The Prisoner: Zero Escape, 1980 Edition

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > The Prisoner: Zero Escape, 1980 Edition

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

You want information? You won't get it.

OK, maybe a little.

Released in MCMLXXX for the Apple II, The Prisoner (insipred by the MCMLXVII TV series) is a game like no other. It's designed to confuse, disorient and deceive. It's a game which tracks and saves your every move, just so that it can wipe your XXXX XXXX the moment you make a critical mistake.

As an off-line experience, the Prisoner is unrivalled in its meta level. For all his famous "Fission Mailed" and the HIDEO channel, Hideo Kojima has never made a game that can rage quit on the player.

I'll start off with a few videos exploring our prison and figuring out how everything works. Then you'll tell me how to escape. I'm going into this with live commentary and semi-blind, having messed with some of the game's areas previously.

ACT I, Orientation:

Recording #1. Buildings #1-6.

Recording #II. Buildings #7-14.

Recording #C. Buildings #15-20+.

ACT TWO,

Recording #Four. Unplug the system.

Recording #

. Oops.

Recording #2*3. Mary had a little ****.

Recording #+1. The rover.

Recording #Trial. Freedom.

Recording. The Plug.

SelenicMartian fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Apr 23, 2017

# ¿ Feb 23, 2017 14:03

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 22:34

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Ah, crap. How do I ask a mode to change the icon to Classic?

# ¿ Feb 23, 2017 14:08

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Oh, I will turn it down. This time I reduced it by 10-11dB, next time I'll go with 20.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2017 16:05

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Fedule posted:

There are like five tags with "Classic" but I took a guess.

Thanks!

It was ironic that I'd forgot the icon, seeing that the game requires attention and concentration.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2017 17:34

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

You know how Drakengard has gameplay segments that make you want to kill yourself, and then it mocks you for sitting through that poo poo?

Recording #II. Buildings #7-14

The Prisoner is possibly the first game to let you graduate and get drunk. Also, a pioneer in 'There was a ____ here. It's gone now.'

# ¿ Feb 28, 2017 15:06

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Yes, Missile Command being nightmares given flesh is one of my favourite things about it. I wanted to record it for the old art games thread, but couldn't get the audio to capture.

The original Monopoly, The Landlord's Game from 1904, had two rule sets, one of which ensured everyone got rich and the other would lead to one player coming out on top, as everyone else was in debt with no ways to get out. Elizabeth Magie made it as an illustration of some idiotic policies regarding property ownership.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Landlord%27s_Game
Then her patents were bought, one half of the game was removed, and her name nearly erased.

The part where everyone in Monopoly ends up hating both the winner and the game itself is 100% intentional.

EclecticTastes posted:

Well, as far as we know, just typing "2-3-0" in the memory game doesn't necessarily get you a game over, it's just better to be safe than sorry. I mean, if the emulator is capable of saving and loading states, it might be interesting to test it, just to see, but I wouldn't think it counts as revealing your number unless it's all a single prompt (such as in the Castle, or typing it as a complete input in a text box, rather than broken up between several).

The manual warns(or lies) that sometimes the input prompt is invisible, i.e. the game may be waiting for a particular input without giving you any indication of that.

I know of one place where typing in your code does not end the game. It's the city selection before the first gassing. There the system only waits for any three symbols.

# ¿ Mar 2, 2017 11:25

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

hyphz posted:

On that point, will you be doing the sequel/remake also?

No, but if anyone wants to they can start after we check out the island.

# ¿ Mar 3, 2017 19:27

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

On no, score can be positive. But the "out of" part goes up every time you do something.

And I'm prety sure, you can get different scores upon quitting immediately after the first castle sequence.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2017 06:17

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Recording #C. Buildings #15-20+.

Spec Ops: The #

So, what next?

# ¿ Mar 7, 2017 18:43

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

hyphz posted:

I'm assuming Selenic knows the game too

Nope. I've seen a couple more of its tricks and that's it.

# ¿ Mar 8, 2017 11:09

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Added Space posted:

In the library question section I could see text flickering in the upper right but I wasn't able to read it - subliminal indeed.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2017 03:24

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Recording #Four. Unplug the system.

