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

Okay, I can work this through, I’m sure there is something logical to do… well I guess the question is what do I want to do? Well, this is the control bubble, so I have to be able to control this place from here. So logically that’s what all these colored spots and squares do, even if most of them don’t do anything.

So, the best place to take this ship is to Earth, right? So let’s give that a try, how hard could it be.

>press large square
The view screen now shows the inner solar system, from the sun out to Jupiter.

Okay, so my choices are the artifact itself or the inner solar system. So how would I select Earth?

>look
Control Bubble
This room must be the main control room of the artifact. The control bubble itself is transparent and you can look out upon the interior of the artifact. Far off, hidden among the tallest trees of the forest, is the matching drive bubble. One way out is the hatch, which is open.
The walls are gray except for five small color-coded slots (pink, brown, violet, green, and blue) arranged in a pentagon.
Of the colored slots, the pink one contains a pink rod and the blue, green, violet and brown rods are in place in the like-colored slots. Alongside each of those are spots of the same color.
The pink screen includes a small square, a large square, and a display showing nearby space. This view shows the inner solar system, from the sun out to Jupiter.

Well, the pink slot was listed first, and we used that one first, so how about we try the brown spot next?

>press brown spot
The view screen now shows the Sun brightly highlighted.

Oh! I like that, lets cycle through…

>press brown spot
The view screen now shows Mercury brightly highlighted.

>press brown spot
The view screen now shows Venus brightly highlighted.

>press brown spot
The view screen now shows Earth brightly highlighted.

There we go, and the next button is the violet one.

>press violet spot
The highlighted image of Earth now is connected to that of the artifact. The line terminates in a parabola looping around Earth.

>press violet spot
The highlighted image of Earth now is connected to that of the artifact. The line terminates in an ellipse surrounding Earth.

>press violet spot
The highlighted image of Earth now is connected to that of the artifact. The line terminates in a circle around Earth.

>press violet spot
A line no longer connects the artifact and Earth.

>press violet spot
The highlighted image of Earth now is connected to that of the artifact. The line terminates in the center of Earth.

So, which one should I pick?

Puzzles:
* Flying the Ship

You are carrying:
A black visor fragment
A safety line
A metal basket
The metal basket contains:
A black rod
A ray gun

Score:
Your score would be 350 (total of 400 points), in 611 moves.
This score gives you the rank of System Captain.

Deaths: 8 (Squashed by sudden G-forces, Jumping to my doom, Blinding by science, Turning off the ship, Forgetting my space suit, Down the trash chute, Transported in Pieces, Desecration)

Although I know it's not the right answer, you should try the one that terminates in the center of Earth, unless you're planning on showing off the wrong courses in any hypothetical bonus updates, in which case you'll show it off then.

After that, let's try the circle. Might as well set this artifact up in a regular orbit.

well, i've heard of eliptical orbits before and circular is an obviously stable orbit. Parabola would not be an orbit at all. If you graph a parabola, it does not close in on itself like the circle and elipse do. I think the circle is the obvious trick and the eliptical orbit is the actual right answer.

I do plan to have a bonus update with a few extra things, but this isn’t one of them.

Well, I guess the direct course wouldn’t be too bad to try now would it?

>press green spot
The line on the display now consists of dots which flash slowly, one at a time, starting with a dot at the artifact and concluding at Earth.

>press green spot
The line on the display now consists of dots which flash rapidly, one at a time, starting with a dot at the artifact and concluding at Earth.

Wild guess, but I think this must be the speed of the ship. So let’s stick with this one and see how well it works out in this situation. What’s the worst that could happen?

>press blue spot
All the displays flash once. There is a sensation of movement as the artifact positions itself to follow the course you have set.

There we go, that’s the execute button, Earth here we come!

The artifact approaches Earth, where the plaudits of humanity await you. Unfortunately, the course you have chosen rams you into the planet and you earn the hatred of mankind, not its praises.

Okay…. So that wasn’t the best course, literally and figuratively. Let’s try that one again shall we?

>restore
Ok.

So, next suggestion!

That sounds like a plan.

