In this one-room game, you play as a Zorkian adventurer at the end of his quest. One last monster, a regenerating cave troll, is blocking your way across the chasm bridge that leads to the exit. Retreat is impossible. Killing the troll is impossible too, unless you can get a g*** to kill it for you. But g***s only appear when it's pitch black and you have so many sources of light...
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 7 of the game.
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction game. Please make an honest effort to play the game before reading this walkthrough.
Footnote 2 points out that a g*** could eat the troll if it was pitch black.
> footnote 1. footnote 2. footnote 3.
> x me. i.
> x backpack. footnote 4.
> x sword.(battery-operated, on, has grip-wrapped hilt)
> x cross.
> x amulet.
> x lamp.(battery-operated, on, has handle)
> x troll. talk to troll.
> x chain. x bridge. x ledge. x chasm.
> x gate. x slab. x gap. x keyhole.
Let's open the backpack and see what's in there.
> open pack. x tinderbox. x ball. x can.
> x flask. x water.
> x phial. x stock. x gum. x screwdriver.
> x starjewel. footnote 5. footnote 6.
> open tinderbox. x materials.
The ball:
If you try to throw things at the troll or put things into the chasm, the troll usually catches those things and throws them back.
> throw ball at gate.(+1)
The lamp:
> turn off lamp.(It can't be turned off.)
> break lamp.(Can't do it with impact attacks.)
> open flask. x water.
> drop lamp. pour water on lamp.(It shatters, leaving a lit filament.)
> look. x glass. x shard. take shard.
The sword and starjewel:
> x hilt. touch hilt.
> cut hilt with shard. x grip. take grip.
> x panel. open panel.
> open panel with cross.(+1; Sword stops glowing.)
> x battery. footnote 7.("frustrum")
> take battery.
> put jewel in compartment. close panel.(+1)
The lamp's filament:
> wrap grip around screwdriver.(Insulates it.)
> break filament with screwdriver.(+1)
The cross:
> remove cross. break it. footnote 8. footnote 9.
> chew gum.(You now have a wad of gum.)
> put gum on stock. put gum on cross.
> put stock in gap. burn stock.(+1)
The phial:
> break phial.(Can't.)
> put phial in keyhole. push phial.
> push phial with screwdriver.(Not far enough.)
> put battery on screwdriver.
> push phial with screwdriver.(+1)
The amulet:
> remove amulet. put amulet in box.
> close box.(+1)
The troll's eyes are now the only source of light.
> x eyes.
> spray eyes with can.(+1)
> cut eyes with sword.(+1. Sword, troll, and chain are gone.)
Utter Darkness
Something is approaching.
> open box.
At The Wrong Side Of The Bridge
> take screwdriver.
> xyzzy. plugh. plover.
> quail. quake. doom. foom. enlightenment.
> n.
*** You have won ***
> amusing
Extras
Amusing
The response to AMUSING after you've won the game is:
The interesting/useable objects: walls (ground, roof, south and north), clothes, gate, keyhole, slab, glass(fragments and shard), chain, troll, chasm, bridge, lamp (working and broken), filament (in working and broken lamps), eyes (in light and dark), battery, screwdriver, grip (before and after cut), flask, antig***, tinderbox, amulet, fire starting materials, pack, sword, starjewel, cross, panel, eye (in light and dark), glowball, water, phial, stock, gum (stick and wad). The g*** is a daemon. The copyright-breach currently known as an unpronounceable series of symbols is a figment of your imagination. G*** would be a trademark of the Frobozz Magic Trademark Company if it were possible to trademark an unpronounceable series of symbols.
There are 31 troll messages, 20 footnotes, and a massive 4 quotes.
The footnotes and quotes are all cued, though some are oblique.
Have you tried:
"SEARCH ME"
"SQUEEZE TROLL"
"READ TROLL"
"READ ME" (repeatedly)
"TURN ME WITH SCREWDRIVER" (Score less than 249)
"PUSH BRIDGE (Score < 249)
"KILL TROLL WITH WATER"
"SPRAY CAN ON STICK OF GUM"
"LISTEN TO TROLL"
"BURN WATER"
"BURN BATTERY"
"RUB SWORD"
"OBJECTS"
"PLACES"
"FROTZ"
"XYZZY"
"PLUGH" (How obscure can one get ...)
"PLOVER"
"QUAIL" (before and after the troll dies)
"SHOW CLOTHES TO TROLL"
"SPRAY TROLL WITH WATER"
"RUB LAMP"
"DRINK SCREWDRIVER"
"EAT SWORD"
"WAVE CROSS"
"WAVE PHIAL"
"TAKE SLAB" (repeatedly)
"BURN BRIDGE"
"BUY BRIDGE"
"PUSH BRIDGE" (In the presence of the troll)
"SEARCH TROLL"
"TURN TROLL WITH SCREWDRIVER"
"JUMP OVER TROLL"
"PUSH TROLL"
"ENJOY GUM" (repeatedly)
"FONDLE TROLL"
Retrieving the "lost" battery from the keyhole with the screwdriver
Retrieving the unpushed phial from the keyhole with the screwdriver and gum
Putting the screwdriver and the battery on the slab or in the pack separately
Though it isn't the only one-room game in existence, I think it MUST hold the record for being the longest. It's my first completed game (Yeah I've been proudly incompleting games for over 10 years)
It's also my Inform "Hello World". There's nothing wrong with being Rococco...
