All this for a map of Paris? Let's play Curses!

After a month-long hiatus, I'm back with my fifth Let's Play, and my first of one of the many, many homebrew interactive fiction games out there, and, IMNSHO, one of the best. Like my previous LP , it involves preparing for a trip to Paris, but unlike in Bureaucracy, our hero, a scion of the British aristocracy, only needs one thing before he can get going...but, well, the game can probably say it better than me.

Quote:

Nine times she waved the fluttering wimple round, And made a little plot of magic ground. And in that daisied circle, as men say, Is Merlin prisoner till the judgement day... --Matthew Arnold, Tristram and Iseult III (1852)

Welcome to CURSES
[Please press SPACE to begin.]

If you're wondering, the little quote boxes are actually in the game. They pop up after certain events, and add a bit of flavor to the game.

Anyway, after pressing SPACE...

It's become a matter of pride now not to give up. That tourist map of Paris must be up here somewhere in all this clutter, even if it has been five years since your last trip. And it's your own fault. It looks as if your great-grandfather was the last person to tidy up these lofts...

CURSES
An Interactive Diversion
Copyright (c) 1993, 1994, 1995 by Graham Nelson.
Release 16 / Serial number 951024 / Inform v1600 Library 5/12
Standard interpreter 1.1

Attic
The attics, full of low beams and awkward angles, begin here in a relatively tidy area which extends north, south and east. The wooden floorboards seem fairly sound, just as well considering how heavy all these teachests are. But the old wiring went years ago, and there's no electric light.

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.


And this is where it begins. But what do we have on us?

Quote:

Four be the things I'd been better without: Love, curiosity, freckles, and doubt. --Dorothy Parker, "Inventory"

>i
You are carrying:
a chocolate biscuit
an electric torch (providing light and closed)
a crumpled piece of paper

Might as well look at this stuff.

>examine biscuit
Oatmeal covered with plain chocolate, since you ask.

>examine torch
The torch has a battery compartment which can be reached by opening it up.

>examine paper
Things to do:

1. Find map
2. Phone airport to check parking
3. Health forms...

and so on. Let's face it, 1. is more enticing than the rest put together.

For those of you who don't know, "electric torch" is British for flashlight. This game has a LOT of Britishisms, which is to be expected, since it was written by an Englishman and is set mostly
in England.

The room description mentions "teachests." Just what is a teachest, anyway?

>examine teachests
Open-topped. You could easily look inside, if so minded.

Sounds like a good idea. After all, this is an adventure game...

Quote:

What you don't know would make a great book. --The Rev. Sydney Smith

>look in teachests
That was the first place you tried, hours and hours ago now, and there's nothing there but that boring old book. You pick it up anyway, bored as you are.

A book, eh?

>examine book
It was to have been the Honourable Peter Meldrew's life's work, a two-volume edition giving the definitive family history. Unfortunately, although he claimed to have hunted for evidence to the ends of the earth, he never could find a detail he wanted for volume I, and it was never published. Somehow, this typifies your family, and consulting this worthy book about your ancestors makes you realise what an uncanny knack they had for never quite achieving anything.

Unless, of course, you count having an awful lot of children. So many Meldrews are listed here that you'll have to look them up individually.

And with that, this introductory post comes to an end. Where should I go from here? As stated in the room description, there are paths to the north, south, and east, and a trapdoor leading down. Which way to go?

Puzzles:
None yet.

Inventory:
a chocolate biscuit
an electric torch (providing light and closed)
the History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
a crumpled piece of paper

This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 0 out of a possible 550, in 9 turns, giving you the rank of hapless Tourist.

How about north? There might be something that way.

Oh man, I remember Inside Mac Games or MacWorld gushing over this title in the mid 90's. We were hard up for gaming content back then, so even homebrew IF got billing next to Marathon and Lucasarts ports. I ended up tracking it down a few years later and walkthru'd my way to the end, but don't remember anything at all other than the novelty of playing a game through a parser, and a flashlight being called a torch.

This attic can't be that large, can it? Get to looking around! North is as good as anything.

Edit: That torch is mighty suspicious as well, what with its closed battery compartment. Could you open that up and see if there's anything in there other than batteries?

Well, it seems to be unanimous, so north it is.

Old Winery
This small cavity at the north end of the attic once housed all manner of home-made wine paraphernalia, now lost and unlamented. Steps, provided with a good strong banister rail, lead down and to the west, and the banister rail continues along a passage east.

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.

As you disturb the still air, the attic key, which was balanced on top of the demijohn, slips onto the floor and disappears into a crack in the floorboards. Your spirits sink as it does, rattling down some distance. How on earth are you going to get it back?

