In this adaptation of JG Ballard's short story The Terminal Beach, you play as Traven, an emaciated man haunted by the deaths of his wife and son. Traven has made his way to Eniwetok, the island where the H-bomb was tested and which he will now slowly explore. Note that despite the bugs, instadeaths, and textdumps, this story is finishable.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the work.
This is a very buggy game/story. It is also, like most adaptations, very linear. To control your path through the story, the author uses two techniques: revealing new exits only when you need them and killing the player-character whenever you fail to do the next thing that the plot requires you to do.
Oh, and some items are just red herrings of death that you can't take or even look at. It's a bit like navigating a mine field.
Shore
You're exhausted. Get away from the sea.
CAUTION: Going too far north or south along the shore is fatal.
> x me. i. e.
The Target Basin
It's now the next day, every time you enter here.
CAUTION: Going southeast from here without drinking first is fatal.
> x water. drink water. se.
Camera Tower
CAUTION: Climbing the ladder is fatal.
> x door. x ladder.
> open door.(Can't.)
> in.(Nope.)
> enter door.(Yes, that works.)
Camera Bunker
There will be more exits here later, but for now, you're restricted to northeast and "enter door".
> ne.
Control Tower
CAUTION: Examining or taking the bicycle wheel is fatal.
CAUTION: Leaving without the magazines is fatal.
> take magazines. sw.
Camera Bunker
Time has passed. You no longer carry the magazines, but the room description has changed to include a photograph and a new eastern exit.
> look.
Actually, the room description is completely gone. You only get that description when you first bring the magazines here.
> x photograph.
> e.
Fused Sand
CAUTION: Examining or taking the broken Coke bottle is fatal.
CAUTION: Leaving without the key is fatal.
> take key. x it. e.
B29 Graveyard
This is confusing. The Superfortresses aren't supposed to be portable and they're also not as empty as they claim.
CAUTION: Going north or west from here at this time is fatal.
BUG: The game fails to check if ration packs were found or on the pallet.
> x superfortresses. x pallet.
> enter superfortresses.(Traven finds the packs.)
> take packs. out. put packs on pallet.
> push pallet west. push pallet west.
Camera Bunker
Huge text dump. More time has passed. New exit to the southeast.
CAUTION: Don't return to the graveyard unless you're pushing the pallet; there's no way out from there otherwise.
> se.
Shacks
CAUTION: Entering the Shower Stalls is fatal.
CAUTION: Leaving without the playlist is fatal.
> enter cafeteria. enter room.
> take playlist.(A glint is seen to the east.)
> e.
Target Lake
You're not supposed to be able to take the mannequins.
> look. x mannequins. w. nw.
Camera Bunker
You'll automatically drop the playlist here. There's a new exit west.
> w.
Outer Blocks
> e.(Still at Outer Blocks.)
> e.(More at Outer Blocks and then you're at...)
Tilting Block
> ne.
Camera Bunker
You're moving your home base from here to the tilting block.
CAUTION: Going to the Tilting Block without the photograph and playlist in your immediate inventory is fatal.
> take photograph. take playlist.
> sw.
Tilting Block
The game doesn't care if the pallet or magazines moved to your new home here.
Time passes. New exit to the southeast.
> se.
Submarine Pens
CAUTION: Examining or taking the pistol in the shack is fatal.
CAUTION: Leaving the metal shack without the rations is fatal.
> enter shack. take rations. out.
CAUTION: Examining or taking the telephone in the office is fatal.
CAUTION: Leaving the office without the charts is fatal.
> enter office. take charts. out.
> nw.
Tilting Block
Bringing both the rations and the charts here triggers the next bit of plot.
> n —or— ne —or— se.
Regardless which way you go, you end up in...
Outer Blocks
You see an airplane head to the south landing field. The northeast exit is new.
CAUTION: Going east or south at this time is fatal.
> ne.
South Landing Field
I don't know how to answer the doctor's questions. You have three chances to explain something significant. Would this make more sense if you had the original story to refer to?
Traven said> ANYTEXT
Traven said> ANYTEXT
Traven said> ANYTEXT
He tells you to return to your hovel. The craft leaves.
CAUTION: Going south from the field at this time is fatal.
> sw. s.
Tilting Block
Now the woman asks "What are you doing here?"
Traven said> ANYTEXT
Traven said> ANYTEXT
Traven said> ANYTEXT
Traven said> ANYTEXT
Traven said> ANYTEXT
The woman advises you to hide from the Navy. You have only a few turns to find a spot.
CAUTION: Being found by the search party is fatal.
You need to go to Target Lake:
> ne. se. e.
Target Lake
> z. z.
> w.(You return to...)
Outer Blocks
Say goodbye to the major target zones. Uh, what? I don't think it matters what you type here.
Goodbye> ANYTEXT(Keep trying for nine turns. Eventually, you'll stop trying to say goodbye.)
