What is Shadows of Doubt?

Shadows of Doubt, developed by ColePowered Games, is a procedurally-generated sandbox stealth game set in an alternate reality in the hyper-industrialized 1980s, where you take on the role of a private investigator. Players take on various tasks, such as gathering information for shifty characters, finding and arresting suspects that the corporate police can’t bother to track down, and even solving murder cases.

But whether you’re stealing corporate documents or tracking down a serial killer, players need to use deductive reasoning to solve the cases they’re given using the information they have or collect. While the game does offer a pre-built murder case that acts as a tutorial, the game doesn’t hold the player’s hand when it comes to what to do next. And the fact that all the cases are procedurally generated means that stuck players can’t reference a walkthrough to get the answer. This guide aims to give players some tips and tricks to help them become more effective detectives.

Table of Contents:

1. Get to the crime scene ASAP
2. How To Thoroughly Search the Crime Scene for Clues
3. Investigate People and Places Connected to the Victim
4. Snoop Around the Computers
5. Trace Calls
6. Find the Murder Weapon’s Origin
7. Talk to People Nearby
8. Organize your Investigation Board
9. Conclusion

Get to the crime scene ASAP

If a murder occurs in the city, you will receive a notification via a police scanner that you always carry. When you get the call, get to the crime scene immediately. The main reason is that some evidence, namely fingerprints and blood stains, can disappear after a few in-game hours. Sometimes, clues like these can make all the difference in how long it takes to crack a case. In some rare events, you may even have a chance to catch sight of a potential suspect fleeing the scene of a crime if you’re quick enough.

Crucial Items to Have in Your Inventory

While getting to a crime scene fast is good, coming prepared is even better. Make sure you have at least a camera and a few lock picks.

You can also bring a codebreaker and a pair of handcuffs, but these aren’t often necessary in the first steps of an investigation. You can buy all this equipment and more at City Hall. If you’re there getting gear, you must also grab a murder resolution form from the front desk, as you’ll need this to report the key details of the murder and complete the case.

How to Get to the Crime Scene

Murders may occur in a building or outside on the street. Use your map to find the building or street where the crime was reported, then right-click on a point at or near the crime scene and click “Plot Route.” If the crime occurs inside, the building’s security system will block access to the floor for a few minutes. You can wait until the lockdown is lifted or use the vents to get to the crime scene. The vents may be preferable in most cases since Enforcers will lock down a crime scene and not allow anyone on the premises. Otherwise, wait until the supervising Enforcer turns their back so you can slip inside. Since you’re a private investigator and not affiliated with the police, it’s best to get into the crime scene without being seen.

How to Thoroughly Search the Crime Scene for Clues

Once on the scene, go over the area with a fine-tooth comb.

Ideally, the first thing you should look for is the victim's body. When you find it, inspect the body to start a profile of the victim, then search the body to analyze it for the cause and approximate time of death.

Afterward, search every nook and cranny for clues. Go through every drawer of every room, and even go through the trash if necessary. Sometimes, a thrown-out note or receipt can be a valuable lead. Look for information about who the victim was, where they worked, and who lived with them. Look for ID cards, employment contracts, health records, notes on passcodes, and tenant agreements.

You can click on a name to start a profile on that individual. When you find information tied to them, it will automatically be added to their profile. Pin any information that may be relevant to your case board.

Using the Print Scanner

One of your most valuable tools will be your print scanner. As the name suggests, it can be used to scan fingerprints. Every NPC in the game has a unique fingerprint. When you first scan them in the game, they will be identified with one or two letters. But if you find out who they belong to, that information will be added to that person’s profile, and you can use that to aid you in your investigation. You can do this by scanning the prints from someone directly, but they can also be found in employee and government databases.

Your scanner can also be used to scan footprints. When you scan a shoeprint, you will know the shoe size and what type of shoe it belonged to. A footprint can be just as incriminating as a fingerprint. Ensure you confirm that the footprint didn’t come from anyone who lived at the crime scene. A person’s shoe size, or estimated shoe size range, is recorded in an individual’s profile when you inspect them. You can also deduce the shoe size of apartment owners, be they living or dead, by inspecting the shoes they have lying around.

