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Part two: in the dark

These are Douglas Adams' original hints for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Adventure Game. Some questions have multiple answers and some are red herrings, so don't take the presence or absence of a question on a certain topic as an indication of what is important, and don't assume that long answers indicate important questions.

Help! I'm in the Dark and can't do anything!

If this 'Dark' is at the very beginning of the game, before you've done anything, you're in the wrong place.

- Still stuck?

You've been through a matter transference beam, and you still haven't recovered from the shock of it.

- Still stuck?

Recovery takes time...

- Still stuck?

...but in this case, you'll have to do more than just wait.

Okay, just exactly how do I get out of this Dark?

Have patience.

- Still stuck?

Read carefully.

- Still stuck?

If you wait a number of times, you'll begin to get some clues.

- Still stuck?

The first clue comes the 18th time you've waited; three additional clues come every fifteen "Wait"s thereafter.

- Still stuck?

Try starting again and reading each response to "Wait"ing in the Dark very carefully.

- Still stuck?

There's an important difference between the third and fourth responses.

- Still stuck?

You are no longer told that you can't smell anything.

- Still stuck?

Try "Smell the darkness" or "Smell nothing" or even just "Smell".

What's the significance of this shadow I see moving around?

That's your way out of Dark.

- Still stuck?

You should "Examine the shadow", or feel it, or smell it.

Oh no! I'm in that blasted Dark again!

Unless you've been to the Vogon Hold, you're looking at the wrong question.

- Still stuck?

Okay, you've been through the Dark at least once before, so you should know what's going on.

- Still stuck?

This time, though, it isn't smell that goes away on the fourth description.

- Still stuck?

It's hearing.

- Still stuck?

Try "Hear nothing" or "Listen to darkness".

- Still stuck?

'There is an exit to port.' Try going that way.

- Still stuck?

Well, don't just give up. Be persistent. Try going "Port" a few more times.

- Still stuck?

Perhaps "Aft" would be more productive, come to think of it.

Exactly how does Dark work?

You enter Dark when the Earth is destroyed, and at various other points throughout the game.

- Still stuck?

Beginning with the fourth time that you read "There's nothing you can taste..." (or some paraphrase of that paragraph), one of your five senses will disappear.

- Still stuck?

At this point, you should type the sense that no longer appears, such as "Smell" or "See".

- Still stuck?

The first time you enter Dark, smell will go away. See the second question in this section.

- Still stuck?

The second time you enter Dark, hearing will go away. See the fourth question in this section.

- Still stuck?

On subsequent visits to Dark, the sense that disappears will be fairly random. See the following question for more details.

Is there any way to control where I go when I leave Dark?

Not usually.

- Still stuck?

Don't continue until you have a cup of tea.

- Still stuck?

Don't continue until you actually have real tea, not merely Advanced Tea Substitute (ATS).

- Still stuck?

Have you ever examined the cup of tea?

- Still stuck?

This response indicates that the tea is a better source of Brownian Motion for the Improbability Drive setup than the ATS. Try it.

- Still stuck?

Notice anything different about Dark when you use tea instead of ATS?

- Still stuck?

For one thing, a sense is missing right away, rather than after three "Wait"s.

- Still stuck?

More importantly, when you have used tea as a Brownian source, a different sense will be missing each time you "Wait". Thus, with tea, you can 'control Dark.'

- Still stuck?

There are a total of eight exits from Dark. Taste never goes away, so there are two Dark exits for each missing sense.

- Still stuck?

There is a way to differentiate between each pair.

- Still stuck?

For example, when feel is missing, and you type "Feel dark", you will be told that it feels 'warm and wet and squishy,' in which case your current Dark exit is Inside the Sperm Whale. When the response is 'cold and wet and squishy,' then tasting the liquid will take you to the Living Room of the party. When you are controlling dark, and have determined your current exit as in the previous example, and you don't want to go there, simply "Wait" and you will be given a new missing sense and a corresponding new exit.

NOTE: You will never get the whale exit unless you are using real tea for your Brownian Source.

- Still stuck?

When smell disappears: If the object is 'being waved under your nose,' then the exit will be the Vogon Hold. If the object is 'waving under your nose,' the exit is the Lair of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal.

- Still stuck?

When hearing is missing: If the sound of the star drive is 'coming from far above you,' then your exit would be Entry Bay Number Two of the Heart of Gold. If it is 'coming from far below you,' then your exit would be the War Chamber of the battle fleet.

- Still stuck?

If seeing is the sense that goes away: When the light 'stabs at the front of your eyes,' then your exit is the Country Lane. When the light 'stabs at the back of your eyes,' then your exit is the Presidential Speedboat.