PLANETFALL  Part One

 The third in Infocom's wonderful series of Science Fiction
Adventures is Planetfall. You will be delighted by the humor of
the game. It is always charming you somehow. The game features
several logical puzzles that can be solved with no greater magic
than common sense. The point of the game: You begin on the
spaceship Feinstein. You are lowly cleaning help scrubbing the
deck, when all of the sudden the ship explodes--and by an
accident of fate you happen to be standing near the escape pod
right at the moment. You jettison from the Feinstein and land on
a nearby planet with a strange mystery. It seems to have been
recently abandoned for no reason. Survival is point one. You'll
need food and rest. Repair many of the broken machines that you
find. And then figure out why everyone is missing. Let's get
started. Deck Nine - All you have to do is keep waiting until the
explosion - stay here - you'll be entertained (randomly) by the
Ambassador from Blow' K-bibben-Gordo. After the ship explodes
immediately go Port. Get in the Webbing. Wait -- until the Pod
lands and the Emergency Kit appears. Get out of Webbing. Take
kit. Open Door. Go up. Keep going up until you get to Courtyard.
Drop the brush and your ID. (You won't be needing the brush or
the ID - they are excess baggage.) Go north to the Plain Hall,
then go NE. Go east until you get to the corridor Junction. Then
continue south until you get to the Machine Shop. Go west to the
Tool Room, take Laser (but drop the old battery) take the pliers
and the flask and the Metal Bar. Then go back to the Machine Shop
and put the flask under the spout. Then go north to the Corridor
Junction. Then go east till you get to Booth 2. In Booth 2 drop
the Laser and the pliers. Then go west to the elevator lobby and
push both buttons. Then go west till you get to the Corridor
Junction. (If you're hungry, open the kit and enjoy a treat of
goo.) From the Corridor Junction, go south then go east. Take the
box. Then go back to the Booth 2. Drop the box. Then go back to
the Corridor Junction. Now go north to the Administration
Corridor, go north and south between the South Administration
Corridor and the Adminstration Corridor until you see the glint
of light (random). Then search the crevice in the Administration
Corridor South. Hold the bar near the key (it's a magnet) and
bingo...you got it. (If you don't get the key the game can't even
begin.) Now drop the bar once you have the key. (If the bar comes
in contact with any of the cards you'll find that they get
scrambled--something you will regret.) Now go to the Mess
Corridor. Unlock the padlock with the key. Drop the padlock and
the key and open the door. Drop everything except your uniform.
Take the ladder and go back to the Administration Corridor. Drop
the ladder. Open the ladder. Put ladder over the rift. Then go
north over the ladder. Then go west into the offices. Open the
drawers in the desks and take the kitchen card, the shuttle card,
and the upper elevator card. By this time you should be getting
tired. It's important that you find a place to sleep that is
safe. Go back to the Dorm Area and get in bed. When you wake up
you'll be bright and chipper for tomorrow.

