A guide to the 1984 text adventure game THE SEVENTH STAR by David Hampton and Acornsoft for the 8-bit BBC Micro computer The game The Seventh Star was solved in 2016 by "ahope1". This document and the map that accompanies it were created by "ahope1" and can be found at the Classic Adventure Solutions Archive (CASA): http://solutionarchive.com/game/id%2C2027/ Document version 1.0 CONTENTS a. Introduction b. Walkthrough c. Links a. INTRODUCTION Do you like science fiction that was current in the 1980s? Then you'll love The Seventh Star, a text adventure game for the BBC Micro that was inspired by that decade's rash of genre-making SF movies: some of your favourite characters make appearances in the game -- lightly disguised to avoid copyright-infringement, perhaps, but still recognisable. (Somewhat more obscure are the references to then-contemporary SF novels, which have defeated my Googling skills.) The Seventh Star is a departure from Acornsoft's tradition of publishing very difficult games that trace their origins back to the Phoenix mainframe computer at Cambridge University, where, taking a break from solving mindbogglingly complex problems in physics and mathematics, students would relax by solving mindbogglingly complex puzzles in early text adventure games instead. The Seventh Star isn't as difficult as, say, Acheton, but it's not exactly a walkover either. Fortunately, though, there are hints aplenty to aid the baffled -- just type *HELP in the game whenever you're stuck, and you'll be directed to look up a hint that's specific to the room you're in. The hints can be found online at CASA. The Seventh Star stands apart from previous Acornsoft adventures in another way too: it's funny. At least, it's supposed to be. I mean, the parser has some cute comebacks to misguided player-input, and the other gags are the sort that would raise a chuckle from a nerdy adolescent. And if you've bothered to seek out and read this guide, then you'll probably chuckle too. b. WALKTHROUGH You can't type in this walkthrough verbatim because there's some randomisation in the game that needs to be taken into account, so watch out for my comments, which appear in square brackets [like this]. [Walkthrough begins] GET CROW GET MICRO GET BUCKET N JOE BLOGGS N GET CARD N N N INSERT CARD 3013 GET MONEY S S S SE JUMP E JUMP E N GET WATER S JUMP W JUMP W NW E DROP CROW BUY SCANNER DROP MONEY GET CROW DROP MICRO W D IN S GET UNIT INSERT UNIT E SE U E GET MICRO W SW IN USE SCANNER S E W S S THROW WATER DROP BUCK U GET CANDL D N N N OUT NE N N GET MATCH NE GET GRAT DROP CROW D S E W D D DROP SCAN DROP MICRO LIGHT CANDL THROW CANDLE D GET TUBE U GET MICRO U E E U W W S SE SE GET BROW NW NW W D S E E U IN DROP BROW OUT W W S S SE E JUMP E N THROW COIN ********************** [Note password] S JUMP W JUMP W NW W IN ********************** [Enter password] OUT DROP MATCH E N W D S S SEARCH GET ROBOT N E E U W W S S SW IN S S W NE BREAK LOCK W W W LOOK S E GET WIRE S S W E N N OUT NE N W D S E W D D DROP TUBE DROP MICRO DROP TAG DROP WIRE D E E D GET SAND SE S SE U GET WIRE GET TUBE GET MICRO GET TAG U E E U W W S S NW GIVE SAND W W GET GLOV E E S E DROP MICRO GET MONEY BUY CASE OPEN CASE PICK LOCK GET ROD DROP WIRE GET MICRO DROP TUBE W SE JUMP E JUMP E GET BRANCH N N E VAULT FENCE GET EGG S JUMP W JUMP W NW SW IN S S W S SE E DROP EGG S E NW SE E N SW S W N SW S RUB ROD DROP ROD DROP GLOV N N S E N NE S W W S W N N N N INSERT TAG W N E HELP NE DROP MICRO SE S GET BLUE N NW GET MICRO HELP SW W S E S S W W NW N NE W E N N OUT NE W IN ********************** [Enter password] OUT E N W D S E W D D DROP MICRO D E W E UNLOCK HATCH E N N W SEARCH GET INSTRU EXAM INSTRU E S S W W N SE U U E E U W W S S E GET TUBE W SW IN S S W NE N IN PRESS BUTTON BLOW TUBE [Walkthrough ends] c. LINKS This document can be found at the Classic Adventure Solutions Archive (CASA): http://solutionarchive.com/game/id%2C2027/ The accompanying map can also be found at the above address. A disc-image of the game, suitable for playing in BBC Micro emulators, can be found at Stardot: http://www.stardot.org.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=11687#p146748 BeebEm, the BBC Micro emulator, for Windows: http://www.mkw.me.uk/beebem/ BeebEm, the BBC Micro emulator, for Mac: http://www.g7jjf.com/beebemmac.htm A beginner's guide to interactive fiction (or text adventure games): http://pr-if.org/doc/play-if-card/ Video playthroughs of BBC Micro text adventures: http://www.youtube.com/user/ahope1/playlists