Coming from the depths of space, Let’s Play Starcross!

The year is 2186. Humanity has established colonies on the moon, Mars, and several of the larger asteroids. Earth's sky is dotted with space habitats, and the spaceways are always busy. As usual, there is urgent need for energy to power this advanced civilization; one of the primary sources of that energy is quantum black holes.

In Starcross you are a miner of black holes, scouring the asteroid belt in your one-man survey ship. Finding and harnessing a single black hole can make a person's fortune. It's a lonely business, fraught with the known and unknown hazards of space. You've equipped your ship, the M.C.S. Starcross with the best gear you could afford. You've put everything into this venture, and though you've tried before, you somehow sense that this time will be different.

The ship's computer handles the functions of navigation and maintenance. You watch the sophisticated mass detector as it unceasingly scans the vicinity for unchartered masses. To assuage the tedium of your long trip, you browse through the compact tape library, a compendium of human knowledge and culture. But the drone of the ship gradually lulls you into a deep sleep.

As you sleep, you dream of the riches which would be yours if your search for a quantum black hole is sucessful. Little do you suspect that the alarm on your mass detector is about to jolt you out of your dream - but not to grapple with the long-sought black hole. Your quest has taken an unexpected turn, for you are destined to rendezvous with a gargantuan alien space ship from the outer fringes of the galaxy.

First released in 1982 Starcross was the fifth game from Infocom and the first time the company had released a science fiction game. It was also the third game to provide ‘feelies’, extra items that game in the box to not only help flesh out the world it also acting as a simple piece of copy protection.

All told the original presentation of the game was unique, coming in a large white UFO style case. In addition the game came with a log book, a note with advice about encountering aliens and a chart of masses in the area where you start the game. There were also plans to have some astronaut food in the package, in fact you can see it in some of the adds, but it fell through… probably for the best.

Starcross was also the first text adventure game that I ever played, we had it for the old Commodore 64 system and I played it a lot, but being that I was eight or nine at the time… I never really got very far. Some of the puzzles had been solved by my father, but the rest I failed on my own. I didn’t even get to the end game until I was in the 20s, but I did win it.

On the other hand I still look back fondly on this game as being a heck of a lot of fun. What I found interesting is that this version of the game came in a folder that had the map of the game printed on it. I’m not sure if this was part of the packaging or something that came with the InvisiClues (which we also had) but it was useful to have around as the map was fairly brain taxing. In fact a few sites I’ve seen that has scanned has the map as well, as the rest of the contents of the box.

Oh, and let’s talk about the InvisiClues. This was the way Infocom provided hints for their games and consisted of a book and a special highlighter. At the start all you had was the questions, some of which were red herrings or even straight up lies. Each question had a number of answers under it, each one more specific then the last. The answers were printed in invisible ink (thus the Invisi part of InvisiClues) and you had to use the marker to reveal the answer. It made it harder to spoil the answer just by flipping through the book.

You can find a nice recreation of the Starcross InvisiClues. I’m providing the link to be fair and so you all have the same resources I had when I first played the game. That being said you really shouldn’t be reading through them unless you really stumped on the puzzle. Still, feel free to read the introduction and the sample clue to get a feel for how it was used.

A few more thoughts on this game, being an Infocom game it has a fairly strong text possessor so we can be pretty creative with our inputs. In addition I’m not playing with a port; I’m running with the original game files on a modern Z-Machine so it will play the same as it did back in the 1980s. This means we shouldn’t turn into any odd porting bugs like last time.

Once again I’m going to copy Loki in the presentation of the game (mostly because he does such a great job of it and has proven how well the format worked). In fact I’m just going to quote him so he gets the proper credit.

I think it’s safe to say that it’s working.

Now all this is just laying the ground work, but it will be a few more days before the first post, this is because I’m planning something special for this Let’s Play, in fact I’m not 100% sure I can pull it off just yet so I might end up falling back to bland old text early on in the game. We’ll find out in a few days. Trust me, if it works it will be very cool (and so much harder than a sane LP).

As a fellow text-game LPer, it's always nice to see more of them where the general public can access them. Keep up the good work! :-D

I guess it's safe to say that my crazy idea didn't work out. I was going to make illustrations for the game out of LEGOs, showing off the game in what I hope would be an interesting and exciting way... sadly it turns out I have no eye for composition, and all my pictures came out looking ugly as sin. So instead of that you'll have to settle for yet more text.

Either way, enjoy!

STARCROSS: INTERLOGIC Science Fiction
Copyright (c) 1982 by Infocom, Inc. All rights reserved.
STARCROSS and INTERLOGIC are trademarks of Infocom, Inc.
Release 17 / Serial number 821021

You are sound asleep in your bunk aboard the deep-space black hole prospecting ship "Starcross," operating out of Ceres. Just as your sleep becomes deep and comfortable, an alarm bell begins ringing! It's the mass detector! Instantly you awake. This hasn't been a profitable trip so far, and you don't even have the cash for repairs. This could be the break you've been waiting for.

Living Quarters
(You are in the bunk.)
This nook is your spartan living quarters, containing only a bunk and a bureau. The only exit is to starboard.
There is a tape library here. (outside the bunk)

Wha…. What is… it’s not my job… damn it, won’t someone get the fries already!

Wait, I’m not working that job anymore, I was fired…. Ah that is I quit that job ages ago. I’m self employed now, navigating the highways and byways of the universe trying to make a fast buck. So whatever that damn sound is it can’t be a reminder that I need to get the fries out of the fryer.

Alarm? I don’t have an alarm, not since that visit to Mars when I had the twins over, it was just… you know, that’s a story for another time. The fact is I’m here on a space ship in the middle of deep space and there is an alarm going off and it’s not my wake up alarm. That means something else is going on, wonderful.

Well, the lights are on and I can still breath, so I’m not humped at all. I wonder what is going on?

>get up
You are on your own feet again.
The alarm bell on the mass detector is ringing stridently.

>get tape library
Taken.
The alarm bell on the mass detector is ringing stridently.

>look at tape
I see nothing special about the tape library.
The alarm bell on the mass detector is ringing stridently.

Well, it’s not the tape library, though I’m sure that will be useful at some point down the time. I guess it’s the mass detector… which means I might have actually found something! Well, as long as it’s a real something and not a sensor error, or a misreading or an artificial satellite, or yet another planet. Either way, this alarm is starting to give me a splitting headache!

>sb
Bridge
This is the control room of the Starcross. There are exits labelled (arbitrarily) "Port," "Starboard," and "Out." The latter exit has a heavy bulkhead which is closed.
Your ship's computer does the routine tasks of navigation and life support. A control couch is mounted before a control panel and a large viewport. The ship's registration is affixed nearby.
Your mass detector, essential in the search for black holes, sits to one side. On the detector are a red button, a blue button, and a small screen on which something is displayed.
The alarm bell on the mass detector is ringing stridently.

>press red button
The alarm goes silent.

Oh thank god.

>look at mass detector
The display reads: "mass UM91."

>press blue button
The mass detector produces some output.

>take output
Taken.

>read output
The output shows major mass concentrations in the vicinity, each with a code designation and the appropriate R, Theta, and Phi to describe its location relative to yours. AKA the map that came with the game. Pretty simple copy protection over all.

Well that’s useful, it’s nice to have a handy dandy map that tells me all the masses in the area. I just need to use it to find UM91 and just punch in the information for it. Now where is that on the chart? Um… okay, yeah here it is right here.

>computer, range is 50. Theta is 15. PHI is 121.
"R set. Waiting for additional values."

"Theta set. Waiting for additional values."

"Phi set." Lights blink furiously for a moment. The computer speaks: "Sequence for intercept of mass concentration is programmed and ready. Please confirm new navigational program. I'm waiting..."

Thank you computer, now to get myself ready.

