Daytrip through the shopping mall from Hell- Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina

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Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

I'm afraid the hint came a little too late, since I've been poring over this for a while now. BUT! I think I might have worked it out.

But! I'm gonna try to get us to the Catwalk. This means we need to be able to exit Southwest, and be on the top floor.

If you don't mind trying: red button, green lever x2, blue button, red lever x2, green button, red lever x1.
If that doesn't work, reset to start position, and switch the placements of the blue and green buttons.
_{_{oh god I hope this works}}

Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Sep 2, 2014

# ? Sep 2, 2014 20:46

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# ? May 6, 2024 14:56

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Dancer posted:

Think if you were a game designer and you wanted to make this puzzle as un-frustrating as possible. What would you do?

Put a not-obviously-related clue in a stack of other clues without any indication of where one clue stops and another begins, apparently.

Can we ask the monkeys about the monkeys?

# ? Sep 2, 2014 20:46

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Striking Yak posted:

I'm afraid the hint came a little too late, since I've been poring over this for a while now. BUT! I think I might have worked it out. ...Unless I failed to account for why sometimes the levers don't work and we just get the grinding sound.

But! I'm gonna try to get us to the Catwalk. This means we need to be able to exit Southwest, and be on the top floor.

If you don't mind trying: red button, red lever x2, blue button, red lever x2, green button, red lever x1.
If that doesn't work, reset to start position, and switch the placements of the blue and green buttons.
_{_{oh god I hope this works}}

What are you thinking the buttons and levers do?

# ? Sep 2, 2014 20:48

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Update 11c

Striking Yak posted:

I'm afraid the hint came a little too late, since I've been poring over this for a while now. BUT! I think I might have worked it out.

But! I'm gonna try to get us to the Catwalk. This means we need to be able to exit Southwest, and be on the top floor.

If you don't mind trying: red button, green lever x2, blue button, red lever x2, green button, red lever x1.
If that doesn't work, reset to start position, and switch the placements of the blue and green buttons.
_{_{oh god I hope this works}}

I'm assuming you want us to go from the starting position. Slight unfortunate detail (not that big a deal though): you can't reset the octagonal room. So I brought it back to default and am using saves.

quote:

Octagonal Room

>save
Ok.

>push red button
Click-click! The green button pops up as the red button snaps down.

>pull green lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>pull green lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>push blue button
Click-click! The red button pops up as the blue button snaps down.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>push green button
Click-click! The blue button pops up as the green button snaps down.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>go holly
The door is presently impassable.

>go mistletoe
The door is presently impassable.

Octagonal Room

>push red button
Click-click! The green button pops up as the red button snaps down.

>pull green lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>pull green lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>push green button
Click-click! The red button pops up as the green button snaps down.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>push blue button
Click-click! The green button pops up as the blue button snaps down.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>go holly
The door is presently impassable.

>go mistletoe
The door is presently impassable

No luck

. I will point out, feel free to send me simpler chains of commands as well, if you want to test theories.

Max Peck posted:

Can we ask the monkeys about the monkeys?

I see what you're trying to do, and I'll give you this one for free. I got "lucky" when I played the game, in that I wanted to get the monkeys to tell me about their lying habits, so I asked exactly that, and it gave me the text about the monkey palace. What you have to do is "ask monkeys about truth"

quote:

>ask monkeys about truth
The top monkey says, "Two of my brothers always tell the truth, and one always lies."

The center monkey says, "I am the only one who always tells the truth."

The monkey on the right says, "The statement you just heard is true."

The monkey on the left says, "All three of those statements are lies."

The center monkey says, "Everyone but me mixes truth and falsehoods."

The top monkey says, "The preceding statement is true."

The right monkey says, "I mix truth and falsehoods."

The left monkey says, "I am the only one who always tells the truth."

The top monkey says, "That's a lie."

The right monkey says, "None of us always tells the truth."

The left monkey says, "So far, I'm the only one who has told the truth."

The center monkey says, "That's true."

[Your score has just gone up by two points.]

BTW maybe you will have noticed that I stopped updating the first two posts for a bit. My life is a little bit chaotic now (nothing *bad* happening, just a lot to do) so I'm not going to bother with minutiae. I'll fix them in a few days.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:28

Glazius: Jul 22, 2007; Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.; Clapping Larry

I do wonder if there's anything else you need to ask the monkeys about.

As for the cookies, maybe we need to set out cookies and milk for Santa before he'll show up on the roof? Haven't found any milk yet, though.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:29

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

We can get to the catwalk archway using the octagonal room, correct?

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:30

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Striking Yak posted:

We can get to the catwalk archway using the octagonal room, correct?

Yes. Every archway blocked by gray stone leads to the octagonal room.

Seriously, you should consider telling us what you think the controls do. I may or may not decide to give a hint afterwards :P.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:32

Glazius: Jul 22, 2007; Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.; Clapping Larry

So, let's assume left monkey always tells the truth and see how things work out.

quote:

The top monkey says, "Two of my brothers always tell the truth, and one always lies." - F

The center monkey says, "I am the only one who always tells the truth." - F

The monkey on the right says, "The statement you just heard is true." - F

The monkey on the left says, "All three of those statements are lies." - T

The center monkey says, "Everyone but me mixes truth and falsehoods." - F

The top monkey says, "The preceding statement is true." - F

The right monkey says, "I mix truth and falsehoods." - F

The left monkey says, "I am the only one who always tells the truth." - T

The top monkey says, "That's a lie." - F

The right monkey says, "None of us always tells the truth." - F

The left monkey says, "So far, I'm the only one who has told the truth." - T

The center monkey says, "That's true." - T

Center monkey mixes truth and falsehoods, top monkey always lies, right monkey always lies (he could mix truth and falsehoods, but left monkey says he's the only one who told the truth, so), and left monkey always tells the truth.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:37

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

I just wanted to see if I had gotten it right before I posted with any authority.

Okay, here's what I think I've figured out:

The Mistletoe door is on the north wall (when we come in).
We're moving floors, as well as turning. This is why sometimes there's an entrance in a direction, and sometimes there's not one.
The grinding sounds occur when we can't go any further up or down.
The balcony is on the same floor as the Octagonal Room, the garden is on the same floor as the empty storage room.

