American Theft 80s Basics Guide

A Basics Guide for American Theft 80s (AT80).
Contains songs lyrics, wordplay humor, and big words.

May also contain spoiler tags misused for comedic purposes, black wayfarer sunglasses, and hair gel.
Spoiler alert: There is enough of a story to merit spoiler warnings. Fortunately, this is not a walkthrough. :P
So very not funded by the Totally Fictional Cold Cereal Lobby. Like, awesome with ice cold milk, dudes.

Camera

Toggling the camera mode (default key: 'v') also makes other changes to the interface.

• Furniture's drawers and doors stay open when opened in first person camera view.
  
• The beam of the flashlight aligns perfectly with the first person interface view.
  The third person interface aims the flashlight with the movement keys, which can be cumbersome.

Third Person Camera

• The default, looking-over-the-shoulder camera enters into a cinematic furniture searching interface with a locked camera angle.
• Drawers and doors opened in this interface automagically close when the interface is exited.

First Person Camera

• The first-person (eyeball-view) camera simply opens the drawer from where the character is standing.
• One can then maneuver around to pick up the objects.
• As mentioned earlier, furniture doors and drawers stay open when opened in First Person Camera Mode.

Unlocking Locked Stuff

Lockpicking TL;DR Version

• Using the pick,
• Align the topmost bulge of each lower pin
  with the bottom edge of the inner cylinder
• Then click to lock it in place.
  
  
• Click fewer times to avoid tool breakage. Lock more pins per click.
• Don’t knock already-locked pins loose.

Lock Picking SOP

The inner cylinder won’t turn until all of the pins line up along its bottom edge.
I’m going to call that edge the break line because it amuses me.
The upper pins are all different sizes to match a key. From our point of view, they are a nuisance and we must work around them.

• Observe the dumbbell-shaped lower pins as you move the pick (hooked thingy) up and down. Note that each pin bounces and rattles slightly whenever the upper bulge of its dumbbell passes over the break line. That is when you can turn the lock (default LMB) to jam it up and lock it in place.
  
• Locked pins can be accidentally knocked loose with the pick. Working from right to left may help.
  
  
• Locking all the pins with fewer clicks seems to decrease the frequency of tool breakage.
• Using the long flat part of the pick helps lock multiple pins at once.
• The pointy bit of the pick easily locks one pin at a time, even when that pin is surrounded by taller locked pins.

Automatic Lockpick

• You must center the device with the mouse while it is running.
  
• Failure to keep it centered will make noise.
• While the noise is being made, progress is not being made towards opening the lock.
• To remain silent, one can lightly tap the button to minimize its random movements, but progress will be equally slow.

All The Tools

• Visual learner? Find a Test Door (or test lock, etc) in a pawnshop, and then mess up a lot.
  Helpful instructional prompts and marks will appear. Certain Test Locks are available as part of the Story Missions. Or maybe I was hallucinating ghostly arrows. Again.
• Also keep an eye on the little audio-wave thingy while you are learnin' because some tools make differing amounts of noise. In case you're totally into using sound as a distraction.

Inventory and Loot

Super Strategic Note: NPCs do not currently notice dropped loot of any type.

• Any loot object marked pricey cannot be used to fulfill a fetch-quest.

Large Objects

Larger pieces of loot (televisions, microwaves) must be carried individually, and placed in a car’s trunk for transportation.

• Carrying one significantly limits movement speed and prevents interactions (opening doors, pressing buttons).
  
• Large Objects cannot be thrown (over fences), but one can drop them out of windows.
• Only specific vehicles have trunks which can store these large objects.

Small Objects

Small Objects (jewelry, kettle, radio) are stored in a hypothetical 'bag' which can store a total weight of any random small objects.

• One can carry significantly more small loot by equipping a backpack, and putting points into a certain skill.
  
• Some of the larger Small Objects (skateboards, boom boxes) appear tied to the outside of the character when carried, which looks super cool, but does not seem to impact the game.

