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1997-01-16
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A significant characteristic of
Rama is its randomization of play
components, affecting inventory
item locations, the timing of
animation sequences, a few puzzles,
and certain destination locations
in the central plains. For example,
many inventory items have no fixed
location where they may be found
- if you need something you
haven't found yet, you're just
going to have to search carefully
for it (fortunately, items do not
seem to migrate within a particular
game). As a result, it's not
possible t o give an exact
step-by-step procedure for
progressing through the game - your
mileage may vary. If you can't find
an item that you need for a puzzle,
continue on with the game and it
may become available later. The
game designers' purpose in creating
these randomizations is not clear
- they change only the details of
the game, not the basic concepts or
gameplay strategy, and add little
to game replayability.
As a basic strategy, pay particular
attention to the ground, as
artifacts may often be found there.
A painstaking, but effective
approach to moving through the
environment is to turn completely
around at each node position and
check each view carefully.
Much of the inventory turns out to
be "red herrings" - unneeded in
your actual gameplay sequence, but
perhaps confusing your choices at
various points and making gameplay
a bit more complex.
To prepare for several tasks in
Bangkok and other locations, brush
up on your base-8 and base-16
arithmetic skills.
Project Newton Crew:
ID Character Game Role
002 Yourself Adventurer
004 Shigeru Takagishi Scientist
005 David Brown Mission
Commander
006 Francesca Sabatini Video
Journalist
007 Otto Heilmann Chief
Security
Officer
008 Michael O'Toole Codemaster
009 Richard Wakefield Chief
Engineer
010 Reggie Wilson Print
Journalist
011 Irina Turgenyev Career
Cosmonaut
012 Nicole des Jardins Medical
Officer
Hiro Yamanaka IBI Agent
Janos Tabori IBI Agent
Valeriy Borzov Your
predecessor,
now deceased
All characters are from the
Clarke/Lee book Rama II
After the game introduction and
animation of Nicole, move
F (forward), L (left), F2 (forward
2x) to the computer console. Click
on it, then on the MAIL command to
bring up your vidmail. Each message
adds a bit to the backstory of the
game and introduces you to the
basic personalities of the other
astronauts. In particular, note
Wakefield's Falstaff creation
(you'll see more of it later) and
O'Toole's favorite primes sequence
41,43,47,53,...,1601
or
x^2 - x + 41, for 1 <= x <= 40
The cable car code is derived from
the first two elements of this
sequence: 4143.
Move L and watch the animation of
an avian flying by. Move F4 L F and
descend the ladder. Move R F and
click on the nuclear device. Pick
up the locker #6 key next to the
INACTIVE light. Go back up the
ladder and move F R F R to the
lockers. Open Locker #2 with the
key in your inventory and pick up
the ISA multi-tool and your
wristcomp. The wristcomp has a map
feature that will often come in
handy during gameplay. Open the
unlocked Locker #9 and pick up your
trusty sidekick, Puck. If you get
a vidmail message from Sabatini
requesting her cigarette lighter,
you can ignore it. Open Locker #6
with the key in your inventory and
pick up two pattern artifacts,
a blank key, three symbol plaques
and a datacube. Combine the
datacube with your wristcomp to
read a message from Sabatini to
Brown. Use the blank key to open
Locker #7 and pick up an optical
lens and a datacube containing an
encoded message from Heilmann to
his underlings. If you spend a lot
of time at the hub camp, you'll
eventually get a fri endly reminder
from Nicole to come on down.
From the lockers, move L F2
R F L and get in the cable car.
Enter the code from O'Toole's
vidmail message and press the red
button. Enjoy the ride down to the
base camp, with a rare
third-person POV.
Central Plains
Move R F to the table and pick up
a note from Nicole and a datacube
(both shameless plugs for Clarke's
upcoming book 3001). Move L2
F R and open the storage box on the
other table. Inside, pick up any
pattern artifact(s) and symbol
plaque(s) you may find. Other
astronauts add items to this
storage box from time to time, so
check back on it (and the
refrigerator) later if you seem to
be missing an item. Move B L2 F and
watch the animation of Turgenyev.
Move F3 out onto the central
plains. To identify fixed
destinations on the central plains
radar map, we'll use a clock
analogy.
It's often possible to enter and
exit a central plains location from
more than one direction. There are
a few randomized locations on the
central plains that contain
a moving biot symbol. You can check
these out for information on how
the biots move and act, but be
careful not to get in front of
a triangular sextet of crab biots,
or you'll get trashed! In
particular, be sure to visit the
centipede biot location (4 green
squares in a row) and pick up
a symbol plaque if it drops one.
Find Nicole's position (012) and
watch the animation of her. Back
out to the radar map and head for
the biot garage area at 3 o'clock.
Move F L F to the cube of alien
plastic containing a symbol plaque;
you'll return for this one later
after the plastic is melted. Move
R2 F2 and get a datacube from
Reggie Wilson describing crab
biots. Move L2 F R F R F R and pick
up a red crystal from the remains
of the broken sphere. Move
L F R F into the biot garage and
let Puck describe the various types
of biot inside:
Biot Type Purpose
Centipede Repairs other biots
Mantis Uses colored light
Crane Lifts heavy loads
Crab Trash collector
Shark Water-borne
Spider Assassin
Exit the biot garage, move L F2
R F and be sure to check for items
on the ground under the large
slanting building. At various
points, you may be interrupted with
an animation sequence in which you
are given an inventory item (symbol
plaque, optical lens, etc.) from
one of the astronauts. Move back to
the radar map and head for London
at 1 o'clock.
