Spaceship:Synopsis

From TextAdventure

Contents 1 Short version 2 Beta Map 3 Quick help 4 Synopsis 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Goal 1 4.2.1 Mission 4.2.2 Description 4.2.3 Accessible Rooms before opening Captain's Quarters door 4.2.4 Mission Puzzles 4.2.5 Optional Puzzles 4.2.6 Accessible Rooms after leaving Captains' Quarters 4.3 Goal 2 4.3.1 Mission 4.3.2 Description 4.3.3 Mission Puzzles 4.3.4 Accessible Rooms with torch 4.4 Goal 3 4.4.1 Mission 4.4.2 Description 4.4.3 Accessible Rooms when the generator has been fixed 4.4.4 Mission Puzzles 4.4.5 Optional Puzzles 4.5 Goal 4 4.5.1 Mission 4.5.2 Description 4.5.3 Accessible Rooms 4.5.4 Mission Puzzles 4.5.5 Optional Puzzles 4.6 Goal 5 4.6.1 Mission 4.6.2 Description 4.6.3 Accessible Rooms 4.6.4 Mission Puzzles 4.6.5 Optional Puzzles 4.7 Goal 6 4.7.1 Mission 4.7.2 Description 4.7.3 Accessible Rooms 4.7.4 Mission Puzzles 4.7.5 Optional Puzzles 4.8 Notes 5 Coda

[edit] Short version

Your spaceship's broken. Fix it or die. --PhilWal 20:27, 21 April 2008 (BST)

See the Introduction so far.

[edit] Beta Map

This is the map that we will be using in the game. For a list of all the locations that you can help write, you can go here.

[edit] Quick help

If there's nothing in the synopsis that you want to work on, here are a few places we need some instant help:

• Opening Quotations - it's a tradition in IF games to start your game with an interesting quotation, help us write ours.
• Object Watch - help write descriptions for miscellaneous items dotted around our textual landscape.
• Default Rejection Messages - help personalise the game's syntax errors
• En-Suite - We currently have top-line description, but we need help with the rest
• Puzzles - Want to contribute a puzzle? Head here! There's a lively discussion happening on the Discussion page.
• Locations - A summary page to link all the locations currently being considered
• Meta Plot - If you have any ideas for the background story or meta plot of the game you can discuss them here.
• Cover Art - If you have any artistic skills you can contribute art work here.

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Introduction

You play the role of the Captain of a small trading ship, on your way to Nineteen when your spaceship is hit by two unidentified objects, one causing a puncture in the hull of the Starboard Cargo Hold on the lower deck, venting all atmosphere inside the ship; the other damaging the engines in the engine room. The damage also causes the ship's main power generator to overload, leaving the emergency generator powering the top deck only.

• See Introduction for more details.

[edit] Goal 1

[edit] Mission

Figure a way out of the Captains's Quarters:

[edit] Description

Our protagonist starts the game inside the Captain's Quarters, having heard the chaos of the alarms, woken up, realised that the ship is in trouble, and rushed into the emergency spacesuit.

Our character has also attempted to exit the Captain's Quarters via a metal door to the starboard, but the door's fuse is blown and is currently non-operational. The player's first mission is to find a way of getting out of the Captain's Quarters.

[edit] Accessible Rooms before opening Captain's Quarters door

Access Areas : Captain's Quarters, En-Suite;

[edit] Mission Puzzles

• Leave Captain's Quarters - Fix the faulty fuse in the door taking the fuse from the fore fusebox and putting it in the charred fusebox.

[edit] Optional Puzzles

• Aspirin - Take an aspirin to get rid of your pounding headache

[edit] Accessible Rooms after leaving Captains' Quarters

Access Areas : Captain's Quarters, En-Suite, Top Deck Aft Corridor, Top Deck Fore Corridor, Infirmary, Armoury, Briefing Room

[edit] Goal 2

[edit] Mission

Restore full power to the ship

[edit] Description

Our Captain's next main goal is to reactivate the Main generator which means by going down to the lower deck, first via the middle deck (where none of the doors are currently openable). Since power is down on the middle and bottom decks, our player must first retrieve a torch from the Infirmary before being allowed to descend the Top Deck Fore Corridor ladder.

After successful retrieval of the torch, our player must then fix the non-operational generator in the Generator Room. Fortunately, for the sake of accessibility, the generator room does not have an electric door and is thus the only accessible room on the bottom deck at this point.

[edit] Mission Puzzles

• Retrieve Torch - The player must obtain a torch from the infirmary, it's part of the medical equipment and the player must crack a safe and trick the equipment to steal the torch.

• Fix Generator - Fix the generator by unblocking the clog in the Honnecourt generator's separation chute, either saving or destroying Bryan the janitor-bot in the process.

