Photopia is a Z-machine and Glulx interactive fiction story written with Inform 6 and is © 1998 by Adam Cadre (writing as "Opal O'Donnell"). It was an entry in IF Comp 1998 where it won both 1st place overall and the Miss Congeniality award. At the 1998 XYZZY Awards, it won both the Best Writing and Best Story awards, and was a finalist in five other categories (Best Game, Best NPCs, Best Individual Puzzle, Best Individual NPC, and Best Use of Medium). Furthermore, Photopia placed very highly in every edition of the Interactive Fiction Top 50 of All Time, and it also placed 2nd in the Top Five IF Games (Adventure Gamers, 2002).
You and the author tell a story together about two girls: Alley and Wendy. It is a bittersweet puzzleless story that weaves together both pleasant fantasy and the tragedy of lost potential. Many of the story's chapters are color-coded, and the uncolored sections are presented out of chronological order.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Version 1.30 (for Z-machine) and Version 2.01 (for Glulx) of the story. Version 2.01 is the version recommended by the author, which offers a curated artistic experience you don't want to miss, but I still prefer playing the "stripped-down" version 1.30, where I can resize the game window, access scrollback, increase the font size, etc. as I normally do. I like those affordances. So, maybe play both versions?
SPOILERS AHEAD. Reading a walkthrough prematurely can sometimes diminish one's enjoyment of an interactive fiction story. Please make an honest effort to play the story before reading this walkthrough.
Would you like instructions? Y —or— N
Speeding down Montgomery Boulevard
You're initially playing as a frat boy in the passenger seat of a speeding car. You have two turns to do whatever you want before the car crashes into another car. Unhappily, stopping the car is never an option.
> x Rob.
> talk >> 3 (pull over)
Rob doesn't even slow down going through a red light...
>> ENTER
Landing site
Locations on Mars are visited in a fixed order regardless of which direction you go. Locations on Mars only become fixed in place once you visit them. I recommend circling the landing site so it's always one step away when you want to return.
> x me. i. x spacesuit.
> w.
Near the huge tread
> x tread. (taller than you)
> x debris.
> s.
Among the ruins of the living quarters
> x unit. x debris.
> in.
Inside the housing unit
> out. e.
Among the ruins of the power plant
> e.
Near the wrecked bulldozer
> x bulldozer.
> in. (The cab crashes down instead.)
> n.
Among the ruins of the greenhouse
> x container. take it. (only item you can save)
> w. u.
You head back to Earth, but the parachutes didn't open. The ocean is getting closer...
>> ENTER
In your home office
It's not said explicitly, but you're now playing as Mary Dawson. You heard a splash. This soon worries you.
> look. read screen.
> out.
In the hall
Regardless of which way you go, you see, through a window, Alley floating face down in the pool. You race outside immediately.
> d —or— enter Gabriel's.
In the back yard
> take Alley.
Gabriel instructs you in CPR.
> tilt Alley's head back.
> breathe into her mouth.
> press her chest.
Alley coughs up water, then explains what she was trying to do.
>> ENTER
>> ENTER
Airlock
> push button.
Water fills the airlock forcefully, but you swim out and drift down into an undersea castle.
In the great hall
The keep is in the direction you go first. The dining hall will be in the opposite direction.
> s.
In the keep
> x ceiling. n. n.
In the dining hall
> x slab. n.
In the throne room
> x throne. x alcove. x pickaxe. x shovel.
> take axe. (The castle shakes in the "direction of the keep" and the shovel falls free. The axe stays put.)
> take shovel.
> s. s. s.
In the keep
> u.
Approaching the surface
A rip current pulls you off the stairs! You end up swimming to a distant shore, tearing off your helmet before passing out from the effort and oxygen loss.
>> ENTER
(you hear voices whispering)
It's not said explicitly, but you're now playing as Jim Mackaye.
> listen. g. g. g. g. g.
No longer in darkness
You ask your wife Linda about Alley.
>> ENTER
>> ENTER
On the golden beach (south end)
> x me. i. remove spacesuit. (dropping it)
> take pod. x it. take shovel.
> x sand. dig sand. (no)
> x ocean. x cliffs.
> x nuggets. x coins. x rings. x dunes.
You can take one and only one gold souvenir.
> take nugget —or— take coin —or— take ring.