Move F and listen to Takagishi.
It's a little hard to pick up
through his accent, but he does
make a reference to a "pattern" in
the pulsing of the forcefield
blocking entry to the red London
building ahead. If you count the
individual pulses of the
forcefield, you'll note that after
every ninth pulse there is a short
pause during which the field is
off. If you time it right, the
pause will give you enough time to
move through the forcefield without
getting fried. After you've passed
through, move L and pull the
tan-colored drawer to turn off the
forcefield. Note the encircled
triangle at the top of the
forcefield switch - you'll need to
use that later. Pick up any items
lying on the ground. Move R2 F to
the London entrance.
Click on the small flanking column
to the right, having a red design
on it. This is the London entrance
puzzle. Pick a symbol plaque from
your inventory that has an
appearance appropriate for the
pattern displayed by the other
eight plaques; for example,
a horizontally-split
yellow-and-green pentagon with two
white and two black dots. You have
undoubtedly picked up some "red
herrings" along the way, so examine
your choice carefully. When the
correct plaque has been placed,
you'll hear the sound of t he
London entrance door opening.
Move F2 and and turn all the way
around checking for inventory
items, looking in particular
between the decorated column
supports. Also check the doorway
through which you entered and the
doorway on the opposite side of the
room. To the left, you can operate
a device showing various aspects of
the Rama spacecraft, including
a red sphere that seems to show the
locations of various species inside
Rama. Another sequence shows the
fabrication of the Rama spacecraft
shell, but a more likely
construction method (at least for
humans) would involve
hollowing-out an existing asteroid.
On the opposite side of the room,
zoom in on the left panel and place
your pattern artifacts to create an
oval representation of New York
island in Rama's cylindrical sea.
When complete, the oval shows a map
through a maze of corridors to
three plazas. Zoom in on the right
panel and place your six remaining
pattern artifacts. Getting the
order right is tricky, descriptions
may help:
Left to right:
1.Yellow island in purple sea at
center 2.Italy-shaped yellow
protuberance at lower center
3.Small rectangular yellow region
at lower center edge 4.Irregular
yellow region extending down to
lower center edge 5.Single yellow
island in purple region at lower
edge 6.Several yellow islands in
purple region at lower edge
When complete, the display shows
a map of the central plains, with
red dots representing artifact
locations and white smudges
providing close-ups. Left to right,
the locations are:
Dock Biot Garage London Big Wheel
Bangkok
The second door puzzle in London
requires two symbol plaques. After
you've opened the door, move F2
R F L F and watch the animation of
the mantis biot using a red laser
(twice) to descend on an elevator.
Move F2 and pick up the biot box.
On examining this box, you'll see
that it looks like it can be
opened, perhaps using the
triangular button on its back. Have
you seen this triangular shape
before?
Move B L and create a red laser
equivalent from your inventory by
combining the red crystal shard and
the ISA multi-tool (use its button
to put it into flashlight mode). To
summon the elevator, use the red
flashlight on the laser target in
front of you. Move B F and repeat
the laser procedure to descend into
the sewage pit. Explore the pit
areas at the ends of all three
walkways to pick up symbol plaques,
which will be dirty from the fluid
in the pit. There may also be clean
symbol plaque(s) on the walkways
themselves. Exit the pit using the
elevator as before.
Facing the door the mantis came out
of, move R F2 R F2 R F and observe
the trash transport carts. Move
L to yet another door puzzle. The
plaques on this type of door puzzle
are most easily identified by the
symbolic base-3 notation at the
bottom; for example, the symbols
represent the digits 0 0 1 2 0 in
base 3 (which translates to 15
decimal). By translating their
base-3 digits, you'll see that the
symbol plaques in the door puzzle
are arranged in sequence, left to
right and top to bottom. It then
becomes straightforward to identify
which symbol plaque(s) you need in
order to fill in the gap(s) in the
sequence - make a note of them. Of
course, the trick is getting the
plaques themselves and cleaning
them if necessary, for they won't
insert into the door puzzle when
dirty. Also, be aware that "red
herrings" may creep into your
inventory; for example, plaques
with the correct base-3 symbols,
but with the other symbols wrong.
With this goal in mind, exit the
London structure and return to the
forcefield control switch outside.
Put the biot box on the triangle at
the top of the switch. Remove the
symbol plaque from the now-open
biot box. Move L F3 to the central
plains radar map. Return to the
base camp and pick up a box of
powder from the refrigerator. Go
back to the radar map and head for
the Big Wheel area at 10:30.
If you run into Francesca (Princess
Leia with a jawbone), she'll give
you a decryption card. First her
cigarette lighter and now
a computer card -- she does
consider you to be her gofer,
doesn't she? Go ahead and load the
card into your wristcomp, and
you'll be able to read the encoded
message from Heilmann (subject:
Trinity) that you intercepted
earlier. You'll also be able to
read any other encoded messages you
happen to come across in the course
of gameplay.
Move F and pick up a symbol plaque
from the trash dump transfer tray.
Move B R F2 R and pick up a metal
seed from one of the cone-shaped
"plants" on the ground. Move L2
F R F and pick up a bent rod at the
site of the damaged biot. Move
L F2 to the distillation mechanism.
