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** DISTRESS: Version 1.7 Walkthrough and Solutions **
** Written by Mike Snyder (C) 2005 **
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This document has been divided into five parts, for your convenience.
1) Walkthrough
A "chatty" solution to the game. It points out the in-game cues
that are meant to spur you to the correct actions as you play.
2) Typical Run
This is a solution based on the walkthrough above. If you cut and
paste it into a .REC text file, Hugo's PLAYBACK command will even
run through the entire thing, solving the game command by command.
Actually, this could be called the "ideal" run instead.
3) Speed Run
This is another solution compatible with Hugo's PLAYBACK command,
but it doesn't take a realistic approach to solving the game. It
does just the bare minimum - assuming prior knowledge -- to win.
4) Comments
I have included some additional comments that might be of interest,
especially after you beat the game. I mention some alternate verb
phrasing, some optional actions, and I discuss some about how the
game works (how/why things happen when they do, and so forth).
5) Game Map
A text map of the game area, small though it is, has been included.
As you get started, be sure to read and understand your surroundings. Most
things have "examine" (or "x" or "look at") descriptions, and often, parts
of first-level objects can be further examined. You can probably spend too
many turns just familiarizing yourself with everything around, but at least
the first time through, it's probably worthwhile.
In particular, you'll want to look at the pod wreckage, Covegn, Huchess,
the rocks in the distance, the hatch, the beacon post, the crash netting,
and the rod (heating core spike). You can even look at the ground, the
sky, and in various directions, but that's not generally necessary.
Also, be sure to examine yourself. You'll want to know who you are, right?
Notice, when looking at the beacon, that you didn't turn on the distress
signal. Your first inclination may be to do so -- and you should.
When you examine the pod wreckage, you'll notice sharp edges. This is
meant to cue you to one of two possible solutions to a puzzle, shortly.
When you examine (or search) the netting, you'll find a piece that you
can take. If you searched, you'll take it automatically. For convenience,
a search is implied if you just try taking the netting before finding the
smaller piece. Look at it, after you have it.
When you examine Huchess, you get a strong cue to remove the rod from his
shoulder, and a tip that you'll need a way to bandage the wound. Trying to
examine the spike directly will further urge you in the right direction.
If you haven't found the piece of netting yet, you might be inclined to try
taking back the bandages (made from your uniform) mentioned in the intro.
Or, you might try using Covegn's or Huchess's uniform for additional
bandages. You might even try removing your undersuit. Those things can be
referenced, but the puzzle -- while not really difficult -- is not this.
Now that you have netting, and you've examined it for a clue that it's like
fabric, you might already know what to try next. Take the spike from the
Lieutenant's shoulder (just GET-ing it is easiest, but you can also pull it
from Huchess, remove it from his shoulder, take it out of his wound, etc).
Moment by moment (more accurately, turn by turn), Huchess has been getting
a little worse. Assuming you remove the spike without waiting until he is
already almost dead, he'll suddenly get a LOT worse. You just have a few
turns to take action.
Again, there are various phrasing for bandaging his wound, ranging from
"put... on..." to "bandage shoulder with..." to "tie... around..." Unless
you have already tried using the netting for another purpose, this may be
the first time you're clued to the fact that it's too big to work with.
but it's a fabric, after all. Its description, showing that this piece was
previously ripped along its edges, might be enough to plant the right seed.
You'll need to rip or cut it further. You can do this now, or before you
even pull the spike, if you tear it on the sharp edges (of the wreckage).
However, the spike works well enough for the purpose, too, and even though
you don't have many turns to bandage Huchess, you can still do it now. Just
wrap the resulting ribbons (note that you won't use them all - some remain)
around his wounds, and now Huchess is stable.
Now that you have the spike, examine it. Try turning it on (or pushing the
lever). If you used it to cut the netting, you've established that it's
at least sharp enough to cut or tear things. But now you know it can get
too hot to hold as well -- another, very particular use. Don't worry that
there seems to be no way to keep it on right now.
Meanwhile, you have probably heard howling from the east. You might be
inclined to wait around for something to happen -- especially if this is
not your first play-through, or if you feel stuck and think that you're
supposed to confront the creature so soon. As much of an annoyance as it
may be that "wait" is restricted, it's really for your own good. Check the
"comments" section for a little more about what I mean, and why the "wait"
command is restricted even though it's bound to irk many players.
If you looked at the rocks and spires in the distance, you'll know that the
closest are to the south. You can find a large arch now, by going that way.