Well, darn. But maybe we can get those goodies out of the demijohn?

>open demijohn
Your hands slip on the screw-top of the demijohn and can't get a grip.

Or not. Now, John wants me to open the torch's battery compartment, and who am I to say no to a reader's request?

>open compartment
The torch goes out as you open the battery compartment.

It is now pitch dark in here!

Fortunately, there aren't any grues in the attics of Meldrew Hall. But still, we'll have to go back to a lighted area to see what's inside the torch.

>s

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.

>look in compartment
In the electric torch is an old smudged battery.

It's just a battery. But the fact that it can be opened does strike me as a bit odd. Anyway, it would be stupid to explore a dark attic without a flashlight, so...

>close compartment
You close the battery compartment of the torch, and it lights up brightly.

Anyway, that's that for this episode. Where to now?

Unexplored paths:
South from Attic
East from Attic
Down from Attic
West from Old Winery
East from Old Winery

Puzzles:
A bottle that I can't get a grip on the top of.

Inventory:
A chocolate biscuit
An electric torch
The History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
A crumpled piece of paper

This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 0 out of a possible 550, in 15 turns, giving you the rank of hapless Tourist.

Map:
a=Attic
b=Old Winery

The map's in the bottle, right? Smash the bottle.

Uh... how about east from the attic?

Oh my. An ambitious thread.

We really should go west of the demijohn. Yup.

West of the winery for alliteration's sake.

I'm going to guess that at some point either the battery will run out and need to be replaced, or that you'll need to take out the battery and use it in some other device. But that's totally guessing on my part.

I suspect we'll want to explore and grab everything not nailed down, particularly anything that looks like it can be used to grip a demijohn or break through a floor. West first?

Well, the majority seems to want me to go west from the winery, so west it is! But first, there are some things I can do on the way there that were also suggested, so...


>n

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.

>break demijohn
The demijohn is made of something like industrial-grade chemistry glass. You kick it and hurt your foot.

Guess that we will need to find some non-violent way to open it, after all. Darn. Anyway, to the west!

>w

Aunt Jemima's Lair
This used to be called the Conservatory, before Aunt Jemima took it over to potter about with plants, painting and indeed (on occasion) pottery. She has filled the place with objets trouves and bric-a-brac, and hung up a home-made calendar of watercolours. Even the old airing cupboard to the south is cluttered.

An open doorway leads back southwest onto the upstairs landing, and you can hear the chaotic noise of suitcases being manhandled about - good thing nobody's seen you. A narrow staircase leads up and to the east into the attic.

Jemima herself seems to be in the potting room to the west.

Ooh, hints of an NPC! But first, there was a request to check out the area east of the attic, so...

>e

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.

>s

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.

>e

Servant's Room
Once upon a time, servants in great houses lived in awful little crevices and excuses for rooms like this one. They must have been in permanent danger of suffocation, for there are no windows and only a doorway to the west. A bed is still kept here, and the sight of it brings on drowsiness in all this warm stuffy air. All you want to do is curl up and sleep.

There's a little book on the tiny bedside table.

An old striped scarf hangs up behind the doorway.

As a text adventurer, it's my right, nay, my duty, to take anything that's not nailed down. That book and scarf aren't nailed down. So...

>e

Servant's Room
Once upon a time, servants in great houses lived in awful little crevices and excuses for rooms like this one. They must have been in permanent danger of suffocation, for there are no windows and only a doorway to the west. A bed is still kept here, and the sight of it brings on drowsiness in all this warm stuffy air. All you want to do is curl up and sleep.

There's a little book on the tiny bedside table.

An old striped scarf hangs up behind the doorway.

>get book
(the classical dictionary)
Taken.

>get scarf
You're carrying too many things already.

Let's at least get a look at this stuff, even if we can't take it all.

>examine dictionary
"Hobson's: A Choice Classical Dictionary". It claims to have numerous entries.

If you're wondering, by "classical," they're referring to classical mythology. Sorry if you knew that, it's just that it struck me as kind of a vague description.

>examine scarf
This is an old Biblioll College scarf, made by Dunn and Co. (naturally). It has four stripes: royal blue, emerald, dark grey and scarlet.

And that's about it for this update. For next time, not only are there those exits, but there's also hints of an NPC to interact with, in the form of Aunt Jemima. So, keep that in mind when giving suggestions for the next update. Until next time!

