Solution for the ZX81 text adventure "Robots on Terminus IV" (1983),
published by Antarctic Computing.
Notes:-
This game has a non-standard keyboard mapping.
Press full stop "." for a space character.
Press "Z" to delete a character, the letter Z itself is never needed to be
entered in the game.
In the following solution, notes are in round brackets.
Optional commands are in square brackets, but they do reveal more of the game.
Commands such as 2W mean enter the "W" command twice.
(You start in a space craft control room.)
[PRESS BUTTON] (can’t leave until mission completed), [LOOK VIEW] (city in the
middle of a desert), D, [I] (you have a miniature control device), POINT DEVICE
(door opens), GO DOOR, GET EXPLOSIVE, GET DETONATOR, GET LASER (gun), 2W, D, W,
GET SCREWDRIVER, E, N, [W, LOOK PAINTING, E] (desert scene with square object),
E, GET SHOES, WEAR SHOES, W, N, E, GET COIN, 2W, INSERT COIN, PULL LEVER,
GET LEVER, E, N, E, W, S, 2N, PRESS BLUE, PRESS BLUE (doorway opens), GO DOOR,
[PUSH RED, E, W, PUSH GREEN] (just to see the view from the top of the
monolith), PUSH GREEN, PUSH GREEN, 2S, E, UNSCREW SCREWS (*note1),
DROP SCREWDRIVER, W, S, SHOOT ROBOT, GET BAR, N, W, SHOOT ROBOT, 2E, S,
D (computer complex), [LOOK DIAL] (settings 1,2 & 3), PRIME EXPLOSIVE,
TURN DIAL, SETTING TWO (*note2), PLACE EXPLOSIVE, U, S, 2W, S, INSERT LEVER,
PULL LEVER, LEAVE CRAFT, U, E, U, PRESS BUTTON
(YOU HAVE JUST BLASTED OFF TO SAFETY ... THE MISSION IS A SUCCESS ...)
*note1, due to an apparent oversight, you don’t actually need to unscrew the
screws to enter the ventilation shaft, you can simply go south, but I don’t use
this exploit in the solution.
*note2, the setting determines the timer duration before the explosives
detonate. "Setting one" does not give enough time to escape. "Setting three"
gives too much time such that robots will discover the explosives before they
go off. "Setting two" is just right, but any mistakes on any single move from
here will lose one turn and the mission will fail.
benkid77 - 27 October 2025
