The Day I died is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2013 by Marius Müller. It was a participant in The ultimate not numbered New Year's Speed IF event. It is also the sixth installment in the Alex and Paul series, following The Day I saved Elvis.
In this game, you once again play as Alex, lovable sociopath. A few months ago on Voodoo Island, your husband Paul was abducted by a mad scientist and sent to Mercury! Unable to follow Paul, you escaped the island with Elvis, then used bribes and Alien Tech™ to get a portal to Mercury built on the golf course next door. It's time to drive this golf cart to the rescue!
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
Golf course
Okay, this game is a bit buggy. Just ignore those end-of-turn zeroes.
> x me. i. x can.
> x cart. x portal. e.
You drive to the planet Mercury, where you fortunately never need to worry about air, temperature, or gravity:
On the Rim
Just, uh, pretend the cart isn't still here as you climb out of it.
> out. n.
Ventilation Building
The business with the rat is fairly straightforward:
> x trap. x rat. open trap.
> take rat. (It doesn't trust you.)
> spray rat. (He trusts you now!)
> name rat Ratzo. (Or whatever name you prefer.)
> pet rat.
However, the business with the tickets is less clear. A losing ticket (called the "lottery ticket") is on the rim or lid of the ashtray, while a second winning ticket (called the "winner ticket") is hiding inside the ashtray. The idea is to put the winning ticket where the losing one was.
(For you programming nerds, yes, this means there's actually two ashtray objects. One is the supporter; the other is the container.)
> x door. x ashtray. x cigarette. x ticket.
> take ticket. search ashtray. take winner ticket.
> open door. (locked)
> put winner on ashtray. s.
The rat follows you around.
On the Rim
You hear and see a sharkmen janitor emerge from the building, find the winner ticket and leave. The door is closing slowly. Get in before it closes!
> n. n. d.
Lower Airduct
The rat runs away, but it'll be back later.
> e. s.
By the guard's room
> x button. push button. (Can't reach it.)
> n. n.
Lab
> x machine. enter machine. pull lever. z. out.
> x clone. (Melts into a pool of goo.)
> s. s. s.
Paul's Cell
> x paul. talk to paul. s.
Venusian's cell
> x woman. s.
Ronathan Rasks' cell
> x body. search body. x datachip.
> s.
Reception area
Your rat rejoins you.
> x gate. (Padlocked.)
> x window. (You see a tank and the golf cart.)
> n. n. n. n.
By the guard's room
The next part is dangerous, so save first.
> save.
> spray button. (The rat pushes the button!)
You kill the guard with his own rifle. Everyone heads to...
Reception area
...and now Sharkmen are pouring in at the north end of the corridor. However, you also now have a Kerkerkruip gun.
You don't have the time to examine the gun, but if you did, you'd learn that you need to be really focused to use it. However, "focus" isn't understood as a valid verb.
Have you've played Kerkerkruip? If you have, you might know that the verb you need here is "concentrate". You must concentrate three times!
> concentrate. g. g. (Maximally concentrated! Sharkmen take aim.)
> shoot sharkmen.
The sharkmen are dead. You throw away the empty gun.
Paul tells you about a tunnel behind the crater walls and that the Venusian woman is a good mechanic.
Now you might think this is a good time to go south, but don't. Read the author's mind and instead go back north to pick up a couple new items.
> n. n. n. n.
By the guard's room
> take phone. x it.
> n. n.
Lab
> put datachip in slot.
> enter machine. pull lever. z. out.
> take axle. x it.
> s. s. s. s. s. s.
Reception area
> give axle to woman. (Paul unlocks the gate. You're to distract the tank.)
> s. (Strong hint to save first.)
> save.
> s.
Plain
This kinda makes sense to do, but it's really difficult to guess.
> give phone to rat.
The sharkmen are distracted. Your group runs to the golf cart, which the VWW has repaired, and now it's a chase scene! You're driving.
Upper Western Wall
Okay, this sequence of events is a bad weird, but trust me:
> s. s.
Lower Western Wall
> z. (Tank shoots the overhang.)
> e. e. n. n.
Upper Eastern Wall
> z. (The tank fires, revealing the tunnel.)
Now, because of a bug, you could go into the tunnel now, but you're supposed to get rid of the tank first. Head back to the overhang!
> w. w. s. s.
Lower Western Wall
Oh, yeah, this is a totally guessable command:
> drive over overhang.
The cart falls on top of the tank, destroying both, and your group runs into the tunnel.
Tunnel
> x webs.
> n. (A grue swipes you off the bridge into an abyss.)
***You have died.***
Bridge
> x me. (The player-character is now Paul.)
> x grue.
> x woman. talk to woman. (She calls it a "Mercurian light grue".)
> kill grue.
Garden Area.
> x me. (And you're Alex again. But dead.)
> n. (You're stopped by the arrival of Uncle Wally.)
*** To be continued. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013 ***
Mentioned:
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