XENOS

An Interactive Fiction Game for the TRS-80


Xenos TRS-80 Instructions | Xenos Solution


Xenos Reviews

Be sure to check out Gaming After 40's blog and his playthrough of Xenos - http://gamingafter40.blogspot.com/2010/03/adventure-of-week-xenos-1982.html.

Xenos Manuals

Download the PDF of the TRS-80 Xenos Manual : http://www.figmentfly.com/xenos/xenos-trs.pdf.

The text of the manual can be found here : Xenos TRS-80 Instructions

The Solution to Xenos can be found here : Xenos Solution

Xenos Game Roms

Download the Xenos TRS-80 Game ROM here : http://www.figmentfly.com/xenos/trs80roms/xenostrs.zip

Emulators

TRS-80

For PC Users : Visit http://www.trs-80.com/wordpress/emulators/.

For Mac Users : Visit http://macscene.net/

Information about Xenos

The Xenos program was created by the Robert Arnstein Corporation and is copyright 1982. This game was licensed to Tandy Corporation.

The original part number for Xenos was 26-1955 and the price was $24.95 according to http://www.tim-mann.org/trs80/tandycat.txt.


The dictionary definition of XENOS: xeno- or xen- prefix [Nlat. (Gk. Xenos, Stranger.)] 1. Stranger: foreigner (xenophobia) 2. Strange: foreign: different (xenolith)

Why I Created This Page

I first played this Interactive Fiction Text Adventure game called XENOS (created by the Robert Arnstein Corporation) back in the early 80's when we had a TRS-80 Model I (or maybe a Model III) computer. I was too young at the time to really get anywhere in the game but the fact that I was never able to get by the snake guarding the shovel stayed with me.

When I discovered game emulators in 1997, I quickly got a TRS-80 emulator and the XENOS game rom. This is a screen shot of the opening of the game from the Macintosh emulator called TRS-80 (v1.6)

TRS-80 emulator

 

I was able to get further in the game this time around but when I got stuck, I created this web page for help. And help arrived in the form of Jim Bakman (jbakman@earthlink.net) who created a walkthrough.


XENOS Memories


Xenos Instructions For TRS-80

Introduction

XENOS
A 32K Disk Adventure for the TRS-80 Model I/III
Catalog Number 25-1955

Introduction

3:08 a.m.-RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG! At first, you bury your head under the pillow, hoping it will go away. But no...RRRRIIIINNNNGGGG! There it is again. What idiot could possibly be calling at this unholy hour?

You search your nightstand in the dark, clumsily grabbing the receiver. "Yeah?" you mumble at this nuisance of a machine, hoping to convey extreme crankiness and anger. "Dr. Sands?" the voice at the other end of the wire asks.

"Nah, it's Mary Poppins. Of course it's Dr. Sands! Who is this and what do you want?"

"Dr. Sands, it's General Thatcher, U.S. Air Force, at the Pentagon. Sorry to wake you, but I have an urgent situation here." The general's voice sounds close to panic.

"Oh yeah? What happened? Somebody push the button by mistake again? Don't worry. Just them them to unplug the blasted computer. The missles won't launch for atleast another five minutes. You're safe till then." You're ready to hang up and get back to sleep, but the generalwon't let you.

"Dr. Sands, I'm trying to be serious. We have a major incident on our hands."

Before you have time to say another word, the general is spilling out his tale of woe. He tells you of the sighting made yesterday by one of his top pilots...first the flash, then the strange glow coming from the canyon just outside of Purgatory, New Mexico...the Air Force investigators who were sent in...the lone survivor who managed to get out, though not with his sanity.

Somehow, they've managed to convince themselves that you're the only one who can help them out. Before you hang up, visions of immortal fame, riches beyond compare, a made-for-TV movie, and a ticker-tape parade. This is it. Your big chance to be a hero!

3:57 a.m. - You trip over the cat on your way out the garage door to speed to the airport, where a USAF jet is waiting to wing you to New Mexico. By now, you've had a little time to think. Could it be a radioactive meteor? Could it perhaps be a bonafide UFO? Could it be a secret test of a nuclear device gone wrong? What the dickens is it? And is a ticker-tape parade really worth putting your life on the line?

7:32 a.m. - You step out of the jeep, just west of Purgatory. Turning to the driver, you ask "Did the general give you any instructions to wait for me?"

"Are you kidding?" the edgy private squeaks. "I'm getting out of here as fast as I can!" The jeep does a 180 and roars off in the direction from whence it came.

Looking down the road you can see that you've made the mistake of you rlife. The air seems oppressive as you begin walking toward town. There are no signs of life - you should have known better than to get mixed up in this. "Next time I'm leaving the phone off the hook," you say aloud, to be answered by the ominous howl of the arid wind.

Xenos(TM) is an intriguing and complex adventure. Your mission is to explore Purgatory and its surrounding desert, find whatever has left the town deserted, and destroy it before it wreaks havoc on anything else. You could become a hero ot a small pile of ashes. What happens is up to your skill in logic and your ability to make use of any equipment you might find.

Your TRS-80(R) will help you discover what you need to survive. It will perform commands you might give, like TAKE THE SHOVEL or GO NORTH. (directional commands may be shortened to N, S, E, and W). You may use commands containing more than two words, like PUT JACK ON CAR. Each time you give the computer a command, press ENTER to see what happens next.

To find out how well your mission is progressing, type SCORE and press ENTER. You will be told the percentage of the mission completed so far. If, in the excitement of discovery or heat of pursuit, you forget where you are, you can find out by typing LOOK and pressing ENTER.

Other useful commands are I (short for Inventory) to see a list of the equipment you currently possess, and DIAGNOSE to see your physical condition. If you're in bad shape, you might want to seek medical attention. Unfortunately, you could have a hard time finding a doctor in this part of the world. By the way, it will help you to have linguistic talents, as you could encounter a few hieroglyphs to decipher.

By no means should you become so discouraged that you QUIT, unless you are going to save the exploration and return to it later. If you stop, you have no chance to get that hero's welcome. Who knows? If you keep going, there has to be a way out, right?

You can now start your investigation, and perhaps even wind up world famous, if your powers of logic are tuned finely enough. Good luck!

Loading Instructions

It is assumed you have reviewed the general operational procedures for your equipment as explained in your TRS-80 Owner's manual and your TRSDOS and Disk BASIC Reference Manuals. You should now be familiar with how to power up your computer and load your disks.

 

Model I

Insert your Xenos disk in Drive 0. The square notch should be at the top and the label to the right. Close the drive door.

Press the Reset button. The screen will show:

TRSDOS-DISK OPERATING SYSTEM-VER 2.3

DOS READY

Type: XENOS and press ENTER. In a moment, this message will appear at the bottom left of the screen:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>XENOS<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

STRANGER, BEWARE!

 

Press any key to start the adventure.

 

Model III

Insert your Xenos disk in Drive 0 (the built-in drive closest to the keyboard). The square notch should be at the left and the label to the top. Close the drive door.

Press the Reset button (the orange button on the keybiard). The Model III TRSDOS logo and copyright paragraph will be displayed. At the bottom mof the paragraph, you are asked to enter the date. Type today's date in the MM/DD/YY format, and press ENTER. Press ENTER to answer the time question.

TRSDOS Ready will appear on the screen. Type XENOS and press ENTER. In a moment, the bottom left corner of the screen will show:

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>XENOS<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

STRANGER, BEWARE!

 

Press any key to start the adventure.

Saving a Game

If you investigation is interrupted and you must stop for a while, you can save your progress thus far. When you return to the mission, you'll start off where you quit, with all the equipment you've collected intact.

To save an investigation, type: SAVE and press ENTER. A message will be displayed: SAVE DISK IS IN WHICH DRIVE <0-3>? If you are using only one disk drive, save the game on your Xenos disk by pressing 0 (you do not have to ENTER). You can continue playing or exit the game to TRSDOS by typing QUIT and pressing ENTER.

If you are using a computer with more than one disk drive, you can save the game on a formatted disk in any drive. With your Xenos disk in Drive 0, place the formatted disk in Drive 1 (for example), type SAVE, and press ENTER.

A message will ask: SAVE DISK IS IN WHICH DRIVE <0-3>? Press the number of the disk drive in which your formatted disk resides (for our example, 1). Continue playing, or exit the game by typing QUIT and pressing ENTER.

