Redux is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 2023 by Shawn Sijnstra. It was an entry in PunyJam #4 where it took 4th place. The game is also available for other platforms.
In this game, you play as someone who can't tell if their eyes are open or not. Your surroundings keep changing. Sometimes you're lying on a lawn, wracked with pain; or you're in a starship, red lights flashing; or you're in a greenhouse with lush plants; or you're in the RAM space of a computer, watching data zoom by. Something's wrong and you have to fix it.
This solution is by David Welbourn, and is based on Release 1 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.
Would you like to use coloured text? Y —or— N —or— T
Darkness
You remember coffee, science fiction, and software coding. But you're now floating in darkness.
> x me. i. listen. (faint alarm)
> open eyes.
After four turns in darkness, you open your eyes regardless.
On a Lawn
> x me —or— x lawn —or— score.
After one turn on the lawn, the venue changes yet again. There are four venues/scenarios/regions. They are:
The Lawn is real and you're badly injured. The other three venues are some sort of psychic landscapes that each represent a problem you must fix.
Normally, you cycle through Starship, Home, and Computer, with an optional brief one-turn return to reality on the lawn in-between them all.
I don't know what all the venue-change triggers are, and I think some of them are randomized, so I can't write a straightforward walkthrough in playthrough order.
The best I can do is write up each venue on its own, telling you how to solve them one at a time, and trust that you can deal with the transitions yourself. Fortunately, each venue can be solved independently of the others.
Start with the starship scenario.
Starship Bridge
> verbose.
> x panel. read display.
Assume you're at the O on the map; the problem is to the aft on the port side.
> a.
Starship Corridor
> read sign.
> sb. a.
Starship Supply Room
Don't worry about the hatch; it never opens.
> take extinguisher.
> f. p. p. a.
Starship Engineering Room
> x fire. (need to put it out manually)
> put out fire. (Improvement!)
With the fire out, you return to the lawn either immediately or very soon afterwards.
• • • LATER • • •
Starship Bridge
Whenever you return to the bridge, feel free to push the button to change venues immediately. You can do this even if you haven't put out the fire yet.
> read display. ("Condition: Good; All zones OK")
> x panel. (You remember a button.)
> x button. push button. (Your eyes open to...)
On a Lawn
> score. z.
Continue with the Home venue.
Greenhouse
> x plants. x coffee plant. x cherries.
> x tools. x spade.
NOTE: Any attempt to take the spade triggers a venue change.
> s. s.
Utility Room
> x pulper. x roaster.
> s.
Kitchen
> take bowl. x bowl.
> take note. read note. (About making espresso; half the note is missing.)
> x grinder. x pot.
> w.
Lounge Room
> x furniture. (sofa, armchair, table)
> look under sofa. (Acquire a paper scrap.)
> read scrap. (More espresso-making instructions.)
> take manual. read it. (You learn about EXX.)
Return to the greenhouse:
> e. n. n. n.
Greenhouse
> take cherries. (using the bowl)
> s. s.
Utility Room
> process cherries. (You now have beans.)
> roast beans. (You now have roasted beans.)
> s.
Kitchen
> grind beans. (You now have ground beans.)
> make espresso. (Improvement!)
After drinking the espresso, you return to the lawn either immediately or very soon afterwards.
• • • LATER • • •
Greenhouse
Whenever you return to the greenhouse, feel free to try to take the spade to force a venue change. You can do this even if you haven't made any espresso yet.
> take spade.
On a Lawn
> score. z.
Continue with the Computer venue.
RAM space
> x spheres. (Looks like an infinite loop; perhaps there's a patch for the code?)
> x data. look. x byte. take byte. read byte. ("EXX")
> x code. read code. (it's "locked")
> w.
Data Bus
> s. (go somewhere more specific)
> go ALU.
The ALU
You learn you need to patch the code.
> read writing. ("Federico")
> s.
Data Bus
> go decoder.
The Instruction Decoder
> put byte in slot. (The registers have swapped.)
> s.
Address Bus
> n.
The Registers
> x registers. take key.
> x key. (locks or unlocks code)
> s.
Address Bus
Going east from here forces a venue change.
> e.
Keep changing venues until you're back at ...
RAM space
You must have previously examined the code and found the code fragment to be able to unlock it.
> unlock code. (with the cipher key)
> read code. (It's a patch which is applied. Improvement!)
> score.
> look. (Portal to south.)
The new south portal forces a venue change.
> s.
On a Lawn
When you have completed all of the other venues' tasks, you realize you had a nasty fall, then you use your mobile phone to call for help.
*** You have won ***
ASCII art is used in the starship section of the game.
Condition: Red
O
+-+-+
| |
[*] +
[ALARM ZONE]
Condition: Good
O
+-+-+
| |
+ +
All zones OK
+------------------+
| <--- supplies |
| quarters ---> |
| maintenance ---> |
+------------------+
This is the response to CREDITS:
Many thanks to Garry Francis, Audrey Lee, Nick Maher, Natalie Maher and Jade for their testing, feedback and suggestions.
Thanks also to the PunyInform coders Fredrik Ramsberg and Johan Berntsson for their ongoing support, and teaming with Nick Moffitt to organise the PunyJam #4 organisers which is the reason this game exists. Thanks also to the broader PunyInform and IF community for making game writing a fun experience.
Note that your inventory is kept from one scenario to another even though this makes little sense. Just don't drop anything, okay?
This is the response to SCORE:
[Either] You are too disoriented to understand what is happening now. [or] Status-summary [as appropriate, based on if you've solved any of the three zones or not]
[Either] You haven't used any hints. [or] You have used number hints. [as appropriate]
The "status-summary" consists of four lines:
Your are in the following state:
[Either] The ringing is too loud for you to have a sense of awareness. [or] Your mind is clear and you are again aware. [as appropriate, based on if you put the fire out in the starship or not]
[Either] Your fine motor skills are not working. [or] Your muscles are ready to spring into action. [as appropriate, based on if you read the unlocked code or not]
[Either] You feel too tired and lethargic to move. [or] You are once again energetic. [as appropriate, based on if you made espresso or not]
This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with
Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!