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Key & Compass presents:
Hero, Inc Part 1: Calling All Heroes
by Nate Cull

Hero, Inc Part 1: Calling All Heroes is a TADS 2 interactive fiction game and is © 1997 by Nate Cull.

You play as J. Random Hero, Fairhaven's newest hero if you answer the call to duty from Hero, Inc. by entering their contest and performing several feats of heroism. Don't wait! Enter the contest now and you may win their Grand Prize!

This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 3 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.


Maps

Map 1: Fairhaven

NytemareVideoPlaza Post OfficeTower,Lobby Schoolyard FairhavenPublic School,Room 13 OutsideNytemareVideo OutsidePost OfficeTower OutsideFairhavenPublic School Kitchen Laundry FairhavenLibrary OutsideFairhavenLibrary Post OfficePark Yard Lounge Hallway Bathroom OutsideFairhavenGeneral Store OutsideOak StreetGarage Maple& Oak Bedroom FairhavenGeneralStore Oak StreetGarage,in workshop WreckingYard Lift Car Ladder,under themanhole d u

Map 2: Post Office Tower

Lobby Post Bank Roof Post OfficeTowerLobby Post OfficePark (falling) 1 3 Lift Car 8 15 Post OfficeTower,Floor 3 Post OfficeTower,Floor 8 Post OfficeTower,ObservationDeck Mid-air jump

Map 3: Underground

Ladder,underthemanhole Baseof Shaft Maple& Oak d d u u WideJunction Darktunnel CentralPumpRoom Darktunnel Darkjunction Darkpassage

Walkthrough

Note that combat is randomized in this game.

Bedroom

You live in the most boring normal house in existence. You can ignore the desk and bed.

> i. (You have nothing.)

> read letter. (Same letter as in the prologue, but note the attached form.)

> x form.

> x cupboard. open it. take pen. x pen.

> tick box with pen. (+5. The form is now an envelope.)

> x envelope. take it.

> n. w.

Lounge

You pick up an overdue videotape.

> x tape. (Compelled to return it ASAP.)

> x TV. x recorder. x sofa.

> w. w.

Post Office Park

> x fountain. take marker. (Fear stops you.)

> n. n.

Post Office Tower, lobby

> x plaque. push button. n.

Lift Car

> x keypad. ("Type number on the keypad")

> type 3. s.

Post Office Tower, Floor 3

> give envelope to clerk. (+5)

Return home:

> n. push 1. s. s. s. e. e.

Lounge

A parcel is here.

> x parcel. (Addressed to "J. Random Hero".)

> open parcel. x slip. (Explains the new items and your goal.)

> x watch. take it. wear it. ("GOOD MOVE.")

> x cape. take it. wear it. (Hands feel light and free.)

Note: Your inventory limit is only three items until the cape is worn.

> x marker. take it. (This is your sword?)

> x glasses. take them. wear them.

The TV suddenly turns on and the sofa glows red. Wearing the glasses changes reality: some items become heroic or evil and you can now see and interact with monsters.

> x TV. (NYTV, The Nytemare Channel, starring Drac Thornwood)

> z. z. z. z. z. z. z.

> x sofa. (Strong pull to it.)

> e. e.

Bathroom

Strange creature here. Watch beeps: "Hydrophobia".

> x hydrophobia. x sword.

> hit hydrophobia with sword. (+10; it leaves; laundry door opens.)

> n.

Laundry

> x clothes. (Find your cash card.) x card.

> x machine. open it.

> take bottle. x it. (Whito stain remover)

> w.

Kitchen

> open fridge. take steak.

> sw.

Lounge

> w. (The sofa's pulls you back using static.)

> spray sofa with Whito. (sofa smokes, releasing static)

> w.

Your house is demolished by a lightning bolt!

Yard

> e.

Rubble

If you failed to collect your cash card and the raw steak earlier, they're now here so you can still take them.

> w. w. nw.

Outside Nytemare Video

> x posters. nw.

Nytemare Video Plaza

Your watch identifies the monster as a "VIDEO NASTY", a cyborg creature with weapons and a video camera.

> spray nasty. (Its camera explodes.)

> hit nasty with sword. (It leaves.)

> put tape in box. (This won't work until the Nasty is gone.)

> x movies. x cutout.

> se. e. n. n. push 8. s.

Post Office Tower, Floor 8

Watch displays: "SERIOUS FRAUD".

> hit fraud with sword. (You need more experience.)

Ignore the Fraud for now:

> x machine. x screen. ("Please insert card.")

> put card in slot. push withdraw button.

> take card. x dollars.

Now that you have some cash, head for the general store:

> n. push 1. s. s. s. sw. sw.

Fairhaven General Store

> ask shopkeeper about torch. (She seems unable to see you.)

Yes, it's strange, but while you wear the heroic glasses, you cannot interact with most mundane people.

> remove glasses.

> buy newspaper. buy torch.

