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Part nine: the war chamber and maze

These are Douglas Adams' original hints for the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Adventure Game. Some questions have multiple answers and some are red herrings, so don't take the presence or absence of a question on a certain topic as an indication of what is important, and don't assume that long answers indicate important questions.

What's going on in the War Chamber?

Have you tried listening to the conversation?

- Still stuck?

Have you examined the approaching star system?

- Still stuck?

Do you remember the long piece of text that appeared when your careless words set off an interstellar war?

- Still stuck?

Those two warring races have now set off on a quest for vengeance against the world (Earth) that spawned the person (you) whose remark set off their war.

How can I get the awl out of the War Chamber?

Just "Take awl"!

- Still stuck?

Then solve the puzzle involving the giant dog.

How can I prevent being swallowed by that giant dog?

The dog really isn't a giant dog.

- Still stuck?

It's a normal-sized dog. The spaceship you're aboard is microscopic.

- Still stuck?

Have you seen a dog anywhere else?

- Still stuck?

This is the very same dog you ran into in the Country Lane back at the beginning of the game.

- Still stuck?

The dog swallows the space fleet for one particular reason.

- Still stuck?

If you examine the dog at the beginning of the game, you'll notice that it's very hungry.

- Still stuck?

You need to feed the dog back at the beginning of the game.

- Still stuck?

If you want to avoid starting over, there's another way to feed the dog.

- Still stuck?

You must become Ford Prefect first.

- Still stuck?

During the scene where you're Ford, buy a sandwich, then give the sandwich to Arthur. When Arthur dashes out of the Pub, he'll feed the sandwich to the dog.

- Still stuck?

Once the dog has been fed, you can survive the War Chamber scene and go on to the Maze.

Where is this Maze?

Synapses? Grey matter?

- Still stuck?

Remember you were just teleported over from a microscopic space fleet...

- Still stuck?

...so you must be microscopic-sized yourself.

- Still stuck?

You're inside a brain.

- Still stuck?

Ah, but whose brain?

- Still stuck?

Remember, the Vl'Hurgs and G'Gugvunts were teleporting you back to the Heart of Gold.

- Still stuck?

You are, improbably enough, inside your own brain!

Can the Maze be mapped?

The usual way of mapping a maze in this sort of a game is to drop one object in each room of the maze. That way, when you return to the room, the game will mention that 'there is a (whatever) here,' and the rooms will no longer look exactly alike.

- Still stuck?

However, that method doesn't work in this Maze, since anything you drop just sails away and vanishes.

- Still stuck?

The Maze is totally unmappable.

- Still stuck?

In fact, the directions you can go in the Maze on any given turn are totally random, so it makes absolutely no difference which direction you try to move in.

- Still stuck?

The third time you successfully move to a new Maze room (as opposed to being blocked by a synaptic discharge), you'll run across the black particle.

- Still stuck?

If you ignore the particle, you'll run across it again 14 successful movements later, and then again after another 19.

What's this black particle? What should I do about it?

Have you read the markings on the particle?

- Still stuck?

The particle is your own common sense!

- Still stuck?

You have an opportunity here to remove your own common sense.

- Still stuck?

Does that ring a bell?

- Still stuck?

See the question about no tea in the General Questions section.

- Still stuck?

Taking the particle also has the beneficial side effect of getting you out of the Maze.

What's the point of the War Chamber and Maze scene?

You should be able to figure it out for yourself.

- Still stuck?

Do you know the answers to all the other questions in this section?

- Still stuck?

There are two goals for the War Chamber/Maze scene.

- Still stuck?

The first goal is to get the awl.

- Still stuck?

The second goal is to remove your particle of common sense.