Key & Compass presents:
Return to Ditch Day
by Michael J. Roberts

Lauritsen-Downs Courtyard

> x door. x man. ask man about Guggenheim.

> ask man about Ernst. ask man about Gunther.

We want Ernst and Gunther to meet, but no pair of index cards send them to the same place. However, their routes between their assignments all pass through the Quad, so this is a timing puzzle, to get them both in the Quad at the same time.

Ernst is slower (he has to put his stuff away first) and Gunther moves immediately on getting a new assignment, so we have to show an index card to Ernst first, then race over to Gunther and show him his card second. I don't know if there's multiple answers for this puzzle, but it works when both men are returning to their original locations.

> show blue card to Ernst. n. e. n. w.

Lawn near Beckman

> ask gardener about Gunther. show yellow card to Gunther. e. s. s.

Orange Walk

Okay, do this part quickly without extra steps.

> show pink card to Ernst. n. e.

East Olive Walk

> show green card to Gunther. w. (+5)

Quad

Oh, dear. I hope Ernst is a good runner. (Pause.) I'm sure he'll be okay. Anyway, yay, we got a cherry picker to play with!

> x picker. enter basket. e.

East Olive Walk

"Mr. Happy Gear" is an Easter Egg in the cannon barrel; you don't need it. Maybe it's a memento from Ditch Day Drifter?

Also, in case you're wondering, the cherry picker is limited to just eight outdoor locations. You cannot reach Millikan Pond with it (the path west of Rock Garden is too narrow), nor reach Orange Walk south of Quad (because of stairs), nor enter San Pasqual St. with it (the cherry picker isn't road safe). So you can't check out the top of the mountain in the Dabney House courtyard with this thing.

> raise basket. look in cannon. take gear. x gear.

> w. w.

Part 10: Guggenheim and Sync Lab

Doug rescues Turbo Power Squirrel from the Guggenheim wind tunnel. He also discovers Belker's secret office inside the Sync Lab, where the spy camera's video feed is going.

West Olive Walk

Save at this point. There's a bug with the stairs button in the Sync Lab; pushing it can accidentally lock yourself out of victory. Part of the problem is that the cherry picker's controls are entirely in its basket; you can't lower the basket from the ground level.

> save. raise basket. climb grill. u. w.

Roof of Guggenheim

> x tunnel. x panel. open panel. s.

Wind Tunnel Lab

> x tunnel. open tunnel. take squirrel. x it.

> n. e. se.

Roof of Sync Lab

> x fixture. open door. d. n. e.

Catwalk at Gap

Unfortunately, the panel is jammed and the buttons do nothing.

> x bridge. x panel. push green button. push red button.

> w. s. s. ne.

Open Area

> x crate. look under crate. n. sw.

Under Stairs

> push crate east.

Open Area

> push crate north.

Under Catwalk

> s. sw. n. n. e. e. e. (+5) e.

Catwalk, Outside Office

Remember, you learned the door combo from Plisnik's binder after talking to the guy in the Network Office.

> x door. type 16974 on door. n. (+10)

Office

Unfortunately, I have no idea what topic to find in the binders.

> x computer. read computer. x monitors. x lab.

> x desk. x binders.

Let's head back to Dabney House.

> s. w. w. w. w. s. s. ne. n. e.

Tunnel

CAUTION: Don't push the button. The button should lower the stairs from the Office, but instead, the game seems to remove the other stairs in the southwest corner of the lab. If you push this button, you can no longer reach the Guggenheim wind tunnel nor the Sync Lab office.

> s. e. e. e. e.

Part 11: Calculating Hovarth

Doug uses quantum physics to calculate a large Hovarth number, thanks to Jay's programming skills and Brian's lab experiment.

Courtyard

> sw. u.

Alley Four

Remember that Jay must also read 73:9a (which we did earlier) for this to work. Don't forget what he says about typing plus-plus-plus quickly when "the quantum thingy is going".

> give squirrel to Jay. (+5) give calculator to Jay.

Now back to Brian's lab.

> d. n. w. w. n. w. w. w. s. d. n.

Lab 022

> take dome. type 17281392 on calculator. put calculator on plate.