Zoom in on the central part of the
mechanism and insert the metal seed
into the star-shaped hole at right.
Put the box of powder into the
adjacent receptacle. Turn the
thumbwheel at upper right to get
fluid flowing into the mechanis m.
Move B and click on the device at
right shaped like a pot-bellied
stove. Press the triangular red
button to clean the blue material
off the tray. The vertical
graduated tube at left indicates
you have four remaining cleanings.
Find the needed symbol plaque(s) in
your inventory and clean each one
by putting it in the tray and using
the red button.
Return to the radar map and find
Wakefield's position (009). Watch
the animation of him and get
a third optical lens. Return to the
big wheel area and move to the gun
in the center of the area. Click on
it to open its barrel and insert
the three optical lenses from your
inventory. After the gun fires,
return via the radar map to the
biot garage area. Move F L F and
pick up the symbol plaque from the
now-melted plastic cube. This will
probably give you everything you
need to open the third door in Lo
ndon. While in this area, check the
trash dump transfer tray for any
artifacts.
Return to London via the radar map
and go back to the closed door at
the top of the sewage pit. Use
symbol plaque(s) from your
inventory to open the door. Move
F2 L F L F2 R F R through the biot
demonstration room. Click on the
device to fire a green laser at the
crane biot and get it to disable
the spider biot guard. Move
R F L F2 L and pick up the alien
palette. Zoom in on the display
console behind the spider biot and
pull the lever down to activate
a video link with the big wheel
control room yo u'll visit later.
Exit London and return to the radar
map. Along the way, Nicole will
give you a datacube describing
Wilson's death, and Rama will make
a course correction, apparently now
heading for impact with Earth. Go
to Bangkok at the 9 o'clock
position on the radar map and solve
another symbol plaque puzzle to
open its front door. This puzzle
uses base-2 symbols rather than
base-3.
Move F and use the three machines
at left to solve simple
symbol-matching, counting and
addition/subtraction problems. On
completion of a set of problems,
each machine will open. In the left
machine, click on the
phonograph-like device to open the
door at the far end of the room. In
the right machine, pick up a red
gem. Enter into the first Bangkok
level, a human museum (don't forget
to keep hunting for symbol
plaques).
After exploring the museum (and
admiring the bikini, if you're so
inclined), move to the elevator car
at the back of the room. Click on
the marked post at center to bring
up another symbol plaque puzzle.
This puzzle typically involves
sequences of white, black and
circle sectors, and requires, for
example, plaques with
White at 5:30, middle ring
Black at 3:30, outside ring
Circle at 5:30, inside ring
White at 9:30, middle ring
Black at 6:30, outside ring
Circle at 12:30, middle ring
Click on the purple triangular
button to take the elevator up.
Turn around and enter a room
containing Raman arithmetic
teaching machines. The machines on
the right can be used to define the
base-16 Raman numbers. After
listening to Wakefield's lecture,
solve the base-16 arithmetic
problems using the three machines
at left. On completion of a set of
problems, each machine will open.
In the left machine, click on the
phonograph-like device to open the
door at the far end of the room. In
the center machine there are 11
marks per display row, and number
buttons range from 0 at upper left
to 15 at lower right. Note that the
base-16 answers you must provide
may contain more than one digit;
for example, if there are 72 marks
shown in the display, you must
enter (4,8) using Raman symbols,
since 72 = 4 x 16 + 8. Similarly,
if there are 111 symbols in the
display, you must use the buttons
for Raman symbols (6,15); that is,
the button second from the right in
the top row, and the button at far
right in the bottom row. When the
problems in the center machine have
been completed, pick up a human
icon from inside the machine. In
the right machine, addition is
symbolized by a simple hexagon and
subtraction by a circle inside
a hexagon. When its problems have
been solved, pick up another red
gem.
Enter into the main room of the
second Bangkok level, a Raman
museum. Go to the display to the
right of the Raman furniture and
pick up a Raman cutting tool. Note
also the statue of a Raman (looking
like something out of Yellow
Submarine) and a slideshow of the
weird Raman life cycle.
At the far side of the room, enter
the second Bangkok elevator. Click
on the marked post at center to
bring up the last symbol plaque
puzzle. This puzzle again typically
involves sequences of white, black
and circle sectors, and requires,
for example, plaques with
White at 10:30, outside ring
Black at 12:30, middle ring
Circle at 6:30, inside ring
White at 12:30, middle ring
Black at 8:30, middle ring
Circle at 11:30, middle ring
One or both of these symbol plaques
may require cleaning in the
distillation mechanism at the big
wheel area; while there you can
free an avian from the clutches of
the broken biot you saw earlier. To
accomplish this, zoom in on the
sparking area in the bottom of the
biot and use your Raman cutting
tool to sever the electrical cable.
Move B and use the bent rod in your
inventory to free the avian. Be
sure to pick up the red neck ring
the avian gives you.
Return to the second elevator in
Bangkok and activate it with your
now-clean symbol plaque(s). Again
operate three arithmetic machines,
this time with rainbow-colored
base-8 octospider numbers:
0 White
1 Red
2 Orange
3 Yellow
4 Green
5 Blue
6 Dark Purple
7 Light Purple
+ Red/white striped
- Blue/white striped
As before, complete the problems to
open the door and obtain an
octospider icon and a red gem.
