The Chronicler is a Z-machine work of interactive fiction written with Inform 6 and is © 2010 by John Evans. It was an entry in IF Comp 2010 where it took 26th place.
In this sci-fi game featuring time-travel puzzles, you play as an investigator, sent to find out why this research colony stopped communicating with the rest of humanity. Your ship rests to the south. The complex is inside the mountain to the north.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 0 of the work.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of a work of interactive fiction. Please make an honest effort to play the work before reading this walkthrough.
Overview of this walkthrough
Landing Site
> about. help.
The game isn't quite finished, but this is the only version that was released, so we'll do the best we can. Watch out for the coding bugs.
> i. x uniform. (You have a brainchip?)
> x ship.
> n.
Hallway
> w. (The blue energy hurls you to...)
Transfer Room (present)
> x device. (To use it, just USE it.)
> take it. e.
Bare Room (present)
Note the rubble.
> e.
Darkness
CAUTION: Don't use the device in darkness; the game is buggy that way. Instead, return to Transfer Room.
> w. w.
Transfer Room (present)
> use device. (You go "backward" to...)
Transfer Room (past)
You're now in the past. The device transports you from the present to a certain point in the past or vice versa. You won't always arrive in the same location, however, and some places are more useful to teleport from than others.
> x device. (Its light is now blue.)
> e. s.
Closet (past)
> x fixture. (The cable has some slack.)
> take it.
> n.
Bare Room (past)
> e. (The cable doesn't stretch any further.)
> drop fixture. e.
Large Room (past)
You don't need the knife. Leave it.
> x knife. use device.
Transfer Room (present)
> e.
Bare Room (present)
A battered light fixture is now here and working, if dimly.
> x fixture. e.
Large Room (present)
> x knife. (The older version of the knife you saw earlier.)
> x green button. ("Teleport")
Gee, let's hope the teleporter still works, even though the normal lights failed.
> push it. (Green energy teleports you to...)
Hallway 0 (present)
> n. w.
Power Room (present)
I just wanted you to see this room; the past version is more useful. Return to Hallway 0.
> e. s.
Hallway 0 (present)
Use the device here to stay here.
> use device.
Hallway 0 (past)
The green button was in the wall; this white button is in the floor. Not the same button. Let's explore before pushing the button.
> x white button. (sticks up a centimeter and glows faintly)
> s.
South Intersection (past)
> x door. (It reacts to a held keychip.)
> s.
Labs (past)
> x switch. (It's off; a nearby light is blue.)
> n. e.
Mining Area (past)
You're not getting past here.
> w. n. n. w.
Power Room (past)
The Power Room is missing something in the past as well.
> e. s.
Hallway 0 (past)
> push white button. (Stairs downward appear!)
> d.
Bare Room (past)
Huh. So that teleport from Large Room only teleported you upstairs where there's stairs down? Weird. And... since you've already been here, finding the stairs was pointless?
> u. s.
South Intersection (past)
> use device. (You arrive at ...)
South Intersection (present)
> s.
Labs (present)
The switch is damaged here.
> n. w.
Storeroom 0 (present)
> x cart. x keychip. take it.
> e.
South Intersection (present)
> use device.
South Intersection (past)
> w. (The dark keychip lets you into...)
Storeroom 0 (past)
Ignore the green chip; it's the older version of your dark chip and they work identically. Push the cart to the Power Room.
> push cart e.
South Intersection (past)
> push cart n.
Hallway 0 (past)
> push cart n.
Engineering (past)
> push cart w.
Power Room (past)
Cables automatically connect to the power core.
> e. s. s. e.
Mining Area (past)
Some green lights are on now.
> w. s. s.
Great Machine (past)
> x bank. (Note the two sockets. Estimated power from 0% to 3%.)
> w.
Machine Store (past)
CAUTION: Don't take this sphere just yet! If you move it, its future dim version won't be in the other Machine Store, and you need both.
> use device.
Great Machine (present)
> x machinery.
> w.
Machine Store (present)
> x sphere. take it.
> use device.
Great Machine (past)
> w.
Machine Store (past)
> take bright core. e.
Great Machine (past)
> put bright core in left socket.
> put dim core in right socket.
The east door is lit, and the blue energy arcs the machine to the south.
> x bank. (48% to 56% power)
> s.
As energy and light surround you, you glimpse a girl whispering "Thank you".
*** You have won ***
There's another ending if you instead return to your ship. There's now an open time portal east from here.
> undo
> e. e. w. s. s.
You start composing your report; a larger investigation is needed.
*** You have won ***
Mentioned:
Unmentioned:
I don't know of any losing endings, but you can easily make the game unwinnable by moving the power core in the past before obtaining the power core in the present. Bugs in the game's code may also trip you up in unexpected ways.
There's two general principles to keep in mind. First, an item in the past tends to have an older version of itself in the present. Second, both versions of the item can co-exist in the past.
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