> push green button. type +++ on calculator.

The answer is 35506392. You also believe you know a way to communicate that number to the black box using the signal generator.

In this walkthrough, we're going to head straight back to the black box and finish this. But if there's still lots of time before 5 pm (examine your watch), try examining all the graffiti in Dabney House or help Aaron and Erin solve the stack in Upper Seven North.

This walkthrough also skipped over three other stacks in the game: blasting through a concrete block, removing fruit flies, and solving a marble maze. Although you can play with the maze, you can't really do much but observe these other stacks.

> take calculator. s. u. n.

> e. e. e. s. e. n. n.

Part 12: Endgame

Doug solves the black box and offers Brian a job at his company. But which company?

Alley One North

Belker will notice your activity and taunt you all through this.

> connect generator to box.

> set amplitude to 3. set it to 5. g. set it to 0.

> set it to 6. set it to 3. set it to 9. set it to 2. (+10)

> w.

Room 4

> look under bed. x snacks.

Aaron and Erin arrive.

> ask Erin about stack. eat snacks. x bookshelves.

Brian Stamer arrives.

> yes. tell Brian about stack. yes.

> tell Brian about camera. tell Brian about Omegatron.

Belker enters after your spiel.

> x cap. (If you try talking, Belker totally interrupts you.)

Belker gloats with the news that Omegatron has just been taken over by Mitachron!

> wear cap. (Brian offers you a job in his new start-up.)

> yes. tell Belker I quit.

*** YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED ***

> afterword. amusing. credits. full score. quit.

Extras

Afterword

If you finished without getting all of the points, and especially if it looks like there are a lot more points to be had, you might be wondering what you missed. The most likely answer is that you skipped the optional “mystery” subplot. There are clues hidden here and there that you can follow to figure out what certain unsavory characters in the story are really up to. You can solve the Ditch Day stack and win the game without pursuing the mystery at all, so if my attempts to pique your curiosity failed, you probably didn't miss out on much except points. If you wondered why there was a spy camera hidden in Stamer's lab, though, let me assure you that the answer can be found in the same places as those missing points.

Also, the stack in Upper Seven (room 42) can be solved. It's irrelevant to the game, so there's no real in-game reward for solving it, but some people might find it to be an enjoyable stand-alone puzzle.

Some players of the original Ditch Day Drifter asked where the term “stack” comes from. To answer, I have to give you a brief history of Ditch Day. The first few Ditch Days were simple affairs where the seniors really did just ditch classes for the day. The underclassmen were apparently annoyed at being left behind, and they expressed this by breaking into the seniors' rooms and trashing them. At some point, the seniors started trying to barricade their rooms before they left, by stacking desks and other heavy objects against their doors.

That's where the term comes from: the seniors literally built stacks of heavy objects to block entry to their rooms. For their part, the underclassmen weren't deterred; on the contrary, they took the stacks as a challenge. If this had developed into an arms race, the tradition would probably have become too repetitive (and too destructive) to last very long. Happily, the rivalry instead became ritualized: stacks evolved from physical barriers into, essentially, games. Ditch Day today is a highlight of everyone's year at Caltech; underclassmen look forward to it the way IF'ers look forward to the annual Comp, and seniors take great pride in creating stacks that are original, challenging, and fun. I can't claim to have created more than a shadow of the real thing here, of course.

—MJR
Palo Alto, California
April, 2004

Amusing

A few amusing things to try:

• Smell the Koffee.
• Ask Xojo about the elevator after it gets stuck.
• Continue down the hall in the sub-basement when Xojo is trying to lead you into the storage room.
• Ask Xojo about the rope bridge several times before crossing it, and again after it breaks.
• Examine Colonel Magnxi's hat.
• Read the brochures in the Career Center Office.
• Ask the librarian about his book several times.
• Ask the undergrads in Alley 4 about the stack.
• Play the marble-maze game in Alley 5 several times.
• Take or eat the fruit in Alley 6.
• Solve the Commandant 64 stack in Upper 7.
• Look in cannon barrel from the raised cherry picker.
• Show Plisnik the rat puppet.
• Show Plisnik the rat puppet while wearing it.
• Ask Dave (in the Network Office) about Network Installer Company.
• Try the various suggested excuses when caught outside the “Supplies” room in the steam tunnels.
• When outdoors, look at the sky in the afternoon.
• Look at the graffiti in the various Dabney alleys (virtually every alley location has something to look at).
• Look under the bed in Brian Stamer's room.
• Wear the giant novelty baseball cap.

