top

Key & Compass presents:
Mental Entertainment
by Thomas Hvizdos

Mental Entertainment is a Glulx interactive fiction story written with Inform 7 and is © 2019 by Thomas Hvizdos. It was an entry in IF Comp 2019 where it tied for 45th place.

In this story, you play as Kerry Anderson, a licensed virtual reality dependency assessor. Addiction to VR can have serious consequences if not treated. Predictive models have flagged three people for you to assess, one of whom is a personal friend. Your job is to interview them in their current VR settings, then assess them.

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


Map

Clearing Sheriff'sOffice RiverOutlook Saloon MainStreet Store Stream RealWorld YourOffice HighPass TunnelOutskirts MainChamber GeyserRoom THE END

Walkthrough

Your Office

Get some background info about your job.

> help.

> x desk. x red bin. x green bin.

> x license. x bookshelf.

> x Manning. read Manning.

> x Worlds. read Worlds.

> x Addiction. read Addiction.

Let's get to work. It doesn't matter which file you start with.

> x Barry's file. read Barry's.

A door to Frontier Justice opens to the north.

> n.

Main Street

> x men. x women.

> e.

Store

> x man. x mustache. x register. x counter.

> x sacks. x guns. x ammo. x candies.

> x goods. x sundries. x grains. x barrels. x sodas. x whiskey.

> w. w.

Saloon

> x men. x bartender. x man. (likely the villain)

> x doors. e. nw.

Sheriff's Office

> x Barry. x desk. x gun. x cells.

> ask Barry about VR. ask him about addiction.

> ask him about leaving. ask him about models.

> ask him about force (or frustrations).

> ask him about dates. ask him about Cindy.

> ask him about gun. ask him about privsec.

> ask him about Meradine. ask him about stories.

> ask him about drugs. ask him about scientists.

> ask him about tanks. ask him about money.

> ask him about prestige. ask him about sheriff.

> ask him about real world. ask him about 30s.

> ask him about rioting. ask him about peace.

> ask him about promotion. ask him about company.

> ask him about AI. ask him about coroner.

> ask him about boss. ask him about funding.

> ask him about hoops. ask him about jail.

> ask him about laws.

Return to your office:

> se. s.

Your Office

> read Brigid's.

A door to Muir's Woods opens to the east.

> e.

High Pass

> x lichen. x rocks. x boulders. x trail. x switchbacks.

> nw.

Stream

> x grass.

> ne.

River Overlook

> x river. x shrubs. x wildflowers. x bees. x dragonflies.

> nw.

Clearing

> x Brigid. x bushes. x berries.

> ask Brigid about VR. ask her about addiction.

> ask her about leaving. ask her about models.

> ask her about apartment. ask her about mattress (or sleep).

> ask her about sink. ask her about money.

> ask her about wilderness (or nature). ask her about blueberries.

> ask her about soy (or food or crop).

> ask her about vanilla. ask her about vitamins.

> ask her about chemicals.

> ask her about pests (or parasites or algae or fungus).

> ask her about streets. ask her about cars.

> ask her about TV (or show).

> ask her about books (or cabin). ask her about Walden.

> ask her about poison (or herbicide or pesticide).

> ask her about air. ask her about cough.

> ask her about park. ask her about grass. ask her about water.

> ask her about farms.

> ask her about agricorps (or companies or rich people).

> ask her about bees (or drones).

> ask her about trees. (or about the diseases she mentioned)

> ask her about canyons. ask her about kids (or pets).

> ask her about world (or planet). ask her about decay (or rot or death).

> ask her about cities. ask her about dirge. ask her about chaos.

> ask her about solace. ask her about hammock.

> ask her about birds. ask her about fantasy.

> ask her about government. ask her about pipelines.

> ask her about taxes (or Samuel Arren).

Return to your office:

> se. sw. se. w.

Your Office

> read Brian's file.

A doorway to Read Mars opens to the south.

> s.

Tunnel Outskirts

> x door. x rectangle. x glyphs. x vehicle. x gizmos.

> e. e.

Geyser Room

> x Brian. x hole.

> ask Brian about VR. ask him about itch.

> ask him about addiction. ask him about leaving.

> ask him about models. ask him about software.

> ask him about algorithms. ask him about glyphs.

> ask him about hole. ask him about ecosystem.

> ask him about archaeology. ask him about notebook.

> ask him about world. ask him about basic income.

> ask him about riots.

Return to your office:

> w. w. n.

Your Office

It's up to you how to assess Barry, Brigid, and Brian.

> take all file.

> put Barry's in greenorput Barry's in red.

> put Brigid's in greenorput Brigid's in red.

> put Brian's in greenorput Brian's in red.

When you've placed all three files into bins, the exit door opens to the west.

> w.

Real World

> go home. (You hope you did some good.)

*** The End. Thank you for playing! Final plug: I want to talk more to other people doing IF! If you have thoughts about the game, or anything else writing related, please email me at email redacted! ***

The story makes no judgments based on your assessments. You learn nothing further about the fate of anyone involved once you return to the real world, regardless of which bins you put the files in.


Extras

Characters

Actual people:

Virtual people and creatures:

Mentioned:

Mentioned virtual characters:


Inventory

There's only three inventory items: the files that are on your desk.

The files are:


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.