GAME INFO:
MYSTERY MANSION - 1978
by Bill Wolpert
Major ports by Bob Sorem and James Garnett
WALKTHROUGH Assembled and Worked on by:
The GameStomper
www.vghchannel.com
PERSONAL HIGH SCORE: 979 pts
HINTS PAGE:
https://bluerenga.wordpress.com/tag/mysterymansion/?order=ASC
http://classic-web.archive.org/web/20020329115713/http://www.catbelly.com/src/mm/hints.html
======================================================
The object of the game is to get the murder weapon, and have the murderer return to the scene of the crime with you. Secondary objects are killing off a warrior, werewolf, vampire and wolf... as well as sleeping with a sexy blonde maid for added measure of "conquest". (j/k)
There are a few major bugs with Bob Sorem's port... the murder weapon is not always what is described in the text of the game. For example, on Mystery #1 - in-game the murder weapon was said to be the "AXE", but I had to bring the CLUB to the murder scene. In the James Garnett ver 19.4, that is all fixed... but in his port I could not save the game at all - it didn't restore correctly even with SUSPEND/LOAD commands. So I definitely preferred the SOREM version for playing with its nice save system... but you MUST be aware of that bug. Solving the case really is as simple as walking into the correct location with both the murderer and the murder weapon. (and then you can walk to the phone to "Call Police")
ALSO... Magic works differently in the SOREM port then it does in the Garnett version. See below in the section on MAGIC if you're curious to understand how to make the scroll unroll itself.
SOME VERBS TO REMEMBER & TRY THROUGHOUT:
QUESTION
BRIBE
LISTEN
LIST (inventory)
LOOK AT people
RUB people
SCORE points (after you hear things happening)
ANSWER phone
CALL taxi?
SUSPEND / RESTORE (1 save game)
TURN ON RADIO
LIGHT objects
etc.
WALKTHROUGH / MAJOR THINGS TO DO
1. Get the compass (improves ease of everything else)
2. Get the Gauntlet - carry more stuff!
3. Get extra batteries (means solving twisty maze)
4. Prepare for Mole warfare
5. The Mole Maze
6. Killing the Vampire
7. Solving the case
8. Preparations
9. Raiding the Treasure
10. Conquest of the maid
RANDOM outside event - Kill the Warrior
________________
PART 1: Compass
e
s
open gate
take lantern
n - Dreary Driveway
e - Front Porch
n - Entrance Hall
(now you have to find your way upstairs, to the north end of the Haunted Hallway.
Once you pickup the compass, though, you can move around in the dark just fine)
f - (forward) trying to get to the ball room
turn on lantern
u - up
f - (to get to end of hall but read description)
GET COMPASS - yay!
____________________
PART 2: Gauntlet of Gargantuan Girth (good grief)
(starting at the north end of the haunted hallway)
s - Haunted Hallway (south)
d - Ballroom
e - Dining Tables
open curtain (because its dark)
move King (look at the table if you don't know what I'm talking about)
take Gauntlet
___________________
PART 3: Twisty Maze of Batteries...
(Start from Dining Tables)
w
s - Entrance hall
e - Game Room
take sword (you might need it)
d - Dark Pit
d - TWISTY MAZE (Six Echo room)
d - Torch Room (Four echo)
take Torch
w - One echo
u - Strange Stream
u - Take Map (you need the points and the map is fun)
d
d
s - Four echo
u - Three echo
take battery
n - Six Echo
n - Dark Pit (phew)
HINT: The TWISTY Maze (Dwarf's) Alternate path through from woods.
u - Cozy Cottage
take map (can come in handy)
d - STRANGE STREAM
d - TWISTY's (One Echo Room)
NOTE: The Twisty maze can be mapped with "Listen"
s - Four Echoes
u - Three Echoes
Take Battery (and celebrate being alive at night)
n
n - Dark Pit (bottom right of the Mansion)
_________________________
PART 4: Prepare for Mole Warfare!