Buttons and levers:
Blue button is a 1/4 (2 directions) clockwise turn.
Red button is a 1/8 turn (1 direction) [unsure whether it's clockwise or anti-clockwise].
Green button is a 1/4 turn anti-clockwise.

Green lever moves down a floor, red lever moves up.

Please tell me this isn't all gibberish and I was just one command off or something. :sweatdrop:

EDIT: WAIT WAIT WAIT I THINK I KNOW WHAT I MISSED

Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Sep 2, 2014

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:38

The Merry Marauder: Apr 4, 2009; "But she goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

Glazius posted:

As for the cookies, maybe we need to set out cookies and milk for Santa before he'll show up on the roof? Haven't found any milk yet, though.

Welllll, we have a crystal goblet and a can of creamy white paint....

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:40

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

How about: green button, green lever x2, red button, red lever x2, green button, red lever x1?
Or replace red lever x2 with green lever if that doesn't work. :ohdear:

Edit: I think my brief flash of insight may have been wishful thinking, this looks a lot like the solution I already suggested.

Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 21:51 on Sep 2, 2014

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:45

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Glazius posted:

As for the cookies, maybe we need to set out cookies and milk for Santa before he'll show up on the roof? Haven't found any milk yet, though.

We've seen a barn, maybe it has a cow.

Glazius posted:

So, let's assume left monkey always tells the truth and see how things work out.

Center monkey mixes truth and falsehoods, top monkey always lies, right monkey always lies (he could mix truth and falsehoods, but left monkey says he's the only one who told the truth, so), and left monkey always tells the truth.

Hm. Assuming that's true, we haven't directly heard a method from left, but we have heard:

quote:

The left monkey says, "The correct code isn't derived from any single set of coordinates."

The left monkey says, "One of the methods that has been mentioned is correct, but also misleading."

From the latter statement, I assume the correct method has to be mentioned by center, as the only mixer-upper. Center listed three methods, but only one involves more than one set of coordinates:

quote:

The center monkey says, "I remember now -- take the first two digits of each set of coordinates, considering the countries in alphabetical order."

"Countries" is misleading (Borneo isn't, but that's what's mentioned in the magazine), but the coordinates we're given are:

1 N, 114 28' E - Borneo
19 8' N, 103 E - Laos
2 47' N, 23 9' E - the Congo

So I guess the number we want is 112419?

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:56

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Striking Yak posted:

How about : green button, green lever x2, red button, red lever x2, green button, red lever x1?
Or replace red lever x2 with green lever if that doesn't work.

Edit: I think my brief flash of insight may have been wishful thinking, this looks a lot like the solution I already suggested.

The other door is indeed pointing north when we enter.
The Balcony is on the same level as Refuge in the Jungle, and the Garden is on the level of the Empty Storage Room, that's correct.
Otherwise you're actually sorta close.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 21:57

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Striking Yak posted:

Buttons and levers:
Blue button is a 1/4 (2 directions) clockwise turn.
Red button is a 1/8 turn (1 direction) [unsure whether it's clockwise or anti-clockwise].
Green button is a 1/4 turn anti-clockwise.

I'm not sure there are any 1/8th turns involved. The mistletoe exits always seem to be in cardinal directions (n e s w), while the holly exits always seem to be in ordinal directions (ne se sw nw). That sounds like no turn is smaller than 90 degrees to me.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 22:03

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Actually, I guess we could try to demonstrate that--all of those, really--experimentally if the rotations are the same whether we're going up or down.

From the beginning (that is, with the holly door leading back to the East End of the Upper Promenade:

push blue button. pull green lever. pull red lever. go holly. ne.
push green button. pull green lever. pull red lever. go holly. [shouldn't work, so no direction back in]
pull green lever. pull red lever. go holly. ne.
push red button. pull green lever. pull red lever. pull green lever. pull red lever. go holly.

Does that leave us in East End of the Upper Promenade? If not, does repeating the last line again do so?

# ? Sep 2, 2014 22:11

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

I also failed to consider the darker stone it mentioned at the start, I assumed it was the music shop's caved-in roof (since it's the only north-facing, blocked off way we know of).

Just to check, if we exit the Octagonal room at, say, the storage room, then come back to where we find it originally, do we get a grey stone wall instead of the doorway? If they're all quarter-turns, then I don't think we can get to the fourth floor (roof) with the door facing in the right direction.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 22:17

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

Just in case it's any help, and to see if I missed any obvious mistakes, the moves performed in the example and what I think happens:

Holly door/Mistletoe door
SW/N - Floor 3, Blue button, green lever.
NW/E - Floor 2, Impassable, Garden.
NE/S - Floor 1 (bottom). Impassable, Cloak Room.
Green lever doesn't work because we can't go any further down. Red lever.
SE/W - Floor 2, Storage Room, Under The Stairs.
SW/N - Floor 3, starting position.
NW/E - Floor 4 (top), Impassable.
Red lever causes grinding sound, can't go up any further. Red button. Red lever still doesn't work, we're at the top. Green lever.
N/SE - (I think? Could be W/NE), Floor 3, Impassable. Red lever.
NW/E - (I think? Must have reset to previous position, or green button's effect is inconsistent) Floor 4, Impassable (returned to previous position). Green button, green lever.
SW/N - Floor 3, starting position.
SE/W - Floor 2, Storage Room, Under The Stairs. Red lever.
NE/S - Floor 3, Balcony, Refuge In The Jungle.
NW/E - Floor 4, Impassable.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 22:42

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Hm, I noticed a bit of a reoccuring theme while looking up the "our little friends" clue Dancer mentioned.

quote:

South Side of the Upper Concourse
This open passageway looks out on the center of the arcade to the north; the top of a Christmas tree pokes up past the railing. On the south wall is a large and rather cutesy cartoon poster of a prancing reindeer. There's a door in the southwest corner beneath a sign that reads "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU", and another in the southeast corner next to a sign that declares it "THE BOOT SECTOR". You can also proceed east or west along the concourse.

quote:

Snack Bar
Either the snack bar has been closed down for the season, or the proprietors are unusually fastidious about cleaning up at the end of the day. Aside from a few nondescript tables and chairs, which have seen better days, and a large and rather tattered wall poster extolling the health benefits of the South American rutabaga, the room is quite sterile-looking. Along one wall is a glass-fronted display case, and next to it is a small computer console of some sort. In the southwest corner is a heavy metal door. The door through which you entered is to the north.

quote:

Travel Agency
Judging by the large poster on the wall, a montage of exotic destinations beneath the slogan "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE -- WE GET YOU THERE AND BACK AGAIN, OR VICE-VERSA!", this might be a typical small travel agency. The object in the center of the room is out of place, however: It looks a lot like an old-fashioned glass-sided telephone booth. The exit is to the southwest.

