Like its companion, the Adventure 350 Walkthrough, this aims to be a universal walkthrough of Adventure games, only this time for all 550-point variants of the PLAT0550 family.
In 1979, David Platt released his 550-point expanded version of the original 350-point Crowther and Woods Colossal Cave Adventure. Over the years, Platt's code was ported to other platforms and languages, until it had become the forebear of one of the largest branches of the Adventure Family Tree. This walkthrough will attempt to cover Platt and all of its progeny, including:
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PLAT0550 WELL0550 KINW0550 |
ARD_0550 STRO0550 STAD0550 |
ARNA0550 Tested KIND0550 ODWY0550 |
GOET0550 |
The commands you type are formatted in BOLD MONOSPACED ALL-CAPS. If you see a command posted pended with (...), it means the command may need to be repeated multiple times to have its effect. Words in [square] brackets are optional; you may type or omit them as you wish. Words in {braces} are placeholders; see the notes to find out what to fill in. All other text is commentary or explanation.
The appearances of the dwarves and the pirate are random, and thus this walkthrough cannot account for them precisely, so keep your eyes peeled. The pirate will show up at random moments to steal any treasure you're carrying. Except in cases noted below, just ignore him. You'll get all your treasures back (plus one more) later.
When the first dwarf appears, he will chuck a treechopper at your head. Simply GET AXE. To dispatch subsequent diminutive demons, throw axe then get axe repeatedly until the dwarrowdelf-dweller has met his demise. In some variants these dastardly denizens of the dark can be difficult to do in.
Of these, there are 26, as follows:
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Golden chain Persian rug Rare coins Rare spices Trident Treasure chest |
Golden eggs Bars of silver Emerald Ming vase Gold nugget Diamonds |
Jewelry Pyramid Pearl Pieces of eight Iridium crown Gem-encrusted helmet |
Saphire sceptre Ruby yacht Turquoise beads Mithril ring Spyglass Crystalline sculpture |
Jade bracelet Casket of opals |
For those variants which support saving your game, it's a good idea to save frequently, at the end of each excursion at the very least. It's easy, it's free, and you just never know. To help you remember not to forget, we've built saves into The Universal Adventure 550 Walkthrough. You can thank us later :-)
Note that, should you ever need to restore, you will be asked whether you want to keep the save-image. If you say no, the game will delete the save file and you'll never be able to use it again. Just say yes.
Now, on with the adventure!
Golden nugget, diamonds, jewelry, rare coins, gem-encrusted visorless helmet, bars of silver, platinum pyramid
You should be carrying the lamp and the keys (get them in the building).
Or yes if you're curious.
And here we go...
The Hall of the Mountain King
Can you believe it?!
If the pirate hasn't popped up yet to relieve you of your treasures, you won't be able to get the pyramid, so let's drop off what we've got first.
And now for the last treasure of this excursion.
Leave the emerald for now. You can't get it out this way.
Type invent to see what you're carrying.
ARNA0550: 129
emerald, trident, Ming vase, pearl
You should be carrying the lamp, the axe (if you've gotten it), the bottle with water, and the dragon's teeth. Type invent to check.
From now on we will enter and exit using the magic commands
Leave the vase for later.
Ignore the troll. Just leaving the teeth here for later.
Yes, everything!
Time to dust off your botanical skills.
WARNING! You must drop the pillow before the vase. While there's some danger without the axe, you will otherwise lose it. And if a dwarf does show up and start throwing knives, ignore him and keep your fingers cross. In about twenty moves you'll lose him.
Into the giant's lair
Ah, the whirlpool. This one stumped me for months.
Time to return home with our loot.
mithril ring, golden chain, pirate's chest, and anything which the pirate has taken from you.
You should be carrying the lamp, axe, food, sword and keys. Type invent to check.
Was that cool, or what?
You'll need room to carry other stuff.
Volcano View
Save just in case.
Turn off the lamp and go in the direction of the light.
Entering The Catacombs. Follow the directions carefully.
The Audience Hall
If you're not here, you're lost. restore catacomb and try again.
When you take the sceptre, the skeleton will give you a secret word. Don't forget it!
Whew! Safely out of the catacombs.
