Hint Request -- The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy

I’m nearly done with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, having a score of 350 out of 400.

Here’s my explanation of my current game state:

[spoiler]I’ve done just above everything there is to do onboard the Heart of Gold, and I’ve been to all the areas that you get transported to by using the improbability drive. I’m fairly certain that I’ve accomplished all the goals in those areas and gotten all the necessary objects. Now the The Heart of Gold has landed on Magrathea, and I need Marvin’s help to open the hatch, to get out of the ship. Marvin will go to the Access Space to fix the hatch, but I have to bring the one tool that he needs. I can only bring one object, and the hints confirmed that Marvin will never ask for the one tool that I happen to be carrying.

The hints complicated matters for me. The question about opening the hatch directs me to another hint topic, about the fluff. I have all four pieces of fluff that the hints imply that I need. The Guide entry about fluff gives the impression that I can somehow put the four pieces of fluff together to create a seed or a plant. I don’t know how to do this, and the hint topic tells me not to go on until I’ve found the flower pot. But I’ve never come across a flower pot.

Did I miss the pot at some point, making the game unwinnable? I think Infocom hates me. :wink:[/spoiler]

Thank you.

I think that’s about where I got stuck, but I eventually got through it (I think I had to use some hints).

Have you been inside the whale yet? I don’t remember where the flower pot comes from, but I know that the whale is involved in this puzzle.

Oh, and by the way, I think there is some help available about this puzzle in the footnotes, if you know where to look. I didn’t, and only found out about them after the fact.

No, I haven’t seen that. I think I’ll check the hints about that part and see what I missed. I really appreciate your help. :slight_smile:

My memory is a little fuzzy, but I think you might need to complete all the other episodes connected to the Infinite Improbability Drive first. I think there’s a way to control where you end up - have you figured that out?

I mentioned the footnotes before. I think I meant the Guide itself, though.

No, I haven’t figured out how to control the improbability drive, if there’s a way to do that. I’ve been assuming that I’ve been to all the regions assosciated with the drive, since I’ve collected all the tools and all the fluff. I’ve tried flipping the switch on the drive some more, but it just sends me back to a random region that I’ve already completed, and I get “killed” instantly, only to be sent back to the Heart of Gold. Maybe if I keep trying, the drive will randomly take me to the whale’s region, but I don’t think so. I probably have to do something to the drive first.

Okay, then, here’s a hint for you:

[spoiler]You can’t control the improbability drive itself, but you CAN control where you end up.

I just checked this against the Invisiclues. I was only half right about not being able to control the Improbability drive. You may be missing something related to that.[/spoiler]

Alright, I finally got it! I’ve finished the game now. Thank you, Mike.

I actually did try using the tea as the source of brownian motion the first time I played through that part, but I did pay close enough attention to the Dark messages to realize that it made any difference.

I suppose Infocom never finished the sequel. Too bad. :neutral_face:

Your reply makes me think you aren’t aware of the following. In which case, you’ll probably be very interested.

waxy.org/2008/04/milliways_infoc … ndex.shtml

Doing some thread necromancy here, apologies, but I just noticed the link to one of the Milliways prototypes has the extension z6 - was this planned to be a graphical adventure ala Shogun?

I don’t suppose we’ll ever know. :slight_smile: