The Hacker's Encyclopedia 1998/hackers_encyclopedia.iso/pc/softdox/uninvite.txt

Text File | 2003-06-11 | 24.7 KB | 433 lines

Uninvited Part 1
----------------
By Kiran S. Kedlaya

     Welcome to the walkthrough for Uninvited. If you are reading this,
chances are you have Uninvited. So let's get down to business.

     LOOKOUT! Hmm... wonder what that black shape was. Anyway, your car's a
wreck, your brother's gone, and I think I smell gas. What a way to start
the day. Speaking of gas, I'd get out of the car.

     Boom! Oh well, you can't win 'em all. Your brother is probably inside
that creepy mansion. But don't go in yet. Open the mailbox and read the
mail. You don't need the letter (just keep track somehow of what it said),
but hang on to the amulet. Now open the door, and go through.

     This place is not exactly a comfy environment, but no time to worry
about that now. You must be exhausted; why don't you have a seat. (Try
everything you can sit on.) Ouch! Something sharp must be in that chair.
But since we can't open it yet, you'll have to leave it alone. Now that you
have a choice of two exits, take the door on the right.

     This small room isn't too important, but that book is. Take down the
definitions inside (if you're curious, those words are Latin), and leave.
Now that you're back here in this entrance hall, take the door on top (from
now on, exits will be referred to by their position in the Exits window).

     Though it doesn't look it at first, this would be a good place to save
your position. Why? You'll see in a minute. Open any of the doors except
the one on the top right (that's the one you just came through). Voila! A
Scarlett O'Hara lookalike. But definitely not a Scarlett O'Hara actalike,
as you'll notice very shortly. Now do anything. Whoops! That Scarlett's a
killer. We'll deal with her shortly, but for now open that saved game (you
DID save your game before this, didn't you?) and go upstairs.

     Welcome to what is known as a six-way junction. There's quite a bit to
explore up here, so let's go one door at a time, starting at the lower
right door. Open it up and go through.

     Well, well, well, a storage closet. Who'd store anything in this
place, anyway? In any case, most of this stuff is pretty useless, but
examine the things to find out what you need.

     What's this, a bottle of No-Ghost? Well, we DO have a ghost to kill
downstairs, but for now, just open it up and hang on to it. Also keep the
Spider Cider handy. Now you can leave the same way you came in, and use the
next door, on the middle right.

     That axe may be very useful, if you're a psychotic, or you want to
finish the game, so drag it into the inventory. Don't go up the stairs, but
if you must, save your game here and climb up those stairs. Open the cell
door and go inside. Uh-oh... Time to open that saved game, and leave the
way you came. Now we go through the door on the top right. But since the
radio doesn't work, there's no time to sleep, and the star in the dresser
will soon be superseded by a better model, we might as well leave.

     Next, the top left door. Well, here's a book for us to read! Let's
read it... Not much interesting there, but what about this nightstand?
Examine it. "The solid-looking nightstand makes a hollow ring when you
knock on it." I wonder why... Maybe it is hollow! Try opening it. That
cigar-type object is really a scroll. Open that too and examine it. Those
six words should sound familiar. They're in that book we read some turns
back! If you wrote down the definitions (and I hope you did), you will be
able to translate those words as "Talking head" and a magic word, and
"Instant light" and a magic word. Those are spells that can be cast on
objects. But you just need to know the words, so leave the scroll where it
is and use the door in the top right corner.

     Hmm, no toilet in this bathroom. Maybe it was used for something
else... But anyway, examine the various objects in here, specifically that
funny-looking light on the ceiling. Looks grippable, the game says. Maybe
we can open it... but we can't reach it right now, so just go back out into
the upstairs hallway. Now we'll go through the final unused door on the
bottom left. Look, another book! (Hey, that rhymes!) Open it up and take
down what's inside. "My servant sealed his star inside my hingeless box."
Hmm.. where's the box? "I've hidden the key, a chair knows where." And if
you interpreted that correctly, you should know where, too. But at this
point, open that cabinet. Or rather, try. It seems to be locked, but we
know where the key is, so go out and head back downstairs. Now in the hall,
go back to the entrance hall (the door on the top right, remember?). We can
now open the chair, but not by Opening it. We have to hack it up. Operate
the axe on the chair, and presto! a key. Drag that into the inventory. But
wait, there's a head here. Maybe it talks. Try saying that talking head
spell (Specan Heafod Abraxas) to the head. "Find your brother!" Wow, quite
useful, but don't despair. That's not the only talking head around here. At
this point go to the hall and open one of the doors.

