Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 11


Remember the "beginning and end of time" sequences from Return To The Cave Of Time?  Edward Packard used this plot earlier in The Third Planet From Altair.  Refusing to use the chronistan in CHOICE #16 kills both remaining crew members instead of just Einstein, but you could not ask for a more spectacular Death.


"You can't bring yourself to take a 15-percent chance.  But you and Pickens and the computer fail to devise a better escape mode.  Wearily you turn to the windows and gaze out.  For what seems like only a few minutes, you watch the sky growing brighter and brighter as the stars and galaxies fall toward a common center.


Soon the sky around you is almost a sheet of white light.  The temperature is rising rapidly.  'We are about to have the singular experience,' says Pickens, 'of being present at the end of our universe.'  'And perhaps,' you reply, 'at the beginning of the next one.'  THE END"


The Third Planet From Altair seems to follow "oscillating universe" cosmology.  If you're more pessimistic, you could assume Nietzsche's "eternal return" thought experiment occurs.  The picture is of a modest explosion.


Endings So Far


4 Good Endings

4 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 12


The last ending in the "aliens at Altair VI" arc occurs when you use the TOA device to escape their trap in CHOICE #12.  The illustration suggests a worse ending than the text does.


"The moment you activate the TOA device you fall unconscious.  When you come to, you check the display screens and are shocked to see that Altair is so far away it looks like just another bright star.  Pickens is lying at one end of the compartment.  He is badly bruised, but otherwise unharmed.


The Aloha is virtually crippled, limited to travel at sublight speeds.  It will take at least two years for you to return to the Altair system on neutron drive.  Fortunately, you have on board the means to grow enough food to last you for several years.  Whether the captain and Dr. Vivaldi can survive until you arrive-if you arrive-only time will tell.  THE END"


It's an Inconclusive Ending in exactly the sense the category was invented for.  The illustration shows a fire burning in the airlock door, snapped wires, smoking machinery, and an injured player character and Einstein lying on the floor.  It looks like it was drawn for a Death rather than this outcome.


There is some inconsistency in The Third Planet From Altair, as the Altair VI aliens could be from either the end of time or another universe.



Endings So Far


4 Good Endings

4 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 13


Disregarding the computer's warning about only Altair VI being safe in CHOICE #11 has a predictable result.  For once, you fare worse than Einstein.


"You assume stationary orbit at the outer edge of the Altair system, where you can safely await developments.  As you watch the display screen, you are startled to see Altair beginning to lose part of its spectrum.  Pulsating waves of light fly out from its surface.  Then sensors show that its first and fifth planets have disappeared!


You ask the computer for an analysis, but there is no response.  Everything is oddly quiet.  Eerie flickering lights dance about the instruments on the bridge.  Pickens says he'll try to de-energize all computer functions except those necessary to hype the Aloha out of the Altair system.  He looks up, intending to ask you to help, but you are no longer there.  THE END"


Who knew Death by antimatter would be so peaceful?  The picture shows Einstein rapidly turning his head as he holds onto a device that looks somewhat like a Tesla coil.


Endings So Far


4 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 14


In CHOICE #10, instead of fleeing to Altair X, I try to contact Dr. Vivaldi and Captain Stanton by radio.  What happens instead is that antimatter hits the Aloha, and we're going to crash into Altair III.  A few computer messages:


EMERGENCY ACTION REQUIRED.  EXTRAORDINARY AIR TURBULENCE PROJECTED.  RECOMMEND SUBMERSION IN OCEAN.


Einstein says that in an "extreme emergency", the Aloha can go up to 90 meters underwater.  CHOICE #17 is to follow the computer's advice on Page 77, or go for dry land on Page 78.  Einstein hints that the computer is wrong:  "I can't believe it has taken into account the high seas we are going to encounter".


But it is Einstein who is incorrect.  The sea floor is in the 80-90 meter range.  We send Bluenose the "underwater robot" which looks more like a rocket in the picture.  Its sonar images reveal a blue crystal dome, and an "atmospheric probe" tells us the antimatter storms have passed.  CHOICE #18 is to either take the Aloha to the surface of the ocean, or check out Captain Jack's new hideout on Page 82.


Dr. Vivaldi and Captain Stanton meet us underwater, and Einstein tells everyone that the dome "is made of materials harder than any known on Earth".  Captain Stanton calls it "supermatter", but thinks he can drill a hole in it with his neutron laser.  He must be the reincarnation of Al-Mamun.  Dr. Vivaldi urges us to send a signal of friendship, or at least to send the signals we got in Hawaii.  Captain Stanton thinks we have no time to wait for communications, and that if they're hostile, we should drill to surprise them.  (Wouldn't they just get more hostile?)


CHOICE #19 is whether to follow Captain Stanton on Page 93, or Dr. Vivaldi on Page 94.  This scenario is almost identical to one of the CHOICEs in Journey Under The Sea if I'm not mistaken.  Once again, Realms Beyond's search engine fails me.


Unfortunately for Captain Stanton, drilling into a "supermatter" dome does not earn him the fame that his Abbasid caliph life got by drilling into the Great Pyramid.


