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Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 10:47 pm
by terri
Yup, I do post a lot. And I can be dogged and persistent. But I think I lack "je ne quoi ca" - that bit of something, related to creativity, I think. That's s OK - that's why this forum exists.

I think our best collaborative effort was in the game whose name I can't remember (what does this tell you?). Maybe it was Peneless. Everybody offered something there. Good game in retrospect, but frustrating during it.

Would you believe that I didn't write down where I found the boat-like object?

I may try again, from the beginning. I think the ultra-sonic device is needed, so I'll keep that.

Did you do anything in the tube? Saying the magic word got me to the cable room, but is there any other way out? It's a shame to use the word in a location where there is nothing to find.

Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2009 11:30 pm
by Alastair
terri wrote:Yup, I do post a lot. And I can be dogged and persistent. But I think I lack "je ne quoi ca" - that bit of something, related to creativity, I think. That's s OK - that's why this forum exists.
I meant contributions appearing on this page - http://solutionarchive.com/ - not the forum.
terri wrote:Would you believe that I didn't write down where I found the boat-like object?

I may try again, from the beginning. I think the ultra-sonic device is needed, so I'll keep that.
It's near the start, west of the location that is "Next to a Large Body of Water" and yes you will need the sonic device
terri wrote:Did you do anything in the tube? Saying the magic word got me to the cable room, but is there any other way out? It's a shame to use the word in a location where there is nothing to find.
Which tube? In the "Brilliantly Lit White Room" you can GO TRAIN (or perhaps it's GO TUBE, GO T something at any rate) to take you elsewhere (keep going west from this new location and you will arrive at the aforementioned location with the steel door). Or, if you mean the platform with the wait sign then just WAIT and you should see a key segment, I think the only way to then leave is with the magic word.

The "Room Full of Cables" is part of the matter transfer machine complex, I have been unable to access this complex except via the magic word.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 1:53 am
by terri
I have been starting from the begining. I've been thinking. While this game is tricky, and it has its random elements, there appears to be some logic to this. For example, at the beginning (once I havefound it, of course, and a few objects), I've used the magic word, and all it gets me is to go to a location where I have already been. Either this is a masterfully written game, or it is complety random. One starts to wonder.

Anyway this is just an FYI. I'll post again it I get somewhere where I've never been before (isn't there a song about this.)

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 10:17 pm
by terri
Games like this is why most adventurers are bald - they pull their hair out.

Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:05 pm
by Alastair
I'm wondering if it is a bug that is preventing me from picking up the Key10 segment, there certainly are other bugs in the game (such as the ability to pick up an object that is in a different location to yourself).

I'll have a look through the code, which will be an adventure in itself, to see if I can find anything.

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 2:27 am
by terri
Tyopng in the magic word gives so many options in certain venues. I am no farther ahead than I was before. Apparently when you use the hexagon object, you do not automatcally drop it.

Seems to me that with all these random elements, the authors may have sometimes boxed themselves into a corner. How DO you [program for random moves??? In several locations??? Or maybe, once you program them, there is a way to fix whatever you haven't before???

Of course, I am still stuck. In a forest I type the magic word and find myself in a long corridor. Typing the magic word once again, I am back in the animal enclosure. Then, I suppose, we can continue, but unless we have objects we need, and can figure out how to use them, this is a vicious loop.

We may need Doreen's tenacity to figure this out, as the random elements are getting to me.

Time to do other things...

Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2009 4:13 pm
by Alastair
As far as I can tell the only random part in this game is when you use the magic word. There is a 50% chance that you will be transported, and if transported there is equal probability of being sent to one of fifty-seven locations (there are eighty-five locations in total). I've found that the best way to handle this is to map out the game and avoid using the magic word until you wish to reach an otherwise unreachable area, then keep using the word until you reach a location in that area.

The code's a bit messy but I may have found what is preventing me from picking up the Key10 segment, I'll need to test it a bit more. What I have found in the code is another exit, if you are carrying the rope then you can CLIMB from "End of a Passage Way" to "Beside an Ancient City" this is a one-way path, and as far as I can see there are no clues in the game to alert you to this possibility.