u - Game Room
u - Bell Tower
take keys (these will come in handy)
d
d
w - Furnace room
turn on lantern
n - Coffin room
take talisman - (this will reincarnate you for free)
s
w
unlock door
w - Butler's Room
take key - (the dungeon one)
feed monkey - (opens secret)
n - Cold Corridor
n - Storage room
d - Mole Cave (entrance)
_________________________
PART 5: Solve the Mole Maze
d - Mole Maze (first room)
d
w
n
u
w
TAKE AMULET (crazy to make it this far... now escape)
(and THIS SUCKS, because the map moves... good luck)
u
s
w
w
s
e - MOLE CAVE !?!?! (if you're lucky, you've survived!)
u - ESCAPE to Storage Room!
____________________________
PART 6: Kill the Vampire
START at the CHAPEL
take cross
d
open crate
s
e
take gun
open coffin
w - Secret Passage
u - Main level
u - Top floor
n - Maid's Room
open curtain - Kill's vampire
take ring
____________________________
PART 7: Solve the case
This is basically on your own...
Find the murder weapon, carry it.
Find the murderer... he/she should follow you.
Go to the room where the murder occurred.
It says "Congratulations you solved the case."
Go to the "ENTRANCE"
Call Police
NOTE: If you have trouble finding the murder weapon, get the parrot (from the warrior) and "FIND xx" (item)
If you have trouble finding a person, get the GLOBE, look at globe, and then "FIND xx" (person)
____________________________
PART 8: Preparations
This is the section that is up to you to finish... it's all about finesse, and extra points at this point.
You can kill the werewolf, the warrior, the wolf.
The transporter is in the laboratory, which can be reached going "UP" in the shower room (but only if you're naked and carrying nothing)
Arrange the transporter however you want... when you are carrying the XMITTER you can type "BEAM UP" to go to the laboratory and "BEAM DOWN" to go to the receiver.
Stash all your stuff somewhere safe, but can be grabbed at the final moments - the lab is always accessible!
____________________________
PART 9: Raiding the Treasure
THE CORRIDOR:
(You need the amulet, first of all)
open crate (reveals secret passage)
s - Secret passage (When you first walk in the secret passage, corridor opens)
West
R (right) - (door is locked)
unlock door
open door
r (Corridor Walls open... and sends you back to "Secret Passage"
w
r
d
d - Tricky Treasure
take treasure
place amulet in cavity (worst puzzle of the game)
turn amulet
d - Treasure Trek Begin
w,w,d,w,u - Enter the Troll Trap #1
take goblet
take emerald
d, d, u - Den of Death
move boulders (repeatedly until yo uuncover the Pearls)
take pearls
d,d, u - Enter Troll Trap #2
take necklace
take diamonds
beam up (now get out quick!)
(alternative) d,e,e,e,u,e,n,u - and back to Tricky Treasure
____________________________
MISC: CONQUEST OF THE MAID
Conditional acceptance...
1. There are no other people (just you and her)
2. The door is closed & locked
3. There is no light in the room
4. You’re freshly showered.
5. You're carrying nothing!
So you need to be in the maid’s room, with the closet door closed (remember that there is a secret access through the closet into her room), the main door closed and locked, the curtains closed, and you must have just showered in the bathroom... and drop all your stuff (including your clothes)
One problem.. if you can't OPEN CURTAIN and have light come in... you have no way to escape the room. The seductress has ensnared you in her devious trap!
-------------------------------------------
THE CHEST:
Is very old with mysterious writing on it.
This chest contains a clue, reads the maid beside you.
Be sure to close the chest as quickly as possible, reads the lady in front of you.
(opened) releases 1000 screaming demons.
BROOM CLOSET:
close door (opens the secret passage)
BATTY BATHROOM
drop everything (clothes too)
go up (Laboratory)
CHAPEL
drink wine
CLUES:
Distract wolf with food
Look at xx = Killer has a look of apprehension?
Someone is a werewolf - kill it for points!
