Tighnabruach by Neil King Via Flickr: At the pier is MacBrayne's paddle steamer Columba which ran the Ardrishaig Mail run from Glasgow to Ardrishaig calling at Gourock, Dunoon, Rothesay, Colintraive, Tighnabruach and Tarbert every summer from 1879 to 1935. The service ran six days a week and a smaller ship operated it in winter.

Not Psalm 24

a tradtional ditty / witticism

Unto the Lord belongs the Earth And all that it contains Except for the Kyles and Western Isles For they belong to MacBraynes

Have Orb, Will Travel by Jim MacBrayne

============= Links

Play the game See other reviews of the game

============= Synopsis

You've spent a lifetime travelling and solving problems for others, but on this occasion have you bitten off a little bit more than you can chew? Where will you find that elusive orb, or has The Council's faith in you been misplaced?

============= Other Info

Have Orb, Will Travel is a qBasic64 parser, submitted to the 2023 Edition of the IFComp. It ranked 57th overall. The game is a Windows Executable.

Status: Completed Genre: Fantasy

CW: /

============= Playthrough

Played: 15-Dec-2023 Playtime: around 1h-ish (with walkthrough) Rating: 3? /5 Thoughts: And Travel you will... A LOT

============= Review

Have Orb, Will Travel is an old-school style parser, where you play a wizard tasked to find an elusive orb somewhere inside a quaint cottage, to gain back the Council's trust. With its custom system and Interface reminiscing of old Minitel pages, the game is a puzzle fest. Though you will not really reach a failed state, the puzzles are fairly difficult. The game includes hints and a walkthrough, both of which I used extensively.

Spoilers ahead. It is recommended to play the game first. The review is based on my understanding/reading of the story.

Old-school style parsers intrigue me, in their implementation (often confusing for new parser players), their sometimes convoluted puzzles, and the sheer amount of work needed in the back-end to make things work. They require a lot of attention, out-of-the-box thinking to solve puzzles, and knowledge of the codes in interacting with elements. Reaching the end feels like an achievement.

But I struggled with it so much. I didn't even exited the first room before I ended up opening the hint sections... which weren't actually helpful in my case. Turns out, keys are not the only way to open a door. Who knew? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Still, I persevered, because I am not a quitter, and ran around the cottage, trying to interact with anything in my path. Sometimes it worked well, and I could unlock things just fine (and feel so darn smart about it), sometimes... it was a frustrating disaster (;-; mazes yall... that one broke me.).

For how interesting and new some puzzles felt (actually, the maze, as strange as it was) or how reined-in the clues were (not always helpful, but fun anyway!), there were quite a lot of friction when it came down to playing it. For examples: you'd need to type a very specific command to get things, not just take item; even if a thing is mentioned in a description (especially an item), the program might not let you examine it unless it is in your inventory, pretending even it does not exist; one of the first items available to you is a book, but you can't read it completely unless you turn each of its pages... All of these little frictions do end up adding up, making the game maybe a bit more frustrating than it could be.

Most of the latter part of the game (which I reached only because of the walkthrough), revolves around manipulating different machineries that affects other bits of the map. So you end up going to some part of the map, interact with one thing, walk around the map to see if it affected it correctly, walk back to the machine (which is sometimes going the long way round because of one-way passageways), pressing some more buttons and doing it again... Damned if you enter the wrong combination, because the game has many rooms.

While you are supposedly a wizard, and can learn 3 spells in-game, you surprisingly use very little magic to solve puzzles - the spells being used at most 3 times in total. You spend more time walking around the cottage or manipulating buttons, dials, and handles. You do end up getting a wand at some point though...

For all the text the game has, it answers surprising little in why you need to find the orb, how it got there, what it does, or how important it is to the Council. The game is so focused on the puzzle, you mainly learn about the setting or context of the story at the start, with the quest of finding the orb handed to you. Just a little bit of nudging and framing would have helped.

I still found the game fascinating - even if it may have broken my spirit a little bit, resulting in finishing the game with the walkthrough opened next to the game instead of solving it all by myself. The interface is very playful and colourful (though the timed text gets annoying by the second use of the ring), and the use of background noise gave the game a lot of charm. The ding notification when solving something and gaining points was so darn rewarding!

MV Alfred dock at Brodick while PS Waverley went away for the clyde.

The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry MV Loch Buie (1992) shuttles between Fionnphort on the Scottish mainland and Baile Mòr on the Isle of Iona.

Dunoon Pier by FotoFling Scotland Via Flickr: Dunoon's Victorian pier was first built in 1835; it was extended to the current structure in 1895. The pier was shortened to allow the building of a breakwater in 2005, just to the south of the pier. As well as protecting the Victorian pier and its architecture from storm surges, a new link span was installed alongside the breakwater. This was to allow the berthing and loading of roll-on/roll-off ferries instead of the side-loading ferries that used to serve the pier. A tender to serve the new link-span between two interested parties, Caledonian MacBrayne and Western Ferries, came to nothing. Prior to June 2011, the pier was in daily use by Caledonian MacBrayne, who ran a regular foot passenger and car-ferry service to Gourock. However, after June 2011, a renewed tendering process produced a passenger-only ferry service (Argyll Ferries, owned by Caledonian MacBrayne) using the breakwater for berthing. On 1 September 2004, during the construction of the breakwater, the cargo vessel Jackie Moon ran aground on the breakwater, with six people on board. Since the breakwater became operational in June 2011, Argyll Ferries operate from this docking facility.The Waverley struck the breakwater on 26 June 2009, with some 700 people on board. The Victorian pier was partially refurbished by Argyll and Bute Council during 2015. Now containing meeting rooms, the pier is purely a tourist attraction. [Wikipedia] Not much progress seems to have been made in restoration and the property is currently on the Buildings at Risk Register

Caladonian MacBrayne Ferry. Oban, Scotland. July 2022

This is the same ferry as it approached the harbour.