>press violet spot
The highlighted image of Earth now is connected to that of the artifact. The line terminates in a circle around Earth.

>press green spot
The line on the display now consists of dots which flash rapidly, one at a time, starting with a dot at the artifact and concluding at Earth.

>press blue spot
All the displays flash once. There is a sensation of movement as the artifact positions itself to follow the course you have set.

The artifact, under your assured control, moves serenely toward Earth, where the knowledge it contains will immeasureably benefit mankind. Within a few years, there could be human ships flying out to the stars, and all because of your daring and cunning...

A holographic projection of a humanoid figure appears before you. The being, tall and thin, swathed in shimmering robes, speaks in your own language. "Congratulations, you who have passed our test. You have succeeded where others failed. Your race shall benefit thereby." He smiles. "I expect to see you in person, someday." The projection fades.

Your score would be 400 (total of 400 points), in 617 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Galactic Overlord.

Woo hoo! That worked I got the ship home in one piece and became the hero of the world… very nice, but we still have one more thing to try!

Sure, why don’t we try that because, why not? Let’s try the slightly slower speed on the green spot, maybe it will do something new?

>restore
Ok.

>press violet spot
The highlighted image of Earth now is connected to that of the artifact. The line terminates in an ellipse surrounding Earth.

>press green spot
The line on the display now consists of dots which flash slowly, one at a time, starting with a dot at the artifact and concluding at Earth.

>press blue spot
All the displays flash once. There is a sensation of movement as the artifact positions itself to follow the course you have set.

The artifact, under your assured control, moves serenely toward Earth, where the knowledge it contains will immeasureably benefit mankind. Within a few years, there could be human ships flying out to the stars, and all because of your daring and cunning...

A holographic projection of a humanoid figure appears before you. The being, tall and thin, swathed in shimmering robes, speaks in your own language. "Congratulations, you who have passed our test. You have succeeded where others failed. Your race shall benefit thereby." He smiles. "I expect to see you in person, someday." The projection fades.

Your score would be 400 (total of 400 points), in 614 moves.
This score gives you the rank of Galactic Overlord.

Sweet, I win again! I have to say this is the very best outcome don’t you think? We won the day, saved the ship and brought a few aliens along with us… as well as grue’s at rat-ants *shivers*okay so many we can sterilize that part of the ship first. I can’t wait to see what rewards I’m going to get after this is all said and done, it’s not often you get to be a hero.

Next up, we’ll go through everything on the For Your Amusement section on the invisclues, and any other crazy idea you might have for me to try!

Time for a bonus update! Like all the Invisiclues books, the one for Starcross has a “For Your Amusement” section, so I thought it would be fun to just go back through and try as many of them as we can.

* touched the Starcross controls after the course was set?
>touch controls
The computer's voice intrudes. "Do you really want to touch the controls just now? Not to impugn your piloting ability, but shouldn't I execute any course corrections? I'm very good at it, you know."

* taken the space suit off in space?
>take off suit
That was a silly thing to do, as there is no air here. You die of all sorts of asphyxiation.

**** You have died ****

* untied your safety line while floating in space?
>unhook line
Detached from the hook.
You have left the Starcross in deep space without a safety line, a good way to drift into space and eventually run out of air.
So far you've been lucky and not drifted very far.

>wait
Time passes...
You have left the Starcross in deep space without a safety line, a good way to drift into space and eventually run out of air.
In fact, this is exactly what has happened to you.

**** You have died ****

* set R, theta, or phi once you arrived at the Artifact (or while on the way)?
>computer, range is 250, Theta is 120, phi is 012
"We just got here. You wouldn't be scared, would you?"

>computer, range is 250, Theta is 120, phi is 012
"We're in the midst of a trip. Are you still asleep?"

* said HELLO to the Starcross computer, or asked it to kill you, or given something to it?
>computer, Hello
"Hello, astronaut."

>computer, kill me
"That is not among my capabilities. Sigh."

>give output to computer
"I might be able to take that if you had bought the extensors I asked for, but no..."