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:09 am
by terri
Having played from the beginning, I am no further ahead. I only have 7 keys, (4, 5, 11, 7, 3, 8) and of course the 10th which I cannot get.

Typing the magic word gets me nowhere I haven't been to, and I eventually get back into the airtight room where I drown.

Any hints about where to get the other keys?

Many objects here I don't know what to do with, and even if they are uncessary.

Shouldn't there be a desert we need to visit?

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:10 pm
by Alastair
I would give decent hints if I could think some up, instead I've resorted to the "highlight to reveal method."

Key 2 - find where there is a hole shaped like an octagon and > DROP OCTAGON. <

Key 6 - find the location that leads to off to a room and > GO IN, to leave GO OUT. <

Key 9 - find the location that contains a locked control cabinet that needs an ultra-sonic key, > you are supposed to press a button on the ultra-sonic gun but another bug allows you to PRESS BUTTON even when you don't have the gun. <

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2009 11:28 pm
by terri
Thanks, I'll see how far I can get.

I should have mentioned that I got 8 and 2 also. I though I had typed that.

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 12:07 am
by terri
Funny how easy things are whehn you know the answer :thumb:

Any luck in determining how to get key 10?

message from deep space

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 7:50 pm
by Doreen B
HI - I'M BACK !!!

Seems you have all been having fun trying to solve this advent.

I couldn't wait to get back on line to see some results - and you have certainly not let me down.

OK - from reading the past posts I have now been able to get most of the keys APART from the key10 which everyone else seems to be having problems with, and KEY1 - where is this one?
I have got the rare gem.

I am begining to think there may be a bug regarding key10

unless someone knows different..

Re: message from deep space

Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2009 8:56 pm
by Alastair
Doreen B wrote:HI - I'M BACK !!!
Welcome back, hope you had a good time.
Doreen B wrote:OK - from reading the past posts I have now been able to get most of the keys APART from the key10 which everyone else seems to be having problems with, and KEY1 - where is this one?
I have got the rare gem.
There is no Key1, perhaps the gem takes its place.
Doreen B wrote:I am begining to think there may be a bug regarding key10

unless someone knows different..
I'm almost certain that it is a bug, I've yet to add a line that would correct it (and if I did you would have to start again from the beginning) but if you press "break" twice (the ESC key on this emulator) then type in the following

Code: Select all

at=1
cont
then type in LOOK, INV, or something similar to restore the game screen, you will now be able to GET Key10. Although not necessary with this fix, in the spirit of the game you should be holding the pentagon before attempting to take Key10.

The explanation.
When you try to pick up key10 the game checks to see if at=1. However there is nothing in the code that sets flag "at" to 1, but there is code to set flag "at" to zero when you drop the pentagon. Thus I believe that when you pick up the pentagon the flag "at" is supposed to be set to 1.

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 12:13 am
by terri
I'm glad Doreen, that you didn't mind that we played without you. Somehow I didn't think we would solve it before you came back.

Maybe a slip of someone's finger, Alastair, to type 1, instead of 0 (though they are on different sides of the row (unless you are using a numberpad).

Could have been a lot worse frustration.

So, does one write a partial solution (with the bug in it?).

Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2009 10:03 pm
by Alastair
terri wrote:I'm glad Doreen, that you didn't mind that we played without you. Somehow I didn't think we would solve it before you came back.

Maybe a slip of someone's finger, Alastair, to type 1, instead of 0 (though they are on different sides of the row (unless you are using a numberpad).

Could have been a lot worse frustration.

So, does one write a partial solution (with the bug in it?).
It's not a slip, the author forgot to add a line telling the game to change the value of "at" when the player picks up the pentagon. There are so many other bugs in the game I wonder if this game was ever released, and if so is the version available at NVG the release version.

Back to the solution, I've written it up and included instructions on how to patch the game [1], and have sent it to Jacob.


[1] If you are interested, from the Amstrad command prompt type:

Code: Select all

load "message"
631 if r=40 then at=1
run