Drop an item at the well to see if it has water
FUNNY STUFF
drink water (at strange stream)
drink poison
Find the shower... drop booty, drop clothes, take shower!
Rub Maid (really?) (in her bedroom... but especially elsewhere)
Drop clothes (and then walk around until somebody laughs at you)
Butler says: "The Maid can be very friendly." haha
SLEEP WITH everybody?
Question Vampire:
"He Says that he is count Dracula as he walks slowly towards you, holding you motionless in his wide-eyed gaze."
CALL the OPERATOR
_________________________
EACH GAME, fill this out:
Mystery #1
WHO: Butler
WHERE: In the Butler's Room
WHAT: THE CLUB (read the wall in Mole's Vault)
Mystery #528
WHO: Cook
WHERE: Wine Cellar
WHAT: Sword (says Knife on the scroll - but people would say otherwise if you question them)
MAGIC: 1. HIWOM 2. WOMIH 3. XOWIM 4. WIMOX
========= USING MAGIC ============
MAGIC WORDS ORDER:
(Bob Sorem Port from v16)
1. HIMOW (w garden - invert, so M's become W's, etc.)
2. WOMIH (Bridge right)
3. XIWOM (East garden - invert)
4. MOWIX (Bridge left)
(Polluted pond is a mixup of the bridges: WOMIX MOWIH - for example)
PROPER MAGIC then = HIWOM WOMIH XIMOW MOWIX
NOTE: Magic words do not work after the garden closes (dark)
#224
XIWOM MOWIH WOXIM XOOIW
CLUB / COOK / Garden Exit
#528
HIWOM WOMIH XOWIM WIMOX
COOK / Wine Cellar / Sword
- - - - - - -
(v19.4) - JAMES GARNETT port
1st Word: XIWOM (always... not sure where to find that in game)
2nd Word: Eastern Broken Bridge - as reflected - WIMOX
3rd Word: WOXIM (always... not sure where to find that in game)
4th Word: Western Broken Bridge - as reflected - WIMOH
(note: polluted pond has them reversed and not reflected)
MYSTERY #1: XIWOM WIMOX WOXIM WIMOH (#'s.. 2,3,5,6 from the list of magic words HTML page)
MYSTERY# 148: XIWOM XOMIW WOXIM WIMOH (yup worked in-game)
================================
POINTS / TREASURES:
================================
One point apiece:
book, broom, butcher knife, candle, coil of rope, club, desk chair, dungeon key, dusty globe, food, greasy hatchet, kitchen match, map, menacing mace, note, old battery, rusty shovel, small oilcan, sword, torch, two-bladed axe, vial of poison, wind-up clock, wooden wedge
Two points apiece:
battery lantern, darts, handgun, new battery, pocket compass, set of keys, silver bullet
Three points apiece:
✓ vampire ring
Four points apiece:
old talisman
✓ uneven amulet
Five points apiece:
metal shield
paranoid parrot
✓ silver cross
Ten points apiece:
✓ bag of pearls
fine jewellery ??
✓ gaudy gauntlet
jeweled crown
✓ large emerald
matter receiver
matter xmitter
✓ mystery chest
✓ pirate treasure
✓ ruby necklace
✓ several diamonds
✓ silver goblet
twelve gold coins ?? (does not exist?)
