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Key & Compass presents:
Balances
by Graham Nelson

Balances is a Z-machine text adventure game written with Inform 6 and is © 1994, 1995, 1996 by Graham Nelson. It was created as a worked example for the Inform 6 programming language and released with its source code.

In this example game set in the world of Zork, you play as the enchanter protagonist of the Enchanter Trilogy. You don't remember how you arrived in this ramshackle hut, but it has something to do with Helistar and how the world is off balance because of the Great Change.

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 5 of the game.


Map

InsideCave GorseBushes CrowdedBazaar CaveMouth BalanceRoom Crestof Hill Track,outsideTemple Edge ofChasm PocketValley Grass-lands,near Hut Ram-shackleHut Boneyard sit oncarpet frotz temple ride horse n (die fromanywhere) sit oncarpet jump /bozbar snake

Walkthrough

Ramshackle Hut

> i. x book. x coin. x burin.

> how do spells work. spells.

> who is Helistar. what was the Great Change.

> x furniture. (+5)

> x box. open it. (It's locked.)

> learn rezrov. rezrov box.

> take grimoire. x it.

Give yourself some life insurance:

> learn mortin. learn lleps. lleps mortin. mortin.

Let's explore:

> w. n.

Pocket Valley

> x horse. x oats. (+5)

> x scroll. gnusto scroll.

> learn bozbar. bozbar horse.

> ride horse.

Edge of Chasm

> x snake. x cube.

> learn yomin. yomin snake.

> jump.

Because of your reversed-mortin, you are resurrected at...

Boneyard

Unfortunately, you only have your spell book here.

> take scroll. x it. gnusto scroll. n.

Grasslands, near Hut

> n. ride horse.

Edge of Chasm

> take all but snake and cube.

> learn mortin. learn lleps. lleps mortin. mortin.

> learn filfre. filfre. (+1)

> n.

Crest of Hill

> x tortoise. learn yomin. yomin tortoise.

> learn bozbar. bozbar tortoise. (+5)

> look. take scroll. x it.

> nw.

Cave Mouth

> x sapphire. spells. x caskly.

> caskly scroll. (+5)

> x scroll. gnusto scroll.

> x door. n.

Gorse Bushes

> x carpet. take it. s.

Cave Mouth

> learn rezrov. rezrov door. w.

Darkness

> learn frotz. frotz coin.

Inside Cave

> x cube. x crumpled.

> take cube. (+5) write cave on cube.

> take crumpled. gnusto crumpled.

> e. (You can't leave while the pans are unbalanced.)

> take gold coin from right pan.

> take bronze coin from left pan.

> e. (You can't take coins from the cave.)

It seems a silver coin weighs the same as a gold coin.

> put gold coin on right. put silver coin on left.

> e. se. s.

Edge of Chasm

> learn urbzig. urbzig snake. (The snake turns into daffodils.)

> take cube. (+5)

> write chasm on featureless cube.

> drop on carpet. sit on carpet.

You fly to...

Crowded Bazaar

> stand. sit on carpet.

Crest of Hill

> stand. take carpet.

> e.

Track, outside Temple

> x temple. listen.

> learn lobal. lobal me. listen.

The monks are telling the legend of The Four-Cubed One.

At a random time, a tortoise-feather will fall.

> take feather. x it.

> w. nw. w.

Inside Cave

> take silver. put bronze on left. put feather on left.

The scales are now balanced.

> e. se.

Crest of Hill

> drop carpet. sit on carpet.

Crowded Bazaar

> stand. take carpet. x barker. x board.

> learn yomin. (He interrupts you!)

> drop carpet. sit on carpet.

Crest of Hill

> learn yomin. learn yomin. learn yomin.

> stand. sit on carpet.

Crowded Bazaar

The winning tickets aren't randomized in this game.

> stand. give silver to barker.

> yomin barker. (The barker thinks of a number.)

> take ticket 2306. x it.

> yomin barker. (The barker thinks of another number.)

> take ticket 5802. x it.

> give ticket 2306 to barker. (You get the elephant.)

> give ticket 5802 to barker. (+5. You get the cube.)

> x elephant. write prize on featureless.

> sit on carpet.

Crest of Hill

> stand. take carpet.

Time for some lateral thinking:

> learn urbzig. learn lleps.

> lleps urbzig. drop toy. urbzig toy.

The toy elephant becomes a cyclops!

> learn urbzig. urbzig mace.

The mace becomes a cube! The cyclops runs away.

> take cube. (+5)

> write mace on featureless.

> e.

Track, outside Temple

Remember the monks said "enlighten their order"?

> learn frotz. frotz temple. (+5)

Balance Room

> x podium. clean it. x socket. (You learn how to specify a socket.)

The cubes must be placed into their proper sockets:

> x bottom left socket. put chasm cube in it.

> x bottom right socket. put cave cube in it.

> x top left socket. put prize cube in it.

> x top right socket. put mace cube in it. (+5)

*** You have won ***


Extras

Characters

Only heard:

Mentioned:


Endings

Note that all events that normally kill you can instead resurrect you in the Boneyard if you previously cast reverse-mortin on yourself.

Note that it's also possible to lock yourself out of victory in several ways, including:


Inventory


Score

You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 51, in several turns, earning you the rank of ranking.

Rankings:


Spells


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