Characters

In rough order of appearance:

• Doug Mittling is the protagonist, a middle manager for Omegatron, and an alumnus of Caltech. He's currently dissatisfied with his current job and company, but the alternative of Mitachron is so much worse.
• Guanmgon is the nervous manager at the Asian power plant.
• Xojo is initially presented as Guanmgon's obedient employee, who hands us his resume at the first opportunity. We unexpectedly see him again at Alley One North after all the initial Mitachron equipment is set up. It's impossible to talk to him freely with his new boss, Belker, present. During the game's conclusion, it is mentioned that Xojo is eventually hired by Brian's company.
• Colonel Mangxi was supposed to sign a contract with Omegatron after you fixed the SCU, but it seems she can be bribed with a party and a ridiculous hat.
• Frosst Belker is your rival, the scumbag rep from Mitachron. He and his company will use any means to get their way.
• Ms. Dinsdale is the woman at the Career Center Office. She tells Doug and Belker about Brian's challenge, then is too busy to talk after she's done with you.
• Aaron and Erin are electrical engineering (EE) students initially working on Brian Stamer's stack. A gift of $5 each from Belker sends them away. Erin gives you the lab key. They can be found working on another stack in Alley 7 which you may help with. They can tell you about the Morgen textbook and the whereabouts of Scott and Jay. You can have lunch with them in Dining Room. They will also show up after you solve Brian's stack to congratulate you (and to help themselves to Brian's snacks).
• Some NIC workers at the Quad guard the network analyzer and entry into the tunnel. They also appear briefly exiting the Network Room.
• Plisnik is a NIC worker at Bottom of Shaft (below Quad). He's very paranoid about rats. If you can fool him with a fake rat, he'll run away and you can take his abandoned binder and trick his co-workers into giving you their network analyzer.
• A clerk at Bookstore sells stuff. Just put stuff on the counter and give your credit card to make a purchase.
• A librarian at Millikan Lobby guards the elevator. Show your alumni card to him. Optional: ask him about his book a few times.
• Scott is the owner of the Positron game in the Pinball Room. We learn his name and room number (39) from the Positron's instruction card. Knocking on his door tells us (via Aaron) that Scott's working on a stack in Alley 3. That's the Chickenator stack, where chickens can only talk to other chickens. As a chicken, ask Scott about the Positron and offer to repair it to get the brass key that unlocks the Positron's panel.
• Dave is the guy in the Network Office. Ask him about the IP you learned from the analyzer and its associated job number.
• Jay is mentioned in the newspaper found at the bookstore; the article says he's a progamming genius and Dabney resident. Erin can tell you Jay's working on a stack in Alley 4. Provide Jay with a rescued Turbo Power Squirrel, a calculator, and a paper on how to calculate using quantum physics to get your calculator programmed by Jay.
• Ernst is an electrician found at Lauritsen-Downs Courtyard. He only speaks German, so you can't effectively talk to him. He is mentioned on a Physical Plant Office memo that says to keep him and Gunther apart at all costs.
• Gunther is a gardener found at Lawn Near Beckman. He's also German and he uses a cherry picker for his work. If you can get Ernst and Gunther to cross paths, Gunther will chase Ernst, abandoning his cherry picker.
• Brian Stamer is a genius Caltech student that we want to hire. He invites us via a note left at Career Center Office to solve his stack; he'll go with the company whose rep solves it. His stack is at Alley One North, room 4. We finally meet him after we solve his stack. You can offer him a job when the time is right.

Plus... waiters and guests at the colonel's party, and numerous unnamed students all over Dabney House including some giant chickens.

Codes

Books:

• MORGEN: EE textbook that Aaron and Erin recommend.
• XLVI-3, BLOMNER, 70:11C: Introductory references in Stamer's report.
• TOWNSEND: Manual recommended by Morgen textbook.
• DRD: Math tables book recommended when you discover that you need a Hovarth number.
• 73:9A: Advanced reference in Stamer's report.