>sit down
(on the control couch)
You are now in the control couch.
The couch has a seat belt which is currently unfastened.

>fasten belt
Click.

>computer, confirm new course
"Thank you. New navigational program will initiate in fifteen seconds. There will be a course correction burn of 40 seconds duration. I advise you to fasten your seat belt."

>wait
Time passes...
The ship's thrusters spin it into a proper attitude, and then the engines begin their course correction burn. There are significant G's and not a little vibration.
Fortunately, you are securely belted in.

Safety first, don’t want to hurt myself with all the G forces running around the ship.

>wait
Time passes...
Time passes as you journey towards your destination.
You are headed towards a bright starlike object.

You know, it’s times like this that I have to sit back and think about how I got here. Sure, my life has been pretty interesting so far, but nothing to out of the ordinary. I mean, I went to school, graduated with a degree I’ve never used and mostly just lazed around since then, but it hasn’t been all low paying jobs and bad bosses.

>wait
Time passes...
Time passes as you journey towards your destination.
The starlike object now shows some shape.

In fact the last couple of years have been pretty interesting. I managed to find a whole new world hidden in a crazy uncle’s house…. Not that it lasted very long really. Turns out you can’t just come in from another world and sleep with the princess without pissing off her father. Her warlord father, who is very good with the sword. Really the whole situation turned bad after that and I had to get out of there.

>wait
Time passes...
Time passes as you journey towards your destination.
You are approaching a huge, cylindrical asteroid.
The computer says, "Telescopic observations reveal the object ahead to be extremely regular in shape. This is not your usual asteroid."

I can see that, very interesting computer. I wonder what this thing I’m heading towards is. Oh well, where was I… oh yes, the Princess. Luckily after I escaped from that I found out about some gave in Kentucky that had a ton of treasures hidden inside of it. That turned out to be grand adventure, what with being mugged by pirates, killing dragons with my bare hands, and the bear. I managed to get out with a load of treasure and a pack of elf minions.

>wait
Time passes...
Time passes as you journey towards your destination.
The asteroid is unnaturally smooth, but there are surface features on it.
The computer remarks: "I detect low-level scanning taking place. The radiation is not dangerous. I think we may be getting into something more than we expected here."

I managed to sell them all (the treasure, not my minions, they are still waiting on Earth) for enough to buy this used spaceship in the hopes of making even MORE money. That being said, getting into more then I was expecting is exactly what I was expecting. Carry on computer!

>wait
Time passes...
Time passes as you journey towards your destination.
Filling space before you is an enormous artifact, more than 5 km long and about a kilometer in diameter. Regularly spaced around its waist are bumps and other odd protrusions. You cannot see the aft end but the fore end sports a glass or crystal dome almost 100 meters across.
There is a brief burn as the ship matches course with the artifact. You are hanging in space about half a kilometer away from the waist of the object. The Starcross's engines shut down. The computer speaks: "Program completed. We are being scanned by low level radiation. Awaiting instructions."

Wow…

>wait
Time passes...
As the object rotates below, the features of a different area become visible through the viewport.
There is an area with a blue dome below. Near the dome is a spherical object which just might be a spaceship. It is held down by silvery ropes.

I want to get a closer look!

>remove belt
Click.

>get up
You are on your own feet again.
As the object rotates below, the features of a different area become visible through the viewport.
This area has a yellow dome. The surface of the object here looks damaged and scorched, and is littered with tangled debris.

>wait
Time passes...
As the object rotates below, the features of a different area become visible through the viewport.
This area has a green dome and a long, silvery spaceship tethered nearby.

>wait
Time passes...
As the object rotates below, the features of a different area become visible through the viewport.
Below is an area with a red dome which has no ship near it.
Suddenly an odd protrusion near the red dome splits open and a huge articulated metal tentacle issues from it at great speed. It approaches the ship and delicately wraps itself around the hull. You are smashed against the bulkhead as the tentacle accelerates the Starcross to the artifact's speed of rotation. Inexorably, your ship is drawn toward the dome. When you are a few tens of meters away, three smaller tentacles issue forth and grapple the ship solidly to the surface of the artifact. The large tentacle retreats into its housing, which closes.
Unfortunately, the accelerations involved were tremendous, and being smashed into the walls didn't help your condition either.

**** You have died ****

No really, I died right here! The same thing would have happened if I hadn’t bothered to strap in, but I didn’t expect it here of all places. So I got squished. Funny this never happened to me when I was playing it as a kid… guess I was smarter back then, or just too busy struggling to type English.

You know what, I’m going to try that again!

>restore
Ok.

>wait
Time passes...
As the object rotates below, the features of a different area become visible through the viewport.
This area has a yellow dome. The surface of the object here looks damaged and scorched, and is littered with tangled debris.

>wait
Time passes...
As the object rotates below, the features of a different area become visible through the viewport.
This area has a green dome and a long, silvery spaceship tethered nearby.

>wait
Time passes...
As the object rotates below, the features of a different area become visible through the viewport.
Below is an area with a red dome which has no ship near it.
Suddenly an odd protrusion near the red dome splits open and a huge articulated metal tentacle issues from it at great speed. It approaches the ship and delicately wraps itself around the hull. You are slammed against your seat as the tentacle accelerates the Starcross to the artifact's speed of rotation. Inexorably, your ship is drawn toward the dome. When you are a few tens of meters away, three smaller tentacles issue forth and grapple the ship solidly to the surface of the artifact. The large tentacle retreats into its housing, which closes.

You are disoriented: now that you are attached to the artifact, which is rotating, "up" and "down" have taken on new meanings. Your sense of balance tells you that your ship is clinging to the underside of some enormous object, and if you aren't careful you will fall! "Up" now refers to the center of the object, "down" to the immensities of space.

Okay, safe and sound… for various measure of safe and sound. I’m still strapped down to a giant space ship that seems to have captured a few others in the past. This doesn’t bode well for my long term survival. Still, I’m clever, I should be able to get myself out of this!

>unfasten belt
Click.

>get up
You are on your own feet again.

>port
Living Quarters

>sb
Bridge

One of the fun things about Starcross is that instead of East/West you can also use Port/Starboard… and I can never remember which one is which. The same is true with North/South Fore/Aft. I usually end up using a mix of the commands in this game.

>sb
Storage
This cubicle is used for storage. The only exit is to port.
Hanging on a rack is your space suit.
A safety line hangs on the wall.

>take all
space suit: Taken.
safety line: Taken.

>put on suit
You are now wearing the space suit, breathing internal oxygen.

Ah, my trusty space suit, protecting my life when I decide to go outside and see what the weather is like in the vacuum of space. So I’ve never worn the dang thing before, I better check to make sure everything is connected, I wouldn’t want to forget to hook up the Carbon Dioxide scrubber.

Okay, everything looks good. Time to head on outside.

>p
Bridge

>open bulkhead
The inner door opens.

>out
Airlock
This is the airlock of the Starcross. The inner door is open, and the outer door is closed. Neither door has a viewport.

>close inner door
The inner door closes.

>open outer door
The outer door opens and air rushes out of the airlock.

>out
You exit gingerly, climbing "up" to the surface of the artifact, where your magnetic boots hold you securely as you hang "upside-down."

Red Dock
This is a docking port color-coded in red. All around are strange protrusions, one of which could be a hook for a safety line. The surface here is metallic, but gets stony further from the dock. On one side ("Down") is your ship, tethered to the surface of the artifact by thick silvery ropes. On the other ("Up") is a large dome with an airlock.
A round metal sculpture or relief covers part of the airlock door. It is made up of thousands of tiny hexagonal columns which extend various lengths from the surface, making a three-dimensional representation. You can examine it more closely to see the details.

