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Sir Graham Journal Entry 2: "Ive got the magic chest! It hasnt been easy though, having to pass an angry troll, solve a near-impossible riddle, scare off a wicked witch, climb a magic beanstalk, and defeat an enormous giant! I fear that getting my hands on the next two treasures will be no easier, but after coming so far, theres no turning back now!"


The first half of my Daventry exploration had been fairly uneventful. Apart from rediscovering the location of the magic mirror, I’d only managed to collect a few unimportant trinkets. The second half was where things really got moving, mostly because I had the items I needed when I reached the more critical points. My first post covered exactly half of the Daventry gameworld, ending when I came upon the goat pen without the carrot I needed to entice the goat to follow me. From there I continued my zigzag approach to the west, passing harmlessly through a screen containing a waterfall and then another with a stone bridge. This brought me to another bridge leading to the west, but my attempts to cross it were interrupted by a large, ugly troll. “Well, what’ve we got here? You think yer gonna cross my bridge do you? Not for FREE, you ain’t. Dat’s right. Gimme somethin’ valuable and maybe, JUST maybe, I’ll letcha cross dis bridge. If I feel like it. Which I ain’t sure I do.” I probably could have given him one of the gold items in my inventory at this point, but I recalled from the original that trolls are particularly frightened of goats. I decided to save my trinkets and to come back with a horny companion later on. I travelled south through three more screens where there was nothing to do (a river, a lake and the left side of the goat pen), before once again moving on to the west.


So that’s five columns of Daventry down, three to go. The sixth one started with an uneventful lake, but on the second screen I came across another guarded bridge. The same troll came running up and blocked my way across. This halted my progress to the south, so I decided to head north to cover the rest of this column. The first new screen I arrived on at first seemed vacant, but after just a few steps a floating woman sparkled into view and had the following to say: “Gentle Sir Graham, I am your fairy godmother. Your quest is indeed noble. What little aid I can offer you is this protective magic spell, effective but a little while. I shall be watching over you, Sir Graham.” Waving her wand in my direction, she cast the spell on me, resulting in me being surrounded by little twirling lights. I knew that the spell wouldn’t last for long, so I took the most direct path I could back to the Gingerbread House. I’m not certain whether there are other uses for the Fairy Godmother’s spell, but I distinctly recalled using it to evade the witch. As soon as I entered the house, the witch disappeared in a flash of light: “Be thankful that you have a protective spell or the witch may have stuck around to try and catch you!” I was now able to explore her home, starting with the cupboard on the wall. (2 points) Within I discovered a piece of Swiss cheese, which I picked up (2 points).


There was a note on the table in the second room, so I wandered in and picked that up too (1 point). It read: “Sometimes it is wise to think backwards.” (2 points) I knew exactly what puzzle this was referring to of course, but I remember a time long ago when I didn’t (we’ll come back to this soon enough). Having searched the witch’s home, I made my way back to the screen where my Fairy Godmother had worked her magic, then headed off north. The next location contained a “fragrant patch of clover growing in this lush meadow”. I wandered over and typed “pick up clover”, watching as Graham bent down and picked up a lucky four leaf version. (2 points) Continuing north, I ran into yet another bridge that was guarded by the troll! This was the third bridge that I’d been unable to pass, and this one forced me to leave this column incomplete and move on to the west. Thankfully, the next screen I visited was the garden, where I was able to pick up a nice plump, orange carrot (2 points). At this point I could have made my way back to the goat pen, but I decided to finish mapping things out before I did so. However, the next three screens contained little of interest, with the last of them having some “treacherous whitewater rapids” running across it that blocked my way to the north. I made my way back down to the garden and then exited the screen to the west, entering what would turn out to be the final column of screens to explore in Daventry.


