Gamebooks (Choose Your Own Adventure Style)

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 11


The leader of the CHOICE #14 space caravan is a Noomanian woman named Eus who's "beautiful, at least by Noomanian standards".  This qualifier is strange given that she looks like a human with pointy ears, long whisker-like lashes at the edges of her eyes, and has multiple ponytails throughout her hair in the picture.  Not one of the more exotic aliens from fiction.


Eus tells me her caravan specializes in "exotic delicacies and objects".  Their next stop will be on Earth to trade "black hole dust", because there's a superstition on that planet that black hole dust is an eternal youth potion.  


On Earth, my character is surprised by its "tall buildings, its people who look like you but act as though they are frightened.  There are crowded black canals, huge windstorms, dense dark clouds, and vast desert areas".  Wouldn't the hero be surprised at landing on ANY planet, given that they've spent their whole life on spaceships?  CHOICE #15 is to stay on Earth or leave.  I'll show off the "leave" option first because it's the way to set up an infinite CHOICE loop.  The pilot of an Earth spaceship says "Listen, you don't belong with us.  We don't want you around.  You stay here or I'll vaporize you" while brandishing a "laser weapon.


After this incident, I set off for. . .Croyd.  So here's how one version of the loop goes, if you want to visualize it:


CHOICE #1:  Set off for Croyd.
CHOICE #2:  Plan to study at Space Academy.
CHOICE #4:  Study "self knowledge" with Fooz instead of going to Space Academy.
CHOICE #5:  Experience life in the Cretaceous as your Velociraptor past life.
CHOICE #6:  Hit the Erase button, sending you on the path to Kenda.
CHOICE #12:  Trust your instincts near the nebula.
CHOICE #13:  Speed through the meteor shower.
CHOICE #14:  Travel with the space caravan.
CHOICE #15:  Leave Earth, and land just before CHOICE #2.


In retrospect, the Argentine gamebook No Me Llames Tami is the true heir to the RA Montgomery tradition, and not just because of the inconsistent continuity.  It also has an infinite CHOICE loop which I'll describe here:


CHOICE #1:  Ride the Packard SA bus.
CHOICE #2:  Stay on the bus and eat with the creepy guy near you.
CHOICE #3:  Answer the suspicious text message.
CHOICE #4:  Force yourself to sleep in your hotel room.
CHOICE #5:  Go toward your uncle Montgomery's house without talking to Vicente.
CHOICE #6:  Sneak out of Beba's shop and go to Montgomery's house.
CHOICE #7:  Play the disk.
CHOICE #8:  Take disk off of the floor upstairs.
CHOICE #10:  Wish upon Genie-Cthulhu that you never went on this journey.  Return to CHOICE #1.



Earth intrigues the Space and Beyond player character because Earth has an unusually violent history, so "only real adventurers risk spending much time there".  So much for Kenda, Croyd, Mars, and Cynthia's own conflicts.  You can't have a "Earth humans are uniquely bad" storyline if the aliens act in a similar way!  This brings back bad memories of Chrono Cross's writing, especially the fairies and dwarves subplot.  In that game, humans are accused of harming the fairies even though it's the dwarves who are killing them directly.


CHOICE #16 is to continue to stay on Earth, or try to leave.


"What an interesting planet.  There are many different people, languages, and customs.  You could travel and learn so much on this small planet.  True, there are grave problems, like pollution, wars, and the energy crisis; but you believe that progress is being made.  The large political group called the United Nations is trying to resolve some of the problems.  People are tired of the wars.  Yes, you decide that Earth is a worthwhile place to stay.  Maybe you can help make it a better place to live.  The End".


Another non-ending where it's implied that I might help, though Montgomery doesn't specify how I might do so.


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

2 Deaths

0 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 12


This ending doesn't go well because the illustration is of a tsunami destroying a village with huts and palm trees.


"The telepathic videodiscs on the spaceship portrayed the problems on Earth:  too many people, too little food, too much crime, and too much pollution.  Now that you are actually on Earth, you realize that those problems are real.  It frightens you.  Where do you start to solve these problems?  What can be done?  It's too late, you can't leave the planet.  An enormous tremor shakes the ground.  Earthquakes and tidal waves destroy cities.  The cause is unknown, but people suspect that several nuclear explosions are at fault.  The End".


Everyone playing this game of Civilization turns toward Gandhi, giving him an accusing look.  Staying on Earth means things might get better, but if I try to leave the problems are insurmountable and a nuclear war is beginning.  That's Space and Beyond continuity for you.  It's our first Bad Non-Death Ending.


