Chlorophyll is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2015 by Steph Cherrywell. It was entered in ParserComp 2015 where it won Best Writing, Best Story, Best Use of Theme ("Sunrise"), and Best Overall. It also took 2nd place for Best Puzzles and 3rd place for Best Technical.
You play as Zo, a normal Xyloid (plant) girl at that awkward stage of metamorphosis. You and your mom recently arrived on T-848 and now you're heading in a Planet Roller to your new home at Olobo station under a harsh black sky. You're almost there when all the power suddenly dies—in both the car and in your solar vests! Your mother succumbs to torpor immediately, but you manage to reach the station's sunlock in time. Now what?
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
The Backseat
This location is pure prologue. You can do whatever you like for six turns.
> x mom. x roller. x trees. x formations. x sky. x moonlets.
Suddenly, the planet roller and your solar vests lose all power. Your mom succumbs to torpor; you reach the sunlock of the station.
Sunlock
As a walking plant, you'll need nourishing light on a regular basis. You can venture briefly into poorly-lit areas for a while, but whenever you become sluggish, you must return to where there's edible light. This is fairly similar to a normal human exploring underwater areas and needing to resurface for air.
> x me. i. x vest. x plaque. read it.
Your first puzzle: restore sunlight to the promenade.
> say lights on. (Unfortunately, your voice isn't authorized to give that command.)
> x window. x roller. x bulkhead door. x heavy door.
> n. e.
Hedge Your Bets
Note that the prerecorded message ends with "lights on", the same phrase needed in the sunlock.
> x unit. x mirror. w. n. w.
Lil' Sprouts
> take tota. e. s. s.
Sunlock
Let's soak up more sun.
> x tota. (Black button records; white button plays.)
> n.
Bolo Buy Lower Promenade
> push black button. e.
Hedge Your Bets
The toy records Mola Sa's voice message.
> w. s.
Sunlock
> push white button. drop tota.
You've turned on the sunlight in the promenade and all the shops are now open too, so let's explore them next.
> n. e.
Hedge Your Bets
This shop is a topiarist's. It's a beauty salon, but for plants.
> x mirror. x Tip Top.
> ask tip about leafstyles. ("You can go buzzed, draped, or pop star.")
Feel free to change your leafstyle as much as your like, it's completely up to you. This isn't a puzzle thing; it's an opportunity for Zo to express herself. How does she want to see herself at this stage of life?
> ask tip about buzzed. ask tip about draped. ask tip about pop star.
> ask tip about station. ask tip about tip top. ask tip about mola sa.
> w. w.
Raindrops
> x bottle. x planet. take bottle.
> take certificate. read it.
> x bar. x taps. (We'll look more at the taps later.)
> e. n. w.
Lil' Sprouts
The damage to the toyshop is a bit ominous.
> x case. x toys. x gashes. e. e.
Everything's One Credit
You don't need anything from here.
> x bin. x carapace. x figure. x book. read book.
> w. n.
Ringway South
Unfortunately, there's no sunlight in the ringway. Turning it on is your next task.
> x xylosphere. ne.
Ringway East
> x logo. e.
Xyloforming Lab
> x workstation. turn on switch. (The ringway and lab have sunlight now.)
> x pump control. x chamber. x housing. look in housing.
> take guide. read it.
> x tanks. x equipment. u.
Observation Lounge
Hm. More damage.
> x machine. x puddle. x sun. d. w. nw. sw.
Ringway West
By now, you should have seen the security sphere. It moves at random within the ringway.
> x sphere. w.
Residential Courtyard
> x pufferpod. take it. x trees. read plaque.
> u. (You need authorization just to enter your own apartment?)
> e. ne. n.
Central Security
Argh. Another solarless zone. Note the pufferpod shrivels without sun.
> x monitors. read placard. (Hm. Interesting.)
> x tank. x beam. open tank. (So... if we're bad enough, we get tanked and also get a solar beam.)
> n.
Darkness
Eep. Darkness: not good.
> n.
Parking
> x identisphere. take it.
Uh-oh: getting sluggish. Head back to the courtyard.
> s. s. s. sw. w.
Residential Courtyard
Just having the identisphere will let us reach the apartment.
> u.
Quiet Apartment
> x box. open it. x pro. drop junior. wear pro.
Hooray. We don't have to worry about sunless areas any more. What else is here?
> x computer. x zo's file. read it. (Such a good girl.)
> x lar's file. read it. (Note only female relatives are mentioned.)
> x issues. read it. (The station's been having several problems recently.)
> x log. read it.
> x encrypted. read it. (Huh. Mom writes gay fanfic. Also, have you noticed this is the first mention of any male Xyloids? I was beginning to wonder if there even were males.)
> d. e. ne. n. u. u.
Control Tower Canopy
Ah. An overview of what's near the station.
> x west engine. x north engine. x east engine.
> x yellow button. push it.
Well, that's pretty clear. We need to fix all three engines then push this button.
> d. d. n.
Nock-Infested Hall
> x nock. n.
Parking
> x roller. e.
Engine Room
> x switchboard. x west switch. x north switch.
> x east switch. turn on east switch. (Nothing happens.)
> x calendar. (Oh. Male Xyloids in full bloom. How, uh, interesting.)