Could we examine all those posters, please? And take them all, too, because adventure games.

# ? Sep 2, 2014 22:45

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

Or red button...Doesn't turn at all...It just goes up and down...? Which would be red button, red lever? :ohdear:

Or it could turn 180: red button, green lever, then either blue or green button, red lever x2?

I hope we don't have a turn limit or any sort of timer. We'll get that Sugar Toes Ballerina to you by New Year, sweetheart!

Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Sep 2, 2014

# ? Sep 2, 2014 22:49

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Update 11d
Oh boy, this update is going to be hard.

Glazius posted:

So, let's assume left monkey always tells the truth and see how things work out.

quote:
The top monkey says, "Two of my brothers always tell the truth, and one always lies." - F

The center monkey says, "I am the only one who always tells the truth." - F

The monkey on the right says, "The statement you just heard is true." - F

The monkey on the left says, "All three of those statements are lies." - T

The center monkey says, "Everyone but me mixes truth and falsehoods." - F

The top monkey says, "The preceding statement is true." - F

The right monkey says, "I mix truth and falsehoods." - F

The left monkey says, "I am the only one who always tells the truth." - T

The top monkey says, "That's a lie." - F

The right monkey says, "None of us always tells the truth." - F

The left monkey says, "So far, I'm the only one who has told the truth." - T

The center monkey says, "That's true." - T
Center monkey mixes truth and falsehoods, top monkey always lies, right monkey always lies (he could mix truth and falsehoods, but left monkey says he's the only one who told the truth, so), and left monkey always tells the truth.

That is correct.

The Merry Marauder posted:

Welllll, we have a crystal goblet and a can of creamy white paint....

quote:

>paint goblet
I'm sure it would look very attractive in a minimalist way, but if you work at it you might be able to find a better use for the paint.

No dice.

Max Peck posted:

quote:
Center monkey mixes truth and falsehoods, top monkey always lies, right monkey always lies (he could mix truth and falsehoods, but left monkey says he's the only one who told the truth, so), and left monkey always tells the truth.

Hm. Assuming that's true, we haven't directly heard a method from left, but we have heard:

quote:
The left monkey says, "The correct code isn't derived from any single set of coordinates."

The left monkey says, "One of the methods that has been mentioned is correct, but also misleading."

From the latter statement, I assume the correct method has to be mentioned by center, as the only mixer-upper. Center listed three methods, but only one involves more than one set of coordinates:

quote:

"Countries" is misleading (Borneo isn't, but that's what's mentioned in the magazine), but the coordinates we're given are:

quote:
The center monkey says, "I remember now -- take the first two digits of each set of coordinates, considering the countries in alphabetical order."

1 N, 114 28' E - Borneo
19 8' N, 103 E - Laos
2 47' N, 23 9' E - the Congo

So I guess the number we want is 112419?

That is correct.

On an entirely unrelated note, we have so far explored less than half of the locations in the game. Try to guess why.

Max Peck, doing all those Octagonal Room instructions you gave me in succession won't work (we won't be able to go ne at the end of the first line). I'm going to take your first two lines and do both of them from the default room state, just because.

Max Peck posted:

push blue button. pull green lever. pull red lever. go holly. ne.

quote:

Octagonal Room

>push blue
Click-click! The green button pops up as the blue button snaps down.

>pull green lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>go holly
You pass through the holly door.

A Tiny Balcony

>ne
There's no shop door in that direction.

Max Peck posted:

push green button. pull green lever. pull red lever. go holly. [shouldn't work, so no direction back in]

quote:

Octagonal Room

>push green button
That button is already pressed.

>pull green lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>go holly
You pass through the holly door.

A Tiny Balcony

Striking Yak posted:

I also failed to consider the darker stone it mentioned at the start, I assumed it was the music shop's caved-in roof (since it's the only north-facing, blocked off way we know of).

Just to check, if we exit the Octagonal room at, say, the storage room, then come back to where we find it originally, do we get a grey stone wall instead of the doorway? If they're all quarter-turns, then I don't think we can get to the fourth floor (roof) with the door facing in the right direction.

The music shop's caved in roof blocks access only to the south. You can't access the Octagonal Room from the music shop. And yes, the Octagonal Room will shift entirely, and the doorway at East End of the Promenade will be blocked. I can also guarantee that we can exit the room in all directions on all floors. (btw I have totally no idea what you mean with "darker stone at the start")

Striking Yak posted:

Just in case it's any help, and to see if I missed any obvious mistakes, the moves performed in the example and what I think happens:

Holly door/Mistletoe door
SW/N - Floor 3, Blue button, green lever.
NW/E - Floor 2, Impassable, Garden.
NE/S - Floor 1 (bottom). Impassable, Cloak Room.
Green lever doesn't work because we can't go any further down. Red lever.
SE/W - Floor 2, Storage Room, Under The Stairs.
SW/N - Floor 3, starting position.
NW/E - Floor 4 (top), Impassable.
Red lever causes grinding sound, can't go up any further. Red button. Red lever still doesn't work, we're at the top. Green lever.
N/SE - (I think? Could be W/NE), Floor 3, Impassable. Red lever.
NW/E - (I think? Must have reset to previous position, or green button's effect is inconsistent) Floor 4, Impassable (returned to previous position). Green button, green lever.
SW/N - Floor 3, starting position.
SE/W - Floor 2, Storage Room, Under The Stairs. Red lever.
NE/S - Floor 3, Balcony, Refuge In The Jungle.
NW/E - Floor 4, Impassable.

Your notation here is slightly inconsistent, but I think you have the things you're certain of correct. I think.

Max Peck posted:

Could we examine all those posters, please? And take them all, too, because adventure games.

