Death Star
By Darryll Reynolds
For Commodore VIC-20
Solution by Garry Francis
----------------------------------------
This is a minimal solution to a small, yet very hard and very cruel game. If you aren't using
this solution, expect to spend a lot of time guessing verbs, getting killed and replaying the game
from the start. There is no save/restore or UNDO. Your inventory is limited to only two items and
objects in rooms to only three items. You'll need to LOOK at some things for hints.
The game is divided into six parts, each represented by a really small BASIC program. Part 0 is the
intro, so we can ignore that. Each of the remaining five parts has a very small map which is
navigated using the conventional N, S, E and W abbreviations. When you use a different verb, like
CLIMB or GO, that usually takes you to the next part. If you GO ELEVATOR in part 2, that bypasses a
part. As you can't return to a previous part, this makes the game unwinnable, so don't GO
ELEVATOR. If you get killed, you are given the opportunity to restart, but it only restarts that
part. In most cases, this won't help, so you'll have to restart from scratch.
The game has a really strange way of doing connections. Each room has a little map of the room that
shows the directions you can go. If you happen to try one of the directions that is not shown, you
may get killed or end up in an unexpected place. For example, if you go west from the store depot in
part 1, you end up in the work area. This should not happen, but it does. There is an exit to the
east of the work area, but going east gets you killed, but this is intentional and typical of the
sudden death in this game.
Each part has its own vocabulary with just a handful of verbs and they aren't the same verbs in
each part. For example, GET and DROP don't work in part 3. You will find a laser in part 1 and
you can use that to SHOOT the case, but SHOOT works even if you don't have the laser, so maybe
it's another verb starting with 'SH'. In part 2, you use BLAST, with the laser, but
you've only got one move to guess that verb and it won't work unless you first ARM LASER
in part 1. Good luck guessing those verbs!
There are no synonyms, so you must LOOK at an object, rather than EXAMINE it, GET an object, rather
than TAKE it, and PUSH an object, rather than PRESS it. All verbs are identified by the first two
letters, so there is no distinction between PUSH and PULL for example. Despite this, the parser
assumes a verb length when parsing the noun, so LO LOCKER will not work, but LOOK LOCKER, LOCK
LOCKER, LOVE LOCKER and LOZZ LOCKER will all assume you want to look at the locker. Because of the
really bad parser, a list of the (assumed) verbs for each part is provided after the solution.
Bug fixes
---------
There are lots of typos, but there's also two serious bugs:
If you use INxxxx in part 1, the program crashes because it tries to go to the non-existent line
130. I believe the missing routine is for the verb INSERT, but as this verb is not needed in part 1,
we can make it print an inventory instead. To fix this, add the following line to the file
'death star 1':
130 GOTO680
As each part runs another part, it needs to maintain state between parts and it does this by POKEing
values before running the next part and PEEKing these values during initialisation when the next
part runs. When the bomb is activated, part 3 POKEs a value to indicate this, but part 4 fails to
PEEK this value. As a consequence, it is impossible to finish the game without 6.6 billion people
being killed by the Death Star. To fix this, add the following lines to the file 'death star
4':
204 IFPEEK(822)=6THENO=1
205 RETURN
[Part 1]
LOOK LOCKER (you find a laser)
GET LASER
LOOK LOCKER (you find a charge)
GET CHARGE
ARM LASER (the charge is now gone)
(S)
(SHOOT CASE) (you find a prism, you don't need laser to do this)
(GET PRISM)
(RUB PRISM) (look for the hex ring and remember 'pax', prism vanishes)
(N)
E (don't push button until wearing space suit)
E
CLIMB LADDER
[Part 2]
BLAST TROOPER (must do this on first move or you die, laser disappears)
N
(TALK JILLYAN) (he says, "Do I know you?")
SAY PAX (take this ring and see the idol, Jillyan leaves)
GET RING
E
(LOOK STATUE) (it's a Jillyan god)
PRAY (god changes into a ball)
GET BALL
(LOOK BALL) (it has a recess)
E
GO HOLE
[Part 3]
(LOOK PANEL) (it has a sign)
(READ SIGN) (reactor room - keep out)
(E) (you're zapped by laser, type Y to restart after learning by getting killed)
CRAWL BEAM (that's the first)
CRAWL BEAM (that's the second)
JUMP BEAM (very cunning)
CRAWL BEAM (that's the last)
TURN WHEEL
CRAWL BEAM (that's the first)
JUMP BEAM (very cunning)
CRAWL BEAM (that's the third)
CRAWL BEAM (that's the last)
N
INSERT RING (where?)
BALL (it's a perfect fit)
TURN RING (ball starts ticking)
(LOOK BALL) (it's glowing)
THROW BALL (good shot - into the reactor)
CLIMB LADDER
[Part 4]
GET CELL
THROW CELL (it lands on the opposite ledge)
DROP RING (you should now be empty handed)
JUMP LEDGE
GET CELL
OPEN CUBICLE
LOOK CUBICLE (you find a space suit)
GET SUIT
WEAR SUIT
E
GO HOLE (you fall to corridor east of where you started)
[Part 5]
PUSH BUTTON (panel slides open)
S
(LOOK LIFEBOAT) (you see a door)
OPEN DOOR
GO LIFEBOAT
(LOOK CONTROLS) (you see an open slot and a lever)
(LOOK SLOT) (it reads 'fuel supply')
INSERT CELL (where?)
SLOT (controls are now active)
PULL LEVER (you've escaped and set the charge, you've saved Terra)
***THE END***
Verbs for part 1
----------------
ARM
GET
LOOK
DROP
CLIMB
SHOOT
RUB
PUSH
INSERT
Verbs for part 2
----------------
BLAST
GET
LOOK
DROP
TALK
SAY
GO
PRAY
Verbs for part 3
----------------
LOOK
CLIMB
INSERT
OPEN
TURN
THROW
READ
CRAWL
JUMP
Verbs for part 4
----------------
LOOK
GO
THROW
JUMP
OPEN
GET
DROP
WEAR
Verbs for part 5
----------------
GET
LOOK
DROP
GO
OPEN
INSERT
PULL/PUSH
WEAR