             PLANETFALL Part Two

 Get out of bed and take your things. Go to the Mess Corridor. Go
south into the Mess Hall. Take the canteen and open it up. Slide
the kitchen card through the slot and go south. Put the canteen
under the spout and push the button. Take the canteen. You've now
found an unlimited source of food. Just make sure that you keep
your canteen filled and you'll be O.K. Go back inside the Mess
Hall and drop the Kitchen access card. Now go back to the Machine
Room. From the Machine Room, go east to the Robot Room. Search
the robot. Then turn it on. Go to the elevator lobby. Go south
inside the lower elevator and drop the lower card and the shuttle
card. Then go to the upper elevator. By this time your valuable
friend Floyd should be bugging you for attention and loving. Eat
when you are hungry...it's better to eat from your canteen than
the kit. You might want to save the goo in the kit for
emergencies. Just go back to the kitchen and refill your canteen
when you need to. But don't forget to drop the kitchen card in
the Mess Hall. Go to the Upper Elevator. Slide the upper card
through the slot. Push the up button. Wait. When the elevator
door opens go south then go northeast to the Comm Room. Pay
attention to the color of the flashing light. This will be the
same color koulant that you'll have to get in the Machine Room.
Go back to the elevator, activate the elevator and go downstairs
to the Machine Room. Fill the flask. Push the same color button
as the flashing light in the Comm Room, then take the flask. Go
back to the Comm Room and empty the flask in the hole. Pay
attention to the new color light. Take the flask back downstairs
to the Machine Room and push the new colored light koulant code.
Take the filled flask back upstairs and empty the flask in the
hole again. Do this one more time (there are three lights in
all). This will fix the Comm Room. You can drop the flask since
you won't be needing it any more. Now go back downstairs to the
elevator lobby. Don't forget to drop the upper card in the upper
elevator. Eat if you have to, but try to only eat from the
canteen. If the canteen needs to be filled, do it now. Go to the
lower elevator. Slide the lower card through the slot. Then push
the down button. Wait. Drop the lower card and take the shuttle
access card. When the elevator stops get out by going north. Then
go east. Go south and then go east. Slide the shuttle card
through the slot. Push the lever up. Do it again. Wait until the
display says 60. Then push the lever down. Again. Wait until the
shuttle slides into the station. Go west and drop the shuttle
card. Go north, then go east. Go east again. At the fork go
southeast to the Project Corridor West. Go east to the Project
Corridor. Then go south to the Projcon Office. Go east to the
Computer Room. Take the output and read the output. (By the way
make sure that Floyd joins you in the Computer Room.) With Floyd
go south. Then go north until the Project Corridor east. Then go
east to the Main Lab. From the Lab go south. Search the lab
uniform pocket and take the card and the paper and the battery.
The paper has the clue for opening up the combination lock in the
Rec Corridor (a puzzle that you'll never need). Go back to the
Project Corridor East. Then go north to the Library Lobby. Play
with the machine if you want. It's very good for clues about the
whys of the story, and a lot of fun to translate. But time is of
the essence. Go east to Booth 3. Slide the card through the slot
and push the beige button. Zap!!! You find yourself back in Booth
2. Take a look around; everything you put inside the Booth is
waiting for you. Slide the card through the slot again and this
time push the tan button. Wheeeeee! Now you and your supplies are
back in Booth 3. Take the pliers and the bedistor. Go west. Then
go north. Then go north again to the Course Control. Open the
cube. Remove the fused bedistor with the pliers. Drop the fused
bedistor and the pliers. Take the good bedistor and put it in the
cube. Close the cube.

                 PLANETFALL Part Three

 Go to Systems Corridor West. Go down into the Repair Room. Make
certain that Floyd is with you here. If he's not, just wait and
he'll turn up. When Floyd shows, tell him to go north. When he
comes back, tell Floyd to take the Fromitz. Go back to the
Systems Corridor. Then go north to the Planetary Defense. Open
the panel. Take the second board. Put the shiny Fromitz in the
socket. Close panel. You have now completed the middle portion of
the game. Eat when you have to. Now go to the Main Lab. Open the
Bio-Lock, go southeast then go east. Make sure that Floyd is with
you. He'll volunteer for an important mission; let him. Open the
door, close the door, wait, open the door, close the door. Floyd
will be out of commission. Take the card and sing your song about
the legend of Starcross. Go back to Booth 3. By now it's late in
the day and time for rest. Once in Booth 3, slide the
teleportation card through the slot and push the beige button. If
you still have time before you rest, go ahead and fill your
canteen in the kitchen, then go to sleep in the dorm area. By now
you're starting to feel pretty sick. If you didn't get a chance
last night to fill your canteen, you'd better do that now. Head
down to the Booth 2. Do your teleportation routine. Drop the
teleport card, and make certain that you have the miniaturization
card. Take the laser with the new battery. Go to the
miniaturization booth. Slide the card through the slot then --
type 384 (that was the number from the computer output). Please
do a game save at this point because you won't be able to waste
any moves after this. You have shrunk down to the size of a chip.
At Station 384 go east to the Strip near the station. Then go
north to the Strip near the relay. Look inside the relay. Make
sure that your laser is set to 1. Fire the laser at the speck.
Keep on doing that until the speck is no more. Once that's done,
turn the dial on the laser to 6. Now head back south. Oh no! A
killer microbe. Fire the laser at the microbe. Keep firing until
you find yourself holding a HOT laser. Once the laser is HOT,
throw the laser over the side. The microbe will follow the laser
and vanish to its death. Now head back to the Booth. From the
Auxiliary Booth go north to the Lab Office. Do another game save
at this point (this will be your last chance to take a rest).
Search the desk, then take and wear the gas mask. Push the red
button. Open the door. Go west into the Bio Lab. Open the lab
door. Go west to the Bio-lock west. Open the Bio-lock and go west
into the Main Lab. Run back to the Projcon office. Go south into
the Cryo-elevator. Push the Button. Whewww!! Just wait a little
bit and now all will come clear. The game is over. You are a
hero! And all is well in the universe until your next adventure!
It was my first Infocom adventure, and I was truely charmed by
FLoyd, the little robot!