Have you learned nothing from our close encounter with Elvis?

quote:

Snack Bar
>x poster
It must surely be the most garish rendering of a rutabaga you've ever seen in your life. Positively repellant, in fact. The poster is tattered around the edges, and ought to have been thrown out long ago. Possibly it has some misplaced sentimental value to the shop owner. In the lower left corner, when you examine it more closely, you find a bunch of faded pencil scribbles that might be signatures.

>x scribbles
The signatures seem to be the autographs of the entire Brazilian ice hockey team. One of the players -- in English, as it happens -- has scrawled the phrase "Joe, you blockhead! I bet you never had any kids of your own." Another wrote, "Joe, this place is too darn crowded. I've fixed the signboard out in front to make it a little harder to find!"

>take poster
The poster was affixed to the wall with some sort of glue -- and a long time ago, at that. By now it's practically an integral part of the surface.

quote:

South Side of the Upper Concourse

>x poster
The reindeer poster, about four feet square and drawn in cartoonish primary colors, seems intended to represent Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He's prancing with improbable friskiness, and his nose is remarkably red and bulbous. The phrase 'button nose' springs to mind.

>press nose
The nose depresses with a satisfyingly solid 'click'. Suddenly the walls around the poster seem to be glowing faintly with reflected light.

[Your score has just gone up by one point.]

>take poster
The poster is firmly attached to the wall.

I gave you that one for free. I guess the author decided saying something that's meant to be part of a poster is bulbous wasn't enough of a hint. I'm tempted to agree.

quote:

Travel Agency

>x poster
What's curious about the poster, other than the slogan itself -- "We Get You There And Back Again, or Vice-Versa" -- is the way the little airplanes and trains (trains? who travels in trains anymore?) are shown in a sort of reciprocal, bidirectional movement. Surely the artist didn't mean the viewer to conclude that the two trains rushing in opposite directions down the same track were about to smash head-on into one another.

>take poster
That's not exactly portable.

On our way out of Colossal Adventure, we met a new person! Exciting!

quote:

The East Side of the Arcade

As you enter the east side of the arcade, you pause in your tracks, realizing suddenly that you're not alone. A man is standing staring out at the Christmas tree. He's large, especially around the waist, and he has a gray beard, but any impression that this might be a visitation from Santa Claus is instantly quashed by the man's inexpressibly shabby clothing, his greasy hair, and a certain restlessness that suggests he may not be mentally stable. On closer inspection (though a really close inspection would seem inadvisable) he appears to be a homeless man.

The homeless man regards you in a vague, confused way. "Who are you?" he demands. "You the one turned on the lights? I like it when the lights is on. Hey, listen, you wouldn't have anything I could eat, wouldja? I'm kinda hungry. You know how it is."

And another little tidbit popped up when we crossed through the Center of the Arcade.

quote:

The Center of the Arcade

Hanging high up in the tree is an especially striking ornament -- a green bird in a sparkling cage.

Striking Yak posted:

Or red button...Doesn't turn at all...It just goes up and down...? Which would be red button, red lever?

Or it could turn 180: red button, green lever, then either blue or green button, red lever x2?

I hope we don't have a turn limit or any sort of timer. We'll get that Sugar Toes Ballerina to you by New Year, sweetheart!

No turn limit or timer or anything. There's a counter in the corner, and we're at 1471 moves as of the end of this update (though obviously it won't be indicative of a lot, since I will have done a lot of saving and loading and... stuff. Every time I do a really minor update, and it ends up not progressing the game at all, I just quit without saving).

quote:

Octagonal Room

>push red button
Click-click! The green button pops up as the red button snaps down.

>pull green lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>push blue button
Click-click! The red button pops up as the blue button snaps down.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>pull red lever
The room rumbles, and you steady yourself against the momentary dizziness.

>go holly
You pass through the holly door.

Catwalk

Oh glorious joy! This is what I meant with "think simple". Blue button turns the room left 90 degrees, green button turns it right 90 degrees, red button does a 180. Green lever takes us down a level, red lever takes us up a level. Next update I will visit the two other areas that are accessible exclusively via Octagonal Room.

Edit: Oh yeah and obviously, Max Peck's observation earlier that one of the doors only ever points N E W S and the other only points in diagonals is a pretty good clue.

Dancer fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Sep 2, 2014

# ? Sep 2, 2014 23:44

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Hurray, I don't have to keep working on my terrible, terrible visual aid.

Dancer posted:

Have you learned nothing from our close encounter with Elvis?

I learned "taking posters gives us funny messages". Apparently it wasn't always true.

So, I take it we lit up the tree? Did its description change? Or the center of the Arcade's description?

Is the stepladder long enough to let us take the cage?

Can we give the cookies/plate to the homeless man? Could we examine the homeless man?

# ? Sep 2, 2014 23:56

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

What I meant about the darker stone was this:

quote:

>x mistletoe
The doorframe of the mistletoe door is of the same gray stonework as the surrounding walls. In the semicircular area above the lintel is carved a sprig of mistletoe. The doorway is blocked by a darker, much-scarred stone wall a foot or two past the sill.

I assumed that meant the Mistletoe door was looking at a cliff face or some other obstruction.

Dancer posted:

Catwalk

Voted 5.

# ? Sep 3, 2014 00:00

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Striking Yak posted:

What I meant about the darker stone was this:

I assumed that meant the Mistletoe door was looking at a cliff face or some other obstruction.

Voted 5.

My apologies for the confusion. That's basically the inside wall of the "tower" the room is in. I'm pretty sure you will see that any time you examine the holly and mistletoe doors while they're blocked (you will notice that that's the only time I ever do it via the examine command).

# ? Sep 3, 2014 00:04

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

If we painted the homeless man's beard, gave him a trim with the scissors, brushed his hair with the comb, got him to wear the spectacles possibly, and hold the teddy bear, he may be a passable Santa. Follow us to the Salon, new friend!

# ? Sep 3, 2014 16:00

Glazius: Jul 22, 2007; Hail all those who are able,
any mouse can,
any mouse will,
but the Guard prevail.; Clapping Larry

First, feed the homeless man cookies. Then do all that stuff and give him his very own elf buddy.

# ? Sep 7, 2014 04:14

GladRagKraken: Mar 27, 2010

Can we cook the steak on the very hot floor?

We should appease the gods of good taste by re-painting the velvet Elvis. All white, very post-modern.

