Adventure Gamers - Forums

You mean the ones with invalid file format?

I feel like the copy and rename functions might be the key somehow.

Hm. I just tried the COP command and it works now. Not sure why it didn’t before.

But you need to enter the name of the new file.

This is really not easy to handle in playthrough format. Alongside the frequent deaths after entering more than a few commands, I’ve seen some more notes pop up like “USER ABOUT TO RUN…”

Karlok - 01 October 2021 07:07 AM

I’m confused as hell. We lose our address book. The nerd finds it and writes his(?) ID and password in it. Why? And then crosses it out. Why?? Did we know the nerd at our former address? Is he behind all the things that go wrong with mail, plane, restaurant, etc?

Your old address was crossed out even before someone (presumably the nerd) wrote the ID and password in it. It’s unclear, at least to me, if he then dropped it by accident or not. The one who gave it back to you just says that “[that nerdly fellow] dropped it here just now”.

I assumed the nerd lives near our new address. There was a “Property of Random Q. Hacker” sign in the tenement much earlier in the game. There are a number of people you can ask about the nerd, but they don’t provide much insight into his background:

Bank teller: “Him? He’s at the back of half our troubles, if you ask me.”
Bookstore clerk: “That pallid little creep? There’s something weird about him. He should be locked away.”
Travel agent: “That unsavory little dink? Ask him what he knows about the optometrists.”
Flight attendant: “I don’t know whom you’re talking about.”
Old woman: “A very disturbed young man. He used to be my nephew Arthur’s best friend, heaven knows why. Then he up and moved to Zalagasa.”
Red-faced, angry-looking man: “That shiftless little twerp. He used to be my son. I wish he’d get a real job.”
Mother: “Him. He tried to put some moves on me, the little jerk. My husband wanted to kill him, but couldn’t find him anywhere.”
Natives: The natives collectively shrug. “He seems to hang around here a lot,” one of them says.

(I think that’s all up to this point.)

Vegetable Party - 02 October 2021 04:24 AM

Does the game say what the USER is about to RUN? And would we have time to switch files before the RUNNING begins?

Yes. You could see it in an earlier screenshot, but of course it’s a bit out of date now. (As I pointed out in that post, the message would have been a lot more obvious back in the day because there would have been a delay when it appeared.)

Vegetable Party - 01 October 2021 08:53 AM

edit: by the way, should we ask the nerd about optometrists?

Well, you could but whether or not it’s helpful…

>ASK NERD ABOUT OPTOMETRISTS
“Huh? Oh, them!” He smirks briefly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

>ASK TRAVEL AGENT ABOUT OPTOMETRISTS
“Oh, only 279 optometrists from Ohio who got routed to San Diego via Tibet, that’s all. I know who I blame… that nerd, that’s who.”

That’s a good interpretation of what’s going on VP. I think you’re right that the nerd, pictured on the screen, is hacking alongside us. The question is what we do with that info?

Vegetable Party - 02 October 2021 04:24 AM

Does the game say what the USER is about to RUN? And would we have time to switch files before the RUNNING begins?

Yes, it does. I think I’ve seen most of the .HAK files displayed.

We could try switching files, what exactly did you have in mind?

Sorry, I missed another post!

Karlok - 01 October 2021 11:38 PM

Yes, we should definitely ask the nerd about optometrists. I expect Mr Adams will hit us with a clever comment on our blind spot.

Luhr, can we go up through the air shaft to check if running plane.exe did anything at the landing strip? We need a plane to get out of this goddamn place.

And what does it mean, USER ABOUT TO RUN. About to run what exactly? I take it you’re talking about the nerd, not us.

[CMD:]
[QUIT]

Your screen goes blank.

The modular plug is automatically ejected from the jack like a little rat from a tiny drainpipe.

>w
Air Shaft

This is a room where hot air is discharged, even barer than the airlock. It’s like being inside the President’s mind, except for the scrawled graffiti on the walls, one of which says, “This is the werst departure luonge what I ever seen”. The others are unreadable.

An exit leads up.

>up
You struggle up the air shaft, and find yourself back above ground.

Landing Strip

This is a bare landing strip surrounded by jungle. An air shaft leads down.

>

But wait, hold on…

>z
Time passes.

In the distance you hear the sound of Zalagasans having a huge row about whether bearnaise sauce or grated Parmesan is better with boiled visitor.

>z
Time passes.

For some reason, the Zalagasans have started droning… or have they? No, it is the sound of an aircraft in the distance. The sound of the engines gets louder and louder until suddenly an ancient DC-3 appears nightmarishly low above the treetops, circles the airfield once, and lands with a cloud of dust and a squeal of brakes.

The door opens and you leap on board to be greeted by a beautiful copilot. “You finally fixed that dreadful nerd,” she says. “You wouldn’t believe what he was doing, even to our own navigation systems. It was as if he didn’t care who he inconvenienced, even himself, as long as he was hacking. Gosh, I’m just so grateful I could die!”

With that, the copilot enfolds you in her arms and you begin to realise why people like private aeroplanes.

You knew something was up, didn’t you? Quite right.

The pilot comes back to where you are sitting, spoiling your tasty fun. You wonder why he is not flying the aeroplane, but when he explains that the computerised navigation system appears to be going haywire due to outside intervention, you realise why he is not flying it. There would be little point.

You realise just how little when the aeroplane goes into a steep spiral dive and you hear a loud bang followed by a toneless but exuberant rendition of an ancient Zalagasan song about what a coincidence it is that, just when everyone is feeling peckish and wondering about sending out for a 48-inch deep-dish pizza with extra everything, there should be a convenient lunch delivery.

Your last words are “Hey! I don’t like anchovies!” But the Zalagasans put them on you anyway.

Death

You are dead.

[Your blood pressure is 0/0, in 726 moves. Your status is Defunct. Your score is 17 out of a possible 21, making you a Victim.]

Do you want to RESTORE a previously saved position, RESTART from the beginning, or QUIT?

[Type RESTORE, RESTART or QUIT.] >