Lime Ergot is a Z-machine interactive fiction game written with Inform 7 and is © 2014 by Caleb Wilson (as "Rust Blight"). It was an entry in Ectocomp 2014 where it took 6th place. In the 2019 edition of the "Interactive Fiction Top 50 of all time" list, it tied at 36th place; in the 2023 edition, it tied at 49th place.
In this short surreal game, you play as Lieutenant Musco, the lowest ranking soldier left in St. Stellio. The General asks you to fix her a drink, a green skull, using the mechanical bar-tender. The first ingredient is "1 over-ripe St. Stellio lime, whole."
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.
Stranded
The General orders you to make a green skull drink, using the machine. Check out yourself and the General first.
> x me. i. (have nothing)
> x General. x uniform. x insignia. x wheelchair.
Check out the machine next.
> x machine.
> x placard. (1st ingredient: a lime)
> x hopper. x spout. x glass.
Look at wharf and foliage:
> x wharf.
> x foliage. (see skull and rusted sword)
> x skull. (see pink orchid)
> x orchid. (see skeleton)
> x skeleton. (see bowl-shaped mass of roots)
> x roots. (see lime)
> take lime. x it.
> x sword. x lizard. x goblet. x telegrams.
> put lime in hopper. (You now see a croquet mallet by the wheelchair.)
> x placard. (2nd ingredient: a lime)
Look at the mallet:
> x mallet. (see boxwood hedge)
> x hedge. (see tent)
> x tent. (see bandstand)
> x bandstand. (see trumpeter in suit)
> x trumpeter. (see horn case)
> x horn case. (see lime)
> take lime. x it.
> x suit. (see card with secret message)
> x secret message.
> put lime in hopper. (You now see the city.)
> x placard. (3rd ingredient: a lime)
Look at the city:
> x city. (see arbor on a hill)
> x arbor. (see lime tree)
> x lime tree. (see lime)
> take lime.
> put lime in hopper. (A green drink fills the glass.)
> take drink. x it. give it.
*** ALL IS FUNGUS ***
This is the response to ABOUT or INFO in Release 1:
Lime Ergot was written and programmed by Rust Blight over the course of three hours in October of 2014 for ECTOCOMP.
Here are the endings I found:
This walkthrough is provided free of charge since the work it's based on has less than fifteen locations. Please consider it a thank you for your support!
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