WINTER WONDERLAND /by Incentive Software/
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Note from Simon Lipscomb, co-author:
I see you have the garbled history of Winter Wonderland on your site
that seems to get passed around with the solution! It was in fact
written by myself and Tim Walsha, and published by Incentive Software in
1986 (*not U.S. Gold!). Incentive published a few Graphic Adventure
Creator games in a "Gold Medal" range, which may have confused the
original author of the intro.
It was in fact the first GAC adventure ever written, although Apache
Gold was published slightly ahead of ours because the artwork took
longer to come through. We wrote it on a pre-production copy of the GAC
after wandering into the Incentive offices (at that time in Reading) and
chatting with Ian Andrew (the boss) and Sean Ellis (the programmer).
The original version was released for the Amstrad CPC, as was the GAC.
When the GAC was converted to other formats we ported the game across to
Spectrum, C64 and BBC Micro. Actually, the BBC version is slightly
better since we had to re-program it due to there being less memory, and
so eliminated some of less effective parts (like the fact that you can
wear about 5 types of footwear simultaneously in the other versions).
We also wrote the Amstrad conversion of Mountains of Ket via GAC, for
which we had to encode the combat system making weird use of rooms and
variables.
As to the question stated below: "What the hell is a wompa?" Well, any
Star Wars fan will be familiar with the Wampa Ice Creature
http://www.starwars.com/databank/creature/wampa/index.html
but it was also the nickname of a friend of ours at school, who garnered
the moniker by dint of a tendency towards misjudging the length of his
arms (in teenage growth spurt fashion) and a resultant destructive
clumsiness (which is why the wampa in the game trips over its hands when
chasing the hamster). Childish pranks!
--
This game depends of some random elements, but they don't influence the progress
of the game. So, the solution is strictly deterministic, e.g. it is possible to
give exact step by step solution.
Solution:
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TAKE COAT (a protection against the cold), TAKE SNOWSHOES, N, TAKE GUN, W, W,
W, FIRE GUN (to kill the bear), DROP GUN, W, W, S, S, EXAMINE POT-HOLER, TAKE
ROPE, TAKE PICK, U, N, N, DIG SNOWDRIFT (to release a way to north), N, N, W,
TAKE ICICLE, E, CLIMB WALL (using the ice pick), TAKE EGG, EXAMINE EGG, D, N,
DROP COAT (it is warmer here), DROP SNOWSHOES, DROP PICK, W, N, DROP ICICLE
(you must not bring the icicle into the closed space, because it will melt, but
you will need it later), W (in the hotel; the receptionist will give you a key
of your room), N, N, N, W (your room; a key is needed for entering), TAKE
CLEANER, E, DROP KEY, S, GIVE CLEANER TO MRS THOMPSON (she is the daily; she
will give to you a soap), N, N, TAKE FLUID, S, S, S, S, TAKE MASTER KEY (no
chance - it is tied to the chain), PRESS KEY INTO SOAP, EXAMINE SOAP (yes, it
now has the imprint of a key in it!), E, TAKE ICICLE, E, N, N, POUR FLUID (to
release a ski pass embedded in the ice; you now have a ski pass), E, N, N, DROP
ROPE, DROP ICICLE (you will need them later), W, N, N, W (in the locksmiths;
the shopkeeper will make a forged key based on the imprint in the soap without
charge, because you are his first customer), E, S, S, E, S, S, W, S, S, W, W,
N, W (you have a copy of the master key, so you can now enter in the every
hotel room), TAKE CASH CARD, EXAMINE CARD (he he, 100 credits, but this is not
too many), E, DROP FORGED KEY, S, E, E, N, N, E, N, N, N, SELL EGG (to the
professor of ornithology), EXAMINE CARD (yet another 50 credits on your cash
card), S, W, N, N, N, N, E, BUY BOOK (not strictly needed, but reading it will
give you a hint how to pass the wompa), READ BOOK, DROP BOOK, W, N, W, BUY
FOOD, E, E, BUY HAMSTER, W (if you don't have a food, the hamster will escape
from you on this location), S, E, BUY PEN, W, S, S, E, S, S, W, S, S, E, S, E,
N, BUY SKIS, BUY BOOTS, S, E (on the ski lift; you have skis, ski-boots and ski
pass, so the ski lift will take you to the top of the hill), E (again in the
bottom, but on the other side of the hill), DROP SKIS, DROP BOOTS, N, DROP
HAMSTER (to fool the wompa; do you remember a hint from the book?), S, E, N, E,
N, N, N (in the bank; you will get another 100 credits), S, E, BUY TICKET, W,
S, W, BUY MAGAZINE, EXAMINE MAGAZINE (a form is in it), RIP MAGAZINE (to rip
out the form), EXAMINE FORM (you will get detailed instructions what to do with
it), FILL FORM (with the pen), DROP PEN, E, N, W, BUY STAMP, AFFIX STAMP ON
FORM, E, S, E, BUY FALSE BEARD, EXAMINE FALSE BEARD (it makes you look ten
years older), W, S, W, S, GIVE FORM TO POSTMAN, W, N, N, N (a ticked is needed
for entering the monorail), W, S, W, N, N, N, N, E, BUY MANUAL, READ MANUAL
(this is important), DROP MANUAL, W, W, BUY GLU, E, S, E (if you have not a
false beard, the shopkeeper will tell that you are underage, and push you out