[edit] Accessible Rooms with torch

Access Areas : Captain's Quarters, En-Suite, Top Deck Aft Corridor, Top Deck Fore Corridor, Middle Deck Aft Corridor, Middle Deck Fore Corridor, Generator Room

[edit] Goal 3

[edit] Mission

Fix the hull breach

[edit] Description

After fixing the generator, full power is restored to the entire ship, providing access to every room except the Captain's Bridge and the Airlock. The next task for our player is to fix the hull breach located in the Port Cargo Hold. To achieve this our player must first get the bicycle repair kit, retrieve the hull plate using the plunger and harpoon gun, and then stick the plate over the breach.

[edit] Accessible Rooms when the generator has been fixed

Access Areas : All locations except the Airlock and the Captain's Bridge.

[edit] Mission Puzzles

• Puzzles Getting bicycle repair kit - Reduce gravity in cargo bay. Release the mystery box from its storage clamp. Restore gravity so the box falls and cracks open. Take bicycle repair kit.
• Fixing the hull breach - The player must retrieve a hull panel in order to fix the hull breach of the spaceship using harpoon and plunger.

[edit] Optional Puzzles

• Spaceship:Puzzles_Escape Pod - a futile attempt at escape while on the way down
• The Distress Signal and the Idiot - The player must solve a simple quiz to unlock a crew member's locker which contains your long missing distress signal. After repairing the device you launch it into space to realise he's converted it into a firework display.

Warning, coders. Everything beyond this point needs a bit of work.

[edit] Goal 4

[edit] Mission

Repressurise the ship

[edit] Description

With the hull breach repaired the ship needs to be repressurised before the player can gain entry to the bridge.

[edit] Accessible Rooms

Access Areas : Middle Deck Rooms Captain's Quarters, En-Suite, Upper Deck Corridor, Infirmary, Crew's Quarters

[edit] Mission Puzzles

• Repressurising the ship - Fit the repressurisation nozzles onto the 4 gas cannisters then enter the appropriate code into the engine room control panel .

[edit] Optional Puzzles

• Spaceship:Puzzles_The Officer Suitability Space Personality Questionnaire - on the way down
• Spaceship:Puzzles_"When Duty Calls" - The Captain vs The Space Limpet - the captain takes a pit stop in the crew's facilities

[edit] Goal 5

[edit] Mission

Fix engines

[edit] Description

The ship is nearly repaired and you can explore the whole ship freely. However the engines are damaged, you need to go outside the ship and repair them.

[edit] Accessible Rooms

Access Areas : Middle Deck Rooms Captain's Quarters, En-Suite, Upper Deck Corridor, Infirmary, Crew's Quarters

[edit] Mission Puzzles

• Going Outside - Find the components to assemble and fuel an EVA pack, and use this to safely get to the outside of the ship's engines
• Repairing the Engine - You repair the engine by patching the fuel line with a titanium kitchen tray and fabricating a replacement engine nozzle from a mould of a working part.

[edit] Optional Puzzles

...

[edit] Goal 6

[edit] Mission

Finish Game

[edit] Description

To finish the game the player must get into the bridge area and start the repaired engines.

[edit] Accessible Rooms

Access Areas : Captain's Quarters, En-Suite, Upper Deck Corridor, Infirmary, Crew's Quarters The Bridge

[edit] Mission Puzzles

• Getting to the Bridge - Access to the bridge is controlled by an eye scanner which the player cannot use until the ship is repressurised.
• Activating the Engines - With the ship patched back to a workable state the player just needs to press the big red button to set off.

[edit] Optional Puzzles

• Spaceship:Puzzles_The Final Moments - a philosophical approach to artificial intelligence

[edit] Notes

• Player character: your basic heroic mime. "You" or "your" as much as possible.
• Spaceship: Cramped, self-contained, everything you could need to survive cut off from civilisation for months at a time. IN SPACE!!!!!
• Ghost Ship: there are no other people on board. This heightens the tension, as you must rely on your own wits, and the loneliness should be a factor.
• Spacesuit limitation: the ship has no atmosphere, and the player is in a spacesuit. This reduces the senses the player has to sight and, to a limited extent, touch.

• Once the ship is repressurised, this would allow the player to remove the suit and reach places/do things not possible whilst wearing the suit

• Gravity: Gravity is operational in the upper deck.

• Once gravity has been fully restored, the player will be able to reach places/do things not possible whilst in zero G
• Similarly to the lack of atmosphere in the point above, subsequent actions and places can be unlocked successively, this can

enforce a certain order, which is useful to craft some kind of narrative or sequence of events

• this will also change the look and feel of each room, requiring less rooms to be built yet keeping them fresh and interesting

• Ease of use: the game should be fair to the player. As few verbs as possible, and all nouns highlighted in the text, to minimise "Guess what the parser wants you to say" annoyances.

[edit] Coda

The above is subject to change. Please add your suggestions above, or discuss matters on the talk page. --PhilWal 21:02, 21 April 2008 (BST)