The western half of the garden offered up nothing, but on the next screen to the north I found a little elf running around. I talked to him, and my friendliness impressed him so much that he handed over a small ring. “I’ve had my eye on ye, Sir Graham. Methinks you might enjoy this little trinket. For just a wee bit o’ time, it has the power to make ye invisible. May it give ye as much entertainment as ye has given me this day!” After this act of generosity, the elf literally vanished into thin air, leaving me to ponder what the ring of invisibility might be for. Either I was really struggling to remember my play through of the original or I never found a use for it. I wondered whether it might be an alternate way of getting past the witch in the Gingerbread House, but for now I set out to complete the last few screens of mapping. On the next screen to the north I found a small yellow and red item on the ground. I wasn’t quite sure what it was, so I right clicked on it. “There appears to be some sort of bowl on the ground.” Oh of course, it’s the bowl! I must say it didn’t really look like one, and I remember the original one being much larger. I picked it up (3 points), recalling that the bowl had writing on the inside. It was at this point that I realised I’d not yet checked out the game’s inventory!


The inventory at first appeared to be just a list of items, but I soon realised I could either scroll up and down it using the arrow keys or simply click on an item with the mouse. Selecting an item brought up a small picture of it along with a brief description. When I came to the bowl it said “Inscribed on the inside of this empty ceramic bowl is the word Fill.” (1 point) Since there were only two screens left to check out, I rushed to the north to finish my initial exploration. The first one had a cliff, yet there was nothing to interact with. Tthe second one really tweaked my memory though. I found myself standing on the left bank of a river. I could see the castle to the north, but my passage in that direction was blocked. Across the river I could see a single white mushroom. I wasn’t able to get to it, but I knew I would need to later on. I wasn’t at all certain how I would get over there, but something told me it involved a bird (or was that in King’s Quest II or III?). Alright! After an hour of play, I’d finally mapped out all 48 screens of Daventry with the exception of two screens. The first one would only be accessed when I could get past the bridge troll, while the second one was behind the mushroom across the river. All I had to do now was decide what puzzle I would attack first!


I made up my mind to go back to the goat pen with my carrot. I opened the gate and offered the vegetable to the goat, which eagerly followed me away from his enclosure (5 points). I made my way to one of the bridges that the troll had been guarding. As soon as the troll wandered onto the bridge, I received the following message. “It is a well known fact that goats hate trolls intensely. You move aside and let the goat take care of this wretched, nasty troll.” It was actually pretty funny to watch the little animal charge the ugly beast, knocking him from the bridge into the raging river. (4 points) Its job done, the goat left me to go back to its pen. I now had the opportunity to cross over the bridge for the first time, and to see what unvisited screen was waiting for me on the other side. Having played the original, I already knew that I’d find Rumpelstiltskin there, but this time he was actually sitting down turning straw into gold. At least in the remake a player has a chance of figuring out who he is (in the original he was just an old man with a walking stick, with no spinning wheel to hint at his identity). “Welcome, Sir Graham. I have been expecting you. I have something that will be of great use to you. But first, Sir Graham, you must answer this riddle. I’ll give you three guesses. What is my name?”


For those readers that have never played the original, it’s difficult to portray just how difficult this puzzle was. Not only was the player expected to figure out that the old man was Rumpelstiltskin (based on nothing more than the fact the character in the Brothers Grimm story asks a similar question), but they then had to type it backwards to solve the puzzle (which they were supposed to figure out based on the note in the witch’s house). I believe the remake will accept the name in either direction, but I typed “nikstlitslepmur” anyway, thinking that might give me more points. “That’s right! Outstanding! I didn’t think you were THAT clever. As a reward for your sharp intellect, here are some beans. They’re no ordinary beans, but it’s up to you to find out why.” (9 points) After handing over the beans, Rumpelstiltskin entered his home in the tree and was gone. I tried following him inside, but I was told that I couldn’t as I wasn’t invited. It was great that I now had the beans, and I knew exactly what would happen when I planted them, but I wasn’t entirely sure where I was actually supposed to do that. Looking at my map I figured the screen with the wildflowers was the most likely spot, since I’d not achieved anything else there, and the ground was obviously fertile. I headed straight for it, typing “plant beans” as soon as I arrived. (2 points) A beanstalk burst out of the ground and rapidly grew off into the sky!