of shop), BUY DRINK, W, DROP FALSE BEARD, W, BUY ROSES, E, N, N, S, S, S, E,
DROP GLU (you will need it later), TAKE ROPE, TAKE ICICLE, N, U, N, S, S, E, N,
E, E, E, E, N, N, PLANT ROSE, GET POLLEN, S, E, DROP ROPE, DROP ICICLE, DROP
DRINK (you will need all of them just here later), W, S, W, W, W, W, W, S, W,
N, N, N, W, S, E, BUY SKATES, DROP CARD (you will not need it more), W, TAKE
GLU, W, S (here is a thin ice; any moving without skates is extremely
dangerous), E, GIVE POLLEN TO BEE (else you will be attacked), TAKE BANANA, EAT
BANANA (to get a banana peel), S, DROP SKATES, W, S, S, W, W, N, N, N, DROP
TICKET, TAKE KEY, W (you will see a parcel for you - do you remember a form?),
OPEN PARCEL, LOOK (a hang-glider kit), MAKE KIT (using a glu; this is possible
only if you read the manual earlier), DROP GLU, TAKE GLIDER, E, DROP KEY, TAKE
TICKET, S, S, S, E, E, N, N, E, N, N, N, U, N, DROP TICKET, S, S, E, N, E, E,
S, TAKE MALLET (householder will not let you to take the mallet), DROP BANANA
PEEL (he, he), TAKE MALLET, N, E, E, E, N, E, DROP GLIDER, TAKE ICICLE, HAMMER
ICICLE INTO GROUND, DROP MALLET, TAKE ROPE, TIE ROPE TO ICICLE, TAKE GLIDER,
TAKE DRINK, D (using the tied rope), N, POUR DRINK ON GROUND (to release a path
to the north), N, N, N, W, FLY DOWN (using the glider; this is the end of the
game, with maximal score of 100%).
Yes, this is the end, but it is very obscure for me why this is the end! In my
opinion, the game stops without a clear finnish (I don't understand why I must
escape from the winter touristic centre with the glider, and so on). And the
aim of the game is also obscure for me...
Hints:
------
- Type TEXT to turn picture drawing off, and GRAPHICS to turn picture drawing
on again. Also, this game recognizes verb SCORE, so you may be informed about
the progress of the game.
- The inventory in the game is very limited (but realistic), so you must plan
carefully what you must to have with you at the moment. I spent a lot of time
for such planing, so I believe that given solution is the shortest solution
which follows the logical flow of events in the game.
- There is one ugly trap in the game. Instead of selling the egg to the
professor, you can simply GIVE the egg to the professor. He will accept it,
but you will not get any money for it (because the professor will think that
this is a present). As a consequence, you will not have enough money to
finish the game!
- From time to time the game will inform you about some unpleasant events like
"You sneeze violently" or "A kid throws a snowball at you". Don't worry
about
it, this is absolutely harmless!
- Buying book and reading it is not necessary (you will save 15 credits by
avoiding buying it), but a hint from the book is very useful to solving
problems with wompa. By the way, what the hell is wompa??? (sorry, english is
not my native language)...
- There is no money to buy absolutely all items in the game (there is a lack of
12 credits), so one item must retain in the shop. Instead of buying book, you
can buy scissors. What is usage of them? Instead of ripping a newspaper to
rip out a form from it, you can CUT MAGAZINE with scissors to produce the
same result. Although this method is less barbaric than ripping the magazine,
and harder (because the scissors are needed for it), this method scores less
points, so using this you will finish the game with a score of 96%. I believe
that this is a (harmless) bug...
Comment:
--------
Interesting game in my opinion (although the aim of the game is not clear for
me), and not so hard to solve. However, there is one very hard puzzle in the
game (pressing the master key in the soap to get an imprint of it), and one
ugly trap (giving the egg to the professor, see the hints above). It is a pity
that without solving this hard puzzle you can not pass more than 20% of game
(you can not pick the credit card without the master key, so you can not buy
anything etc.). Everything else is easy, and can be concluded from the events
in the game. Also, the vocabulary is usual (except maybe HAMMER ICICLE, but the
game will accept many other constructions like BREAK ICICLE, HIT ICICLE at this
place, although this is not an equivalent to verb HAMMER). One boring feature
is maybe a limited inventory, but this is realistic (you can not have with you
a big glider together with 20 other items). The game is written in GAC. There
are lot of locations, but the number of pictures is small (some of them are
identical or very similar). The parser is mainly two-word parser. There is just
one situation where more than two word is needed (PRESS KEY INTO SOAP).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game solution by Zeljko Juric
If something is not clear, ask me using E-mail:
zjuric@utic.net.ba
Or, if this address is outdated, search for E-mail at my home page:
http://www.void.demon.nl/warajevo/index.html
Solution v1.1
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Displayed on the Classic Adventures Solution Archive:
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