward toward it.

Click on the waste receptacle.

Another clue ... also involving a dog.

Turn left. You are now ready for the third game of Easy Street: The Talon.

Win (or buy) your third coin. Turn around until you see a spire with a crescent on it. This is the way to the Gazebo.

Concourse 4—Bughouse Square

Turn right and click toward the Lost and Found lockers.

Open the lower right locker for a clue to the identity of the thief.

Back away and turn left three times. You are now facing Bughouse Square.

The first thing to do here is get to the Security Lockers. There is a mugger in Bughouse Square who will take all your tokens if he catches you with them. Once they are in the locker, they're safe. And you can still play the concessions. Lose your tokens and it is Game Over.

Your first click forward will put the Museum of American History directly in front of you.

Click right once and the Security Lockers will appear.

Click forward twice and then right.

Click forward three times.

A locker will open and your tokens will be deposited. Whew!

Back away from the locker twice and turn left.

The cursor will become active over a small, oddly shaped building toward the left of the screen. Click on it.

It is the building of the Fortune Teller. Click on the door twice for another clue.

Back away from the Fortune Teller twice and turn left. The cursor will become active over another bulletin board.

Click on it to see the last of Bob Simpley's School of Dance posters.

Back away from the bulletin board and click on the front steps of the Museum of American History. Then click right twice to see the Museum's collection of documents.

Back away from the documents one click. Turn right twice. The first concession of Bughouse Square, the Sidewinder, should be center screen. Click toward it twice, then right, then forward.

Once you've completed the Sidewinder, turn left three times and click toward the small concession with the stars and American flags. This is Crazy Coin.

Once you've completed Crazy Coin, click right three times and click forward to Profiles in Daring. You'll notice that the cursor becomes active on the side of the barn. Click the barn to change views and then click the barn again for a clue.

Click right, forward, left, forward, left, forward, left, forward to arrive at the last concession: Gopher Gong.

Once you have your coin, turn right, right and then forward to deposit your last coin with the Oracle Machine.

Save your game before depositing your fourth coin.

End Game

With the arcade section of Panic now past, many, though not all, of the upcoming puzzles are potential game-enders. Best to save when possible.

When you deposit the fourth coin, you will be faced with two slider puzzles.

The first slider never changes. Just move the coins into the middle row.

The second slider puzzle requires you to arrange the letters of one of four words: CHARM, HEART, MATCH or PATCH. There is a time limit on this slider, so work quickly and remember which word you spelled.

Once you've sorted out the word, you will be whisked away to the main office. You will move down a corridor to a set of double doors.

Save your game before opening the doors.

When you reload, you'll get to view the underground train and ladder video again.

Click on the left door and you'll see a stairway and a flashlight next to the stairway's bottom step.

Once you click on the flashlight, the stairway, but for the flashlight's beam, will be dark.

The stairway has six treads divided into four sections each. The challenge is to step on the correct section of each tread as you move from the bottom of the stairs to the top. One false step, and the game is over.

While it might seem like the posters from Bob Simpley would be helpful here, there is a much easier way. Use your flashlight to find a small piece of paper on the left side near the bottom of the stairs.

Click on the paper. It will unfold to yield one of four different patterns. The pattern revealed is the one you must follow.

Make sure you have found the bottom step and then simply use the flashlight to identify each section. And if you miss a step, you've got a saved game that will let you start over almost immediately, right?

Once you reach the top of the stairs, you will be facing a ladder. The ladder leads to the Oracle's Secret Chamber.

There are four books and one of four items to be found and three sets of controls to set in the Oracle's Secret Chamber. The map lays out the location of the books, the items and the controls.

The item that needs to be found is determined by the second of the Oracle's Puzzles: Charm, Heart, Match or Patch.

The CHARM is on top of BOOK1 next to the bed.

(Getting to BOOK1 and the CHARM requires clicking on the Hell Gate sign and squeezing along the wall toward the "K" sign.)

The HEART is carved on left front corner of table holding BOOK3, the toolbox and the MATCH.

The MATCH is to the right of BOOK3 on the table with the toolbox and the carved HEART.

The PATCH is on the head sitting on the trunk that holds BOOK2.

The books reveal the proper position for the three different sets of controls.

Here's how to set the trickiest of the controls.

Once all the controls are properly set and the correct item has been found, it will be possible to use the blue cabinet to return to the Gazebo.

Save your game before entering the blue cabinet.

There is a monitor in the blue cabinet. You will get a message from Sammy, and then the monitor will go dark. Click on it to start the Oracle's Door puzzle.

The Oracle's Door puzzle is another potential game-ender. There are six variations of this puzzle. You are told which doors you can safely go through in the Gazebo by Jamie and Janie. Jamie always tells the truth and Janie always lies.

For example, if Jamie says, "My (lying) sister would tell you to go through doors 1 and 4," that means that you do not want to go through doors 1 and 4. If Janie then says, "I always tell the truth. You must go through doors 1 and 3," you do not want to go through doors 1 or 3. Since Jamie has already told you about 1 and 4 and now Janie is lying about 1 and 3, the only safe door to go through is 2.

There is, however, a much easier way to get through this puzzle and that is this: Go through any door that is not mentioned. If doors 1 and 2 are mentioned, go through doors 3 or 4. If doors 1, 3 and 4 are mentioned, go through door 2.

Here are the six possibilities listed by which doors are mentioned by Jamie and Janie.

• Jamie: 1 and 2
  Janie: 1 and 2 (Go through doors 3 or 4)
• Jamie: 1 and 3
  Janie: 1 and 4 (Go through door 2)
• Jamie: 1 and 4
  Janie: 1 and 3 (Go through door 2)
• Jamie: 2 and 3
  Janie: 2 and 3 (Go through 1 or 4)
• Jamie: 2 and 4
  Janie: 2 and 4 (Go through 1 or 3)
• Jamie: 3 and 4
  Janie: 3 and 4 (Go through 1 or 2)

Once you are through the door, you will find yourself on the Back Lot. You will run into a couple of folks, and then you will face the Mystery Marquee.

Save your game before attempting the Mystery Marquee.

There are six possible answers for the Mystery Marquee. This is a timed puzzle, so getting a quick start is important. You get two big clues to the puzzle's solution.

Your first clue is how many empty squares there are to fill. Your second clue is which letters stick to the marquee. The puzzle will not let you spell the wrong answer.

If there are six empty squares, the word you need to spell can only start with A, H or T.

If A sticks, the word is ANTHEM and the deed will be hidden behind the Star Spangled Banner at the Museum of American History in Bughouse Square. The Star Spangled Banner is the first document in the second row.

If H sticks, try A for the second letter. If A sticks, the word is HAMPER and the deed will be hidden in the laundry hamper in the main office.

If H sticks and A doesn't, the second letter is E. The word is HERMAN and the deed will be found by clicking on the mouth of Herman the Amazing Worm in Magic Mile.

If T sticks, the word is TRENCH and the deed will be found in a box in a trench in the alley to the right of the building holding Herman the Giant Worm.

If there are seven empty squares, the word is CHAPTER and the deed will be found in the book on real estate law in the main office.

If there are nine empty squares, the word is PARCHMENT and the deed will be found behind the Declaration of Independence at the Museum of American History in Bughouse Square. The Declaration is the document on the far right in the top row.

Save your game before naming the thief.

If you paid attention to the clues offered by the Magician, Spelling Bee and Lost and Found, you should have no trouble correctly naming the thief.

(If you've enjoyed playing Panic, you might think about sending a note to Howard Tullman. He has a website here.)