Okay, this is more than a little bit disorienting. Really, looking up at this thing, it’s rather intimating. This huge structure is hanging over my head like I’m standing under a skyscraper turned on its side. There’s nothing holding it up and only my boots holding me down. It feels like if I make the wrong move I’m going to end up drifting off into space.

What’s odd is the stony looking material out it the distance, why is that even there, on the outside of a spaceship. It doesn’t really make much sense to me. Then again not much really is making sense with this giant machine hanging above me. Let’s just focus on the sculpture, that’s small enough that I can get my head around it.

>look at sculpture
A closer examination reveals that there are exactly ten circular bumps or columns on the sculpture: the first is large and centrally located, the second through tenth are smaller and scattered at various distances and orientations. As you go outward from the large bump in the center there are four small bumps, two rather large ones, two medium-sized ones, and then a small one again.

Or not… It looks like some sort of test, but what should I do about it?

Puzzles:
The sculpture in the airlock

Inventory:
A space suit (being worn)
A safety line
A mass detector output
A tape library

Your score would be 25 (total of 400 points), in 65 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Beginner.

Deaths: 1 (Squashed by sudden G-forces)

I really want to say this is my ideal method of consuming IF, vicariously! I kinda like the retro feel of no pictures whatsoever, it even reads 80s. I'm really bad at it so I don't know what to say regarding the box, aside from maybe hit it? =p

Oh man that would be so cool. Don't give up!?

It's easy to remember port/starboard/fore/aft. Port and left are both shorter than right and starboard (and a traditional compass pins east to the right and west to the left), while fore means front (analogous north) and aft means rear (analogous south).

Also, port and left are both four letters.

Save, then jump!

After you either get saved by your safety line, or get hurled off into space, try pressing the large bump as Tefari says. If that changes any of the other bumps, hit them next.

Well, we can give a go at hitting it, what's the worst that could happen?

>hit sculpture
What do you want to hit the sculpture with?

>with safety line
I've known strange people, but fighting a metal relief?

Apparently, sarcasm... that's reassuring I guess.

I’ll keep on trying, I even picked up some props to go with it all.

Ah, good advice, I’ll try to remember it.

Okay, let’s go jumping off into outer space… doubly so because I never attached my safety line to anything!

>jump
Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!

That was fun. Okay, let’s try pressing the large bump.

>press large bump
You can't see any large bump here.

>press first bump
All of the hexagons extend to full length, then retract into the surface, leaving the sculpture completely smooth.

Hum, that didn’t seem to do anything useful, it’s a bit worrisome to be honest. I can’t see any way of opening the door now. Yep, we just locked ourselves out of the artifact and basically lost the game, not that it would tell us that.

You know, I think I’m going to need to rethink this whole sculpture thing, there is clearly more going on then I first thought. Still, I can work my way through this interstellar puzzle….

Hmmm...one big, four small, two big, two medium, one small...sounds like our own solar system. I'm not going to go any further, in hopes that someone else can figure it out from that.

EDIT: Hopefully I'm not going over the line by offering a puzzle hint. It's just that it's been a while since the thread was updated, so I thought I'd give it a push in the right direction.

Push the Earth bump (the third small one from the center)?

Oh no, I'm happy to have hints or suggestions or just ideas of things to do, it's half of what makes an LP fun.

You know, I can see that, the big one at the center is the sun, then the four inner plants, the big gas giants, the smaller ones and then... hum Pluto I guess? I mean if you assume that Pluto is a planet it would work just fine, but then what about the others that are in the same category as Pluto? Really in that case there should be twelve not ten, on the other hand maybe the aliens who built this thing have a better idea as to what counts as a planet, so Pluto does count but the others don’t. Not that I can really tell, I mean they area aliens after all, how can I really know how their minds work?

So, if the aliens say Pluto is a planet, then Pluto is a planet, so let’s give it a try and press where Earth would be.

>press fourth
A tiny column made up of only one hexagon appears at about the same distance from the center as the first large bump.

Hum, you know that would be right about where this artifact is, somewhere in the asteroid belt and fairly close to Ceres. So I’ve told it where I’ve come from, now let me tell it where I am.

>press tiny column
The sculpture flattens out completely, except at the former location of the tiny bump, where a hexagonal rod of black crystal is extruded.

>take black rod
When you take the black rod, the airlock door opens!

Look at that, we found our way inside the ship. Three cheers for me and the voices in my head!

>up
Red Airlock
This is the main airlock of the red docking port. The inner door leading up to the interior is closed, and the outer door leading down to the surface is open.

>close outer door
The outer door closes and air rushes into the airlock.

>open inner door
The red inner door opens.

>u
Red Hall
This is a wide room with corridors leading in four directions and a ladder down to the airlock. The lighting is poor, as though the lights were worn out. Halfway up the walls are planters full of wilted plants.

Hum, dead plants and weak lights, that doesn’t bode well. I should see if the air is even safe to breath. Luckily I have this special piece of equipment I can use to test the environment right here… or rather it should be right here strapped to my space suit but I lost it in the poker game last month. Gah, that’s what I get for assuming I’ll never actually need the dumb thing.

Well, there’s only one thing left for me to do!

>take off suit
You have removed the space suit. The air here is quite breathable and slightly sweet.

That’s good, the air is easily breathable. I was worried it would turn out to be toxic or something. Maybe the plants aren’t plants like we think about then and live it some other fashion.

So, four ways to go, Port, Starboard, Fore and Aft… let’s see I need some sort of easy way to pick a direction. I know, Eni, mini… okay it looks like I’m going Aft.

>aft
Red Hall
This is part of a long hall with failing lights. It intersects with another corridor at right angles. The plant boxes here are empty.

>aft
Red Hall
This the end of the red hall where it T's with the aft-most ring corridor. The lighting is poor and the plant boxes here are empty and battered.

Hum, port next.

>port
Blue Hall
The blue corridor goes no further aft, but a ring corridor leads away to port and starboard.

>port
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

>starboard
Blue Hall

Just tell me one thing. How in the world does a Grue get on a space ship?

>fore
Blue Hall
Another junction, the ring corridor curving away to port and starboard. The hall is damaged and bare rock protrudes in spots.

>fore
Melted Spot
At this point the corridor is twisted and the walls are half-melted. Titanic energies have been used here, apparently to blast through an armored hatch that shielded the area to port. There is little left of the hatch now, and the way is open.

>port
Weapons Deck
This was the armory of the artifact. A massive bulkhead has been burned away, giving free access to the weaponry. Unfortunately, it appears that the vast stock of futuristic armaments has been mostly destroyed. Gigantic projectors are scorched and shattered, strange battle armor is reduced to splinters, and wall racks for small arms are mostly empty.
Mounted in a wall-rack is a genuine-looking ray gun, large and formidable, with a long, ugly barrel. It's difficult to tell whether or not the gun is fully charged.

>take ray gun
Taken.

Watch out universe, I’m packing heat! Well its alien heat but it’s heat none the less.

>look at ray gun
It looks like the heavy duty model. It's got quite a bit of heft to it, and you really need two hands to aim it properly. The barrel is long and festooned with strange knobs and antennae. There is a charge indicator which is unfortunately unreadable.

Maybe I should wait on messing with this until I’m sure it’s useful. With all these knobs and the like I’m afraid I may end up blowing myself up instead of what I’m pointing at!

>sb
Melted Spot

>f
Blue Hall
A ring corridor joins the blue hall here. There is an entrance (presumably for the blue docking area) below, and also a way up.

Interesting, I guess I can get into the center of the ship…

>f
Blue Hall
The junction of a wide fore-aft corridor and a smaller ring corridor. There is some dirt on the floor, freshly scattered.

>f
Blue Hall
This is near the fore end of the blue hall, where a small exit leads to port. The main corridor continues fore and aft.

