Key & Compass presents:
Return to the Stars
by Adrian Welcker

• Maps
  • Map 1: Prison Island
  • Map 2: Military Complex
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Tweet about this walkthrough on Twitter.

Maps

Map 1: Prison Island

Map 2: Military Complex

Walkthrough

Your Cell

> x me. i. x fatigues.

> x bed. x bedsheets. rip them.

> x camera. hit it.

> x grate. pull it. x duct. enter duct.

Hm. Entering the duct didn't actually get you to anywhere new.

> n. (oh. The game wants you to crawl.)

> crawl.

Prison Installations Room

> out. x machine. x panel.

The labels on the switches are ROT13-encoded; they mean LIGHTS, VENTILATION, MAGLOCK, and CONTROLS respectively. The maglock keeps the prison's airlock locked; you'll need to turn it off before you can leave the building.

> turn off maglock.

> x ladder. u.

Control Room

> x screens. x helmet. x wires.

> take helmet.

> look under desk. x card.

> s. e. e.

Storage Space

> x plating. take plating. (You're now wearing the suit.)

> x suit. x card.

> take bars. x bar.

> w. n.

Prison Antecourt

Note the new info in the status bar; you have air for 99 minutes. Without the suit's protection, you'd die quickly.

> e.

Prison Docks

> x dock. x water. d.

Darkness / At The Bottom Of The Ocean

Don't waste too much time; you want to get to those buildings you saw from the docks.

> turn on light. n. n. n. n.

Shore Docks

> x incline. n.

Military Complex Plaza

> x force field. e. (Only your dirty hand passes through.)

> s.

Shore Docks

> wear mud. n. e.

The mud lets you walk through the force field.

Hangar

> x ship. x doors. u.

Control Tower

> look through window. x desk.

> turn field off. open doors. push red button.

> look through window. (The ship is now on the pad.)

> d. n. enter ship.

Landing Strip (in the messenger ship)

> x panels. (A notch needs something.)

> out. s. w. w.

Mess Hall

> x couch. x pillows. x tables. x counters.

> w.

Barracks

> x beds. s.

Communal Washroom

> x sink. x mirror. x toilet. x shower.

> take shower. (You are no longer mud-covered.)

> n. e. e.

Military Complex Plaza

> x door. unlock it with card.

> n. w.

Armory

> take rifle. x it.

> x rack. hit rack. x metal.

> x crate. take clips. x clip.

> e. n. e.

Briefing Room

> x screen. x lectern. x table.

You may want to SAVE the game before the upcoming fight scene.

> w. n.

Ops Center

There's two hostile aliens! The larger one swallows something!

Shoot the smaller one first; his aim is a lot better than the larger alien, who often misses. Combat is slightly randomized; if you miss your shot, try again until you succeed.

If you're killed, UNDO and try again.

> shoot smaller. (He dies; the larger one misses.)

> shoot larger. (He dies too.)

> cut larger with knife. x data.

> s. s. s. e. n. enter ship.

Landing Strip (in the messenger ship)

> put data in notch.

> turn on ship. launch.

Planetary Orbit (in the messenger ship)

> go home.

*** You have returned home ***

> notes

Extras

Characters

• A small bird will sometimes fly in and out through the force field, demostrating that the field does let some things through.
• A larger alien and a smaller alien are talking in the ops center, but they grab weapons and try to kill you when they see you. The larger alien swallows the data crypt. The smaller alien is a better shot with his weapon.

Mentioned:

• Shevok Kemalik is the prison's warden named on the ID card. Maybe he was one of the two aliens in the ops center, but it's impossible to tell.
• Unnameed military forces respond to your arrival in Earth's solar system during the epilogue.

Credits

This is the credits menu-section accessed via ABOUT, CREDITS, or HINT:

Return to the Stars by Adrian Welcker
Built using Inform 7 and the following extensions:
Standard Rules version 3/120430 by Graham Nelson
English Language version 1 by Graham Nelson
Basic Screen Effects version 7/140425 by Emily Short
Menus version 3 by Emily Short
Smarter Parser version 16/140501 by Aaron Reed
Undo Output Control version 5/170902 by Nathanael Nerode (based on the extension by Erik Temple; integrates Empty Command Handling by Daniel Stelzer based on code by Matt Weiner)
Title Case for Headings version 1/170902 by Nathanael Nerode
Multi-examine version 3/210518 by Jon Ingold (updated by Adrian Welcker)
Time-keeping based on code by Eric Eve.