However, at this point, you don't need to. If you do, you can at least get
further clues that will help you later, but that's your call. What the rock
has to offer, you don't need yet, so it doesn't matter. If you do, return to
the north when you're done.
When you examine the hatch (or look under it, or even search), you'll see
Covegn's palmtop terminal. You won't find it by just looking at Covegn (it
was out of view until you took a more active approach, or focused your
efforts on the hatch), but you *can* also find it by searching her. If
the thought never occurred to you, don't worry. A later event would have
brought it into the open, even if you had done nothing.
It's not important at this point, but you'll probably want to try turning
it on at least once. It helps provide an incentive later, to head to the
northern crash site, even though early attempts will report that you don't
have a reason (yet) to do so. This is basically half of a clue.
If you've spent enough time on looking around and helping Huchess, you may
notice that a sheet of vellum blows away from an unseen spot among the
scattered scraps of netting. If you saw this on prior play-throughs, you
might be inclined to search the netting, finding it early. That works, if
you already took a piece of netting (otherwise, that's what you find first).
Regardless, it's going to blow away. Finding it again is the puzzle.
Don't worry if it blew away on its own (you didn't search to find it), and
the message was lost among the other events that happen while you play.
It's important enough that reminders will appear periodically.
Head west (now that there is a reason), to discover that you can't see
anything out in the darkness. You can try getting the vellum (even though
it's dark, and finding it is impossible) for another clue. You need a light.
Return east to the crash site. Did you already look at the rocks and spires
in the distance? It's not required, but it's a hint as to why you can go
south, and what the significance may be. Once you go south, there isn't much
doubt. You come upon a rock arch, and that's all you'll find there.
Examine it. This could be done earlier, even before the vellum blows away,
if you prefer. In fact, it's probably more likely that you'll go south in
the process of experimentation, discovering the nature of the rock, than it
is that you'll wait until now. Anyway, Covegn's research is important.
If you try to get the whole rock (not that you would), you'll get a clue
disguised in a "you can't do that..." kind of way. More importantly, the
cracks are a clue. You can get a shard from the rock in a number of ways,
all involving the spike. Trying to hit the rock without using anything is
a prompt in the right direction. Hit it with the spike, or chisel it, or
even cut it, or pry the cracks, or... you should be able to figure it out.
You now have all you need from there, so return north to the crash site.
The shard is a very slight glow, which further supports the clues you may
already have noticed. Somehow, this shard may be used as a light source.
The key bit is Covegn's research -- the shard can convert direct heat into
light. You can try putting it on the beacon post, but the beacon isn't hot.
If you already pushed the spike's lever (or alternately, tried to turn on
the spike, which works too), you know it can get hot. If you haven't, then
it should still make sense, since it's a spike from the pod's heating core.
The spike and the shard are a perfect match -- you need something capable
of holding down the spike's lever to heat it up, and you need direct heat
to make the shard glow. Tie netting to the spike and to the shard (several
ways to do this, including implicitly tying the shard to the spike, if you
have netting ribbons in your inventory). Now the shard will glow, and you
can carry the pair around by the strip of netting.
Go west and retrieve the lost vellum. Read it, and return to the east (or
return to the east, and then read it).
By now, you will probably have noticed one or more "phantoms" -- strange
happenings that don't seem to be real, but which depict seemingly real
events. The latest phantom has shown Huchess, not long after the crash,
trying to get your attention. The vellum -- which you now have -- was taken
by the wind and lost in the strewn netting. You have his decryption code
now, or at least part of it. This is the other half of a clue -- the first
coming when you tried to turn on the palmtop terminal.
In short, you now have a good enough reason to make the trip to the north.
If you can get within range of a PrimeCom console -- knowing that there
might still be one aboard the wrecked Sirius Dream -- the terminal may work.
If so, you may be able to decrypt the message on the vellum -- the message
the phantom Huchess seemed to think was important enough to share.
North of the crash site, you have an opportunity to turn back. Did you
forget anything? You should have the spike/shard combo for light (if you
don't, you can't go any farther), the few netting ribbons that remain,
the sheet of vellum, and the palmtop terminal. Huchess should still be
alive, even though the dead body of Covegn has by now been taken. You did
remember to turn on the distress signal, right? If you didn't, a further
clue is given here, which may prompt you to take care of it before you go.
This is a pivotal point. You can continue if those things aren't all true,
but you'll be on a plot branch that will ultimately end in your demise, no
matter what else you might do from this point forward. Even if you do, you
may at least pick up on clues that give insight into what you might have
done differently, which will help the next time around. For the purposes of
describing the ideal session, be sure you've done everything.