> w. n.
Access Tunnels
> x wall. x bypasses. n. (The energy wall feels solid.)
> e.
East Engine Access Tunnel
> x water. e. (Can't go further on foot.)
> w. w. w.
Chasm Station Side
> x support beam. w. (Can't cross the gap.)
> e. e. s.
Parking
> enter roller. read manual.
You learn you can SWITCH ON or SWITCH OFF the headlights, SNAG or UNSNAG something with a snagpoon, and HONK the horn.
Also note that the roller has an airtight seal. Perhaps we can go underwater in this thing? Let's try it.
Parking (in the Tunnel Roller)
> n. e. e. e.
Lake Bin Galai Substation (in the Tunnel Roller)
> x substation. s. d.
Deep Lake (in the Tunnel Roller)
> x starship. x squashpods. d.
Ancient Wreck (in the Tunnel Roller)
> x cover. snag handle. u. (The cover opens, and you're pulled down inside.)
The Vault (in the Tunnel Roller)
> x cube. snag cube. n. u. u. n. n. ne.
Dragonweed Nest (in the Tunnel Roller)
We convince the weed to swap "treasures".
> x weed. x fuse. unsnag cube. honk.
> snag fuse. sw. s.
Lake Bin Galai Substation (in the Tunnel Roller)
> unsnag fuse. (It helpfully self-installs itself.)
> w. w. w. s. out. e.
Engine Room
> turn on east switch. (Success!)
> w. enter roller.
Parking (in the Tunnel Roller)
> n. w. w.
Chasm Station Side (in the Tunnel Roller)
> snag support beam. w.
Chasm Highlands Side (in the Tunnel Roller)
> w.
Ro Highlands Substation (in the Tunnel Roller)
> x substation. (Hm. Another missing fuse.)
> out. w.
The Painted Forest
> x mural. read words. ("BEWARE THE HERBIVORE")
> n.
Engineer's Shack
> x portrait. x book. take it. read it.
> read wandering planet. read quintuple suns.
> read deadly herbivore. (Also known as the nockbeast.)
> x tank. take it. x fuse. take it.
> s. e.
Ro Highlands Substation
> put fuse in substation. enter roller. e.
Chasm Highlands Side (in the Tunnel Roller)
> snag support beam. e. e. e. s. out. e.
Engine Room
> turn on west switch. (Hm. What was that crack?)
> w. n.
Access Tunnels
The energy wall is gone. I suppose we could head north at this time, but I think an interlude back in the station would be helpful about now.
Access Tunnels
First, let's be a good girl. (For this exercise, kindly ignore that stealing is usually considered bad.)
> x pod. put pod in bottle. (Pod must be deflated to fit inside.)
> s. s. s. s.
Ringway North
The pod inflates in sunlight and bursts the bottle.
> take planet. se. e.
Xyloforming Lab
> read guide. put tank in housing. turn on pump.
> put planet in chamber. turn on chamber.
> take pistol. x it. (We can now SHOOT light at stuff.)
> w. nw. n.
Central Security
Okay, now let's be bad.
> read placard. take placard. (Darn.)
> s. sw. se. s. s. w.
Raindrops
> x taps. x budget. drink it. x spritz. drink it.
> x steam. drink it. x premier. drink it.
> x luz. drink it. (+10 demerits!)
Head back to the apartment:
> e. n. n. nw. w. u.
Quiet Apartment
> read zo's file. (Note: 100 demerits needed.)
> d. e. ne. n. n. n. e.
Engine Room
> take calendar. again. (+15 demerits!)
> e.
Parking
> enter roller. s. s.
Central Security (in the Tunnel Roller)
> snag placard. n. (+50 demerits!)
> s.
Ringway North (in the Tunnel Roller)
+1 demerit per turn for driving in the ringway. One demerit per turn is a bit slow for my tastes, so I'll put the roller back.
> n. n. n. out. s. s. s.
Ringway North
> z. (Wait until the security sphere shows up or go find it.)
> hit sphere. (+15 demerits!)
> again. (+15 demerits, and you're put into the tank.)
Central Security (in the Trouble Tank)
In case you're wondering, pushing the sorry pad erases all your demerits and your file is back to normal.
> take solar beam. x it. (It's exactly like the pistol we got earlier.)
> x sorry pad. push it. out. n.
Nock-Infested Hall
We don't need both solar pistol and solar beam; either will do.
> shoot nock. g. g. g.
> n.
Parking
> n. n.
North Engine Access Tunnel
> d. n.
Talaba Caverns Overlook
> x grasses. x engine. d.
Crystal Prairie
> ne.
Makeshift Camp
> x pit. x lean-to. enter it. (You decide not to.)
> x cooling unit. enter it.
Cooling Unit Interior
> x mother.
> x arm. (Remember the portrait in the shack? This is the engineer's arm.)
> x block.
> take mom. out.
Makeshift Camp
Uh-oh. The deadly herbivore! The nockbeast!
> shoot nockbeast. x cube. take it. drop it.
> shoot mom. sw. u. s. u. s. s. e.
Engine Room
> turn on north switch. w. s. s. u. u.
Control Tower Canopy
> drop mom. push button.
You turn the planet around so the station faces the sun! And mom revives.
*** The End ***
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