@~As promised last issue,. here's the second solution recieved for ... THE DIG - SOLUTION By Alison Dunbar IN SPACE Your first task is to divert the asteroid from its collision course with Earth. Look at the tool chest in the shuttle, then use your communicator (the "PenUltimate" in your inventory) to contact Miles and to talk to her about the Flying Pig. Click on the Flying Pig again to take it to the surface. ON THE ASTEROID Open up the Pig and take the shovel, digger, and two explosive devices from inside it. Exit this screen to "space". Go to Quadrant 2, look at the target surface and use the digger on it, then use explosive device alpha with the dirt. Use the arming device with unit alpha then exit to space. Go to Quadrant 3, look at the boulder then use the shovel with it. Use explosive unit beta with the surface, then arm the unit. Exit to space then go back to the shuttle. Once back at the shuttle communicate with Borden to see the asteroid being successfully diverted from its path, and to enter the next phase of the story. BACK ON THE ASTEROID Click on the metallic plate on the right of the screen, then use the digger on each of the three odd projections on the tunnel wall. Push all of the metallic plates you have uncovered, then enter the dark tunnel you have revealed on the lower left of the screen. Move to the pedestal and pick up the four plates. Click on the square indentation to reveal the puzzle, and fit the four pieces in to form a square. You will now be transported through space to the alien planet where the real story takes place. ON THE SURFACE Exit to "clearing" and go to the northernmost location (grave). Take a tusk, then use the shovel on the grave. Take the jawbone you uncover, then leave this location. Go to the south-west location (wreck), walk left and enter the wreck. Open the chest in the centre of the screen and take the device, then pull the hanging wire above you to initiate your first encounter with an alien. Take the alien's rod and the piece of wire, then leave here and go back to the map. Go to the remaining location (dirt ramp) and use the blue device. A small mound will be revealed which you must dig with the shovel. Take the bracelet which you uncover and exit this location. Return to the original location (dais), and watch while your alien ghost shows you another spot to dig. (Now you know where the game gets its title). INSIDE THE NEXUS Ignore Brink's body for now. Pick up the triangular plate to the left of the body, walk right and use the plate in the alcove (it fits at the bottom). Walk to the bottom right of the screen and keep going right until you find a purple engraved rod somewhere to the right of the column; pick up the rod. Walk right until you find a ramp and go down it. POWER SUPPLY You are shown the device which provides power to the nexus but you see that one lens has been displaced and is lying at the bottom; your task is to use a remote control droid, controlled by the panel and triangular button, to put the lens back in its place. If you look at the control panel, the top left button is a backspace, the bottom left clears the screen, the other four large buttons correspond to up, down, left and right, and the smaller button in the centre of these four causes the droid to pick up or drop items. To program the correct sequence of moves for the droid, enter :- 5 left (lilac), 2 down (yellow), 1 pick up (red), 5 right (blue), and 1 drop (red). It is possible the exact number of moves could vary from game to game, but you will see for yourself if you need to move the droid farther in any direction. Exit the control panel screen, and use the triangular button on the left of the screen to initiate the droid sequence. You should now have successfully powered up the nexus. Before leaving this area, open the loose plate in the centre of the screen and take the blue crystal - the lights will go out but that's OK. Now go back up to the nexus. PURPLE DOOR (MUSEUM) Examine the purple engraved rod and note the sequence of shapes and their colours (the combination varies from game to game). Click on the control panel for the door immediately to the left of the ramp, and you will be presented with a screen showing four coloured buttons; clicking on these cycles them through different shapes and colours. Set the buttons to match the combination shown on the purple rod and the door will open. Enter the door. After talking to Maggie, press the blue button on the triangular pillar (tram call). Board the tram and you will be carried to a new location. Walk to the right (ignore the weakened door for now), then walk outside and up. Enter the door to find yourself in the museum. Pick up the glowing crystals to the left of the door and the tablet to the right. Look at all four displays in the museum (they all contain clues), then pick up the red rod and go through the door on the left to enter the library and find Maggie. Talk to Maggie at this point and her answers will give you some more insight into the story line. Walk back through the museum and back to the outside location. Look at the strange device outside the museum door. On the control screen for the device, hold down the switch until a line is drawn on the diagram connecting one of the five outer shapes to the centre. Exit the control screen and you should find a beam of light now emanates from the strange device; this is a light bridge but it does not take you anywhere useful at the moment. Use the tram to return to the nexus by the same route as you got here. RED DOOR Use the pattern from the red rod on the control panel of the door to the right of the alcove. Go through the newly opened door and press the tram call; nothing happens at the moment because there is no power to the tram - you will deal with this later. BRINK Use one of the green glowing crystals from the museum on Brink's body to bring him back to life. Once you have finished your conversation with him and Maggie, go back aboard the museum tram: Brink will follow you. Look at the weakened door adjacent to the tram stop and Brink should help you to open it. After another conversation with him, pick up the canister from the floor, take some life crystals, and exit the room. TURTLE Go outside from the tram location and examine the fossil at the bottom of the screen; take careful note of its structure. Walk to the water and watch while the turtle is eaten by Nessie. Brink will now disappear - let him go for now. Click on the