The earliest

in a commercial game? By the way, the publisher specialised in edutainment.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2017 17:00

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

hyphz posted:

Wait... FOR I = 0 AND 2? That's not even legal BASIC. It should be FOR I = 0 TO 2. I'm not sure if that's an error on the disk image or anything, but changing that should make it work.. I'm pretty sure this isn't an intended puzzle or anything either.

I had the exact same error message once after running out of the library books. The game can do this "crash" instead of gassing you.

Heh... just off the news.
"Landmark Milgram experiments on obedience recreated in Poland, with similarly horrifying conclusion"
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/milgram-poland-experiment-recreated-authority-obedience-research-social-psychology-a7628981.html

SelenicMartian fucked around with this message at 03:38 on Mar 15, 2017

# ¿ Mar 15, 2017 03:05

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

The situation so far:

1: Psych Test: No purpose at the moment.

2: Caretaker: Chat bot.

3: Sim City: Need to "beat" it somehow to retire and get a gold watch. Maybe idle even more.

4: Sound Puzzle: No purpose at the moment.

5: Carnival: Need to try it out a few more times.

6: Home.

7: Bank: Still need a gold watch and a cross for the loan.

8: Court/Hangman: No purpose at the moment.

9: Movie Theatre: Need to trigger a random event there.

10: General Store. Matches?

11: News Stand: Keep checking for clues.

12: Library: Burn money on CUNTquizzes to get a book.

13: School: Graduated.

14: Pub: Maybe something happens if you get really smashed.

15: Church: Chat bot, probably hiding a cross.

16: Clothing Store

17: Torture Room: No.

18: Pit Crossing Room: Not sure how to make a bridge out or sticks and rope.

19: Diner: cloning facility, asks for 10000.

20: Casino, clues machine, money/items machine, escape machine (5000 for a silver dollar).

# ¿ Mar 19, 2017 07:21

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Oops.

Recording #

. Oops.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2017 18:04

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

hyphz posted:

And yea, you might have to manually patch PR.CARNY

Or, i could try Prisoner v1.9.1. Works like a charm.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2017 13:22

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Recording #2*3. Mary had a little ****.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2017 19:09

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Ok, I've recorded a new session and did make some progress, but not in the loving town hall.
We all know what we need to get there, but have no idea how.

So, how about some heavy artillery.
PR.HALL.txt

code:

1 ZZ =  FRE (0): POKE  - 16368,0
 2  ONERR  GOTO 32000
 8  PRINT  CHR$ (4);"BLOAD TONES"
 9  GOTO 1000
 300  VTAB 6: NORMAL : FOR I = 1 TO 8: HTAB 18: PRINT  SPC( 3): IF  RND (1) < T2(4) THEN T1% = T2(I) * 100: HTAB 21 -  LEN ( STR$ (T1%)): PRINT T1%;
 303  PRINT : NEXT I: VTAB 18: HTAB 25: PRINT  SPC( 4): HTAB 25: PRINT T4%;: HTAB 35: PRINT  SPC( 4): IF  RND (1) < T2(4) THEN  HTAB 35: PRINT T5%
 305  PRINT : RETURN 
 390  NORMAL :H3% = 16:H4% = 19:L3% = 2:L4% = 20: GOSUB 395: RETURN 
 395 T1% = L4% - L3% + 1: VTAB H3%: FOR I3 = H3% TO H4%: HTAB L3%: PRINT  SPC( T1%): PRINT : NEXT I3: RETURN 
 397  VTAB 3: HTAB 23: PRINT  SPC( 16): PRINT : FOR I3 = 1 TO 9: HTAB 23: PRINT " ";: HTAB 38: PRINT " ": NEXT I3: HTAB 23: PRINT  SPC( 16): RETURN 
 500  IF T4% < 950 AND  INT ( RND (1) * 1.2) THEN T1% =  INT ( RND (1) * 100): IF T1% THEN T4% = T4% + T1%:TP$ = "MORE PRISONERS HAVE ARRIVED ON THE ISLAND": GOSUB 620
 510 T2(6) = T2(6) * (.95 + T2(5) / 20) * (.9 + T2(1) / 10): FLASH : IF  RND (1) > T2(6) THEN  NORMAL : IF  RND (1) > T2(5) AND T4% THEN T1% =  RND (1) * 2:T4% = T4% - T1%:T6% = T6% + T1%
 511  GOSUB 397: NORMAL : IF  RND (1) > T2(6) AND  RND (1) < T2(5) AND  RND (1) < T2(3) THEN T2(6) = T2(6) +  RND (1) * (1 - T2(6)):TP$ = "SECURITY IS REPAIRING THE GATES": GOSUB 610
 520 T2(5) = T2(5) * (.9 + T2(7) / 10) * (.95 + T2(2) / 20) * (.95 + T2(3) / 20): IF T5% AND  RND (1) < T2(5) THEN T1% =  RND (1) * T6%:T6% = T6% - T1%:T4% = T4% + T1%: IF T1% THEN TP$ = "SECURITY HAS CAUGHT SOME ESCAPEES": GOSUB 610
 521  IF  INT ( RND (1) * 1.3) AND T2(5) < .5 AND  RND (1) < T2(8) THEN T2(5) = T2(5) +  RND (1) * (1 - T2(5)):TP$ = "HEADQUARTERS IS REINFORCING OUR SECURITY": GOSUB 620
 522  IF X3% AND Y3% AND  RND (1) < T2(5) THEN  VTAB Y3%: HTAB X3%: PRINT " ":TP$ = "SECURITY HAS BROKEN UP FIGHT": GOSUB 610:X3% = 0:Y3% = 0
 523  IF  NOT (X3%) AND  RND (1) > T2(5) AND  INT ( RND (1) * 1.3) THEN X3% =  INT ( RND (1) * 7) * 2 + 25:Y3% =  INT ( RND (1) * 5) * 2 + 4: VTAB Y3%: HTAB X3%: PRINT "F":TP$ = "A FIGHT HAS STARTED": GOSUB 610
 524  IF X3% AND  NOT ( INT ( RND (1) * 10)) THEN  VTAB Y3%: HTAB X3%: PRINT " ":X3% = 0:Y3% = 0:T4% = T4% - 1:TP$ = "SOMEONE WAS KILLED IN THE FIGHT": GOSUB 610:T5% = T5% + 1
 525  IF X4% AND Y4% AND  RND (1) < T2(5) / 10 THEN  VTAB Y4%: HTAB X4%: PRINT " ":TP$ = "SECURITY HAS STOPPED THE RIOT": GOSUB 610:X4% = 0:Y4% = 0
 526  IF  NOT (X4%) AND  RND (1) > T2(5) AND  RND (1) > T2(2) AND  RND (1) > T2(3) AND  INT ( RND (1) * 1.1) THEN X4% =  INT ( RND (1) * 7) * 2 + 25:Y4% =  INT ( RND (1) * 5) * 2 + 4: VTAB Y4%: HTAB X4%: PRINT "R":TP$ = "THERE IS A RIOT ON THE ISLAND": GOSUB 610
 527  IF X4% THEN T1% =  INT ( RND (1) * T4% / 10): IF T1% THEN T4% = T4% - T1%:TP$ = "SOME PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN THE RIOT": GOSUB 610:T5% = T5% + T1%
 530 T2(7) = T2(7) * (.95 + T2(1) / 20):T2(8) = T2(8) * (.9 + T2(1) / 10):T2(4) = T2(4) * (.9 + T2(1) / 10) * (.95 + T2(7) / 20):T2(2) = T2(2) * (.9 + T2(3) / 10) * (.95 + T2(1) / 20) * (.95 + T2(7) / 20)
 570 T2(3) = T2(3) * (.95 + T2(1) / 20) * (.95 + T2(7) / 20)
 575  IF  INT ( RND (1) * 1.05) AND T2(1) < 1 THEN T2(1) = T2(1) +  RND (1) * (1 - T2(1)):TP$ = "HEADQUARTERS IS FIXING OUR POWER LINES": GOSUB 620
 576  FOR I = 1 TO 8: IF T2(I) > .99 THEN T2(I) = 1
 577  NEXT I
 578  IF T5% AND  RND (1) / 50 > T2(5) AND T2(3) > .75 THEN T2(3) = T2(3) / 2:TP$ = "SABOTEURS HAVE BLOWN UP OUR WATER LINES": GOSUB 610:T5% =  INT ( RND (1) * 3) + T5%
 579  IF T5% > 500 THEN  POP 
 580  GOSUB 300: RETURN 
