Key & Compass presents:
Fireboat
by Jeff Greer

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Follow me at Bluesky, Ko-Fi, Mastodon, Patreon, and Wordpress.

Map

Walkthrough

This is the sort of game where you're just supposed to follow the directions that the game force-feeds you — the "breadcrumbs", as the game calls them. No innovation or puzzle-solving is required.

There's also a lot of teleporting to the after deck which is meant to be helpful, but I found annoying.

You are encouraged to use shipboard directions when on your boat, but since they're coded as synonyms for the standard compass directions, you can opt to use compass directions instead.

Also, FDNY is short for the Fire Department of New York. The full name does get mentioned in the game eventually, but it's assumed that you already know what it means.

The FDNY 11 After Deck

> x apparition. x window. read writing.

> x me. i. x cannon. read writing.

> f. d.

Galley

> x note. x Kenyon.

> look. x Eee.

> x computer. x TV. x bookshelf. open it.

I'm reading the math textbook last because when you read it, the bookshelf quietly re-closes itself.

> x Clive. x China. x math.

> look. x FDNY. x terrorist.

> u. f.

Pilot House

> x maps. x locations. x mate.

> x plotter. x dial.

> set dial to FDNY. (You are now in...)

The FDNY 11 After Deck

> p.

FDNY pier

> x team. take team. (You are now in...)

The FDNY 11 After Deck

> f. f.

Pilot House

> set dial to bridge. (You are now in...)

The FDNY 11 After Deck

> a.

Bear Mountain Bridge

> x tower. x bomb. drop team. (You are now in...)

The FDNY 11 After Deck

> f. d.

Galley

> x idea.

> u. f.

Pilot House

> set dial to Liberty. (You are now in...)

The FDNY 11 After Deck

You thought this game was about foiling a generic terrorist's plot? No. It's really about you remembering your grandmother, and this visit to Liberty Island unscores that fact.

> p. w. ne. f. f.

Pilot House

> set dial to trawler. (You are now in...)

The FDNY 11 After Deck

> sb.

Terrorist's Trawler

CAUTION: Opening the trailer is fatal!

> x truck. x trailer.

> open truck. talk to him.

> x him. (You are now in...)

The FDNY 11 After Deck

> f. u.

Fire Cannon Control

> x chair. x pump.

> sit. turn on pump. blast truck.

> d. d.

Galley

> x farewell.

*** You have won ***

Say... how did the Chief Mate know the chartplotter coordinates for the terrorist's trawler? He's really good at his job, that's how.

Extras

Characters

• Captain Kent Decker is the protagonist, a senior fireboat captain with the FDNY.
• A shimmering apparition first appears on the after deck, then appears as Kenyon in the galley. She's your grandmother's ghost.
• A commentator on the TV reports the FBI alert about the terrorist.
• The Chief Mate is your second in command and in the pilot house. He already plotted every location into the chartplotter, and now has nothing to do.
• A SWAT team waits at the FDNY pier for you to pick them up and drop them at their destination. They're not very talkative.
• A terrorist is in a truck in a trawler. He has a deadman's switch.

Mentioned:

• Clive Cussler wrote a series of maritime novels.
• Susan Wittig Albert wrote the China Bayles series.
• The President of the United States is someone who the terrorist wants to talk to. That's not gonna happen.

Credits

This is the response to ABOUT:

This game was written for EctoComp 2024, and has a spooky adventure theme.

Concept, game design and coding by Jeff Greer aka fos1.

And this is the response to CREDITS:

Thank you for the assistance received during the development of this game!

Technical help from Garry, Fredrik and Sijnstra via the PunyInform Discord channel and Draconis (Daniel Stelzer) and rileypb (Phil Riley) via intfiction.org.

Play testing by: Daniel Stelzer, Garry Francis and a special thanks to Allyson Gray and Deborah Sherwood - All with the IF Community Forum (intfiction.org)

Endings

• The trailer WAS booby trapped. As you opened the door, the dirty bomb exploded killing everyone nearby, including you. Unfortunately, the radioactive material was also spread throughout the area rendering Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty and New York City uninhabitable for many years to come. Cleanup efforts will be horrendous!
• if you open the terrorist's truck.
• You have won
• if you foil the terrorist's plot and read the farewell note.

Inventory

• a "greeting note", a "FDNY note", a "terrorist note", a "idea note", and a "Farewell". These notes appear on the table in the galley when the game decides you need to see them. They may also disappear after you've read them or acted on their instructions.
• You don't need to take any notes. Just read them. They usually tell you what to do next. Reading the farewell ends the game in victory.
• a math textbook. It's in the bookshelf in the galley; open the bookshelf.
• You don't need to take the textbook. Just read it. It explains a weird clue that urges you to do what you were probably going to do anyway.

Honorable mention:

• the SWAT team. They're on the FDNY pier.
• While they never appear in your inventory, you must TAKE them from the pier. At the Bear Mountain Bridge, DROP the team. They deal with the bomb there.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!

I create larger walkthroughs too! Please visit my Patreon account if you're interested in helping me create more interactive fiction walkthroughs. I appreciate all the help I can get! Thanks again.

Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!