THE RUIN OF 0CEANUS PR1ME is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 6 and is © 2023 by Marco Innocenti. It was an entry in PunyJam #4 where it took NTH place. It is also a sequel to A1RL0CK, also by Marco Innocenti.
In this sci-fi horror game, you play as Colonel J.T. Thomas investigating the ruins of an underwater research facility on Saturn's moon, Titan. Biofarm wants something called 73-Jon, and it's your job to find and retrieve it. Lucky you.
Content warnings: foul language, physical and psychological abuse of children and animals, drug abuse.
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.
The Deep
During the first few turns, you're taking to someone named Carter via your suit's radio.
> i. x suit.
> x screen. (It's off.)
> x buttons. (unlabelled)
Carter says to turn the suit on. Hint hint.
> turn on suit.
It's very unclear at first, but your suit's screen has two settings; you're either using an infrared or magnetic scanner. Pushing the buttons switches between the two.
> x screen. (Infrared tells you nothing.)
> push buttons. (switching to magnetic)
> x screen. (Magnetic path strongest to northwest.)
> nw.
The Deepest
Carter says there's movement near you.
> push buttons. (back to infrared)
> x screen. (many signals below)
> d.
Schoolyard
> x fish. (You feel a desire to touch them.)
> touch fish. (You start babbling, then black out.)
>> ENTER
The game's banner is displayed.
Belly
> n.
Out into the Blue
> x bubble. x orifice. x tentacles. x strobe.
> x display. x bio.
> push button. (back to magnetic)
> x screen. (Something below.)
> d.
The Nose of Something Much Bigger
> x nostrils. (They're windows.)
> x structure. x sirens. x sand. x rubble.
> e. (Shatterproof glass blocks you.)
> open window. (can't)
> break window. (can't)
> u. u.
Entrance to the Gallery
> x arch. s. (An eel frightens you briefly.)
A Cave of Eyes
> x eyes. (Some move, freeing a slab that sticks to the floor.)
> x slab. push slab. (It falls out of the cave.)
> x knot.
> n. d. d.
The Nose of Something Much Bigger
The slab cracked the windows.
> x crack. e.
The Greenhouse
> x beds. x crops. x lettuce. x pistils.
> x hemp —or— x poppies.
> x doors. (northeast and southeast)
> se.
Corridor 4-2, A
> x boulder. x opening.
You can't get past the boulder. Try the other door from the greenhouse.
> w. ne.
Corridor 4-1, A
> x grate. x bulkhead. x alarm.
> x panel. (Note the rectangular socket above it.)
> e.
Corridor 4-1, B
> x offshoots. x dents.
> s.
Tech Duct, B
> x ducts. x doors. x light.
> x roof. x device. take it. (can't)
> se. (no: Room beyond is flooded.)
So, is that device holding the water up somehow?
> w.
Radio Hall Broadcasting Mayhem
> talk to base. z. z. z. z. z.
Carter claims you were out of touch for over 20 hours. You want out. He says you can't return without results. You need to find 73-Jon, whatever that is.
> x equipment.
> e. ne.
Main Plaza of the Zoo
> x tubes. x contents. (fish)
> x water. x strip. take it. (not with that water pressure)
There's a circular strip around the hole, very similar to the device holding the water roof up in Tech Duct B, but the water flow is too powerful for you to take the strip.
> x tentacles. x plexiglass.
> ne.
Cold Wheels
> x gadget. take it.
> x grates. x pipes. x machinery.
> x machine. x maze.
> x entrance. (set to full)
> x lock. (set to full)
> x branch. (set to zero)
The machine has three wheels: entrance feed, lock system, and divergent branch. Each wheel has five settings: zero, faint, moderate, strong, or full.
There's a mechanical diagram of a maze with three points of interest (entrance, obstacles, and crossroads) that correspond to the three wheels.
Setting the wheels to new settings changes both the maze and the water flow in the plaza. I experimented with the settings until the flow was "gentle as a lamb":
> set entrance to moderate.
> set lock to moderate.
> set branch to full.
The background noise stops. You get a mental warning to leave or else.
> s.
Main Plaza of the Zoo
> x water. take strip. (success)
> w. s.
Corridor 4-2, B
The other side of the boulder is here, but ignore it.
> s.
The Nearest Bank Branch
> x cases. x contents. (life forms)
> search contents. (73-Jon isn't here.)
> x hole. (looks VERY DANGEROUS)
> x panel. (useless)
> x screen. (like a party that went on too long)
> n. (Door doesn't open from this side)
> e.
