I stopped keeping track of how many Harrys we lost (20?), but victory was eventually ours.
I will narrate the rest of the game, then dive into some exploration of structure. There’s been a lot of theoretical work on the effect of overall choice-structure, but not as much on the micro-pieces therein.
Last time, our hero had made it to the hostage storage area.
BY NOW DR. NON HAS RADIOED FOR HELP. KRUEL REINFORCEMENTS ARE ON THEIR WAY.
1) STUDY THE STORAGE SYSTEM
2) FREE EVERYONE BY DISABLING LOCK MECHANISM
3) EXAMINE THE FILES
4) CALL UEC ON SLED RADIO
5) GET MECHANISM TO PRODUCE MORE PELLET KEYS
Just as a reminder, the hostages are “DATA PATTERNED AND LASER STAMPED” on slides, and we’re trying to rescue a princess. Dr. Non gave Harry one “pellet key” as a “free sample”, but it only works on one slide.
Trying to free everyone:
We start by trying to disable the lock mechanism.
TAMPERING WITH THE LOCK STARTED A BASE DESTRUCTION SEQUENCE. HARRY HAS 60 SECONDS TO DECIDE WHETHER TO:
1) ABANDON THE BASE 2) TRY TO ABORT SEQUENCE
Both are Bad Endings.
HE ALMOST HAD IT, THEN *BOOM!*
Next Harry. Taking his time, he examines the storage system…
FILES
PELLET PRODUCER
LOCKING MECHANISM
…then tries and fails get the mechanism to make more pellet keys.
BY ATTEMPTING TO BYPASS THE PELLET TIMER, HARRY SETS OFF A SIGNAL WHICH ERASES ALL THE FILES! MISSION IS A FAILURE.
The next Harry reconsiders and examines the files more carefully.
THERE ARE MANY FILES. SINCE THE GIRL WAS JUST TAKEN, SHE SHOULD BE AMOUNG THE LAST ENTRIES. BUT HARRY HAS ONLY 1 PELLET.
WHICH FILE IS THE RIGHT ONE?
1) LOAD THE FILES UP AND BRING THEM TO UEC
2) DISABLE LOCK MECHANISM
3) TAKE A GUESS
4) GET MECHANISM TO PRODUCE MORE PELLETS
5) CUT OFF POWER TO STORAGE COMPUTER
6) GO BACK TO SHIP AND USE RADIO
While not obvious, this is the last choice of the game!
First Harry tries cutting off power…
WITH THE POWER OFF THE SYSTEM BECOMES TOTALLY INOPERATIVE.
SHOULD HARRY:
1) TURN POWER BACK ON
2) EXAM SYSTEM WITH POWER OFF
…but examining the system leads to electrocution.
Then he tries to load all the files at once.
WHEN HARRY ATTEMPTS TO REMOVE A PANE FROM ITS HOLDER, THE FILE DISSOLVES. THE GIRL AND ALL OTHER HOSTAGES ON THE PANE ARE DESTROYED. MISSION FAILED.
The next incarnation makes another attempt at producing more pellets, but it turns out as badly as last time, wiping out the system. Finally, he tries going back to call the UEC.
HARRY DRIVES BACK TO THE SHIP AND CALLS UEC. COMPU-CEN SUGGESTS TAKING MICRO-PHOTOS USING THE MEAD CELL AND ANALYZING THEM ON THE SHIP’S COMPUTER.
IN ADDITION, UEC IS SENDING A TASK FO TO SECURE THE BASE.
HARRY RETURNS TO THE STORAGE AREA, AND FOLLOWING COMPU-CEN’S ADVICE IS ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE GIRL’S FILE.
HE SLIPS THE PELLET IN AND A HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGE APPEARS. IT IS KURVI CALLEASE. SHE IS ALMOST MAGICALLY
BEAUTIFUL. THE IMAGE FILLS AND SHE COMES TO LIFE, BUT IMMEDIATELY FAINTS.
HARRY CATCHES HER AND CARRIES HER TO THE SLED. THEY SPEED OVER THE YELLOW SANDS TO HIS SHIP. ABOVE, THE SKY FLASHES WITH RED AND BLUE LASER STROBES AS UEC AND KRUEL FORCES BATTLE IT OUT.