"The captain immediately activates the neutron laser.  A flashing green light on the control panel is the only indication that the beam is drilling into the crystal dome.  Suddenly, your hair stands on end.  Sparks are flying everywhere.  You reach for the emergency stop-function button, but you are sent reeling by a violent shock.  Moments, later, all that remains of the Aloha is a puff of smoke rising from the ocean.  THE END"


The illustration is the puff of smoke mentioned in the text, which is somehow much bigger than the Big Crunch implosion.


Endings So Far


4 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

2 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 15


The aliens reciprocate our radio signals, and the computer begins to decipher the Alanian language.  Dr. Vivaldi thinks the dome is meant to protect the Alanians from antimatter storms, and that they can let us in.  We might not leave if antimatter activity becomes more intense.  CHOICE #20 is whether to enter the dome on Page 99, or to take Captain Stanton's position and refuse to enter on Page 100.  My suspicion is that waiting outside means Death if another antimatter storm catches us off guard.


DOME ROTATING AT 8 DEGREES PER MINUTE.


Oh no!  Is this Oolite space station docking all over again?


We enter the dome and find out it is a "cavern several kilometers across".  The vegetation consists of "blue-green moss" and "tall, leathery plants, colored as brightly as tropical fish".  The buildings appear to be "crystal cubes" stacked like a step pyramid.


One "single gray figure, about four feet in height" comes to greet us.  It has a "perfectly round head" and a "squat body supported by four flexible legs".  Its "two long spindly arms" are like antennae.  Dr. Vivaldi acts as the interpreter, and confirms the Alanians had to move into the underwater dome to withstand antimatter storms.  Even this defense may not be enough if the storms get stronger.


Captain Stanton offers me a proposal:  stay behind as a diplomat between Earth and Altair III on Page 113.  The other CHOICE #21 option is to leave immediately with the Aloha crew on Page 114.  "I wouldn't ask you, except that we have less than a 20-percent chance of making it out of the Altair system.  If we all die, our mission will have been in vain.  But if you stay here, you will probably survive-and you may someday find a way of uniting the people of our two planets".


"There is no time for farewells.  In a moment, the sphere rotates, the door slides open, and the Aloha is released into the ocean.  You have never felt so homesick in your life, but your hosts do their best to make you comfortable.  They teach you thought transference without language.  And they tell you their history.


You learn that some inhabitants of the Third Planet set up underground shelters where they hoped to survive the antimatter storms and learn how to combat them.  Others fled in spaceships to find refuge elsewhere in the universe.  Before the spaceships left, the Alanians searched the galaxies with enormous telescopes until they found the best possible planet to colonize.  Then, while they were preparing for the long journey, they sent a message to that planet, the meaning of which was, 'We are coming'.  THE END"


I'll have to label this a rare case of an Inconclusive Ending where you fulfill your mission.  It's consistent with other timelines, such as the cave ship that's headed to Earth.

 
Endings So Far


4 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

3 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 16


Leaving the Alanians behind in CHOICE #21 is an Inconclusive Ending. . .for the Alanians.  For the player character, it's a somber Good Ending.  You do make a brief and positive first contact in the story leading up to it, so it can't really be a Neutral Ending.


"You and the other crew members touch the Alanian's hands in a gesture of farewell.  Then this strange and wonderful creature bows and departs into the amber gloom.  The sphere rotates, the sliding door opens, and a few minutes later the Aloha surfaces on the ocean of the Third Planet.


'Blast off into orbit,' the captain orders.  As the Aloha rises through the atmosphere, the planet seems bathed in flickering orange lights.  A huge cloud of steam surrounds the water moon.  The Aloha swerves violently from its course.  'Execute emergency hyperspace course!' the captain calls out.  The Aloha wrenches itself out of the Third Planet's gravitational field and streaks into space.


A few hours later, the ship is stabilized on hyperspeed and headed for Earth.  'We have not completed our mission, but we shall return to the third planet from Altair,' the captain says.  'There may not be anything to return to,' Pickens replies.  THE END"


After being absent for no reason in the past couple of CHOICEs, Einstein gets the last word.  Captain Stanton is more competent than usual.


Endings So Far


5 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

3 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 17


Forgot to mention the illustration for the previous ending.  It shows the Aloha speeding towards some stars and a planet with Saturn-like rings.  The Aloha looks like it has 5-7 "exhaust" ports, and one "fin" each on the dorsal and ventral sides.  (Some of the details are hard to see because of it being in the center of two pages.)


NOTE:  I deleted the previous version of this post because I linked the ending to the wrong route.  And editing posts on Realms Beyond for anything besides typos is a pain in the Ur Pregnanttummy*.  To get this ending, you have to go to the surface in CHOICE #18 instead of visiting the dome.  No wonder I was so confused about suddenly being in space rather than underwater!    The sphere in the ending is in interstellar space.  Sensors reveal nothing, though Captain Stanton tells me to take a space walk to check it out anyway.    


