Characters have their family lives simulated from birth. Sometimes the killer might, say, attend a book club with the victims' mothers. They are many possible hobby or relative links. The killer might work as a janitor at the victims' ballet school.

The killer might be a cab driver, and only kills people on his cab route. Catching them requires knowledge of the city and its layout.

So what if the killer did not know anyone in the victims' families, didn't know the victims themselves had not killed any of their own family, and had no pattern in location?

The killer could be a Patrick Bateman type, finding and killing people who even mildly annoyed him. You'd have to analyse the weapons used, try and find out if they can be pinpointed to weapon stores. Where is he killing the victims? In their own homes? Is he killing them at an unknown location and dumping the bodies elsewhere? A serial killer is not a serial killer until there are 3 bodies. What state are the bodies in? Are the murders of a sexual nature? If so, does running DNA evidence against the sex offenders register turn anything up?

The murders should never be too easy to solve. Ask archiving to go through cold cases and look for old crimes that fit the same pattern.

Doing desk work is a large part of the game. Desk work can include:

• Sending blood, hair, fingerprints off to the lab
• Getting results back from the lab
• Identifying suspects and people to question.
• Calling and arranging meetings with victims' family members.
• Weapon discharge reports
• Reading the news
• Plotting a map of locations of victims.
• Listening to the police radio.
• Correspondence with the killer

The dialogue in the game should not give you options. You learn about who your character is through the dialogue your character says. Conversations rarely happen on their own. They usually happen across rooms (look into dialogue target indicators), or while people are doing other things.

Character names, ages and backgrounds should have real impact on the game. Italian cops have italian names. They're likely Catholic and they likely have Catholic family. Generating realistic and compelling characters is one of the most important parts of the game.

• Hungry
• Tired
• Stressed

If you are hungry, tired or stressed, you only know by relaying that information to others, or others relaying that information to you.

Combat should be powerful. Guns should have to be loaded. They should have safety catches to prevent impuslive behaviour. Killing an innocent person will stress your character out to the extent that the gun will from then on only point at their head when they try to point it. Ending scenes will say "It was too much for him. I guess he just snapped." etc.

Each playable detective has an age-based archetype. Types like "by the book, no nonsense detective", "loose cannon", "antihero with nothing to lose" and "abrasive sumbitch with a heart of gold" are undefined, as these depend on how the player plays the game.

• Sharp fresh-faced rookie (Clarice Starling)
• Grizzled veteran (Dirty Harry)
• Old pro (Morgan Freeman in Se7en)

While the game doesn't directly tell you which one you are, actions and dialogue in the game create the environment. Each archetype has different pros and cons.

Pros:

• Runs fast.
• Learns fast.

Cons:

• Gets stressed easier.
• Little experience.
• Aim not as good.

Pros:

• Gets less stressed.
• Moderate experience.
• Aims well.

Cons:

• Runs slower than a rookie.
• Learns slower.

Pros:

• Does not get stressed.
• A lot of experience.

Cons:

• Cannot aim as well.
• Cannot run.
• Cannot learn.

Your partner is a core part of the game. The game will pair you with a complementary character as a partner.

The serial killers are the most important part.