Dead or Alive...? - The Complete Solution
The Complete Solution, by Kev Davis
(Originally printed in ST Beermat Issue One)
I suppose I should be the person most qualified to write the
solution of this game, seeing as I programmed the blighter in the
first place. It's not too obscure, the game (both Robin Ball
and the legendary Dave Smith managed to finish it with no hints
from myself), but this solution should be of use to those of you
who are utterly stuck.
PART ONE
Go north three times to the T-junction and then east to the
Chipporama. Enter the place and buy a portion of chips. Put a
coin in the one-armed bandit. Pull the lever. Leave the
Chipporama, go east and go north to enter the alleyway. Examine
the dustbins. Open the briefcase. Get the card.
Go west to the abandoned office block. Go upstairs. Put the
card in the slot, and the door will open. Go north. Open the
filing cabinet to get a key and a bit of paper (drop the paper).
Leave the office block, and head east to the T-junction. Go south
twice, then west to the park gates. Unlock the padlock with the
key. Enter the park. Go west. You'll be shot and killed by a
sniper.
PART TWO
You have awoken from the dead to find youself in a dark, cramped
room. Push the west wall, and the sarcophagus lid will fall open.
You will leave the coffin automatically. Examine the crumbling
plaster to find a loose brick. Throw the brick at the window.
Stand on the crate. Go out through the window.
Go north. Go east. Examine the bush to find a key. Go back
to the front door - unlock it and open it. Enter the house. Go
south. Examine the sofa to find a television remote control. Go
north, then east. Open the fridge to get some milk and a rasher
of bacon. Drop the bacon. Examine the table to get a kitchen
knife. Go west. Go upstairs. Go east. Open the cupboard to find
some clothes. Wear the clothes.
Go west twice. Examine the sink - the lino nearby has been
scuffed. Move the sink. Crawl north. Get the latex face mask and
wear it. Get the iron key. Head back to the broken window you
escaped from. Go through it. Unlock and open the door to the
south. Go through it. Get the hat, the skull and the candle. Wear
the hat. Go back to the cellar, stand on the crate and exit via
the window.
Go to the back garden again - a cat will be here. Pour the
milk on the floor, and when the cat starts to drink it, pick the
beast up. Walk back to the front gate and drop the cat - the
rottweiler will chase the cat into the back garden and over the
fence. Walk west.
PART THREE
Go north to the abandoned shop. Get the glue and the screwdriver.
Go south to the T-junction, then west. Climb down into the
roadworks hole and get the traffic cone. Wear the traffic cone
(it lets you carry more objects, and - strangely - none of the
characters you meet take exception to your eccentric headgear).
Walk east twice and enter the tube station. Wait for a train to
arrive, and get on it.
Keep looking until you see the East Station through the
window. Get out of the train. Go north. Go west, and enter the
toy shop. Stab the assistant. Get the fluffy bunny. Examine it.
Open the panel to get the wiring. Drop the bunny. Leave the toy
shop. Go east twice, and enter the house. Go upstairs. Examine
the bookshelf. Read the book, but don't take it with you. Leave
the house and go back to the tube station.
Get on the train and wait until it's going through darkness.
Get out, and you'll find yourself on a stretch of track near the
fusebox. Examine the fusebox - it's broken. Repair it with the
screwdriver and the wiring from the fluffy bunny. Wait for the
train to arrive again, and get on it.
PART FOUR
Get off the train at Central Station. The drinks machine and
automatic doors now work (they didn't when the fusebox was
broken). Press the vending machine button for coffee, and take
the coffee-flavoured effluent it gives you. Go north, west,
north, north and west to outside the park where you were killed.
Two policemen are on duty. Give them the cup of coffee and
they'll let you in.
Go to the place where you were killed and collect everything
that you dropped when you were shot. Leave the park, and head
back to the Chipporama. Go east twice to get to the Acoma Petrol
Station (you couldn't get here before because it was being held
up). Walk south onto the forecourt, and fill the milkbottle with
petrol. Go east and get the can of oil. Go back west, and north.
Go east, north and west to inside the police station.
Assault one of the police officers and you'll be put in the cell
for a while. Whilst in the cell, examine the mattress to find a
box of matches and an empty packet of fags. Read the cigarette
packet to find the password "hallucinogenic". Drop the fags. Wait
for a while, and you'll be thrown out of the cell back onto the
street. Pick up all your objects.
Go east and into the travel agents, and buy a ticket to
Iceland. Note the seat number given on the ticket. Go back to the
T-junction, and keep going south until you get to the museum (now
open). Enter the building, and go west to the waxworks. Examine
the effigy of Napoleon to find a rag. Put the rag in the bottle
of petrol to make a rather nice petrol bomb.
Go south to the robot exhibit. Read the plaque to find out
that the robot is from Brookes Nuclear Research, and can be
operated by remote control. Go back to the tube station, and
travel to the East Station.
