Walkthrough of the CP/M-80 text adventure "Star" by David Goodenough.
In the below text solution, instructions such as “w x 4” mean go west four times while “e x ??” means keep repeating the command (in this example go east) until an event is triggered. This is for cases where the number of times needed is random and unknown beforehand.
Comments are in round brackets. Commands in square brackets are optional but do reveal more about the game.
Text solution:-
(You start in your cabin)
n, e, e, d, w, w, s, [search], take phaser, take shunt, n, e, e, d, w, w, kill guard (*note1), w x 4, [look], insert shunt, e x 5, u, w, w, s, search, take all (torch, tricorder & communicator), n, w, w, n, take hypo, s, e x 4, d, w x 3 (beside a door in the south wall), use tricorder (cut one trace with the phaser), use phaser, s, s (brig), use hypo (Spock awakens), drop hypo, n, n, e, e, u, u, w x 3, kill guard, w, w, [use tricorder], use transporter (*note2; once successfully transported, you will appear on Janus-6), [w, w (to see the view), e, e], e, e, (back of cave), on (switches torch on), e, e, n, s, w (top of ladder), d, w, s, w, s, w (beside a pile of rocks), fire phaser x ?? (eventually, the phaser cuts through some rocks), s, s (in bar), [look, search], take brandy x ?? (*note3), n, n, e, n, e, s, s, e x 3 (Andorian is here), give brandy, e x ?? (*note4), e, e, search, take charge (*note5), s, search, take oil, w, swim, e, e, s, s, use oil (hinges loosen), n, n, w x 3 (tiny crack in south wall), drop charge, e, use comm (communicator detonates the charge), w (crack now passable), s, s, w, s, d, w, w (in the Tardis), take sonic (screwdriver), e, e, u, n, e, s, e, s, s (you can see the sky from here so the communicator will work), use comm (back on ship), use transporter (straight back to Janus-6 but have escaped from the caves), e x 4, n, s, w, d, e, s x 3, use sonic (door opens), s, d, e, e, s, take crystals, n, e (*note6), w x 3, s, w (another maze), n x ?? (*note7), s (back on ledge), use comm (back on ship), e x 5, d, d, w x 5, n, use crystals, s, e x 4, u x 3, w, n (library computer console), scan (Klingon warship detected), scan (your crew are in the brig of the Klingon ship), e, e, d, w x 5, use transporter (crew back on board), e x 5, u, w, w (weapons and navigation console), fire phaser (with the destruction of the Klingon warship, the threat to the federation has been removed ; score 300 out of 300).
*note1 - From the moment the first guard is killed, a number of other Klingon guards will start roaming the ship looking for you. You must remain in possession of the phaser during this stage and you must type “kill guard” every time one appears. Some may take several turns of “kill guard” before they are killed. There is a small random chance that a guard can kill you. In that case, there is no choice but to restart the game and try again.
*note2 - If there are still some Klingons on the ship then Spock will instruct you to kill them all before using the transporter. In that case, you need to continue exploring the ship until you find them and then “kill guard” on each one. You can “use tricorder” which will tell you when there is only one remaining, and then none. It is a good idea to save the game once all guards have been killed, as you can no longer be randomly killed past this point.
*note3 - There is quite a high random chance that a miner will grab the brandy out of your hand, so keep repeating this command until you successfully take the brandy. It may take several attempts.
*note4 - Keep repeating this command until the Andorian becomes drunk enough to let you pass into the large cave.
*note5 - If the explosive charge is not present in this room, then it will be in the room to the south. If the oil is here, then take that instead. The charge and the oil are randomly placed in either of the two rooms of mining equipment and you need both of them.
*note6 - You need to simply visit this room to pick up 20 points needed for a full score.
*note7 - It doesn’t matter which way you walk, on each move there is a 15% chance of escaping the maze. I happen to use north in the walkthrough, but just keep repeating any direction until you get to “small room with a crack in the east wall”.