Unexplored paths:
South from Attic
Down from Attic
East from Old Winery
West from Aunt Jemima's Lair
Southwest from Aunt Jemima's Lair

Puzzles:
A bottle that I can't get a grip on the top of.

Inventory:
A chocolate biscuit
An electric torch
Hobson's classical dictionary
The History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
A crumpled piece of paper

This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 0 out of a possible 550, in 25 turns, giving you the rank of hapless Tourist.

Map:

Generally when you can't get enough torque to open something, you can use an object that gives you additional grip or friction to do the job (this is the concept behind those jar lid opening tools that are effectively just round rubber pads). Perhaps trying to open the demijohn with the scarf's help will work?

Well, there was only one suggestion for today's update, so I might as well do it. First, though, I'll have to clear out some inventory space.

>drop paper
Dropped.

>get scarf
Taken.

>w

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.

>n

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.

>open demijohn with scarf
That doesn't seem to be something you can unlock.

Moral: Although thinking outside the box is a good idea in real life, it's not always a good idea in text adventures. So, if anyone has any suggestions as to where to go, the paths from the previous update are still unexplored. Until next time!

South from the attic!

Let's go visit Jemima: west from Aunt Jemima's lair. If the opportunity presents itself, give her the chocolate biscuit.

Plenty of suggestions today! First, let's try visiting Aunt Jemima. Maybe she has some pancakes for us?

>w.n.w.w.

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.


Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.


Aunt Jemima's Lair


Potting Room
This light room is full of pot plants, flowers, seeds, ornamental trowels and other miscellaneous garden implements.

A pair of yellow rubber gloves hangs from a hook on one wall.

Aunt Jemima, who has for years collected varieties of daisy, is engaged in her regular annual pastime of deciding which species make the best chains.

Well, no pancakes. But those gloves should make a nice consolation prize, at least.

>get gloves
Aunt Jemima suddenly hears you, spins round to see you filching her gloves and screeches with irritation, eventually summoning the entire family. You volunteer to shift some suitcases about just to get away from her.


*** You have missed the point entirely ***


In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 550, in 28 turns, giving you the rank of hapless Tourist.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, give the FULL score for that game or QUIT?

Well, darn. And with that, we've got our first death of the project. Well, it's not really a death, but it is still a game over.

There are multiple death messages in this game, indicating the various ways you can fail in your epic quest to find a tourist map of Paris. I will be using this to categorize the death list, in addition to including a "total" section at the end.

Fortunately, we can...

> undo
Potting Room
[Previous turn undone.]

Now, someone suggested giving her the biscuit. Maybe that would help?

>give biscuit to jemima
Jemima grudgingly takes the biscuit and nibbles at it, but she is still sulking.

A shame to see such a good try unrewarded... oh, go on, have an extra five points.

[Your score has just gone up by five points.]

Seems like we're on the right track, but that didn't work out. At least this should be a good hint as to how to mollify her. Anyway, the other suggestion was to go south from the attic, so...

>e.e.s.s.s.

Aunt Jemima's Lair


Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.


Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.


Old Furniture
Scruffy old furniture is piled up here: armchairs with springs coming out, umbrella stands, a badly scratched cupboard, a table with one leg missing... You try to remember why you keep all this rubbish, and fail. Anyway the attic continues to the southeast.

Sorry. Thinking about it again, the score only gets in a muddle this way, so the bonus points had better go after all.

[Your score has just gone down by five points.]

The attic turns from north to southeast here.

Son of a diddly...oh, well. That's all the suggestions for today, so where to go next time?


Unexplored paths:
Down from Attic
East from Old Winery
Southwest from Aunt Jemima's Lair
Southeast from Old Furniture

Puzzles:
A bottle that I can't get a grip on the top of.
Getting Aunt Jemima to let me "borrow" her gardening gloves.

Inventory:
An electric torch (providing light and closed)
Hobson's classical dictionary
The History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
A crumpled piece of paper

This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 35 out of a possible 550, in 25 turns, giving you the rank of hapless Tourist.

Map:
Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 1 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves)
Total: 1

How about... east from the Old Winery?

Some of this random furniture probably could use closer examination. But first, go southeast.

Take a look at the nasty-looking battery. I want to know what makes a battery nasty-looking.

Let's round out the unexplored paths with down from attic and SW from Jemima's lair. We need to find some more food for dear Auntie; those gloves look like demijohn openers to me.

Lots of requests, today. First, we'll check out the eponymous material of Old Furniture.

>examine furniture
Nothing there, but that cupboard looks interesting.

Cupboard? What cupboard?

>examine cupboard
In the scratched cupboard are a bird whistle, a gift-wrapped parcel and a guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock.