Enter into the main room of the
third Bangkok level, an octospider
museum. Note the interesting
statues showing a pregnant
octospider and a communications
demo. Pick up an indigo-green jewel
on the floor in this room.
Return to the elevator you just
used and put the three red gems you
have in inventory into the
receptacle at center. Pick up
a number box showing equivalences
between human, Raman and octospider
number systems, coming in very
handy later in the game. You're now
finished with Bangkok; return to
the central plains radar map via
the two elevators.
Head for the big wheel area. From
the gun at the center of this area,
move F2 D F to the perimeter of the
big wheel, then move L F3 R F2 into
the control room. Zoom in on the
display screen and press the right
button. Watch an animation of
a mantis biot releasing spider
biots from the biot garage. Move
B L F2 L F3 R F6 to the radar map.
Note that there are new
location(s) on the radar map where
you can (fatally) encounter a loose
spider biot. Return to the biot
garage area. Make your way to the
back of the biot garage and pick up
the gate lying on the floor.
Return to the big wheel control
room and put the gate up against
the central pillar. Using the gate
as a ladder, go up and take the
blank plaque from atop the control
pillar.
Return to the central plains radar
map. For an interesting perspective
with the Rama lights on, you can
revisit the hub camp by taking the
cable car back up from the base
camp. You've now visited all the
important areas in the central
plains, so you might as well head
for the docks (iceport) at 4:30 and
meet Brown (005). If you wait a few
minutes, you'll get vidmail from
Nicole asking you to come there
anyway. In the meantime, you can
track down Heilmann (007) and
listen to his Rama paranoia. By the
way, if you try to go to the
iceport earlier in the game,
you'll be repeatedly warned to stay
away, and eventually "fired" from
the expedition.
From your initial entry from the
radar map, move L F R to meet Brown
and obtain a datacube. Brown and
Nicole will block your exit back to
the central plains, so you're
forced to eventually take the
icemobile with Nicole to New York
island in Rama's frozen cylindrical
sea. First, however, view the
vidmails from Sabatini, O'Toole and
Takagishi that you received in the
datacube from Brown. Also, be sure
to note the second nuclear device
on the upper level of the iceport,
currently inactive as was the first
one you saw at the hub camp. The
bomb's disarming code apparently
consists of 20 digits, grouped as
a sequence of five 4-digit numbers.
Go on down the ramp and notice that
Nicole is sitting in the
icemobile's cockpit (if you watch
her from two steps back on the
lower platform, she kind of looks
like one of those bobbing-head toy
dogs people used to have in their
cars). Join her in the icemobile
and change CD's. Enjoy the ride to
New York island while listening to
Nicole's chatter.
New York
Don't feel bad when Nicole abandons
you on the New York dock so she can
"look around" in the icemobile.
Yeah right, she probably just wants
to hotrod it on the ice. Anyway,
you're on your own again, and
won't see Nicole (or much of anyone
else) until the end of the game. Go
on up the stairs and use the alien
palette to open the doors into New
York. Move through the doors (which
lock behind you) and pick up
a datacube lying on the ground. It
contains a message from Heilmann to
his underlings, and men tions
a bomb whose disarming code is
"five of (O'Toole's) favorite
numbers". Move F3 into the Avian
Plaza.
Initial Explorations
Looking up, you'll get a view of
the walls around the perimeter of
this jewel-shaped plaza, as well as
gaps at the top and lower left
indicating passageways leading out
of the plaza. In the distance,
you'll be able to see the
cylindrical sea on the far side of
Rama. The mapping feature of your
wristcomp will come in particularly
useful during your explorations of
New York; use it frequently to
maintain your bearings and to
identify points of interest.
Throughout New York, you'll find
alien artifacts in the form of
bi-colored jewels, optical tuning
forks and other devices. Unlike in
the central plains, the locations
of these artifacts do not seem to
be randomized for each gameplay of
Rama.
Using the following Avian Plaza
map:
EXIT TO MAZE TALL WHITE
SCULPTURE RAMP
AVIAN LAIR
MANNA MELON
PICTURE
TETRAHEDRON
RECESS PURPLE MAT LATHE
ENTRANCE
FROM DOCK
Visit the Raman manna-melon picture
to the right of the central
tetrahedron structure. Then make
your way to the cul-de-sac behind
the semicircular tank to the right
of the central tetrahedron
structure. Zoom in on the
lathe-like device having five
vertical red lights on it. Put the
blank plaque from your inventory
into the similarly-shaped
depression in the center of the
device. The green triangular
buttons can be used to move the
yellow-tipped rod over the plaque;
each position is identified by on
e of the red lights. Each position
(except the center one) records
a tone onto the blank plaque. Each
of the three tones corresponds to
an initially-locked door in the New
York maze that you'll be entering
shortly. If the plaque has been
recorded with the corresponding
tone, the door will be opened. The
simplest way to open all the doors
in the New York maze is to record
all three tones onto the plaque,
which fortunately can be done by
moving the rod until it's fully
extended and the rightmost red
l ight is glowing. If you remove
the plaque while the rod is in this
position, it will have been
properly recorded. Use the New York
map you first saw in London to
explore the maze passageways. If
you have trouble finding the exit
from the Avian Plaza to the maze,
find the central tetrahedron and
face its front steps (flanked by
avian and Raman statues), then move
L F R2 F2. Inside the maze, Puck
will point out the location of five
"tuning fork" devices; you need
only the red and blue ones (see map
above). The color of a tuning fork
can be checked by pressing the
switch on its handle. After picking
the red and blue ones up, make your
way to the Octospider Plaza.