When you go north again, the creature will bound into view, and it's on
the offensive. If you've encountered it already, you probably know what to
expect. If not, now is a good chance to get your first "look" at it. At any
rate, this is a tightly-timed part, and unless you've been very observant
or you're going strictly by this walkthrough, you may not survive this
encounter the first couple of times. It's a puzzle, after all.
Try to get away by going north. You'll find that it's not possible with the
creature so near and so alert. You've been given a possibly subtle cue,
though, that you could try turning the tables by going on the offensive.
Try stabbing it with the spike. You can't, because it's still tied to the
shard and hot -- you can't touch it. So, untie the spike so it will cool,
and then try. This works, and now the creature is momentarily confused.
Go north until the creature catches up again (three times north). The shard
is beginning to fade, but as long as you haven't been sight-seeing along
the way, you can stab the creature again and then continue on to the
northern wreckage. The creature will keep its distance now -- for a time.
Now that you're here, check to see if the terminal will come on. It does,
but only for a moment, because it isn't charged and the slot for its
reserve cell is empty. If you looked at the scraps and debris before this,
you will have been clued to finding something there, once you are in need
of something in particular (otherwise, you'd likely never spot one useful
thing out of so much junk). Even if you didn't, look now (or even search
it). Something useful is indeed found in the debris -- a power cell.
Put it into the terminal (or the slot) to provide power. You do have
another option here, but it's more difficult and it stops working after a
couple of times. You could tie the shard to the spike again (so it glows),
untie it, and hold the shard to the solar receptor (on the terminal). This
will bring it a slight, temporary charge.
By this point, you may also have checked out the rest of your surroundings:
the huge, burning wreckage of the Sirius Dream and the puddle of fuel in
particular. You can try taking the fuel, or interacting with the puddle in
other ways (try throwing things into it), but it's not important yet. Just
know that it's there, and what it might help with later.
Turn on the terminal. The instructions are clear: touch the screen now to
activate the menu. You have six options from which to choose. The first
option will never work for you -- sorry. It's not so much a red herring, as
a means of showing that the terminal probably has a host of features that
would only be available to the command crew (otherwise, it's not a very
useful device). Remember the decryption code is not an access code.
You can try decrypting the vellum now (option 3). Huchess's code was not
complete, so that won't work. Provided you turned on the distress signal,
though, you can monitor the other crash site (option 2). The terminal has
been damaged, so you're going to have to touch the screen again, to return
to the main menu each time. If Huchess is still alive (and he will be, if
he was alive when you left -- the creature followed you away), you'll see
him wake up for a moment. He'll notice the distress signal is on, so he's
going to try communicating, with the hopes that somebody is coming to the
rescue and will recognize what he's trying to say.
He falls unconscious again, but you now have the complete code. Use option
3 again, to decrypt the message. This requires manually typing in the full
message (thankfully, it's simply implied that you take several minutes to
do so, without requiring further action on your part). The creature is
going to get restless, and it will choose this time to attack. If you have
waited too long, it may have attacked earlier, at which time it wasn't
quite so frantic and will not be in a position to make its death possible.
When it attacks now, though, it's going to step in the puddle of fuel. You
have a couple of turns to dispatch it, by igniting the fuel. If you haven't
already tied the shard back to the spike, do so now. Toss it into the
puddle, or at the creature, and he'll go up in a blazing fireball. If you
wait too long, he's out of the fuel, and you're going to die.
You could try stabbing the creature instead, then making a break south, to
get away from it. The problem with that is, you will need to untie the spike
here, which means the shard will begin to dim. Plus, you may find that after
you stab the creature twice, it gets wise to the tactic. What this means is,
it's not possible to make it back to the southern wreckage alive.
The creature is dead, but it left you wounded. Remember how you helped
Huchess? Wrap or tie netting around your wounds (or, in general, around
yourself), or "bandage" the wounds. Don't take long, or you won't survive.
If you experimented more with the terminal already, or if you do so now, you
will have noticed that some of the options don't work at all. The cue here
is that the capacitive sensitivity is diminished -- but maybe it will still
respond to pressure (the resistive underlay), such as that from a stylus.
By its death, the creature has solved this problem. One of its fangs has
cracked and fallen to the ground. Get it, and use it to touch the screen.
If you don't specify that you're touching with the tooth, though, it's not
implied. Once you do that, you have access to all menu options (except the
first one), and you're moments away from the truth.
Decryption will finally work, and now you know why the Captain changed
course to come here. If it's not clear, yes -- you caused a paradox.