# ? Sep 7, 2014 16:02

Dancer: May 23, 2011

I promise I'm still alive guys, and will continue this LP soon. Probably when I get internet at home (as mentioned, just moved, and internet isn't here yet, and I can't play Ballerina on uni PCs because the Z-code interpreter needs to be installed). Super-elite-adventure-mom doesn't give up easily

# ? Sep 8, 2014 21:40

inflatablefish: Oct 24, 2010

Dancer posted:

I promise I'm still alive guys, and will continue this LP soon. Probably when I get internet at home (as mentioned, just moved, and internet isn't here yet, and I can't play Ballerina on uni PCs because the Z-code interpreter needs to be installed). Super-elite-adventure-mom doesn't give up easily .

Okay, how about we ask elf about Z-code interpreter and the search the guard's desk for an ethernet cable? Would that help?

# ? Sep 8, 2014 22:34

Deathwind: Mar 3, 2013

Dancer posted:

I promise I'm still alive guys, and will continue this LP soon. Probably when I get internet at home (as mentioned, just moved, and internet isn't here yet, and I can't play Ballerina on uni PCs because the Z-code interpreter needs to be installed). Super-elite-adventure-mom doesn't give up easily .

You would need to start from scratch but it'll run from here without installing anything.
http://iplayif.com/?story=http://mirror.ifarchive.org/if-archive/games/zcode/ballerina102.z8

# ? Sep 8, 2014 22:53

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Okay, that website is pretty rad. I tried reading through their documentation a little though, and it's not clear to me how save files are handled (I'd rather not go through a hundred or more commands each time I want to make a minor update). Are they stored in a place where they won't get deleted the second I log out from my uni PC?

# ? Sep 9, 2014 15:56

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

It says shareability is one of the goals of the program, but it doesn't seem like it's been implemented yet. Any idea when you'd be getting home internet? No need to go through the whole thing again if it's just a couple of days.

In-game: Seems we could use the wings and jump from the Catwalk to get into the caved-in section of the music shop, but then we wouldn't have a way out. We might be able to use the scissors to cut the paper out of the player piano?

Striking Yak fucked around with this message at 16:26 on Sep 9, 2014

# ? Sep 9, 2014 16:21

Deathwind: Mar 3, 2013

Dancer posted:

Okay, that website is pretty rad. I tried reading through their documentation a little though, and it's not clear to me how save files are handled (I'd rather not go through a hundred or more commands each time I want to make a minor update). Are they stored in a place where they won't get deleted the second I log out from my uni PC?

Saves are stored in the DOM Storage of your browser and as such would be lost if the machine was wiped. I originally thought your problem was just that the computers were locked down to prevent unauthorized programs from being run.

# ? Sep 9, 2014 16:53

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Update 12

Super-Elite-Adventure-Mom is back with fresh energy and, more importantly, a fresh internet connection

Max Peck posted:

So, I take it we lit up the tree? Did its description change? Or the center of the Arcade's description?

Is the stepladder long enough to let us take the cage?

Can we give the cookies/plate to the homeless man? Could we examine the homeless man?

quote:

The Center of the Arcade
The center of the arcade is open to the deep gray sky, and surrounded on the east, north, and west by railings. In each railing is an opening through which you can pass. The south end of the arcade is occupied by a large Christmas tree, which is glowing and twinkling brightly, and next to the Christmas tree is a boxy object that looks rather like a fireplace.

Hanging high up in the tree is an especially striking ornament -- a green bird in a sparkling cage.

>x tree
The Christmas tree, a smoothly tapering cone, towers over you, more than twelve feet tall. Its luxuriant branches are liberally hung with ornaments of all kinds. Thanks to the winking, sparkling strings of bulbs in half a dozen festive hues, the tree is ablaze with light.

>u
You climb the ladder and steady yourself near the top.

>take bird
Moving with great care, you extricate the rhinestone nightingale and her cage from the branches of the Christmas tree.

[Your score has just gone up by two points.]

>x bird
The toy nightingale is attached to a perch inside a stylized cage about ten inches high. The bars of the cage are decorated with gold and silver sequins, and the bottom of the cage is a couple of inches thick. The nightingale herself is covered with rather gaudy green rhinestones. On one side of the base is an aperture that looks rather like a keyhole.

(we were storing the ladder in the Center of the Arcade, so it was already there and we could go up immediately).

Bells are going off in the distance: new rank alert.

quote:

>score
You have so far scored 66 out of a possible 232, in 1483 turns, earning you the rank of honorary snowman (not melting).

Fun fact: the homeless man wanders around, so I had to hunt him down (only needed one step this one time, he was in the West Side of the Arcade, but sometimes it can get annoying).

quote:

>give cookies to man
(first taking the ginger snaps)
(putting the brass key into the shopping bag to make room)
"What the hell do I care about that?" the homeless man says truculently.

It's kinda weird that he would straight up ask us for food, and then reject it when offered (given that it's something perfectly edible unlike, say, the steak).

I produced as much homeless man related text as I could find (chased him around, waited with him nearby, and examined him). Here's the result of that.

quote:

>x man
While not exactly frightening, the homeless man has an unnerving aspect that makes you not want to get too close to him. His eyes, so light blue that they seem almost luminous, rove wildly, as if he's keeping track of a wasp that you can't see. He's wrapped in several layers of filthy clothing -- a stained trench coat (not buttoned), a gray sweatshirt that's too short and also ripped in several places, and a dark red sweatshirt beneath that. His blue jeans are split at the knee and up one leg, and a pair of red leggings pokes out through the holes. A stocking cap of no particular color is pulled well down over his ears, but long greasy locks of gray hair stick out from under the cap. His shoes are split, and so large that they threaten to fly off his feet at every step.

Most of the homeless people you've seen have been gaunt, half-starved, but this one is just the opposite. He's quite corpulent, with a belly that sags heavily over his belt. His nose and cheeks are flushed, though whether from the cold or from the alcohol he's imbibed over the years it's impossible to say. His beard is as gray and as filthy as his sweatshirt, and it bobs in and out as he moves his mouth in a silent monologue.

[chasing him]
You can see a homeless man here.

The homeless man mutters something. At first you can't quite catch it, but then his voice grows louder: "You'll get what's comin' to you. I know what you been up to. I got a list, see." He laughs hoarsely. "And you know what happens after I get done makin' my list. The very next thing. You better stay on my right side, or you'll get what's comin' to you, an' it won't be nice. Get 'em all in the right order that way."