While not necessary, consider using a camera to take pictures of certain parts of the crime scene. The killer may leave behind a message or a design written in blood. You can then pin these photos to your investigation board to reference later. While they may not lead you directly to the killer, these messages may give insight into the motive behind the murder. You can also check the victim’s phone to see who last called them by dialing 541-0000. It might also be worth pining their address book to your board for later reference.

Crucial Evidence to Collect

As you search the crime scene, keep an eye out for any evidence that can provide a lead on the killer, such as:

• Expended bullet shells
• A potential murder weapon
• Fingerprints/footprints belonging to intruders
• Handwritten messages left behind by the killer

Once you’ve finished investigating the crime scene, it’s time to start following leads. Shadows of Doubt is a procedurally generated game that often allows multiple ways to solve a case. By using the following techniques, you can often catch the murderer before the day is done.

How to Fill Out the Case Resolution Form

Remember, to solve a case, you will need to fill out the Case Resolution form with the following:

• Suspect’s name
• Suspect’s address (optional)
• The murder weapon (optional)
• Evidence linking the suspect to the crime (optional)
• Have you arrested the suspect? (optional, filled automatically if you handcuffed the suspect)

The more complete the form is when you turn it in, the more credits you are rewarded with, assuming the correct information was turned in.

Investigate People and Places Connected to the Victim

One of the first things you can do is check out where the victim worked or their apartment if the murder occurred on the street. Depending on the motive, the killer could be a disgruntled co-worker who finally had enough. You may find more information at the victim’s workspace. Many workplaces are only open a certain number of hours and on certain days of the week, depending on whether they are office buildings, restaurants, or stores.

If they are open when you arrive, you can speak with the receptionist to buy a temporary guest pass. From there, you can speak with other workers to see if they saw anything suspicious recently or knew the victim.

How to Enter Closed Workplaces

If the workplace isn’t open, you’ll have to commit a bit of light trespassing. There are a couple of ways you can do this. First, you can pick the lock on the front door to get inside. You’ll have to watch out for civilians passing by and any security cameras that may have a view of the entrance.

Alternatively, you could sneak in using the ventilation system. However, air ducts present their challenges in that they are rarely straightforward, and it may take some navigation to reach your intended destination. Regardless of how you get in, you must be careful of any active security systems, such as laser sensors and cameras. If you get spotted, an alarm will go off, and you may even get targeted by automated sentry turrets.

You can disable most security measures by following their connected cables to a circuit box, picking the lock, and flipping the power switch for the security systems. However, this will only deactivate the systems for a few minutes. So you will either need to find the information you need quickly or periodically reset the circuit breaker.

Regardless of how you enter the workplace, it can be a good place to gather information and potential clues.

Most workplaces have filing cabinets with information on their employees, including their addresses, salaries, and fingerprints. You may also be able to get some key information from employee computers (often referred to as micro-crunchers). This brings me to my next topic.

Snoop Around the Computers

You will often find computers in offices and homes. They can offer valuable information depending on whether it is for personal use, business, security, or part of a government building. But before you can access it, you may have to log in.

How to Access Locked Computers

Some people leave their computers on, letting you access them without entering a passcode. But if it’s turned off, you must enter a four-digit code.

You may be able to find the code on a sticky note nearby. Alternatively, you can use a codebreaker to brute force the passcode. But be careful; using a codebreaker is illegal, and if anyone catches you using one, they will attack and may even call the Enforcers.

The good news is that the people in Shadows of Doubt don’t practice password security. People will use the same four-digit code for their computer(s) and keypads. Once you’ve confirmed a person’s passcode, it will be recorded in their profile for later reference.

Once you gain access, you can access their user profile, revealing information on the user’s address and passcode. You can also check out their V-mail (mail is delivered via a series of vacuum tubes and then displayed on micro-crunchers). A person’s V-mail inbox will often contain many stereotypical messages we would see in our email. Stuff like messages from friends or co-workers, ads for products and services, and even scam messages (because no matter what alternate reality a game portrays, there just has to be some stranger asking for thousands of dollars because they are an exiled Nigerian prince or someone stranded in a foreign country without their passport).