loose bones spat out by the monster; the puzzle is to assemble these in the same way as the fossil. The left mouse button picks up or places the pieces, while the right button rotates the pieces. When you have finished, exit the puzzle screen and check the description of the item - if you have put them together correctly, the loose bones will have changed to "dead creature". (If you find that it looks correct but still comes up as "loose bones", try rotating the bone attaching the head and/or the one attaching the tail - these can fit either way and don't look obviously different when rotated). Use the canister with the dead creature to make a booby trap, then use a life crystal on it. This should take care of the monster so you can safely go for a swim. After diving through the water, go through to the chamber and pick up the orange rod and the metallic plate. Return to the nexus by the same way as you came, and put the second plate in the alcove. ORANGE DOOR (PLANETARIUM) Use the control panel for the door to the right of the ramp, and match the pattern shown on the orange rod; take the tram to the new spire. Go outside then up; click on the far side to jump across the chasm, then go up again. Use the strange device in the same way as the earlier one; this one will fail to turn on, so exit the control screen and move the lens at the base of the device then try again. If necessary repeat this until the light bridge is activated. Now that you have more than one light bridge, these can be used as an alternative route to cross from spire to spire instead of going via the nexus each time. From the device, walk towards the back of the screen to the plateau. After you have seen the small creature steal the machine part, walk to the right and pick up the dowel from beside the door. Put the dowel into the hole in the centre of the wheel structure, then pick up the pole and attach it to the dowel (now called a pin). Put the rib cage on the hook, and finally, use the rod on the cage. Look at all the holes near the door until you flush out the critter; manoeuvre yourself around the front of the wheel structure so that you get to the other side without scaring the critter away, then walk back through the centre of the structure chasing the critter into the trap. Use the bracelet with the critter and then move the trap, allowing it to escape. Collect the rod for later use, then walk over to the cave and use the shovel to enlarge the entrance. Enter the cave and use the blue device to home in on the bracelet and reveal where the critter stashes its treasures. Use the shovel on the spot, and take the machine part. Go to the door and use both the part and the cover on the panel, then use the panel to open the door. Enter the room and collect the plate and the green rod. PLANETARIUM Take the twin sceptres then use one of them on the faint light in the ceiling to reveal a planetarium. The gold sceptre controls the large moon, while the silver controls the small moon. You must use the sceptres to move both moons to a position where the large moon is eclipsed by the small one as it was in the museum display; this position will be somewhere to the upper right of the planet. When you get it right, you will be shown the real moons of the planet moving into eclipse. Once you have solved the moon puzzle, the critter will apparently lock you in again; to get out simply press the button to the left of the door. Return to the location beside the strange device, then walk to the right across a stone bridge. Enter the crevice and pick up the blue rod. Retrace your steps back to the nexus; en route you will have to cross the water filled chasm by using the shovel on the boulder to make a bridge. TRAM CONTROLS From the nexus, go through the dark tunnel (behind the ramp). Walk left and press the button. Walk left again and press the second button twice then walk through the airlock door. Click on the glowing panel to enter the tram control screen. Use the blue rod on any one of the three holes on the left; you will now have three sliding crystal rods. Click on the unlit large crystal and the tip of it should glow slightly. Click and drag on one of the sliding crystals and move it up and down: you should see the light in the big crystal get brighter or dimmer as you move: adjust each of the three sliding crystals to the position of maximum brightness and the big crystal should light. When you exit the control screen, you will see the tram you have just activated move along the tunnel outside. Return to the nexus and go through the door you opened earlier with the red rod. RED DOOR (TOMB) Call the tram and travel to the new spire. Go up to the plateau where you should see the eclipsed moons you moved into place using the planetarium. Use the shovel on the stone plate then enter the hole you have made. Use the blue crystal with the hole in the wall. Look at the shutter in the roof then walk over onto the part of the floor marked with two crescent moon shapes. Use the metal rod to hold down the loose stone. Go outside and you should find that a spot of light has appeared on the ground; examine it to reveal a lens which should focus the light of the twin moons into the tomb and cause a statue to appear inside the tomb. Touch the statue and it will disappear but you cannot do anything else with the crypt at the moment. Walk on around the path from the tomb and you will come to another strange device; as before, you need to adjust the lens to be able to switch on the light bridge. Brink is in the area to the right of the light bridge but you don't need him for now. Return to the nexus. SPARKS Back at the nexus, put the plate in the alcove then use the pattern from the green rod on the remaining door panel. This time the door fails to open because no power is getting to the panel. Use the tusk on the panel to prise it open, then use the wire on the panel and on the sparks on the floor to transfer power and open the door. GREEN DOOR (MAP ROOM) Travel to the new spire, walk to the ledge, then up to the cavern. Walk right to the pit then through the opening. Click on the panel in the centre of the screen to reveal four buttons like those used on the door panels in the nexus. Enter the code from the red rod and you will be shown a picture of the tomb revealing that there is something beneath it. Walk through the opening behind you to find another light bridge device. This time the device is broken and you must open the panel on the side and adjust the prisms until the coloured beams of light are all going in the right directions. This is a little difficult to describe but here goes :- 1. Turn the central prism until the light goes from it to the bottom left prism. 