Tachyon Dreams I: The Radiant Fish of the Apocalypse
A downloadable game for Windows
You're Dodger, a dish washer (a person, not a machine!) onboard Space Station Penrose, where temporal experiments are being conducted.
One of them is about to go very wrong... Only you can save the fate of the timeline itself! With your, you know, stellar dishwashing skills an' all that!
Tachyon Dreams I: The Radiant Fish of the Apocalypse is the first chapter in a series of humorous, text-parser games with EGA graphics that look and feel very much like the mid/late 80's adventure games by Sierra. Think early Space Quest games. Think AGI.
Each chapter is going to be pretty short, perhaps 30-45 minutes of gameplay.
Features
• Text parser! Type your commands!
• Colorful, low-res, pixel-wide, EGA graphics!
• Humor!
• Time travel!
• Play as a dish washer! Onboard a space station!
How to play
Use the arrow keys to move, ESC for options. Type your commands then, press enter for the magic to happen!
Merch
Fancy a shirt with the game's artwork? Check out my Merch Store for that!
Tachyon Dreams Anthology
For the complete experience, check out the full-game version, Tachyon Dreams Anthology.
Credits
Design, code, and art by Aviv Salinas.
Music by Donovan Jonk.
Redistribution is not allowed.
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Tachyon Dreams update!Nov 27, 2023
- Tachyon Dreams v1.03 released! Get it now!Oct 28, 2021
- Tachyon Dreams patch 1.02 released!Oct 17, 2021
- Tachyon Dreams - patch 1.01 released!Oct 17, 2021
- Tachyon Dreams - A New Text-Parser Adventure Game Out Now!Oct 12, 2021
- New game! 'Tachyon Dreams I: The Radiant Fish of the Apocalypse' coming soon!Oct 05, 2021
Comments
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Really enjoyed this first part of the space trilogy. Although parser is average, it's a good example of how a good and funny game can be done with just 10 screens. Will definetely play the sequels.
Cheers! Hope you have fun!
Brilliant, bit-sized Sierre inspired adventure game that hit all the right notes. Had a genuine blast playing this on stream with viewers, trying to figure commands out. Just like the good old days. Thank you.
Cheers, so glad to hear! Where can I watch the stream (if possible)? :) I'm currently working on Tachyon Dreams Anthology which will include all 3 Tachyon Dreams games into one and will include added content.
Here you go! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2037417698?t=02h28m34s Should skip to the right time. Definitely gonna play the sequels but might wait until the Anthology and buy it if it's for sale. Gonna go through the rest of your stuff as well.
Thanks! :)
This was my first experience with a text parser game. Also I'm not english native speaker so it was a bit difficult at the beginning.
Once you get used to the way of controlling this kind of games, it becomes very enjoyable. Furthermore, solving one puzzle after another becomes increasingly addictive, and the scoring system makes you want to keep playing until you complete it.
Thanks, glade you enjoyed it! There is something very addictive about the score to be sure... I wonder if it should be used in modern games too!
Hey on what machine can it run? is there a version that can run on an old machine?
I think you need at least Windows 7 (fully patched) or something more recent!
The British IBM brought me here. Wonderful retro joy. Thank you. 🤗
Cheers! :)
For those who can't type "throw spore" fast enough
Looks sweet, I guess there is no chance for an MS-DOS port? Would be cool to play it on a retro PC :-)
Hehe, no, it uses the GameMaker engine which definitely does not support Dos. :)
Any possibility of any of the Tachyon Dreams games getting ported to Mac?
I'm looking into that possibility!
Good to hear! Thanks!
I would appreciate a full walkthrough or hint document, or something :-(
I should probably not play games which have no walkthrough, I am not tough enough to do without hints
Hey! Where are you stuck? What's in your inventory?
Very thought provoking, as a sierra fan I love it! Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much!
Very nice game! Do you maybe have list of commands used in game?
Thank you! The game recognizes a large number of synonyms. If you're stuck let me know, maybe I can offer a hint.
Thanks! Is there a way to move inside room? I'm trying to press button in first room and it says I'm too far away from button. How to get closer to button?
It tells you the red button is on the console, so you need to get to the center of the big console, and then try and press it.
I thought parser is used for moving character within room. But instead arrows are used for that. :)
Yeah, that's how it worked with those games. I'll add a note about that here. :)
This is the first text parser game I have ever played and I loved it! I enjoyed it quite a bit, although at first I was a little lost and I needed a few hints, I was able to complete it.
Thanks for the game!
Thanks so much! The sequel is out if you wanna try it out.
As an AGI and SQ fan I'm looking forward to this
Cheers! There's a sequel in the making, too!
Cool and fun game - thanks a lot for creating it. Can't wait for the next one in the series.
Thanks, glad you liked it!
This game is really fun, you did a great job! I'm stuck at 25 points though, and have the seed and the mushroom piece... can't figure out what to do next? Any hints? :) Thanks again for the great game!
Thank you very much!
Hints with regards to the mushroom: when you picked it up, it commented on its smell. Trying smelling it. It might be relevant for something you may want to do in the future (snowy rooms). Any idea?
If you realize what you may need to do with it, then mind its full item name, 'spongy mushroom piece', there's a clue in the name.
If you're still stuck let me know!
Nice haha that helped! Thanks CV! Excited to keep moving on now! You brought a lot of fun to my day - thanks again for this!
