The Lone Star Menáçe is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 2003 by Ricardo Signes. It was a participant in the Speed-IF—Late! event.
In this game, you play as a handsome clownfish wearing a Man Suit, high above L'Austin in a hot air balloon. You're on an espionage mission. Your objectives are: survive freefall, locate the embassy, obtain evidence of Franco-Texan plans, and escape alive.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
High Above L'Austin in a Hot Air Balloon
> x me. i. x manual. x leaflet.
You can look up topics in the manual, but it's difficult to guess which topics it knows about. Let's pretend to have played the game before to know what situations are coming up, or say we're reading-the-author's-mind in advance here:
> consult manual about parachute. consult manual about L'Austin.
> consult manual about dance. g. g. g. g. g. (Note the dance variations.)
Okay, let's get this mission started:
> d. jump.
Plummeting
> open parachute.
Vacant Lot
Unfortunately, you can't easily refer to the massive wall except as "it".
> x it.
> e. (or any other direction but south)
The City
It's rather impossible to guess that you need to wave here, unless you've consulted the manual about L'Austin, which suggests it, sorta.
> wave. x cab. enter cab.
The Embassy
> e. (It's guarded.)
> x barnacles. climb barnacles. (The guards would see you!)
> ne.
Alley North of the Embassy
Now, you could just continue southeast to behind the embassy and enter via a window, but this route is a bit more interesting:
> climb barnacles.
Embassy Roof
> x skylight. break skylight. enter skylight.
Embassy Ballroom
> x glass. open door. se.
Small Rear Office
> search cabinet. (Find a folder.)
> x folder. open folder.
> open window. e.
Guards rush you into the ballroom.
Embassy Ballroom
Howard challenges you to a dance duel. The duel begins immediately.
> x Howard. dance. (You'll need to try something else.)
You need to make four different dance moves without repeating any to win the duel. Any four of the following actions will do:
Howard collapses and the guards flee. Now make your escape:
> open door. (if necessary)
> se.
Small Rear Office
> open window. (if necessary)
> e.
*** You have won ***
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