How to play, from first command to liftoff. Spoiler-light.
Launch the game from the Tronsoft Games library. You start on the bridge of
the crashed jumpship Aurora Nine. Read the story window, then act —
either type a command at the ❯ prompt and press
ENTER, or click any button in the CONTEXT ACTIONS panel beneath the
story. Every button is a complete command; every command has a button
somewhere. A good first move: TALK TO ELIAS — your father will
tell you what matters most right now.
Movement uses compass directions: NORTH, SOUTH,
EAST, WEST, UP, DOWN (or
N, S, E, W, U,
D). The world verbs are LOOK,
EXAMINE <thing>, TAKE, DROP,
OPEN, USE <thing>,
TALK TO <person>, and INVENTORY.
The up and down arrow keys recall your command history.
This is a single-player, turn-by-turn game: you act, the world answers, and the action buttons recompose to match the new situation. The turn counter in the status bar tracks your moves. There is no real-time pressure — the storm is story, not a clock — so read, examine, and talk freely.
The EXITS panel (and the Movement band) lists where you can go. Some ways are barred until you are equipped or until the world changes: a locked exit tells you plainly what stands in your way, and that message is always a clue. The Map button on the quick row shows everywhere you have been.
A perfect expedition scores 100 points: recovering vital
gear earns 5–10 points apiece, and the four great deeds of the story — the
rescue, first contact, the fuel run, and liftoff — carry the rest. Check
progress any time with SCORE, the PLAYER meters, and the
QUESTS and ACHIEVEMENTS commands. There is no combat
in this game; every obstacle yields to the right tool in the right place.
The game is won when the whole family is aboard, the reactor is lit, and
the Aurora Nine lifts off from the valley — the final command is
given at the helm console on the bridge. The five quests in your
QUESTS log mark the road there.
You cannot die and the game cannot become unwinnable: no item can be lost,
no action wastes a critical resource, and the storm never lands. Wrong turns
cost only moves. If you are stuck, HINT speaks to your current
obstacle — three levels deep, from a gentle nudge to the outright answer.
SAVE [name] and RESTORE [name] keep
named saves in your browser, and the Save button on the quick
row opens the save manager. Saves carry everything — world, inventory,
journal, quests, achievements, statistics, and transcript.
RESTART begins the expedition again. Themes, text size, and
optional speech narration live under Settings.
Full command reference and field notes: docs/MANUAL.pdf. Complete winning line: docs/WALKTHROUGH.md (spoilers).