>p
Observatory
This is the interior part of the artifact's observatory, with an exit to starboard. There are no telescopes or other instruments visible, but in the center of the room is an image of space in the vicinity. Examining the image, you see a tiny model of the solar system. The sun is a bright dot in the center; Jupiter and Saturn are easily discovered. The colors of the dots are not what you would expect, though, and range throughout the spectrum.
A holographic projector is on one wall.

Odd, I wonder why the colors are so wrong. Maybe they see in a different spectrum then I do?

>look at projector
The projector is a type of laser, producing a continuous holographic view of space outside the artifact. The light issues from the front of the projector, and is blindingly bright.

You know, I don’t think I should go looking into that thing without some sort of protection.

>sb
Blue Hall

>f
Blue Hall
The fore end of the blue hall meets a ring corridor here.

So, the ship is 5 halls long, let’s see how wide it is?

>sb
Red Hall
The red hall ends here. A smaller corridor curves away on both sides. The light is dim and the plants are stunted.

>sb
Green Hall
The green hall ends here at a ring corridor. The planters are well-tended.

>sb
Room on Ring One
A passage leads aft from this point on the ring corridor.

Oh, another extra room!

>aft
Computer Room
This is the main computer room. The builders of this ship were obviously still wedded to large mainframes: this one fills the room and is thirty meters high. There is an overlarge switch at about eye-level and an access panel below it, which is closed. The power seems to be off.

Hums, looks pretty dead at the moment. That can’t be a good sign. Somehow I’m getting the sinking feeling that if I want to get my ship free I’m going to have to find a way to fix this thing.

>fore
Room on Ring One

>sb
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

>p
Room on Ring One

So, either there is more than one dark section on the ship, or one of the hallways is dark and the rings intersect all four of them. That makes sense if you think about it, I mean this whole thing is a Rama like cylinder, and the gravity is being caused by centrifugal force, so my feet are pointing towards space. The rings go around the circumference connecting all the halls together.

You got all that?

I’m going to explore a bit more, maybe go down to the next ring.

>p
Green Hall

>s
Green Hall
The green hall joins a ring corridor here. The plants here look healthy.

>p
Red Hall
This is a long, dim corridor that intersects what looks like a ring corridor. The overheads are not very bright here, and the plant growth is feeble.

>p
Room on Ring Two
The ring corridor here has an exit forward to a large open area. There is fresh dirt scattered about, and an acrid smell.

>fore
Zoo
This is a port-to-starboard corridor lined with small cages. The bars of the cages are bands of force, detectable only by the slight shimmer they produce in the air, and are non-working on most of the cages. A few cages are still on, and contain the dried up carcasses of strange animals.

>p
Broken Cage
This cage was apparently forced by its inhabitants before the general deterioration of the zoo equipment. The force projectors are ripped out of their mountings and smashed against the bulkhead, and the whole cage is scratched and dented as though many enraged creatures pounded on it violently for many weeks. There is a somewhat chewed sign to one side of the cage.

>read sign
The sign, a liquid crystal display, is oddly in English:

" Common Grues (Grue Vulgaris)

The common grue, an inhabitant of the dark underground passages of a forgotten planet, is here exhibited for your pleasure in a typical family group. Note particularly the slavering fangs which reach such impressive size in the adults. Feeding the grues is not recommended."

Oh! That explanis how the grue got on the space ship! Well I’m glad that question in answered… still wish they weren’t running around I rather not deal with the dang things!

>sb
Zoo

>sb
Nesting Cage
The force projectors here aren't working, but the cage is nonetheless inhabited by many creatures who resemble crosses between a rat and an ant. They are multi-legged with chitinous shells and pincers around their mouths, but they have long ratlike tails and sparse tufts of hair. Some of them are armed with tiny spears and walk precariously on their hind legs. In one corner is a very large mud and stick nest. The nest is constructed of all sorts of odds and ends, including a red rod. The rod is embedded in the mud near one of the entrances of the nest.

Ants… why did it have to be ants? I’m not kidding here, I don’t care if they are partly rat like they are freaking ANTS. I hate ants, I can’t stand ants, and even worse they have a red rod, that’s has got to be important.

You know what, I think I’m going to sit here and shake in terror as I try to work out how to get that rod….

Puzzles:
* A dark hallway
* A broken computer
* Getting the Red Rod
* The odd colors in the projector

Unexplored Areas:
* Up from the blue airlock
* The Blue airlock (and all others)
* All of ring 3, 4 and 5

Inventory
A ray gun
A black rod
A space suit
A safety line
A mass detector output
A tape library

Score:
Your score would be 50 (total of 400 points), in 114 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Space Cadet.

I only ever got as far as the interior of the ship as a kid. The hard sci-fi and weird geometry always scared me away. Speaking of, can you draw a map or something? I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the rings and halls.

In any case, rat-ants aren't that tough, especially when you're packing heat. Give them what for, ray-gun style!

Open the access panel on the mainframe. If that fails, raygun it.

The version of the game I had came with a map, which you can find at the bottom of this page. Though I might try to work up a better one tomorrow.

Okay, so your right, I do have a gun, and I can use it to shoot out the rat-ants, that should be easy enough to deal with it. It’s just that they are part ants and I really hate ants, they don’t get along with me and I don’ get along with them. So let’s see if violence is the answer!

>shoot rat-ants
A giant blast of silvery rays issues from the barrel, but it doesn't go very far. In fact, there is a secondary explosion about a foot from the barrel, scattering dust motes in the air. There is almost no recoil: instead the gun vibrated almost painfully. This felt like a misfire.

Ouch, lets trying that again shall we?

>shoot rat-ants
Several rat-ant warriors are reduced to ash, but many more rush out to replace them, and these look mad!

Well, that was unproductive, maybe I can just try shooting the nest?

>shoot nest
The nest and all it contains is destroyed.

I… I don’t think that worked. I mean the nest is destroyed as is the red rod… that doesn’t help me at all. I mean, murder isn’t working and that’s all I’m good at! Okay, so I guess we’ll have to come back for this later.

Yeah, I should have opened that panel in the first place shouldn’t I? Time to see what I can do with an intransigent computer!

Computer Room

>open panel
Opening the access panel reveals rack upon rack of metallic cards. There is one slot that has no card in it.

Well, I think that might be the problem. Well let’s see if violence can solve it!

>shoot computer
"Click."

Oh dear, I think the ray gun is out of juice, and I only got three shots out of it. Okay, time to say the magic words and see what else I can do! Believe it or not, this is a bug! The ray gun only has two shoots to it, but the game doesn’t check that when I’m shooting the nest. I can shoot and destroy it even if the gun is empty.

>restore

Puzzles:
* A dark hallway
* A broken computer
* Getting the Red Rod
* The odd colors in the projector
* Where to use the misfiring ray-gun

Unexplored Areas:
* Up from the blue airlock
* The Blue airlock (and all others)
* All of ring 3, 4 and 5

Inventory
A ray gun
A black rod
A space suit
A safety line
A mass detector output
A tape library

Score:
Your score would be 50 (total of 400 points), in 114 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Space Cadet.

Deaths: 1 (Squashed by sudden G-forces)

I can't think of any options but to explore further.

Okay, from this point on I’m going to try to number the halls in the descriptions, otherwise it’s hard for you to really know where I’m at on the ship.

That sounds like a very good plan to me. I don’t really need to worry too much about the rat-ants for now, but I’m sure I’ll have to come back for that rod sooner or later. It’s not like I can just take it out of the nest or anything. So let’s see, I’ve run the length of the blue hallway as well as some of the red, I really should check out the green hall next.

Green Hall (2)

>s
Outskirts of Village
This is the edge of an inhabited area. Crude hovels are scattered here and there, becoming denser as you move aft.

That is interesting, I wasn’t expecting anyone to be living on this thing. This must be near the green airlock, I wonder if I can get to it.

