This is a cup cake of an adventure game. Fans of the forgotten genre of text adventure games might even say:
"Actually, it isn't a text adventure at all, it's more of a reading comprehension test."
Yes, I admit that the solution to getting past most obstacles is right there on the page that describes the obstacle. However, when I sent the original version of Meat & Conversation to Michael Lockard, my number one alpha tester, he responded:
"This isn't a game, it's an interface from hell. A book that makes you struggle to turn each page, is a book that no one will ever read!"
Although I think Michael overstated his case a bit, he had a point. It is a game, and therefore, frustrating. No pain, no game. For many visitors the game is a lot of fun and a little bit enlightening. With these notes I hope to make the game less frustrating for non-gamers.
First of all, don't feel guilty about giving in to "temptation" (that's the button on this page with the demon on it that is labeled "temptation.") Most of the answers temptation provides are the wrong answers. How does the temptation button work?
There is always only one unique action or set of actions for each location. To perform that unique action you choose, from the lists provided, the correct verb and the correct noun. Temptation always provides you with the correct verb. You must decide whether using that verb will lead you astray or to the library.
There are only 2 or 3 Rules of Engagement and they are much more fun to read after you have played the game for awhile. Then you can say, "Ah, yes, how much fun I would have missed out on if I had known that from the start."
For this new version of Meat & Conversation I created a more engaging and colorful interface, added dozens of illustrations and a hullabaloo of sound. Since the obstacles are no easier to overcome in this version than in the previous one, I have added this guide.
While I tried to add more development to the story that holds the game together, I resisted the temptation to straighten out any of the games many quirks. Few are foolish enough to mix up the ridiculous and the sublime. If I succeed at all it is because, like the story's protagonist, I'm a ridiculous man, who has, nonetheless, been touched by God. Meat & Conversation should not be misunderstood to mean that we must all live as monks. It only means that monks and lovers take different roads towards a confrontation with the same reality, or, if they are not successful, the same lack of reality.
acknowledgment:
The anecdote about a monk celebrating his victory over the Devil's illusions in the Devil's Inn is based on a dramatization of a folk legend I heard many years ago on National Public Radio.
The Rules of Engagement
In most adventure games written previous to this one there were two unspoken rules:
1. Take everything that isn╒t nailed down (you never know when you might need it).
2. Attack anything that gets in your way.
Meat & Conversation also has 2 unspoken rules:
1. Never take anything (unless it is given to you.)
2. Never attack (remember that in the game you╒ve taken on the role of a monk).
To these points of difference between this game and others, I should add a point of similarity.
1. When in doubt, examine.
Clues
Once you understand the Rule of Engagement there are only four difficult situations. Below I provide clues, not solutions to each. They are presented in the same order of their appearance in the game. You can safely scroll down until you get to the obstacle you cannot figure out how to overcome.
Escaping from the Inn.
The door only opens from the outside. It's not what you do, but what you say (to trick one of the regulars hanging around outside into opening the door for you). What would excite a bar-fly most?
Escaping from the Robber's Den
You are tied up and the Robber is a light sleeper. The difficulty here is that a 3 part action is required. Think of it as a combination lock in which you can hear the tumblers click into place after each correct number. When you complete an action correctly the response field will prompt you for the next action. What are the 3 actions?
1. You must find something that can be used to cut the ties that bind.
2. Use that thing that you just found.
3. We don't expect you to get this one right the first time. If you miss it you are tied up again. Re-read the scene description. Click the Act tab and glance down the verbs and nouns. Click the Move tab to re-read the scene description. [Repeat until the last tumbler clicks into place and your mind unlocks the puzzle.]
Getting past the Beast with five legs.
Very likely, when you first meet the beast, you don't yet have what you need to get this obstacle. Go back the way you came and look for an easily overlooked detour. Also, clear your throat, because you are going to have to _______ or be supper.
Crossing the Chasm.
There is an old adventure games tradition that dictates that the penultimate puzzle must be a maze. Meat & Conversation's penultimate puzzle is not much of a maze, and it not made of earth or hedge. The "maze" rises above you. Now what common natural thing enables you to climb into the air? At the bottom of the chasm, which is not too difficult to find, there is a step by step guide to getting through the "maze."