THE GIRL AWAKENS. A TEAR IN HER EYE REFLECTS THE FLASHES OVERHEAD.
‘WHO ARE YOU?’
‘HARRY FLYNN FROM UEC AT YOUR SERVICE.’
SHE PRESSED CLOSE TO HIM, HER HEAD ON HIS SHOULDER.
‘TAKE ME HOME, PLEASE, HARRY.’
‘YOU’RE AS GOOD AS THERE.’
CONGRATULATIONS,
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Deep thanks to everyone who participated! (I’ll figure out who gets the Steam keys next week.) I wanted to try something a little different, but also, I thought taking a slow journey through the steps might reveal some interesting nuances of game design that’d be easy to miss if I just spilled out the whole plot at once.
Before I analyze a few moments, it’s important to note that this seems intended as a skill-based game; that is, if you think through things carefully, you can make the right choices and not die. This is in contrast to the wild-bouncing structure that can happen in one of the Choose Your Own Adventure novels at the time, where the point is almost more about exploring every node rather than reaching any kind of “success”.
All dotted lines lead to “bad endings”, mission failure and/or death.
The start, riding a sled outside the compound, was relatively sedate: it took at least two choices before a Game Over, and all the initial wrong choices could be backtracked.
But there was still some player confusion; the MEAD cell Harry had could be used to determine laser fire would work on the barrier — “Info” on the map — but choosing then to do an immediate hand laser (as opposed to going back to the sled and using that laser) leads to death. Paradoxically, I think the player who is more reckless at the start and just starts shooting is less likely to lose lives here.
After Harry is captured, and the structure gives four choices.
1) BREAK BONDS
2) ROTATE MIRROR FROM SUN
3) USE MEAD CELL
4) PRAY
Pray is an informational choice: it gives Harry the idea that he should use his MEAD cell. Interestingly enough, we picked that one on our playthrough, but when we picked using the MEAD as hinted, the response of “NOTHING HAPPENS” was enough to turn people away. They then went with both BREAK BONDS all the way to the Bad End, and the same with ROTATE MIRROR FROM SUN before going back to USE MEAD CELL.
The “confirmation” structure was deceptive; if the MEAD cell had worked right away the scene would have been over much faster.
Let’s look deeper at the very last choice.
1) LOAD THE FILES UP AND BRING THEM TO UEC
2) DISABLE LOCK MECHANISM
3) TAKE A GUESS
4) GET MECHANISM TO PRODUCE MORE PELLETS
5) CUT OFF POWER TO STORAGE COMPUTER
6) GO BACK TO SHIP AND USE RADIO
When I went through I personally got flummoxed; it really seems like genre expectations are to do something heroic, even if it’s “mechanically heroic”. But the correct choice is to go back and use the ship radio, which sounds like an intermediate step and not something that would win the game at all. (Our players were similarly deceived, and the only option not chosen was “TAKE A GUESS”.)
In general, I found myself fairly grouchy with the game in its original form. There are no saved games, so it takes a lot of repetition to work to the end, and there were a lot of “cheap shot” branches. Especially bad was this one, after Harry “successfully” fakes his death.
NO ONE WILL BE LOOKING FOR HIM NOW.
SHOULD HE: 1)ESCAPE 2)TRY TO CAPTURE DR. NON 3)GET THE GIRL
All three choices lead to death. In practice, this means repeating a bunch of actions to that point (thinking it was the next part of the plot) only to repeatedly meet with failure.
I can see why, plot-wise, it is impossible to do the correct action (destroy the base with the mirror) after Harry fakes his death (someone would have to find his … clothes? … the game never spells out how the faking works … but that means Harry can’t use the mirror any more). Still, in a gameplay sense, this was terrible, in the sense that if I was spelling out a Bill of Player’s Rights for Choice-Based Games this would make one of the entries; don’t block apparent success in a dead-end where a player will have to try all the choices before they realize they’re in a dead-end.
This is the message you get if you pick N to the prompt that asks if you want to try again after losing. This emphasizes the attempt to make the game skill-based. While I appreciate the interesting bits of deception, when I played there just wasn’t enough to grasp the pleasure of working things out; it was more sorting out what happened after I had already died.