> x newspaper. (Tells you about Serious Fraud in bank, Bedlam in school, Hydrophobia in the pumps, and ads for the video plaza.)

> ne. e. s.

Oak Street Garage, in workshop

Like the shopkeeper, the mechanic can't see you if you're wearing the glasses.

> x can. buy can.

> wear glasses. s.

Wrecking Yard

> x valve. x dog.

> give steak to dog. take valve.

> n. n. e.

Maple & Oak

> open manhole. (Too rusty.)

> oil manhole. (+10)

> open manhole. d.

Ladder, under the manhole

You're advised to switch on torch before going further down.

> turn on torch. d. nw. nw. w. n.

Wide junction

> open door. se.

Central Pump Room

> put valve in pipe.

> turn wheel. (Hydrophobia blocks you.)

> hit monster with sword. g.

Continue to hit Hydrophobia with the sword until he leaves. If the battle goes against you, you'll flee to the wide junction, and you'll need to re-open the door and go back in here and start the battle anew. The odds are in your favor.

> turn wheel.

That should fix the fountain in the park, return there:

> nw. s. e. se. se. u. u. turn off torch. nw.

Post Office Park

> take green marker.

> ne. ne. e.

Fairhaven Public School, Room 13

The watch displays: "BEDLAM".

> x Sally. x class. read whiteboard.

> x Bedlam. hit Bedlam with sword.

Hitting the Bedlam with the sword stuns it, but doesn't get rid of it.

Note: The teacher can't see you while you wear the glasses.

> remove glasses. (Bedlam vanishes.)

> ask Sally about whiteboard. (She needs her Magic Marker.)

> give green marker to Sally.

Now sometimes that doesn't work, because the class goes manic, and you fail to give the green marker. But sometimes it does work: you give the green marker and Bedlam is defeated and Sally gives you a report card.

It seems to be a timing issue; the green marker must be given while Bedlam and the class are frozen. So the best strategy is to give the green marker as soon as possible after hitting Bedlam with the sword, for example:

I assume that worked? Bedlam is gone? Yay, let's continue:

> x report. (You've slain three monsters.)

> wear glasses.

Return to the eighth floor of the post office:

> w. sw. w. n. n. push 8. s.

Post Office Tower, Floor 8

You now have enough experience to defeat Serious Fraud. If the battle goes against you, you'll retreat into the Lift Car. But just head back south and continue the battle. You'll win eventually.

> hit Fraud with sword. g. (Repeat until it's defeated.)

> n.

Lift Car

> push 1.

Instead of operating normally, the keypad shorts out and the lift takes you to floor 15.

> s.

Post Office Tower, Observation Deck

The lift doors close and you hear the lift explode. The storm is really bad now.

> jump.

Mid-air

Your cape slows you down like a parachute. After several turns, you land safely at Post Office Park.

> z. z. z. z.

Post Office Park

> x report card. (It now reports 4 monsters slain.)

> w.

Outside Fairhaven Library

> x billboard. (Enter Hero contest here. Must have costume and proof of skills. The poster shows all the stuff from the parcel plus a report card. There's also a demolition order for the library.)

> w.

Fairhaven Library

The librarian holds out his hand for your proof when you enter.

By the way, if you try enter the library while carrying the videotape, the librarian pushes you out of the library.

> x librarian. (In his 60's, reminds you of something.)

> x computer. (Catalogue is offline.)

> give report card to librarian.

*** The adventure is now over ***

Although the game ends with a TO BE CONTINUED message, there was no sequel.


Extras

Characters

People:

Monsters:

Others:


Credits

The response to INFO is:

Hero, Inc Part One: "Calling All Heroes" is a short beginners-level adventure written by Nate Cull (Internet email: email redacted). It was originally designed as the first part of a trilogy, which may be released at a future date. Maybe.

Hero, Inc was written with TADS, the Text Adventure Development System by Michael J. Roberts, and was the author's first TADS adventure. (That's his excuse for the bugs). Release 3 was uploaded to the ftp.gmd.de Interactive Fiction archive site - which is a really neat place to find good contemporary adventure games on the Internet - and also distributed as part of an official CD compilation released by the rec.arts.int-fiction Usenet newsgroup.

This game is not Public Domain, but is Freeware. That means that though the author retains the copyright, he grants a limited licence to redistribute it without payment as long as you follow some basic guidelines. You must not modify this game file, and you must not charge more than the cost of media and copying time to distribute it to others, without the express written permission of the author. It's just basic common sense really.

This advertisement paid for by Interleaf Productions, a division of Hero, Inc.


Inventory

You initially have an inventory limit of three items, not counting things you're wearing. Once you're wearing the cape, you can carry as much as you want.


Score

The response to SCORE is:

In a total of several turns, you have achieved a score of your-score points out of a possible 200, giving you the rank of Ranking.

Points are awarded as follows:

The possible rankings are:


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