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As you sit comfortably in your favorite chair and log into the Geek, you are not greeted with the usual front page but are instead presented with a dazzling array of blue hues, swirling into a vortex. The visual effect is nothing short of dizzying and you wonder if you've logged in on April 1st instead of an early January day. Suddenly the swirling settles and from across space and time comes a lone figure who appears in the center of the vortex:
"My name is James Alden. I believe you knew my father."
The man before you carries himself with confidence but scarring on his face shows he has been worn down from years of toil. He keeps his stare fixed on you and in his steely eyes is pure resolve.
"This will be hard for you to understand, but The Geek is going to trigger the Great War. No-one is sure how, some say a hacker got his wires crossed, some say it was an inflammatory posting in the RSP forum, others say there was someone behind the scenes working to turn the Geek into a weapon - we don't know the truth, but this event was a linchpin in time, an event which caused the bombs to fly and the planet to go down the tubes in a few short hours. Open warfare was declared on Earth. The nations that didn't suffer immediately began to starve, and harsh policies were enacted by the surviving members of government. The war accelerated the environment's decay and in no time, the Earth was an uninhabitable and lifeless hulk."
"My father saved what he could. He brought survivors on board the USS Alden which he cobbled together from spare parts and an unerring desire to survive. Many of the Geeks from your time are still known to us - but many are also lost. Space, it seems, is less hospitable than anyone on Earth ever suspected. That doesn't matter now though - we know how to fix things."
"These cataclysmic events will come to fruition on January 10th, 2011 - unless something can be done. We've sent someone back in time to attempt to correct the problem. But time is tricky. It's the only thing keeping everything from happening all at once. Our attempts to alter the time-line failed, it seems all we succeeded in doing was to cause a chain of events that sparked the great Patron Drive of 2010. Then we discovered our mistake - someone from your future can't repair the problem in your present. Instead, we need someone from your time to set things right. This is our last attempt to save the world. Our energy reserves are depleted and we now stand at the edge of darkness. The world needs your help."
James turns his attention to one side as you see a flash of light from the side of the vortex.
"Hurry... there's not much time left. I'll be waiting."
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Dave Bernazzani (@rpggeek)
United States
Plainville
Massachusetts
I wish to provide legendary service to the RPG community to help grow our hobby and enrich the lives of gamers everywhere.
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**THIS ADVENTURE HAS CONCLUDED** You can still play, but no microbadges nor any bonus geekgold will be awarded
Welcome to the Second official RPG Geek adventure (the first was Tiamat's Treasure run on the RPG Geeks 1 year anniversary). This new adventure is being run site-wide (across all three domains) at the request of Aldie.
This adventure is called REQUIEM and is coded as an Interactive Fiction game similar to the old Infocom classics (think Zork) from the early 1980s when the emphasis was placed upon interaction and imagination. We've put a large number of hours into coding this adventure to ensure that it has depth, clever puzzles and a large number of Geek related references (most are specific to RPG Geek where the game was developed and tested). To play this game you will need a Z-Machine interpreter (the language of the game). Fortunately, these are all free and exist for virtually every machine on the planet as far back as the VIC-20, Apple II or Commodore 64 (if you want to play it on a real C64 it's possible - trust me!). The most popular free Z-Machine interpreters are:
Zoom for Mac OsX - http://www.logicalshift.co.uk/mac/index.html
WindowsFrotz - http://www.davidkinder.co.uk/frotz.html
Frotz for Linux - Usually part of the main repository - search for Frotz.
Frotz for the iPad, iPhone, etc.
There is also an online Implementation of the Z-Machine interpreter so you can Play Requiem Online here just by clicking (but please scroll up to the top when it loads so you see ALL of the introduction - the online interpreter is not quite as good as the offline ones).