>aft
The corridor is blocked by a wood and mud palisade.

Seems to be a dead end on this side. Alright I’ll just have to approach it from the third ring.

Red Hall (3)

>sb
Outskirts of Village
This is the edge of a populated area, growing denser as you move starboard. Primitive huts line the corridor, which is blocked ahead by a palisade built of mud and wood. An open gate, guarded by several spear-bearing aliens, leads into the structure. A small crowd of aliens has gathered to watch you.
They resemble human-sized weasels. Their bodies are thin, flexible, and covered with several colors of hair. There are all sizes and ages, and the stronger ones are armed with spears, knives, and other nasty hardware.
They gesture in a way intended to show friendship (they bare their huge razor-sharp teeth).
The smaller ones are hustled away, but almost immediately begin to sneak back.

Oh, hello, I guess you are the… um, owners of this ship or something? Not that it really looks like it, here you are in a mud village on the inside of a huge spaceship so it’s not like it’s really you’re spaceship now is it? Other then the fact that you were here before I arrived… do you understand salvage rights? Law? Finders keepers?

Okay, I’ll take the silence as a ‘no’ then, I think I can work with that. It’s not like your humans and the law really is meant to be all about humans so I guess it’s mine if I can ever claim the thing.

Though they are being nice, so let’s smile back.

>smile at weasels
It smiles back.

Okay then… pressing on.

>sb
Village Center
This section of the hall is filled with primitive huts of various sizes. They are so close they almost form a single large warren with many entrances. The only way to continue down the corridor is through this warren. Many aliens are milling about, of all sizes and colors of fur.

>sb
In the Warren
This is an earth and reed burrow within the warren. There are many aliens here, going about their business. The younger ones stare at you and make funny noises. There are passages all over the place, and a constant traffic in and out.

>p
In the Warren
This is an earth and reed burrow within the warren. There are many aliens here, going about their business. The younger ones stare at you and make funny noises. There are passages all over the place, and a constant traffic in and out.

You know, maybe I shouldn’t have come in here, it’s not like I can tell what’s going on, this place is a maze but not like a maze, not really, I just have no idea how to get around in here and I can’t just go back the way I came. I think it’s not safe for me to be here.

I’m going to use the magic word of ‘restore’ and back out while I still can. After that I’ll just have to press on to ring four.

Red Hall (4)
>sb
Outskirts of Village
This is the edge of an inhabited area lying to starboard. Some odd vegetables are growing here, but the inhabitants, if any, have scattered.

>sb
Village Suburbs
A primitive village has been built here, almost choking the passage off. The village extends forward, becoming even more closely built to form a palisade built of mud and wood which completely blocks the corridor.

>sb
Outskirts of Village
This is the fringe of an inhabited area lying to port. The corridor is filled with cultivated plantings, although the farmers have apparently fled before you.

>sb
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.

So more of the village and the dark hallway… at least I’m pretty sure it’s a hallway, lets trying pushing through.

>sb
Blue Hall (4)

Nice, so it is a dark hallway, that’s good to know. Still a pain to have to keep trying to avoid it all the time.

>sb
Room on Ring Four
You are between the red and blue halls on a ring corridor. The corridor looks damaged to port. The illumination dims to starboard.

That’s interesting, I wonder what this room is for? There doesn’t seem to be any way out of it other than port and starboard. There has to be a reason for this room, I just need to work it out. Otherwise I’m pretty sure I’ve covered the majority of this level for now, so let’s look into going deeper

>p
Blue Hall (4)
A small metal contraption about a meter long and half a meter high enters the room. Its guidance system (two dish antennae at the front) circles quizzically. A power antenna juts from the rear. On top is a small tray. It cleans the floor as it goes, humming contentedly. All in all, it looks like nothing so much as a mechanical mouse.

>look at mouse
The maintenance mouse is a boxy machine with a large receptacle on top in which garbage it collects can be stored. It is buzzing around cleaning the area, diligently polishing the floor, and waving its "ears" (small dish antennae) about.
The receptacle is empty.
The maintenance mouse sits in the middle of the room, buzzing contentedly.

Hello there! I didn’t think there was anyone about other then the grues and the weasel aliens. You look like you’re part of this ship, not some kind of stow away or passenger, I guess you’re job is just to clean the place up. Will you be my friend?

>take mouse
An interesting idea...

>pet mouse
Fiddling with the maintenance mouse has no effect.
The maintenance mouse glides happily away, looking for new dirt to conquer.

Okay, I guess that’s a no, but at least you’re not rude about it. You just have your own thing and are going happily about doing it. I can work with that.

Well back to exploring then.

Blue Hall (3)
>up
You climb a vertical shaft for a considerable distance. The shaft opens into a gigantic space which obviously occupies most of the interior of the artifact. The area is dimly lit and has an interesting geography...

Grassland
You are standing on the floor of an enormous cylinder, kilometers in length and hundreds of meters across. Above you and all around is revealed a micro-geography of trees, grassland, and manufactured structures. The cylinder is divided into various bands, of which this is approximately the central one. Things cling to the floor (or ceiling) above you, as each band continues all the way around the cylinder.
You are in the midst of a grassy plain, a sort of savannah with warm breezes and tall grasses. An exit leads down to the outer deck. Looking forward, a metal floor circles the cylinder, and extends all the way to the forward end of the cylinder, which is a sheer metal wall with a crystal bubble at the axis. Looking aft, the grassland becomes more and more densely forested. The aft end of the cylinder is totally obscured by impossibly tall trees. A herd of creatures not unlike unicorns crops grass in the distance.

This… this is amazing, everything is so tight and small in the hallways of the ship you don’t really get a sense of just how BIG this ship is. Just look at this place, it’s huge! It’s fairly odd standing in the middle of it, with the walls curving up over my head and trees hanging above me. I know how it all works, it’s basic simulated gravity, but to see it, to honestly see it, it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen before. It’s amazing!

And creepy, it’s also very creepy. Things are growing down towards me that should be growing up and everything is rising up around me. I feel like I’m in the bottom of a valley, or a giant bowl of some sort. It really doesn’t look right at all.

Okay, deep breath, relax. It’s just like doing a space walk, focus on the area around me and don’t look up, I’ll be fine.

Let see if I can get a closer look at the unicorns.

>look at unicorns
They are over on the other side of the cylinder.
There is activity above, across the cylinder: Weasel-like aliens in a hunting party enter the grassland.

>p
Grassland
A grassy plain circles this band of the cylinder, the vegetation merging into dense forest as you look aft, and stopping abruptly at bare metal as you look forward. The plain arches above you, giving an aerial view of the other side and the entry through which you came. The forest obscures the aft end of the cylinder. A herd of creatures not unlike unicorns crops grass nearby.

>look at unicorns
They are nearby, cropping grass.
There is activity nearby: Weasels are stalking the unicorn herd.

>pet unicorn
The creatures move off as you approach, so you can't get very close to them.
You have disturbed the hunters, who are annoyed, and the unicorns, who are now more wary. The hunt is spoiled.

Yeah, I shouldn’t have done that. Sorry guys, I’ll be moving on now.

>fore
Metal Floor
The metal floor continues all the way around the cylinder. Aft the grassland begins, and forward the cylinder ends in a smooth vertical wall.
You notice that the air has become quite thin.

>fore
Fore End
You are at the forward end of the interior. A vertical wall extends up all around the circumference. At the axis, high above, is a crystal bubble. From this distance you can't discern its contents, but it's about 100 meters in diameter.

I’m a bit worried about the air, getting thin is not what I want to hear, and what about the crystal bubble up there, I wonder what that is and how do I get to it?

Time to keep looking.

>aft
Thin Forest
This is an area of small trees and shrubs blending into a more imposing forest aft and into grassland forward. Strangely, there is a metal hatch cover nearby among the shrubbery.

