Delightful Wallpaper

This was a very, very tough game, which took me at least 6 hours to complete. I'm not a regular player of IF so that might have been the problem. I had enjoyed Plotkin's previous games but this one was like having my teeth pulled out.

The prose and the settings are exquisite, as per the usual with Plotkin, despite this being (Spoiler - click to show)a very dark comedy, much darker than his other IF (at least the ones I've played).

There appear to be no clues for this game anywhere on the internet, except for the walkthrough which doesn't actually reveal anything. So to save the next poor soul who tries this game a bit of time, here are some clues that would have helped me.

Part 1
* (Spoiler - click to show)Read the notebook very very carefully, it will tell you what you missed.
* (Spoiler - click to show)Make a map and note what each passage does after you discover it.
* (Spoiler - click to show)Don't waste your time trying to open the front door, that'll come only at the end of part 1.
* (Spoiler - click to show)The key to the rest of the game is the northern hallway, find out how to go up.
* (Spoiler - click to show)Note what the notebook says about moving the bridge, there are 2 ways to do it.
* (Spoiler - click to show)Just crossing the bridge FROM a side tower TO the central tower unlocks doors, permanently. Each side tower unlocks its own door(s). The text which says it happens is very easy to miss, and it's not really obvious even from the notes (except "by tower bridge". It doesn't say you have to cross it, I thought it was enough to rotate it). Realizing this would have saved me hours.
* (Spoiler - click to show)Note the direction of the arrow in the Dining Room.

Part 2
* (Spoiler - click to show)You PUT intents ON people. You can't DROP intent on people, you get a confusing reply. This had me stuck for something like 2 hours.
* (Spoiler - click to show)In the kitchen, examine each of the drinks on the tray separately.
* (Spoiler - click to show)Don't use 2 intents on the same person. This makes the game unwinnable (sort of, since you can take back any intent). Consult the notes on what to do.
* (Spoiler - click to show)There are apparently multiple uses for each intent that deviate from what the notebook says, but I didn't care enough for the game to try them.

I liked the easter egg where (Spoiler - click to show)you walk around the house and see the Viscount romanticizing all adult members of the family, both male and female. Other than that I could care less about multiple endings and just about had enough of this game.

My interpretation of it: (Spoiler - click to show)You play as Death and/or an author of a murder mystery, where everyone dies at the end. In the first part, the House (manor) where this takes place actually tries to fight you to prevent its inhabitants from being killed.

This very much reminded me of Groover's game The Bat, they have very similar, uh, sensibilities: (Spoiler - click to show)Both the inky black humor and the discrete, period-appropriate references to outrageous sex acts (The Bat of course came out 8 years after Delightful Wallpaper.) The Bat however is much easier and also fun to play ((Spoiler - click to show)if a bit gross). All in all they're not very different in spirit. I thought Wallpaper is very well researched as well as The Bat was, especially the references to (Spoiler - click to show)Edward Gorey, complete with the little horror poems about death.
I think if Wallpaper had been a bit more clued then I would've enjoyed it even more than The Bat.