Adventure Gamers - Forums

Karlok - 02 October 2021 06:52 AM

I love the resurrection fallacy! Now we know what to do: delete or rename all the files so the nerd won’t bother us anymore. Deleting wasn’t possible, right? So let’s rename them. Over to you, Luhr. 

Renaming gives us the same reply as below, after deleting several files. I think the most I got up to was around 6 files deleted/renamed. And if we quit and go to the airport strip after deleting a few, we still get eaten with anchovies.

Unfortunately, it would seem that the nerd has noticed that someone deleted a file he wanted to use and realised that you are there.

Doors slam shut all around you, and freon gas is discharged into the room. You continue to breath normally for a bit, and then you breathe abnormally. Then you breath normally again, just for a change.

Suddenly, a small hatch opens low in the wall and a horde of little tiny automatic nerds with dirty spectacles and greasy hair shuffle in, twitching and whining and fiddling with their little hex calculators. You briefly wonder why you have received a social call from the MIT freshman year, then realise that the little nerdlets are in fact the nerd’s private army.

Not a very good army, it’s true, but then they don’t have to be. The freon gas is killing you quite satisfactorily, thank you; all the robot nerdlets have to do is laugh at you, which they do. And all you have to do is expire, which (knowing your place in the scheme of things) you do.

The last thing you hear before you die is one of the little nerdlets saying “Hey, fellas, look! His stack is running into his heap!”

Death

You are dead.

[Your blood pressure is 0/0, in 717 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.] >

Of course, that doesn’t mean renaming or deleting isn’t going to work. Maybe we just need to be more tactical about it.

Karlok - 01 October 2021 11:38 PM

Yes, but the nerd crossed out his own address/password too.

I assumed he just scribbled over the crossed-out address in your address book. (The one you lost at the airport.)

Though I have no idea why he’d do that. Video game logic…

Vegetable Party - 02 October 2021 07:11 AM

Luhr28 - 01 October 2021 07:59 AM

“USER ABOUT TO RUN…”

Let’s wait for this. See what file he tries to run.

There’s no waiting on the computer.

But I think you misunderstood my post. The file is specified but it changes, pretty sure randomly. The WHO command also specifies the file under DATA.

Luhr28 - 30 September 2021 08:03 AM

Vegetable Party - 30 September 2021 07:51 AM

>WHO

 

Your screen goes blank.

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

Suddenly, everything becomes much quieter. In the distance you hear a familiar gloomy moan like a damp llama, as the nerd yells and screams at his huge computer.

“I’ll give you 54 bucks to get working again,” he yells, but unfortunately, thanks to your timely intervention, he has hacked into his own mainframe and destroyed its crucial I/O operations.

[Your score just went up.]

>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.

>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.

After an eventful and invigorating flight, you land at your home airport, pass through customs without the least difficulty, and are ushered into a waiting taxi, which drives you straight to the wrong place. Perhaps you thought that the taxi company was being fouled up by the nerd. Wrong. Taxi companies foul up because that’s what they like doing.

[Your score just went up.]

Hallway

You’re in a dark, dank, drab hallway. Grey, greasy stone stairs lead up, and an exit (the door long ago ripped off by drunken opera critics) leads west. There’s an open door in the south wall.

>

Luhr28 - 02 October 2021 10:25 AM

Your screen goes blank.

If you were logged in at the time, there were an “AUTO SHUTDOWN IN PROGRESS” message with a two-second delay here first. I think that’s the last of the places where delays are used in this puzzle. So you’re not missing any vital information, but it’s still a shame that they implemented it this way. (Though to be fair, they probably didn’t imagine anyone would still be playing it 34 years later!)

I quite like this puzzle. It’s a pretty unique mechanic for an Infocom game.

There are some pretty bizarre ways to die if you’ve crashed the computer but didn’t send for the airplane before going to the Landing Strip. Five of them, I think. Not sure if they’re worth hunting for, though.

eriktorbjorn - 02 October 2021 10:53 AM

Luhr28 - 02 October 2021 10:25 AM

Your screen goes blank.

If you were logged in at the time, there were an “AUTO SHUTDOWN IN PROGRESS” message with a two-second delay here first. I think that’s the last of the places where delays are used in this puzzle. So you’re not missing any vital information, but it’s still a shame that they implemented it this way. (Though to be fair, they probably didn’t imagine anyone would still be playing it 34 years later!)

I quite like this puzzle. It’s a pretty unique mechanic for an Infocom game.

I like it too. It makes sense, at least, and can be solved with a bit of thought.

I didn’t see the auto shutdown message. Maybe because I quit straight after copying the dvh file.

>w
13 Utopia Avenue

This is the commercial district. You see a rather shabby brownstone tenement (obviously once a grand family house) to the east, and a travel agency (which is trying to look like a bank) to the west. The Fillmore Fiduciary Trust Bank (which is trying to look like a travel agency) lies to the north. The street continues south.

>s
14 Utopia Avenue

You see a rather run-down restaurant to the east, and one of those bookstores which looks as if it wouldn’t have anything you want to buy to the west. The street continues north and south.

>s
15 Utopia Avenue

You’re standing on a well-kept sidewalk to the east of your new house. The street bears north and south. There’s an overgrown alleyway to the east.

There’s a mailbox here.

>w
Front Room

This is the front room of your new house. While you were absent, the removals firm delivered all your belongings and installed them exactly where you had specified. The carpets have been laid, the curtains hang luxuriously in the windows, your books have been arranged in order and the record player is playing your favourite album.

There’s a new letter here.

>get letter
This is a letter addressed to you, from your bank.

>open letter
OK.

>read letter

“Dear Mr Adams,

I would like on behalf of Fiduciary to apologize profusely for the problems you have been encountering lately. This was due partly to mysterious computer problems which have suddenly ceased to plague us, but also to the inability of our staff to show any initiative at all when confronted with a systems breakdown.

I have immediately initiated a training program to counteract this ridiculous bureaucracy, and trust that in your future dealings with Fiduciary you will have no cause for complaint.

By way of compensation I have waived all interest and administration charges for this quarter, and would also like you to accept this free first-class ticket to Paris.

I also enclose your check book and a new Gold Beezer card and have raised your credit limit to $10,000.

Sincerely yours,

Joel X. Slartibartfast
PRESIDENT”

Glowing with pleasure at your notable victory, you do not even notice that the bank letter has been redirected from your old address, to which it was originally sent. You have a nice hot drink and turn in for the night, humming a happy little song about how much you are looking forward to your trip to Paris. You are particularly pleased with your impression of the accordion accompaniment and fall asleep with the words “Bonjour, Ma’m'selle” on your lips.

You have won. Thank you for playing Bureaucracy, and if your future entertainment plans should include interactive fiction, please think of Infocom. Have a nice day.

[Your score just went up.]

[Your blood pressure is 120/80, in 733 moves. Your status is Stable. Your score is 21 out of a possible 21, making you a Bureaucrat.]

RESTORE, RESTART, or QUIT?
>>