More and more interesting….

>open hatch
The metal hatch is now open.

>d
Repair Room
This room is taken up by two large pieces of machinery. The leftmost has a symbol depicting the emission of rays beside a yellow slot. The other machine bears a symbol in three parts: the first two parts, in black, are a solid block and a fluid level. The third, in red, is a series of parallel wavy lines. Beside it are three diagrams; under each one is a red slot. The first diagram shows four single dots equally spaced around a six-dot cluster. The second shows two eight-dot clusters in close proximity. The third has three single dots equally spaced around a seven-dot cluster. The only exit is up some stairs.
There is a metal and ceramic square here.

Oh, a repair room, this could come in handy… if I can understand what the heck all these symbols mean. I like that look of that yellow slot, it seems like it might be related to the lights, though I’m not sure about the red slot just yet.

I need to think on this for the time being…

Puzzles:
* A dark hallway
* A broken computer
* Getting the Red Rod
* The odd colors in the projector
* Getting through the warren to the green airlock
* The empty room on ring four
* Why the air is getting thin
* Reaching the crystal sphere

Unexplored Areas:
* The Blue airlock (and all others)
* Further aft in the inside of the ship.

Inventory:
A metal and ceramic square
A ray gun
A black rod
A space suit
A safety line
A mass detector output
A tape library

Score:
Your score would be 50 (total of 400 points), in 167 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Space Cadet.

Deaths: 1 (Squashed by sudden G-forces)

Interesting. I suggest:

Take some odd vegetables.
Put your squares in the yellow slot.
Put your squares in the other slots.
Shoot the unicorns with your raygun, just for kicks.

Maybe a more primitive approach to destroying the nest would work? By which I mean, throw something heavy at it to smash it.

I first played this game as a part of a set my dad bought when I was a kid that included this game, Planetfall, Stationfall, A Mind Forever Voyaging, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Beyond Zork, and one more I can't remember the name of... I think this LP has already gotten further than my 11 year old self ever did. I do distinctly remember the maps though.

I have to draw things out in order to understand them. I'm not artistic enough to consider posting any images at this point, however, the maintainace room seems pretty clear to me. The 3 blocks are solid and liquid, plus the paralell wavy lines, if you draw it, is obviously air. and its red, which seems to me like a bad thing.

So, 3 more pictures of dots remind me of chemistry class, the second one to me is the dead give away if we know what the atomic numbers are associated with the number of dots and these pictures are related to the wavy air lines.

What do we do to fix the problem you might ask now that we know what the pictures mean? Beats me...

And rising up from the grave, like…. something that rises from the grave because it’s not actually dead and also isn’t undead, you know, still alive, but was dead… Hum, that started out with some much promise as well. Alright, let me try this one again.

Phoenix Down!

Yep, I’m back and I’ve brought my LP back with me. I’ve been away for quite a while that’s to various real life problems and other issues. Luckily with some medical help and new medicine I’m still around to resume this sadly neglected Let’s Play. So, let’s just jump right back into it!

I think the thin air is starting to get to me… how long was I standing here. I guess I really don’t remember, but it seems like it has been months, or was it moments. Sometimes it’s hard to tell in a place like this. It makes my head hurt to be honest. Still there is work to do and ideas to test, so let’s give some of them a try.

Well, that sounds like it would be worth giving a try. Let’s see.

>put square in yellow slot
The metal and ceramic square doesn't fit.

Well that doesn’t seem right.

>put square in first red slot
The metal and ceramic square slides into the slot and disappears.

Hum, I’m not sure that is a good thing really, doesn’t seem like it would belong in there. Still, other things to do. Let’s go find some of those unicorns.

You are in the midst of a grassy plain, a sort of savannah with warm breezes and tall grasses. An exit leads down to the outer deck. Looking forward, a metal floor circles the cylinder, and extends all the way to the forward end of the cylinder, which is a sheer metal wall with a crystal bubble at the axis. Looking aft, the grassland becomes more and more densely forested. The aft end of the cylinder is totally obscured by impossibly tall trees. A herd of creatures not unlike unicorns crops grass in the distance.

>shoot unicorn
A giant blast of silvery rays issues from the barrel, but it doesn't go very far. In fact, there is a secondary explosion about a foot from the barrel, scattering dust motes in the air. There is almost no recoil: instead the gun vibrated almost painfully. This felt like a misfire.

Another misfire? I’m really starting to think there is something wrong with this ray gun. I guess I need to find some way to fix the dang thing, does anyone know how to repair alien thingamajiggers? Oh well, let’s try it again

>shoot unicorn
Many unicorns are incinerated; the rest scatter in terror, then slowly form back into a herd some distance away.

That’s one way to thin the herd, but I don’t think it’s going to do much to help me just yet. Still it was a good idea, to bad nothing survived, I’m sure the meat would have been tasty. So, let’s try those vegetables in the village.

Outskirts of Village
This is the edge of an inhabited area lying to starboard. Some odd vegetables are growing here, but the inhabitants, if any, have scattered.

>get vegetables
I don't know the word 'vegetables'.
You notice that the air has become quite hard to breathe.

Sadly they are just scenery in this place… and I’m getting quite worried about the air. We’re going to have to find a way to fix that before we can’t breathe it at all. For now though, lets Restore back to the work shop.

>restore
Ok.

I am a firm believe that violence is the answer, and violence against ants is even better. I really HATE those buggers, mostly because the scare the hell out of me. Really, I thought that getting out and into space, millions of miles away from Earth and all things crawly I would be able to get away from the nasty beasts, but nope, they have to be out here as well. Sometimes I think the universe enjoys taunting me.

Nesting Cage
The force projectors here aren't working, but the cage is nonetheless inhabited by many creatures who resemble crosses between a rat and an ant. They are multi-legged with chitinous shells and pincers around their mouths, but they have long ratlike tails and sparse tufts of hair. Some of them are armed with tiny spears and walk precariously on their hind legs. In one corner is a very large mud and stick nest. The nest is constructed of all sorts of odds and ends, including a red rod. The rod is embedded in the mud near one of the entrances of the nest.

>throw tape at nest
The nest smashes into fragments and the rat-ants stop dead in their tracks! They frantically evacuate the nest and immediately begin constructing a new nest at the opposite end of the cage. Rat-ant babies are being carried across the cage, and warriors watch you suspiciously.

Woo-hoo, that looks like a win for the home team and the proper application of force! Let’s get my gear and get the heck out of here before they decide to add me to the nest!

>take all
smashed nest: Not bloody likely.
rat-ant: What a concept!

>take rod
Taken.

>take tape
Taken.

>look at red rod
I see nothing special about the red rod.

I guess it’s pretty much the same as the black rod… now what to do with it.

Hum… I think I see. Well, let’s give drawing a try and see what comes from it. I have to admit I’m not very good at drawing, but hopefully it will help.



You know, I guess they could be atoms. And you say the dots are related to the atomic numbers, and the second one is a dead give away. So let’s look up our handy list of elements and see what we can find.

Slot one: One group of 6, that would be Carbon, and the others are clearly Hydrogen.
Slot two: Two groups of 8, so two Oxygen.
Slot three: A group of 7, nitrogen, and 3 Hydrogen.

So, we have CH4 better known as Methane. Good old down home O2, and NH3, which is Ammonia.

I’m starting to suspect that this is how to fix the air problem… but how?

Puzzles:
* A dark hallway
* A broken computer
* The odd colors in the projector
* Getting through the warren to the green airlock
* The empty room on ring four
* Fixing the air
* Reaching the crystal sphere

Unexplored Areas:
* The Blue airlock (and all others)
* Further aft in the inside of the ship.