     There's Scarlett again. But this time we're ready to kill that ghost
once and for all. Operate the open bottle of No-Ghost on her. That worked
quite well, and you can drop the No-Ghost, since it's empty. Remember the
locked cabinet upstairs? We now have a key! So head on upstairs back into
the master bedroom. Now that we're here, unlock the cabinet and pop it
open. Well, what's this? Two scrolls, a bottle and a box! First open the
scrolls, read them and keep track of what's on 'em.

     Try examining that bottle. The liquid inside seems to be in one piece.
Ever see any liquids that act like that? I'll give you a hint. It's in
thermometers... right, it's mercury! And the bottle has a gold cap.
Recalling one of the scrolls, "Gold, silver, and mercury. Together they
form a key." But wait, first of all you have no silver, and second of all
if you did, there would be no way to put them all together. The "key"
mentioned is not what you think. Let's take a look at the box. Seems to be
airtight. Maybe we can open it... then again, maybe not. Notice there are
no hinges on this box, so it's a "hingeless box". Sound familiar? But we
can't open it... yet, so just drag it into the inventory.

     By now you'll have noticed a couple of things which haven't been
addressed here, so I'll address them. The first is that skull which pops
out of nowhere. The game gives you a certain number of turns in which to
finish. If you don't finish by then, you're finished for sure. The skull
just is a reminder of how long you have left.

     Also, you most likely have seen a little creature run across the
screen waving a key. Unfortunately, you can't do anything while he's there,
so anything you do to him must be set up beforehand. And yes, that key is
useful, but not now. Now it's time to head for the hall. We can go several
directions here, so you might want to explore the various exits. But
there's no time to lose, your brother's in danger!

     As we return to the scene, we find ourselves in the hall. We have
several ways to proceed, so let's go through the door on the bottom right
(remember, exits will be referred to by their position in the Exits
window), taking care to open it first.

     Hmm... this parlor seems to be totally insignificant. But there is a
closed door at the top left, so let's proceed.

     Welcome to a veranda. That spider seems to have some importance. But
how do we get at him? Remember the bottle in the storage closet? You know,
the one marked Spider Cider? The "arachnid anesthetizer" could come in very
handy. Unfortunately for us, he only appears when we come out here, and is
gone before we can do anything. But how could we set things up so that he'd
get a dose of Spider Cider while crossing? Perhaps if he stepped in a
puddle of it, he'd be knocked out. This puddle can be created by spraying
the Spider Cider on the veranda. Now go back in and come out. Voila!
Paralyzed spider! We can now pick it up and carry it with us, which you
should do now before going back to the hall.

     Back at the hall, it's time to take the upper left door. Food!
Obviously this place isn't as deserted as you thought. You can grab a bite
from the bowl if you want, but there's no need. Just grab the flowers, open
the double doors at the top and proceed through.

     This place is getting more inhabited by the minute. This study seems
to have been used a lot, judging from the description of the desk. Open it
and have a peek.

     Well, well, well, index cards! These will not be important themselves,
but make sure you note the information on them.

     Anyhow, visiting time is over, so go through the door on the top
right. Whoops! It's locked, but we have a skeleton key, so use it. Oh dear,
that doesn't seem to work either. But don't worry about it much. Just go
back the other way to the dining room. This time, take the double doors on
the top left.

     Presenting... the kitchen! You're right, it isn't worth a fancy
leadup. Just take the door on the right.

     This pantry is reasonably stocked, considering this is a haunted
mansion. However, since the oven doesn't work (try it yourself), there's
really nothing important here except the matchbox. At this point, depart
and take the door on the left from the kitchen.

     This room seems to belong to someone... but who? You'll see, but for
now, just look around. Specifically at the light. If you've poked around a
bit you'll remember that all the lamps around here seem to fail due to lack
of electricity. But this one doesn't require electricity, so flick it on.

