Dots wallpaper. 
Diamonds wallpaper. 
Solid wallpaper. 
Little Nums wallpaper. 
Big Num wallpaper. 
Compass wallpaper. 
Complete map of Sector 471, with the PC at Pipes (SW). 
A scan at Scanning Hub showing 12 bugs.
Trouble in Sector 471 is a Glulx interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2022 by Arthur DiBianca. It was an entry in IF Comp 2022 where it took 5th place.
In this limited-command game, you play as Exter-17, a bot who exterminates bugs. You are dispatched to Sector 471 to first fix a power outage, then to eliminate all the bugs there. Useful bots will be rewarded!
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.
Entry Node
> help.
> e.
Hall
> com. (Gree-8 doesn't respond.)
> e. e.
Power Regulation
> com. (Engi-12 doesn't respond.)
> s.
Primary Power Conduit
> zap. (The bug is gone.)
> SPACESPACESPACE
New objective: eliminate pests. This walkthrough prioritizes this objective, leaving all optional tasks to be solved afterwards.
Also, the ROX command is now available. ROX sends a signal to any nearby crystal; this is akin to pushing a button to get something to happen.
> n.
Power Regulation
> com. (Engi-12 says the power regulators and zirbol tank controls are here.)
> w.
Chip Analysis
Note depiction of lightning bolt followed by two dots.
> w.
Hall
> com. (Gree-8 welcomes you.)
> rox. (The door opens.)
> s.
Switchboard
Alas, Oper-4 is always too busy to talk to you.
> com. e.
Storage 93A
Note the D-13 contregulator. You can ignore the labels on the containers.
> z. z. z. z. (A storage bug appears.)
> zap. (11 bugs remaining.)
> w. s.
Conveyors
> com. (You need general sector access to go further south.)
> n. w.
Validation Center
Note: You must have spoken to Secu-10 first before Exam-11 here can help you.
> com. (Exam-11 wants you to spin up the spindle.)
> s.
Spindle Room
Exam-11 didn't say exactly how fast they want the spindle spinning, but I'll tell you. They want it "pretty fast".
ROX toggles this crystal "on" and "off". When "on", the spindle's speed increases every turn. If the spindle's speed gets too fast, it breaks to a stop then continues speeding up again. So when the spindle's speed is at "pretty fast", ROX to turn off the crystal and keep the spindle at that speed.
> rox. (The spindle starts rotating.)
> z. z. z. z. ("pretty fast")
> rox. (The crystal goes dark.)
> n.
Validation Center
> com. (Exam-11 attaches an access module to you.)
> st.
> e. s. s.
Monitors
Note the soft scratching above you; deal with that later.
> s.
Junction
You can never do anything with the artificial plant.
> s.
Thermal Exchange
> com. (Engi-18 needs a contregulator.)
You saw one in storage, but you currently have no way to pick it up.
> n. w.
Salon
> com. (You are now shiny.)
> n.
Upgrade Station
> com. (Mod-9 wants rivets.)
> s. s.
Empty Room
> zap. (10 bugs remain.)
> rox. (A ticking sound begins.)
If you wait here for 11 turns, the ticking lasts that long, then stops, but I won't force you to wait.
> n. e. s. e.
Safety Override
Note the panel for later.
> e.
Parts Distribution
> rox. ("Destination: Chip Analysis")
> rox. ("Destination: Upgrade Station")
> w. w. n. w. n.
Upgrade Station
> com. (Mod-9 adds a grabber to you. You can now PIK things.)
PIK acts like TAKE, GRAB, DROP, GIVE, or INSERT as appropriate with either your current item or nearby item. Return to that storage room.
> s. e. n. n. n. e.
Storage 93A
> pik. (You grab the D-13 contregulator.)
> w. s. s. s. s.
Thermal Exchange
> pik. (You hand the D-13 over. Engi-18 installs it, and the floor stops glowing red.)
> s.
Teleport A
Perhaps look about a bit more before using the teleport?
> s.
South Hall
Remember the orange stripe.
> w.
Dark Place
Hm. Too dark to see what's making that rasping sound.
> e. e.
Performance Assessment
Remember the invisible bug here.