There are tons more... you can find a (somewhat outdated) list at:
http://www.inform-fiction.org/zmachine/interpreters.html
Lastly, you will need a copy of the actual game file! Once you have an interpreter (above) installed, this file should just load up and run.
http://home.comcast.net/~dbernazzani/requiem.z5
The first command you should type is HELP to see the list of common commands. The key with these adventures is to keep the commands very simple. Two word commands work for most things (better than trying to be complex and causing the parser problems). When interacting with people, use the wording shown in the HELP.
During testing, we've seen this adventure takes about 1 hour if you are working simply to complete the quest. Figure closer to 2 hours if you want to explore the depth that has been added into the adventure in terms of the NPCs and environment. Since we put a lot of time into crafting the adventure, I'd obviously recommend you take your time and enjoy it rather than rushing through.
A successful adventure will tell you how to get the much coveted new microbadge designed for this adventure.
 - Requiem: The Orb of Alden
The adventure ends on January 9th, 2011 at 9PM EST. After that, this badge will never be made available again. I also hand the badges out manually so you may get it minutes after winning or 8 hours (if I've just fallen asleep).
In addition, there is a geekgold bonus to be found as part of the adventure. None of the beta testers found it ... maybe you'll be the first!
Finally, I'd like to thank my writing partner Jaime Lawrence for his help and to the Beta Testers who took the adventure through its paces. They saw, in some cases, a very raw and unpolished version and helped turn it into a very playable and classic adventure. You guys rock - and have my sincere thanks. Any parts of this adventure that make you go "oh wow, cool!" can be attributed to Jaime and the Beta crew as they probably tried it first and we were able to refine and adjust to their attempts. Any errors, omissions or underwhelming moments in this game remain my own.
If you can't get your interpreter to work correctly, etc. feel free to post below and the community will do our best to help you.
If you are stuck in the adventure, you can post your question below and we will give you a clue. If it's early in the week, the clue will likely come to you via a private GeekMail. Later in the week, clues may be given in spoilers here in-thread. I'd prefer that all clues and hints come from Jaime or myself to control what information goes out for the game. A map with full solutions to all puzzles will be posted at the conclusion of the adventure.
Also feel free to post below to just show support for the event  These things take time to pull together and we would like to know if people are enjoying them. Criticisms, however, should be directed to me via private GeekMail.
If you survive the adventure, feel free to kick back in the Tavern (the RPG Geek off-topic forums) and gloat.
Enjoy and Good Luck!
-Dave
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Steve Donohue
United States
Allen Park
Michigan
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I really wanted to help create or playtest the adventure but my vacation cut me off. I'm downloading now and hoping I can get my wife to leave me alone long enough to finish it today.
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Sarge in charge!
Germany
Bremen
Ash nazg durbatulûk
Speak "thriend" and enter!
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Hmm... this hidden bonus you speak of... makes me want to play it again.
Good luck to all participants!
The 'Geek depends on your help to save the world!
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Federico G
Italy
Firenze
http://www.gruppoludico.it/
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Cool! I'm a big fan of the latest (from the last decade or so) wave of Interactive Fiction games, so I'll surely download and play the game!
Great news! 
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DMSamuel
United States
Ithaca
New York
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Engoduun wrote: Hmm... this hidden bonus you speak of... makes me want to play it again.
Yes, me too! That was sneaky
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Dave Bernazzani (@rpggeek)
United States
Plainville
Massachusetts
I wish to provide legendary service to the RPG community to help grow our hobby and enrich the lives of gamers everywhere.
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lorddillon wrote: Engoduun wrote: Hmm... this hidden bonus you speak of... makes me want to play it again. Yes, me too! That was sneaky
It was added very late in the beta - so be sure to download the final release above (Release 9) if you want to try and find it.
-Dave
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Jeff G
United States
Santa Rosa
California
These are not the droids you're looking for. You can go about your business.
Move along.
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Hmmmm...I might have to play it again to find that hidden bonus. Great work Dave and Jaime.
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Paolo Robino
Italy
Dueville
Vicenza
"I'm a Nay Saying worm beast!"