I distinctly recalled struggling to climb up the beanstalk in the original, continually falling to my death. I figured the team behind the remake might have made some attempt to make it a bit easier this time around, but that thought was quickly put to rest. I fell over and over again, despite Sir Graham appearing to be well within the stalks outer edge at all times. In the end I was forced to save regularly until I finally reached the summit (a couple of readers have suggested using the mouse makes these movement tests much easier in the remake, but I read that after this session was complete). (2 points) Anyone that has read Jack and the Beanstalk would know what I found at the top. “You are in the Land of the Clouds. It is rumored that a giant lives up here.” I walked through the strange land until I set eyes on the bearded giant. “The enormous giant has been carrying that heavy chest for longer than he can remember.” I knew that a single pebble would be all it would take to bring him down (David and Goliath style), but I also knew that I still needed the sling to have any hope. I left the giant and walked east until I found a tree with a hole in the bottom of it. Inside I found the sling (2 points), and returning to the giant I typed “use sling on giant” and watched as Sir Graham sent a pebble straight into his head. (3 points) The giant fell over dead, leaving me to pilfer the magic chest!  (8 points) The first treasure was mine! Two more to go and Im done...


Session Time: 0 hours 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

Note Regarding Spoilers and Companion Assist Points: Ive written a set of rules regarding spoilers and companion assist points. Please read it here before making any comments that could be considered a spoiler in any way. The short of it is that no points will be given for hints or spoilers given in advance of me requiring one. Please...try not to spoil any part of the game for me...unless I really obviously need the help...or I specifically request assistance. In this instance, Ive not made any requests for assistance. Thanks!

I think were overdue for a more off-the-wall Japanese PC Engine game, so this weeks selection is Pachio-Kun Maboroshi no Densetsu, published in 1990 by a company called Coconuts Japan for the original PC Engine CD-ROM System 1.0 format.  Its an RPG of sorts, starring a walking pachinko ball, and all of the action is centered around... playing pachinko.  

This game was released as a fancy-box special edition with a pachinko-themed PC Engine controller; I only own the CD, but it plays just fine with the standard D-pad (and only actually uses one of the two available buttons.)  There were four of these Pachio-Kun games released in Japan for the PC Engine, so it must have been a successful series there, but its not a very exciting game by Western standards.

While the production values are generally high, this disc doesnt feature a traditional title screen -- instead, at startup we are given the option of two play modes (manual and automatic -- the latter choice making even less of a game out of it) and can decide whether to begin a new game or continue a previously saved game.




A brief bit of well-wishing from Ms. Pachio-Kun starts the game proper:




And then Pachio-Kun is off to the city, to visit the elaborate urban pachinko parlors and presumably make some progress toward the storys conclusion.


Inside each establishment, our hero can stroll around and converse with the players and staff; I dont read Japanese, but I did find it amusing that everyones text is displayed to the sound of electronic pachinko machine sound effects.  These people live, eat, and breathe pachinko.



We can visit the staff to (I think) save our game in progress:


And we can sample a variety of pachinko machines -- there are several different themes on display, but some of the designs feature exactly the same layout of pins.  The object of pachinko -- a game I never really learned to appreciate -- is to send a series of small metal balls cascading down the playfield and into the highest-scoring targets.  Its like the original concept of pinball, except we have very little control over the action, so it never feels like much of a game.  In the manual mode, we can adjust the speed at which the balls come out and influence their trajectory that way; in the automatic mode, all we can do is watch em roll, and quit if we decide to move to a different machine.


Theres a magnifying glass option for the die-hard fan, which we can use to examine the pin layout carefully and see where gaps and ricochets might help us get the balls into the highest-scoring pockets:


Beyond that, its just pachinko -- this table is themed after Sir Isaac Newton, with apples:


This table features everyones favorite off-brand giant gorilla, Kong Kong:


There are a number of other designs available -- theres a UFO table, and at least 6 additional designs shown in the manual -- but a stultifying sameness sets in soon after we start playing.  Its a relief when we run out of, er, spheres, and are greeted with the soothing evidence that our pain is at an end:



I know the game of pachinko has its fans, but I dont think I can count myself among them, and so Pachio-Kuns story will remain forever untold here.  But its always amusing to check out these more unusual Japanese games, and Im glad I had a chance to sample his adventures.  Briefly.  Im glad I sampled them briefly.

---

If you must, you must.  You may be able to find a copy of Pachio-Kun Maboroshi no Densetsu here.