Technically it's not quite a one room game, since even though the-dark isn't a real room, it uses it as such. "A One-Location Absurdity" sounds less appealing.
The ZCode is 19k _larger_ than Zork1 (abbreviations on).
Admittedly it's a z5 not a z3 ... but ...
The game can be solved in a minimum of 25 moves: drop lamp, open pack, throw ball at gate, cut grip with cross, put phial in lock, open panel with cross, put battery on flathead, chew gum, put gum on stock, put star in panel, close panel, put grip on flathead, put flathead in lock, put cross on gum, put stock under gate, light stock, put amulet in box, close box, open flask, put water on lamp, cut filament with flathead, spray eye with can, cut eye with sword, open box, n
Characters
A troll is blocking your path across the bridge, the only way out of these caves. He's also a character you can't fight directly.
A g*** might eat the troll for you, but they're only around when it's pitch black.
Credits
The credits are in a separate file, CREDITS.HTM.
Written by:
Taro Ogawa (email redacted)
Alpha Testers:
Ben Farrell
Ben Howard
Josh Price
Seiji Ogawa
Beta Testers:
Alex Hoffer
Gina Simon
Jennifer Maher
TenthStone
Theresa (Contralto)
Vincent Lynch
Thanks to:
Activision, for permissions
Crowther & Woods, Infocom, Magnetic Scrolls, and Nethack Dev Team, for hours of enjoyment
David Dyte, for continuing the comp, and lotsa useful advice
Gerry Kevin Wilson, for starting the IF competition (An incentive to write!)
Graham Nelson, for Inform, and Curses
L. Ross Raszewski, writer of a plethora of libraries
Laird Malamud, for arranging permissions
Lima Dev Team, for thought processes
Liza Daly, for co-running the beta-tester pool
Lucian Smith, for co-running the beta-tester pool
Mary Kuhner, for help when needed
The int-fiction community for keeping it alive
Special Thanks to:
Anyone who's ever put a troll or a bridge .... or a maze ... or a &*$&^$& deathtrap in their game
The Official Mascot of Enlightenment is:
Wishywashy, the pet rock.
The Mascot's colours are:
GREY, GREY, GREY, GREY, GREY
Endings
You have been eaten by a g***, a fate both g***lling and g***some
if you dare spend more than one turn in pitch darkness.
You have won
if you escape the caves.
Footnotes
AMUSING tells us there are 20 footnotes to look for.
Unfortunately, I didn't find anywhere near that many. Footnotes are numbered in the order they occur in your gaming session.
In the prologue: This is an educated guess, in that trolls generally don't get married. Anyway, noli illegitimati carborundum, to dog a phrase from Latin. [Footnote 3]
In the prologue: The trouble with trolls is they regenerate unless burnt, melted, or eaten. You don't appear to have anything that will burn or melt the troll, and few have the razor sharp teeth needed to chew through a troll's hide and the indefatiguable stamina (and boundless appetite) needed to outpace its regeneration. You certainly don't. A horde of rat-ants might, but you exterminated the last rat-ant in the region this morning. Pity about that. A g*** would do it, but they're only around when it's pitch black.
From footnote 1: Don't let the bastards get you down, in other words.
From x backpack: You decided to save money, and buy an Other backpack. If only you'd bought a GHAA Forte, it would still be in good condition. It just goes to show that skimping on equipment doesn't pay off in the long run.
From x starjewel: I have absolutely no idea how big a plover's egg is. A quail's egg is about as large as a small chocolate Easter egg, for what it's worth. [Footnote 6]
From the previous footnote: The information, that is. An Easter egg is worth a few cents, and the starjewel is almost priceless.
From break cross: Frobledo captured the market in anti-lycanthrope weapons by developing a method of folding layers of t***silver that increased its flexibility remarkably. [Footnote 8]
From the previous footnote: Ironically, it was the quality of Frobledo weapons which induced the Great Lycanthrope Drought of '37, devastating Frobledo's economy. Now it is a ghost-town, its method lost with the death of its smiths.
From x battery: Word of the Day: "frustum".
From screw troll with screwdriver: Comment censored by Assistant-Inquisitor Mundane.
From push troll: Should the troll retaliate, it would also be less than bright. [Footnote 12]
From the previous footnote: Choosing to push the troll, that is; although it's fair to say that the troll is less than bright too.
Inventory
your backpack. You're wearing it.
It's providing light (via your riches) and closed. Open it.
your sword. You're carrying it.
It's providing light, glowing blue when danger is near. Since the troll is here, the sword is glowing blue. Fortunately, the sword is battery-operated, so to get it to stop glowing, you just need to remove that battery. It's still awkward to do, though; keep reading.
