A Christmas Eve Nightmare By Dan R Johnson Published by BRE Software & Page 6 public domain library For Atari 400/800/XL/XE Solution by Garry Francis ---------------------------------------- This is a minimal solution to a very hard game. Make sure you read the instructions that come with it, as these explain some of the non-standard parsing. You can EXAMINE a few things, but not many. There are two things to consider when playing this game. Firstly, you will need to draw a map. Some of the directions are illogical and there are many mazes or similarly-described rooms to make navigation confusing. There are also some sudden-death rooms from which there is no escape, so be prepared to replay many times. Secondly, it is not clear what items you need to buy for Christmas presents, so just buy everything you can find. (You only need to buy "the thing", but you need to buy lots of other stuff before you can buy that.) The game has a really weird "feature" whereby you must possess one object in order to buy another object, even though they are not related in any way. You will not be told this and you will not know which objects are dependent on other objects. Every time you find a new object, you have to retry everything you've already tried, even though you were previously told "I do not understand that", just in case something now magically works because of the possession of the new object. The version of the game on most archives has corrupted files. You will know that you have corrupted files if you get weird stuff displayed in the lower portion of the screen. Do not use this version, as it may crash your computer (or emulator). Instead, download the fixed version from CASA. (OPEN ENVELOPE) (you find chargecard, but don't need it, except to map the maze) (TAKE CHARGECARD) (S) (without kissing your spouse goodbye?) KISS SPOUSE (you can now go south) S (you wonder where your checkbook is) (SEARCH CAR) (try the glovebox that wasn't previously mentioned) SEARCH GLOVEBOX (you find your checkbook) TAKE CHECKBOOK (you need this to get into the mall and to map the maze) (E) (do you plan on pushing the car?) START CAR (with the keys that you don't have) E (don't go any further south or east or it's game over) SW (welcome to the first maze) SW SW SE ENTER MALL (don't ask me why, but you need the checkbook to enter the mall) (L) (you're in a mall hallway, the first of many) S W (there's a howling kid here) (TAKE KID) (you don't have a reason to do that) TALK KID ("Where is my shithead mother?" Ooh, nice kid!) TAKE KID U E S ENTER OFFICE (you need the kid to enter) (L) (you see a wool coat hanging on a post) REMOVE COAT (you don't get it, but you find a coathanger) TAKE COATHANGER (it will come in handy in end game, not that you know that now) (W) (you can't go that way, huh? why not?) DROP KID (you can now leave the office) LEAVE OFFICE (you don't leave, but you can now go west) W (you can't return without the kid, so I hope you took the coathanger) N N E (EXAMINE MACHINE) (it's a dispensing machine with a blue button on top) PUSH BUTTON (tokens fall out, this place gives you tokens for free) TAKE TOKENS E (try playing each of the games) PLAY MAZE (with tokens, light goes off, cash falls out, yoohoo, more free stuff) TAKE CASH (we now have cash to spend, as mall doesn't accept check or credit) W W S E E N BUY CANDY (with the cash, a box of candy appears) TAKE CANDY S (S) (BUY TOYGUN) (police SWAT team hauls man off to jail, leaving toygun behind) (TAKE TOYGUN) (it's not needed) (N) W S BUY BOOK (with the cash, you're not particular which book) TAKE BOOK N D W SW (S) (the young girl that you can't see won't let you pass) GIVE CANDY (girl grabs it and runs off, you can now go south) S (you're now sitting on Santa's lap, he asks what you're doing here) PULL BEARD (as you do when sitting on Santa's lap, someone takes a picture) TAKE PICTURE N E W W BUY GLOVES (you must be carrying the book, don't ask me why) TAKE GLOVES E E E E (S) (a heavy set woman that you can't see is blocking the way) PUSH WOMAN (as you do in a Christmas rush, woman falls into display of coasters) S (BUY SWEATER) (which one? you can try them all) VIKING SWEATER (you must be carrying the gloves, don't ask me why) TAKE SWEATER N W W W W S BUY GLASSSET (you must be carrying the sweater, don't ask me why) TAKE GLASSSET N E U E E N (BUY ALBUM) (which one? you can try them all) MUPPET CHRISTMAS (you must be carrying the glassset, don't ask me why) TAKE ALBUM S W W D N (BUY RING) (what type of stone? have a guess) RUBY RING ("Nice choice", you must be carrying the album, don't ask me why) TAKE RING S E E E N BUY COMPUTER (you must be carrying the ring, don't ask me why) TAKE COMPUTER S W N (BUY THING) (carrying computer, "We only sell to people that believe in Santa.") SHOW PICTURE (clerk is stunned and rings up the sale) TAKE THING (this is the gift you need to get home) S E E S SW (E) (your car is locked and the keys are inside) UNLOCK DOOR (with the coathanger) E (don't go any further east, northeast or southeast, or it's game over) N W (N) (you can't enter until you've finished your Christmas shopping, but we have) ENTER HOME (you must be carrying the thing, your spouse looks shocked) N (congratulations, ignore message about the score, as it doesn't work) ***THE END***