OFFENSIVE PROBING

An Interactive Story by Ben Croshaw

In Offensive Probing, you play Martin McSondheim, a post-graduate ensign of
the Space Federation who, due to lack of openings, finds himself trying to 
cling onto a dirty little life on one of the downmarket moons, Triton. In the
introduction, Martin is stationed on board the SFS Connery, in which he
embarks upon the most incredible adventure of his life...


HOW TO PLAY

Basically it's your classic Zorkish text adventure. When prompted to make
an action, you simply type in what you want to do and press ENTER. Commands
should consist of two words (e.g. EAT SANDWICH) or four (e.g. PUT SANDWICH
IN FRIDGE) or one (e.g. QUIT, RESTART).

To move around the game environment, simply express a desire to move in one
of eight compass directions.



e.g. 	GO NORTH (n)
	GO WEST (w)
	GO NORTHWEST (nw)



Some items can be taken and stored in your inventory and used on something 
else later. To view your inventory, type INVENTORY or I.

Commands can be linked with words like AND or THEN, e.g. -



GO NORTH THEN TAKE THE TOOTHBRUSH
DROP THE SAUSAGE AND THE NEWSPAPER
OPEN THE CUPBOARD THEN TAKE THE BOTTLE AND THE ASPIRIN



OFFENSIVE PROBING is also clever enough to understand commands such as this -



> TAKE BOOK

Which one?

> THE GREEN ONE

You take the green book.



'EXCEPT' is also a functional word, so the following command -



BURN EVERYTHING EXCEPT THE BLACK BOOK



would try to burn everything in the inventory except, obviously, the black
book. 

And should you mistype something, you can use OOPS or O to change the previous
command:



> PRESS BUTTNO

You can't see any such thing.

> OOPS BUTTON

You press the button.



OTHER SPECIAL WORDS

AGAIN or G - Repeat the last thing you did without retyping.
WAIT or Z - Do nothing for one turn. If you're stuck, something sometimes
	    happen if you just hang around for a few turns.



HINTS

* Quite a few items have no purpose. This should be obvious in most cases.

* Don't waste things with limited time (e.g. the battery-operated torch)

* Map out the terrain and keep note of everything you see.

* If one command doesn't work, try rewording it.

* Don't hang about in the dark!

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Offensive Probing - created on Inform 6.15
Written by Ben Croshaw

If you like this game, want to send an opinion, or want to get hold of the
next chapter or some other game by me, or if you're just stuck, e-mail me on:

gcroshaw@croshaw.freeserve.co.uk

I don't want any of your money, thank you.

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OTHER STUFF I'VE DONE

Graphic adventures (not text adventures) -

Friday: Death to Arthur Yahtzee and
Saturday: Arthur's Odyssey:

The adventures of Arthur Yahtzee, hero-type guy, as he battles evil mutants
and travels in time. Both games available from 
www.completelyfreesoftware.com, or we have our own website at
http://members.Xoom.com/DayBefore



STUFF I'M WORKING ON AT THE MOMENT

Graphic adventures -

Yesterday: The D-Gate:

A sequel to Saturday: Arthur's Odyssey, which follows our hero Arthur Yahtzee
as he battles Cathode, the most evil man in the multiverse, and travels to
different universes in the process.

Text adventures -

Offensive Probing Chapter 2:

Martin McSondheim awakens to find himself on Earth - or does he? Enjoy this
meaty challenge when I've got round to uploading it.

Offensive Probing Chapter 3:

Martin returns to his ship to find it overrun with aliens - help him save
the world!

The Counter Limits:

A worker in a supermarket discovers an official secret on the Internet - in
200 years the sun will go supernova and mankind will be exterminated. Before
the government can get hold of him and make sure he doesn't release the
secret to anyone, he accidentally freezes himself for 200 years and finds
himself facing the very nightmare he unveiled. Step into his shoes and save
the world from a fiery apocalypse!