PART FIVE
Go north, east, north, west and into the house. Go west into the
living room and examine the sofa to find a crowbar. Go east twice
to the kitchen. Oil the trapdoor, and open it. Light a match, and
light the candle. Go down into the cellar.
Go north and west to find the lift controls. Press the
button twice. Go east, south, south and enter the lift. Press the
button for the second floor. Go north. Examine the lab benches.
Get the poison. Type "Type hallucinogenic" to open the door. Go
north. Get the ID card - it allows access to the Brookes Nuclear
Research complex. Put the skull in the Reanimator. Push the
button. The skull regains its sentience and tells you to take it
to the tunnels under the BNR complex. Get the skull.
Leave the cellar and go back to the kitchen. Go back to the
tube station and travel to the South Station. Examine your wallet
and you'll see a photo of yourself under some plastic. Cut the
plastic with the kitchen knife to get at the picture. Glue the
photo to the ID card. Go north, and show the ID card to the
security guard. Enter the complex.
Go east. On the television remote control, press "7" - the
robot will give you a diode. Press "9" - the droid will initiate
meltdown of the reactor core. Go west twice, to the garage - the
guard will have left. Take the sandwiches and get in the van.
Poison the sandwiches. Drop the sandwiches. Drive the van west,
and get out. The meltdown will have been averted by now - head
back to the robot. Press "6" and it will open the door to the
east. Press "2" and the droid will leave the complex, allowing
you free access to the room to the east. Go east. Examine the
table and you'll find a torch. Go back to the van. Go north.
Lever the manhole with the crowbar. Go down. The torch will light
itself automatically.
PART SIX
Go south, then west twice. Go west. Drop everything except the
torch, and crawl west along the thin pipe. Examine the rubble
to get a dead rat. Go back east and collect your belongings. Go
north to the brick wall. Drop the petrol bomb. Light a match.
Light the bomb. Go south and wait for the bomb to explode. Go
back north, and north again. Enter the portal (make sure you're
carrying the skull) and you'll be given a silver pentagram.
Leave the sewers. Get in the van. Drive it west through the
security gate. Drive west then north. Get out. Go north. Go east.
Examine the table. Get the salt. Go north. Get the microwave
dinner. Go south, and west. Give the rat to the cat. Go upstairs.
Go east. Examine the sink to find some soap. Wash yourself to get
rid of the smell from the sewers, and drop the soap.
Go back to the van, and drive it west to the ferry. Get out.
Go north, and east, into the souvenir shop. Buy the spade. Go
west onto the beach and dig in the sand, to find a plastic chip
fork. Go back to the van. Give your ticket to the bloke and drive
onto the ferry. Get out of the van. Go west.
PART SEVEN
Go upstairs. Go west to the kitchen. Enter the kitchen - the cook
is distraught because he lacks the food he requires. Give him the
microwave dinner. Salt the chips and give him the chips. He then
gives you the pass card to his quarters, so you can get some cash
as a reward.
Go south, east, up, and south out onto the deck. Take the
lifebelt. Go north. Go downstairs twice. Go north. Put the card
in the slot and enter the cook's quarters. Open the cupboard. Get
the rope, the firework, the portable phone and the pair of skis.
You're beginning to feel tired now, so you'd better find
your seat (if you fall asleep whilst wandering about, your hat
falls off and it's revealed that you're a skeleton). Go to the
appropriate part of the seating area and sit in your seat (the
number of which was given on the ticket - you should have noted
it down earlier).
You'll fall asleep, and the ferry will sink to the bottom of
the Atlantic not soon after.
PART EIGHT
You're now floating on a door in the middle of the Atlantic.
After a while, you'll hear a ship sailing nearby. Light a match.
Light the firework. The ship will sail over to investigate. When
the Icelandic fisherman asks you a question, nod your head. He'll
give you a lift on his ship.
Go south out onto the deck. Get the dead fish. Go back below
deck and wait for the ship to reach the mainland - it will crash
and ground on the beach. Get out. Go east, and dig in the sand to
find a coin.
Go west, up the steps, east, north and into the pub. Buy a
lager, and give it to the fisherman who's just walked in. He'll
start following you. Go west three times, and north to outside
the warehouse. Go west - the guard will let you in, as he assumes
you're with the fisherman. Go south twice, and down the stairs.
Examine the table, and get the beermat. Go upstairs twice. Go
north.
The door to the left has an alarm trigger on the side of it;
if the fisherman follows you through, he'll brush against it and
trigger the klaxons. Punch the sailor unconscious and walk west.
PART NINE
Go west to the cliff edge and drop everything. Go east, north,
north and east. Search the rubbish dump to find a mattress. Take
it with you back to the cliff edge and throw it over. Get all
your stuff. Throw the skis over the edge. Tie the rope to the
tree. Climb down the rope. Jump the last few feet, landing on the
mattress. Get your skis. Go south twice. Put the amulet in the
hole in the rock - the door will slide open. Go south, and drop
everything. Go back and fetch the mattress.
