VIC Game Club No. 10 – Cometfall

[akator]

Cometfall is a science fiction text adventure originally released in 2012 by “Kweepa” Steve McCrea. This adventure uses an easy-to-read custom proportional font and requires 24K. Infocom style shortcuts work (n,s,e,w,u,d,i,z,x). Type 'help' for an incomplete list of commands.

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Because Cometfall is a text adventure, everyone is going to progress at a different pace. Feel free to comment as you play, but assume that anything following this first post is a spoiler.

Cometfall in PRG format is included in the ZIP archive.

cometfall.zip

(13.14 KiB) Downloaded 207 times

Play, discuss, have fun! And remember:

... posting in the old threads should be encouraged. Old players can update their score, new players can post scores, and anyone can leave comments on the games.

[hasseapa]

Being much more a horror fan than a SF-fan, I fear I will have a much harder time visualizing the world of Cometfall compared to The Count. I’ll probably have to look up quite a few words too. But that’s OK!

I do appreciate good SF. I guess the name Cometfall somewhat alludes to Planetfall & Stationfall. Classic adventure games that I have not played but certainly want to play.

[hasseapa]

It´s SF alright! Still have no clue what "persparent" is supposed to mean.

My only gripe was that it does not use the four-letter style of Scott Adams' games (and most other VIC adventures) so I had to (mis)spell out e-x-a-m-i-n-e a hundred times. I later learned about the 'x' shortcut though

It took quite some time before I encountered and solved a puzzle but it is off to a very promising start!

[hasseapa]

I have had another go and got far

As the prose is much more elaborate than in The Count, my first thought was that it would be a less complex and more linear adventure - but not so. It is actually quite similar in some respects to the Count. No inventory juggling though and, all in all, a bit easier (I suspect).

A must-try for VIC-adventurers!

[orion70]

Agree. It gets more and more strange and atmospheric as you progress and understand the adventure's logic. One of the best indeed, sorry Scott

[hasseapa]

... all in all, a bit easier (I suspect).

I take that back. I am utterly stuck!

My first text adventure was Time Machine. It was very much a guess-the-verb type of adventure and therefore the total opposite of Cometfall, which instead seems to be exclusively based on certain mechanics that the user has to discover and learn to exploit.

*Not really spoilers below*
I have been back to earth, but apparently I had a lot of unfinished business on the comet.
I have triggered the urgent, echoing message in the engine room, but I have no idea what it means.
The Egg? I have an idea of what it is supposed to be, but I can’t “use” it in any way.

I have found a couple of bugs. Nothing really serious, though.

[hasseapa]

Now I know I have to play Blue Star (one of Kweepa's other games)

[Kweepa]

Thanks for the choice and kind words!
Not to derail things, but I'd like to fix any bugs you find. Please post here or in the game thread, or PM me
I can also provide clues - if I remember what to do!

[hasseapa]

Thanks Kweepa for a great VIC adventure!

About the bugs *Spoiler Alert*:

1. When you examine the intact pod, the description is unchanged (i.e. "Pieces of...").

2. Sometimes things put in the convex device seem to disappear, i.e. description says: "...(which is empty)", but they are still there to get. This does not happen always and I have not been able to spot a pattern.

No need for any hints. I figured out the egg yesterday and then completed the game

[akator]

I agree, this is a fun game. But unlike hasseapa, I'm not even close to beating it yet

[hasseapa]

It IS very tricky but also short. One single breakthrough can carry you very far.

I am certainly happy Cometfall was not my first adventure as a kid. Most probably I would not have solved a single puzzle...

[Ola H]

Tricky I have no clue how to proceed and haven't got very far...
Had to consult a dictionary twice too, but that's fine - I like learning new English words!

[hasseapa]

Normally I don’t like to know the vocabulary of adventure games. Part of the charm is trying out words and imagining the game as somewhat unlimited in its understanding (even if not always very cooperative).

But Cometfall is a very different game and I actually think it would benefit from disclosing the commands needed for completing the game. Creative verb guessing is just a waste of time here. This is a game with a command vocabulary more akin to that of an arcade game!

Please ignore this *Obligatory spoiler warning*
You only need the commands listed by the ‘help’-command plus some very generic ones like ‘push’ & ‘pull’!

[Ola H]

I have made some progress but died when i tried to use the escape pod.

I can't say that I completely grasp the logic of the strange device - Fire and Ice, before and after, protected and unprotected and there are new rooms, not just altered ones The egg and ball also mystifies my - as does the recorded message in the Control Room.

I don't feel stuck though - feels like there is plenty of things to try still, and that's just the way a good text adventure should make you feel! Definitely an intellectually stimulating game

[Ola H]

I understand more of the mechanics now and have mangaed to escape back to earth. There I either:

Get robbed and killed (If the piece rock is in its priceless state)
Get killed (along with all other life on earth) by the comet a week later (if I have the egg in its rough state)
Die of old age a week later (if I have the egg in its smooth state)

So it seems I must find another way to use the egg
I have managed to pull the switches on all the three engines, but haven't noticed any effects. Also, I don't understand the different messages that begin with "Oench Fask". And the isolation tank seems useless?

Perhaps the display in the control room holds the clue to stopping the comet? or can I use the evacuation bay? So many questions... A very puzzling adventure, quite different from all others I have played!