Key & Compass presents:
The Time Machine v2.0
by Bill Maya

• Map
• Walkthrough
• Extras
  • Artwork, Characters, Credits, Endings, Inventory
• Thank You to my Patreon supporters
• Support me on Ko-Fi
• External links:
  • This game at Homepage, CASA, GitHub, IFDB, and IFWiki.
  • Follow me at Bluesky, Ko-Fi, Mastodon, Patreon, and Wordpress.

Map

Walkthrough

68 Woking Street (1895)

You are Wells's attorney. You watch as Wells fights against the orderlies who force him into the ambulance. He accidentally drops his pocket watch.

> take watch. x it.

> x Dr.

> Dr, hello. topics.

> ask him about Wells.

> ask him about himself.

> ask him about workshop. (Ask Mrs Watchett for a key.)

> ask him about Mrs Watchett. (in kitchen)

> ask him about watch.

> ask him about examination.

> ask him about time travel.

> ask him about diagnosis.

> ask him about Weena.

> ask him about Eloi.

> ask him about Morlocks.

> x snow. x house. x ambulance.

> x driver. x horses. x me.

> bye. n.

Just before you leave, Humboldt gives you a single petal and asks if you can find the rest of the flower in his workshop. Then he enters the ambulance and it leaves.

> x petal. (supposedly from 802,701 AD)

> n.

Entryway

> n. (locked)

> u. (nothing of interest is upstairs)

> w.

Library

> x Gernsback. x book. x chair.

> x window. x desk.

> x papers. read papers.

> hello. topics.

> ask him about book. ("The Time Machine")

> ask him about workshop.

> ask him about key.

> ask him about Watchett.

> ask him about himself.

> ask him about Wells.

> ask him about doctor.

> tell him about Wells.

> ask him about time machine.

> ask him about Morlocks.

> ask him about Eloi.

> bye. n.

Parlor

> x fireplace. x fire. x poker. take it.

> x orrery. x left panel. x right panel.

> x central panel. read it.

Examine the right panel a second time.

> x right panel. (can be opened)

> open right panel. x mechanism.

> x fuse holder. x orrery fuse. take it.

> x newspaper. read it.

> look through door. (garden seen)

> x armchairs.

> n.

Dining Room

> x table. x chair. x sideboard.

> n.

Kitchen

> x Mrs. x table.

> hello. topics.

> ask her about Wells.

> ask her about workshop. (Wells had the only key.)

> ask her about key.

> tell her about Dr.

> ask her about experiments.

> ask her about herself.

> ask her about her work.

> ask her about Gernsback. ("... sell his own mother for a pound.")

> ask her about time travel.

> bye.

> s. s. e.

Garden

> x windows. x latch. (closed)

> x gate. x bench. x snow. x flora.

One way to get into the workshop is to stand on the bench, then break the window's latch with the poker from the parlor, open the window, then enter.

But you still need the key, regardless, so let's not cause property damage this time.

Head back to the street.

> w. close door. s.

Library

Gernsback no longer wants to wait around; this is triggered by a turn count and you being in the library. He leaves a box of matches on the desk before he goes.

> x box. take it.

> e. s.

68 Woking Street

Mrs. Watchett suggested looking where you last saw Wells.

> x scuffle —or— x area.

> search area. (You acquire the workshop key.)

Yes, you might've found the key earlier by searching the area, but your chance of success goes up if you asked Watchett about the key first. If you didn't find the key, keep searching the area until you do.

> n.

Entryway

> unlock workshop door with key.

> n.

Darkness / Workshop

> turn on light.

> x blackboard. read it. x bench.

> x machine. enter it. x it. x controls.

> x origin. ("00001895")

> x destination. ("00802701")

> x elapsed time. (all zeroes)

> x light. (off)

> x lever. (can be pushed upward)

> x panel. open it. (locked)

> push lever. (Nothing happens and it returns slowly to its initial position.)

> unlock panel with key.

> x fuse holder.

> x time machine fuse. (burnt)

> take it.

> put orrery fuse in holder. (The light lights up.)

> close panel. lock it with key.

> push lever.

Clearing (802,701)

> x elapsed. (800,806 years elapsed.)

> out.

> x well. x statue. x trees. x dome.

> e.

Domed Building

> x dome.

> e.

Inside the Domed Building

> x tables. x murals. x well. x wall. x oculus.

> s.

Balcony

> x river. x people. x path.

> n. w. w.

Clearing

You now see the path here that you saw from the balcony.

> se.

River Bank

> x Eloi. x river.

> hello.

