Transcribed by Graeme Cree SAMPLE TRANSCRIPT This transcript is not from STARCROSS, but it does show most of the usual things you can do in the story. It contains several simple puzzles and their solutions, and it will give you a good idea of how Infocom's interactive fiction works. The player's sentences appear in capital letters after each prompt (>). The map represents the terrain in the sample transcript as you might have drawn it. To Airlock Fore | | +----+----+ Port---+---Star Sven | | | Board Computer| BRIDGE | Aft | | +----+----+ D| |U +---------+ +----+----+ +---------+ | | | ENGINE | | CARGO |Crate | STORAGE +-----+ ROOM +-----+ HOLD |of | | | | | |Isotopes +---------+ +----+----+ +---------+ Food Dispenser D| Frobizzmus |U (If hatch is open) Wrench +----+----+ | REACTOR |Access Panel | ROOM |Damaged Fuel | | Cylinder +---------+Spare Fuel Cylinder Engine Room This large, cylindrical area houses the controls for the fusion drive of the ship. The drive itself lies below the deck you're standing on. A hatchway, closed, leads down toward the drive. Open doorways lie to port and starboard, and a ladder leads up through an opening in the deck above. >PORT Storage This is a tiny space for storing tools and supplies. The food dispenser is set into the wall. There is a Frobizzmus Wrench here. >TURN ON THE FOOD DISPENSER A tray of yummy-looking lunch food pops out of the dispenser. >TAKE IT The food dispenser is attached to the wall. >TAKE THE TRAY Taken. >EXAMINE IT The tray is coated with sticky tape to prevent food from floating away during periods of weightlessness. >STARBOARD Engine Room >SB Cargo Hold This space is for storing the ship's cargo, which on this particular trip is a large crate containing radioactive isotopes. >P Engine Room From the deck above you hear Sven McGillicuddy, your navigator, calling down to you. >U Bridge This is the bridge of the Moonshine, a trading vessel commissioned nearly a decade ago. A ladder leads to the lower decks, and the ship's airlock is fore of here. Through the viewport you can see the surface of Luna, Earth's moon, sliding by a hundred kilometers below. Beneath the viewport is the ship's navigation computer. Sven is sitting in the navigator's couch; the captain's couch is empty. Sven holds up a print-out from the communications port. "Message from Tycho Station." >TAKE THE PRINT-OUT. READ IT Taken. "Divert to Clavius Station. Cargo urgently needed there." >SVEN, SET COURSE TO CLAVIUS STATION "I can give you the coordinates, but you'll have to tell them to the computer yourself. You know that it's keyed only to your voice. >EXAMINE THE COMPUTER It is a typical navigational computer with standard features such as the ability to give it verbal commands. >SVEN, GIVE ME THE COORDINATES The navigator fiddles with his instruments for a moment. "Coordinates for Clavius Station are: Longitude 15 West, Latitude 58 South." >COMPUTER, LONGITUDE IS 15 WEST Lights blink across the front of the computer. "Okay, man," says the computer. "I've got the longitude set. Wanna lay the latitude on me?" >COMPUTER, LATITUDE IS 58 SOUTH Lights blink across the front of the computer. "Okay, man," says the computer. "Course set. Great bunch of coordinates. Totally. Like, awaiting confirmation, you know?" >COMPUTER, CONFIRM "Okay. Better buckle up, man. Burn in, like, uh, around 30 seconds." >GET IN THE COUCH Which couch do you mean, the navigator's couch or the captain's couch? >CAPTAIN'S You are now lying in the couch. >FASEN HARNESS I don't know the word "fasen." >FASTEN HARNESS You are now belted securely into the couch. >WAIT Time passes... Suddenly you are pressed into the couch as the computer activates the ship's powerful thrusters. The burn lasts around 20 seconds, and then suddenly you are weightless again. >INVENTORY You are carrying: a print-out a tray Sitting on the tray is a sandwich a tube of juice >GIVE PRINT-OUT TO SVEN You can't reach him from the couch. The computer speaks. "Hey, man...I hate to drop something like this on you, but it looks like the reactor has, like, it's gone out. Without the next burn we'll ram into Luna in, uh...Gag me! Just over 3 minutes!" >DOWN You'll have to stand up, first. >UNFASTEN HARNESS.STAND UP.D Unfastened. You are on your own feet again. >Engine Room A red light on the controls is blinking "Reactor Malfunction-Damaged Fuel Cylinder." >LOOK Engine Room This large, cylindrical area houses the controls for the fusion drive of the ship. The drive itself lies below the deck you're standing on. A hatchway, closed, leads down toward the drive. Open doorways lie to port and starboard, and a ladder leads up through an opening in the deck above. A red light on the controls is blinking "Reactor Malfunction-Damaged Fuel Cylinder." >DOWN The hatchway is closed. >OPEN IT It won't open by hand. >EXAMINE THE HATCH The hatchway is closed. You'll need a Frobizzmus Wrench to open it. >P Storage There is a Frobizzmus Wrench here. >TAKE (Frobizzmus Wrench) Taken. >SB Engine Room A red light on the controls is blinking "Reactor Malfunction-Damaged Fuel Cylinder." >OPEN THE HATCH WITH THE WRENCH The hatch opens. A steep gangway leads downward. >D Reactor Room This room houses the ship's powerful fusion drive. An access panel, labelled "Fuel Cylinder Housing," is closed. There is a spare fuel cylinder here. >OPEN THE PANEL Opening the panel reveals a damaged fuel cylinder. The computer's voice comes over a speaker in a ceiling. "Hate to bug you, man, but only a minute and a half until impact, and all the indicators are still red to the max." >TAKE DAMAGED CYLINDER.PUT SPARE CYLINDER IN PANEL Taken. There is now a space inside the panel for another cylinder. You're not holding the spare fuel cylinder. >TAKE SPARE CYLINDER THEN PUT IT IN THE PANEL Taken. The spare fuel cylinder is now mounted in the reactor. >CLOSE THE PANEL The panel is now closed. "Way to go, man! Everything looks cool, now. Final burn in 30 seconds!" >U.U.GET IN CAPTAIN'S COUCH.FASTEN HARNESS Engine Room Bridge You are now lying in the couch. You are now belted securely into the couch. The ship's thrusters burn long and hard, pressing you deeply into the cushions of the couch. After what seems like an eternity, the great weight is suddenly lifted from you, leaving you lying comfortably in the one-sixth gravity of Luna.