Using the Octospider Plaza map:
LATHE
GROTTO
TETRAHEDRON
ENTRANCE
and the mapping function of your
wristcomp, you'll find a lathe
device in a cul-de-sac identical to
the one you found in the Avian
Plaza (in fact all three plazas
have one and the rod position seems
to be synchronized between all of
the lathes). However, you won't
need it if you've already
programmed your blank plaque with
all three door tones.
From the plaza entrance, move
center-forward toward the
aqua-colored dome, then move R F2
L and pick up a green-green
octahedron lying on the ground.
Move R2 F and pick up a blue filter
from the ground. For more of the
backstory, move L2 F L F2 R F2
L F and pick up Takagishi's video
camera. Remove the datacube from it
and play it in your wristcomp (the
particular area shown in the
octospider lair is not actually
encountered in the game). Using the
New York map, proceed to the Human
Plaza.
From the plaza entrance, move R F2
and note that access to the door
opposite is prevented by a deep
chasm. Looking down, you'll see two
shiny rods reminiscent of elevator
pistons, so maybe there's a chance
you can bridge this gap. Your
wristcomp map does seem to indicate
some sort of indirect access to
that area of the plaza. Move L2 F2
R F R F and pick up a blue-yellow
octahedron. Move L2 F R2 F2 R into
the lathe cul-de-sac and pick up
a green-red octahedron lying in the
corner. Move R F2 R2 F R an d zoom
in on the large green tuning-fork
sculpture. Put the blue tuning fork
(the one with a single red mark on
its handle) into the
similarly-shaped depression in the
sculpture to provide matching blue
colors. Move L and watch the
animation of a mantis biot coming
out of the pyramid and entering the
far door using a blue laser. Using
the same method you employed inside
London, prepare a blue laser
simulacrum by combining your ISA
multi-tool flashlight with the blue
filter in your inventory (first
r emoving the red shard, if
necessary). Move F and use the
light on the laser target to open
the door. Enter the room and get
into the blue subway chair.
Click on the large red button to
take the subway counterclockwise to
the next station. Move F2 R and
note the nine monitors at top and
three at bottom. If you zoom in on
the lower monitors, you'll see that
they each represent a form of Earth
life. Your goal, which will require
visiting other stations along the
subway ring, is to put the
lifeforms in "evolutionary order"
along the top row of monitors. The
correctness of any answer you try
can be checked simply by returning
to the subway chair and the
n immediately re-entering the room.
When complete, the left-to-right
order of images in the upper row of
monitors should be:
Protozoa
Ant
Snail
Frog
Cat
Eagle
Seal
Cow
Elephant
although it's not clear how the
Ramans decided a cow was more
advanced than a cat! When you've
completed the puzzle, go to the
now-open fourth subway station and
get into another subway chair.
Press the red button and exit at
your destination. Press the yellow
handle to raise the platform in the
distance. This action bridges the
chasm.
Return to the Octospider Plaza
entrance and move L F L and pick up
an indigo-yellow octahedron lying
on the ground. Move R2 F R F into
the "grotto".
Click on the bright green pedestal
at left. Borrow the green-green
jewel from your inventory to
release O'Toole's anniversary
photo. Pick up the photo and make
a note of the numerical value on
its back (which varies from game to
game). Back out and click on the
gray-and-white pedestal to the
right. Use the blue-yellow jewel
from inventory to obtain
a yellow-red octahedron from the
pedestal. Back out and click on the
central pedestal flanked by
gold-and-bronze columns. Ignore the
obvious solicitation for
a yellow-orange jewel (which
you'll never find) and instead use
your ISA multi-tool flashlight
(without a filter) to shine white
light into the prism on the
pedestal. If the light does not
release the prism from the
pedestal, try clicking on the
little circular mirrors about five
times with your hand cursor to
re-orient the prism. Pick up the
prism and move B R3
F L F L F R F to the tetrahedron in
the Octospider Plaza (although the
grotto contains a number of other
interesting items, you won't need
any more of them). Put the prism
into the triangular hole at left.
Click on the inserted prism with
your flashlight to open the
tetrahedron door.
Move B F into the tetrahedron for
yet another color-related puzzle.
Here, the object is simple - just
use the three large slide controls
to mix colors matching the targets
shown at the top. Press the central
red button to turn on the puzzle,
and use the tan-and-red control at
right center to select each of
three colors to match:
Left color:
Left and center slides all the way
down,
right slide 3/4 of the way up
Center color:
Left slide 3/4 of the way up,
center slide half way up,
right slide all the way up
Right color:
Left slide half way up,
center slide 3/4 of the way up,
right slide 1/4 of the way up
When the puzzle is complete,
you'll hear the sound of another
door opening, this time in the back
of the Octospider Plaza (which
you'll visit later).
Return to the Avian Plaza. From
a position facing the front steps
of the central tetrahedron (flanked
by avian and Raman statues), move
R F L2 F2 R F R into a hidden
courtyard. Zoom in on the wall
recess and put the red tuning fork
(the one with four red marks on its
handle) into the similarly-shaped
depression in the wall recess to
provide matching red colors. Click
the tuning fork on the recess again
to move the white ramp behind you
into position at the open doorway
above. From the recess, move B L2
F2 L2 up the white ramp and into
the upper room. Pick up the piston
device lying in the corner.