Inventory:
A tape library
A red rod
A metal and ceramic square
A ray gun
A black rod
A space suit
A safety line
A mass detector output

Score:
Your score would be 75 (total of 400 points), in 182 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Space Cadet.

Deaths: 1 (Squashed by sudden G-forces)

Hmmm...red slots, red crystal rod...maybe inserting the red rod into the red slot would red work? And by the red slot, I mean the one for oxygen, although if you want to try the other two anyway, there's not really anything I can do to stop you.

That sounds like a very good idea, let’s give it a try!

Repair Room
This room is taken up by two large pieces of machinery. The leftmost has a symbol depicting the emission of rays beside a yellow slot. The other machine bears a symbol in three parts: the first two parts, in black, are a solid block and a fluid level. The third, in red, is a series of parallel wavy lines. Beside it are three diagrams; under each one is a red slot. The first diagram shows four single dots equally spaced around a six-dot cluster. The second shows two eight-dot clusters in close proximity. The third has three single dots equally spaced around a seven-dot cluster. The only exit is up some stairs.

>put red rod into second red slot
The red rod disappears into the slot. You hear a subdued hum of machinery coming to life.

Well, that sounded like it did something… while we are waiting to see if anything good comes of this, let’s check further aft, where that imposing forest was at. That should be fairly interesting to say the least.

>u
Thin Forest
This is an area of small trees and shrubs blending into a more imposing forest aft and into grassland forward. Strangely, there is a metal hatch cover nearby among the shrubbery.

>s
Dense Forest
This is the forest primeval, conifers and cycads in rank profusion. Here and there huge trees thrust upward through the forest canopy. One particularly large tree is to port of here.

Well that tree looks interesting.

>p
Base of Tree
You are in a primeval forest, near the base of a giant tree. The trunk is thick, perhaps 40 meters in diameter, and the height is incredible. The forest is dense, so you can't see exactly how tall it is, but extending all the way to the axis isn't out of the question. The bark is so rough that climbing would be no problem.

Oh, it looks very interesting doesn’t it? With that lovely rough bark, I bet it does go all the way to the center of the ship. At the very least it would give us a nice view of the place, I’m sure it’s worth taking a look see just for that.

>climb
(on the tree)
You can't climb with that bulky suit.

Dumb suit.

>drop suit
Dropped.

>climb
(on the tree)
Up a Tree
You are climbing a gigantic tree, one that would make the largest sequoia blush with envy. Fortunately the bark is rough and climbing is easy. The gravity lessens as you near the axis of rotation, which also helps.

>climb
(on the tree)
Top of Tree
You are at the top of a giant tree, just below a huge crystalline bubble full of machinery and controls which lies at the axis of rotation at the aft end of the cylinder. Out of reach above you is a hatch which leads into the bubble. Beside the hatch is a silver slot. Gravity has almost disappeared here as you near the axis.[/COLOR]

Now that is very interesting, this seems to be a match to the crystal sphere we saw at the fore end of the ship, you know, the side without the conveniently placed tree we can use to get up to it. I’m not sure how to get to that one, but at least we can take a closer look at this one!

>look at bubble
I see nothing special about the drive bubble.

Oh, so it’s a drive bubble is it? Thank you for that extra bit of information. I wonder if I can open the hatch?

>u
The hatch is out of reach above you.

Hum…. Well the gravity is pretty low here, maybe I can jump for it?

>jump
Gravity is almost non-existent here, so your jump easily carries you to the hatch of the drive bubble.

Drive Bubble Entrance
You are floating (clinging?) outside the drive bubble, a crystalline half-sphere covering the aft end of the artifact's axis of rotation. Small knobs like handholds lead up the surface of the bubble, away from the end of the cylinder. The drive bubble is transparent and through it you can see the controls for the main engines of the artifact, which must be aft of here. The only way in is a hatch which is closed. Beside the hatch is a silver slot.

>open hatch
You can't manually open or close the hatch.

Ah, looks like I’m going to need a silver key to open this door. Too bad, lets see, it looks like I could use those handholds to get up higher.

>u
On Drive Bubble
You are floating near and clinging to a large crystalline bubble covering the aft end of the axis of rotation of the artifact. There is no weight here. Small knobs resembling handholds cover the bubble; you could use them to climb back down. Far away at the fore end of the axis you can see another bubble very similar to this one.

There’s the other side of this matched set… too bad it’s over there and I’m stuck over here. Now how do I get back down to the tree?

>d
Drive Bubble Entrance

Well, I jumped up here, lets jump back down!

>jump
Gravity is very light here and you practically zoom into the air. Unfortunately gravity is not entirely non-existent, so eventually you begin to fall, faster and faster, in a lovely curve produced by the rotation of the artifact. You make a gorgeous but fatal swan dive into the surface.

**** You have died ****

Note to self, sky diving inside a tin can is a very bad idea! More so when you don’t have a parachute! I think I should try that again.

>restore
Ok.

>look
Drive Bubble Entrance
You are floating (clinging?) outside the drive bubble, a crystalline half-sphere covering the aft end of the artifact's axis of rotation. Small knobs like handholds lead up the surface of the bubble, away from the end of the cylinder. The drive bubble is transparent and through it you can see the controls for the main engines of the artifact, which must be aft of here. The only way in is a hatch which is closed. Beside the hatch is a silver slot.

>d
Top of Tree
You are at the top of a giant tree, just below a huge crystalline bubble full of machinery and controls which lies at the axis of rotation at the aft end of the cylinder. Out of reach above you is a hatch which leads into the bubble. Beside the hatch is a silver slot. Gravity has almost disappeared here as you near the axis.

Good, I was a little worried there that I couldn’t get back to the tree, but I made it all in one piece. So now what should I do?

Puzzles:
* A dark hallway
* A broken computer
* The odd colors in the projector
* Getting through the warren to the green airlock
* The empty room on ring four
* Reaching the crystal sphere
* Entering the Drive Bubble

Unexplored Areas:
* The Blue airlock

Inventory:
A tape library
A metal and ceramic square
A ray gun
A black rod
A safety line
A mass detector output

Score:
Your score would be 75 (total of 400 points), in 209 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Space Cadet.

Deaths: 2 (Squashed by sudden G-forces, Jumping to my doom)

I vote for further exploration.

And thus me shall explore, though the only place we really have to go is the blue air lock, so let’s head that way, and at least it’s on the way to anywhere else we would want to go.

>d
Base of Tree
You are in a primeval forest, near the base of a giant tree. The trunk is thick, perhaps 40 meters in diameter, and the height is incredible. The forest is dense, so you can't see exactly how tall it is, but extending all the way to the axis isn't out of the question. The bark is so rough that climbing would be no problem.
There is a space suit here.

>take suit
Taken.

Better grab this again, it could come in handy!

Blue Hall (3)
A ring corridor joins the blue hall here. There is an entrance (presumably for the blue docking area) below, and also a way up.

>open inner door
The blue inner door opens.

>d
Blue Airlock
This is the main airlock of the blue docking port. The inner door leading up to the interior is open, and the outer door leading down to the surface is closed.

>close inner door
The blue inner door closes.

>open outer door
The blue outer door opens.

>d
Blue Dock
You are viewing this area, color-coded in blue, through the first of several transparent bubbles connecting the dock with a large spherical object tethered by silvery ropes. The blue airlock dome is behind you, and the spherical spaceship is aft of here. There is a hook by the airlock.

>look at ship
This ship looks like a huge crystalline bubble.

It’s a giant bubble, how can you make a space ship that’s just a bubble? It needs… things. Landing systems, maneuvering thrusters, propulsion systems. You can’t just make it round like that. How would you even put that into a gravity well? I guess it’s an alien ship after all, but it really doesn’t seem like a ship…. Still, let’s go inside.