 600  VTAB 22: HTAB 2: NORMAL : PRINT  SPC( 38):TP$ = BK$ + TP$ + BK$:T1% =  LEN (TP$) - 37:ZZ =  FRE (0): FOR I6 = 1 TO T1%: HTAB 2
 603  PRINT  MID$ (TP$,I6,38);: POKE P1,34 +  INT ( RND (1) * 26): POKE P2,35: CALL P3: NEXT I6:ZZ =  FRE (0): RETURN 
 610  IF  RND (1) > T2(7) THEN  RETURN 
 615  GOTO 600
 620  IF  RND (1) > T2(8) THEN  RETURN 
 623  IF  RND (1) > T2(5) THEN T1$ = TP$:TP$ = "": FOR I6 = 1 TO  LEN (T1$):A$ =  MID$ (T1$,I6,1):TP$ = TP$ +  CHR$ ( ASC (A$) + 3): NEXT I6
 625  GOTO 600
 1000  GOSUB 10000: GOSUB 300:CT% = 0:T6% = 0
 1003 TP$ = "GREETINGS, #. THIS IS OUR TOWN HALL. FROM HERE YOU HAVE COMPLETE CONTROL OF THE ISLAND. WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN BEING CARETAKER FOR A WHILE?": GOSUB 600
 1004  HTAB 2: PRINT "?";
 1005  GET A$: PRINT A$: IF A$ <  > "Y" THEN TP$ = "I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU ARE HAPPY WITH THE WAY THINGS ARE. TAKE CARE": GOSUB 600:ID% = ID% - 20: GOTO 1090
 1008 TP$ = "VERY WELL. LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE": GOSUB 600
 1010  FLASH : VTAB 4: HTAB 7: PRINT "CONTROL": NORMAL :X3% = 0:X4% = 0:Y3% = 0:Y4% = 0: GOSUB 2000
 1020  IF CT% < 99 OR T5% THEN TP$ = "NOT A VERY IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE, #. I'M SURE YOU NOW APPRECIATE HOW WELL THINGS ARE MANAGED HERE.": GOSUB 600: GOTO 1090
 1025 TP$ = "IN APPRECIATION FOR A JOB WELL DONE, I AM PRESENTING YOU WITH THIS GOLD WATCH AND A PLACE TO RETIRE . . . THE ISLAND": GOSUB 600
 1090  NORMAL : PRINT : PRINT CH$
 1095  CALL 520"PR.VILLAGE"
 1999  END 
 2000 A% =  PEEK ( - 16384): IF A% < 128 THEN  GOSUB 500: GOTO 2000
 2003  POKE  - 16368,0:T2% = A% - 176: IF T2% < 1 OR T2% > 9 THEN  POKE P1,17: POKE P2,17: CALL P3: GOTO 2000
 2005  FLASH : VTAB 5 + T2%: HTAB 3: PRINT T2%: NORMAL : IF T2% = 9 THEN  RETURN 
 2008  NORMAL : VTAB 17: HTAB 2: PRINT "D KEY";: HTAB 14: PRINT "I KEY": HTAB 2: PRINT "DECREASE   INCREASE": INVERSE : VTAB 17: HTAB 10: PRINT  SPC( 3);: HTAB 10: PRINT  INT (T2(T2%) * 100);
 2010 T7% =  PEEK ( - 16384): IF T7% < 128 THEN 2010
 2013  POKE  - 16368,0:CT% = CT% + 1: IF CT% / 10 =  INT (CT% / 10) THEN  GOSUB 500
 2014  IF CT% > 32000 THEN CT% = 1000
 2015 T7% = T7% - 128: IF T7% <  > 68 AND T7% <  > 73 THEN 2090
 2018 T1 = 0: IF T7% = 68 AND T2(T2%) >  = .01 THEN T1 =  - .01
 2020  IF T7% = 73 AND T2(T2%) <  = .99 THEN T1 = .01
 2025 T2(T2%) = T2(T2%) + T1: INVERSE : VTAB 17: HTAB 10: PRINT  SPC( 3): HTAB 10: PRINT  INT (T2(T2%) * 100);: GOTO 2010
 2090  NORMAL : GOSUB 390: VTAB T2% + 5: HTAB 3: PRINT T2%: GOTO 2000
 10000  FOR I = 1 TO 8:T2(I) = 1: NEXT I:T4% = 1000:T5% = 0: INVERSE : TEXT : HOME : FOR I = 1 TO 24: PRINT  SPC( 40): NEXT I: VTAB 2: HTAB 7: PRINT "TOWN HALL": VTAB 16: HTAB 22: PRINT "POPULATION  DEATHS"
 10003  NORMAL :L3% = 2:L4% = 20:H3% = 4:H4% = 14: GOSUB 395: GOSUB 390:H3% = 2:H4% = 14:L3% = 22:L4% = 39: GOSUB 395: VTAB 18: HTAB 25: PRINT  SPC( 4): HTAB 35: PRINT  SPC( 4): VTAB 22: HTAB 2: PRINT  SPC( 38)
 10005  FLASH : GOSUB 397: INVERSE : FOR I = 26 TO 36 STEP 2: FOR J = 5 TO 11 STEP 2: VTAB J: HTAB I: PRINT " ": NEXT J,I: NORMAL : VTAB 4: HTAB 7: PRINT "CONTROL"
 10008  PRINT : HTAB 2: PRINT "<1> POWER": HTAB 2: PRINT "<2> FOOD": HTAB 2: PRINT "<3> WATER": HTAB 2: PRINT "<4> SURVEILLANCE": HTAB 2: PRINT "<5> SECURITY"
 10010  HTAB 2: PRINT "<6> GATES": HTAB 2: PRINT "<7> INT.COMMUN.": HTAB 2: PRINT "<8> EXT.COMMUN.": HTAB 2: PRINT "<9> EXIT": RETURN 
 32000 T1% =  PEEK (222): CALL 1002: IF T1% = 5 OR T1% = 6 OR T1% = 7 OR T1% = 13 THEN  RESUME 
 32003  NORMAL : TEXT : PRINT : PRINT CH$
 32005  IF T1% = 255 THEN  CALL 520"PR.SAVE"
 32008  CALL 520"PR.ERR"

