Solution for the Oric text adventure "Krystal Worlds" (1990) by Robert Cook,
published by Mirage Software.
Some anonymous hints from
https://web.archive.org/web/20210929023048/https://www.consoledatabase.com/cheats/oric/krystalworlds/
were used to complete this walkthrough.
Note, only the first four letters of each word are needed, but they are written
in full in this walkthrough for clarity.
Command sequences in square brackets are optional, but do explain more about
the game. Notes are in round brackets.
Krystal I
—--------
[GET NOTE, GET BOOK, READ NOTE (*note1), READ BOOK (pages are blank - for now
at least), DROP ALL (*note2)], N, GO FIREPLACE, GET NAILS, [X DOG (bull-dog)],
U, E, MOVE BOULDER, GO HOLE, OPEN CUPBOARD, GET CHEESE, W, W, N, GET PLANK, S,
S, W, OPEN TRAPDOOR, GO TRAPDOOR, [READ SIGN (*note3)], WAIT, WAIT (a wizard
appears),[X WIZARD (quite old)], TALK WIZARD (a wand is left behind; *note4),
[L (to see that it is a wand here)], GET WAND, [X WAND (a standard magic
wand)], E, GET HAMMER, FIX FLOOR (loose floor -> secured floor), DROP HAMMER,
E, FEED RAT (with cheese), GET RAT, GET KEY, W, W, U, E, WAVE WAND (flutter of
pages), DROP WAND, GET BOOK, READ BOOK (CAST DOOM on Troll), DROP BOOK, N, W,
N, N, U, GET GOLD, D, E, UNLOCK DOOR, DROP KEY, GO DOOR, [X CAT (purring)],
FEED CAT (with rat), GET CAT, U, GET COIN, D, W, S, E, TALK GOBLIN (wants
something valuable), GIVE GOLD (goblin will help you later), W, S, W, GET
BRICK, N, GET MIRROR, N, GET ARROW, E, S, S, GO FIREPLACE, DROP CAT (dog chases
it), GO CORRIDOR (troll is here), CAST DOOM (troll gone), GO CRACK, [I (ensure
you have the following items before leaving part I: Brick, Coin, Arrow,
Mirror)], DRON GALO
Krystal II
—---------
E, E, [E, READ SCROLL (demons love treasure and death), W], N, GET CANISTER,
S, W, S, S, PUT COIN (in slot), GO PASSAGE, FILL CANISTER, E, N, N, E, FILL
TUBE, DROP CANISTER, GET RING, [X RING (something to ‘treasure’)], W, W, N,
GIVE RING (to demon; "and now for the next part"), KILL DEMON
Krystal III
—----------
W, W, GO HUT, HOLD BREATH, BREAK BOTTLE (the poison gas floats away), X SHIP
(reveals cloth), X CLOTH (password is DIEE ONRE), GET SPHERE, OUT, E, E, N, N,
SEARCH RUBBLE, GET PEARL, W, GIVE PEARL (to man; you get liquid), E, S, S, E,
E, MOVE ROCK (a hole is revealed), DRINK LIQUID (you shrink), GO HOLE (*note5),
GO ARCHWAY (*note6), DIEE ONRE
Krystal IV
—---------
N, E, N, N, HOLD MIRROR, OPEN COFFIN (the medusa springs out but dies), DROP
MIRROR, SEARCH COFFIN, GET LAMP, GO COFFIN, D, GET HELMET, WEAR HELMET, U, OUT,
S, W, S, S, W, W, GET BOW, E, E, N, E, FIRE ARROW (it misses), GET ARROW, FIRE
ARROW (it hits; you are advised to wait patiently in the chambers of Krystal),
DROP BOW, [L (a ruby has appeared), X RUBY], N, W, [X AMULET], E, N, W, W, S,
S, RUB LAMP (you fly across the chasm), WAIT, WAIT, WAIT (Goblin appears)
Krystal V
—--------
W, INSERT SPHERE (in socket), GO PASSAGEWAY, N, GET ROPE, S, E, E, E, N, GET
GRAPNEL, TIE ROPE (to grapnel), E, GET PARCHMENT, READ PARCHMENT (read this
again at the barrier), W, S, W, S, S, THROW ROPE (the helmet saves your life,
but you are still knocked unconscious; you wake up at the barrier), READ
PARCHMENT (if you have the necessary objects then you will succeed),[X WALL
(there is one brick missing)], INSERT BRICK (... congratulations adventurer,
you have proved yourself to be a success ...)
*note1:- "PTOX MAX PTGW AXKX". Although there are no hints, it’s not too
difficult to work out this message is encrypted with a simple substitution
cipher. It happens to use ROT-19 which decodes as "WAVE THE WAND HERE".
ROT-19 encoding:
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
TUVWXYZABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRS
*note2:- The game supports DROP ALL, but not GET ALL.
*note3:- "PTBM AXKX MPBUX" decodes to "WAIT HERE TWIBE", revealing an error in
the encrypted message. It should read "PTBM AXKX MPBVX" for "WAIT HERE TWICE".
*note4:- The more natural TALK TO WIZARD also works if you prefer it.
*note5:- You have one chance to GO HOLE before the shrinking potion wears off,
so be careful to avoid any typos on this command.
*note6:- The correct exit (ARCHWAY) can be deduced from the following in-game
statements which I have purposely re-ordered below for clarity. Bear in mind
that the in-game description states that exit ONE/FIRST is DOOR, TWO/SECOND is
ARCHWAY and THREE/THIRD is DOOR.
Statement 1:- "Second is right is one is same is third". Well ONE and THIRD are
both DOOR, so from this statement alone we can deduce that SECOND (ARCHWAY) is
the correct exit.
Statement 2:- "One is right if second is wrong". Statement 1 has just proven
that SECOND (ARCHWAY) is right therefore ONE (DOOR) must be wrong.
Statement 3:- "Third is right if one and two are wrong". Again, statement 1
proves that TWO (ARCHWAY) is right therefore THIRD (DOOR) must also be wrong.
We now have no doubt that TWO (ARCHWAY) is the only possible correct exit.
Statement 4:- "One is not different to the one after the third, minus one". So,
the one after the third minus one is still the third i.e. DOOR. One is also
DOOR. It is true to say they are not different i.e. the same, so although this
convoluted statement doesn’t really help us, it still checks out OK and is
logically correct.
benkid77 - 10 January 2024