> com. com. com. (Revi-11 is useless.)
> w. n. w.
Restoration
Remember the restoration machine.
> e. e.
Metacycling Chamber
> com. (Mech-21 needs help with the crystal thing and reading the screen.)
You're not ready to help him yet. Keep exploring.
> w. n. n. e.
Examination Room
> rox. (Jan-7 begins to reboot.)
> z. z. z. z. z. z. (Jan-7 says "hi")
> com. (Jan doesn't know where Med-23 is and they keep fritzing.)
Unfortunately, you won't find Med-23 either. You can't solve every problem.
> w. n. e.
Charging Cafe
> com. (Wait-3 says return if you're out of power.)
> n.
Fabrication
> pik. (You grab the GX-series lopacitor.)
> i.
> e.
Processing Chamber
> e. (no, the opening is higher up.)
Head back to Teleport A:
> w. s. w. s. s. s.
Teleport A
> rox. SPACE
Teleport B
> pik. (Leave the lopacitor here for now.)
> w.
Module Room
> pik. (fail: out of reach)
> n.
Prototype Lab
> com. (If you can get rid of the bug, Res-10 can give you an enhancement.)
> zap. (The bug phases and your ray misses.)
> s. e. s.
East Hall
> com. (He needs a maintenance order to fix the damage.)
> n. e.
Trash Repository
There's a bratwurst in the carousel, but you don't need it just yet.
> rox. (The carousel turns, and a crumpled document is revealed.)
> pik. i.
There's more in the carousel, but you can only carry one thing and you can come back here later. Return to the restoration machine with the document:
> w. rox. w.
Restoration
> pik. (The document is restored.)
> i. (It's now a maintenance order.)
> e. rox. s.
East Hall
> pik. (Har-5 says it isn't stamped.)
> n. rox. n. n. n. n. n. w.
Validation Center
> pik. (Exam-11 stamps the order.)
> e. s. s. s. s. s. rox. s.
East Hall
> pik. (You give the stamped order to Har-5. He starts working on the debris.)
> z. z. z. z. z. z. z. (Har-5 finishes.)
> com. ("Let me know if you come across any other problems.")
> s.
Decorated Hall
Misc-7 annoyingly mimics your actions (other than walking), so you can't keep the west door open just yet.
> com. rox. s.
Insulated Hall
> rox. ("Access prohibited by safety lock.")
> s.
Checkered Hall
Tag-9 is fascinated by anything with a checkered pattern.
> com. (Tag likes the walls.)
> pik. (You take the phase restrictor.)
> i.
> n. n. n. n. w. n.
Prototype Lab
While carrying the phase restrictor:
> zap. (Bug dies. 9 left.)
> com. (You now have the HUP command because of your new verticality chip.)
> hup. (You jump up.)
> pik. (You drop the phase restrictor.)
> s.
Module Room
> hup. (fail: The magnetic floor holds you down.)
> e. n.
Station
> com. ("Stay out of trouble")
> rox. ("Access prohibited by safety lock.")
> s. s. w.
Secure Chamber
> pik. i.
> e. (Alarm! Force beams block you.)
> w. (closed)
> pik. (You drop the nullifier.)
Circle back around to the monitors:
> e. n. rox. n. n. n.
Monitors
> hup. hup. (The housing opens, and a bug falls out.)
> zap. (8 bugs left.)
> e. n. e.
Processing Chamber
The magnetic plates above you can carry you east:
> hup. SPACE
Processing Annex
> n.
Management
> zap. (7 bugs left.)
> com. ("Thanks.")
> n.
Interport Control
> com.
If you ROX'd the crystal in the Empty Room earlier, Cont-9 tells you that a panel opened here for 11 cycles, then closed. Aha. The "IC" there meant here, Interport Control.)
> s. s. rox. e.
Secure Chamber
> pik. (Take nullifier)
> w. (The buzzing is too weak to stop you.)
Processing Annex
> hup. (You're carried to...)
Processing Chamber
> w. s. w. s. s. s. rox. w.
Module Room
> pik. (Dropping the nullifier.)
> hup. (You grab a gray disk.)
> i. (It has a scratch.)
