Search for the Lost Orb

[Chrysophylax]

The text metions an alcove in the west wall of the Long Room with the mummy. However, when I defeat the mummy with my super-weapon, I can't enter or search the alcove. Is this a bug? If not, there doesn't seem much point in defeating the mummy.

Perseues slew the medusa by watching her reflection in a polished (mirrored) shield and then cutting her head off with a sword. Alternatively, a reflection of her gaze might turn her to stone. Is either of my guesses correct or do I need to think a bit more deeply?

[fuzzel]

The text metions an alcove in the west wall of the Long Room with the mummy. However, when I defeat the mummy with my super-weapon, I can't enter or search the alcove. Is this a bug? If not, there doesn't seem much point in defeating the mummy.

Perseues slew the medusa by watching her reflection in a polished (mirrored) shield and then cutting her head off with a sword. Alternatively, a reflection of her gaze might turn her to stone. Is either of my guesses correct or do I need to think a bit more deeply?

Like you I managed to kill the mummy but couldn't do anything with the portal. You can also say the magic word you discovered earlier in the game here but you teleport to the same location! Also you don't get any points for defeating the mummy so I suspect this was an aborted puzzle or a sneaky red herring to get you to use up one of your weapons.
You're on the right lines with Medusa, there are a couple of objects you need to complete that puzzle.

[Chrysophylax]

Aha! Thank you!

Are these existing objects or new ones that I need to find on the pinnacle?

[fuzzel]

They're ones you already have. At least I hope you have them!

[Chrysophylax]

All I can think of is to try and tie the mirror to something long like the axe or branch, but I can't untie the thing the rope has become and the only thing I can do with the cloth is wrap things.

Can you give me a subtle clue?

[fuzzel]

You’re overthinking it, do you want a list of commands? That would help

[Chrysophylax]

Yes please.

[fuzzel]

Yes please.

Here you go:

Code: Select all

OVER	UNDER	ATTACH	(INSERT	PLACE)	(SHOW	DISPLAY)WRAP	UNWRAP	BLOW
(CUT	CHOP)	TIE	UNTIE	(BUILD	MAKE)	COIL	LEVER	PUSH	PULL
DIG	(FOLLOW	TRAIL)	SQUEEZE	*ZORM*	JUMP	*NOM*	WAVE	WAIT	SNUFF
(YELL	SCREAM	SHOUT)	(RUB	WIPE	CLEAN)	(KILL	HIT)	(KICK	SMASH)
WHISTLE

Brackets group synonyms together.

[Chrysophylax]

Thank you. It was a verb I was missing. Onto the three-legged giant.

[fuzzel]

I've found a way of killing the mummy - it's worth an extra 20 points. Unfortunately it means carrying another object up to the pinnacle. Therefore, there must be a way of carrying unlimited objects up there, is it possible to carry the paper bag all the way to the pinnacle without it dissolving? Or perhaps there's another way...

[Chrysophylax]

So I've completed the game at last, scoring 680 points and using the modified version kindly supplied. With the standard version I score 630 points, but am unable to solve the zombie, spider, old man and crystalline case puzzles. It's been a great deal of fun and I'm very grateful for all the help you've given me.

I don't think the unmodified game is soluble in its present form. To complete the game one would need to take the following: NKR, ZNGPURF, EBCR, YNZC, ZVEEBE, TERRA FGBAR & TBYQRA ONYY, plus the ZNC would be useful as well, plus the additional item you've discovered can deal with the mummy. That's seven items, possibly eight or even nine and you can't get more than five safely through door at the end of the cave section. My suspicion is that gur jrfgrea nypbir thneqrq ol gur zhzzl vf n bar-jnl gryrcbegre gb gur mbez ebbz, which would allow you to tb onpx naq ergevrir fbzr vgrzf nyernql fgnfurq. You could even ershry gur ynzc. I suspect that this was the author's original intention, he (or she) just never ironed out all the bugs in the software and what we have received is a first draft.

It would be great if we could make the changes needed and release an improved version onto CASA. I'd be really keen to do that but have neither the skills nor the software at present, but I'd be very keen to learn.

I don't think you can get the paper sack past the river, that is its nature. Of course, you can go back and port stuff across manually, which is a bit of a pain but doable.

Now to try and puzzle out how you've solved the mummy puzzle! Many thanks again, fuzzel.

Chrys

[fuzzel]

Hi Chrys, congratulations on solving it the proper way, your patience is impressive! Using my cheat version you managed to get exactly the same score as I did although I can now add 20 points on for the mummy. However, I also managed to solve the corpse (20 pts), spider (20 pts), old man (0 pts) and crystalline case puzzle (0 pts but it's complicated). Do you have a breakdown of your score you could share and we can compare notes? Might be worth doing a private message to me to avoid numerous spoilers or ROT13 the whole lot in a code box.
Finally, if you don't mind would you be able to complete your walkthrough for the proper version, that would be great to have.