We need to trigger line 1025. How?

# ¿ Apr 9, 2017 06:54

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

The sweet smell of progress.

Recording #+1. The rover.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2017 16:01

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

hyphz posted:

Ok, since this has been quiet and is freezing, here's a spoiler on the "Run the island" puzzle because it's frankly ruddy stupid. It's actually one of the parts of Prisoner 2 that was back-ported into Prisoner 1.9.1, so the answer is in the Prisoner 2 Design Document which is available online.

Hint: It's nothing to do with the 'running the island' game.

Spoiler: You have to trigger the fake Syntax Error message, and when it appears, enter the command that would run a program called "the island". This might just be RUN THE ISLAND or something more complicated, it depends on the implementation.

Ew. Well, that's going in the long drawer.

I've recorded the next bit, but I can't get around to cutting 40 minutes of footage to 10. We do get the money, though.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2017 02:55

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

By hook or by crook.

Recording #Trial. Freedom.

# ¿ Apr 20, 2017 17:52

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

So, that line from the manual about there being multiple ways of escape?

:allears:

# ¿ Apr 23, 2017 07:11

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

This game has beaten me, laughed at me and mocked me. I guess I have to pull the plug.

Recording. The Plug.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2017 17:03

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Deathwind posted:

Wow, that's shockingly meta for a game of that age, but I need to ask how the expected to sell a second game that was basically an updated version of this?

The second one went multiplatform.

# ¿ Apr 24, 2017 04:00

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# ¿ May 10, 2024 22:34

SelenicMartian: Sep 14, 2013; Sometimes it's not the bomb that's retarded.

Deathwind posted:

So they made an marginally enhanced port to release for other platforms and just sold it as a sequel on the Apple II? That's shady, even for the 80's...

Hey, they also added references to other Apple 2 games!

Like

Which is a reference to this colossal piece of poo poo by K. and R. Williams

https://archive.org/details/Hi-Res_Adventure_1_Mystery_House_1980_On-Line_Systems

Seriously, even for 1980, even for Sierra, Mystery House is garbage. It sold only on pretty graphics.

# ¿ Apr 25, 2017 13:29

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > The Prisoner: Zero Escape, 1980 Edition