     Presto! A secret compartment! Also a mean ghost guarding it. To deal
with him, you'll have to use some object you've picked up already. Just
keep Operating things on him until... Bam! The spider really touched him
off, didn't it? Now that we have access to the compartment, open the book
and read it. Remember its contents: they're important. At this point
dispose of the spider. "I've hidden the star in Master's special box. It
never opens, it has no locks. Dracan's star never discerns. In fire it
freezes, in ice it burns." Poetry aside, this should turn the gears in your
mind. Master's special box, that never opens? The hingeless box! But wait!
There's more. If it freezes in fire, and burns in ice, that gives us a way
to destroy the box without ruining its contents.
     But enough chatter, let's return to the dining room. Now take the door
on the right back to the hall. Don't worry about the door on the bottom:
we'll get there anyway. Take the top right door back to the entrance hall.
We can now use fire to access the contents of the box. Open the matchbook
and strike a match (operate a match on the matchbook; you can select the
matchbook by clicking anywhere in the window for the open matchbook). Now
light the fireplace with this match, before it goes out. Vroom! That
kindling sure could use the warmth.

      Now for the piece d'resistance. Pop the box in the fire. We now have
a pentagram. This will be INCREDIBLY useful in time, but for now, just hang
on to it. Now, go back to the hall and take the final door on the bottom
left. This seems to be a rec room. Kinda out of place, don't you think? But
there's no time for nitpicking right now. Try operating the victrola. Oh
well, one victrola in for repairs... There is the locked cabinet, though.
Luckily you have a key. Open the cabinet with the key and look inside. That
doll sure looks interesting, and may have some value to boot.

     Now for the exits. The door on the right leads to the dining room
(that's the one we didn't take), so go through the door on top. How
impressive! Skins and heads galore. But this room is "don't touch", so
hands off the animals. That cage is useful, though. If you carry it around,
you can put things in and increase the capacity of your inventory! So drag
it in right away. At this point, take the door on top. Follow the yellow
brick road... never mind. This junction seems interesting, follow the
middle brick road.

     Welcome to a greenhouse. Why not go inside? Lots of dead plants
inhabit this greenhouse. If you examine them carefully, though, one is not
dead yet. The watering can here only has water for one plant, so water the
undead plant. At first you shouldn't see any response, but a watched pot
never boils. Come back later for an update.

     Now go back out to the junction and down the right path. This would be
a good time to save your game, as you are in immediate danger. Those dogs
are vicious. You have no means of killing them, but maybe you could scare
them. Try a little sorcery. Remember the scroll with the Latin words on
them? One of them translated to "Instant light" and a magic word. Maybe a
little "instant light" would turn these vicious beasts. Say "Instantum
Illuminaris Abraxas" to one of the dogs. Now we can go inside. (The bit
about watching your step is just a red herring.) But step on it, there's no
time to lose!

     We find ourselves at Chapel Entrance, freezing in the bitter wind. The
chapel is obviously a haven from the breeze, so stroll inside. Time to make
a study of the objects here. Notice the head on the stand. Remember back at
Entrance Hall, the other head? The one we cast a spell on? If you don't, in
one of the scrolls were printed six words from the book, in two lines. One
of these translated to "Instant light", which you've already invoked if
you've gotten this far. The other one translated to "Talking head". Maybe
this head talks... Say "Specan Heafod Abraxas" to the head. Zam! The door
opened. But don't leave yet, there's still work to do. Notice the cross.
That seems like a handy doodad to have around. Pick it up.

     Well, we have a secret trapdoor here. But don't go there either.
Examine the candelabra. Maybe we could pick it up... Drag it in (if it
doesn't fit, open the cage and put things in there). Now save your
position. Don't ask any questions, just do it. You're at a life-threatening
position, though it doesn't seem like it.
     Now we can exit two ways. Let's go through the trapdoor. Hmm... what's
this about a spider? Try again. The game seems intent on keeping you up
here. Keep trying, and eventually you'll get through. Whoops! There IS a
spider here! And a very big one at that! Open the saved game and try again.
This time, though, take the door on the left. Oh oh, this poltergeist won't
even give you a ghost of a chance. Open the saved game again. Anything we
do to it must be set up beforehand. Ghosts can be easily frightened,
strangely. And any creep usually can be warded off by a religious symbol of
some sort. Look at the candelabra. Notice that it's not lit. Maybe we'd
have better luck it it were lit. Strike a match (remember, operate it on
the matchbox) and light the candelabra. Now proceed back through the door.
That candelabra sure frightened the ghost!

     Anyhow, up ahead is a garden maze, but a very gloomy one. Time to whip
out the graph paper and head onward into the maze. We now are in a gloomy
garden maze. Luckily, your sense of direction has actually sharpened, not
faded. You always will be facing the same direction in the maze. Map any
way you like. Just wander around, mapping passages and avoiding hazards,
until something interesting happens. If you happen upon a bunch of zombies,
run the way you came. There is no way to deal with them. There is one band
that never moves, but if you do find a bunch, come back again to see if
they've left. If you find one zombie, you can deal with him (it?) very
simply. A zombie is, of course, undead. That should ring a bell... Remember
the letter we read at the very beginning of the game? "The undead fear
symbology." Remember what came with it? The amulet, of course! Operate it
on him (it?) for best results. If you find a tombstone or coffin, make a
note of where it was, but don't worry about it right now. If you've been
everywhere there is to be, and seen everything there is to see, you'll
remember there are a few tombstones about. You do have a bunch of flowers,
but only one. Which tombstone is different from all the rest? The unmarked
one. Operate the flowers on it. A hidden passage! What luck! Go through it
right away.

     Three cages here to distract us. Which one to open? Don't worry,
there's only one lock. Unlock it with the key. Here would be a good point
to save your game. One wrong move and you're cat food, snake food and bird
food simultaneously. The animal we're interested in is the bird, so operate
the cage on it. What a hungry snake!

     Now that that's over, take the exit at the bottom (the exit at the
left leads back to the bunch of zombies). Keep going until you find
something interesting. Did you see what was under the bouncing creature? If
you didn't, recall one of the scrolls you found in the Master Bedroom. "The
heart of the maze contains the Blothney gem."

     Welcome to the heart of the maze. But we still have a bouncing
creature to take care of. It looks friendly. Maybe it's hungry. It also
looks fat enough to be a carnivore. Maybe we can give him a bird to munch
on... Open the cage to get at the bird. Oh well, it got away. But look! the
bouncing creature is chasing it. Now we can get at that gem and get out of
here, which you should do.

     Now go back to the junction we left earlier and re-enter the
greenhouse. Look! That plant we watered earlier has born some fruit. Grab
the plant and go back to the junction. Heading up the left path, we find
ourselves at Magisterium. That should sound familiar. Remember the book?
Magisterium translates to "mystery". Now recall the second half of one of
the scrolls in Master Bedroom. "There are places you cannot go, 'til you
unlock the 'mystery'." There is a gem-shaped hole in the doorway. Putting
together the parts of the message, we should be able to unlock the door
with the Blothney gem.

     Try it.

     Open sesame! We can now go inside, which we should do. That demon
seems more vicious than he is. Maybe he's hungry. But he doesn't seem like
he'll want any "normal" food. Try feeding him some home-grown food, from
the greenhouse. There he goes! We are now very near the conclusion of our
hunt. But as the tension grows, so does the danger, so watch your step (I
mean it this time!).

     If you've made it this far, you're really close to the end. But as they
say, it ain't over 'til it's over, so let's go to work.

     We find ourselves in the Magisterium, at a three-way junction. Let's
take the door on the right (remember, doorways are referred to by their
position in the Exits window).

     This room seems to be some sort of observatory. What varied interests
the undead have! Nothing here seems to be of interest except the book, so
take a look. Darnit, that book is in some indecipherable scrawl. Time to
leave and take the door on the left.

     Whoops! That door is locked, and you don't have the key. Don't worry,
you can't get past that door, so go through the top door and take a look.
Somebody must be doing something important in here (or at least important-
looking). There is a safe here for the opening. But what's the combination?
Time to invoke one of the messages we read a long time back. The one that
was in the Master Bedroom... "Gold, silver, and mercury. Together they form
a key." These three words have appeared elsewhere. I wonder where... yank
out the list of the information on the cards in the study. The ones that
had some of the elements on them. Find the numbers of gold, silver, and
mercury, and string them together with dashes. This is the combination to
the safe.