How? Try option 5 on the terminal, for further information. This should
leave very little unanswered. For fun, check the crew roster (option 4),
but at this point, you've finished what you came here for.
The only thing left to do is to monitor the video from the other crash site
again. As this is probably not the most logical of actions at this point,
you're cued to it. If you try going south now, you're encouraged to use the
distress signal as a means of monitoring the other site, since you're still
in no shape to make the long hike. If it doesn't occur to you to try going
south now, that's cued as well. The immediate danger is over, so you may
feel inclined to seek something to do. Periodically, you'll hear noises from
the distant south. This encounter is almost over.
At the menu, select option 2. What follows is the "best" ending possible.
Yeah, it's bleak, but it's also hopeful -- and at least you're still alive.
******* 2: TYPICAL RUN ******************************************************
The following is intended to show a logical solution to the game. It's a
longer session than the speed run, but it demonstrates the actions that
you might realistically take, in order to solve the game. At the core,
this is a game meant to be played more than once, striving for survival.
However, this run shows a best-case scenario play-through, where it all
falls into place by keen observation and impressive intuition.
NOTE: To make this solution work with the Hugo "PLAYBACK" verb, a special
implementation of "TOUCH" was used when selecting terminal options.
This skips the terminal menu entirely, by using TOUCH OPTION (NUM).
X ME
X WRECKAGE
X COVEGN
X HUCHESS
X SPIKE
X ROCKS
S
X ARCH
N
X BEACON
TURN ON SIGNAL
X HATCH
GET TERMINAL
TURN IT ON
X NETTING
REMOVE SPIKE FROM SHOULDER
GET NETTING
BANDAGE WOUND WITH NETTING
CUT NETTING WITH SPIKE
TIE NETTING AROUND SHOULDER
X SPIKE
PUSH LEVER
GET SPIKE
W
GET VELLUM
E. S.
X CRACKS
PRY CRACKS WITH SPIKE
N
PUT SHARD ON POST
TIE NETTING TO SPIKE
TIE SHARD TO SPIKE
W
GET VELLUM
READ IT
E
TURN ON TERMINAL
N. N.
X CREATURE
N
STAB CREATURE WITH SPIKE
REMOVE NETTING FROM SPIKE
STAB CREATURE
N. N. N.
STAB CREATURE
N. N. N.
X DEBRIS
X PUDDLE
GET FUEL
TURN ON TERMINAL
X DEBRIS
GET CELL
PUT IT INTO SLOT
TURN ON TERMINAL
TOUCH OPTION 3
TOUCH OPTION 2
TOUCH OPTION 3
TIE SPIKE TO SHARD
DROP SPIKE INTO PUDDLE
X ME
WRAP NETTING AROUND MY WOUNDS
X CREATURE
GET TOOTH
TOUCH OPTION 3 WITH TOOTH
TOUCH OPTION 4 WITH TOOTH
TOUCH OPTION 5 WITH TOOTH
S
TOUCH OPTION 2 WITH TOOTH
******* 3: SPEED RUN ********************************************************
The following is intended to show a quick solution to the game, relying on
information that ordinarily wouldn't present itself without more examining
and experimentation. Basically, this is an expert solution -- a speed run.
NOTE: To make this solution work with the Hugo "PLAYBACK" verb, a special
implementation of "TOUCH" was used when selecting terminal options.
This skips the terminal menu entirely, by using TOUCH OPTION (NUM).
GET NETTING
CUT IT ON EDGES
GET SPIKE
WRAP WOUND
PUSH BUTTON
S
HIT ROCK WITH SPIKE
TIE SHARD TO SPIKE
N
SEARCH COVEGN
TURN IT ON
SEARCH NETTING
W
GET VELLUM
READ IT
E. N. N.
UNTIE SPIKE
STAB CREATURE
N. N. N.
STAB CREATURE
N. N. N.
TIE SHARD TO SPIKE
TURN ON TERMINAL
SEARCH DEBRIS
PUT CELL IN TERMINAL
TURN ON TERMINAL
TOUCH OPT 2
TOUCH OPT 3
THROW SPIKE AT CREATURE
BANDAGE ME
GET FANG
TOUCH OPT 3 WITH FANG
TOUCH OPT 5 WITH FANG
TOUCH OPT 2 WITH FANG
-- For convenience, Lieutenant Huchess can be referred to as "man" and
Ensign Covegn "woman". Of course, once referenced, "him" and "her" work too.