Occasionally, you may come across a V-mail relevant to a case. For example, the victim may have been talking to someone about a potential stalker and may have mentioned clues about their appearance. Or an argument with someone may suggest someone with a potential motive. Printing these V-mails and pinning them to your investigation board is best.

Many apartment buildings and office spaces have terminals dedicated to local security systems. These management offices often have a sign with a security camera on the door. You can use the terminals inside these offices to your advantage in several ways.

First, you can disable security systems in specific rooms or floors, which can help if you need to infiltrate a restricted area to snoop. You can also access the surveillance logs and review CTV footage. The computer will hold any images captured within the last 24 hours. This is especially helpful if there’s a camera near the home of a murder victim. By looking through the images captured near the time of death, you may find the last person who had visited them before they were killed. You can inspect anyone in the footage by clicking on their image on the bottom of the monitor and pining their profile to your board. You can also print a photo of the current image you’re viewing for later reference. This is also useful if you’ve taken on a photography job since you don’t need to follow your mark with a camera like the paparazzi.

Micro-crunchers in City Hall can be especially useful since they can access the government database. By entering the name of a citizen, you can print a sheet with all sorts of valuable information such as their picture, fingerprint, address, and occupation. If your only lead is a name, visit City Hall and sneak a peek at their database. Be careful, though, City Hall is the headquarters of the various Enforcer divisions. If you don’t want to pay for an express trip to the hospital wards (conveniently located in City Hall), don’t get caught in places where you shouldn’t be.

Trace Calls

Admittedly, I haven’t had to use this technique much during murder cases, but it’s still a good thing to know. Sometimes, someone may have called a victim before they died, or you may be working a side job where your only lead is a phone number. In any case, you can trace a phone call to where it was sent or received.

You’ll find a router box in the power room of every building, usually in the basement, covered by a laser camera. Simply pick the lock and see incoming and outgoing calls for the building. All the calls are timestamped to help ID the one you’re looking for. All outgoing calls will tell you the exact address from where the call was made, but only the building to where the call was placed. To get the recipient's address, check the router box of the receiving building and look for the incoming call.

You also can use this technique when doing side jobs where you are provided the phone number of a target person. Call the provided phone number from a building where you can access the router, such as your apartment building, and then trace the call using the above technique.

Find the Murder Weapon’s Origin

Sometimes, one of your best leads is the murder weapon itself. During your investigation of the crime scene, you should examine the body to determine the cause of death and any wounds the victim may have suffered. You might also have found clues to suggest the type of weapons the killer used, such as expended bullet casings or a syringe. Be sure to pin these to your investigation board, as they can be vital to solving the case.

If the weapon is hard to come by legally, you may be able to trace it by checking out a weapons dealer or black market trader. Several illegal businesses often operate in the city, including black market dealers, clinics, gambling dens, and loan sharks.

They often operate in basements under the guise of legitimate names. You can find one of these businesses by checking the city directory for odd-looking names. Some keywords to look for include:

• Ironmongers
• DIY Store
• Solutions
• Storage
• Cost-Effective
• House & Home
• Bank
• Home Improvement
• Incorporated ("Inc" does not count)
• Tool Supply
• Holdings
• Warehouse
• Hardware Company

How to Find Passwords for Black Market Traders

Black market traders and weapons dealers usually have passwords that must be stated to the owner before you’re allowed in. These passwords are randomly generated just like the rest of the game world.

You can find them emblazoned in graffiti around town and inside some buildings. A symbol often accompanies the passwords to indicate what shop they go to. Alternatively, you could break into the shop when no one’s around. The problem is that some of these businesses are open 24/7, so you may have to fight the owners if caught.

Once you find the illicit business you suspect the weapon came from, you should look for a store ledger. Even criminals must keep neat and tidy records of their business transactions, which suits us perfectly. This can either be an open book on the countertop or kept on a micro-cruncher.

