Key & Compass presents:
Gateway of the Ferrets
by Eric W. Brown

Gateway of the Ferrets is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2019 by Eric W. Brown (as "Feneric"). It was a participant in the 2019 Interactive Fiction Advent Calendar event.

In this one-room puzzle game, you find yourself on a semi-circular ledge with two ferrets (Sugar and Cinnamon), a kibble dispenser, and a strange imposing pedestal. The only possible way to escape is through a locked gateway with a perplexing readout.

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 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.

Walkthrough
Extras
- Characters, Credits, Inventory
Thank You to my Patreon supporters
Support me on Ko-Fi
External links:
- This game at Homepage, IFDB, IFWiki, and itch.io.
- Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Walkthrough

Ledge by the Gateway

First, examine everything but the pedestal:

> x Sugar. x Cinnamon.

> x door. x wall. x readout. ("◯ ÷ | ≈ ? . ? ? ? ?")

> x dispenser. x chasm. x island. x bridge. x dirt.

Now examine the pedestal in detail:

> x pedestal. x writing. x mesh.

> x east platform. x west platform.

> x hole. x trim. x switch. x lever.

Now feed and pet both ferrets. Feed them first to gain their trust, then pet them so they get to know you. Then pet them again so they can really know you.

> push button. x kibble. give kibble to Sugar. pet Sugar. g.

> push button. give kibble to Cinnamon. pet Cinnamon. g.

Now that they know you, you can give them some commands, and if they can do what you ask, they will do it. But first we need to discuss the puzzle that's here. Ahem:

The readout shows an odd equation. As may be inferred by the markings at the edge of the chasm and base of the wall, the circle in the equation means the circumference of a circle and the verticle line means the diameter of that circle.
A 10-unit diameter circle has a 31.4159 unit circumference. 31.4159 divided by 10 is approximately 3.1416. That is the target number you want to appear on the readout so the door will unlock.
There are several controls for changing the digits on the readout. When a control is used, a question-mark becomes a 0, a 0 becomes 1, a 1 becomes a 2, and so on. When a 9 is changed, it becomes a 0.
The first digit of the readout is controlled by the east platform. It's triggered when a ferret jumps onto it. Just lying down on it isn't enough to press it down. Only Cinnamon is willing to jump from one platform to another.
The second digit of the readout is controlled by the knob, and you can just turn that yourself after one of the ferrets digs the dirt and reveals it.
The third digit of the readout is controlled by pulling the lever. Only Sugar can enter the trim to do that for you.
The fourth digit of the readout is controlled by an unseen button inside the pedestal's hole. Only Sugar can fit her head into the hole to push that button for you.
The fifth digit of the readout is controlled by pushing the switch. Only Sugar can enter the trim to do that for you.
Also, the west platform advances both the third and fifth digits of the readout when Cinnamon jumps onto it.

So let's put Cinnamon to work first:

> Cinnamon, dig dirt.

> x knob. turn knob. g.

> x readout. ("?.1???")

> Cinnamon, climb mesh. (He's now on the east platform.)

> Cinnamon, jump. g. g. g. g. g. g. g.

> x readout. ("3.13?3")

> Cinnamon, climb mesh. (He climbs down.)

Sugar's turn:

> Sugar, look in hole. g.

> x readout. ("3.1313")

> Sugar, enter trim.

> Sugar, pull lever.

> x readout. ("3.1413")

> Sugar, push switch. g. g. (Loud click!)

> x readout. ("3.1416")

> Sugar, out.

Open the door and celebrate. By the way, if you pet the ferrets enough times, they will allow you to pick them up and hug them.

> push door. dook. sing. dance. xyzzy.

> push button. give kibble to Sugar.

> push button. give kibble to Cinnamon.

Alas, the only way to win is to leave.

> s.

*** You win! ***

Extras

Characters

Sugar is a female ferret. Because of her smaller size, she can look in the hole or enter the trim. Cinnnamon is too big to do those things.
Cinnamon is a male ferret. Because of his extra strength, he can jump from one platform to another. Sugar isn't muscular enough to perform such jumps.

Mentioned:

Other ferrets can be seen on an island in the distance to the north of the chasm.

Credits

The response to ABOUT is:

Gateway of the Ferrets is by Eric W. Brown, a.k.a. Feneric. It is part of the 2019 Interactive Fiction Advent Calendar and fits into the overall Planescape setting. It was written in loving memory of the real Cinnamon and Sugar, two fine ferrets who in life were much like they are described here. I miss them both immensely. My thanks go out to Rhianon P. Brown, Michael D. Hilborn, Naomi Hinchen, and Andrew "Zarf" Plotkin for play testing this game. Their repeated efforts to both solve things and break things helped make it better. If you've not played parser-based interactive fiction before (or you get stuck) you may want to try typing "hint".

Inventory

some kibble. Acquire it by pushing the dispenser's button.

You only have one serving of kibble at a time.
You may not drop the kibble because it'll get dirty no matter where you try to put it.
Give some kibble to both of the ferrets. You must feed them before they'll let you pet them.
You may eat the kibble too, if you're curious to know what it tastes like.

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.

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