The Bryant Collection is a Z-machine work of interactive fiction written with Inform 7 and is © 2009 by Gregory Weir. Amusingly, the work was released on April 1st, 2009.
In 2008, the author bought a strongbox at a yard sale. The box contained handwritten descriptions of storyworlds by Laura Bryant, a woman who somehow invented interactive fiction without ever using a computer. Fascinated, the author has transcribed five of these stories to Inform so you can explore and enjoy them as well. The stories are called "The End of the World", "Morning in the Garden", "The Tower of Hanoi", "Going Home Again", and "Undelivered Love Letter".
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the work.
Yard Sale
> x me. i. (You're the author, carrying nothing.)
> x tables. x house. x owners.
> x cassettes. x computer. x lamps. x games. x fan.
> x strongbox. buy it.
The game's banner text is finally displayed.
Living Room
Note that the RETURN command always ends the current story and returns you here to the living room.
> x clutter. x pile.
> read wrinkled sheet. (Last page of a restaurant story.)
> x toy. x box. look in box.
Living Room
> x memo book. take it. yes.
Hillside
Do anything you like in this story. You can't escape the inevitable.
> x me. x lunch. open lunch.
> x sandwich. eat sandwich. x sky.
> x apple. eat apple. x city.
> x cookie. eat cookie. x lines.
> x chips. open chips. x potato chips.
> eat them. shield eyes. x city. eat potato chips.
> x sky. x woods. x fields. x hole.
The world ends.
Living Room
> x composition. take it. yes.
Beside the Tree
Answer the serpent however you like. This story ends when you either leave or take the fruit.
> x serpent. x me. (You're Woman.)
> yes. x scales. yes. yes. no.
He asks if you're feeling hungry.
> no. x bird. sing. (Serpent asks about the Gardener.)
> yes. (He argues that Gardener chose to make them inferior and asks if that seems right.)
> out.
This story ends.
Living Room
> x sketchbook. take it. yes.
Purple Room
Your goal in this story is to obtain that jewel in the cage.
> x star. x stand. x lens. (Has engraving of a keyhole.)
> x cage.
> x window. (Bit small to climb through) x spires.
> x hole. x stairs. x column.
> d.
Blue Room
> x mirror. x window. x archway.
> out. (Not safe. The green roof looks slippery.)
> d. (You drop into...)
Green Room
> x lenses. x bridge. x round hole. x square hole.
> d.
Yellow Room
> x device. (hopper with balls, gauge, lever)
> x balls. x gauge. x lever. x mirror.
> x archway. out. (Not safe. Orange roof is slippery.)
> d.
Orange Room
Not much to see here.
> x window. x archway.
> d.
Red Room
> x machine. x lamp. x window. x archway.
> out.
Outside the Tower
> x crane. x shed. go shed.
Inside the Tin Shed
> x rules. x instructions.
> x toy. x purple. x blue. x green.
> x yellow. x orange. x red.
Try a P-B, Y-R, G-O arrangement, and use the cannon against the case:
> take all disk.
> put blue on left. put purple on left.
> put red on middle. put yellow on middle.
> put orange on right. put green on right.
> pull lever. out.
> go orange. u. out.
Yellow Room
> x window. x gauge. pull lever.
> x window. (The case is shattered.)
> out. down. out. go shed.
Inside the Tin Shed
Now try P-O-R, B-G-Y, to get the light to hit the keyhole.
> take all disk.
> put red on left. put orange on left. put purple on left.
> put yellow on middle. put green on middle. put blue on middle.
> pull lever. out.
> go yellow. u. out. u.
Purple Room (in the large cage)
The light beam hits the lens.
> take jewel. (Success!)
Living Room
> x packet. take packet. yes.
Laundry Room
All you need to do in this story is drop off your suitcase in your old room, then go back to your parents who are waiting in the car. Looking at everything is optional, but it's also the point?
> x me. i. x suitcase.
> x lines. (Your childhood height measurements.)
> go kitchen.
Kitchen
> x fridge. x certificates. x newsletters.
> go family room.
Family Room
> x desk. x television. x couch. x windows.
> x recent chair. x old chair. x front door.
> go hallway.
Hallway
> x drawing. x closet. x afghans.
> go your room.
Your Old Bedroom
> x bed. look under bed. x carpet.
> x wallpaper. x paint. x things.
> drop suitcase.
> out. go bathroom.
Hall Bathroom
> x decoration. x toilet. x fuzzy. x shower.
> out. go master.
Master Bedroom
> x bed. x bookcase. x books.
> x decorations. x painted. x photo. x barn.
> out. go family. go kitchen. go laundry. out.
You rejoin your parents in the car.
Living Room
> take envelope. yes.
Terminal
All you can do in this story is examine things and talk to X. You'll board the plane on schedule; there's no way to change that.
> x me. i. x bag. (She returns and sits beside you.)
> x X. x hair.
> ask X about herself. ask X about me. x hand.
> x pass. x clock. (It's 5:50. Flight begins boarding at 6:00.)
> ask X about future. ask X about past. ask x about food.
> ask X about parents. x eyes. x nose. x scarf.
> x clock. tell X about goodbye. hug X.
It should now be 6:00. A line of passengers forms. You can't enter the line until then.
> x line. enter line. x rope. x bag. x agent.
You head for your plane.
Living Room
Reaching an ending in all five storyworlds doesn't trigger any ending to the framing story. Replay the storyworlds if you want to, but eventually, you'll just:
> quit.
In the framing story:
In The End of the World:
In Morning in the Garden:
In Going Home Again:
In Undelivered Love Letter:
Gregory Weir is a writer, game developer, and software programmer. He is best known for his Flash game, "(I Fell in Love With) The Majesty of Colors." His previous Interactive Fiction works include the perpetually-in-progress Jabberwocky, winner of the 2004 IntroComp, and the horror work Snatches. He currently writes for GameSetWatch and maintains a blog and podcast called Ludus Novus, found at http://ludusnovus.net .
Thanks to my testers: Melissa Avery, Matt Weiner, Johan O, Michelle Hellemons, and DJ Hastings.
Thanks to my parents, without whom I could never come home again, and to Xenia Kramida, without whom I would never have had a love letter to deliver.
Thanks to Graham Nelson and Emily Short for their work on Inform 7, and to Infocom for their creation of the Z-machine.
Most of all, thanks go to Laura Bryant. Somehow, I feel as if I know her, even though I know that is impossible.
In the framing story:
In Morning in the Garden:
In The Tower of Hanoi story, all six disks are inside the tin shed, on the left post of the toy. Follow the rules and instructions in the shed when rearranging the disks on the toy's three posts. When you pull the lever, if the arrangement is valid, the corresponding rooms outside will be likewise rearranged. See Map 3 and Map 4 for the useful configurations.
In Going Home Again:
In Undelivered Love Letter:
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