Playtesters: Lucas Beringer, Erik Schwejda, Edo, and Peter M.J. Gross

This is the response to NOTES after winning the game:

Thank you for playing "Return to the Stars"!

The general premise of needing to escape from captivity on an alien world occurred to me in early 2018, but as things often go in life, I was busy with other projects, so the idea was set aside and mostly forgotten about. The announcement of ParserComp 2021 brought the concept back to my mind, I reduced the scope somewhat, and in April '21 I finally sat down and started working on the implementation in earnest – partially out of sheer boredom, some five months into Germany's second COVID lockdown. Its release marks the first time I actually finish and publish a piece of IF.

With the minor history lesson out of the way, it is time for some acknowledgements. While it is often said in writing circles that "everything has been done before", and that it's all about the individual author's take on a certain concept, I think it is only fair for me to acknowledge the major source of inspiration for "Return": Marko Kloos' Frontlines novel series. (And probably half a dozen others, subconsciously, but that's usually the one that comes to my mind when I think "military SF". I highly recommend it.) As such, the appearance of certain names or phrases, such as space-borne infantry, is no coincidence. (Rest assured, however, that this is not just a barely-concealed fanficion.)

And, last but not least, a huge THANK YOU to my playtesters, who helped catch a number of larger and smaller issues in the game: Lucas Beringer, Erik Schwejda, Edo, and Peter M.J. Gross.

Endings

• You have died
• if go outside without wearing your suit,
• if you take the suit off when outside,
• or if you run out of air when outside.
• You have drowned
• if you take off the suit when underwater,
• or if you run out of air when underwater.
• You have been shot
• if one of the aliens kills you.
• You have returned home
• if you fly back to Earth in the messenger ship.

Inventory

• a set of fatigues. You're wearing them.
• Ignore them. You're not willing to take them off.
• some bedsheets. They're on the cot in your cell.
• Rip them up, if you like. You have no use for them.
• your helmet. It's on a table in the control room.
• Just take the helmet and ignore the wires.
• When you have both the helmet and the plating (see armor), you'll automatically wear the complete suit; the helmet is now part of the suit. You must have the helmet first; you won't take the plating without it.
• The helmet has a lamp that you can switch on and off.
• The helmet, when worn, will automatically translate any shwabolian writing you see; for example, the labels on switches, the signs on the buildings, and the ID card.
• a prison warden's ID card. Acquire this purple card by looking under the desk in the control room.
• The card unlocks the door to the command center, north of the military complex plaza.
• your armor. You'll wear this spacesuit automatically when you obtain both the helmet and the plating. The plating is on the shelves in the storage space, but you won't take it unless you already have the helmet.
• Your armor provides you with breathable air for 99 minutes whenever you enter a location where there isn't breathable air, which is everywhere outside, underwater, and in outer space.
• Your armor immediately refills its air supply whenever you go inside any of the buildings.
• At the shore docks, wear some mud, covering your suit with it. Now you can pass through the force field that surrounds the hangar.
• In the communal washroom, take a shower to wash off any mud or blood that the suit has acquired. This is optional; there are no consequences for not cleaning your suit.
• While your armor provides some protection against the aliens' weapons, it can only do so for a couple turns. It will take damage, and a point-blank shot will kill you.
• five ration bars. They're on the shelves in the storage space.
• Eat one, if you like. Or ignore them. You will not die of hunger in this game.
• a shard. Acquire it by hitting a mirror in the communal washroom.
• Unfortunately, the shard is too delicate to cut anything. You don't need it. What you need is the knife.
• a rifle. It's on a rack in the armory.
• With both the rifle and ammo in hand, you can shoot the aliens in the ops center. Always shoot the smaller alien first, since he has better aim and far more likely to kill you with his weapon.
• three ammo clips. They're in a crate in the armory.
• You just need to have them when carrying the rifle. You don't need to explicitly insert or attach the clips.
• a makeshift knife. Acquire it by breaking the rack in the armory. It's one of the rack's sharp struts.
• After you've killed both aliens in the ops center, cut the larger alien with the knife to obtain the data crypt he swallowed earlier.
• Unfortunately, you won't be cutting open any couches or pillows in the mess hall with the knife. They aren't hiding anything.
• data crypt. Acquire it in the ops center by cutting open the larger alien with the makeshift knife.
• Put the data crypt into the notch of the control panel inside the ship. This acts like putting an ignition key into a car. Now you can turn on the ship and prepare the ship for launch.

Thank You to my Patreon supporters

This walkthrough was funded via Patreon with

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

Ko-Fi is a way to send me small one-time donations. Every little bit helps, and thank you!