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Aaaaand... I'm stuck.
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal): With the password on Aldie's computer. Tried encrypting every plausible word or phrase. Should I try something implausible?
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Dave Bernazzani (@rpggeek)
United States
Plainville
Massachusetts
I wish to provide legendary service to the RPG community to help grow our hobby and enrich the lives of gamers everywhere.
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Paolo Robino wrote: Aaaaand... I'm stuck. Spoiler (mouseover to reveal): With the password on Aldie's computer. Tried encrypting every plausible word or phrase. Should I try something implausible?
This was one of the more difficult puzzles as the clue and the solution are separated in time (quite literally!). Here is a hint.
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal): Go back and re-read the text in the Server Room when you finally Convince Aldie to lend his assistance. There is a clue in what he does - we tried to frame it as best we could in the text.
Almost 2 hours in and nobody has solved it yet - but I know a bunch of you are close.
-Dave
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Simon Lundström
Sweden
Örbyhus
Now who are these five?
Come, come, all children who love fairy tales.
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This is a big pile of awesome. What a great idea!
Will take me hours, but hey…
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Paolo Robino
Italy
Dueville
Vicenza
"I'm a Nay Saying worm beast!"
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Got it, thank you!
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal): Never thought Aldie could be so venal...
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DMSamuel
United States
Ithaca
New York
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I went back through again - but I rushed it and didn't find the extra geekgold surprise.
Hmm, I may end up doing this several times.
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Federico G
Italy
Firenze
http://www.gruppoludico.it/
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Aaaaaand... solved. It was great fun, thanks Dave for the cool game!
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Paolo Robino
Italy
Dueville
Vicenza
"I'm a Nay Saying worm beast!"
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Already bragging here!
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Ryan Metzler
United States
Kenosha
Wisconsin
Are you pondering what I'm pondering Pinky?
I think so, Brain, but if we have nothing to fear but fear itself, why does Eleanor Roosevelt wear that spooky mask?
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Paolo Robino wrote: Already bragging here!
I'll just brag here!!! Yay I finished it!
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GMOFreePortland.com
United States
Happy Valley
Oregon
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wow. I died almost immediately. I'm am so sorry the future depended on my efforts.
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Shawn Simas
Canada
Waterloo
Ontario
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Finished about 10 minutes ago, took a bit longer to find the geekgold surprise though.
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George Buss
United States
Muncie
Indiana
"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye." - Exupery
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Downloaded to my iphone on Frotz! Looks great guys!
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Daniel Brown
United States
Cumming
Georgia
But don't be fooled by the radio, the TV, or the magazines. They'll show you photographs of how your life should be but they're just someone else's fantasies.
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Sadly, like Zork I, II, III, and Zero I will never finish this. Where can I buy the cheat book like I did for Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy?
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Marcin Krupiński
Poland
Warsaw
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Finished
 (and collected some geekgold ) Great and amazing game I had a great time. Looking forward for next year (this was my first time )
I think I done everything correct - is the microbadge awarded after some time or is it auomatic?
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Simon Lundström
Sweden
Örbyhus
Now who are these five?
Come, come, all children who love fairy tales.
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Yay! What a great game. I didn't find the bonus, though. Perhaps it's too late now.
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M Singleton
United States
Alpharetta
Georgia
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This seems awesome! I was wondering what those orbs were. Can't wait to try.
Thanks!
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Randall Klingler
United States
Hillsboro
Oregon
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Solved with a score of 5 out of 5. Even found the GeekGold. Fun adventure.
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James B
United States
Hayden
Idaho
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So I've played through the game twice now but I still cannot find the geek gold. Anyone want to point me in the right direction?
Spoiler (mouseover to reveal): I keep thinking it is somewhere in the lab or it would make a lot of sense to have something to do with Aldie's office, but I can't figure out what
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Posted Sat Jan 1, 2011 6:06 pm
