SAVE THE WORLD
Hayden Software, 1985
=====================
Solution by Exemptus - May 2024
Overview and general hints:
---------------------------
This is a sample game for the Computer Novel Construction Set by Hayden, which
is what it says on the tin: a primitive IF builder, not very well known, except
for the fact that it was the system used for the TimeQuest series of adventures.
It has the particular and unusual feature of an in-built real-time parsing
engine, i.e., games created with it can have real-time-based events, as opposed
to turn-based ones.
I said "a sample" instead of "the sample" because there is a second game,
called
TUTORIAL, but it is trivial. This one is distinctive among sample games because
it's not. Difficult it isn't either, but it shows a remarkable degree of
complexity with things such as combat interactions.
The plot is but a sketch: we are Agent 000 and briefed at the start on a
terrorist group having set up a nuclear missile launch that will blow up
Manhattan in three hours (real time!), which we need to avoid. We are given a
Walther PPK and let loose in the world.
The game requires getting a tip on the whereabouts of the terrorist gang,
acquiring a diskette that opens a very necessary door, convincing a mob boss to
let us pass through a certain area, maybe negotiating a maze (it can be entirely
avoided) and solving the puzzle of deactivating the missile launch once we find
it.
The parser is OK, and has the usual verbs and synonyms, except TAKE is used
instead of GET. Only NESW directions are used. EXAMINE works for both objects
and scenery (in principle), but SEARCH (or LOOK INTO) is different and gives a
description of contents, where this applies. Also we can, and must, QUESTION
characters.
The main quirk is that in at least one version, the game cannot be completed due
to a bug. In fact I first wondered whether it was really a bug, because it could
be easily fixed just by deleting a verb entry from the table, through use of the
creator system. It would not have been unexpected to have this as an exercise
set up in the manual as part of the learning lessons for the creator, although
the instructions don't mention this at all. But I then found another version of
the package that did not have this bug and could be completed. I now think it
might just be a side effect of the original unprotect for the copy I came
across. I really don't know, but if you have a problem with the code word not
deactivating the launch, then look for another copy of the software.
There is a scoring system. 10 Points are awarded when each of the following
actions is done:
* Question Willie
* Take the computer game
* Insert the computer game
* Play the computer game
* Question Fat Man
* Rip the poster
* Shoot the terrorist
* Search the dead terrorist
* Push the red button
* Take the last points
The total is 100 points. The max score shows 110 in fact, but only 100 seem to
be possible.
Walkthrough:
------------
[We begin at the briefing room, where the Chief tells us about our mission and
provides the Walther PPK.]
TAKE PPK
EXAMINE PPK [To make time, because there's a delay until an elevator comes]
ENTER ELEVATOR [We are on the sidewalk]
[The city is composed of 7 different sidewalks and a few streets crossing them,
as well as several joints. One of them is just south of here, and we are told
that it is a dive that some low-life acquaintances of ours frequent; we are in
search of information.]
S [At the Blue Parrot; here is Willie Jones]
[We want to check if Willie has the lowdown on the bomb, but intimidation and
threats don't work well here. If we go that route, we end up going the knuckle
with Willie and being kicked out of the bar with zero results. The idea is to
buy Willie's cooperation.]
BUY BEER
GIVE BEER TO WILLIE [He says he might have something interesting to say]
TALK TO WILLIE [Says to explore a couple of blocks away for interesting folks]
[Willie then leaves a paper on the bar and leaves.]
GET PAPER
READ PAPER ["Say MISSILE to open"]
RIP PAPER [We shred it in tiny fragments and eat each one (probably overkill)]
N
W
W
N [Entrance to small shopping mall]
[The mall is a source of amusement. It has four places: a bookstore, a clothing
store, an ice cream shop and a furniture store. We can interact with the people
in each of them, have a fight, let them sell us things, shoot ice cream, and
other shenanigans that have absolutely no bearing on the game. The only place we
need to do something in is the bookstore, however.]
N
E [Bookstore, there is a computer game here]
TAKE COMPUTER GAME [A clerk rudely takes it and kicks us in the knee]
[This is really outrageous, but the clerk has her reasons. If we hesitate a bit,
then she directly goes kung fu on us. Avoiding the fight or defending ourselves
fairly only results in getting our backside badly kicked. The situation calls
for going about it the dirty, rough way.]
TRIP CLERK [She falls to the ground; KICK CLERK also gets results]
[After a second, the game says that we pin the clerk to the floor, tie her up,
and hide her behind the sci-fi rack. Normally violence should not be condoned,
but she started it.]
TAKE COMPUTER GAME
QUESTION CLERK [We ask why is this game so valuable; she says nothing]
[We have nothing else to do here that advances the plot, so we go elsewhere.]
W
S
S
E
E
E
E [Caesar's Palace]
[This is a casino, and the Fat Man, clearly a mob boss, is here. We can QUESTION
him, but he will say something significant only if we have the computer game
with us. We can actually PLAY BACCARAT if we have a casino chip with us, which
we can find by EXAMINing the racks in the clothing store, but that is irrelevant
so I have skipped it.]
QUESTION FAT MAN [He says you and he can help each other and asks to follow]
[Only at this time we can go through the door E of here, which is the reason why
we had to entice the Fat Man to open it.]
FOLLOW FAT MAN [To the parking lot, where he has a Mercedes waiting for us]
[If we GET INTO MERCEDES, we will be taken to the desert then dropped off
unceremoniously at the Desert Shack, then bid goodbye. So this is a trap, or at
least a prank, as the desert's a maze. We can actually go with the flow and once
at the shack get back by going N, E, N, N, E and we're back at Caesar's Palace,
only the door at the East is now left open. Your choice. I'm declining the offer
and ploughing on instead.]
N [A guardhouse before some closed gates, with an IBM PC in here]
INSERT COMPUTER GAME [A message appears asking for the name of the game to play]
MISSILE [What Willies's paper said; the doors open and we can go N]
N
E [A hangar office with a poster and an armed man]
[If we dawdle here, we will learn the hard way that the man is a terrorist and
that we should have acted first and asked questions later. So we act quickly.]
SHOOT TERRORIST [He goes down, badly wounded]
QUESTION TERRORIST [Manages to gasp "Enter" before dying]
SEARCH TERRORIST [We find a key]
TAKE KEY
RIP POSTER [A panel with a handle appears]
UNLOCK HANDLE [With the key]
[Now SAVE the game, because the next move will trigger a countdown. We need to
finish the game in 90 seconds.]
TURN HANDLE [The wall gives in and falls out, making us tumble to a secret room]
EXAMINE PANEL [Red, green and blue buttons]
PUSH RED BUTTON [Enter code word to stop countdown]
ENTER [This is the code word, as the terrorist kindly indicated]
[That's it, the world is saved. End of game.]