Following from the spy camera to the Sync Lab Office:

• 3349-2016: Written on a tag seen after pulling the blue cable at Lab 022. Also has "NIC" on it.
• 3312-8622: Referenced by the Plisnik's binder entry for 3349-2016.
• 192.168.72.214: Static IP address for the SPY-9 camera. (look up 3312-8622 in binder). In hex, this IP is C0A848D6.
• 57212: Passcode for Network Room door. Overheard by hiding in nook at Dead End.
• 09C0A848D6: What to type on the analyzer.
• 192.168.11.38: The destination IP address reported by the analyzer.
• 1082-9686: Work number that Network office has.
• 16974: Door combo for Sync Lab Office, 2nd floor, according to 1082-9686 in binder.

Other codes:

• 119297: Xojo's probational employee number at Mitachron.
• 1A80: The broken CPU crystal in the Positron. It has a 9.8304 MHz frequency.
• HOVARTH(17281392): The post-lunch message from the black box.
• 35506392: The value of Hovarth(17281392) and your reply to the black box.
• to be determined: The answer to the Commandant 64 stack in Upper Seven North.

Copyright

This is the copyright notice for the game:

Copyright ©2004 Michael J. Roberts. All rights reserved.

Freeware Software License
This is a copyrighted work, which means that the laws of the United States and other countries prohibit anyone from copying or distributing it without the express written permission of the author. The author hereby grants you permission to use, copy, and redistribute this software, without charge, if you agree to all of the following conditions: you may not alter or remove any copyright notice or license notice in the work; you may not collect a fee for copies of this software, except for a nominal fee to cover the cost of physically making the copy; you may not distribute modified or incomplete versions of this software; and anyone to whom you give a copy of this software receives the same rights that you have under this license and is bound by the same restrictions.

If you have any questions about this license, please contact the author at mjr_@hotmail.com.

Credits

Return to Ditch Day was written and programmed by Michael J. Roberts, using the TADS 3 interactive fiction design system.

The game was tested by Steve Breslin, Eric Eve, Kevin Forchione, Stephen Granade, Andreas Sewe, Dan Shiovitz, and Brett Witty. I can't thank these folks enough for suffering through the early versions and offering so much helpful feedback and so many wonderful ideas for improvements. The game is vastly better for their generous efforts.

Some of the graffiti in the rendition here of Dabney House are based on or shamelessly copied from the real thing. Similarly, a few of the stacks are loosely based on actual stacks of the past. In all cases, the originals are much better than the poor imitations here.

This game was written in parallel with the last year or so of work on TADS 3 itself, so in a sense it's a part of that effort. I therefore wish to thank everyone who contributed via the tads3 list—your advice, ideas, and practical experience using the system in its prolonged half-baked state have made all the difference.

Omegatron, Mitachron, Netbisco, ToxiCola, and Bioventics are trademarks of their respective fictitious companies. J.R.R. Tobacco is a trademark of SG Naming Consultants, used by permission. DEI, DabniCorp, and the elephant-and-shield device are trademarks of Dabney Hovse.

This is a work of fiction. All persons, places, organizations, and events in this story are products of the author's imagination or are used fictionally, and any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental. Nothing in this game is meant to reflect in any way on the real-life Caltech or anyone associated with it. Needless to say, Caltech was not involved in the creation of this work. But the next time your plans call for university education, why not consider Caltech? Nestled near the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains in Pasadena, Caltech offers a unique student experience that is said to cause permanent damage only occasionally. Visit www.caltech.edu today.

For information on writing your own game using TADS, visit the official website at www.tads.org.

Copyright ©2004 Michael J. Roberts. All rights reserved. Type COPYRIGHT for license information.

Inventory

Your usual office attire, all of which you're wearing throughout the game:

• a pair of khakis.
• a pair of brown leather shoes. When the bridge falls in the prologue, you lose a shoe, leaving you with just a left shoe. When you get to Caltech, you will have replaced your missing shoe.
• a wristwatch. Look at it to find out what time it is. You have until 5pm to solve Brian's stack.
• a tan shirt.