Car Storage

One can carry an infinite amount of small loot in any player-owned car:

1. Approach the driver door of any player-owned vehicle,
2. bring up the Action List (default key: 'f'), and
3. select Change Equipment.

Stuff on the left is in the car, stuff on the right is in 'the bag' (carried by the player).

• Individual objects contain buttons labeled 'to inventory' and 'to storage' which move stuff between the car (storage) and your inventory.
  
  
• To be clear, an owned-car only needs a Trunk to carry large objects but they all can carry infinite small objects.
  
• And, No, objects cannot be stored in stolen cars.

Looting Tips (that's going on my CV)

• Parking your car close enough to a property will prevent the property from resetting (closing and locking stuff) each time you drop off loot. (Thanks, Plexy!)
  
  
• Many windows can be opened silently from the inside. Great for dropping large loot outside, return trips with different gear or for additional loot, and the classic hasty exit.

Stealth and Detection

Sneak Mode

Enter sneak mode (default key: 'c') to move silently.

• Movement is extra slow in sneak mode, but one can use sprint (default key: 'left_shift') to temporarily move faster silently, depleting the stamina bar.
  
• While sneaking makes one harder to spot, being spotted sneaking is suspicious Shady behavior.

Don't sneak into the light, little one!

List of Suspicious Shady Actions

• Sprinting.
• Crouching.
• Grabbing small loot.
• Carrying large objects.
• Using thief tools.
• Wearing the wrong clothes.
• Standing on a shipping container.
• Climbing through a window.
• Driving a stolen car.
• Interacting with appurtenances (press button).
• Being inside a private residence.

Detection of Sound

HUD detection indicators are yellow when a tenant hears the player a sound.

• Tenants will shrug and go back to what they were doing after investigating a sound.
• Throw-able bottles are an inexpensive and easily obtainable way to play around with sound.

Thief Being Seen by Tenant

When a tenant sees (or is at risk of seeing) the player, the HUD indicators are red.

• No matter the initial flee/attack response upon fully seeing the player, tenants almost always call the police when they lose sight of the player.

Detection of Burglary

• Tenants do not notice opened furniture or missing objects.
• Doors that spawn in unlocked may be left open any time.
• When a tenant hears the player using a tool to open a door or window, they may walk right up to it and notice the burglary.

Unlocked Door = Immediately Call Police

• Whenever a tenant passes through a previously-locked door that has been left unlocked, they immediately call the police, giving a burglary detected message.
  
• Tenants do not notice such previously-locked doors unlocked and even left wide open until and unless they pass through them.
  
  
• One can (close and then) re-lock doors, allowing tenants to pass through without alarm.
  
• When the routine shows a tenant arriving or departing, consider all of the doors they will pass through. Many have both a personal apartment door, and a shared exterior door.

Disguises

• Disguises only work briefly, even at a fairly substantial distance from the observer.
  
• For best results, Keep walking steadily and avoid walking directly in front of tenants.
  
• Disguises stop working entirely when one runs, crouches, does shady things, or
  enters an even more forbidden area such as a behind a cash register or a bank vault.
  
  
• The Surveillance camera view-circle turns green when one’s disguise is working.
  
• Disguises don't allow one to carry a backpack. (Not even a proper eighties fanny pack.)
  I use them to clear the way to prepare for a looting run with proper gear.

Police

Heat and Heat+

• One's Heat level increases with each detection.
• Enough heat will cause police patrols to begin driving around roads looking for Suspicious Shady Behavior. One could say that when The Heat is on, it's on the Street.

Stolen Cars

• Stealing a car also spawns in a police patrol.
• When the police locate a parked stolen car, it is returned to its original parking spot.

Pause Menus

Character Screen

(default key: 'i') The middle pane displays current equipment and outfit-related statistics under an XP-to-next-level bar thingy.
Note that the right pane is shared by Items and Skills. Click the buttons at its top to navigate.