I’m starting to think the computer doesn’t like me very much…

* watched the docking of the Starcross with the Artifact while floating in space?
Outside Ship
You are floating outside the Starcross. The airlock door is open. One end of your safety line is attached to a hook next to the airlock. This is deep space, outside the plane of the ecliptic and far beyond the orbit of Earth. The sun seems small but still intolerably bright to look at directly.
This area has a green dome and a long, silvery spaceship tethered nearby.
Suddenly an odd protrusion near the red dome splits open and a huge articulated metal tentacle issues from it at great speed.
The tentacle grabs the Starcross, spinning you off into the depths of space!

**** You have died ****

* tried dropping anything or jumping while on the outer surface of the Artifact?
>drop line
As the safety line leaves your hand, it is thrown into space by the rotation of the artifact.

>jump
Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!

>jump
Have you tried skipping from star to star, too?

>jump
Are you enjoying yourself?

* shot the mechanical mouse, or watched it try to enter the Warren or climb the tree?
>shoot mouse
The mouse is obliterated, squealing piteously.

I never did see the other option here…

* tried climbing down the hole in the Garage?
>enter chute
The chute leads straight to the input hopper of a fusion reactor which gets some of its power from trash. It's now getting some of its power from you.

**** You have died ****

* stepped on a disk while carrying the other, or put one disk on top of the other?
>put red disk on blue disk
The blue disk activates as the red disk touches it. It disappears for a fraction of a second, then a flash of light fills the room as both disks explode!

I know you can kill yourself if you’re holding one of the disks, but I can’t ever get it to work.

* looked out the view port of the Weasel's ship (at the Green Dock)?
>look at viewport
You see the green dock, and the stars wheeling by above.

* tried wearing the Alien space suit?
>put on suit
You are now wearing the tattered old suit, which smells of alien.

* tried talking to the Weasels or their Chief?
>chief, hello
The chief listens intently, then responds in his own language, probably saying something like "That's Greek to me."

>weasel, hello
You are ignored.
Nice weather we're having.

* tried pointing at or shooting the Alien Chief's wife or child?
>point at wife
She snarls at her husband and grimaces at you. The chief waves his hands as if to say "Never mind."
The chief gestures impatiently at various objects.

>point at child
The child sticks its tongue at you and scampers off. Other young weasels caper about, making noises that sound much like laughter.

>shoot wife
She is vaporized by the blast! Fortunately, the chief, has many wives, and this was a lesser one.
The chief gestures impatiently at various objects.

Damn, that’s cold.

* tried giving the tattered space suit to the Chief's wife?
>give suit to wife
You can't give a tattered suit to a wife!

* dropped anything in the Warren?
>drop ray gun
As soon as you drop the ray gun, one of the smaller creatures rushes over and grabs it! He charges out of the room, squeaking with glee.

Careful with that kid, you’ll shoot your eye out!

* given anything to the Rat-ants?
>give output to rat-ants
A rat-ant takes the mass detector output and incorporates it into the nest.

* tried shooting yourself, something you were carrying, or the ray gun itself with the ray gun?
>shoot self with raygun
If you say so... The blast destroys you and your possessions so quickly there is no point in even describing the carnage.

**** You have died ****

>shoot output with raygun
A huge explosion of orange rays destroys the mass detector output utterly.
Unfortunately, that requires firing so close that the blast destroys you and your possessions as well.

**** You have died ****

>shoot raygun with raygun
That would involve a higher technology than even the builders of the ray gun possessed.

* put other rods into the ray gun before firing?
>shoot wall
A giant blast 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.

Doesn’t seem all that different.

* tried flying from the tree?
>fly
You aren't a bird, so you plummet rather than soar.

**** You have died ****

* tried jumping while in one of the bubbles?
>jump
You push off the floor, and because there is no weight you zoom into the air and rebound against the transparent surface of the bubble!

Ouch!

* been in the inner cylinder when the lights brightened for "day" or dimmed for "night"?
>wait
Time passes...
The lights dim: it is now nighttime. There is still enough light to see by; it's like a clear, moonlit night back on earth.

>wait
Time passes...
The lights come on: it is now full daylight.

There we go, that about wraps it up for Starcross. Don’t worry, I’ll be back sooner or later (probably sooner) until then remember, Don’t Panic!