Portugues
Dynamite Powers vs. the Ray of Night
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About the game
Commander Dynamite Powers is the hero of an old-fashioned space serial, the kind with rocket ships, ray guns and villains in capes. The story opens on Mars with Powers locked in a cage hanging over a lake full of razorfish, while the gloating Lord Infamy explains that this time he has won. Then he is called away, and you are left alone with the cage, the lake and a long drop.
Lord Infamy's plan involves the Ray of Night, a machine meant to plunge the Earth into darkness. Stopping it takes you through his base, including a laboratory where strange creatures from across the solar system can be recombined, and a puzzle built around light and colour.
The writing plays the serial straight and has fun with it at the same time, with exclamations like "By the velvety purple rings of Uranus!" This is the Director's Cut, a 2021 revision that adds feedback for near misses and an easier alternative solution to the final puzzle.
Playing it here
Click Play now and the story starts in the player. Type a command after the >
prompt and press Enter. The game understands short English sentences, such as
examine the cage or pull the lever. Type menu at any time to see the
extras.
Commands
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
north, south, east, west (or n, s, e, w) |
walk; also up, down, in, out |
look (l) |
describe where you are again |
inventory (i) |
list what you are carrying |
examine (x) something |
look closer |
consult book about something |
look up a topic in the book, once you have it |
menu |
list the extras |
hints |
open the hint menu |
color on / color off |
switch between the colour and the black-and-white versions |
about / credits |
the author's notes and the credits |
save / restore |
keep your progress in this browser and load it back |
A few things worth knowing
Save at the start of each section. The author rates the game Cruel on the Zarfian scale: you can save in a situation you can no longer win, and it is possible to miss information you need later. A fresh save per section keeps that from hurting.
Look around the lab again. If a later puzzle seems to be missing information, the author's own advice is to go back and look around the laboratory.
Colour changes the last puzzle. According to the
author, the final puzzle is easier in colour and harder in black and white, so
color off is the challenge mode.
Credits and licence
Dynamite Powers vs. the Ray of Night was written by Mike Carletta for the 2018 Interactive Fiction Competition; the Director's Cut was released in 2021. It is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. The cover art, by Brendon and Brian Fraim with colours by Dan Wilckens, is not covered by that licence and is not distributed here. The licence text is linked from this page.