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

2 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 13


"Space pod, trans-galactic mission to planet Kenda, interrupted by meteor shower.  System now three quarters inoperative.  Coordinate Z2380, F9212, X2922.  Time reference.  Outer Zone 2L.  Request immediate aid.  Repeat, request immediate aid".  So goes my laser radio transmission in CHOICE #13.  Much more detailed coordinates than the mere single 4 digit number in the Croyd route.  CHOICE #17 is between using the emergency booster engine to move toward a radio signal, or increase the power of my transmission.  Waiting in place is not an option.


"Your broadcasts for help interfere with a hostile force field, which amplifies your signal and returns it.  Your entire space pod is hit by a shock wave of your own amplified energy, and it explodes.  The End".


Is the radio signal near me coming from the "good ship" Fehurihi?  Anyone who understands that reference has wasted as much time reading this thread as I have in creating it.  The illustration is of the spaceship from the cover exploding.


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

3 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 14


The emergency booster engine in CHOICE #17 directs me to the research station RS-3, UGB, which picks up my space pod with its tractor beam.  This vessel belongs to the Universe Governing Body, who are friendly and repair my ship.  One of the scientists on board tells me the research station is attempting to save planet Axle from a currently incurable "strange disease".  CHOICE #18 is whether to assist them, or leave the research vessel and look for Kenda.  "What a dilemma!  Out of the radar oven, and into the laser beam".  Shouldn't that be "space oven", narrator?


The research station checks out Axle's atmosphere, which seems normal.  Some scientists and doctors land in the large city of Nal while I stay on the ship and watch "3D TV monitors".  Very few Axlians are visible, and those are "weak and listless".  The disease is described as a fever.  When the landing party returns, some of the members are sick.  Some species are immune to the Axle disease.  CHOICE #19, one of the most ridiculous in CYOA history, asks me if I think I'm immune or not.  Yes, believing strongly enough in your immune system means you don't contract the disease, while having doubts results in a timeline where you come down with Axle fever.  I read this part over the phone to my friend, and she joked that this setting must run on "the power of positive thinking".


On the route where I am infected, the rest of the crew comes down with the Axle fever too.  Maybe they should have picked crew members as unrelated to Axle life as possible.  Especially non-humanoids.  The spaceship commander tries to flee to another planet with us, and the Universe Governing Body launches ships to pursue us.  Imprisonment is likely if we're captured.  CHOICE #20 is to perform a computer search to find the cause of Axle fever, or plan to escape the UGB.


"The histories of all worlds include sad stories of plagues and fevers and diseases and epidemics.  But the worst of all these is the sickness brought on by excessive exposure to radiation.  You never checked on Axle to see if their nuclear reactors were emitting dangerous radiation levels.  It's so simple, so obvious.  People get careless, times get lax, accidents happen.  This fever isn't caused by a bacteria.  It's radiation sickness of the worst kind.  There is no cure.  The End".


The UGB can't diagnose radiation poisoning with their best scientists and doctors?  And radiation poisoning is contagious?  Remember, I never landed on Axle in the first place.  If the UGB workers were themselves emitting radiation like the Elephant's Foot in Chernobyl, they'd be dead earlier than that. 


Homer Simpson must be the nuclear safety inspector on Axle if nobody checks the radiation levels.  Oh well, depressing CYOA Deaths are why we read these books. . .


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

4 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 15


Our escape from the UGB quarantine ships dooms several other planets.  "The pursuit ships follow a trail of infectious fevers left behind on several planets, marking your mad dash to escape.  Soon the word is out, and protective shield devices prevent your crew from entering the atmosphere of any planet".  Have we tried Croyd yet?


I suggest returning to Axle because "we can only find the cure at the start".  They listen to the advice of a 3-day-old and praise me "courage and wisdom under stress".  CHOICE #21 is another solipsist decision where I have to decide whether I think I can find the Axle fever cure or not.  Here's what happens if our hero is a pessimist.


"Incredible!  Unbelievable!  The Universe Governing Body has sent police forces to patrol ships in Axle.  You and your research station are forced to land and made to join the Axlians in a permanent quarantine.  There is no cure!  The End".


The police forces also come down with communicable radiation poisoning and die too.  Unless they had the sense to use immune species, unlikely given the UGB's track record. 


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

5 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

5 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 16


Optimists in CHOICE #21 receive this ending.


"Amazing!  Incredible!  The sight that meets your eyes is a wonder.  The people are better.  The fever has broken.  The civilization is once again on the move.  They welcome you with great happiness.  Oddly, the cure for the fever is simple, complete rest in the light of the three moons of Axle for three weeks with no solid food and only moderate liquids.  Simple, ancient, and effective.  You are cured, and the future lies before you.  The End".