Move F2 R F R and zoom in on the
base of the tall sculpture in the
courtyard. Place the piston (in its
retracted mode) on the sculpture
base. Click on the piston to cause
the sculpture to tip over. Move
B and use the sculpture like
a staircase to reach the reviewing
stand on the upper level. Move
R and pick up an avian perch. Move
R and go back down the staircase.
Move F L F R2 F2 L to a close-up of
the avian statue at the entrance to
the tetrahedron in the plaza. Put
the avian neck ring from your
inventory onto the statue to
disclose a handle that operates the
tetrahedron entrance door. Move
R and put the avian perch on the
top step so you can reach the door
handle. Zoom in on the handle and
click on it to open the
tetrahedron. Move B F2 into its
interior. Click on the red handle
to activate the device. Use the
left rotary dial to select an image
of the Raman manna melon you saw
earlier in this plaza, then click
on the right slide control. You'll
hear the sound of another door
opening, this t ime an access
portal to the Avian lair. Move
B L F2 R2 and observe the
flightpath of an avian. Move F2
L and watch the avian jump down
into its now-disclosed lair. Move
F2 to the edge of a deep shaft and
listen as the avian you saw earlier
moves through some tunnels and
activates a ladder for your descent
into the shaft. If you move F at
this point, you'll not be able to
back up into the Avian Plaza until
you've completed the full avian
lair solution.
Avian Lair
Move F into the avian shaft; the
portion of the ladder you used is
retracted. Your initial orientation
is looking down into the shaft from
the remaining rungs of the ladder;
move F U L to the north corridor on
level 2:
Avian Lair Map
Level North Side South Side
1 (top) Control Room (locked)
2 Roost Hatchery
3 Theatre (locked)
4 (bottom) (locked) Schoolroom
Move F2 into a large roost area (if
you try to exit back to the shaft,
your way is blocked by a purple
avian). Watch the red avian obtain
a manna melon from the dispenser
and hold it out to you. Take it
from him and cut it in half with
your ISA multi-tool knife. Eat half
of the melon using your ISA
multi-tool spoon. As "your
brainwaves are being altered within
your optic lobe", note the hidden
purple figures on the wall murals.
These are visible because you're
able to see ultraviolet light (like
the avians) for a short time after
eating some of the manna melon.
This ability, although temporary,
will come in handy later in the
game. For now, return one half of
the melon to the red avian, and
he'll direct you to an elevator at
the rear of the room. Take the
elevator up to the avian
triumvirate and accept their gift
of a Raman numerical translator.
Move L for a view of the entire
avian roost. Move L, then wait for
the avian kingpin to send you back
down the elevator.
Move L F R2 and operate the handle
of the dispenser to obtain two more
manna melons. Cut them open so
they're ready to eat later. Move
R2 F2 D F U L F into the theatre in
the north corridor on level 3, and
watch the avian actors leave the
stage. Move F L F and pick up the
oil-filled gourd to the right of
the lit one. Move R F3 R2 and watch
the upset green avian fly up. Move
L and take the octospider pyramid
from the stand holding the
octospider costume (the other stand
holds a costume of a Raman). M ove
R F3 L and then move right-forward
to leave the stage area. Move R2
back to the shaft.
Move R and click on the bridge
control mechanism at lower left. If
you try to move the green wheel, it
jams. Put some of the oil from the
gourd on it and you'll be able to
fully turn it to extend the bridge
across the shaft. Move
B L F L D F U L F L into the
schoolroom in the south corridor on
level 4. Note the room code at the
top of the entrance; you can use
the number wheel from Bangkok to
translate it to (11,8,3). Move
L F2 L F L F to zoom in on a wall
mural depicting extended ledges in
the avia n shaft. Eat one of your
manna melon halves to disclose
a hidden three-digit Raman number
code, which translates to (6,9,8).
Move R F R F R F to a circular wall
mural. Eat another manna melon half
to show a special relationship
between the rings of Raman, human
and octospider numbers:
Raman sequence: 27 4 49 57 9 32
Human sequence: 60 4 8 14 9 17
Octospider seq.: 27 4 18 22 23 3
The only sector in which the
numbers in all three systems agree
is the one at right, for which all
values are 4. This structure of
rings of numbers will be seen again
later in the game.
Move R F L3 F3 U F D F R U F2
D L F to a closed door in the north
corridor on level 1. Note the Raman
number code above the doorway,
which translates to (7,2,15). Move
F and play this number sequence on
your avian translator, whose
buttons are numbered from 0 at
upper left to 15 at lower right.
The door opens; move F2 to the
control panel at left. Click twice
on the large circular red knob to
activate the third monitor from the
left. Use the 16-button Raman
keypad to enter the schoolroom code
(11,8,3) - keys are numbered from
1 at upper left to 13 at lower left
to 0 at lower right. The monitor
now displays a real-time view of
the schoolroom on level 4. Move the
blue sliding knob at the right of
the control panel down to its
lowest position in order to
activate both upper and lower
staircases to the schoolroom
podium; you can see the results of
your changes on the monitor. Move
R F and again use the (7,2,15) code
on the translator to open the door.
