SPACE QUEST Walkthru - part 1

  Original author Jason Levine, supplied by Julian Gregory

ARCADA TO CRASHDOWN

Well now you're in for it. Your latest siesta in the Arcada's
janitorial closet has been rudely interrupted by a Sarien
invasion. Alarm bells are sounding, emergency lights are flashing
and the blasted bodies of your shipmates are lying all over the
place. How are you going to avoid joining them and survive this
adventure?

First of all, if we're going to get you out of this in one piece,
we need to establish a few conventions. In SPACE QUEST, as in all
of Sierra's animated adventures, you move from location to
location and manipulate objects by moving your on-screen character
with either a joystick or the cursor control keys on your
keyboard. For SPACE QUEST, I strongly recommend using a joystick.
There are a couple of arcade sequences in the game, at least one
of which is made much easier by using a joystick. To move from
location to location you move your character offscreen in the
desired direction. For purposes of this walkthru, "north" means to
move your character offscreen toward the top or back of the
screen, "south" means to move toward the bottom or foreground,
"east" means to move offscreen to the right, and "west" means to
move to the left.

Okay, how are you going to avoid the Sarien troops that seem to be
everywhere and shoot first and ask questions later? Well, whenever
you hear footsteps, find somewhere to hide -- pronto! Elevators
work very well for this purpose. And take advantage of the
improved save and restore features of this game; they can make
death a very temporary condition.

Now the coast seems to be clear for the moment and you're standing
in the corridor in front of the janitor's closet. Go west through
the door into the Data Archive. A quick look around reveals a wall
full of data cartridges and a computer console. Examining the
computer console shows that it consists of a screen, a keyboard, a
cartridge slot, and a cartridge retrieval unit. The screen is
asking you to type in the title of a cartridge, but you can't
punch up the catalogue because you lack the proper security
clearance.

Just as you're beginning to despair over this situation, a man
that you recognize as a lab scientist stumbles into the room and
collapses on the floor. He's obviously fatally wounded, but you
try to help him as best you can. His strength fading fast, the
scientist tells you that the Sariens are after the Star Generator
and that you'd better get out fast if you want to save yourself.
With his dying breath, he looks at the wall full of data
cartridges and utters "astral body."

There's no time for mourning now. Taking the hint, you walk over
to the keyboard and type in "astral body." Sure enough the
retrieval unit climbs the shelves and returns with a cartridge.
Take the cartridge from the unit, but don't try to read it here!
Any attempt to read the cartridge at this location will bring the

game to a very abrupt end. Better hold on to the cartridge until
you can find a safer terminal.

It's time to move on, so go west into the corridor and west again
to the far wall of the hallway. Here is yet another fallen
shipmate. Well, maybe the poor guy has something useful that he
won't be needing anymore. Indeed he does, for a quick search of
his body uncovers a keycard; just the thing for opening doors to
secured areas of the ship.

Pocket the keycard and go east and take the elevator down one
level. Walk north through the blasted-out door into the Star
Generator lab. Here your worst fears are realized. The Star
Generator is gone! The Sariens have already removed it from the
ship. What's more, a look at the computer screen at the north end
of the room shows that the automatic detonators have been set, and
there's just minutes to go until the Arcada blows itself up. No
wonder that dying scientist told you to get out fast!  There's no
time to lose, so exit the room to the south, go east and take the
elevator down to the lower level of the Arcada. Walk east into the
central control area of the ship. A look through the window
reveals the empty docking bay. Just beneath the window is a
control panel with two buttons on it. Press the button marked
"open bay door" and watch the docking bay doors slide open.

Now walk east to the elevator at the far end of this level. Hmm,
this elevator doesn't open automatically like all the others on
the Arcada. Aha!  There's a security panel next to the elevator
with a slot for a keycard.  Now the elevator opens obediently. So
ride it down to the flight prep room on the lowest level of the
ship.

The first thing you notice in the flight prep room is a closet
with a button for each of its two doors. Push both buttons and
take the gadget from the closet on the left and the flight suit
from the closet on the right. A quick look at the gadget reveals
that it's a dialect translator.  Might come in handy later. Now,
however, we need to find a way out of here.  It looks like there's
a control panel in the front of the room, so walk around the
barrier and have a look at it. Thankfully, there's a button on the
panel marked "airlock." Press it and the door on the west side of
the room slides open.

Exit the room through the open airlock and walk out into the
docking bay.  You notice that the bay is empty and that there's a
large hole in the middle of the floor. However, there is also a
control console standing next to the airlock. Amid all the
unfamiliar controls on the console is a button marked "platform."
Press the button and an escape pod rises from the hole in the
floor! Walk around the pod to the open door on its left side and
get in. You're almost out of here!

Once seated in the pod, the first thing to do is close the door.
Now take a look around the pod. You see seat belts and a dark
console. Buckle up the seat belt then have a look at the console.
Push the button marked "power" and the console springs to life.
The screen tells you to pull the throttle to initiate the launch
sequence. So give it a tug and you're off!  Whew! You've made it
safely off the Arcada, but now your pod is drifting helplessly in
space. What to do? (For a laugh you can press the button marked
"don't touch;" just make sure you save the game first!) Look at
the panel again. There's a button there labeled "autonav." Try
pushing it. That did it! The pod's navigation system is locked
onto the planet Kerona, and the automatic landing sequence has
started. There's nothing to do now but sit back and enjoy the
ride.

Congratulations! You've crash-landed on a desolate, desert planet.
Aren't you glad?