Bring it through the door, get your torch and go east. Drop
the mattress. Go back west and pick up your possessions. Go east
and press the button in the floor - a vase will drop from the
ceiling and land on the mattress. Take the vase.
Go west twice. Knock on the sarcophagus to awake the undead
Egyptian mummy, King Pteduanis. Ask him to help you - he'll
follow you about the place.
Go back to the beach and climb the cliff steps to the north.
Go north, then east to the security gate, then south. Examine the
window. Examine the telephone - you'll be able to see some of the
digits. Compare these with the numbers on the beermat to get a
six-figure number. Repair the portable phone and dial that
number.
Whilst the guard is answering the phone, nip through the
security gate. Go east, and north into the shed. Examine the
manure to find some wire-cutters. Go south, west and north to the
generator room. Open the cabinet. Find the "BA" (burglar alarm)
wire and cut it. South, east twice and south. Ptedious will spy a
chainsaw on a high shelf and fetch it for you.
Go north. Get the sleeping guard's lunchbox. Take the bread
roll out and put the poisoned sandwiches in there. Drop it. Walk
east to wake the guard. Wait for him to eat his lunch, then go
east.
PART TEN
Keep going east until you find the T-junction. Go north to the
standing stone - examine it and you'll see a strange figure with
a pointed stripey head, carrying a vase and a sceptre. Go north
to the Nihilist temple, enter it and go east. Put the dead fish
on the pedestal - the eastern wall will rise. Go east. Get the
sceptre. Go back west and get the fish.
Make sure you're carrying both the vase and the sceptre, and
wearing the traffic cone. Walk north. The monks (not your actual
Nihilists, but a breakaway conformist sect) will mistake you for
their "god" Calhyve - the lad you saw on the standing stone - and
will commit ritual suicide. Examine the altar to find a severed
limb.
Go back to the guard dog and give him the severed limb - the
anaesthetic drugs in the blood will send the beast to sleep. Go
east to the cave entrance. Go north. Ignore the mouse. Wander
through the caves until you find the underground lake. Go north
to the rockfall. Examine it, and you'll find a hole. Put the
matches into the hole. Go south. Drop anything you might be
carrying that won't survive underwater (the salt, for one thing -
I completely overlooked that when first testing this solution).
Dive into the lake.
Go north, north, and north again. Put the chip fork into the
dead fish and give it to the octopus - the beast will choke on
it, and swim away to the south, where it'll meet the piranhas.
Get the metal detector. Go south, east and east. Get the aerosol.
Go west, north, north and up through the hole in the floor.
Go south. Examine the rockfall - your matches will fall out,
as will a length of string. Put the string in the aerosol. Go
north until you find the door. Drop the aerosol. Light the match.
Light the string. Run back south and dive into the hole in the
floor. Wait for the explosion and swim back to collect the stuff
you dropped earlier. Leave the caves the way you came in,
examining the hole on the way out.
Go east, then turn north - the guard here has been crushed
by the door to the west, if you wish to go and have a look. Head
north, then east to the security gate. Read the plaque - it says
that once the power's been cut, the system has enough charge for
one shot. Drop the mouse, and it will scurry through the gate,
triggering and expending the final charge of the security system.
Walk east.
PART ELEVEN
In the snow-covered field, you should press the button on the
metal detector to find out where the mines are. Simply walk in
the directions that are designated "safe".
When you reach the tree, climb it and saw off a branch with
the chainsaw. Return to ground level, and head east until you
reach the bridge. Salt the ice so that you can cross safely. When
you find the guard dog, get it to follow you onto the bridge.
Throw the branch over the side, and the dog will jump over to
fetch it. Go back and find Ptedious (he'll be up the tree) if he
hasn't already joined you.
Enter the building to the east (the person at the desk will
sprint away when they see Pted). Examine the desk to get a
penknife. Go east, and don the uniforms you find. Head back west,
three times, and slash the tyres on the vehicle. Go back east
twice, north, and unscrew the box on the wall. Turn off the
power.
Guards will bundle you into the chamber with the vehicle in,
and just when Morrison goes to kill you, Ptedious leaps out from
his hiding place and saves you. In a panic, David Morrison starts
the auto-destruct, and he and his cohorts clamber into their
transport.
However, the tyres have been slashed, and the thing won't
start properly. The exit door is closing - go north to escape.
Wear the skis, and ski down the mountain before the complex
explodes.
AND THAT'S IT
Until you wake up five years later in a coffin on the back of a
burger-factory-bound lorry, and with the help of Pteduanis and
James Milton you've got to save the planet from a potentially
murderous undead army. Dead or Alive Too...?
- available later
in the year, with any luck.
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