Might as well restore it:
> e. rox. w.
Restoration
When holding the disk:
> pik. (The scratch is removed.)
> e.
Teleport A
Leave the gray disk at Teleport A for now.
> pik. rox. s. s. s. s. s.
Pipes (NW)
> com. (Mech-15 wants Chroton fluid flowing swiftly in all pipes, but activating a crystal in one room changes the crystal in the next room.)
That's a very complicated puzzle, and I must ask that you avoid using ROX in any of the four Pipes rooms until the very end of this walkthrough. But there is something else to do here as well.
> s. e.
Pipes (SE)
> zap. (Another bug enters from the fissure.)
> zap. (And now another bug.)
> n. w. n. n. n. n.
East Hall
> com. (You tell Har-5 about the breach and he rushes off to fix it. Follow him.)
> s. s. s. s. s. e.
Pipes (SE)
Har-5 has patched up the fissure.
> zap. (6 bugs left.)
> w. n. n. w.
Tarnished Hall
> pik. (The door opens.)
> w. (Not while you hold the handle.)
> pik. (The door closes.)
> s.
Crystal Workshop
> com.
> hup. (Note the "dot banana dot" pattern.)
> s.
Zirbol Tank
> zap. (The glass blocks your ray.)
> rox. (Can't open tank while it's full.)
> com. com.
> w.
Archives
> com. (Three disks are overdue and must be returned.)
> n.
Auxiliary Power Conduit
> zap. (The shell protects it.)
> hup. (The bug falls onto its back.)
> zap. (5 bugs remain. The shell falls into the trash chute.)
> s. w.
Scanning Hub
> com. (Rad-8 upgrades your map to toggle an ITEM mode.)
> n.
Bot Storage
> rox. (You wake Burg-13.)
> com. ("two smiles and a banana")
> rox. (Burg-13 sleeps. Stu-15 wakes.)
> com. ("invisibility is a magnetic phenom")
> rox. (Stu-15 sleeps. Phys-4 wakes.)
> com. ("lopacitors absorb field energy")
> rox. (Phys-4 sleeps. Hist-10 wakes.)
> com. ("orange stripes are significant")
> rox. (Hist-10 sleeps. Burg-13 wakes again.)
> s.
Scanning Hub
> rox. w.
Performance Assessment
Finally, you can now go between the west and east sides of the map without using the Teleports or HUP at Processing.
Hm, wasn't there an invisible bug here? And Stu-15 said that invisibility is a magnetic phenom. Where did you leave that magnetic nullifer?
> item. (for item view)
Ah, there it is, just west of Teleport B.
> item. (map back to normal)
> w. n. rox. w.
Module Room
> pik. (You take the nullifer.)
> e. rox. s. e.
Performance Assessment
> pik. (You drop the nullifier. The prickly bug appears!)
> zap. (4 bugs left.)
Let's tackle the zirbol tank's bug next. Do you remember the first bot you talked to, Engi-12 in Power Regulation, saying the zirbol tank controls are there? Return there:
> w. n. n. n. n. n. n. n. e. e.
Power Regulation
> com. (Engi-12 drains the zirbol tank for you.)
I wish there was a faster way to the tank from here, but there isn't:
> w. w. s. s. s. s. s. s. s. e. e. e. e.
Zirbol Tank
> rox. zap. (3 bugs left.)
> rox. (You close the tank.)
Return to Safety Override:
> w. w. w. w. n. n. e.
Safety Override
Burg-13 told you "two smiles and a banana" and not to let Sarg know who told you. Set the panel to display smiley-smiley-banana.
This is like an advanced version of the spindle puzzle, using ROX and WAIT.
Assuming that the display is still showing the original "smiley-eye-lightning", the sequence is:
> rox. (arrow on)
> z. (arrow moves to 2nd symbol)
> rox. rox. rox. (2nd is now smiley)
> z. (arrow moves to 3rd symbol)
> rox. rox. rox. (3rd is now banana)
> look. (verify you have "smiley-smiley-banana" showing)
> z. z. z. (the arrow turns off)
Okay. This should unlock the jail at the northeast corner of the map.
> w. s. rox. n.
Station
> rox. e.