Move F2 D F2 U F L U F D L F R F2
L F U into t he avian hatchery in
the south corridor on level 2. Grab
the overhead bars to enter a recess
near the ceiling. Move L and pick
up a grappling hook and cable. Move
L2 and use the bars to descend to
the floor of the room.
Move F4 D F2 U L F3 R F3 R to the
podium in the schoolroom in the
south corridor on level 4. Attach
the grappling hook to the handle in
the elevator shaft and use it to
descend to the lower level. Move
F R F2 L and pick up a bowl from
the storeroom. Move F4 L F2 L to
a pool filled with a caustic
liquid. Use the bowl from the
storeroom in the pool to obtain
some of the liquid. Move F L F and
use the liquid from the bowl to
loosen a corroded lever on the pool
control panel. Click on the
now-freed leve r to bring it down.
Click twice on the central
triangular pointer so that it's
pointing left, then click on the
red post at right to move it into
a vertical position. Click on the
small red button at the center of
the triangular pointer to drain the
left pool. Move B L2 F R F R and
take the small white pyramid from
the center of the now-drained pool.
Move B R F4 R and use the rope to
climb back up to the schoolroom
podium. Move R F2 R F L2 F3 U F2
D L F R F L F L2 to the back side
of the large purple cylinder in the
hatchery in the south corridor on
level 2. Zoom in on the hatch and
place the costume (octospider)
pendant in the receptacle. After
it's been scanned, return it to
inventory and place the pool
(human) pendant into the same
receptacle. Pick up the magnetic
card after the hatch opens.
Exit the hatchery back to the
central shaft. Move D F U F L U F2
D L F2 back to the closed door in
the north corridor on level 1.
Again use the avian translator to
gain access to the control room.
When you have gone through the
door, note the Raman number code
above the entrance to the elevator
shaft, which translates to
(9,14,7). Enter the shaft, look
down and use this code on your
translator to ascend to the upper
level. Move U L F and insert the
magnetic card into the slot to
activate the control panel. Using
the Raman keypad, enter the
(6,9,8) shaft platform extension
code. Return to the central shaft;
you'll now be able to move up and
exit the avian lair.
On exit, listen to Wakefield's
warning about the bomb detonation
countdown and get Falstaff from
him. From this point on in the
game, you're under a time
constraint to find the bomb and
disarm it before the six-hour
countdown elapses. You can check on
the countdown status by using your
wristcomp, but be aware that the
rate at which it counts down
accelerates when you move through
the New York environment, just as
if you were actually taking the
time to walk about rather than just
clicking with a mou se interface.
However, when you are standing
still, the countdown progresses in
real time. During your
explorations, save and restore your
game frequently to avoid running
out of countdown time.
Octospider Lair
Head for the Octospider Plaza. From
the entrance, move forward toward
the tetrahedron at right, then move
L F3 R F L to the row of gray
squares at the back of the plaza.
This door was disclosed by the
prism-tetrahedron puzzle you solved
earlier.
Zoom in on the hexagonal access
panel and put the star-shaped
octospider icon in the lower
triangular hole and the costume
pendant in the upper triangular
hole. Move B F3 R F2 L F3 R3 F5
down to the fountain room. Zoom in
on the closed door ahead, then
click on the left-center region of
the door. Use Falstaff to retrieve
the blue-orange octahedron. Move
B R F R and take three datacubes
from Sabatini's uniform for more of
the backstory about the guilty
parties. Move B L2 and press the
second white ke y from the right on
the left-hand keyboard. Move L2 and
zoom in on the wall panel. Put the
indigo-yellow jewel from your
inventory into the indicated
receptacle to open the panel. Pick
up all the octahedra inside the
panel, in particular the
orange-red one at bottom.
Move B L F2 and use the
blue-orange jewel to open the door
back to the octospider hub. Move
F2 onto the central purple sinking
platform in this room. Look up and
note the displacement of colored
squares on the ceiling. This is
part of a puzzle that needs to be
solved in order to reach the lower
level of the octospider lair. It
works like a base-8 clock - note
the number of positions (0-7) the
white square has been displaced
clockwise from the home position at
right. For each clockwise
displacement o f the inner ring
white square, count 8, and for each
clockwise displacement in the outer
ring, count 1. The total is a key
number that will be used in an
alien device you'll find later. For
example, if the inner white square
is at 6 o'clock (a displacement of
2) and the outer white square is at
9 o'clock (a displacement of 4),
the key number is 2 x 8 + 4 = 20.
This puzzle re-randomizes every
time you step on the sinking
platform.
From the sinking platform, move L2
to face the doorway to the
immediate right of the entrance
ramp. Move F and use the
yellow-red jewel from your
inventory to open the door. Move
F6 R and zoom in on the alien
device. Click on the spongy blue
button at bottom to bring up the
alternate display. Find the
position of your key number from
the ceiling puzzle and click on it
to light up that many red bars.
Click again on the blue button; the
black circle at left will show
spikes extending outside its perim
eter and the right diagram will
match what you saw on the ceiling
in the hub. Move B L and use your
green-red jewel to open the door.
Move F2 L F D F3 R into the lower
level of the octospider lair.
Zoom in on the octospider lair map
and click on the blue button to
activate one of the doorways on the
upper level; the colored triangles
start blinking. You are again
standing on a sinking
ceiling-puzzle platform; move
B U and figure out its key number.