     What's this, a cookie jar inside! Open it. Well, then we'll have to
open it the hard way. Remember how we "opened" the chair back in the
entrance hall? Attack the cookie jar with the axe. Voila! One cookie.
Though you might be tempted, don't eat it. Hang on to it.

     Remember anybody who seems to have had a sugar rush lately? Been
acting awfully hyper? The little gremlin you remember taunting you with a
key can now be faced. But to face him, you'll have to go in the house. Go
back to the trophy room (or anyplace inside). Now just drop the cookie and
do something until the demon runs by again.

     That cookie really WAS tempting! The key he's left you will be very
handy, so grab it and race back to the room we came back from. The trapdoor
is a good place to go right now. Open it and descend downwards. It's now
time to save your game, because you could be in deep trouble if you screw
up now.

     Go through the top passage. Yow! This is the same spider you spotted
from coming through the altar trapdoor. Yes, they are connected. But this
time, you have time to escape, so come back. Now take the middle passage.

     Who was that bearded man, anyway? It's time to melt the ice. A fire
will not do right now, so it's time to invoke some more poetry. Recall the
rhymes from the servant's diary? "Dracan's star never discerns. In fire it
freezes, in ice it burns." We found Dracan's star in the hingeless box: the
pentagram. Since it burns in ice, we can use it to melt this cave. But save
your position first. Now operate the star on the ice cave.

     Something's happening, and you'll have to hurry to stop it. Follow the
body through the top passage into the next cave.

     Here's the body, and you must get rid of it--as far away as possible.
Examine the hole in the center of the room. A bottomless pit... that's
pretty far. Throw the body down it. Now go through the passage near the
pit, but don't go down the pit, unless you're a masochist.

     Here we have a wooden door. Open it and... oops, it's locked. Try the
skeleton key. No luck? Maybe the key we got from the demon will do it...
Voila! Now open it. Not another creaking door! Go through, and...

     Omigosh! That's your brother, and his pained screams seem to be coming
from above. We'll have to go above--upstairs, that is. Go back to the hall
and take the stairs.

     You're getting closer, but not yet. We have to go up further. Recall
the odd light fixture, that looked grippable? Head through the top left
door and into the bathroom.

     Somebody wants you here, or something. You're almost there. Now try to
open the light fixture.

     Save your game here, because the next step involves some risk. You
have no way of reaching that light fixture on solid ground. Maybe the
ground you must be on is liquid...

     Turn on the water in the tub. No, you can't take a bath, but the water
is going to gush. Out of the tub, even. This overflow could raise you a
bit. Try to open the fixture again.

     Next time, maybe. Keep trying until it finally opens. Now there's no
time to lose. If you hesitate you'll be all wet. Go through the fixture.

     A secret room! And your brother!! Examine him. He's delirious. And
there's a potential escape route in the window. There are three ways to
proceed here, the easiest of which is to dawdle. But there are faster ways.

     If you want to take care of your brother first, you'll realize he is
slightly dizzy, delirious, etc. Time to smack some sense into him. Hit him
(but NOT with the axe--that has a bit too much effect.)

     If you'd rather open up an escape route first, open the window. But
not by opening it, that won't work. You'll have to open it the old-
fashioned way, the way we opened the chair and the cookie jar; hack it up
with the axe. Either way, a sceptre will come out of your brother, who will
escape out the window. He's safe: it's now your turn to escape. Save your
game; one wrong move and you're dead... er, undead.

     Remember the infamous line in the letter? "The undead fear symbology."
And usually religious symbology, to boot. What religious symbology do you
have for him?

     The cross! Show it to him.

     Whoa! That really did him in. Just go through the window and smell the
fresh air.

     You did it! Now wasn't that fun? Don't forget to print out a
certificate of accomplishment.

     I hope you enjoyed Uninvited as much as I did. And I hope the walkthru
was useful. If you have any comments/gripes/praise/etc., just leave me E-
Mail at GEMail address K.KEDLAYA.

Uninvited is copyright 1986 by Mindscape, Inc.
This walkthru has not been copyrighted yet by Kiran S. Kedlaya, but this
walkthru may be distributed freely, provided that it is distributed in its
entirety, including this notice.