Jail
Note the orange stripe.
> com. (Neer-15 says they got 4300 cycles for vandalism.)
> pik. (You take the illumination unit.)
Head for the southwest corner of the map, where it was too dark to see:
> w. s. rox. s. w.
Storage 68C (formerly Dark Place)
Note the "dot-dot-eye" drawing.
> zap. (2 bugs left.)
> pik. (You swap the illumination unit for the turquoise disk.)
> st.
> e.
South Hall
> pik. (Dropping the turquoise disk here for now.)
Time to get that door west of Decorated Hall open. To stop Misc-7 from interfering, reboot all series 7 bots from the Examination Room, then race to the Decorated Hall and get that door open before Misc is active again.
> n. n. n. e.
Examination Room
> rox. w. s. s. rox. s. s.
Decorated Hall
> rox. w.
Field Generator
A repulsion force hurls you out of the room.
> SPACE
Decorated Hall
Phys-4 told you that lopacitors absorb field energy. Get the lopacitor and try that again.
I had you leave it in Teleport B. If you left it somewhere else, use ITEM to locate it.
> n. n.
Teleport B
> pik. (You take the lopacitor.)
> s. s. w.
Field Generator
The field starts to push you out of the room.
> rox. (The field is set to Oxidification. You begin to tarnish.)
> rox. (Now it's Sparkification.)
> zap. (One bug left.)
> st. (You are no longer shiny.)
By the way, if you stay in the Oxidification field, you will rust. Being rusty doesn't seem to matter much except esthetically, but if it bothers you, return to the Salon and COM with Barb-6 to get re-shined up.
The last bug is in Sculpture Gallery, not far from here.
> pik. (Drop the lopacitor.)
> e. s. e.
Sculpture Gallery
This room is like a comedy-of-errors tableau. Experimenting here reveals the following.
Follow this sequence exactly; what happens when is important:
> com. (Cur-11 picks up documents.)
> hup. (Cur falls and drops documents.)
> pik. (A table hits Cur's head.)
> z. (Cur gets up without the documents.)
> com. (Cur bends down to get documents.)
> rox. (Spotlight turns on and bug appears. Cur is busy looking for another note.)
> zap. (Bug dies.)
When the last bug is dead, you get an Objective complete message, and permission to return to Entry Node for extrication.
> pik. (You release the handle.)
You can indeed return to Entry Node now and HUP to end the game in victory, but there's several optional tasks to complete if you want the best ending. And surely, you want the best ending, don't you? So let's start completing those optional tasks!
> s.
Gymnasium
I'm starting with this task mostly because it's closest and also the most tedious. If you can get through this one, the others shouldn't bother you so much.
> com. ("Fifty reps gets your name on the winners' list!")
This challenge is randomized, so the best I can do is explain what to do instead of explicit instructions. You need to watch what the cable is doing!
> rox. (The cable starts moving.)
> hup —or— z. (repeat as appropriate until done)
After 50 successful jumps: Optional task completed: Beat the cable-clearing challenge.
> rox. (The cable stops.)
> save.
> com. ("Your personal best is 50. Can you do better?")
Maybe later, Coach. We have other tasks to do.
> w. n. n. e.
Sorting Center
> com. (Calc needs 3 lights turned on.)
Note that there's an orange stripe here. The remote controls that Calc-17 mentions are in the other three locations with orange stripes: South Hall, Primary Power Conduit, and Jail. HUP in each of those three rooms to push hidden switches, then return here to Sorting Center.
> w. n. n. rox. s.
South Hall
> hup. (You hear a click.)
> n. n. n. n. n. n. n. e. e. s.
Primary Power Conduit
> hup. (You hear a click.)
> n. w. w. s. s. s. s. s. s. rox. n. e.
Jail
> hup. (You hear a click.)
> w. s. s. s. e.
Sorting Center
Optional task completed: Reactivate the sorting engine.
> w. n. e.
Adjustment Center
> com. (Vari-20 says the handle switches between coarse and fine control.)
> pik. pik. (Optional task completed: Give Vari-20 a hand.)
Well, that was easy. You're near the Trash Repository. Go there next.
> w. n. e.