ONE PERSON'S TAKE ON IT:
Further notes on a good ending to score points. Leave the matter receiver somewhere that no one else can move it or you might get a nasty surprise – for example beaming down into a deep well (I sometimes leave in in the maid’s room and lock the door). Be sure to have the silver bullet when one of the inmates turns into a werewolf. Just in time, drop everything you don’t need, leaving lantern (with new battery), compass, use your extra strength device to pick up all the booty you have stashed in your chosen safe place (ring, pearls, emerald, coins, goblet, diamonds, jewelery, necklace, crown and anything else of value) and make your way out of the exploding mansion be means of the fire escape (you will need to oil the rusty hinge before it will open) back to the main gate where of course the taxi is waiting to take you to the city (you did have time to telephone for a taxi didn’t you?). Having done that and previously survived all hazards, confronted the murderer and turned him/her over to the police
and still had time to take a shower and a restful sleep on the maids bed (I have been able to get all the available treasure quickly enough to need to sleep for a couple of hours before the game ends), you should score well over 900 points.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
SCORE RANKINGS & POINTS:
PITIFUL Sleuth (0-85)
POOR Sleuth (85-170)
UNLUCKY (171-254)
NOVICE (255-340)
FAIR (341-425)
AMATEUR (426-510)
GOOD (511-595)
LUCKY (596-680)
SKILLFUL (681-765)
SUPERB (766-850)
MASTER (851-930)
SUPER (931+ )
===============================================
EXAMPLE WALKTHROUGH WITH POINT TOTALS:
===============================================
Remember: "score points" (+2 - every 1/2 hr game time)
- for simplicity, walkthrough will omit those
STARTS with 45pts
w +2
s +2
open gate
take lantern
s +2
n
n +15 (Dreary Driveway)
e +2
n - Entrance
turn on lantern
f - Ball Room
u +2 (Haunted Hallway)
(f,r,b?) +2 - End of Hallway
Take compass - temp1
turn off lantern
s
d
n
w +2 (Chapel)
take candle
e +8 (Library)
take gun
s +2 (Ball Room)
light fire
u
drop candle
d
s
e
u +2 (Bell Tower)
take keys
n
drop lantern
w
unlock door
w
n
open curtain
e
unlock door
drop booty
drop clothes
(f?) +1 (Batty Bathroom)
take shower
u +30 (Laboratory) -temp2
take xmitter
take receiver
s +15 (Closet)
drop booty
(f,b,r,l?) - leave closet
open curtain
take lantern
(r?) - (Haunted Hallway)
turn on lantern
(r?) - (End of Hallway) You have to guess
take clothes
take keys
take compass
take gun - temp3 138pts
s
d
e +2 (Dining Hall)
move king
take gauntlet
n +2 (Kitchen)
d +2 (Wine Cellar)
take food
s
unlock door
s +2 (Wine Cellar South)
n
u
turn off lantern
s
w
take bullet
s
s
w
w - (Main Gate) Save #4 - 148pts
s
w +1 (Dense Woods)
s +1 (Woods) random
e (Roadway) random - phew
s
e +2 (Roadway E)
n +2 (Back Gate)
- - - - - - -
NOTE:(HERE IS WHERE I KILLED THE WARRIOR)
NO POINTS
- - - - - - -
s (Gargoyle Garden)
e +2
e
s +2 (Broken Bridge - E)
s +2 (Wtiching Well - E)
e +2 (Grassy Meadow)
shoot wolf
n +2
e +2 (more Gargoyle Gardens) - 166
s +2
w +2 (Foul Fountain)
w +2 (Witching Well - S) - test
w +2 (Foul Fountain)
w +2
n +15 (Grassy Meadow again)
e +2
n +2 (Broken Bridge - W)
n
w +2
w +2
s
s
s +2 (Garden Exit - W)
e +2 (Vexing Veranda)
n +2 (Garden Gate)
e
e
s +2 (Garden Exit - E)
w
s (Library again) - #5 GARDENDONE 209pts
open curtain
MAGIC WORDS COMBO: HIWOM WOMIH XOWIM WIMOX
w
take cross
take candle
drink wine
s +8 (Secret Passageway)
d +8 (Secret Passageway - lower)
e +2 (Creepy Crypt)
take talisman
open coffin
w
u
u +8 (Secret Passageway - top)
n +2 (Maid's Room)
open curtain +75 (Kills Vampire!)
