Spider and Web (tangle.sol)

"Tangle (Spider and Web)" step-by-step solution by pjg
Modified by Nils Barth 2000-12-09 (esp. the summary of what actually happened)
This is not the "official" solution.
Feel free to write and upload a better solution if you want to.
Otherwise, corrective modifications to this
solution are welcomed and encouraged.

For game Release 4 / Serial number 980226
Other game releases may be slightly different.

This game is very linear and mistakes are easy to learn from.
In fact, much of the fun in this game is trying
different actions.
Pay attention though -- every clue is important.

If you get stuck then consult the relevant section of the solution for help.

Comments are in ()
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Door in the Alley
---------------------
I
X door
X plate
Push plate
S, S

(the man will appear and question you,
 most of the time your yes/no answers don't matter)

(your purpose at this point is to show the interrogator the
 "actions you did" while breaking into his high security complex)

Yes

(you are being forced to "relive" your "memories"
 for his benefit. If the game responds to one of
 your commands in a different print style then
 your character is trying to hide something from the man.
 The man will be satisfied when a plausible and believable
 series of events is "relived" for him)

(much of the fun in this game is in trying different actions
 and seeing what the result is. Don't be afraid to experiment
 with other actions to get a better understanding of the game's ending)

The Door in the Alley (again)
-----------------------------
I
X door
Knock on door
g. g. g. g
(eventually, the man will appear
 and present you with a lockpick)
Yes

The Door in the Alley (yet again)
---------------------------------
I
(you will now have the lockpick)
Put rod on plate
Wait. Again
g
(you must wait until the door opens)

(Man)
(the man will ask about your equipment)
No
No

White Junction
---------------
save "package"
N
Jump
Look in the hole
Get package
Open vent
(notice the change in print style)
(there is a vent in every room; look for them)
(there are 2 very important vents in the game)
D
S, E, SE

(Man)
No
Yes
Yes

Tee Junction
------------
save "clatter"
(E. Put rod on plate. W)
Wait. Again
(wait until you see the guards
or until the guards are almost on top of you)
Throw rod east
(the guards will go investigate the noise)
N

(man)
Yes
Yes
No
(notice how the man suggests that it will be bad if both
 sides have the secret in the lab?)
No
No
(your whole convictions about this operation may be changing)

Outside Laboratory
------------------
save "labdoor"
(too bad you don't have the lockpick)
SE
Listen. Again
(wait for the guards to leave)
("with'" is the commander's title)
E

(man)
Yes
Z
No
No

Annex
-----
save "annex"

(the scan, lamp, acid, and blast can be operated by
 the key, button, voice, toggle, or timer.
 The key and button are brief actuators,
 the voice and toggle are on/off actuators,
 and the timer is a cycle actuator)

Look in north room
Look in east room
Look in south room

(you can use the scan and timer or the scan and voice to enter the rooms;
 it doesn't matter which, but voice is easier)

(let's use the scan and voice first)
Get scan, voice module
X scan. X voice module
X voice transmitter. Read keywords
Connect voice module to scan
Drop scan
(you can't take the scan inside the rooms)

Say tango
S
Say waltz
Get pen then X it
X nib
(knock out drug)
(you can play around in here for awhile,
 when you are ready to leave then...)
Say tango
N
Say waltz

(let's go north)
Say tango
N
Say waltz
(notice the change in print style,
 something important happened here)
X chair
X acid
Sit in chair
X bands
Look. Again
(keep looking until a "ghost" image of the man appears)
X man
Again. G. G. G
(after the "ghost" is gone you may as well leave)
Get up
Say tango
S
Say waltz

Get all
SW

(man)
(Yes. Undo)
No
(the man will make you relive that scene)

Annex (again)
-------------
save "annex2"

(this is how you do it with the timer, instead of the voice,
 in which case timing is crucial)
Get scan, timer
X timer. X green. X blue
Connect timer to scan
Turn green to 1
Turn blue to 1
Drop scan
Push green. Push blue

S. Get pen. N
I

(the timer will cause the scan to cycle properly)
E. X plays. W
Push green
(must turn it off)
Get all
(you couldn't find the lockpick)
SW

(man)
Yes
Yes

Diagonal Branch
---------------
save "gun"
S
Wait
(wait for the door to open)
Stab guard with pen
Climb cabinet
X wall
X vent then open it
Put all in vent
(you don't want the man to get all of
 your secret spy equipment and tools)
D
X guard then get gun
shoot guards with gun
(or just wait, but it's more fun to shoot them)
(you will be captured)

(man)
No
No
save "acid"
(the following is a very good puzzle -- don't read the following
 unless you are -really- stuck)

(the man will order your equipment brought into the room)

Look
X desk
X items
(what items are missing?)