Trash Repository
If you played around with the carousel earlier, you may need to ROX more than once to get back to the plate.
> rox. (The carousel has a square plate.)
> pik. i. (The plate is checkered.)
Take the plate to the Checkered Hall:
> w. s. s. s. s.
Checkered Hall
While carrying the square plate with checkered pattern, Tag is fascinated by your plate and follows you.
> w.
Tarnished Hall
While Tag is here:
> pik. (You drop the plate and grab the handle.)
> com. (Tag grabs the handle and you let go.)
> w.
Storage 71B
> pik. i. (You have a brown disk.)
> e. s. s. w.
Archives
While carrying the brown disk:
> pik. (Lib-13 thanks you and stores the disk.)
You should return the other two disks as well.
> w. w. w.
South Hall
> pik. (You take the turquoise disk.)
> e. e. e.
Archives
While carrying the turquoise disk:
> pik. (Lib-13 thanks you and stores the disk.)
> w. w. w. n.
Teleport A
> pik. (You take the gray disk.)
> s. e. e. e.
Archives
While carrying the turquoise disk:
> pik. (Lib-13 thanks you and stores the disk.)
Optional task completed: Return the overdue archive disks.
> com.
Return to Safety Override:
> w. w. w. n. n. e.
Safety Override
You've seen three partial codes scattered around the Sector:
So the full code to set is lightning-banana-eye.
Assuming the panel is still showing smiley-smiley-banana from last time:
> rox. (The arrow appears on the third symbol.)
> rox. rox. rox. (3rd is now eye.)
> z. (Arrow moves to 1st.)
> rox. rox. rox. (1st is now lightning.)
> z. (Arrow moves to 2nd.)
> rox. rox. (2nd is now banana.)
> z. z. z. z. (Arrow disappears.)
> look. (Verify panel shows lightning-banana-eye.)
Go to Insulated Hall:
> w. s. s. e. e. e. e. n. n. e. n.
Insulated Hall
With the code set to "lightning-banana-eye" set, ROX works here.
> rox. w.
Bug Lab
> com. (Ent-22 wants bug parts.)
> e. n. n. n. e.
Trash Repository
> rox. (The carousel has a bratwurst.)
> rox. (The carousel has a bug shell.)
> pik. (You take the shell.)
> w. s. s. s. w.
Bug Lab
> pik. (You give the shell to Ent-22.)
Optional task completed: Deliver a bug part to Ent-22.
Return to Trash Repository for that bratwurst.
> e. n. n. n. e.
Trash Repository
> rox. (The carousel is empty.)
> rox. (The carousel has a bratwurst.)
> pik. (You take the bratwurst.)
> i. (It's a sausage-shaped electronic component.)
> w. rox. n. n. w. s.
Empty Room
Remember, you know that this crystal opens a panel in Interport Control for 11 turns. Inside the panel is a sausage-shaped depression, so you should ROX here then run to Interport Control with the bratwurst and insert it before the panel closes.
> rox.
> n. e. n. e. n. e. hup. n. n.
Interport Control
> pik. (Optional task completed: Restore the secret interport booster.)
Go to Metacycling Chamber:
> s. s. hup. w. s. w. s. s. s. e.
Metacycling Chamber
Use only these three commands as appropriate until the task is complete:
IMPORTANT: Don't WAIT during this task! If you make a mistake, either a bot will push you out to Teleport A or there will be an error message and the equipment shuts down. Return and try the task again from the beginning.
> com.
> rox. (This starts the task.)
> hup —or— com —or— rox. (repeat as appropriate until the task is over)
Optional task completed: Execute the metacycling procedure.
One last task to perform in the Pipes quadrant:
> w. s. e. e. e. e. n. n. e. s.
Pipes (NW)
> com. (Mech-15 wants Chroton fluid flowing swiftly in all the pipes.)
Okay, this puzzle requires quite a bit of explanation. First, let me detail the initial status of the pipes, going clockwise:
You can only learn that the SE pipe is initially set to Amberix by experimentation.