No need to tell me what to do here!

>get all from cupboard
bird whistle: Removed.
gift-wrapped parcel: You're carrying too many things already.
guaranteed-unbreakable medicine bottle with a child-proof lock: You're carrying too many things already.

Clearly, we'll need to find some way to manage our inventory, but we can at least get a look at this stuff.

>examine whistle
A patent "Harrison" bird-whistle, according to the slogan on one side.

>examine parcel
You see nothing special about the gift-wrapped parcel.

>examine bottle
"Antidote only: no preventative effect."

Mayhap we can at least open the package?

>open parcel
You tear open the parcel to find a box of chocolates and a card.

I have a feeling that I know just what to do with those chocolates...but what does the card say?

>read card
It is addressed to the house, and postmarked 1963, but has no message. Odd, that.


Odd, indeed. But that's everything we can do in here for now, so let's go...

>se

Over the East Wing
The air is dusty and warm, almost making you choke in this rather empty area. The attic turns from northwest to east, and there is also a tight doorway leading west. A short flight of wooden steps leads down and to the south.

Austin, your incorrigible ginger cat, lounges around here.

Austin yawns.

KITTEH!

>examine austin
(Aunt Jemima has two cats, Jane and Austin, but she finds Austin especially annoying - about the only point you have ever agreed with her about.)

Austin, a ginger with a long tail and an uncompromisingly lazy expression, is the kind of cat who hates being pushed around.

Austin purrs and licks one of his paws.

Well, they wouldn't include a named cat in a game if they didn't have a purpose for him...but what would that purpose be? We'll have to figure that out later. For now, there are a few more passages to check out. First, down from the Attic.

>nw

Old Furniture

You can see some wrapping paper with reindeer on here.

>n

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.

>d
Yes, probably just as well to give up looking, and heaven knows there's enough packing to do, what with the rest of the family in uproar. Oh well.


*** You have missed the point entirely ***


In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 550, in 46 turns, giving you the rank of hapless Tourist.

Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, give the FULL score for that game or QUIT?

If you're wondering, going southwest from Aunt Jemima's Lair has the same effect.

Anyway, now that we know that two of the passages are pretty much instant game overs, we can at least restore and get the chocs from the cupboard, then head to the area east of the winery.

>n

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.

>n

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.

>e

Storage Room
A disused storage room off the winery. In one wall is an opening onto an ominous dark shaft, and beside it is a big Victorian-steam-engine style wheel with a handle on.

Inside the dark shaft is the old dumbwaiter.

A steel wrench gathers dust in the corner.

That wrench looks useful...but unfortunately, our inventory is full. So, we'll stop for now and see what your next plans for Lord Meldrew are. 'Til next time!

Unexplored paths:
East from Over the East Wing.
South from Over the East Wing.
West from Over the East Wing.

Puzzles:
A bottle that I can't get a grip on the top of.
Getting Aunt Jemima to let me "borrow" her gardening gloves.

Inventory:
A box of chocolates
An electric torch (providing light and closed)
A postcard of the Champs-Elysees
Hobson's classical dictionary
The History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
A crumpled piece of paper

This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 0 out of a possible 550, in 41 turns, giving you the rank of hapless Tourist.

Map:
Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 2 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search)
Total: 2

The text begs you to try:
>PUSH CAT

And while you're at it,

>CAT, HELLO
>TAKE CAT

Go south from g = Over the East Wing. I sense this is the most important exit to visit right now. (And I'm only cheating a tiny bit.)

Give Jemima chocolates. Take gloves. Put on gloves. Open demijohn. Enter dumbwaiter.

I would like to start this update with an apology. There is a path to the south of Aunt Jemima's Lair that I just completely forgot to mention until now. My bad. And with that, we continue our exploration of the attic. First, though, let's get rid of some of that worthless junk we're carrying around.

>drop paper, card
crumpled piece of paper: Dropped.
postcard of the Champs-Elysees: Dropped.

And now I should be able to take that wrench.

>take wrench
It's a wrench, but you take it.

Bad puns. You know I love 'em. Anyway, might as well try to pacify Aunt Jemima.

>w

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.

>w

Aunt Jemima's Lair

>w

Potting Room

A pair of yellow rubber gloves hangs from a hook on one wall.

Aunt Jemima, who has for years collected varieties of daisy, is engaged in her regular annual pastime of deciding which species make the best chains.

>give chocolates to jemima
Aunt Jemima pounces on the chocolates, wolfs down a strawberry cream and persuades you to have a vile toffee cracknell. "Now," she says, "Your turn for a daisy chain!"

