LES PASSAGERS DU VENT
after FRANCOIS BOURGEON

There are wise men who do not tell, they live.
Inspired by the comic strip of the same name, LES PASSAGERS DU VENT software adaptation is one of them. Action, risk and humor are the main ingredients of this thrilling and passionate adventure.

You play there, in turn, ISA, the daring heroine in search of an ideal, HOEL, a brave and loving Breton sailor, or more than fifteen other baroque people from this end of the eighteenth century: a surgeon of the Royal, a black slave philosopher, an enterprising libertine, a shy shipmaster ...

You discover fear while fighting with cannon aboard the FOUDROYANT, a ship in the service of the King of France.

You learn the voodoo mysteries there by meeting King KPENGLA who reigns supreme over Dahomey and by facing the beasts in the savannah.

You thwart the intrigues of the police or the love of greedy and unscrupulous men.

You are both the director and the actors of fate: you organize the progression of the adventure as a master, then suffer the consequences as a character. A thousand adventures for a search for the truth, this is the invitation to travel for LES PASSAGERS DU VENT.

To the passion for history and the game, the authors have added the exceptional quality of a graphic resuming feature by feature that of FRANCOIS BOURGEON. When the savannah, the ocean or the characters appear on the screen, you experience moments of poetry and wonder. Take care and stay clear, beauty can be fatal.

Already sold over 3 million copies worldwide, LES PASSAGERS DU VENT herald a revolution in software, that of the film of which you are the heroes.


The story

The adventure takes place on the eve of the French Revolution in the troubled environment of Triangular Trade, that is to say of the slave trade between the Breton, African and American coasts. HOEL, Breton sailor by trade, fled France because of an unjustified accusation of murder. He is accompanied by ISA, an adventurer who turns out to be a countess whose title has been usurped. To regain one his honor and the other his title, they travel through this strange world of the end of the eighteenth century. From Breton ports to African shores, LES PASSAGERS DU VENT meet different cultures and face a thousand dangers in search of their truth.


The author

FRANCOIS BOURGEON is one of the masters of modern comics. LES PASSAGERS DU VENT, his masterpiece, has won the most prestigious comic book award: the GRAND PRIX DU SALON D'ANGOULEME. Critics have praised the perfection of the lines which combine to captivate the reader and give a new dimension to comics. FRANCOIS BOURGEON did not agree to see his work declined in software unless the spirit and the letter of the original story were scrupulously respected. The authors of the software worked with the same rigor and the same exacting standards as this Breton, drawing magician and imaginary gull.About the Apple IIgs version


The software

The first volume of the comic strip which accompanies the software lets you discover the situations and the main characters through 48 pages of colorful adventures. The program turns you into a master of the fate of the heroes: you digest them all so that each one achieves his goal. In turn, ISA, HOEL, or any other actor in history, you choose and then decide for them and guide their lives. You play over fifteen different personalities and discover hundreds of directions, places and events. You control the whole by simple operations of the mouse, and thus enjoy, without constraint, the pleasure of the game and an exceptional graphics.

With LES PASSAGERS DU VENT, you enter a fantastic world of which you are the master and the hero.


Game principle

You are both the director and the heroes of the game.

The screen has three main parts:
- a graphic part where you see the action (upper part of the screen),
- character icons where you see which character you are playing (bottom left),
- texts where you decide the action (bottom right)

The game is divided into ten episodes that you will discover as you progress.

For each episode, a main scene is presented to you and by a simple entry, by validating, you select the characters you want to interpret.

For example, in scene 1, you validate:
- the two women on the right in the graphic part to display the icons of the characters ISA and MARY,
- the pontoon, to obtain HOEL and JOHN.

Once this first research is done, you no longer intervene on the graphics part.

The character you are playing appears in the lower left window (character icon).

To change it, simply position the cursor on the up / down arrow to the right of the character icon and click: you will see another character appear.

Move the cursor in the character window, then click to validate.

The text that is displayed after validating characters indicates what they are thinking or saying. Sometimes this text leads you to make a decision. There are several options to choose from, which appear in a different color on the screen. To select decisions, position the cursor on the up / down arrow to the left of the text box and scroll through them by clicking. Then, move the cursor in the text window and click to validate your decision.

Your decisions change the graphic part of the screen. Remember that you can change characters at any time. Finally, the reaction time of the characters sometimes plays a role in the flow of the game.

The action also evolves on its own. So you can confirm a character's attitude if his decisions suit you. You confirm by validating a second time the character concerned: he may progress in his reasoning or in his words.

You control both the action by deciding for the characters and you are a spectator and director watching its evolution which should make you think. No game image is useless...


Goal of the game

In order not to reveal anything about the game, know that reading Volume 1 of the comic strip is FUNDAMENTAL.


Configuration

LES PASSAGERS DU VENT works with the Apple IIgs microcomputer (ROM 01 or ROM 3) with 1 MB of RAM.


Installing and loading

Before any manipulation, make sure that all the elements are correctly connected (video, keyboard, diskette unit, etc.).

Apple IIgs version
- Switch on the central unit,
- Insert a System diskette in the drive,
- Insert the floppy disk in another drive,
- Double click on the LPDV.ExtractMe icon,
- Select the folder where you want to extract the archive,
- Then double-click on the extracted LPDV icon.


Saving a situation

In order not to restart the game from the beginning each time, it is possible to save the current situation. To do this, take a blank formatted floppy disk which we will call "situation" diskette.

Path to follow :
At any time during the game:
- press the open-apple + S keys or choose the Game / Save ... menu,
- insert the "situation" diskette in the drive,
- give a name to your backup.

When the backup is complete, replace the "situation" diskette with the Game diskette.


Loading a situation

At the start of the game, in the middle or even at the end, you can benefit from your previous experience by loading a situation.

Path to follow :
- press the open-apple + L keys or choose the Game / Load ... menu,
- insert the "situation" diskette,
- double-click on the situation to load.

After loading, insert the game diskette in place of the "situation" diskette.


Restart a situation

At any time, you can restart a situation from the beginning. To do this, press the open-apple + B keys or choose the Game / Beginning menu.


Replay a situation

At any time, you can replay a step-by-step situation. To do this, press the open-apple + R keys or choose the Game / Replay menu ...

You adjust the replay speed with the mouse:
- by moving the mouse to the left, you slow down the step by step,
- by moving the mouse to the right, you speed up the replay.


Commands

The game is played entirely with a mouse.

The operations are very simple: just move the cursor with the mouse.

The validation is done by clicking on the mouse.


About the Apple IIgs versionS

The PASSENGERS ON THE WIND version was adapted for Apple IIgs by Ordigrames, for Infogrames, in 1988. This version was never released. It features the 4-color graphics of the Thomson version, as well as soft music.

The PASSAGERS DU VENT version was adapted for the Apple IIgs by Brutal Deluxe Software in 2020. This version is multilingual (German, English, Spanish, Flemish, Italian and French) and features the 16-color graphics of the Commodore Amiga version, as well as the original music "Darker than Black, Kuro no Keiyakusha" available on BitMidi.com.