[chasing him]
As you come down the passage, you see the homeless man ahead of you. He peers closely into your face, his mouth hanging open to reveal a little more than you really wanted to know about the state of his dental hygiene. "You still around here? What're you doin' here? Whyncha ... you got a family, don'tcha? Leave me alone."

[chasing him]
As you approach, the homeless man is rooting in the trash barrel. "Nothin' in here worth nothin'," he grumbles. "Hey, you wouldn't have nothin' I could kinda munch on, wouldja? I ain't had a bite for three days. And none o' yer lousy jokes, neither."

[waiting near him]
The homeless man scratches his distended stomach and belches.

The homeless man coughs at length, and then spits.

The homeless man mutters something that you don't quite catch.

The homeless man watches you sullenly.

The homeless man says, "You wouldn't have nothin' I could eat, wouldja?"

The homeless man says, "I gotta be gettin' on. I got work to do yet tonight."

The homeless man loses interest in you and wanders away.

... and now I can't find him anywhere anymore. You can still have me interact with him though, I just have to load a little back.

Striking Yak posted:

If we painted the homeless man's beard, gave him a trim with the scissors, brushed his hair with the comb, got him to wear the spectacles possibly, and hold the teddy bear, he may be a passable Santa. Follow us to the Salon, new friend!

That would get you nothing but a bunch of default messages.

GladRagKraken posted:

Can we cook the steak on the very hot floor?

We should appease the gods of good taste by re-painting the velvet Elvis. All white, very post-modern.

Also default messages.

Striking Yak posted:

In-game: Seems we could use the wings and jump from the Catwalk to get into the caved-in section of the music shop, but then we wouldn't have a way out. We might be able to use the scissors to cut the paper out of the player piano?

The Music Shop is still basically indoors. The "collapsed" roof isn't actually fallen to the floor, it's just sagging. As for the scissors:

quote:

>cut paper with scissors
Cutting that up would achieve little.

YADM

Since we figured out the Octagonal Room, I went ahead and explored everything that can be explored. First of all, here's the final mapping:

code:

	ROOF			1ST FLOOR			GROUND FLOOR			BASEMENT
N	STONE			STONE				STONE				STONE
NE	STONE			A Tiny Balcony			STONE				STONE
E	STONE			STONE				Abandoned Garden		STONE
SE	STONE			STONE				Empty Storage Room		STONE
S	High Sloping Ledge	A Refuge in the Jungle		STONE				Cloak Room
SW	Catwalk			Eastern Upper Promenade		STONE				STONE
W	STONE			STONE				Behind the Stairs		STONE
NW	STONE			STONE				STONE				Crooked Defile

There are two areas we have not seen yet, Crooked Defile, and High Sloping Ledge.

quote:

On a high, sloping ledge
Footing is treacherous on this narrow ledge, which slopes outward into empty air on the east side. You can only make progress across the loose terra cotta roofing tiles by pressing yourself against the building and going sideways. At the northern end of the ledge is an open doorway, and at the southern end the ledge appears to drop or turn a sharp corner.

>s

At the Base of a Flagpole
This flat area is about ten feet square, and you feel somewhat safer here than sidling along the slanting ledge -- though it would be a bad idea to start turning handsprings, as you're prevented from falling off the southern or eastern edge only by the rain gutter. The walls on the north and west side are solid, but it looks as if you could work your way around the northeast corner and back onto the ledge. In the opposite corner, a flagpole points outward at a 45-degree angle into the wintry air.

>n
Best not go wandering around at random -- it's a long way down.

You notice a fleeting flicker of movement off among the clouds, and peer upward. Could it be...? No, that's not possible. You rub your eyes, and when you look again, whatever it was is gone. It looked very much like a reindeer. It must have been a bird, but it certainly didn't look like a bird. You could swear you saw four legs and antlers, but it was at least a quarter-mile off, and the light is bad. It couldn't very well have been a reindeer, could it?

In the final turn I accidentally headed the wrong direction, and it's a good thing, since otherwise we may not have gotten this message.

I've also tried using the wings, and got the same results as on the Tiny Balcony. The game won't let us jump while the octagonal room cannot be reached from the main mall body.

quote:

Crooked Defile
This crevice appears to be a natural fissure in the bedrock. At the upper, southeast end is the inviting glow of the archway to the Octagonal Room. The defile descends and gets darker as it moves crookedly northwest. Heading further in that direction without a light source might be risky.

>nw

Darkness

The first time I got here, I was certain there would be some easter egg involving being eaten by a grue or something, but I haven't been able to make anything bad happen by going into the darkness.

quote:

Crooked Defile
>nw

Scintillating Cavern
An underground treasure-house! The walls of this rough-hewn cavern scintillate and coruscate in a dozen colors, as if studded with jewels. There is a narrow defile that opens to the south.

Lying among the detritus is a sturdy coil of rope.

>take rope
Taken.

[Your score has just gone up by three points.]

>x rope
The rough hemp rope is nearly an inch in diameter, and when the coil is unwound you'll probably have at least twenty feet of rope here.

We have now visited all locations only accessible by Octagonal Room. There are still things we must do in them though.

Finally, let's go on that trip we were talking about.

quote:

Travel Agency

>go in jaunto
You get into the booth.

>press 1
The display reads 1.

>press 1
The display reads 11.

>press 2
The display reads 112.

>press 4
The display reads 1124.

>press 1
The display reads 11241.

>press 9
The display reads 112419.

>press trip
The walls of the Travel Agency pulse in and out and flash in a dozen disturbing hues. When your view steadies, you find that the booth is no longer in the Travel Agency at all but in a very different place indeed -- broad daylight (and bright daylight at that), jungle fronds swaying greenly, and directly before you....

Before the Monkey Palace (in the booth)
Directly before you, and accessible via a short ladder that leads upward to your east, is a large, haphazardly built structure, basically no more than an open lattice. The structure appears to be built of dried bamboo shoots lashed together with vine, and sags rather alarmingly here and there. As you watch, monkeys rush out of the surrounding jungle and dash into the bamboo structure; other monkeys just as frenetically emerge and hie themselves away on seemingly urgent errands. The sun beats down heavily, and the air is heavy with moisture.