Once you find the ledger, look for recent transactions where someone bought the means to kill the victim. Once you have their name, it becomes simple to look them up in the city directory.

Talk to People Nearby

Sometimes, it might be best to do a little canvassing and see if anyone nearby witnessed anything related to the crime. If the murder happened in an apartment building, start questioning the neighbors. If it happened on the streets, look for nearby stores, street vendors, or homeless people who may have seen something. It may take a while, and some might not be too open to talk to you unless you grease their palms with some credits. But if you’re lucky, you may find someone who saw a suspicious person.

They’ll give you a brief description of the suspect, usually one or two points such as height or whether or not they wore glasses, where and when they saw the person, and any mannerism that made them suspicious looking. This will give you a vital hint as to where the potential suspect went and clues as to what they look like. Type this information on a sticky note and pin it to your investigation board.

Organize your Investigation Board

Suppose you’ve been following along with the tips in this guide. In that case, your investigation board may look pretty full and come close to mimicking something seen in a conspiracy theorist’s basement. While this spider web lookalike may look cool to some, it can become difficult to sift through the evidence if it’s all over the place. Your task is usually to find the facts within the chaos, not create a visual representation of the chaos.

Fortunately, it’s very easy to rearrange your investigation board to something more organized. But before we get into that, it’s worth noting how the investigation board creates connections in the first place.

When you find a piece of evidence, the game will usually automatically create a red thread connecting it to where you found it and who that piece of evidence is connected to (if applicable). This system, while helpful, isn’t perfect. Sometimes, you may find something and pin it for reference later, or you may find something that, while you know it is connected to someone, is too vague for the system to draw a connection. You can create your connections by clicking with the middle mouse button and dragging from one piece of evidence to another. You can also name connections and make the line a different color by clicking the connection with the middle mouse button.

As far as organizing your board, that’s up to the player. You can click and drag pieces of evidence around the board without worrying about connections breaking. If creating a spider web originating from the victim works for you, then spin that web. Personally, I prefer to create a sort of pyramid of clusters. When I visit a new location and gather evidence, I keep the cluster of connected evidence around the location name on the board. Then, if a piece of evidence points to another location, I move it to the side and start a new cluster. I also write personal observations on sticky notes and draw connections to relevant evidence or profiles.

You should also consider if the evidence is worth keeping on the board. You can unpin evidence or notes by clicking on them and then clicking on the red pin. If you accidentally unpin evidence and want to pin it back again, consult your detective notebook for an archive of public knowledge and things you’ve investigated. Memory for people and places is infinite, but the notebook will only store the last 40 objects you’ve inspected. Some evidence you should consider unpinning is information relating to specific people, such as ID cards, work schedules, or notes with passcodes. Information such as this is often recorded in that person’s profile.

How to Fill Out the Case Resolution Form

Remember, to solve a case, you will need to click on the Resolve button and fill out the Case Resolution form with the following:

• Suspect’s name
• Suspect’s address (optional)
• The murder weapon (optional)
• Evidence linking the suspect to the crime (optional)
• Have you arrested the suspect (optional, filled automatically if you handcuffed the suspect)

The more complete the form is when you turn it in, the more credits you are rewarded with, assuming the correct information was turned in.

Conclusion

While this guide has mostly been tailored to assist players with solving murder cases, these techniques can also be applied to the various side jobs offered on bulletin boards throughout the city.

These side jobs include, but are not limited to:

• tracking down someone with an arrest warrant issued by the Enforcers
• helping a corporate client with “evidence collection” (yes, the evidence is in someone else’s residence; what of it?)
• tailing someone with a suspicious briefcase
• hunting down someone for the sole purpose of throwing food in their face and taking a picture

All these jobs have one thing in common: your clients will give you very little information to go off of. Sometimes, you may get a small hint at your mark’s appearance and what building they live in. Sometimes, you may only get a workplace and a phone number. And sometimes, you may just get their occupation and eye color (have fun canvassing every street vendor in town). You will need to employ any and all investigation techniques at your disposal to finish these jobs.

This story was written as part of the Hackernoon Blogging Fellowship.