Say tango
(you really are quite clever)
(Notice that you haven't told the truth to "with'", as you
did come
 into the interrogation room; what else did you lie about?
 (See end of file for answers))
(The action now becomes dead serious -- you know what you must do:
 get into the lab, and steal/stop the research.)
Hit man
Search man
Get all from desk
S, SW
save "escape"

S, E
Put rod on plate
Wait. G. G
(the door will open)
N
Disconnect radio
(the radio is broken)
Connect button to blast
save "blast"

Push button
(bang!)
S
Get rod

W. W. NW
W. N
Jump
Open vent
Get gun
D. E
save "guards"

Shoot guards
(you can stay here and shoot guards if you want to)
SE

N. NW
Put rod on plate
Wait. G. G
(the lab door will open)
Get rod
W
Open panel
Shoot layer
(this will delay the guards, you can relax now)

Search table
Get papers, plate
Read papers
save "papers"

(you have 3 endings:
 Failure (death),
 Fail to make a difference (left something behind),
 or Made a difference (destroyed it, or take it with you)

You "win" this game by not letting the enemy get your spy
equipment AND by destroying or taking the lab research papers.

(Take it with you version of the ending)
----------------------------------------
restore "papers"
Open cabinet
Put plate in cabinet
Close cabinet
X console
Push upper
X display
Push oval
(you don't want the teleporter to
 return you to the lab)
Open flap
save "takeit"

Push lower
(you have activated the machine)
Enter platform
Close flap
Read papers
save "end1"

Wait. G
(this is the "best" ending that you can get)
--------------------------------------------------------


(Destoyed version of the ending)
--------------------------------
restore "papers"
X device
(a coffee maker)
Get pot
Put papers in alcove
Push tiny
Open cabinet
Put plate in cabinet
Close cabinet
X papers
(the papers will be burning now)
Get papers
Put all on table
(you are destroying all of your equipment as well)

X console
Push upper
X display
Push oval
(you don't want the teleporter to
 return you to the lab)
Open flap
save "destroy"

(now you can wait around and watch the lab burn)
Wait. G
(wait until the Guard mentions a "hole big enough to fire through")
Push lower
(you have activated the machine)
Enter platform
Close flap
save "end2"

Wait. G. G
(neither side got the teleporter)
-------------------------------------------------------------

Game summary of what you "relived" for "with'":
You broke into the complex by using your lockpick on the alley door.
You retrieved a package hidden in the ceiling hole.
You distracted the guards with the lockpick in the dead end.
You couldn't open the lab door without your lockpick,
so you went to security to get it back.
You searched the locker room and his office but couldn't find it.
You were surprised by a guard and drugged him.
You knew that you were about to be captured, so you hid your
secret spy equipment and the package in the air vent above the file cabinet.
-----------------------------------------

Game summary of what really happened:
You broke into the complex by using your lockpick on the alley door.
Noticing the metal detector at the red line, you stashed -your- gun in
the ceiling, behind the vent (because your side does not have
non-metal guns, so you couldn't get past the line until the power
is cut). There is no package -- it's a ruse you made up to explain
the blood on the ceiling.
You then broke into the wiring room so that you could cut the power,
by putting the blast tab in the wires. You left in a rush as the guards
came, losing your lockpick (accidentally) on the way.
Now because the key transmitter was jammed, you couldn't blast the
wires, and because you had lost your lockpick, you couldn't get back
into the closet to set it off manually.
You couldn't open the (acid proof) lab door without your lockpick,
(or your blast tab, since that was in the wiring room), and figured
you might be caught, so you rigged an escape mechanism to the metal
interrogation chair.
(You knew your enemy's interrogation methods)
Also, you searched the locker room for weapons and found a drug pen.
(note that you used the scan scrambler connected to the timer
 to get into the interrogation room, since you needed to connect
 the voice module to the acid).
(the following is speculative -- it's unclear whether you -wanted-
 to get captured, or if this was accidental)
You needed to get a gun, since you couldn't bring yours across
the red line with the power on, so you surprised and drugged the guard
and took his, and hid your now useless toolbox in the vent (at the
only other place you could reach a vent) before you got captured.
You then got captured by the guard squad.
-------------------

For fun have you...
-- figured out the woman's profession?
-- met the Janitor?
-- met the three groups of technicians?
-- examined the 3 paintings in the office?
-- understood the Rita joke?
-- gotten the man to kill you in the chair twice?
-- met the guards while hanging from the ceiling?
-- tried to take the wrench across the red line?
-- tried to leave the same way that you came in?
-- used the scan more than 4 times?
-- found two identical vents?

Quiz