[Your score has just gone up by five points.]

>e
You'll have to get out of the booth first.

>exit booth
You get out of the booth.

Before the Monkey Palace

You're absolutely sweltering inside the heavy coat.

>e

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. You are at the entrance of the Monkey Palace, with a ladder leading down from here to the clearing where the Colossal Jaunto patiently awaits your return.

From here you can go south, southeast, or east; also down or west to leave the palace.

>s
Not far away a monkey screeches and hoots.

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. You're at a spot on the west side of the structure, overlooking the clearing where the Colossal Jaunto waits patiently for your return.

From here you can go north, southeast, or south.

>n
You hear the complex, throaty call of a tropical bird.

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. You are at the entrance of the Monkey Palace, with a ladder leading down from here to the clearing where the Colossal Jaunto patiently awaits your return.

From here you can go south, southeast, or east; also down or west to leave the palace.

>e

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. The bamboo structure extends away from you in every direction.

From here you can go north, southeast, southwest, or northwest.

Rivulets of perspiration are coursing down your forehead and dripping into your eyes.

>se
Not far away a monkey screeches and hoots.

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. The bamboo structure extends away from you in every direction.

From here you can go north, west, or northwest.

>w
From the edge of the jungle comes the terrifying raw yowl of a big cat.

In the Monkey Palace
You are on the top level of the Palace, with nothing above you but air. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. The bamboo structure extends away from you in every direction.

From here you can go south, southwest, west, or down.

>d
The dry whir of insect wings veers toward your head and then away.

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. The bamboo structure extends away from you in every direction.

From here you can go north, west, or northwest.

>nw

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. The bamboo structure extends away from you in every direction.

From here you can go north, southeast, south, or west.

Your heart is beating rapidly. If you don't take off the coat at once, heat stroke is a serious possibility.

>w

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. You're at a spot on the west side of the structure, overlooking the clearing where the Colossal Jaunto waits patiently for your return.

From here you can go north, southeast, or south.

>n
You hear the complex, throaty call of a tropical bird.

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. You are at the entrance of the Monkey Palace, with a ladder leading down from here to the clearing where the Colossal Jaunto patiently awaits your return.

From here you can go south, southeast, or east; also down or west to leave the palace.

>s
Somewhere nearby, a monkey screeches derisively.

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. You're at a spot on the west side of the structure, overlooking the clearing where the Colossal Jaunto waits patiently for your return.

From here you can go north, southeast, or south.

>se

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. An open area within the Palace extends to the northeast from here. Hundreds of monkeys are gathered there, pressing close around a makeshift platform of some sort.

A raised causeway, narrow and unevenly built of the same bamboo as the rest of the structure, extends out from the western side of the open area to the platform. There is no way to get to the causeway from this location.

From here you can go north, southwest, or northwest.

Head spinning, you collapse and fall headlong through the bamboo lattice. Distantly you're aware that you've landed with a disgusting 'plop' in the muck. Your limbs are amazingly heavy. You can't seem to get your breath in the heat and humidity, and there's a sensation of immense pressure in your chest.

*** You have died ***

In that game you scored 74 out of a possible 232, in 1809 turns, earning you the rank of honorary snowman (not melting).

I take issue with that "not melting" comment...

Sigh. More pain, and more suffering. There are actually 3 ways to get through the monkey palace, all of which we have at our disposal.

For the love of god, don't try mapping anything from the part I just quoted. Let that be my suffering. I will point out one thing: This maze is lawful, by which I mean that for every exit from X to Y, there is an exit from Y to X. The passages are not straight however, so those exits will usually not be in opposite directions. It is possible to map out the maze, identifying rooms by what exits they have, and taking a lot of notes (guess what, there are multiple pairs of rooms with exactly the same exits), and I have done that, and I will show you the map next update. First though, a little contest (for no prize). Try to guess how many rooms there are in this thing.

Bonus (I got us back to the entrance of the Palace):

quote:

Before the Monkey Palace
>go in booth
You get into the booth.

>press trip
The walls of the Travel Agency pulse in and out and flash in a dozen disturbing hues. When your view steadies, you find that the booth is no longer in the Travel Agency at all but in a very different place indeed -- broad daylight (and bright daylight at that), jungle fronds swaying greenly, and directly before you....

Before the Monkey Palace (in the booth)

Ignoring the slight error there (our trip started at the entrance to the palace, not the Travel Agency), Houston, we have a problem. Going back home isn't trivial.

Updated inventory:

quote:

The Center of the Arcade

You can see a pair of angel wings, a rhinestone nightingale, a crystal goblet (which is empty), two matches, a coil of rope, a paintbrush, a paint can, a Doctor Agile's pill bottle (which is empty), some spectacles, a cigar box (which is closed), an ungainly lump of plastic, an air pump, a helium tank, a tricycle, a stepladder, some binoculars, a wad of clay, a large sheet of cardboard, an awl, a curry comb, a Victrola, a glass bottle, a teddy bear, a sheet of paper, a scrap of paper, a magazine, a revolver, a bag of nails, some heavy-duty work gloves and some alphabet blocks here.

>i
You are carrying:
some cuticle scissors
a Three Wise Men plate
some ginger snaps
a fat wax candle
a heavy winter coat (being worn)
a shopping bag
a matchbook containing no matches
a brass key
a thick pad
some sleighbells
a heavy work boot
a banana
a steak
a burnt match
a reindeer pennant

And updated map:

Click here for the full 3069x1386 image

# ? Sep 23, 2014 18:48

Kegluneq: Feb 18, 2011; Mr President, the physical reality of Prime Minister Corbyn is beyond your range of apprehension. If you'll just put on these PINKOVISION glasses...

Welcome back! :toot:

Well crap, a maze.

>remove coat

# ? Sep 23, 2014 22:02

Striking Yak: Dec 31, 2012

It won't let us go north on the sloping ledge? Examine the flagpole (and flag) while we're at the base. Maybe if we secure ourselves to it with the rope we just found, we'll be able to explore more. And try ringing the sleighbells out there, maybe we can lure the reindeer over.

Also, since we haven't tried it yet: >xyzzy

# ? Sep 24, 2014 10:05

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Update 12a

Kegluneq posted:

Welcome back!

Well crap, a maze.