Your prologue inventory:

• a contract. You're carrying it. Read it.
• a CT-22 diagnostic module. It's in the Control Room. Fix it by removing the HV chip from its socket and putting the LV chip in its place. Then put the CT itself in the SCU's slot and turn on the SCU to get that working as well.
• an XT772-HV chip. It's in the CT-22's socket. Remove it.
• a circuit tester. It's in the Control Room. Open it; there's a XT772-LV chip inside.
• an XT772-LV chip. It's inside the circuit tester. Put it in the socket of the CT-22 after removing the HV chip.
• a can of Koffee. Xojo fetches this for you if say yes when asked if you'd like some. You don't need any Koffee, but if you do get some, you may drink it.
• a résumé. Xojo offers his résumé to you soon after you enter the elevator.
• a metal plate. It's the cover for the elevator service hatch. Put it in the elevator door's mechanism to unlock it.
• a print-out. Xojo gives this to you soon after you've talked to Magnxi. Reading it ends the prologue part of the game.

Your Caltech inventory:

• a tote bag. You're carrying it. It's your player's carry-all. It's initially closed, but you'll automatically open it if you need to put something in it.
• a campus map. It's inside the tote bag. When outside, you can look up locations on it; for example: look up library on map.
• an information sheet. It's inside the tote bag. Read it.
• a keyring. It's in your pocket. You'll automatically put any keys you acquire on it:
• a house key. It's already on the keyring; you won't use it.
• a lab key. Erin gives it to you after Belker bribes Aaron and Erin to go work on another stack. It unlocks the door to Lab 022.
• a small brass key. Scott gives it to you at after you offer to repair the Positron and to pay for repairs if you make it worse. It unlocks the service door of the Positron in the Pinball Room.
• a wallet. It's in your pocket. It contains:
• a Consumer Express card. Give it to the bookstore clerk when buying the plush rat toy.
• an alumni ID card. Show this card to the library receptionist so he'll let you go into the library elevator.
• a driver's license. You won't use it.
• a note from Brian Stamer. Belker passes it to you during your meeting with Miss Dinsdale in the Career Center Office. Read it, then accept the challenge.
• a Mortera brochure, a Locktheon brochure, and a ToxiCola brochure. You can take them from the rack in the Career Center Office, but you can read them where they are and you don't need them.
• a pocket calculator. It's on the lab bench in Lab 022.
• Give it to Jay after he reads the 73:9a article. He'll want you to find the squirrel action figure.
• Give it to Jay again after you give the squirrel action figure to him. He'll program the calculator for you.
• In Lab 022, type 17281392 on the calculator then put the calculator on the plate. Push the green button then immediately type +++ on the calculator.
• a report folder; after reading, a research paper. It's on the lab bench in Lab 022. Read it. You won't understand it at first, but make note of the three references. Later, after reading the three items referenced, re-read the report to gain a better understanding and find a 4th reference.
• a signal generator. It's on the shelves in Lab 022. It has a knob numbered from 0 to 9, and a connector.
• At Alley One North, try attaching the generator to the box and turning it on.
• When you're ready to solve the stack, connect the generator to the black box, then turn the knob to each digit in the target number until the door to room 4 opens.
• an oscilloscope. It's on the shelves in Lab 022. It has a probe attached to it.
• At Alley One North, try probing the box connector with the scope. As your understanding of Brian's report improves, so will the information you gain from your probing.
• In the Pinball Room, you'll probe the boards, the video amps, and the 1A80 with the scope.
• a copy of the California Tech. It's in the Bookstore and free to take.
• a plush rat toy. Buy it in the Bookstore: put the toy on the counter then give your credit card to the clerk to pay for it. Later, put the rat toy on the toy car.
• You can also buy a plush rhesus monkey and a plush guinea pig, but you don't need them.
• a bookstore receipt. Acquire it when you buy the plush rat toy. By the way, if you make more than one purchase at the bookstore, you get new receipts. The original receipt is white, the second is pink, the third is yellow.