This weeks wanderings through the online archives brought me to John Metcalfs 4K Adventure, written in 1995 for the PC MART Venture Forth programming contest.  Its primary feature is that it consumes a mere 4096 bytes of code and data in total, using a text compression technique to cram some nicely written text and a minimal but sufficient parser into a very small space.  Im playing it this week because it sounded intriguing conceptually, and also because I had limited time available and ran into technical dead ends with a couple of other games I was hoping to tackle.  The old-fashioned PC DOS .COM executable file requires a DOSBox environment to run on newer machines, and thats how Im playing it here.


The game begins with a surprisingly lengthy and evocative bit of text -- the player is cast as Grimbis, a black dwarf seeking to retrieve a stolen magical orb from some elves, in order to help our master Gawyn maintain his reign of eternal winter; nothing too substantial, but its a nice change from the usual fantasy adventure heroics.

I can recommend 4K Adventure to any adventurer seeking a brief challenge -- the parser is very limited but there are a few interesting puzzles on hand, and Metcalfs design nicely avoids some of the traditional adventure design cliches.  As always, my playthrough notes beyond this point will give the game away in detail, so there are certain to be...

***** SPOILERS AHEAD! ***** 

We start in the depths of the forest, where we can hear water through some bushes to the west.  Ill avoid the obvious attraction here and go North, to a snowless area near a door in a wall.  The door is made of old oak, we learn if we EXAMINE DOOR; we cant OPEN it without a key.  I also note a parser limitation here -- LOOK [anything] is always a room-level look, regardless of the noun specified.

East of this area is a windy track near the edge of the forest, with a holly bush preventing travel north.  We can go further east to the edge of a gloomy forest, where we can see distant hills to the north, but this is otherwise a dead end for navigation.  Given the games text-compression technical goals, Im not surprised to find that the map fairly limited.

Heading south, we pass through a snowy forest clearing and reach the entrance to a prominent fissure cave.  Beyond navigation and a few verbs, theres not much room for parser vocabulary in this game, and we cant GO FISSURE or ENTER FISSURE; its just here for atmosphere, it seems, exuding darkness that prevents us from entering.

Im back at the starting location now, and head to the west to see the river Burre, the source of the sounds of water we heard earlier.  Theres a boat tied up here, but I cant UNTIE ROPE or SET SAIL or RIDE BOAT or USE BOAT -- it seems we could CUT ROPE if we had a knife, but we dont yet.  EXAMINE BOAT provides more detail but only confirms that the rope has shrunk too tightly around its post to be untied.

Looking for a knife, I happen to EXAMINE BUSH along the windy track, and lo and behold, heres Gawyns orb!  That part was a lot easier than I expected, and nicely unpredictable; the elves must have left it here, and now we probably just have to make it back to our master.  Where could that knife be?  EXAMINE RIVER reveals a pike, glimpsed momentarily in the murky waters, but I think its pike as in fish and not as in head-on-a so it wont be a substitute for a proper knife.

I wander around for a while, trying to EXAMINE everything I can.  I finally discover, at the eastern edge of the forest where "The moonlight dances slowly in the thin icicles," that EXAMINE MOONLIGHT is unrecognized, but EXAMINE ICICLES finds a moonbeam trapped in a shard of ice.  Perhaps this will act as a light source so we can enter the dark fissure... and yes, it does!

Inside the narrow cave with the moonbeam in hand, we can travel east until the passage widens into a cavern of boulders.  An odd grey fungus grows here, so Ill GET FUNGUS just in case it proves useful.  Heading back west and then south, I find a pool of icy cold water and a small key.  Now were getting somewhere.

The small key works on the door in the crumbling wall, providing access to a summer meadow, where our moonbeam melts, so I hope we dont need it anymore.  To the west of the meadow is a murmuring brook, containing pebbles of many colors.  We cant take these, but EXAMINE PEBBLES reveals a knife, so we can GET KNIFE and put it to good use.

CUT ROPE now lets us ride the boat across the icy river, and upon landing we can see Gawyns Tower to the west.  We travel in that direction, and in an instant, victory is ours!




Apparently we get bonus "gold coin" points for acquiring the odd fungus, even though we never needed to do anything with it, and points for any items that survive in our final inventory.  I went back and checked -- we get 35 additional points if we keep the moonbeam frozen, by dropping it before entering the summery meadow and picking it back up after fetching the knife.

4K Adventure is a brief but entertaining experience -- not bad for 4 Kb of material!