>remove coat

Removing our coat will indeed allow us to walk around without dying of exhaustion. Of note: if you drop an item in the palace (because, say, your hands were too full from taking off your coat) this happens:

quote:

>drop coat
The heavy winter coat plummets down through the bamboo latticework and is lost in the gloom.

Striking Yak posted:

It won't let us go north on the sloping ledge? Examine the flagpole (and flag) while we're at the base. Maybe if we secure ourselves to it with the rope we just found, we'll be able to explore more. And try ringing the sleighbells out there, maybe we can lure the reindeer over.

Also, since we haven't tried it yet: >xyzzy

I wasn't very clear: To get to the slope I moved south, so my instinct was to go north to go back, when actually you need to go NE ("along the edge"). If I had gone immediately NW I wouldn't have gotten the message, hence why I said it was lucky.

quote:

At the Base of a Flagpole

>ring bells
Jingle, jingle, jingle!

>xyzzy
Gesundheit!

No luck.

Bonus: Some exploring through the monkey palace will get you to this place:

quote:

In the Monkey Palace
You are on the top level of the Palace, with nothing above you but air. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. To the east, dense jungle obscures the view.

From here you can go only north. Congratulations, you've reached the very end of the longest blind alley in this maze! Your tenacity is a tribute to your species (whatever that may be). Email me your name and I'll list you in some appropriate spot (such as a plaque erected on this spot, dedicated to Cortez and other doomed adventurers) when I release version 2.0.

# ? Sep 24, 2014 21:02

Added Space: Jul 13, 2012; Free Markets
Free People

Curse you Hayard-Gunnes!

Species profiling time! Give/offer the banana to the monkeys.

# ? Sep 25, 2014 03:34

Max Peck: Oct 12, 2013; You know you're having a bad day when a Cylon ambush would improve it.

Examine the flagpole; is there a flag on it currently? Can we put our own flag (that reindeer pennant) on it?

# ? Sep 25, 2014 17:40

Astrofig: Oct 26, 2009

Max Peck posted:

Examine the flagpole; is there a flag on it currently? Can we put our own flag (that reindeer pennant) on it?

I wonder if that, plus dropping the plate of cookies and ringing the sleighbells, might call Santa himself to come get his elf.

# ? Sep 25, 2014 18:24

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 6, 2024 14:56

Dancer: May 23, 2011

Update 12b

Added Space posted:

Species profiling time! Give/offer the banana to the monkeys.

Doing this from a random location in the Palace:

quote:

In the Monkey Palace
You are in the middle level of the Palace, with bamboo rigging both above and below you. All around you monkeys are chattering and swinging from the bamboo poles. You are at the entrance of the Monkey Palace, with a ladder leading down from here to the clearing where the Colossal Jaunto patiently awaits your return.

From here you can go south, southeast, or east; also down or west to leave the palace.

>give banana to monkeys
One of the monkeys pauses to look closely at what you're holding out. A moment later he (she? never mind...) has grabbed the banana and is attempting, awkwardly, to peel it. The other monkeys, observing this, crowd around. In a trice (approximately 8.3 seconds), the monkey with the banana is surrounded by upwards of fifty others, all of them intent on gaining possession of the delectable morsel. A bout of screaming and shoving ensues, and quickly escalates. Those on the outer fringe of the burgeoning riot can have no idea what it is they're so excited about, but that doesn't seem to be putting a damper on their ardor. Surely, you think, at any moment the banana will be trodden underfoot and lost forever. But then the first monkey reappears at the edge of the throng, gleefully bearing the now-battered fruit aloft. He makes a mad dash for the jungle, and the others boil after him, screeching madly. In another trice the whole vast tribe of monkeys has bolted from the scene like a herd of buffalo.

An odd quietude descends. The monkeys, one and all, are gone.

So... something happened. What use this will be, is not yet certain. For certain purposes, I will rewind time for now. We'll give the banana to the monkeys later. Also, a reminder: we still don't know how to get from the palace back to the mall. The Jaunto only takes destination coordinates, so if we press the trip button again, it will just leave us in the palace.

Max Peck posted:

Examine the flagpole; is there a flag on it currently? Can we put our own flag (that reindeer pennant) on it?

Astrofig posted:

I wonder if that, plus dropping the plate of cookies and ringing the sleighbells, might call Santa himself to come get his elf.

quote:

At the Base of a Flagpole

>x flagpole
The flagpole is about eight feet long and less than an inch in diameter. Running down it is a double length of lanyard (a rope, in other words, equipped with metal clips). It slants outward over a dizzying drop.

>attack pennant to pole
I only understood you as far as wanting to attack the reindeer pennant.

>attach pennant to pole
You snap the cleats into the eyelets; the pennant is now attached to the rope.

>ring bells
Jingle, jingle, jingle!

>pull rope
As you pull on the rope, the reindeer pennant scoots out the pole to the end, where it flaps merrily in the breeze.

[Your score has just gone up by two points.]

>ring bells
Jingle, jingle, jingle! As the festive sound fades away into the twilight air, you hear a low rushing sound that seems to come from everywhere and nowhere. The sound grows louder ... and suddenly, above you, spiraling downward from the clouds, is a flying reindeer! It glides directly toward you, and you step back warily. The deer lands with a solid four-footed 'thump' on the roof directly in front of you.

[Your score has just gone up by three points.]

>x reindeer
The reindeer is surprisingly large and muscular, and has longish winter hair, which is in a tangled, unkempt state. The beast looks more than a little like an elk, in fact, except for the antlers, which are pointed and many-branching, and the facial features, which are delicate and noble. The reindeer prances nervously, as if it's not quite sure whether it ought to fly away. Around its neck is a leather belt or strap, and on the belt is a small leather pouch.

>x pouch
The pouch is about two inches wide, and has a squared-off top and semi-circular bottom. It's made of tooled leather, and looks as if it could be opened by lifting the flap. There is a distinctive eight-petalled design incised in the flap.

>open pouch
The reindeer shies away from you as you reach for the pouch, and lowers his head in a way that, if not precisely hostile, nevertheless makes you a little nervous because of the forest of antler points aimed in your direction.

Progress! Next update, I take us through the monkey palace.

Dancer fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Sep 25, 2014

# ? Sep 25, 2014 20:36

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > Daytrip through the shopping mall from Hell- Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina

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