An ad printed in the page facing the source code for Assignment 45. Accounting for inflation, $3899 in 2020 dollars is $11,057.76.
Since last time, we had reached Harry #3, who had broken into a complex.
HE IS IN A HUGE COMPLEX OF SILVER GLASS PANES.
EACH PANE IS SCORED INTO 5 CM SQUARES, AND EACH SQUARE IS PERFORATED BY A SMALL HOLE.
1) EXPLORE MORE
2) EXAMINE PANE
Checking out the pane led to a villain monologuing and the longest text of the game:
AS HE TOUCHES THE PANE, HE IS STUNNED UNCONSCIOUS. WHEN HE AWAKENS, HE IS SURROUNDED BY A SECURITY TEAM. A MAN WITH GOLD TEETH IS SMILING. THE MAN SPEAKS.
‘THE GREAT HARRY FLYNN. I NEVER THOUGHT I’D MEET YOU IN PERSON.’
(STANDING UP, HARRY RETORTS) ‘THE INFAMOUS DR. NON FROM KRUEL.’
‘YES, KRUEL. KIDNAPPING, REVOLT, USURPATION, EXTORTION LEAGUE.
YOU, MR. FLYNN, HAVE INVADED OUR HOSTAGE STORAGE CENTER.’
(HARRY PROBES) ‘TELL ME MORE.’
‘OF COURSE. EACH HOSTAGE IS KEPT FOR FUTURE POLITICAL USE. THEY ARE DATA PATTERNED AND LASER STAMPED ON THOSE SLIDES YOU CARELESSLY TOUCHED. INSERT A PELLET LIKE THIS, AND THEY ARE RECONSTRUCTED–UNHARMED.’
‘WITHOUT A PELLET, A NASTY SHOCK IS APPLIED. YOU MAY HAVE THIS ONE AS A SOUVENIR.’
(DR. NON SLIPS A PELLET INTO HARRY’S SHIRT POCKET)
‘TOO BAD YOU MUST LEAVE US NOW, MR. FLYNN… PERMANENTLY.’
HARRY IS TAKEN TO THE SOLAR MIRROR. ONE OF THE GUARDS EXPLAINS THAT DR. NON RESERVES THIS FORM OF EXECUTION FOR SPECIAL GUESTS.
HARRY IS STRAPPED TO THE MIRROR. AT SUNRISE HE WILL BE INSTANTLY TOASTED. THE GUARDS LEAVE.
1) BREAK BONDS
2) ROTATE MIRROR FROM SUN
3) USE MEAD CELL
4) PRAY
Harry prays, and gets the idea of using the MEAD cell (his handy gizmo which allows him to see invisible things and project his mind as force).
He tries his bonds…
MIRROR BUDGES A LITTLE AS BONDS STRETCH.
SHOULD HARRY: 1) KEEP TRYING 2) TRY SOMETHING ELSE.
…and backtracks (option #2) and tries the MEAD cell instead.
HARRY REMEMBERS WHAT ORR SAID ABOUT THE CELL AMPLIFYING THOUGHT WAVES. HE CONCENTRATES ON MOVING THE MIRROR’S POSITION CONTROL LEVER.
NOTHING HAPPENS.
SHOULD HARRY: 1) KEEP TRYING 2) TRY SOMETHING ELSE.
Backtracking again, Harry goes back to trying to break the bonds.
THE MIRROR DOESN’T TURN FAR ENOUGH.
GOOD BYE HARRY!
No doubt in a real Choose Your Own Adventure book there would be a carefully-narrated ending, but the TRS-80 here is already jammed to the gills with text.
Reincarnating as Harry #4, he revives and tries rotating the mirror from the sun instead.
THE MIRROR DOESN’T TURN FAR ENOUGH.
GOOD BYE HARRY!
Oops! On to Harry #5, whereupon our audience realizes the MEAD cell was right after all. While the first time using it, nothing happens…
NOTHING HAPPENS.
SHOULD HARRY: 1) KEEP TRYING 2) TRY SOMETHING ELSE.
…picking #1 to try again leads to success.