Returning to a Previous Game

You can return to a game stored on disk as easily as you saved it, even if you have been killed. Load Xenos and get ready to play. For your first command in the adventure, type: LOAD and press ENTER. A message will ask: SAVE DISK IS IN WHICH DRIVE <0-3>?

If you are using only one drive, press 0. If you are using extra drives, place the disk containing your saved game in Drive 1 (for example), and press 1 (or the number for the drive in which your data disk resides).

In a moment, you will see the location at which you left off. All the equipment you previously collected will still be with you, and you can continue your investigation.

Helpful Hints

Since Xenos is such a complicated adventure, not all clues and objects you'll need are obvious. For instance, to find the place where a useful explosive is waiting, you must DIG.

The Anomaly is particularly intriguing - although you might begin to think you've come upon an impossible situation, it's not hopeless! There is a way out, if you use logic and see the pattern developing.

If you make it to the spaceship (your ultimate goal), you'll soon discover that directional commands are of little use. You must ENTER rooms (or holes in the wall) and proceed with caution. Once again, look for patterns developing, and you'll have the mystey unraveled!


Xenos Solution

The Town of Pugatory

The point of the game is to stop an alien invasion. The story takes place in the extremely small town of Purgatory. You are the only person in town, not counting the three or four aliens that you will encounter.

There are several main areas to explore in the town and these include a gas station, a junkyard, Harvey's Bar and Grill, Bob's Hardware, a hotel, the sheriff's office, Slim's Groceries, and a bank. To learn more about the rest of the game, check out the walkthrough.

A highway runs through the town to the east and west. To the east on the highway is an alien that will attack on sight. If it successfully hits you, you will be poisoned and die several rounds later. You can kill an alien with the shotgun or by fighting. The best bet seems to be to run away. A second alien can be found on a east-west trail that lies north of Bob's Hardware store. The aliens turn to dust when you kill them.

What follows is a detailed description of the town of Purgatory and what you can find there.

Scoring In The Game (Warning, there are spoilers here)

 

 

XENOS Walkthrough

 

This walkthrough is courtesy of Jim Bakman (jbakman@earthlink.net) who solved the game way back when and created this walkthrough recently for people like me who needed the help. Any corrections, please email to above address.

Xenos is an older game (1979), yet the parser is actually somewhat flexible. On the TRS-80 Model I emulator version, the parser will pick out the particular word it did not understand and give you a chance to in-line edit the word.

The basic story is that you are called in to investigate a possible UFO landing that has caused the citizens of the neaby town of Purgatory to evacuate.

In order to help in sanity retention, I am taking the liberty of use a few simple abbreviations.

 

PREO is shorthand for : Push Red Button , Enter Oval

PBEO is shorthand for : Push Blue Button , Enter Oval

PYEO is shorthand for : Push Yellow Button , Enter Oval

[And so, on with the story. Beginning at the western edge of the tourist hot-spot Purgatory, we can either head into downtown for the sights, or grab something quickly that we'll need much later. Let's do the latter.]

 

West

West

West

North

North (Score +10%)

Get Cube

Get Rod

 

[And now, back into town.]

South

South

East

East

East

 

[No doubt Purgatory is full of nifty things. Let's get a simple breaking-and-entering tool so we can see more of the town, and then head on in to downtown.]

East

East

Open Door

South

Get Crowbar

North

East

East

East

 

[The desert is hot and our character wants to learn more about the situation. How about hitting up the local tavern?]

Open Saloon Door

North

Get Bottle

Open Bottle

Fill Bottle with Water

Turn on Radio (Score +10%)

South

East

East

 

[Okay, so we have a clue. Perhaps the sheriff has some information. However, his office is empty. Perhaps something is in his office, though the door is locked. Let's go find the key...]

East

East

Open Hotel Door

North

Read Sign [Not a necessary move, but it is a hint.]

Get Master Key

East

Open Red Door With Master Key

North

Open Dresser

Get Brass Key

South

West

South

 

[...and then we'll open the sheriff's office and enter.]

West

West

West

West

Open Sheriff's Door with Brass Key

South

 

[Hey, there could be lots of neat things in here, but these pesky locks are in the way. No problem. After all, we have a crowbar.]

Open Top Drawer with Crowbar (Score +10%)

Get Small Key

 

[And now we have a small key. All these keys floating around...]