Now, you also need to learn what the crystals do:
So, knowing that the target is swift Chroton in all the pipes, which crystals do you need to ROX in each room and how often? At a mininum? Well, let's work that out:
Now, you might notice that with NE's crystal initially being pink, to get a red one there requires two ROX's in NW, and since everything's in cycles of three, to get NE's fluid back to Chroton, you need to ROX red in NW four times total instead of just once. As long as the number of red ROX's in NW are 1 modulo 3, it's okay.
But there's a bigger problem. Sum the number of needed ROX per room and see what happens to the crystal in the clockwise adjacent rooms:
That makes this puzzle totally impossible to solve, doesn't it? Once a room is solved, the next room is unsolvable until you unsolve the first room, and that's true for all four rooms.
Except... there's one more feature in this puzzle I haven't mentioned yet: the pink SE crystal is cracked.
Now the cracked pink crystal seems to work just like any other pink crystal except the FIFTH time you ROX it! It's so easy to miss that. When you ROX the cracked pink crystal the fifth time, the crystal sparks weirdly, and although the SW crystal cycles as usual, the SE flow doesn't change at all that time! This one tiny flaw makes the puzzle solvable. Thank goodness.
So the revised plan is:
In theory, 16 ROX's are needed minimum, but I needed 19.
Pipes (NW)
> rox. rox. s.
Pipes (SW)
> rox. e.
Pipes (SE)
> rox. rox. n.
Pipes (NE)
> rox. s.
Pipes (SE)
Note how the fifth time you signal the cracked pink crystal, it sparks weirdly and the flow doesn't change.
> rox. rox. rox.
> rox. rox. rox. (This room is done.)
> n.
Pipes (NE)
> rox. (This room is done.)
> s. w.
Pipes (SW)
> rox. rox. n.
Pipes (NW)
> rox. rox. (This room is done.)
> s.
Pipes (SW)
> rox. rox. (Optional task completed: Maximize the flow of chroton fluid.)
> st.
All that's left to do is return to Entry Node, leave the sector, and win all the prizes.
> n. n. w. s. s.
> w. w. w. w.
> n. n. n. n. n. n. n.
> w.
Entry Node
> hup.
New usefulness rating: Really High!
> continue —or— quit. (Choose whichever you like. This walkthrough is done.)
These are samples of ASCII art used in this game, shrunk slightly or cropped in most cases. Please play the game to see the artwork in its intended sizes and fullnesses.
Bot functions are actions your character can do beyond standard actions like LOOK, WAIT, NORTH, WEST, EAST, and SOUTH. To see which bot functions you have, use the STATUS (ST) command.
Honorable mention:
Credits are displayed when the game begins:
Special thanks to Andy Fleming, Lorne Harris, Isaac Orf, Luke Pebler, Dirk Spivey, and Mike Spivey for testing, and to Nadia Bellazola for cover art.
After destroying all the bugs, return to Entry Node and HUP to receive an ending, but you always have the option to CONTINUE playing.
Until you get the grabber upgrade, you are unable to take anything and the INVENTORY (I) command isn't supported. But when you do get the grabber, you also get the PIK command which acts like TAKE, DROP, GIVE, or INSERT as appropriate in your current location.
You can only carry one item in your grabber at a time. If you PIK up something while carrying something else, you swap the two items.
Use STATUS (ST) or INVENTORY (I) to see a short description of your current item; for example:
You are carrying a D-13 contregulator. (An electronic component frequently used in cooling systems.)
In the Scanning Hub, COM with Rad-8 to upgrade your map. You can now use the ITEM command to toggle your map between showing location names or item locations.
The items:
There are eight optional tasks in this game. In no particular order, they are:
The STATUS command, which can be abbreviated to ST, tells you everything you need to know about your current status. Compared to other IF games, STATUS combines the functions of EXAMINE ME, DIAGNOSE, INVENTORY, and SCORE.
The response to STATUS looks like this:
Cycles elapsed: number
Bugs remaining: number
Optional tasks completed: number/8You have obtained general sector access, a grabber upgrade, and a verticality chip.
Available bot functions: COM, ZAP, ROX, PIK, and HUP.
You are looking [either] shiny [or] rusty.
You are carrying something. (Short description of item.)
Notes:
Upgrades are pieces of hardware earned in various ways and then installed on or in your bot's body.
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