[Chrysophylax]

Fuzzel,

Of course. After all the help you've given me I'd be happy to. I'll also put together a list of three types of hints - Cryptic, Subtle and 'Enter these commands' and upload to CASA.

I did manage to solve the case, spider, old man and corpse but had to use the enhanced version. Still scratching my head about the mummy though.

Chrys

[fuzzel]

...Still scratching my head about the mummy though.
Chrys

Lbh arrq cyragl obggyr sbe gung bar!

[fuzzel]

I've worked out how to five items through the doorway. Bit of Philosopher's Quest there

Now I just need to work out how to calm my putative companion.

Can you explain how you can get an extra item through the doorway please? I've tried throwing various things through but always get the message "...as it lands there is a hum of power and the rock of the floor glows redly and fuses the object into the stone". Perhaps there's a list of objects you can throw through, maybe like PQ it only lets you do this once though.

[Chrysophylax]

There's two doors. You want the one next to the zorm room. The objects do get stuck to the stone immediately as you go through the first door, but go a couple of steps northwards and you can quite happily leave them just inside the second door. You can throw one item through this door (you can throw more, but you get killed when you walk through it if you do.)

[Chrysophylax]

Folks,

I've completed the game and uploaded a Hints Sheet to CASA, it is awaiting moderation. I'll upload a walkthrough in due course. Enjoy.

Chrys

[Kevin Edwards]

Now that a few people have played the game for quite while now I was wondering if anyone has noticed any similarities with other adventure titles that may help discover who may be behind it. My personal belief is that it may have been written by Andy Bray, but I cannot confirm this as he passed away several years ago. If it wasn't Andy them possible someone else from the Cambridge area as I found it on a disk that Andy game me along with a few other things.

Could you upload an image of the full original disc you found it on? I often find there are clues in the unused / deleted sectors etc.


Cheers
Chris

Hi Chris,

Sorry for the slow response as I've only just noticed the thread has been active - I didn't get any notification, oh well!

I have already peeked through the rest of the disk image looking in the unallocated sectors and didn't see anything useful or helpful I'm afraid. I'lll double check again when I get chance.

All the best,
Kevin.

[Canalboy]

Apologies but I have only just caught up on the message trail here. I am not home until Sunday but I will see what other notes I have. I had a pc crash recently (due to the hot weather probably) and I am still amidst the process of new pc interior design.

Thinking back this game carries all the Cambridge University mainframe crowd DNA from puzzle construction to the colon prompt, a particular cachet of Peter Killworth's oeuvre. Someone who played those games at the time must have been influenced. I believe that the source code for some of their games is available at IFDB. Many thanks to Fuzzel for his help at the time.

I may revisit the game soon if I have the time. Finally finishing Quondam off my own bat has energised me.

[Kevin Edwards]

I still believe this adventure was created by Andy Bray, or possibly one of his close friends or maybe someone at Acorn. It was on one of his backup disks that was left with me a long time ago.

Andy went to St Cat's and also had links with Acorn and the Cambridge area. It's interesting to hear that you can see similarities with the game and the Cambridge University crowd. Sadly, he passed away quite a few years ago so we may never be able to solve this final piece of the puzzle...unless someone else comes forward with knowledge of the game.

[Canalboy]

That connection would certainly make sense. I wonder why he (if indeed he was the author) was so self-effacing when it came to recognition of authorship. I am sure that with minor engineering the game would have been commercially viable, particularly when you consider some of the games that were released into the marketplace in those days. Acornsoft found a place for Sphinx Adventure for instance, incredibly without even a Save Game facility.

The history of early text adventures is a fascinating and tenebrous subject.

Canalboy

[fuzzel]

Welcome back Canalboy! W.r.t. Andy Bray being the most likely author, if only we could get in touch with a close colleague or family member then maybe they would know, his old beeb gear may still be in an attic somewhere. After all, Peter Killworth's son has just popped up recently (looking forward to seeing what he unearths):
viewtopic.php?p=401635#p401635

[Canalboy]

Yes, it would be great if any new software was found on that laptop. Peter Killworth was a sad loss indeed.

There is more information on the Digital Antiquarian's thread which contains some family reminiscences:

[/https://www.filfre.net/2012/11/phoeni ... topologika

Canalboy

[Canalboy]

A game of similar size and quality (and still fairly obscure) is Castle Blackstar for the Commodore 64. Tough but fair and around the same size as mainframe Zork (Dungeon).

Canalboy

[fuzzel]

I played the BBC version of Castle Blackstar a few years back and loved it. Here's a review of it from TMU (May 1989 p34) by one Barbara Gibb (I wonder what happened to her?)

[Canalboy]

I am not sure about Barbara Gibb's whereabouts but I don't think she was the mother of the Bee Gees.

[Kevin Edwards]

LOL. We did use pseudonyms for some of the articles and reviews published in The Micro User. Perhaps this is one example!

[iamaran]

https://www.ifwiki.org/Barbara_Gibb

[Kevin Edwards]

LOL. She is real then!

[Canalboy]

Yes she's Stayin' Alive.