> ask Eloi about Eloi. (They don't understand you.)

> show watch to Eloi.

Several of them walk you back to the clearing.

Clearing

One Eloi points at the well cover and then at the watch.

> move cover. (It's open now.)

> x well. x rungs.

> d. d.

Bottom of the Well

> n.

Shaft - Level 1

> x platform. d.

Shaft - Level 2

> s.

Tunnel Collapse

> x rock. n. d.

Shaft - Level 3

> s. (Morlocks attack, but you beat them back with the poker and retreat.)

It's best to avoid the Morlocks, honestly, since you don't always manage a stalemate and you can never truly defeat them, so continue downwards.

> d.

Shaft - Level 4

> s.

Eating Area

> x troughs.

> s.

Abattoir

> x table. x clothing.

> search clothing. (You acquire a tunic.)

> s.

Holding Cell

> x Weena. hello.

> show watch to Weena. (She's too terrified.)

> n. (Weena stays behind; she's afraid of the dark.)

Abattoir

> s.

Holding Cell

The longest lasting light you can acquire is a makeshift torch made from the tunic and the poker. The runner-up choice is to burn the newspaper, and the worst and last option is to use the matches, one at a time.

> tie tunic to poker.

> light torch with match.

Quickly, go directly to the clearing before the torch burns out. Weena will gradually become more brave the closer she gets to the outside.

> n. n. n.

> u. u. u.

> s. u. u.

Clearing

> hello.

> show petal to Weena. (She gives you the flower in her hair to you, then runs off.)

> x flower.

> enter machine.

> push lever.

Workshop (1895)

> out.

Dr. Humboldt enters, even if you locked the door, asking where you were. He notices the time machine for the first time.

Here, your motto must be show, don't tell.

> show flower.

*** You have proved Wells' sanity and saved him from the insane asylum. ***

If you don't have the flower, you can also prove Wells is sane by re-entering the machine and pushing the lever. You make a quick trip to the future and back, astonishing the doctor.

Extras

Artwork

This game includes illustrations both for the locations and for the people you can try to talk to. Here is a small sampling of screencaptures of that artwork, reduced in size. Please play the game to see the artwork in its intended sizes and contexts.

Note that the artwork for 1895 is entirely monochromatic (black, white, and grays), while the images of the future use the full color palette.

Characters

Main characters:

• You are Wells's attorney and an old friend.
• Dr. Humboldt thinks Wells may have gone insane because of his fantastic stories about visiting the future. Unless you can provide prove of his stories, an examination and a diagnosis will have to be made. He's on the street at the start of the game, and enters the workshop when it's time for the endgame.
• Gernsback is a businessman who owns several mills. He's Wells's financial backer, but Mrs. Watchett doesn't fully trust him. He's in the library, reading a book to pass the time.
• Mrs. Watchett is Wells's housekeeper. She's busy cleaning up the kitchen.
• Eloi are a race of humans who live in the forest. They are a simple-minded and attractive people, but timid like deer.
• Morlocks are a race of brutish and ugly subhumans who live underground.
• Weena is a female Eloi that Wells met. She's in the Morlock's holding cell and terrified.

Minor characters:

• Wells built a time-machine, said so, and was promptly hospitalized. One of his earlier inventions was an orrery.
• Orderlies force Wells into the ambulance.
• The ambulance driver is impatient to go, but waits for the doctor to get in.
• Horses are hitched to the ambulance; car engines haven't been invented yet.

Credits

To read the in-game credits, type the ABOUT command, then open the menu item "Thanks to my Beta testers":

Thanks to my Beta testers

I cannot thank the people listed below who beta tested various versions of this game enough. Their efforts and their attention to detail made this game much, much better.

v2.0 Beta Testers

• Phil Halprin
• John Ziegler
• David White
• Mike Russo
• Rovarsson
• Mike Carletta

v1.9 Beta Testers

• Mike Carletta
• Brian Rushton
• John Ziegler

v1.0 Beta Testers

• Phil Halprin
• Chirstopher Merriner
• Grueslayer
• Mike Carletta
• Javier Garza
• Brian Rushton
• David White

I also want to thank the people who took the time to write a review of "The Time Machine" v1.0 after playing it during ParserComp 2021.