Enter the secret word the skeleton gave you. You did remember it, right?
Drop everything but the lamp and plate—DON'T drop the plate!
Guess all that growling was coming from the bear's stomach.
Or throw food.
Looks like the troll finds your friend un-bear-able.
Don't eat the mushroom just yet. It's for later, when carrying stuff out of the pirate's maze.
The Pirate's Maze
If the pirate hasn't yet shown up at least once to relieve you of your treasures, wander around (but don't get lost!) until he does. Then return here and continue.
If you're not at the brink of a pit, you're lost. restore pirate and try again.
In case there's too much here for you to carry.
Once again, drop the pillow (if you're carrying it) before the vase.
Just as Excursion 3 was by far the longest of the excursions, this is by far the shortest—just a quick jaunt in and out.
rare spices, iridium crown, sceptre, jade bracelet, toy yacht.
You should be carrying the lamp and the axe. Type invent to check.
This is the same word the skeleton gave you in Excursion 3.
score: 319 out of 550.
golden eggs, crystal trident, cask of opals, crystalline sculpture
You should be carrying the lamp and the axe. Type invent to check.
Time to get the eggs back from the troll.
The Sorcerer's Lair
WARNING! Do NOT! do this until you have been told your lantern is getting dim. This may be done at any point before passing back into the Sorcerer's Lair. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
The Ice Maze
As usual, follow the directions very carefully. restore icemaze if you get lost.
Mapping out the ice maze spells "THURB". If you're not back in the Ice Room, restore icemaze and try again.
You should be back in the Sorcerer's Lair. If for some reason you haven't yet been told your latern is growing dim, wander around on this side of the Lair until you have, then drop lamp; noside samoht; get [lamp], then return here and continue.
score: 372 out of 550.
pearl, pieces of eight, spyglass
You should be carrying the lamp, axe, trident and rod. invent to check.
Nothing "obvious" happens. You just hardened a patch of quicksand.
And again.
score: 440 out of 550.
Witt's End
The Last Lousy Point! You are now stuck at Witt's End. To get out, just keep trying any direction. Whether you make it out and wander around or not doesn't really matter. After about 25 moves you will hear a voice announcing the imminent closing of the Cave. Another 15ish moves later the Cave will close and the End Game will be triggered. score: 441.
None
You will find you are carrying nothing.
score: 510. So here you are stuck in an empty cylinder. You're holding nothing, nor is there anything manipulable in the room. If only you knew some magic words...
You should find yourself back in front of the building where the game started. score: 530 points.
All of Adventuredom gives tribute to you, Adventurer Grandmaster!
Just south of the West End of the Long Hall is the entrance to the Battery Maze, that legendary "maze of twisty little passages, all alike". Hidden deep in that maze are fresh batteries for failing lanterns. Ours isn't (or shouldn't be) failing—and in any case we'd have to give up a treasure to get them, making the game unwinnable—so we won't need to venture that way. But it being one of the most famous tourist spots in all of adventure gaming history, the interminably curious will not wish to forego a wander (after you've finished the game, of course!). So, at the well house grab the lantern and the axe and sally forth.
If you're starting from a fresh game, note that in some variants you cannot use magic words to enter the cavern until you've once visited that location in the usual way.
S takes you into the maze. Follow the steps from here carefully, or you'll wind up hopelessly lost.
A quick glance at any Adventure 350 game map will dispel the notion that The Universal Adventure 350 Walkthrough is in any sense an optimized solution. This is an unavoidable consequence of its attempting to be a one-size-fits-all solution: it must accomodate the idiosyncracies of a large number of variations, while not making use of features not common to all.
For example, using the aforementioned teleportation feature, one could shorten the walkthrough considerably. But teleportation is not available in all Adventure 350 variants; consequently, it is not used here. Ditto for get all. EKMA0350 does not support it, so The Universal Adventure 350 Walkthrough doesn't use it.
The order in which treasures are gathered is also affected. Take the pearl: it would by all accounts be more efficient to collect the pearl earlier in the game, when the player is in the vicinity of the Complex Junction. But because in some Adventure 350 variants the pirate can delay his appearance until quite late in the game, we can't be sure the player has the trident until after he has retrieved his treasures from the pirate's maze.