Move D R F3 and use the alien
device with the new key number to
activate the spikes in the access
tube. Move B L F R and notice
O'Toole's crucifix lying on the
ground - not a good omen! Move
U F R and head for the left-hand
door. Use the violet-blue jewel
from your inventory to open it.
Move F R F into the octospider
trophy room. Here you'll see such
gruesome sights as Takagishi
stuffed, and a photo of him getting
that way (with clamps). How about
those octospiders, anyway? If you
read the Rama book series, you'll
find a similar episode occurring,
in which Takagishi is later found
to have died by "natural causes"
(perhaps heart failure on first
encountering an octospider!).
There's also a good color photo of
a couple of Ramans here, and anothe
r tri-lingual number wheel in which
the sector directly to the right is
again emphasized.
Move to the closed door at the far
side of the room and use your
orange-red jewel to open it. Enter
the back room and observe the
octoteacher. When it displays 7 and
waits for your response, click on
the upper-left corner of the color
tower to rotate it a quarter turn,
then click on the light-purple
square second from the bottom. The
octoteacher seems thrilled by your
response, gives you O'Toole's
catechism card, and exits the room.
Oh, well, I guess O'Toole won't be
needing it any more!
Before leaving the room, pick up
O'Toole's favorite-number chart
from the top of the color tower,
and an organic lump from the
octospider food dish (it could be
part of Takagishi for all you
know!).
Move L2 F3 L F2 R F D F4 L F into
the subway room in the lower level
(you needn't re-solve the ceiling
puzzle if you avoided the main
octospider hub). Put the organic
lump into the miniature subway car,
followed by Falstaff. From
Falstaff's perspective, take the
organic lump and click on the white
button in the subway car. Move
F and watch the animation of the
big octospider stealing food from
a miniature one. Move L and take
the hand laser from the wall. Move
B R and put the organic lump into
the empty light-green feeding dish
at right. After the octospider
returns to his meal, move R and get
O'Toole's ID card. Move B R,
re-enter the subway car and use it
to return to the subway room. Move
F out of the subway car and restore
your normal perspective. If
desired, move R F2 and note
Sabatini's scarf in the full-size
inoperative subway car. Exit the
subway room onto the sinking
platform. Since you've now reset
the ceiling puzzle at least twice,
look up and derive the new key
number.
Use the previously-established
procedure to exit the lower level,
then return through the right-hand
tunnel to the main octospider hub.
Exit up the ramp back into the
Octospider Plaza and head for the
Human Plaza.
Endgame
From the entrance to the Human
Plaza, move R F3 to the door that
was previously inaccessible on the
other side of a chasm (for which
you raised a bridge by solving the
subway puzzle in the back of this
plaza). Zoom in on the hexagonal
access panel and put the human icon
in the right holes and the pool
pendant in the left hole. Move
B F2 inside. Solve the tri-lingual
number wheel puzzle by making all
rings display 9 at right; that is,
by clicking on the inner, middle
and outer rings 3, 1 and 4 times,
respectively (pi?). Move
F L F R and use the green laser on
the crane biot to have it disable
the spider biot guarding the bomb.
Move R F L F and zoom on on the
bomb's code panel.
The bomb's disarming sequence is
a set of five 4-digit numbers, with
leading zeroes used when necessary.
Each time Rama is played (at least
from the point when you've exited
the avian lair), the disarming
sequence is re-randomized.
From Heilmann's message to Yamanaka
and Tabori, there's every reason to
believe the disarming code is
generated from five of the numbers
on O'Toole's prime sequence chart.
Each of the forty numbers on the
chart contains four or fewer
digits.
The clues in O'Toole's belongings
all refer to the sequence number in
his list of forty favorite numbers;
for example, if the reverse side of
his anniversary photo makes
a reference to "21st", it means
that one of the 4-digit disarming
code numbers is the 21st element of
his sequence, which from his chart
is 0461 (you may have a different
number on the back of the photo).
On O'Toole's ID card, the month and
date of his birth are circled,
providing two more sequence
numbers.
Looking at the reverse side of
O'Toole's catechism card, you'll
see that the first 4-digit code
number is the 15th in the sequence
(0251), and the last is the 33rd in
the sequence (1097).
You now know what all five code
numbers are, with the only question
being the positioning of the middle
three. Of the four digits already
displayed on the bomb's panel, the
first two are the trailing digits
of the second code number, and the
last two are the leading digits of
the third code number. Using
O'Toole's sequence chart in
conjunction with the above
information, you can define the
positioning of the middle three
code numbers.
Here's an example from one
particular Rama game:
Bomb digits displayed: 61|00
Source Sequence Code Position
Number Number
Catechism card 15 0251 First
Catechism card 33 1097 Fifth
Photo 21 0461 Second
ID Card 3 0047 Third
ID card 29 0853 Fourth
The positioning of the second,
third and fourth code numbers is
the only arrangement matching what
is already displayed on the bomb.
Once the disarming code numbers
have been entered, click on the
INPUT button to disarm the bomb
(you get three tries before the
bomb automatically detonates). If
you hear the sound of compressed
air being released and a majestic
fanfare begins, you've done it!
Back out and listen to Nicole's
vidmail describing what's going on
upstairs. Move R2 F4 and watch the
endgame sequence, at the end of
which Arthur C. Clarke makes
a vague reference to a game sequel.
Copyright (c) 1996 Balmoral
Software. Portions copyright (c)
1996 Sierra Online, Inc.