close curtain
blow out candle
drop booty
drop clothes - #6 THEMAID - 314 pts
sleep with maid (NO POINTS, but fun)
open curtain (this is why you can't wait until dark)
take clothes
take gauntlet
take lantern
take compass
take keys
take bullet
take gun
(take sword... or whatever murder weapon)
rub maid
s
turn on lantern - TEST - 314 pts
s +2 (Witch's Closet)
e
unlock door
e +2 (Master Bedroom)
take chair
w
drop chair
e
s +2 (fire escape) - no points to "oil hinge" with the oil can
n
n
unlock door
n
e
s
d +2 (Game Room) unless you walk in with a light on, you don't score points
d +2 (Dark Pit) - TEMP
- - - - - - -
NOTE:(HERE IS WHERE I RAN INTO THE KILLER and walked them to the crime scene)
+200 for SOLVING!
+50 for CALL POLICE
- - - - - - -
d +8 (TWISTY MAZE - Six Echo room)
d - Torch Room (Four echo)
w +1 (One echo)
u +8 (Strange Stream)
u +15 (Cozy Cottage)
d
d
s - Four echo
u +1 - Three echo
take battery
n - Six Echo
n - Dark Pit (phew) TEMP2 (611 pts)
(NOW I PROCEEDED TO DO A BUNCH OF STUFF TO FIND & KILL THE WEREWOLF)
shoot werewolf +75
w +2 (Furnace Room)
w
unlock door
w +2 (Butler's Room)
take key
feed monkey
n
n +2 (Storage Room)
e
unlock door
e +2 (Damp Dungeon)
w
d +8 (Mole Cave) entrance - TEMP3
===== NOTE: WORST part of game... shifts... you might have to map yourself =========
d +1
d
w
n
u
w
TAKE AMULET (crazy to make it this far... now escape)
(and THIS SUCKS, because the map moves... good luck. Alternatively BEAM UP/BEAM DOWN!)
u
s
w
w
s
e - MOLE CAVE !?!?! (if you're lucky, you've survived!)
u - ESCAPE to Storage Room! - 7 MOLEDEAD - 670pts
==-- THE CORRIDOR: (You need the amulet, first of all) --==
---- Second, grab the XMITTER (I left it in the closet ---- (TEST)
open crate (reveals secret passage)
s - Secret passage (When you first walk in the secret passage, corridor opens)
w +2 (Cold Corrido)
r (right) - (door is locked)
unlock door
open door
r (Corridor Walls open... and sends you back to "Secret Passage"
w
r +8 (Short Cut)
d +2
d +30 (Tricky Treasure) (TEST) pts 714
take treasure
place amulet in cavity (worst puzzle of the game)
turn amulet
d +1 Treasure Trek Begin
w,w,d,w,
u +15 (Troll Trap #1
take goblet
take emerald
d, d,
u + 15 (DEN OF DEATH)
d,d
u + 15 (Troll Trap #2)
take necklace
take diamonds
beam up (now get out quick!)
(alternative) d,e,e,e,u,e,n,u - and back to Tricky Treasure
beam down (TEMP) pts 762
-------------- FINAL COUNTDOWN ------------------
(All that is left is gather as much treasure at once as possible, and leave with it in the taxi)
(NEED TO SHOOT THE WEREWOLF NOW) It's the MASTER this time
gather as much treasure as you can hold
take the oilcan with you
hopefully you dropped the chair in the BROOM CLOSET
go to that closet, close the door
now you can go UP to the attic and UP again to the fire escape
oil hinge
down
oil hinge
down
w
w
quit
!!!!
================
(OPTIONAL DETOUR TO SLEEP WITH THE MAID
================
(whenever you're alone - From SECRET PASSAGE)
MUST HAVE previously showered.. THEN:
u +8 (Secret Passageway - top)
n +2 (Maid's Room)
close curtain
turn off lantern (or blow out candle)
drop booty
drop clothes
sleep with maid
____________________
HERE's ANOTHER MOLE TRIP I HAD TO TAKE FOR THE RECORD:
d
u
w +30 (MOLE VAULT)
take amulet
d
kill mole
d
e
e
d +8 (Torch Mole Room)
e - (Back to Mole Cave!!!! PHEW!)