-- I found that the "animated" version of the terminal menu didn't work
quite right in some versions of Hugo, so it's disabled whenever graphics
are disabled (regardless of the platform). An undocumented feature also
exists, to make it possible to "PLAYBACK" a .REC file by not requiring
that the menu appear at all (see earlier). You can even turn the animated
menus on or off if needed, by typing "SETMENU ON" or "SETMENU OFF".
-- More complex actions do provide a variety of recognized commands. For
instance, you can simply get the spike, or remove it from Huchess, pull it
from his wound or his shoulder, etc. There are various ways to tie the spike
and the shard together, ranging from the one-liner "tie shard to spike"
(if you have the netting ribbons), to wrapping netting around the spike
first and then tying the shard in later. The same goes for bandaging the
spike wound, getting a shard, etc.
-- Chances are, most "guess the verb" situations will be the result of
trying something that just won't work, no matter *how* you try rephrase it.
I have implemented as much "extra" stuff as I could in the time allowed,
based on beta logs
-- Also "touch anywhere on terminal" does work. :)
-- Early versions of Distress were a frustration to beta testers, because
it became obvious that the creature would eventually appear by waiting. Many
aspects of the game weren't clued as well (and there were no hints), so
this seemed like the only thing that would move things forward. But when
the creature appears -- except at the end -- you can't kill it. So, waiting
was forcing a confrontation that could only lead to failure. With that in
mind, I restricted "wait" to make it more obvious that waiting isn't the
answer. This was also a frustration, because it still seemed important for
the creature to appear, but now it was harder to force. In the end, I left
the "wait" restrictions, but I tried to give enough in-game cues and hints
to (hopefully) keep players from getting so hopelessly stuck that waiting
for the creature seemed like the right course of action. I hope it works.
-- The idea was that players should be encouraged to survive -- not go up
against this creature so soon. At any rate, cues are meant to show this.
Also, nothing important happens that can only happen by waiting, as the
Speed Run should show.
-- The game is meant to be fair, by providing clues and cues that should
make wrong actions hint at the correct ones. However, it wasn't meant to
always be winnable -- only to help the player understand what actions might
help make it winnable. I know it would be a more popular game if this were
not the case, but the game was meant to convey a sense of urgency,
consequences, and difficulty. I don't think those things would be possible
if it was impossible to die, or if it were always possible to win, no matter
what. For this, I think Distress is likely to be a love-it-or-hate-it game.
-- To some degree, I think we as IF players have grown soft. :)
-- Timing plays an important part in the game. While at the crash site, the
creature comes closer only once very five turns (and it doesn't always make
itself known -- just periodically). When you are away from the crash site,
it's much bolder. Every turn brings it a little closer. It will always go
for Covegn first. The only way you can die that early is to antagonize it.
It comes back after that, and sooner, since it's not as far away as before.
The second time, it'll take Huchess -- whether he's already dead or not.
Even though it won't kill you yet (unless, again, you keep stabbing it), if
you reach this point, you'll be unable to "win" the game later. Huchess is
still key to decrypting the vellum.
-- Some things can be found early, by searching. The game was designed to
not require it, though. If Covegn is taken by the creature, the terminal is
left behind, and now it's moved enough that you notice it in the room. After
a few turns, the vellum will blow away if you haven't yet found it.
-- This was a game I had in mind for many years. I had never worked out the
details, but I knew that it would involve survival after crash-landing on
an alien planet. I also knew the ending. In fact, that was the hook -- the
point of the story -- the twist. The original concept, though called for
more survival and little or no horror. After working on it night after night
from sundown to almost sun-up (the joys of being a new parent), I realized
that the game was darker, more sinister, and without a truly happy ending.
-- A mistake I made with last year's "Trading Punches" was to rely too much
on subtlety. Even after beating the game, some players didn't catch on to
the true nature and origin of the Incenders -- or understand that Gavenn's
father wasn't killed *by* the dactylworm. I tried to be sure, with Distress,
that the ending not only resolved the story, but also explained just how
it all came to pass. That's where Covegn's research, seen near the end,
came about. It's hard to say if the explanation will make the experience
better, or merely downplay what might have been a mystery when the vellum
is finally decrypted. I'm interested to find out how that worked for people.
-- The biggest controversy, if I'm guessing, will probably be the ability
to make the game unwinnable, and require restarting. Well -- if you didn't
save earlier in a good state, it will require restarting. But the game is
short, and in very few moves it's easy to catch up (see Section #3, the
Speed Run). All in all, I hope the positive reviews outweigh the negative.
******* 5: GAME MAP *********************************************************
Be sure you're using a fixed-width font when you view this map.