Mallaig

The town is a fascinating place where visitors can soak up the atmosphere of a working fishing port but at the same time its remote location makes is a great place to relax.

This is a great base to explore the surrounding area and is a great gateway to the Isle of Skye.

Mallaig, a coastal village in Scotland, has a rich history dating back centuries. Originally a small fishing village, Mallaig grew in importance with the rise of the fishing industry and the establishment of the West Highland railway line in the 19th century. The village became a hub for trade and transportation, attracting displaced communities during the Highland Clearances. The railway line connected Mallaig to major towns, facilitating the movement of goods and passengers. During World War II, Mallaig served as a naval base and contributed to the war effort through fish supply. Today, Mallaig thrives as a tourist destination, known for its natural beauty, the Jacobite Steam Train, and its vibrant fishing port. The village's history highlights its resilience and adaptability over the years.

Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac) is a ferry in Scotland, connecting Scotland to various islands along the country's west coast. As one of the largest ferry boats in the UK, CalMac has a lot of routes, making it easier to transport and commerce to islands like Isle of Arran, Isle of Mull, and Isle of Skye.

Vintage travel poster showing the abbey on the isle of Iona, Scotland, in the Inner Hebrides.  Printed for MacBrayne’s Steamers ca. 1930s-40s.  Artwork by Tom Gilfillan (active 1930s-1950s).

Its Ferry, Ferry clear...   

Whatever the task - Scots and Scotland can, but the SNP simply Can’t..!

The SNP - unable to build 2 ferries.  Currently, to finish the work, the job has now been outsourced to Romania. But its expected that the warranties on major elements like the engines, LNG turbines , etc, will expire before either ferry is certified to sail (if that ever happens...)!

“It has also been disclosed that the half-built ferry had spent so long at the quayside at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow that 42 tonnes of mussels had to be removed from the hull of the vessel when she went into dry dock earlier this month”

The Arran Banner Aug 28, 2020

The fiasco includes massive cost overruns, failed, “immature” original designs, thousands of ‘change orders’, delay after delay, contracts failing, massive write off of performance bonds, nationalization of the yard, gaps in service for the islands, a fake PR ‘launch’ of one boat by the First Minster (when the bridge had no windows - except those pained on..!!), a botched and corrupt ‘inquiry’ that refuses to even question the ex-minister responsible and STILL not even 1 of the two ferries is sea-worthy.  (And it is rumored they may both end up scrapped)...!!!

Among the ‘Top 10′ known issues the Fiasco-Class ferries face:

Vessel cannot meet contract deadweight.

Hull vibration analysis indicates that there may be an inherent design problem

Materials have been stored offsite at Westway in poor conditions and unmanned. The material condition and level of stock is uncertain and may result in material stock write downs.

A commercial decision is not reached with the original electrical contractor to allow electrical work to progress to the plan.

Equipment may not work during the setting to work and commissioning phase as a result of being idle for a significant length of time.

The level of rework is not sufficiently scoped. 

Known rework is not fully scoped. 

Unknown rework will occur, particularly during the test and commissioning phase.

Work packaging arrangements are not robust enough to control properly the work sequence and capturing performance.

In a competitive market for skills, SNP seem unable to recruit or retain production staff in the required numbers, with suitable qualifications and experience.

Meanwhile... 

HMS Queen Elizabeth and her sister carrier HMS Prince of Wales have both been put to sea in the time the SNP’s ferries fiasco has continued to take on water.  Both launched from Rosyth in Scotland - neither hailed by the SNP, despite being engineering marvels completed in Scotland and the largest capital ships ever build for the Royal Navy.

Westward bound

This #TravelTuesday post features two 1908 photographs of immigrants traveling on board the Königin Luise, a passenger ship built in 1896 by Vulcan Shipbuilding Corp.

The images were captured by American illustrator Frank E. Schoonover (1877-1972) as part of his research for a commission to illustrate "The Judgment of the Steerage," by Lewis E. MacBrayne, which was published in Harper's Monthly Magazine in September 1908. The story recounted the experiences of a variety of Portuguese and Italian immigrants to America on board a ship returning to Europe, most for a brief visit, some to stay.

These images are part of Hagley Library’s Frank E. Schoonover negatives (Accession 2017.239) collection. You can view more images from this 1908 assignment, as well as other items from this collection, by clicking here.

The ferry was beginning to make the same strange noises that it had made when it set off, with a great deal of beeping and wailing and flashing of lights as well as a much increased rumbling sound which seemed to cause its entire structure to shudder and shake. Algy guessed that this meant it was preparing to come to a halt, but although he tried several different viewpoints, he still could not see around the corner of the headland and into the bay. He wondered whether he would get a better view from the extreme end of the boat, but when he approached it he found a notice which stated NO ENTRY CREW ONLY in no uncertain terms. Algy pondered for a moment, considering whether this would apply to fluffy birds as well as other kinds of passengers, but eventually decided that he had better not take any chances, or he might get into trouble. Resolved to be patient just a wee bit longer, Algy jumped up and down on the edge of one of the collapsing perches until it obligingly collapsed, and then leaped upon it quickly before it changed its mind, pressing his body downwards as firmly as he could to prevent it folding itself up around him again...

her summer second ferry MV isle of arran still at Ardrossan.

MV Glen Sannox at Brodick. (In progress) Acrylic on canvas

Haste ye back - The Loch Buidhe is in Rothsay tonight

Some more sketchbook pages from four days and four ferries