"Wearing tiny rockets that will permit you to maneuver, you step out into space.  The sphere appears to be made of incredibly hard ceramic material.  You apply your laser torch, but it won't even scratch the surface.  Then, to your astonishment, a large hatch slides open.  You slip inside and a moving floor takes you into what seems to be the main chamber of the sphere.


In the center of the chamber are five transparent cubicles.  Each of them contains a sleeping humanoid about one meter tall.  You report back to the Aloha by radio.  'They are probably programmed to wake up at a certain time.  It would be dangerous to interfere,' Dr. Vivaldi says.  You take photographs, make electronic copies of the ship's memory banks, and return to the Aloha. 


While you are studying the data you've gathered, the captain announces, 'Computer analysis shows that our energy resources have been drained.  We must return to Earth immediately.'  'We did not succeed in our mission,' Dr. Vivaldi says, 'but we certainly found intelligent life in space.'  'Somehow,' Pickens remarks, 'I will never feel lonely again.'  THE END"


Why do these characters keep saying we failed our mission?  Finding an alien intelligence would be an astounding success by any astronaut standards.  Note that the Alanians are hibernating in this ending, unlike the "take Dr. Vivaldi's advice" path.


Endings So Far


6 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

3 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings


*The name of a Dwarf Fortress Adventure Mode character I once randomly generated.

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 18


If you don't enter the dome in CHOICE #20, you get a short Good Ending with a picture of the Aloha launching out of the ocean.  The knowledge gained about Altair III prevents this from being the generic Neutral Ending it would be in most other gamebooks.


"Much as you would like to meet the Third Planet's inhabitants, you are unwilling to risk having to stay in the dome forever.  After you make a final sensor sweep of conditions on the surface of the planet, the Aloha ascends, breaks through the waves, and blasts into orbit.


'The time has come for us to leave,' the captain says.  'Scientific research must discover a shield against antimatter storms.  Only then can we return to the third planet from Altair.'  THE END"


Endings So Far


7 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

3 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 19


Listening to Einstein is once again a bad idea.  In this case, it's second-guessing the computer's advice in CHOICE #17.  If you pick "dry land", this happens:


"You are about to set down on the beach when the Aloha is engulfed by showers of sparks.  You instruct the computer to execute an emergency blast-off.  The ship shudders; you hear a whirring sound that rises in pitch.  The amber and purple emergency stress lights are flashing.


CRITICAL DANGER.  COMPUTER ASSISTANCE IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE UNKNOWN FORCE IS OVERRIDING COMPUTER FUNCTIONS.


As the computer speaks, you feel yourself losing consciousness.  In a moment you are asleep and dreaming-dreaming of the Aloha stretching in distorted space/time, traveling at such speed that billions of galaxies fly by on either side, above and below.  And then you seem to be leaving the universe itself.


But is this all a dream?  Or is it reality?  You sit up and call out to Pickens.  In a shaky voice he reports having had the same experience you had.  Through the windows you can see an array of stars unlike any you have ever seen before.  Either you are still dreaming, or you are awake in another universe.  THE END"


I'll call this an Inconclusive Ending and move on.


Endings So Far


7 Good Endings

6 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

4 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure: The Third Planet From Altair Alternate Endings Part 20


Who would have thought so many endings would result from stopping by the cloud city in CHOICE #2?  To proceed further, I'll have to pick either the water moon or Altair III's surface.  CHOICE #22 comes after deciding to land on the planet directly.  When we take the Cygnet shuttle about 1000 meters above the ground, we are "blinded by lights flashing all around", and radio doesn't work.  We have to use the emergency landing technique.  The options are to explore on Page 20, or attempt to go back to the Aloha on Page 34.


A lake is nearby, and what seem to be "trees" are actually "giant weeds or wild flowers".  Didn't the planet on the far side of Through The Black Hole have giant flowers too?  "Suddenly, there is nothing under your feet.  You are sliding down a steep slope into a dark, smelly pit."


"Coming toward you out of the tunnel is animal with the terrible face, quivering whiskers, and mean mouth of a rat-but this thing is the size of a bear, and its teeth are like those of a huge wolf." 


So it's a typical Pleistocene rodent?  My laser pistol is missing, but I use Sand Attack to blind it long enough to flee.  The lake must have been a mirage, since it's no longer there when I reach the surface.  Or it's one of those "fake oasis" monsters as seen in Dark Sun.


CHOICE #23 is to rush to the Cygnet immediately on Page 7, or "sit and rest for a few moments" on Page 59.  I know Page 59 ends badly because the picture is easily visible even from Page 58, where CHOICE #17 is found.  The illustration is another good candidate for The Third Planet From Altair avatar if you want it.


"You sit on a rock and rest, relieved to have escaped from the giant rat beast.  You closed your eyes for a moment, but at once feel a presence behind you.  You turn quickly and try to jump away-too late.  THE END"


Rodents Of Unusual Size?  I don't think they exist!  The snarling rat face is worth the purchasing price of the book.


Endings So Far


7 Good Endings

7 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

4 Inconclusive Endings

1 Second Quest Endings