I plunge my hands into the ruined abdomen of the beast trying to ignore the stench. I fight my rising gourd as I find what I am looking for and begin to pull it out. My mentor stands just behind me; watching my every move. “Careful now it is very fragile.” It is well and good that he is unable to see my expression as I pull out a milky white orb covered in gore.
I hold the item aloft and try not to pay too much attention to the liquids running down my arms. The old wizard suddenly pulls a pipe from the air that had not been there before and claps his mouth over it. I can’t help but stare at the item in my hand as I whisper; “Incredible”
I jump as my master claps a hand on my shoulder and offers; “Not as incredible as the time I thwarted the evil General Doom rescued a princess and escaped his Dog Star.”
I turn and ask; “Who? What?”
“My boy I’ve not told you this story?” ……..
Dog Star Adventure is an interactive text adventure from Lance Micklus. Our first encounter with this author was with Treasure Hunt from 1978.
This science fiction adventure has you trapped on the Dog Star rather than the Death Star. You must rescue Princess Leya rather than Leia and then escape from General Doom instead of Darth Vader. No copyright infringement here!
Dog Star Adventure represents a first in that it was the first science fiction text adventure to be published. We’ve played in the fantasy trope sandbox as well as Egyptian and haunted house themes but this is our first encounter with a science fiction adventure. There is, alas, also a bit of a treasure hunt in the game; however the main goal is to rescue the princess and escape the Dog Star. This is the first time in an interactive adventure where our main goal was not simply to collect treasures and I found that to be refreshing.
The old wizard pauses and opens up a leather satchel; “You can put that in here.” I carefully place the sphere in the leather satchel and stepping back ask; “I don’t understand; who is General Doom? What is a Dog Star?”
My mentor looks at me as if I’m addled. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand everything. You see I’m not only speaking to you but also to anyone else who may be interested in this particular story.”
I look around the ancient chamber and see nothing but the encroaching shadows. “B-but sir we’re alone.”
I suddenly find the pipe thrust in my face as he admonishes; “We’re never alone my boy. Especially when I’m piercing the 4th dimension. Now…listen carefully.”
The puzzles in Dog Star Adventure are very straightforward if not downright easy except for two. There is a puzzle in this game that is so difficult that it breaks what I like to call the fair play rules. While you are searching through and mapping out the Dog Star you enter a room called the Supply Depot. The description of the room informs you that “there are all kinds of things here.” However it doesn’t tell you just what those things are; nor do you really have any idea what you’re looking for. I spent quite a bit of time in this supply room typing out all sorts of things and I finally had to revert to looking up a hint or a cheat online. It turns out there are three things to obtain from this room: a BLASTER, a CASSETTE TAPE, and AMMUNITION. If you look for those particular items; they will be there. There are no notes or clues within the game that tell you to find or obtain these items. You just have to correctly guess the item that you “may” be looking for and whether it is indeed there. Diabolical. When you first enter the supply depot, obtain the CASSETTE TAPE and BLASTER but NOT the AMMUNITION. The BLASTER is already charged and you will need to use it repeatedly. When the BLASTER runs out of ammo you can return for the AMMUNITION later and then your BLASTER will be reloaded.
The CASSETTE TAPE you’ll want to load into the TRS-80 computer located in the computer room of the Dog Star and that will allow you to obtain the construction plans to the Dog Star.
The second puzzle involves a hamburger and a security robot.
I interrupt and ask; “A security robot?”
My mentor strokes his beard and responds; “…..like an Iron Golem”
“Oh ok”
In the lower level you’re going to find a hamburger. Do not eat it! You need to save it to get past the security robot. Feed him the hamburger and he will take it and leave you alone. Why this particular security robot likes hamburgers I can’t tell you but it is sort of a nonsense solution so I thought I’d best prepare you.
Your goal in this game is twofold: 1) collect treasures and return them to your ship parked in the hangar of the Dog Star and 2) you need to rescue Princess Leya and escape from the Dog Star.
One of the items you’ll uncover will end up being plans for the Dog Star as well as a COMMUNICATION DEVICE you can use late in the game to tell security to open the hangar bay doors. You will also need to disable the tractor beam from within the Dog Star before you attempt to escape. Once you have rescued the princess from a holding cell you can take her back to the ship and then attempt to leave. If you have done everything correctly you’ll be able to escape.
There is also a maze in the pipe tunnels you’ll have to traverse in order to reach the princess. A maze of some sort has been a commonality in all of the interactive text adventures we’ve played so far. The supply depot puzzle aside I really enjoyed this game. I appreciated the change in theme and enjoyed the story.
This game was released commercially by Adventure International as Death Planet: A Dog Star Adventure. I understand that the commercial version does not have the Supply Depot puzzle. The version I played through was transcribed from the May 1979 issue of SoftSide magazine. The Commodore/PET version of the game actually DID use Darth Vader instead of General Doom, your ship was called the Millenium Falcon, and the princess was Leia not Leya.
Here is a great interview between Jimmy Maher of the Digital Antiquarian with Lance Micklus.
Earn a victory against the Dark Side and try Dog Star Adventure for yourself.