• Mike Russo
• Thomas Mack
• Rovarsson
• Leopold Tal

Endings

• You have failed to prove Wells' sanity and save him from the insane asylum.
• if you return from the future without the flower, and instead of demonstrating the machine, you repeat trying to tell him about things you saw, like the dome, Eloi, Morlocks, Weena, the machine, the machine's controls, etc. until his patience is exhausted.
• You have proved Wells' sanity and saved him from the insane asylum.
• if you show the flower to Dr. Humboldt.
• if you travel in the machine in front of Dr. Humboldt.
• if Dr. Humboldt sees the time machine appear in the workshop with Weena inside it. To manage that, you must never travel in the machine, but push the lever while you're not inside the machine, so the machine travels into the future empty. After many turns, Weena arrives in the machine.

As near as I can tell, you can never lose by dying or by getting stranded in time.

Inventory

• a pocket watch. It's on the street outside Wells's home.
• At the river bank, show the watch to the Eloi. This prompts them to lead you back to the clearing, and they gesture that you should open the well, which you can do by pushing its cover.
• a petal. Dr Humboldt gives it to you just before you enter Wells's house.
• When Weena is in the clearing, show the petal to her. She gives you a flower with the same petals, then runs off.
• a newspaper. It's on one of the armchairs in the parlor.
• In the Morlock tunnels, you can burn the newspaper with a match for a light source, but the torch is better and lasts longer.
• a poker. It's beside the fireplace in the parlor.
• First, of all, you can use the poker to help you get into the workshop. In the garden, stand on the bench and break the window latch with the poker. Now you can open the window and go south into the room. Of course, this is unnecessary if you have the key.
• Second, the poker is a weapon against the Morlocks if they attack you on level 3. However, you can at best only ever manage a stalemate, based on how often you've been attacked and how long ago. If you lose a fight with the Morlocks, you wake up in the holding cell.
• Third, you can tie the tunic to the poker to create a makeshift torch. If you light it with a match, this is very helpful in getting Weena to follow you out through the tunnels back to the clearing. When the torch burns out, you have the poker again.
• the workshop key. Find it on the street by searching the scuffle area, but you're unlikely to find it unless you first asked Mrs Watchett about the key and learning she doesn't have it and that Wells keeps losing it.
• The key unlocks both the workshop door in the entryway and the panel in the time machine's controls.
• a box of matches containing five matches. Gernsback leaves it on the library desk when he leaves. I think he leaves when you first enter the library after obtaining both the key and the orrery fuse.
• When you take a match, it's called a new match.
• When you light a match, it's called a flaming match. You may light (or burn) either the newspaper or the torch with a flaming match.
• Weena follows you with or without a light source, but the specific messages change. She obviously prefers light instead of darkness.
• A flaming match burns out quickly and becomes a burnt match which you automatically discard.
• a time machine fuse. It's inside the fuse holder in the panel of the time machine's controls, as seen from inside the machine. Unlock the panel with the workshop key.
• Take it. This fuse is burnt out. If you show this fuse to Gernsback in the library, he shows you how to get the orrery fuse.
• an orrery fuse. It's in a fuse holder in the mechanism inside the right panel of the orrery on the mantel in the parlour. Examine the right panel twice to realize it can be slid open.
• After removing the time machine fuse, put the orrery fuse into the fuse holder in the panel of the time machine's controls, as seen from inside the machine. This enables the machine.
• I don't know if it's necessary, but for safety's sake, after replacing the fuse, close and lock the panel. I certainly don't want a curious Eloi (or anyone else) walking off with the fuse, do you?
• an Eloi tunic. Find it in the abattoir by searching the clothing there.
• You cannot wear the tunic.
• Tie the tunic to the poker to create a makeshift torch.
• a makeshift torch. Create it by tying the tunic to the poker.
• In the holding cell, light the torch with a flaming match. Now Weena will follow you. Go directly to the clearing before the torch burns out.
• With a lit torch, you can visit the level 3 locations without encountering Morlocks, but the only benefit is seeing the location artwork. You also risk losing Weena when the torch goes out.
• If you have no source of light and Weena stays behind, you can take advantage of a bug and go up to the clearing regardless. Weena will belatedly follow you, even if you cannot see her. Wait in the clearing until she appears for real there.
• a flower. In the clearing, Weena gives a flower to you when you show her the petal.
• In the workshop, show the flower to the doctor to prove that Wells is not insane.

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, Allyson Gray, and Daniel Stelzer;
• the generous support of Janice M Eisen, Matthew Foxley, Thomas Insel, Brian Long, and Andy Volk;
• the very generous support of Karl Ove Hufthammer, Lance Campbell, and DrkStarr;
• the extremely generous support of Emily Short, Allen Garvin, Jesse McGrew, Jacqueline Ashwell, Jennifer Rexrode, and Christos Dimitrakakis;
• 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!