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Text Adventure Playthrough #2: Spider And Web
“A vacation in our lovely country! See the ethnic charms of the countryside, the historic grandeur of the capital city. Taste our traditional cuisine; smell the flowers of the Old Tree. And all without leaving your own armchair!”
Theme music (diego)
Greetings vacationers, and welcome to our second collaborative text adventure playthrough!
For those who didn’t join us the first time, here’s how it works: everyone is welcome to participate (yes, you too!), and you don’t need a copy of the game to play. I will post the text script from the game in colored font, and anyone is welcome to give a command. If you are unfamiliar with the genre, it’s quite simple - here is a quick primer. There are restrictions on the verbs you can use, but you are encouraged to try everything.
Here are just some of the verbs you can use in a text adventure:
BUY KILL PUSH SMELL
CLOSE KISS PUT TASTE
DRINK KNOCK READ THROW
DROP LICK REMOVE TIE
EAT LISTEN SEARCH TOUCH
EXAMINE LOOK SHOW TURN
GIVE OPEN SIT UNTIE
JUMP PULL SLEEP WEAR
On to the game: Spider and Web was made in 1998 by one of the most prolific writers of the genre, Andrew Plotkin. It has won numerous awards and even got into PC Gamer’s Top 100 games list published in 2015.
It’s best not to reveal too much about the plot because there are a lot of twists and turns, so let us get started…
Finally, here’s an introductory message from the creator which you get when you type >ABOUT
An introductory note: To simplify the problem of dialogue in interactive fiction, the “tell” and “ask” commands are not used in this game. Your conversational options are limited to “yes,” “no,” and saying nothing at all. Trust me—this isn’t as big a deal as it sounds.
Also, after some consideration, I have decided not to implement body parts—head, arms, legs, hands—as separate objects. If you feel a desire to refer to yourself, “me” will suffice.
It is possible to make a fatal mistake in this game, but you will immediately know you have done so. You can always “undo” after death, and then fix the mistake. Therefore, the game is best played straight through. Accept any non-fatal mistakes that you may make; you will have a second chance. If you back up and replay each scene for maximum efficiency, avoiding all mistakes, certain aspects of the game will be lost.
However—you will eventually reach a point where things become dangerous. You’ll know when. Beyond that, you’re playing for keeps and heartbeats count. Save early and often.
Do not expect Spider And Web to be anything like So Far or A Change in the Weather. It’s not. In a certain sense, this is my first conventional game. In another sense, it’s the strangest game I know, and understanding what’s happening is entirely your problem.
Good luck, and have fun!
On the whole, it was worth the trip. The plains really were broad and grain-gold, if scarred with fences and agricultural crawlers. The mountains were overwhelming. And however much of the capital city is crusted with squat brick and faceless concrete hulks, there are still flashes of its historic charm. You’ve seen spires above the streets—tiny green parks below tenements—hidden jewels of fountains beyond walls. Any bland alley can conceal balconies wrought into iron gardens, fiery mosaics, a tree or bed of flowers nurtured by who knows who.
This alley, however, is a total washout. It ends in flat bare dirty brick, and you’ve found nothing but a door which lacks even the courtesy of a handle. Maybe you should call it a day.
Spider And Web
Interactive Fiction
Copyright 1997-8 by Andrew Plotkin.
(First-time players should type “about”. For credits, “credits”.)
Release 4 / Serial number 980226 / Inform v6.14 Library 6/6
Standard interpreter 1.1
End of Alley
It’s a narrow dead end here, with walls rising oppressively high in three directions. The alley is quite empty, bare even of trash. (Your guidebook warned you: the police are as efficient about litter laws as about everything else they do.) You can retreat to the south.
A plain metal door faces you to the east, near the alley’s end. It’s firmly shut.
>
What a nice surprise!
Let’s see…
- X door
See you around, wolf. Nerissa
>x door
It’s a naked sheet of metal, a foot taller than you, as wide as your outstretched arms. No handle, no keyhole, no label, no sign. No obvious way to open it at all, unless the black plate embedded beside it will serve.
> x plate
See you around, wolf. Nerissa
>x plate
A featureless, dull black rectangle is embedded in the bricks beside the door. It’s about the width of your palm. No fool could doubt the plate has something to do with opening the door, but it doesn’t bear a clue about how to do it.
> press plate (or press plate with hand or put hand on plate or feel plate)
See you around, wolf. Nerissa
>press plate
Nothing happens.
I already know what’ll happen, but I liked the response to…
>knock on door
And of course, we should also…
>i
>knock on door
You scrape your knuckles without result. There isn’t even any sound; it’s like knocking on the side of a mountain.
>i
You are carrying nothing of importance.
> pull plate
Women come and go… a highscore lasts forever
>pull plate
Nothing happens.
>rotate plate (turn plate)
Women come and go… a highscore lasts forever
>rotate plate
Nothing happens.
> x self (or me)
> s
See you around, wolf. Nerissa
>x self
Just yourself, as usual.
>s
Mouth of Alley
You’re in the entrance of a narrow brick alley, which runs further in to the north. To the south a broad street courses by, congested with traffic and bicycles, although none of them seem to notice you.
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