I'm cured of the disease, but will my character pursue Kenda?  Moonlight must be distinct from "reflected sunlight" in Space and Beyond.


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

5 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

6 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 17


"You are immune to this strange disease on Axle" thanks to the player character thinking they are invulnerable to it.  Mary Baker Eddy would be proud.  Everyone on Axle was "immobilized" within only a few days.  A likely cause of the disease was "a visit by delegates from another planet, who were searching for some escaped politicians", since that was the only atypical recent event.  Unfortunately, the Axlians can't remember the delegates' home planet or their ship's serial number.  Another complication is that some Axlian scientists blame pollution, but "they, too, are vague and uncertain".


CHOICE #22 is between looking for the delegates, or investigate Axle's pollution.  This CHOICE is really about choosing the cause of the disease instead of solving a mystery, as you'd expect from a Montgomery CYOA.


In the pollution path, Axle's water and air became toxic in the past 3 generations.  Even though the UGB scientists said the atmosphere "seems natural" when they first went to the planet.  Either this is a continuity error, or more evidence of the UGB's incompetence.  CHOICE #23 is whether to convince the Axlians to stop polluting themselves, or turn to the Galactic Court.


"How do you try to convince people to stop polluting their planet when they have been doing it for so long?  Maybe it's a hopeless task.  The End".


Modern pollution is a byproduct of various processes of daily life, rather than something people wish to create.  So the solution here would be to convert to whatever cleaner technologies the rest of the known universe has.  Or maybe move to another compatible planet while Axle is cleaned up.  We aren't told what economic or political system Axle has either, which could be a factor.  I'm putting too much thought into this non-ending.


Or Awesome Possum comes to Axle and shouts "Stop Polluting!", which magically convinces them to protect the environment.



Results So Far


4 Good Endings

5 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

7 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 18


The Galactic Court is no more effective in CHOICE #23 than myself regarding Axle.  This is the UGB, so I shouldn't be surprised.


"You and your team members are transported back to the research ship to report.  'We are convinced that the Galactic Court under the Universe Governing Body should send a police team in to force reform on Axle.'  'Easier said than done.  That's interfering with the rights of an independent planet.  How can we tell them how to live?  They are only hurting themselves.'


Your report and recommendation is sent to the Galactic Court.  The court is sympathetic, but they say that there is nothing they can or will do.  Axle will have to deal with its own problems.  The End".


The UGB follows a particular interpretation of the Prime Directive that says it's okay for an intelligent species to die out on its home planet as long as we don't interfere.


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

5 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

8 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 19


Tracking down the alien delegates in CHOICE #24 leads to the Axle's neighbor planet Fleedes.  An illustration of smoking ruined buildings and the narration suggest Fleedes has suffered an apocalyptic war, and few survivors remain.  And some of them are infected.  CHOICE #24 is either a "cleansing operation" or "search the past to find cause of the plague or whatever is ruining this civilization".


"The past is often rich with knowledge and solutions that the present has chosen to forget.  You scan the data banks of the ship's computers for similar incidents.  There have been similar plagues, and you discover a supposed cure.  It was used on a remote planet, which was mostly desert, but with rivers and high mountains cutting into the wastelands of sand.  It requires the sacrifice of ten percent of the population.  Supposedly, the sacrifice will appease angry gods.  Of course the Axlians won't go along with it.  Who would?  There is no cure.  The fever will have to run its course.  The End".


The ship's historical databases must have been imported from Mystery of the Maya if its solution to an epidemic is sacrificing 10% of the Fleedians to "appease angry gods".  In a non-mythological CYOA.


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

5 Deaths

1 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

9 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!

[Herman Gigglethorpe]

Choose Your Own Adventure:  Space and Beyond Alternate Endings Part 20


If "cleansing operation" sounds ominously like "ethnic cleansing" to you, you're correct about CHOICE #24.


"A cleansing operation is exactly that.  Once you have found no evidence of living creatures about, several small transporter ships are equipped with laser-spreading devices that will cleanse the area of any and all bacterial life  It is a drastic step, because the laser will eradicate all life forms.  But, the operation has been ordered.  You have no choice but to carry it out.  The End".


The illustration shows what appears to be my character in a space suit looking through a portal into a mountainous landscape.  Chances are the "hero" hasn't conducted a thorough search of any part of Fleedes.  If delegates are still around, there are survivors and a civilization to support such a position.  As it is, the player character has destroyed the Fleedes people.  That ought to rank as a Bad Non-Death Ending.


Results So Far


4 Good Endings

5 Deaths

2 Bad Non-Death Endings

0 Neutral Endings

1 Inconclusive Endings

9 Wait, This Isn't An Ending!