2. Turn the bottom left prism until the three beams coming from it hit the three other prisms. 3. The bottom right prism should already be sending the red beam to the red lens and will not need to be moved. 4. Turn the top right prism until the blue beam hits the blue lens. 5. Turn the remaining prism until the green beam hits the green lens. If you have got all of this right, Low will comment that it is "pretty impressive", and you will now be able to turn on the light bridge. CRYPT Cross the light bridge to the tomb spire and go into the tomb. Step onto the crypt plinth to be carried down. Walk left then walk towards the door. A guard creature will be reincarnated. Use a life crystal on the broken bones at the other side of the door and the two creatures should kill each other. Use the engraved rod on the slot adjacent to the door, then enter the door and walk to the pyramid. After talking to Maggie, use the engraved rod on the panel and then use a life crystal on the dead alien. Talk to the alien - you won't be able to understand what he says at the moment but don't worry about it. Exit the conversation and you will see Maggie being captured by a monster. Leave the crypt and the tomb and walk around the path to the cave - Brink is here and you need his help. RESCUE MAGGIE To get Brink to help you, go back outside the cave and use your flashlight on the bat creatures. When Brink runs, walk forward to the platform and take his stash of life crystals. After a discussion, Brink will come with you and help you to rescue Maggie. Cross the light bridge to the map spire, go through the map room and the pit to the chamber, then walk left to the nest. Talk to Brink about the monster and he will agree to distract it while you walk right and exit. Go to the falls source and look at the grate. Push the rock over onto the tilting stone. Return to the nest, talk to Brink about the grate and he and Maggie will finish the job. Brink will leave again after the rescue but Maggie will now accompany you. ISLAND Walk left from the nest then out to the ledge. Walk to the opening which is farther along the cliff face from the tram. Look at the strange field on the wall then show the tablet to Maggie. Maggie should decipher the controls and make an island rise up out of the lake. Walk to the opening on the island and collect the metal plate. You will now have a conversation with Maggie and she will suggest that you go back to collect Brink. On your way back you will get a call from him saying he is trapped. Go to the planetarium spire and cross the bridge to the crevice where you found the blue crystal rod to find Brink with his arm stuck in the crevice in the wall. After a conversation with Brink it seems there is no way to free him except to cut his arm off - this seems a bit gruesome but there does not seem to be an alternative, so go ahead and use the jawbone on him. After another conversation you should find yourself automatically transported back to the nexus where you should use the final plate in the alcove. LAB With the sealed door now open, Brink will take off on his own again while you and Maggie should enter the new door and take the tram to the final spire. Enter the door and take a look at the console to see that there is a "gap in the machinery". Examine this gap and the two empty slots, then exit the control screen and talk to Maggie about the alien device. Walk through the lab to the other exit where you will find the final light bridge generator; remove the nest from the lens and switch on the device. You now need to speak to the alien in the pyramid, but you will first need to return to the museum spire to collect some life crystals. ALIEN Return to the pyramid in the crypt. Use the engraved rod on the panel and a life crystal on the alien. You will now control Maggie's conversation with the alien - remember that you can ask repeated questions about a topic until the picture for that topic is shaded out. If you want to know some more about the story, ask all the available questions about the dead creature, the glowing crystals, the strange device and the island. To move on to the next part of the story, ask all about the alien device until another question becomes available; ask about the eye part until he gives you a rod. Selecting the question mark and exclamation mark choices will also bring out some more details of the story if you want to. Once you have asked all you want, exit the conversation, pick up the rod and return to the map spire. EYE PART Use the pattern from the new rod (the creator's engraving) on the map device to be shown the location of the missing part. From the map walk left to the pit, through the chamber, the nest, and the triangular opening to the beach. Pick up the eye part from the bottom right of the screen. Return to the cathedral spire and enter the lab. Brink will now turn up again and you will hand over all your life crystals - there is nothing you can do about this even though you already know you need them for the machine. Once Brink has gone, you should try out the alien machine by putting in the missing part then talking to Maggie about the device. Of course the machine won't work and you will have to go after Brink - remember to take the machine part with you, and follow him to the tomb spire. When you enter the platform area you will have a conversation with Brink. Talk to him about the eye part. When the conversation is finished, put the eye part in the slot in Brink's machine then wait for the crystals to appear. After some more talk, you will have to remove your eye part from the machine - this will precipitate an attack by Brink which will end in his death. THE EYE Return to the lab, place the eye part and two crystals in the console, then talk to Maggie about the alien device. Maggie will activate the device but will get killed in the process. (It is actually possible to create more crystals and revive her, but you shouldn't do it). After Maggie's death, go outside to the light bridge and attempt to cross. Use the strange device to switch off the light bridge and deal with Fido, then switch back on and cross over to The Eye. FINALE Enter the portal then just sit back and watch the final show. - o -