Skills

This screen displays special character perks purchase-able with Skill Points one earns by leveling up. I found Sharp Senses (auto-marking close NPCs through walls) extremely helpful.

Items

• The Items list defaults to the Loot page, a listing of all carried objects which occupy storage weight in the 'bag'.
• Use the drop button here to drop loot on the ground somewhere out of sight for later retrieval. This enables quickly going back to grab more loot during a limited opportunity.
  
• The three other buttons under Items list carried objects which do not occupy inventory weight:
  Keys lists keys one collects,
  Jobs lists quest-related objects you transport or accumulate, and
  Tools shows all your tools, with descriptions, and drop and use buttons.

Jobs

This screen lists the current Main Story job and any accepted Side Jobs.

Requests

This lists the object Requests one accepts from NPCs with Lists of Requested items found among their dialogue options.

Reputation

This screen shows one’s earned Reputation Points with each gang, and any benefits one has due to having a particularly high reputation.

Assets

A list of all owned Cars and Houses. Has buttons to Show on Map (an Asset’s location).

Houses

• There are three houses for sale which can be purchased and furnished.
• They are located between other map locations on empty stretches of road. One must interact with a sign by their front entrance (and have the cash on hand) to purchase them.

Vehicles

• All player-owned vehicles can carry infinite small loot.
• Only the original hatchback and the cargo van can carry large loot.
• Stolen cars do not store any loot. (No menus, dude.)
• There is only one person who sells vehicles who is pretty hard to miss as one plays through the Story Missions, or checks out the big glowing letters on the map in sandbox.

Load Game

The game auto-saves frequently, over-writing the previous auto-save save file quite often. If you wish to try something risky, I suggest using one of the many phone booths to make a manual save.

Settings

Choose a good moment to try out Hard Mode.

To The System

(shortcut key: Alt-F4) Exits the program.

Game Modes and Quests

Story Mode

Story Mode is a series of assigned Missions which gradually introduce tools and map regions.
Side Missions are also offered by other NPCs as you progress, but without notification, so you must look for their distinctive icon on the map.

Sandbox Mode

Sandbox Mode is intended to give one a fresh map uncluttered by Story Missions. Everything is available and unlocked, and requires only acquiring the money to buy it.
Also, each new game randomizes loot and upgrades random security features around the map.
I fully agree with the game text that it's a lot more fun after one completes Story Mode.

• Unlike Story Mode, the game is not automatically reloaded upon he moment of arrest. Instead, the player is fined money, reset to normal clothing, and teleported to a nearby phone booth.
• The loss of money can be avoided by carrying no money. Storing loot instead of selling it works handily.
• Quitting and reloading the game re-randomizes the maps. This notably creates incentive to escape, and one can identify or create escape routes to do so.

Requests

Requests are found by talking to specific NPCs who have bounty lists of re (pause) quests when spoken to.

• Some of these quests offer notably lucrative rewards.
• In Story Mode, these requests are unlocked gradually with progress.

And The Rest...

Please also check out Plexy's excellent collection of clever tips.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2826607721

I am happy to receive feedback and will credit corrections.

To do list

• Acquire a digitized photograph of a man-shoveling construction sign.
• Find somebody who wants to make this guide better, and let 'em.
  I would prefer to retain enough text to enable mechanical translation.

?SYNTAX ERROR
READY.

[Pyra231]

how to do it 47 task? i have 39 and complete game

[chicken007]

* Story Mode may require progress before unlocked equipment shows up in the Pawn Shop.

[chicken007]

You buy picks and other tools at the pawn shop.
The pawn shop will offer better tools once you unlock them in the Character page of the pause-menu.
You can earn skill-points by successfully stealing valuable things.

[Frission]

Where do you GET the picks though?

[Elusive as Denby]

Thx for putting this together, my guy