FINALLY THE LEVER MOVES AND ROTATES THE MIRROR AWAY FROM THE SUN. THIS GIVES HARRY THE TIME HE NEEDS TO BREAK FREE.
1) SNEAK BACK TO HOSTAGE STORAGE AND USE PELLET
2) ESCAPE AND RETURN WITH REINFORCEMENTS
3) CAPTURE DR. NON AND USE HIM TO BARGIN FOR THE GIRL
4) FAKE HIS DEATH BY TURNING MIRROR BACK INTO SUN
5) USE MIRROR AS WEAPON
Harry first tries to sneak to hostage storage:
AS HARRY SNEAKS BACK HE IS SURPRISED BY A SECURITY TEAM.
Reincarnating as Harry #6, he tries faking his death, which succeeds! The games options are:
NO ONE WILL BE LOOKING FOR HIM NOW.
SHOULD HE: 1)ESCAPE 2)TRY TO CAPTURE DR. NON 3)GET THE GIRL
although it turns out all of these are dead ends! We lose Harry #7, #8, and #9 this way.
Reversing time to the previous decision, Harry #10 tries to get reinforcements.
HARRY MAKES IT OUT OF THE COMPLEX, BUT WITHOUT THE SLED. HE PERISHES IN THE DESERT.
Finally, Harry #11 has success when trying to use the mirror itself as a weapon.
HARRY TURNS THE MIRROR ON THE INSTALLATION AND DESTROYS IT.
DR. NON, HOWEVER, ESCAPES IN HIS PERSONAL SHUTTLE.
SHOULD HARRY: 1) GO AFTER DR. NON 2) GET THE GIRL
Harry decides the princess is the top priority and goes to GET THE GIRL.
HARRY MAKES HIS WAY TO THE HOSTAGE STORAGE AREA.
BY NOW DR. NON HAS RADIOED FOR HELP.
KRUEL REINFORCEMENTS ARE ON THEIR WAY.
1) STUDY THE STORAGE SYSTEM
2) FREE EVERYONE BY DISABLING LOCK MECHANISM
3) EXAMINE THE FILES
4) CALL UEC ON SLED RADIO
5) GET MECHANISM TO PRODUCE MORE PELLET KEYS
What should Harry do next? Please vote in the comments.
(I’m going to restrain myself from commenting too much, but the events above contain two fascinating theoretical bits — the part where the use of the MEAD cell did nothing and the players went back and died on the other options, and the “dead end” where faking death was a success but it led to 3 losing options. We’re almost there, so I’ll get into a full discussion next time.)
We’ve got far enough in our traversal of this ancient TRS-80 game that it’s time for a story update. Remember, this is blog-play-along style, so feel free to chime in as to what to do next in the comments.
This is the first “section” of the game. I suspect there will be one or two posts left to go, after which I’ll follow with an analysis. (You’ll notice immediately this is not the simplistic “deadly gauntlet” of Albino’s last game. I’m interested in the general effect interactive structures have and how much deaths should be the “player’s fault”, so to speak.)
In our story so far, Harry Flynn, Special Agent, was on the search for a kidnapped princess.
He immediately came across a cluster of huts guarded by a force field. Trying to be circumspect, he scouted around.
HARRY DRIVES UNTIL DARKNESS APPROACHES BUT FINDS NOTHING.
1) RETURN TO HUTS
2) KEEP LOOKING
Trying to be even more circumspect, he scouted even more.
HARRY DRIVES ON IN THE DARKNESS. SUDDENLY HIS SCANNER DETECTS A MAMMOTH FORM DECENDING FROM THE SKY. ATTRACTED BY THE LIGHTS, A GIANT MANTA MOTH SWALLOWS THE SLED.
Oh dear. Let’s try that again.
Harry #2 has a MEAD (“Matter Energy Amplification Diode”) which brings makes invisible things visible and decides to try it out.
Harry disembarks the sled, hides it, and goes to the barrier.
AS HE APPROACHES THE BARRIER HARRY HOLDS UP THE MEAD CELL. HE STUDIES THE COMPOSITION OF THE FORMERLY INVISIBLE FIELD. IT MAY BREAK DOWN UNDER LASER FIRE.