> n.
On the golden beach (middle)
Something is buried here.
> dig sand. (You find an unlocked toaster-sized treasure chest, but the shovel breaks.)
> x chest. take chest.
> open chest. x dirt. close chest.
> n.
On the golden beach (north end)
> x seashell. listen to shell.
> take shell. (no: a crab carries it away)
> nw.
Garage
It's not said explicitly, but you're now playing as Sam Dawson. Note the Photopia amongst the junk.
> x cans. x bench. x bike. x junk. x Volvo.
> out.
In the front yard
Alley asks about the stars.
> talk >> 1 (re inverse square law)
> talk >> 1 (re solar radiation)
> talk >> 1 (re gallium production)
> talk >> 1 (re planetary accretion)
> talk >> 1 (re dinosaur extinction)
Mary tells you both it's time for bed.
Before the crystal labyrinth
> x labyrinth. x sky.
> w.
In the crystal labyrinth
Go in whichever directions you like. This maze is quite random and unmappable.
> n. n.
Eventually, your wings ruffle. You have wings?
> x wings. fly.
Flying above the crystal labyrinth
> w.
>> ENTER
Queensport Middle School gym
You're now playing as a boy named Jon. Alley asks you to turn a light off, pointing to a switch.
> turn off switch.
She thanks you, climbs down, and offers you an orange from her backpack.
> talk to Alley >> 1 (re orange)
She gives an apple instead.
> eat apple.
> talk to Alley >> 3 (re dance)
She says no to the dance, since she's babysitting, but says yes to Saturday.
>> ENTER
Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
You're now playing as Jim Mackaye, driving Alley home after she babysat your daughter Wendy.
> talk >> 2 (re Wendy's undying adoration)
> talk >> 1 (re how I sound like her dad)
> talk >> 1 (re inordinate glee)
> talk >> 1 (re babysitting on Thursday)
> x Alley. (You note all the lights are green tonight.)
> z. z.
Another car smashes into yours and you black out looking at the green light.
>> ENTER
>> ENTER
In the forest
You land in a forest, too vast to fly over.
> x trees. (petrified)
A wolf is now charging at you!
> fly. (no: canopy is too thick)
The wolf is about to leap for your throat!
> z —or— throw gold at wolf.
The wolf is actually friendly.
> x wolf. (needs food)
> open chest. take dirt.
> put dirt on ground. put pod in dirt.
The local weather salesman arrives with rain for sale.
> talk to man >> 1 (re queen)
> talk to man >> 2 (re wolf)
> talk to man >> 1 (re rain)
The price is one gold piece. If you never picked up any gold, he runs a comb through your hand to get some gold dust instead.
> give gold to man.
A tiny rainstorm waters the pod, which grows into a shrub with berries, which the wolf eats.
If you never wounded the wolf, the forest section ends here. Otherwise, you need to heal it.
> take leaves. take berries.
> rub leaves on wolf. (It's healed.)
>> ENTER
Alley ends the story there. You, Wendy, want more, but Alley says its way past your bedtime and starts in on her homework.
In your bedroom
> x wallpaper. x posters. x bear.
> x Alley. x lamp. x book.
> x backpack. x patch. ("Turtalia World Youth")
> talk >> 5 (re queen)
She tells you about her dream.
>> ENTER
In a dark place
>> ENTER (>EXIT)
>> ENTER (>LOOK AT SHAPE)
>> ENTER (>LOOK AT PERSON)
>> ENTER (>WAIT)
>> ENTER (>TALK TO QUEEN >> 2)
>> ENTER (>TALK TO QUEEN >> 0)
>> ENTER
In Wendy's bedroom
You're now Linda Mackaye. You tell Wendy to sleep and you tell Alley that Jim is waiting to drive her home.
> i. (You have nothing.)
You walk Alley out to the car.
>> ENTER
Alley's nursery
You're now Mary, asking what that light is over Alley's crib. Sam says it's a Photopia. He hands you the remote and suggests pushing the white button.
> push white button. (The Photopia displays stars.)
> g. (Three circles -- red, blue, and green -- drift and bounce and blend into other colors.)
Sam asks you to get the lights.
> x Alley. turn off lights.
>> ENTER
>> ENTER
The interpreter closes itself.
Real world characters:
Fantasy characters:
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