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Saturn's Childby Jerry Ford profile2014 Science Fiction TADS 3
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(based on 1 rating)
3 reviews — 1 member has played this game. It's on 6 wishlists.
You are a candidate for a deep-space mission to the moons of Saturn to search for extraterrestrial life. What will you find?
(Note---game contains mild sexuality and, briefly during the introductory scene, explicit language.)
A hundred years or so in the future, people are prepared for deep space exploration by inserting a probe where the sun don't shine before going into an isolation chamber for several months, after which they are required to do tests that involve manipulating devices with less-than-helpful descriptions.
Operating various devices is the major puzzle element in this game; at one point a fairly common device must be operated, but for it power up, a button must be found that is illogically placed somewhere out of sight. A vehicle must be driven - I can't describe what it is without spoiling some of the story - that requires mechanical various operations that come as a complete surprise to the player character, even though one might assume that a prospective astronaut might be familiar with both device and vehicle.
The lack of context in some of the vignettes -- why am I here, what is the point of the next few actions I must take -- make solving the puzzles somewhat unrewarding.
The descriptions in this game are elaborate and well-written, and it is clear the author knows his way around TADS3 very well. The game provides good responses to actions and has a helpful hint system. It is clear that a lot of work went into this game. I would certainly like to see more games by this author, with his ability to write great prose applied to more down to earth situations.
I'm unable to download this from the link...is it on the ifArchive?
I would like to be able to say that I played Saturn's Child and loved it, but since the first part of that statement is untrue, then the second must be, too. The author's site being dead was also completely unhelpful in locating a working copy of the game.
EDIT: Followed the revised link provided by the author, only to find it as unhelpful as the first, possibly due to the compression of the .t3 file (I've never got a zipped TADS3 game to open yet). The Electra Ink website also remains parked, meaning that I can't visit its homepage, and I can't help wondering if this is indicative of the amount of effort Jerry Ford put into his 'game'.