The sword has a hilt. Cut the hilt with the glass shard; you get some grip and reveal a panel.
Open the panel with the cross. Take the battery out.
Put the starjewel in the compartment. Close the panel.
When the only light left is the troll's eyes, and after spraying the eyes with the repeller, cut the eyes with the sword.
Put the stock in the gap under the gate. This pushes the cross partly out of view.
Burn the stock with the tinderbox. The cross will finally fall completely out of view.
your amulet. You're wearing it.
It's providing light (via magic). Remove the amulet and put it your tinderbox. Close the box.
your lamp. You're carrying it.
It's providing light. Drop the lamp. Then open your flask and pour water on the lamp to shatter it. You can take a shard of the broken glass.
When broken, it's a broken lamp, but its filament still provides light.
After wrapping the grip around the screwdriver to insulate it, break the filament with the screwdriver.
your tinderbox. It's inside your backpack and closed.
After sticking the stock certificate and the cross together with the wad of gum, and putting the certificate in the gap, burn the certificate with the tinderbox.
It's closed and contains some water. After putting your lamp down, pour the water on the lamp to shatter it.
your crystal phial. It's inside your backpack and provides light.
Put the phial in the keyhole. Then, after putting the battery on the screwdriver, push the phial with the screwdriver to get it to go all the way through.
your stock certificate. It's inside your backpack.
Put the wad of gum on both the certificate and the cross to stick them together.
Put the certificate in the gap, then burn the certificate with the tinderbox to get rid of the cross.
your screwdriver. It's inside your backpack and magnetic.
Wrap the grip from the sword's hilt around the screwdriver to insulate it, then break the lit filament from the broken lantern with the screwdriver to put out that filament.
Put the battery on the screwdriver to extend its reach. Then push the phial all the way through the keyhole with the screwdriver.
your starjewel. It's inside your backpack and provides light.
Put it inside the compartment of the sword after you've removed its battery. Close the compartment to hide the starjewel's light.
a glass shard. After you've poured water (from the flask) on your lamp, there's broken glass on the ground. Take a shard.
After putting the phial in the keyhole, put the battery on the screwdriver to extend its length, then push the phial all the way through the keyhole with the screwdriver.
Quotes
AMUSING tells us there's three quotes. I found two:
When you try to take the slab for the third time:
Inigo Montoya:
You keep using that word.
I do not think it means what you think it does
-- William Goldman, "The Princess Bride"
When you finally get rid of the troll and it's pitch dark:
Thulsa Doom:
Infidel defilers; they shall all drown in lakes of blood.
Now they will know why they fear the dark;
Now they will learn why they fear the night.
-- John Milius, Oliver Stone & Robert E. Howard, "Conan the Barbarian"
Score
The response to SCORE is:
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 250, in several turns, earning you the rating of rating.
You begin with 240 points awarded thusly:
8 points for collecting the five magic mushrooms of Wonderland.
5 points for points for altering the hieroglyphics on the wall.
7 points for getting through the small maze.
12 points for getting through the slightly larger maze.
10 points for getting through the underground forest maze.
2 points for getting through the catacombs.
8 points for getting through the tunnels.
11 points for not dying of hunger.
18 points for dropping your copy of Spelunker Today.
5 points for looking under the bed.
16 points for avoiding being killed by the Unexpectedly Collapsing Floor.
6 points for catching the ball.
2 points for solving the 64-level Edifices of Babel.
1 points for putting 23 assorted treasures in an unmarked box.
3 points for being able to wear the amulet.
11 points for avoiding being swept into the slime.
1 points for entering the Green Tower.
8 points for killing assorted monsters.
10 points for killing a further assortment of monsters.
4 points for stealing the starjewel.
9 points for not dying of hunger. Again.
3 points for finding the REAL Malted Falcon.
12 points for hanging the picture correctly.
7 points for fumigating the nest.
2 points for cleaning the stables.
20 points for praying for the cross.
3 points for buying the amulet.
8 points for destroying the wand.
22 points for removing the phial from the web.
5 points for getting through the End Maze.
1 points for arriving back at the Great Gate.
The 10 points you actually earn in this game are awarded as follows:
1 point for getting rid of the glowball.
1 point for getting rid of the cross.
1 point for hiding the light of the amulet.
1 point for stopping the sword from glowing.
1 point for demolishing the lamp.
1 point for hiding the light of the starjewel.
1 point for getting rid of the phial.
1 point for getting rid of an eye.
1 point for getting rid of another eye.
1 point for getting out alive.
The known ratings are:
Bottom of the Food Chain.(240 points.)
Home-Delivered Meal.(241 points.)
Dish of the Day.(242 points.)
The Other White Meat.(243 points.)
Unfortunate.(244 points.)
Dinner.(245 points.)
Main Course.(246 points.)
Snack.(247 points.)
Mere Morsal.(248 points.)
The One that Got Away?(249 points.)
Survivor.(250 points.)
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