>aft
Bubbles
This is a series of plastic bubbles connecting the blue airlock with a spherical spaceship docked aft of here. The bubbles are made of a thick material which is nonetheless transparent.
The air seems fine now.

Oh good, it looks like the trick with the red rod worked to fix the air. Fantastic! Of course the fact that I can tell that the air is fine means that um… I forgot to put my space suit on. I’m kind of glad there is air on this side of the airlock otherwise I would have just walked out into hard vacuum. Not really the best day someone could have.

And who uses bubbles as a jetway?

>aft
Spherical Ship
You are within a huge bubble, transparent from this side. The interior is crisscrossed with wire webbing, so that an agile creature could move around using only the wires. Objects are stuck in the wires in various out-of-reach places. The whole impression is of a rather untidy spiderweb. The connection to the artifact is at the forward end of the sphere.

Crouched in the center of the sphere, where the wires converge, is a creature resembling a giant spider. A closer look reveals that it is not an insect, but rather a multi-legged, endoskeletal mammal. It has huge eyes and impressive grinding teeth. It grips the wires with many tiny fingers, and gazes at you with almost hypnotic intensity.

I… I just… it’s a giant alien spider in a giant alien spiderweb. I mean… that’s just… how do you even react to that sort of thing. But it’s an alien that looks like a giant spider.

Actually that’s really kind of cool. I mean, who says alien life has to be humanoid in nature, there’s nothing in the universe that say bipedal motion is the best form for life. I mean really, think about it, standing upright is a heck of a lot of work (more so without a tail) and puts a lot of strain on the back. So if you think about it the whole giant spider thing makes a sort of sense.

Hello!

>spider, hello
The spider draws forth an object from a wire clump. He fiddles with it and a voice issues from it: "Greetings, creature from Earth. Are you afraid of me? Come closer, I won't harm you."

The spider tells you his name is "Gurthark-tun-Besnap," (or something more-or-less that). Like yourself, he landed here to explore. He failed to control the artifact before it left his system, and has been stranded here for centuries. He sighs. "It's getting a little boring. The other inhabitants of this place are not too stimulating. The computer was some company until it malfunctioned. When we began to approach your system, I got excited! A whole new culture to learn! The end of boredom, for a while at least. I fed your language to my translator, from your radio broadcasts, and have eagerly awaited your arrival." He grins broadly, a fairly horrific sight.

Well it’s nice to meet you Gurthark-tun-Besnap, I’m glad your ship has a working radio. Can I use it… to you know, call someone for help. Also I’m impressed that you managed to get English on the first try there, it’s not like there aren’t a ton of language in radio broadcasts coming from Earth. Heck, just look at all the languages that the BBC Solar Service broadcast in.

So, that’s a no on the radio then? Damn.

Puzzles:
* A dark hallway
* A broken computer
* The odd colors in the projector
* Getting through the warren to the green airlock
* The empty room on ring four
* Reaching the crystal sphere
* Entering the Drive Bubble
* Helping the giant spider

Unexplored Areas:
--None--

Inventory:
A space suit
A tape library
A metal and ceramic square
A ray gun
A black rod
A safety line
A mass detector output

Score:
Your score would be 75 (total of 400 points), in 231 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Space Cadet.

Deaths: 2 (Squashed by sudden G-forces, Jumping to my doom)

Is there some kind of lens on the projector or something that would make the colors all funny?

How about the ray gun, is there something that would make it misfire? Maybe the safety's on or something?

That is an interesting question, lets go take a look at it and see if there is anything I can do with it.

Observatory
This is the interior part of the artifact's observatory, with an exit to starboard. There are no telescopes or other instruments visible, but in the center of the room is an image of space in the vicinity. Examining the image, you see a tiny model of the solar system. The sun is a bright dot in the center; Jupiter and Saturn are easily discovered. The colors of the dots are not what you would expect, though, and range throughout the spectrum.
A holographic projector is on one wall.

Well... there is clearly something wrong with it… maybe it’s meant to be seen in a different wavelength? Though that really doesn’t explain the rainbow of colors. All sorts of colors in all sorts of places, almost like then lens was a prism.

Maybe I can fiddle with the lens?

>look at lens
I don't know the word 'lens'.

I guess it doesn’t have a lens as such, dumb alien technology. You think it would be better designed then this. Time to start fiddling with it!

>turn projector
(with the pair of hands)
You can't turn that!

>adjust projector
I don't know the word 'adjust'.

>fix projector
What do you want to fix the projector with?

>hands
This has no effect.

Hum… okay I guess I really can’t do that. Well, what else I could I do with it. Well, this whole odd ship is some kind of Rama like probe, trying to contact and test other life… so it can’t be too hard to fix it, but the question is how? It shouldn’t be too hard, how would I fix a projector if it was built on the usual lights and mirror?

>hit projector
(with the ray gun)
Firing the ray gun is more efficient than smashing things with it.

Well, that doesn’t really seem like it’s going to work. I have to be missing something, but what? Maybe I should take a closer look.

>look at projector
The projector is a type of laser, producing a continuous holographic view of space outside the artifact. The light issues from the front of the projector, and is blindingly bright.

Maybe there is something wrong inside?

>look in projector
The light being emitted is so bright that your retina is scorched and you are blinded. You blunder about for a while, end up in a dark place, and are set upon by grues.

**** You have died ****

That’s what I get for ignoring OSHA rules about eye protection. I guess those rules do actually exist for a reason. I guess I had better try that again.

>restore
Ok.

A safety, that’s always a possibly. I was never very good with these gun things so it’s worth a try.

>look at raygun
It looks like the heavy duty model. It's got quite a bit of heft to it, and you really need two hands to aim it properly. The barrel is long and festooned with strange knobs and antennae. There is a charge indicator which is unfortunately unreadable.

Ah, maybe the knobs?

>turn knob
(with the pair of hands)
You can't see any knob here.

I guess not. Well maybe I should try hitting it again? It didn’t work for the project but maybe it would work for this?

>hit raygun
(with the ray gun)
Firing the ray gun is more efficient than smashing things with it.

Not really, not if it misfires all the time.

>shake raygun
It rattles loudly.

That doesn’t sound very good at all. Like something has come loose inside the thing? Maybe if I can open it up I can fix it? Maybe it will give me a clue on how to fix the projector.

>look in raygun
In the barrel is a silver rod!

Well hello there! I didn’t expect to find THAT in there of all places. Let’s get that free.

>take silver rod
Taken.

There we go, one fixed ray gun! Well at least I hope it’s fixed after all of this. Let’s give it a quick test and see if anything has improved. Now I just need a good target to test it out on, now what could I try shooting?

>save
Ok.

>shoot projector
An explosion of orange rays sweeps over the holographic projector, but when the smoke clears, it is still there (though perhaps a bit singed).

>restore
Ok.

Oh yes! That is exactly what I needed to do to fix it! Woo hoo, I now have a working super ray gun. I wonder what I should go around shooting as I still only get two shots before the things runs dry.

Puzzles:
* A dark hallway
* A broken computer
* The odd colors in the projector
* Getting through the warren to the green airlock
* The empty room on ring four
* Reaching the crystal sphere
* Entering the Drive Bubble
* Helping the giant spider

Unexplored Areas:
--None--

Inventory:
A silver rod
A space suit
A tape library
A metal and ceramic square
A ray gun
A black rod
A safety line
A mass detector output

Score:
Your score would be 100 (total of 400 points), in 249 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Ensign.

Deaths: 3 (Squashed by sudden G-forces, Jumping to my doom, Blinding by science)

From the opening post, with added emphasis:
The spider-man is bored and seems to enjoy studying human culture. Lets give him the tape library.

Also, if we can't call for help, maybe we just drive the whole space station back to civilzation. Put the silver rod in the silver slot and start fiddling!

Is the black rod translucent? If so, maybe you could use it to look at the projector.