SPIDER DROIDS, ORATS AND THE UNDERGROUND EMPIRE

Okay, so here you are sitting in a wrecked escape pod in the
middle of a burning desert. Well, at least you're still in one
piece. And a look around the pod reveals that a survival kit has
broken loose from somewhere. That could sure come in handy, so
take the kit and have a look inside. You find a handy-dandy
jack-knife and a can of dehydrated (?) water. Dehydrated water is
a strange concept, to say the least, so take a close look at the
can. The label says that you can get a drink of water any time you
need it by simply putting the nozzle in your mouth and drinking.
It also says that the can is highly pressurized and that
puncturing it can have catastrophic consequences. Those sound like
two pieces of information to remember.

Now you're as ready as you'll ever be to leave the pod, so go
ahead and get out. Before you leave the area, however, walk around
to the front of the pod and have a look at it. You never know when
you'll need a piece of reflective glass, so take it.

If you try going in any other direction, you'll soon discover that
the only directions that you can go without getting eaten or
flattened by a meteor are east and southeast. So go southeast to
the area described as the "southwest edge of a mesa." Exit the
screen at the southeast corner.  Take a look around and note the
natural land bridge to the north.  Again, exit the screen at the
southeast corner. Notice the ramp on the west side of the screen.
Walk up it and follow it until you exit the screen to the north.
Then follow the trail around to the west.

About now the spider droid will appear. Don't worry, this is one
nasty you can dispatch with a bang! Walk across the bridge to the
large boulder.  Position yourself behind the boulder and type in
"push boulder" without hitting <Return> or <Enter>. This is a good
place to save the game! Wait until the spider droid is directly
under the boulder (it's the spot exactly between the two green
patches on the ground). Now hit <Return> or <Enter>.  Kaboom!
Wasn't that fun? (Read on for an alternate way to kill the spider
droid, but for less points.)

Let's see what else this mesa has to offer. Exit the screen to the
west and follow the trail around several screens until you arrive
at the broken arch at the mesa's far eastern edge. What's this all
about? Well step between the two columns of the arch and...Whoa!
Talk about the first step being a doozie! Nothing to do now but
ride this elevator straight to the bottom.

Once you arrive at the bottom of the shaft and recover your
stomach, step off the platform and look around. That rock might
prove useful, so take it.  Follow the cavern to the west. That
grate looks and smells dangerous.  Better edge around the back of
it. Aieee! It's a good thing you didn't step on top of that grate!

Looks like you've come to the end of the trail, doesn't it? But if
you take a careful look around, you'll notice that the rock will
just cover the hole on top of that steam vent. So put the rock
there and shades of "open sesame!" Exit the screen to the
northwest. The pool room is pretty, but there's not much you can
do in here, so walk around the rocks and again exit the screen to
the northwest. Hey! Those light beams could just make you go all
to pieces! So hold that piece of reflective glass in the beams and
put the heat on them. Now walk up the ramp and exit the screen to
the east.  Save the game! Those aren't water drops dripping from
the ceiling; they're deadly corrosive acid. One false step here
and you're fried. Time your walk between the drops carefully and
exit the screen to the east. Now take a look at the gadget that
you took from the closet back on the Arcada. Notice that it's a
dialect translator and that there's a dial on it. Turn the dial
until the gadget glows and exit the screen to the east.

And you thought the Wizard of Oz was tough on Dorothy! If you've
already had the misfortune to stumble into Orat, you know that
stealing the Wicked Witch's broomstick was child's play compared
to collecting a piece of this baby's hide. I mean he looks like
Tyrannosaurus Rex with teeth to match, and he seems to enjoy
playing basketball with human beings taking the part of the ball.
But a piece of Orat's hide is just what this Alien is telling you
that you'll have to bring him if you want his help in getting off
this dustbin of a planet. Yours is not to reason, so once you're
transported back to the surface, follow the mesa trail back across
the bridge and down the ramp.

Exit the screen to the north. Orat's cave is in the cliff face on
the east side of the screen. Steady your nerves (and save the
game) before you go in. Okay, now Orat is coming straight for you,
and it's a sure bet that the only dinner invitation you'll get
from him will feature you as the main course. Instead of
panicking, calmly look at Orat's razor sharp teeth and remember
what you read about the water can and what would happen if it were
punctured. So what have you got to lose except your life?

Throw the water at Orat! Kaboom! (again). Isn't it nice the way
your enemies keep blowing up real good? Fortunately, there's a
little piece of Orat still intact over in the eastern part of the
cave. Control your stomach and take the Orat part. (NOTE: An
alternate way to kill Orat involves *not* killing the spider droid
with the boulder. Instead, carefully lead the droid (it will start
following you once you get close to it) into Orat's cave and step
aside. Orat will rush straight into the droid and they will both
blow up real good at the same time. However, you do not get as
many points for blowing them up together as you get for blowing
them up separately.)

Now take your disgusting prize and return to the Alien's
underground chamber the same way you got there before. Drop the
Orat part before the Alien's image and proceed through the portal
that now appears.

My, this room is interesting! So don't be in a hurry to jump on
that skimmer that the Alien gives you. Instead, take a look at the
panel on the back wall. Yes, it's a data cartridge reader! And
there's no Sarien here to shoot you when you try to use it. Insert
the cartridge in the slot and read the story of the star
generator. Make a note of the destruct code sequence number and be
sure to take the cartridge with you when you're done reading it.
Now hop on the skimmer, turn the key, and ride off.

Now you have to play the arcade game of dodge the boulders. This
is where a joystick comes in handy. It's also a good idea to save
the game here, in case you're as big a klutz as I am. Before too
long you'll arrive in the thrilling metropolis of Ulence Flats.

@~To be concluded next issue.






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