CAUTION: Going northeast or east from here at this time is fatal.
> s.
Crevice
CAUTION: Opening the map wallet is fatal.
> take canteen. open it.(You drink.)
> take tin. open it.(You eat.)
A fly arrives. Dr Yasuda talks to you...
TRAVEN: ANYTEXT.(Repeat 7 times. Yasuda tells you to kill that fly!)
CAUTION: Not killing the fly now is fatal.
> kill fly.
Now take the Doctor back to guard your home.
CAUTION: Leaving without pushing the crate is fatal.
> take dr. put dr on crate.
> push crate e.
*** An hour later, when Traven reached the awning by his bunker, he untied the wire cord he had fastened around his waist. He took the chair left for him by Dr Osborne and carried it to a point midway between the bunker and the blocks. Then he tied the body of the Japanese to the chair, arranging the hands so that they rested on the wooden arms giving the moribund figure a posture of calm repose.
This done to his satisfaction, Traven returned to the bunker and squatted under the awning.
As the next days passed into weeks, the dignified figure of the Japanese sat in his chair fifty yards from him, guarding Traven from the blocks. He now had sufficient strength to rouse himself at intervals and forage for food. In the hot sunlight the skin of the Japanese became more and more bleached, and Traven would wake at night and find the sepulchral figure sitting there, arms resting at its sides, in the shadows that crossed the concrete floor. At these moments he would often see his wife and son watching him from the dunes. As time passed they came closer, and he would sometimes find them only a few yards behind him.
Patiently Traven waited for them to speak to him, thinking of the great blocks whose entrance was guarded by the seated figure of the dead archangel, as the waves broke on the distant shore and the burning bombers fell through his dreams. ***
> amusing
Extras
Amusing
Well done, you have survived your twenty seven possible deaths! (for now)
Best wishes
Mike Bonsall
Characters
Traven is the player-character. He's not doing so well.
Traven's dead wife and son (Judith and David) frequently appear in Traven's thoughts and hallucinations.
Dr Osborne treats Traven and asks why he's on the island.
A young woman pilots the aircraft and gives Traven some advice.
A Navy search party searches for Traven.
Dr Yasuda is a corpse, but he talks to Traven regardless.
A fly visits Traven and Dr Yasuda.
Endings
Note that AMUSING claims there's 27 ways to die! I couldn't find quite that many, but here are the ones I found:
A loose connection in the wiring of the phone's capacitor gave Traven a massive shock. As he lay on the dusty floor of the field office, he could see his son and wife as sprites of St Elmo's Fire dancing above the smoking apparatus...
if you examine or take the telephone at the submarine pens.
Exhausted by his encounter, Traven finally collapsed. As he fell he thought he could hear his son singing...
if you go south from the landing field after talking to Dr Osborne there.
Fascinated by the endless false coutours of Dr Yasuda's map, Traven forgot his intense hunger and passed into a final fugue, imagining his family travelling in this impossible topography.
if you open the map wallet in the crevice.
Feeling he had left some key to his existance behind, Traven wandered lost in the blocks. With the last of his strength he lifted his head to the rising moon, thinking he saw the contours of his son's head in the lunar seas...
if you leave the field office at the submarine pens without the mutated chromosome charts.
He became lost in the blocks for the last time, the sweat running down his face like the final caress of his wife.
if you try to go northeast or east from Outer Blocks after you give up saying goodbye to the major target zones.
He was half-way up the ladder before the rusty stanchions pulled free of the rotting concrete. Traven could hear the final cries of his dying son as he plunged to the ground.
if you try to climb the ladder at the camera tower.
Looking backwards at the key he had left lying in the sand, Traven lost his footing and fell heavily, the shard of a Coke bottle severed his femoral artery. His blood staining the sand black, Traven remembered the black beach where he had met his wife and her infinite smile...
if you try to leave Fused Sand without the rusty key.
Over the tang of gun oil in his nostrils, Traven could smell his wife's perfume. Without conscious thought, Traven put the pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger...
if you examine or take the pistol at the submarine pens.
The blank white tiles of the shower stalls stunned Traven's senses. He merged into the angle between two walls, feeling the numinous presence of his dead wife and son...
if you enter the shower stalls at the shacks.
The blast of heat as he emerged from the shack was enough to bring the starving Traven to his knees. Over the sound of the breaking waves he was sure he could hear his wife and son playing in the lagoon...
if you leave the metal shack at the submarine pens without the rations.
The dirty shard sliced deep into the wrist crease of Traven's hand, As he lay bleeding on the thin carapace of thermonuclear glass. The tinkling sound of his wife's laughter reached his ears...
if you examine or take the Coke bottle at fused sand.
The septic toxins released by Traven's leg caused a final epiphany. As he fell to the ground he could hear his dead wife orgasming for the last time...
if you try to go south or east from the Outer Blocks after seeing the airplane.