1) RETURN TO SLED
2) CONTINUE TO EXPLORE
3) USE HAND LASER
Since he happens to have a handy laser at hand, he tries to use it.
HARRY DRAWS HIS HAND LASER AND BLASTS THE BARRIER.
IT HAS A NEGLIGIBLE EFFECT BUT SETS OFF AN ALARM THAT BRINGS ARMOURED SENTRY ROBOTS. THE HAND LASER CANNOT STOP THEM. HARRY GETS VAPORIZED!
Alas, poor Harry #2.
…
Harry #3 materializes in a poof of light!
Harry uses his superior firepower.
HARRY FIRES THE POWERFUL TWIN LASER CANNONS POINT BLANK INTO THE BARRIER. THE BARRIER HAS BEEN WEAKENED SUBSTANTIALLY, BUT SENTRY ROBOTS OPEN FIRE ON HIM.
1) TURN ON SHIELDS
2) USE LASER CANNONS
3) GET OUT OF THERE
Followed by shields.
LASER BOLTS FLASH AGAINST THE SLED’S SHIELDS.
1) GET OUT OF THERE
2) RAM THE BARRIER
Ramming speed!
WITH FULL POWER TO FRONT SHIELDS, HARRY CHARGES THE WEAKENED BARRIER.
HE BREAKS THROUGH AND ZOOMS PAST THE SLOW MOVING ROBOTS.
HARRY QUICKLY HIDES THE SLED AMOUNG THE CLUSTER OF HUTS.
WITH LASER GUN DRAWN, HE CHARGES INTO THE NEAREST STRUCTURE
IT TURNS OUT TO BE AN ELEVATOR THAT PLUNGES DOWNWARD
HE IS IN A HUGE COMPLEX OF SILVER GLASS PANES.
EACH PANE IS SCORED INTO 5 CM SQUARES, AND EACH SQUARE IS PERFORATED BY A SMALL HOLE.
1) EXPLORE MORE
2) EXAMINE PANE
What do you do next? Please post in the comments.
You may remember Victor T. Albino as the author of Mount St. Helens, probably the first “stateless” CYOA game designed for computer.
He didn’t stop writing there; in an article for 80 Micro in December 1981 he gave the source code to his game Assignment 45, depicting the adventures of one Harry Flynn, a special agent of United Earth Command. Yes, we’re in the Future.
I admit finding the article oddly vague (the word “flowcharting” shows up quite a bit) but it’s interesting in that most people of the era would not expect a Choose Your Own Adventure in the context of learning to write an “adventure” for computer.
After the, ah, dramatic pauses in the opening above, you are informed of trouble in the “Siran System” as “Abar Callease, Ruler of Sira” has had his daughter kidnapped.
HIS POLITICAL ENEMIES ARE BLAMING EARTH AND DEMAND WAR. CALLEASE HAS ASKED FOR OUR HELP.
You/Harry have a “MAKO JET SLED” for travel, with a “TWIN LASER CANNON, SHIELD GENERATOR, AND FORWARD SCANNERS”. You also have a MEAD CELL (“Matter Energy Amplification Diode”) which brings makes invisible things visible and can direct your thoughts into a “SMALL FORCE BEAM”.
You start your search at the last known whereabouts of the princess.
THE CARGO DOOR OPENED DEPOSITING THE MAKO ON THE SANDY GROUND. HARRY GOT IN. THE ENGINES WHINED, THEN SCREAMED AS THE SLED LIFTED A METER OFF THE LAND AND SHOT FORWARD.
You find a cluster of huts and a force field which is an “electronic barrier”.
Well, indeed. What should you/Harry do?
That question is posed to you, the reader. Yes, I’m doing this one blog play-along style like we did way back with Spelunker. Post votes in the comments, and I will update periodically, and once enough plot has passed, I’ll make a new post. (This isn’t a long game, so I suspect only two more posts after this one will do it.)
I will go by majority-rule on a choice if there’s a clear winner, or pick randomly if there’s a tie. If you/Harry die I’ll rewind to the previous choice. If you want people to vote with you, try justifying your answer rather than just giving your number. Good luck!
Renga in Blue 