You try to look pleased.

"Let's see, the others have had theirs... I have only a few colours left. What would you like?"

[Your score has just gone up by three points.]

This actually is important, so I'll leave that for now.

Anyway, hopefully I can get those gloves now.

>get gloves
Aunt Jemima suddenly hears you, spins round to see you filching her gloves and screeches with irritation, eventually summoning the entire family. You volunteer to shift some suitcases about just to get away from her.


*** You have missed the point entirely ***

Darn. Guess not. Let's undo that, and then go harass a kitty!

>e

Aunt Jemima's Lair

>e

Old Winery

You can see a labelled glass demijohn (which is closed) (in which are a nasty-looking red battery and a tourist map) here.

>s

Attic

A hinged trapdoor in the floor stands open, and light streams in from below.

>s

Old Furniture

You can see some wrapping paper with reindeer on here.

>se

Over the East Wing
The air is dusty and warm, almost making you choke in this rather empty area. The attic turns from northwest to east, and there is also a tight doorway leading west. A short flight of wooden steps leads down and to the south.

Austin, your incorrigible ginger cat, lounges around here.

Since his description says that he doesn't like being pushed...

>push austin
Perhaps you should say which way to push Austin.

Austin looks ineffable again.

Well, guess we have to specify some direction to push him. I've got an idea, but first...

>cat, hello
I can see you've never had a cat.

Austin yawns.

Actually, I have three of them, but I can see the game's point here.

>take cat
Austin sidles out of reach resentfully, then belches.

Now for the good part.

>push cat s
Austin reluctantly accompanies you.

Disused Observatory
Once upon a time, this small circular room had a dome and a telescope, but it leaked dreadfully and so now there's a proper roof.

A circular mural painted with the signs of the zodiac is interrupted by a short flight of stairs leading up to the north, a smoke detector, a west doorway to a shadowy alcove and the continuation of the stairs down and to the south.

Mounted on the old telescope stand is what looks like a solid glass ball.

Well, this room certainly looks important. But what to do here? How can I get those gloves? And what color daisy chain do I want, anyway? Until next time.

EDIT: Whoops! Someone asked me to examine the red battery to see why it looked so "nasty," so...

>examine battery
On the side is the word "Achtung".

Well, that's not very helpful. Sorry.

Unexplored paths:
South from Aunt Jemima's Lair (Again, I am very sorry about forgetting to mention this one. :P)
East from Over the East Wing.
West from Over the East Wing.
South from Disused Observatory.
West from Disused Observatory.

Puzzles:
A bottle that I can't get a grip on the top of.
Getting Aunt Jemima to let me "borrow" her gardening gloves.
Deciding what color daisy chain I want.

Inventory:
A steel wrench
Hobson's classical dictionary
The History of the Meldrews (vol. II)
An electric torch (providing light and closed)

This is the afternoon of June 3rd, 1993, and you are in Meldrew Hall. You have so far scored 3 out of a possible 550, in 56 turns, giving you the rank of gauche Tourist.

Map:
Deaths
Missed the point entirely: 2 (irritated Aunt Jemima by trying to steal her gardening gloves, gave up on the search)
Total: 2

Also, does anyone here know what a toffee cracknell is? I have no idea, and Google wasn't any help.

What colors -- sorry, colours -- are available?

Oh dear. My memory failed me on which exit was important. Oh well. You'll all find the ******** soon enough.

If you "accidentally misplace" your "prized" daisy chain, sweet Aunt Jemima will make you another. Isn't that nice? So as cruel as Curses is in general, no need to worry about this particular decision. I say, let the votes for first daisy colours begin.

Cracknels appear to be some kind of chocolate treat popular in England as a dessert in school lunches. Searching for "chocolate cracknel" should be more productive.

(I thought "teachest" was weird, until I stopped seeing it as "teach-est" and parsing it correctly as "tea-chest".)

My guess would be a less common spelling of
cracknel:
Not that I'm questioning Graham Nelson's spelling of a Britishism. The guy has a doctorate in literature or some such thing.

Well, let's see...there's actually a calendar in-game that shows them. And, from checking it, the choices appear to be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or white. So, which of those do you want?

Before we make a choice, I think we need to learn more about Aunt Jemima. Let's look around her lair a bit more carefully, shall we?

I'm not sure why the game describes it as a "vile" toffee cracknell--the pictures in links that people posted look rather delightful to me.

We seem to have a number of closed things (bottles, demijohns, floors, cats). Can we use the wrench we just picked up to open any of them?