Very glad to hear!
I'm still stuck on this. Any more hints? Tried throwing it at the fan and it bounced back unharmed. I'm assuming I need to cut it or something to get the oil out?
Great game by the way, been playing on Twitch :-)
Thanks! What's your Twitch channel? I'd love to watch your playthrough.
With regards to the mushroom: you may be able to use it in one of the future rooms (snowy rooms). Mind the name of the item. 'Spongy mushroom piece' -> does it give you an idea of what to do with it? Hint: what would you do with a sponge? The oil is inside, and you need to get it out. Let me know if that helps!
Cool! Be great to have you in the chat when I carry on, as I keep getting stuck ;-). It's twitch.tv/thebritishibm did the second stream of it last night. Still can't figure out how to get the oil out but assumed I need to use it in the fire when I do.
Nice! Very tight, snappy, and the graphics are wild. I like it! Outside of The Crimson Diamond demo, I've not played a proper text-parser game before. Ahh! And now I've got 26 of the 32 points, with only a berry, the computer, and remote left. In the cave and feel as though I've tried everything at all locations but... maybe I need a nudge, eh? Hint hint? ;)
Glad you like it! :) If you try to eat the berry it tells you something important about it. Maybe there's something somewhere that can help with that? Maybe on the station?
Ah! I was just using the wrong verb, thank you! Just finished--what a wonderful experience. Worth far more than what I paid (twice the asking price). Looking forward to the next installment and will check out your Patreon. All the best to you and yours! :D
So happy you enjoyed the game! :) All the best!
Hi! I got stuck on this for way too long because I kept trying to "use berry on fan" and couldn't figure out the right verb. If you ever do another update maybe you could add some extra options. Good game though!
Cheers! *Spoilers ahead*
The game intentionally rejects 'use berry on...', because a specific verb is best used there (it would accept 'throw berry...', 'use berry with...' etc). 'Use' makes text-based puzzles too easy and so unless it's for basic actions ('use diskette with computer'), I'd rather not do it that way. But it might be worth adding a special output, like 'Use...how? Be more specific.'
I was also trying to "put berry in fan" and a couple of other combinations, but yeah it would help to have the game confirm I was at least on the right track
The beta version of Tachyon Dreams Anthology (a version that combines all 3 episodes in the series and adds new content) now includes a custom message when the player tries to type "use berry...". Added it yesterday after seeing your message. :)
Thanks. Finish it. Great and fun little game. Not to hard, just try everything.
Thanks! :)
very good
Thanks!
I liked it, managed to finish it without hints. However, might I suggest a Sierra approach? Some parser commands need to be made less strict. I had the right idea at times but it just would not accept my command. Needs a couple of minor hints too as some actions are "try everything!" rather than organic.
Love the art and parser games are always welcome. I will definitely be down for part 2
Thanks for the kind words! Yes, definitely, I'm always open to the idea of more and better hints - can you please specify where for example you tried a certain something and the parser was too strict? :)
I'm noticing different commands behave differently in different rooms. "Get water" has a very long explanation in the hidden chamber, a "you can't get that" by the pond, and in the room with the tanks the game doesn't seem to register that there's water there at all.
As a result, I am a little stuck! I am at 23/32, I have the cover ("lid" would be a good synonym to add, especially because cover is a verb as well as a noun and I am not sure if that is fooling the parser) and the radioactive fish. I understand that I need to wash the fish, but:
1) I have tried a large number of commands to use the empty sink. I have tried looking for taps, use sink, fill sink, run water. I even tried using the cover as a substitute dish thinking that this might trick the sink into thinking it was dishwashing time, so that it would fill up. The parser did not recognize a lot of these commands, but I gather that the sink isn't working.
2) Since I can't wash the fish directly in the pond, I want to take some pond water elsewhere. My idea is to get some of the water, but all I have is the cover. I want to scoop the pond water out with the cover, kind of petri-dish style, to move the algae to another body of water, like the fish tank or the gemstone pool.
A way to inject hints might be to implement an "ask about" function with Audrey. I have no clue what to do with this cover, to be honest. Also, "call audrey" might be a good synonym for "use computer".
Hey! Thanks for the suggestions! There are three objects you can search in the first future room (where the snowman is). You seem to have searched two of the three. There is an item there that can help you with what you're trying to do.
I think I'm stuck in the same place and can't figure out what I am missing. I have the seed, the fish, and the cover. I took the carrot, used the mushroom, and searched the body. I can't figure out what to do next or how to clean the fish. I think I need the micro microalgae but can't figure out how to get it. Do I need Cesium from the nuclear winter site? If so, I have no idea how to get it. Any suggestions on what I should do next?
Hey! Tried searching the chimney (near the snowman)?
Fun game! Nice retro look. Love the old Sierra adventure look!
Is there a way to find out all the interactables in each room?
Finding their names is quite frustrating. Similar to the 'look' command by only showing the interactables.
Cheers Vasilis! Usually all you need to do is type 'look' to get the names of all the things you can interact with. There isn't a command that directly highlights names as such. If you get stuck I'll be happy to dispense hints!
The fan for example does not show up in the look command
True! I surmised it was prominent enough as to not need to be mentioned, but I agree that it should have. Thanks!
I think it was, but for some reason I just did not clue into what it could be used for. I tried one idea and got a unique response so I didn't bother to try others. My mistake!