Open Cabinet with Small Key (Score +10%)

Drop Small Key

Drop Master Key

Drop Brass Key

Drop Crowbar

Get Shotgun

 

[Nifty. Now let's go explore the town. First, the local hardware store.]

North

East

East

Open Bob's Door

North

North

Shoot Snake with Shotgun (Score +10%)

Get Shovel

South

South

 

[Remember the hotel sign, and how it mentioned a storm shelter near the bar?]

West

West

West

North

Dig Sand with Shovel (Score +10%)

 

[We've found the storm shelter. What's inside?]

Open Door

Drop Shovel

Go In

Get Stick

Get Out

South

 

[Well, we're this far. We have a shotgun, a stick of dynamite, and an alien-kicking attitude. Let's head into the desert to now.]

 

[First, a west-to-east tour of Purgatory to reach the other end of town.]

East

East

East

East

East

East

East

 

[Once at the end of town, it's time to enter the desert. The idea is to reach an alien ship hidden in a nearby canyon. Wandering out in the desert is a prospector who will give you a clue to the alien ship's location, and also another alien that will try to claw you. If you see the alien, don't bother to shoot it. Just stay on the move.]

 

[The following directions will work to reach the east end of Purgatory to the alien ship. If you make a mis-step, then head back into town and try again, since the desert is a <gulp> maze. If you collapse and the game says you need to drink water, then do so.]

East

East

North

North

 

North

North

North

North

 

West

North

West

South

 

West

North

North

West

 

[Wow, look! The alien ship! Complete with a boulder blocking the entrance! Well, we can take care of that...]

Strike Fuse

Drop Stick

East (Score +10%)

West

West

 

[Nothing like alien technology. However, we brought along a couple of alien bits of our own.]

Put Cube in Hole

Put Rod in Hole

Push Yellow Button

Enter Oval

 

[See the note at the beginning of the file about abbreviations. The idea behind this series of rooms is to push a button to create an oval, and then to step through that oval to another room. Between every room of interest is an "airlock" room with only buttons in it.]

PBEO

PBEO

 

[Huh, what's this? Another cube?]

Get Grey Cube

PBEO

PBEO

 

PBEO

PBEO

 

[This is TSOM solution, a kind of healing drink. If you're in the desert and dying of heat again, you can drink this.]

Get Vial

PBEO

PBEO

 

[What we're doing here is not clear in context, but it is useful later.]

Put Grey Cube into Hole

Get White Cube

 

[And now, we'll wander through a bunch of useless rooms.]

PREO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

[Hmmm. See Hole. See Cube. What to do now?]

Put White Cube in Hole (Score +10%)

 

PBEO

PBEO

 

PBEO

PBEO

 

PBEO

PBEO

 

PBEO

PBEO

 

PBEO

PBEO

 

PBEO

 

PYEO

 

PBEO

 

[Oooh, the fire control. While I am tempted to blow up the earth on general principle, we're here on a mission, folks.]

Push White Button

Point to Mother Ship (Score +10%)

 

[Now to get out of here. We can keep going Red-ward and find another exit, one trapped within a landslide. Getting crushed by rocks isn't my thing. So, we're going on another little tour, back to the entrance.]

PREO

PYEO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

PREO

PREO

 

PYEO

 

East

 

[Hey, we're out! Now to get out of the canyon and back to civilization. By the way, feel free to blow away the little critter with the shotgun now.]

East

South

South

South

 

South

West

West

West

 

South

West

South (Score +10%)

 

[And so, you have solved Xenos.]

 

Recap of points (Warning - these can be spoilers!)

10% of your mission is completed for each of the following tasks : 

  1. Seeing the dead alien.

  2. Turning on the radio in the Saloon.

  3. Opening the top drawer in the Sheriff's office.

  4. Opening the shotgun cabinet in the Sheriff's office.

  5. Shooting the snake with the shotgun.

  6. Finding the storm shelter.

  7. Blowing away the boulder blocking the ship's entrance.

  8. Gaining alien knowledge via the white cube.

  9. Setting the alien ship to blast the mother ship.

  10. Returning to Purgatory after the mother ship has been destroyed.

Bedlam Solution | Haunted House Solution | Madness and the Minotaur

Pyramid 2000 Solution | Raaka-Tu Solution | Xenos Solution


This document was last updated on 6/10/16.
Maintained by Sean Murphy (figment@figmentfly.com)