===============
ONCE YOU KILL THE MOLE, you can MAP?
ROOM 1: AMULET S-ROOM10 N-ROOM8 W-VAULT
ROOM 2: KEYS D-ROOM7 S-ROOM4
ROOM 3: GUN D-ROOM8 N-ROOM10 W-ROOM4
ROOM 4: KEY D-ROOM8 S-ROOM9 W-ROOM3
ROOM 5: SWORD D-ROOM9 E-ROOM6 W-ROOM2
ROOM 6: BULLET S-ROOM8 E-ROOM5
ROOM 7: GAUNTLET D-ROOM8 E-ROOM6 N-ROOM8 U-ROOM1
ROOM 8: MOLE D-ROOM7 S-ROOM1
ROOM 9: TORCH D-ROOM3 S-ROOM1 E-EXIT!!!!
ROOM 10: D-ROOM7 E-ROOM7 W-ROOM3
VAULT: D-ROOM8 U-ROOM1
MY POST:
Thanks for all the comments and tips... and delving into the history of this historic IF game. I would agree that it was quite ambitious for its time, and also a pretty steep challenge. Not only is the battery in the lamp greatly underpowered, but you have also have the ticking time bomb of the daylight hours, and the eventual end game to deal with. I never made it to the end of the game with any light intact, other than a last ditch match to light my last candle to escape the cluthes of the burning down Mansion.
A few brief comments about ports... even with the SUSPEND feature, I could not actually save a game properly on the James Garnett port. Not sure if its just new versions of windows vs. old versions or what... but everytime I tried to restore I ended up back at the Main Gate without being able to move anywhere. So I had to play Sorem's port instead, which has a terrific save game feature with save slots. One thing to watch out for (if anybody is reading this blog in search of tips like I was)... MAGIC works quite differently in the two ports. Sorem's port you can divine all four magic words in the garden, while Garnett's port seems to have two "fixed" words (they are the same everytime).
One other possible major bug in the Sorem port is that sometimes the in-game description tells you the wrong murder weapon! I was trying everything to accuse the Butler with the Axe (the game said so)... but I looked up the same mystery on the Garnett port and the murder weapon was the CLUB. When I brought the club to the crime scene... the game proudly announced I'd solved the case.
A few things I discovered in addition to the tips listed here that might help:
- Gold Coins = I too never discovered them, but the source code alludes to digging? If anybody wants to dig all over the game world, let me know what you find.
- The Maid = Yes, she's particular. There are actually FIVE criteria that have to be met, and solving the crime isn't one of them. This happens in the Maid's Room:
1. There are no other people around (just you and her)
2. The door is closed & locked
3. There is no light in the room
4. You’re freshly showered.
5. You're carrying nothing! (so don't forget to "Drop Clothes" too... that sounded funny)
and one caveat about your timing in this, *ahem, endeavour... if you can't OPEN CURTAIN and have light come in... you have no way to escape the room. You are locked in, can't pickup anything in the dark, and can't turn on any lights!! The seductress has ensnared you in her devious trap!
- The Taxi = is actually not available after you solve the crime. Solving the crime does allow you to call the police, but calling for a Taxi seems to occur only late in the game. Certainly after the explosion, but probably sometime after a particular time on the clock it would work as well. (Maybe 10 or 11?)
Fascinating game overall. Truly challenging... even trying to optimize the walkthrough to allow for points had me checking score at almost every step to figure out where the points were scored, and trying desperately to do as much as possible without that lantern on. Dude, next time bring some duracells! I eventually scored 979 pts, so I think 999 is maybe... possibly... possible. But you can only carry so much over the finish line. In any case, I wrote up a solution/FAQ guide which I hope to posted over at the interactive fiction archives soon.
Thanks for your postings and the introduction to this game. I had no knowledge of this growing up, jumped more into the likes of Zork & Adventureland.
