Offensive Probing is a Z-machine version 5 text adventure game written with Inform 6 and is © 1999 by Ben Croshaw. Note that although the subtitle of the game is "Chapter One: The Incident", to the best of my knowledge, no subsequent chapters were ever released.
You play as Martin McSondheim, a new graduate of the Space Federation living in a cheap apartment on Triton. You've just received your first assignment on the SFS Connery, a scout ship surveying the Federation borders. Congratulations, Ensign!
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 of the game.
Your apartment
> x mailbox. open it. take envelope. x it.
> open it. take letter. (+5)
> read letter. take comb. x it.
> open dresser. x bed. x tv.
> w.
Hallway in apartment block
> x can. take it. n.
Misty Street
CAUTION: Going north or east can be fatal.
> w.
Souffle Street
CAUTION: Going north or south can be fatal.
> take issue. read it. w.
Teleportation Centre
> x capsule. x desk. give letter to official. (+10)
> n.
Interior of teleportation booth
> x button. x window. push button. (+5)
Teleport room
> x captain. ask captain about me. (+10)
Your attempt at conversation is ignored. The captain welcomes you aboard, gives you a keycard, and suggests recuperating in your quarters, then he leaves.
> x porthole. x keycard. x panel. x podium.
> e. n.
Corridor on the Connery
> x door. x panel. put keycard in slot.
Your quarters
> x bed. x table —or— x chair.
> drop all. (You don't need any of this stuff later.)
> save. get on bed. (+15)
Your first few days are uneventful. That doesn't last.
The Bridge
> take matches. x matches. (The console beeps.)
> x console. x stephen. ask stephen about stephen. (Another blip.)
> ask stephen about captain. ask stephen about me.
> x viewscreen. (Red light flashing.)
> ask stephen about red light. (+10)
Something's wrong as all the controls stop working and the lights go out.
Darkness
Caution: There's only one match. Don't waste time. Get into the vent before the match burns out.
> open matches. light match. (Hear creatures skitter away.)
The Bridge
The south door doesn't work and the match's light won't last forever.
> ask stephen about ship. (He orders you to go to engineering.)
> get on chair. open vent. (+5)
Ventilation shafts (three locations)
The vents have emergency lighting! Why doesn't the bridge have emergency lighting?
> n. n.
> x matches. open it. drop book. (No more matches)
> open panel. (+5)
Gantry
> x panel. x crane. x button. d.
Cargo bay
> x torch. take it. x crate.
> push crate. u.
Gantry
> push button. (+5. The crane picks up the crate.)
> push button. (+10. The crate smashes through the platform.)
You fall, but manage to grab a ladder on the side of the shaft.
Darkness
CAUTION: The torch has a very limited amount of power, so we can't waste time examining everything.
> save. turn on torch.
Bottom of coolant shaft
> e.
Corridor (near storeroom)
> e.
Corridor (near engineering)
The east door is locked. The panel is a touch lock.
> s.
Engineering (northwest corner)
> s.
Engineering (southwest corner)
Frotz is here, but unconscious. Keep moving.
> e.
Engineering (southeast corner)
> take hand. n.
Engineering (northeast corner)
Source of the explosion.
> w. n.
Corridor (near engineering)
> put hand on panel. (+10)
Medical unit
Ignore the report. The syringe contains a stimulant.
> take bottle. open cabinet. take syringe. x it.
> w. s. s.
Engineering (southwest corner)
A bit of guess-the-verb here; the game doesn't know "inject".
> give syringe to frotz. (+10)
Frotz tells you there was a warp core breach, gives you a glowing rock with which to start the backup generator, then leaves for the bridge.
> x rock. e. s.
Backup generator
> open compartment. put rock in it.
> close compartment. push button. (+10. Emergency lighting is now on.)
> turn off torch. n.
Engineering (southeast corner)
> x corpse. put hand on it. n.
Engineering (northwest corner)
> x core. w. n. w. s.
Corridor (near lift doors)
DON'T eat the sandwich! You'll die of food poisoning.
> x sandwich. push button.
Interior of lift
> push bridge. (+20)
Corridor (near bridge)
The officers don't have much to say, so don't bother trying to chat them up.
CAUTION: Don't eat the aspirin too soon.
> x viewscreen. (Something outside is doing an offensive probe.)
> z. (A low humming begins.)
> z. z. (It's giving you a slight headache.)
> open bottle. throw bottle. (+5)
> eat aspirin. (+5)
> z. z. (There's a flash and you're now at...)
Void
> z. z. (You are pulled away to...)
Look out for the next instalment of Offensive Probing!
*** You have won ***
Alas, there was no next installment of Star Trek Meets The Grues, so you'll just have to imagine what happened next.
You have a SIX item carrying capacity.
You have so far scored your-score out of a possible 140, in several turns, which makes you ranking.
Rankings:
This walkthrough is provided free of charge since I wrote this walkthrough prior to January 2015 when I began my Patreon account. I've since reformatted this walkthrough to use my currently preferred style. I hope you enjoy it!
I'm still creating new walkthroughs! 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.