• a toy car. It's in the Robotics Lab. Put the rat toy on it, drop it at the tunnels' T-intersection, then push the remote control's joystick east to send the "rat" to Plisnik, who runs away, terrified.
• a remote control. It's in the Robotics Lab and controls the toy car. Push the joystick in the direction you want the car to go.
• a memo. It's in the Physical Plant Office. Read it. It's a strong hint to make Ernst and Gunther cross paths.
• several colored index cards, all from the Physical Plant Office:
• a green index card. Give it to Gunther to make him go to Beckman Lawn.
• a blue index card. Give it to Ernst to make him go to Orange Walk.
• a yellow index card. Give it to Gunther to make him go to Olive Walk.
• a pink index card. Give it to Ernst to make him go to Lauritsen.
• an Electronics Lectures textbook. Acquire it by looking up Morgen on the third floor of the library. Read it to learn about Townsend's lab manual.
• a lab manual. Acquire it by looking up Townsend on the third floor of the library. Read it. You'll need to look up topics in it while repairing the Positron pinball machine.
• an Introductory Quantum Physics textbook. Acquire it by looking up Blomner on the sixth floor of the library. Read it.
• Quantum Review Letters number 70:11c. Acquire it by looking up 70:11c on the sixth floor of the library. Read it.
• Science & Progress issue XLVI-3. Acquire it by looking up XLVI-3 on the second floor of the library. Read it.
• Quantum Review Letters number 73:9a. Acquire it by looking up 73:9a on the sixth floor of the library. Read it. You'll later give it to Jay to read, to help him learn about quantum programming.
• a network analyzer. After getting rid of Plisnik (see toy car), at Bottom of Shaft, ask the workers for the analyzer and they'll give it to you, thinking you're Plisnik. Go to the Network Room and plug the analyzer into the router box's jack. Type 09C0A848D6 on the analyzer to learn a new IP address: 192.168.11.38.
• a three-ring binder. It's at Bottom of Shaft, but you'll have to get rid of Plisnik first (see toy car).
• Look up 3349-2016 in the binder, then look up 3312-8622 in the binder to learn IP address 192.168.72.214.
• Later, look up 1082-9686 in the binder to learn the door combo for the Sync Lab Office is 16974.
• a dingy sheet of paper. It falls out of the three-ring binder when you first read it. Read the paper to learn how to use the analyzer in the Network Room, although the paper's poor English may make this difficult in itself to figure out.
• a chicken suit. It's in the Chickenator. To wear it, you'll have to drop everything else you're carrying. Follow the instruction sign and pull the switch when turning into a chicken or back to human. You need to wear the suit to talk to the other giant chickens, one of which is Scott, since chickens can only talk to other chickens according to the rules.
• a brown paper sack. It's inside the Positron's service compartment; unlock the door with the brass key. It has random spare parts for the machine, but you won't find them until you figure out what's wrong with the machine first.
• an old 9.8304 MHz crystal. In the Pinball Room, you find it by probing the 1a80 of the Positron with the oscilloscope. Turn off the machine and take the crystal.
• a new 9.8304 MHz crystal. Find it by searching the sack after finding the old crystal. Replace the old crystal with the new one.
• a yellow note. It's on the Positron saying "Out of Order". Take it after you've fixed the machine.
• a DRD Handbook. Acquire it by looking up DRD on the sixth floor of the library. Read it. Look up Hovarth in it.
• a machine gear. It's inside the cannon at East Olive Walk; you'll need to use the cherry picker to reach it. The gear is just an Easter Egg in this game.
• a squirrel action figure. It's inside the cylinder in the Wind Tunnel Lab. Give it to Jay in Alley Four.
• a clear plastic dome. It covers the plate in Lab 022. Take it so you can put the calculator on the plate.
• a baseball cap. It's in Room 4 after Belker enters. If you try putting it on, it attempts to take over your mind. Yikes.

Score

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

• the support of Robin Johnson, Ville Lavonius, Andrew Schultz, Kenneth Hon, Jason McIntosh, Carl Muckenhoupt, Mark Musante, and Phil Tatro;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen and Amelia;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Marius Müller, and Jennifer Rexrode;
• and the invisible support of several anonymous patrons.