The shambling derelict figure of Traven inflamed the superstitions of the drunken shore party. As he accepted their blows as his right, he felt them as the last caresses of his dead wife.
if you're found by the search team after the woman advises you to hide from them.
Traven vomited weakly onto the fused sand, in a reflection in his phlegm he thought he could see his son standing behind him...
if you try to leave the B29 graveyard without pushing the packs on the pallet.
Traven's level of dehydration reached a peak, as his cortex began to shut down, he could feel the touch of his wife's hand on his cheek...
if you try to leave the target basin without ever drinking any water first.
Trying to define the abstract essence of his relationship with this strange mandala, Traven forgot his quest entirely and slowly passed into a coma, only too late hearing the tapping walk of his wife approaching...
if you examine or take the bicycle wheel in the control tower.
Unable to fathom the quantal significance of the list of records in the juke-box, Traven entered his final fugue, shimmering just beyond his vision his son played in the endless afternoon...
if you leave the shacks without the playlist.
Unable to imagine an existence in this damp apocalyptic hovel, Traven rocked in the corner, his final whimpers reminding him of his son's last moments....
if you leave the control tower without the magazines.
Unable to kill the fly, Traven knew he could not carry on, as he blacked out he could hear his son singing in tune to the buzzing of the fly
if you don't kill the fly when Dr Yasuda tells you to.
Unable to withstand the drumming of the waves any longer, Traven walked slowly into the sea, towards the wraiths of his dead wife and son who seemed to beckon from the reef...
if you try to go too far north or too far south when further along the shore.
Without his wise companion Traven lost his way for the last time. He could feel his wife's embrace as he fell to the sand...
if you leave the crevice without pushing Dr Yasuda on the crate with you.
without the photograph of the young girl and the playlist, his final links with humanity, Traven finally lost touch with the quantal world. He could sense somewhere within him his wife's smile
if you go to the tilting block without both the photograph and playlist in your immediate possession.
The winning ending:
An hour later, when Traven reached the awning by his bunker, he untied the wire cord he had fastened around his waist. He took the chair left for him by Dr Osborne and carried it to a point midway between the bunker and the blocks. Then he tied the body of the Japanese to the chair, arranging the hands so that they rested on the wooden arms giving the moribund figure a posture of calm repose.
This done to his satisfaction, Traven returned to the bunker and squatted under the awning.
As the next days passed into weeks, the dignified figure of the Japanese sat in his chair fifty yards from him, guarding Traven from the blocks. He now had sufficient strength to rouse himself at intervals and forage for food. In the hot sunlight the skin of the Japanese became more and more bleached, and Traven would wake at night and find the sepulchral figure sitting there, arms resting at its sides, in the shadows that crossed the concrete floor. At these moments he would often see his wife and son watching him from the dunes. As time passed they came closer, and he would sometimes find them only a few yards behind him.
Patiently Traven waited for them to speak to him, thinking of the great blocks whose entrance was guarded by the seated figure of the dead archangel, as the waves broke on the distant shore and the burning bombers fell through his dreams.
when you take Dr Yasuda back to your bunker.
Inventory
a pile of old magazines. They're at Control Tower. Take them to Camera Bunker.
a photograph of a young girl. Found by taking the magazines back to the Bunker; look there afterwards. Later, when Traven is moving from the bunker to the tilting block, make sure he has both the photograph and the playlist.
a Rusty Key. It's at Fused Sand. Take it and hold onto it. It's mentioned later in the story during your initial explorations of the Outer Blocks.
some ration packs. It's inside the superfortresses at B29 Graveyard; enter the superfortresses to find them. Put the packs on the broken pallet and push the pallet west twice to get them back to the bunker.
a Playlist. It's inside the jukebox at Shacks. Take it, then visit Target Lake. Take it back to Camera Bunker. Later, when Traven is moving from the bunker to the tilting block, make sure he has both the photograph and the playlist.
some Rations. It's inside the Metal Shack at Submarine Pens. Take it back to Tilting Block.
Mutated Chromosome Charts. They're inside the Field Office at Submarine Pens. Take them back to Tilting Block.
a map wallet. It's at Crevice. Leave it alone and definitely don't open it.
a canteen of water. It's at Crevice. Open it to drink its contents.
a small mess tin. It's at Crevice. Open it to eat its contents.
Dr Yasuda. His corpse is at Crevice. After killing the fly, take Yasuda, put him on the crate lid and push the lid east to Tilting Block.
Also, thanks to some buggy coding, there's several things you can pick up that you shouldn't be able to:
a pool of brackish water. It's in The Target Basin.
some Superfortresses. They're in the B29 Graveyard.
acollection of melted mannequins. They're at Target Lake.
Metal Shack and Field Office. They're at the Submarine Pens.
The Cafeteria, A Recreation Room, The Shower Stalls, and Wrecked Juke Box. They're at Shacks.