Too Advanced Labs
> x consoles. x terminal.
> link to terminal. g. g. g. g. g. g.
You learn that Oceanus Prime was making human-alien hybrids. You vomit inside your suit, and you knock something to the floor.
> look. x tube. take it.
> n. (no: other side is flooded)
> x door. (concave indent under door)
> put strip in tube. i. x device.
> put device in indent.
> n.
You get another mental warning: leave the nest to 73Jon.
The Butchery
As you enter, Carter starts another conversation with you, ...
> z. z. z. z. z.
... but it doesn't go well. Carter tells you to find the lifeboats, and if you find 73-Jon on the way, great.
> x blocks. x laces. (You find an electric knife.)
> take knife. x it.
> x valve. open valve. (Probably a red button elsewhere opens it.)
> w. n. w.
Corridor 4-1, A
> put gadget in socket. (The panel is now unlocked.)
> open panel. look in panel.
> touch beaks. (They're electrified.)
> put knife in beaks. (The knife is recharged.)
> e. s. ne.
Main Plaza of the Zoo
> cut tentacles. (with knife; they retreat)
> nw.
The voice talks to you again; it knows about your children from your mind.
The Nursery
You start a final conversation with Carter.
> z. z. z. z. z. (You disconnect your radio.)
> x cradles. x monitors.
> x corpse. (His hand points to a red button.)
> search corpse. ("G. POGGIALI")
> x button. push button.
Head back to the Butchery.
> s. w. s. s. e. n.
The Butchery
The valve is one way; there's no way back.
> x valve. (It's open now.)
> e.
Tech Duct, C
You're now in the endgame territory.
> x tentacles. n. e.
Cages
> x cages. x sea.
> x wall. look in crack. (cave of flesh)
> x rifle. (mounted on rotating platform and aimed north)
> turn rifle. (It points east.)
> turn rifle. (It points south.)
> pull trigger. (A harpoon hits something. There's a cable attached to it.)
> x cable. (It's under tension.)
> w. s. s. e.
The Last Harbour
The harpoon is stuck in the last lifeboat, but that's okay, because even without it, the lifeboat couldn't take you anywhere
> x lifeboat. x commlink.
> save (Just in case.)
> link to commlink.
You get a condensed menu to choose from.
The self-destruct (S) option kills you immediately, so don't do that.
The deploy (D), manuever (M), and auto-docking (A) options aren't helpful.
You should read the log, set the lifeboat to silent mode, then order a launch. Normally, the lifeboat broadcasts a countdown into your helmet, but in silent mode, you won't get those messages — and neither will whatever's reading your mind.
>> R (This log summarizes the events of A1RL0CK.)
>> E (Silent mode activated.)
>> L (Launch begins silently.)
>> yes
The launch will happen eight turns from now. Move fast.
> w. n. e.
>> yes
For We Are Many
73Jon, who will also call itself Legion, is a horrific amalgamation of all the discarded experiments and it wants to talk to you about the Bible and Jesus before it tries to kill you.
> x children. (One tentacle is close.)
> x tentacle. (It's really within reach.)
> take tentacle. (You wrap it around your arm.)
> x 73Jon.
> z.
As Legion finishes its speech and moves towards you, the cave of flesh is suddenly torn open by the cable attached to the launching lifeboat. Because you are anchored by the tentacle, you're not killed in the maelstrom, but you're still flung upward very quickly and you pass out.
You wake in the abyss with a young girl. Both of you are breathing underwater somehow, and she leads you away from the ruin of Oceanus Prime.
*** You have won ***
Found dead:
Mentioned:
This is the response to CREDITS:
THE RUIN OF 0CEANUS PR1ME is a sequel to A1RL0CK, by the same author. Playing it is not necessary to fully enjoy RUIN, but is still recommended.
Dedicated to the memory of Gerardo Poggiali, on the twentieth anniversary of his death. You put me on this cursed path, and I will never be able to thank you enough. (2 Dec 2003 - 2 Dec 2023)
The game was tested by Jade, Garry Francis, Audrey Lee and Stefan Vogt. It uses the PunyInform libraries by Johan Berntsson and Fredrik Ramsberg, and of course Inform6 by Graham Nelson (and a lot of other people). The C64 version has been compiled with Ozmoo by Johan Berntsson and Fredrik Ramsberg.
Check more games by the author at andromedalegacy.com or at jpking.itch.io.
Items are listed in the order you acquire them in this walkthrough.
Honorary mention:
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!