How Do You Begin a Mission

How Do You Begin a Mission?

Polly sent 25 robots back in time. You've got to capture each one. That's 25 missions. To capture each robot, you'll need to find hidden Mission Clues and earn Invention Points. Here's how you start:

Locate a Quiz Disk and insert it into your TransQuizzer.
Select a question on the TransQuizzer by clicking one of the Question buttons.
Press the Yellow Play button to hear the question.
Listen to the question. It's the first clue of your mission and will give you some idea about when and where in history Polly has sent back one of her father's robots. If it's the mission you want to start, click the Inventory button on your Utility Belt to put away the TransQuizzer. When you do, Polly will tell you about the robot she sent back, and which four Mission Clues you'll need to collect to rescue the robot.
Following Botley's directions, you'll then need to figure out where Polly hid the Mission Clues you need. It might not be so simple retrieving them though, because Polly's hidden them all in games and challenges--and it's up to you to win them back.
Along the way, as you play games, you'll collect Invention Points. You'll need them to complete your mission.

The Jumbo Electro Generator

The machines and devices you'll use in the Mountain run on electricity. To play them, you'll have to supply the power. To get the energy points you need, you'll sometimes have to return to the Professor's generator. To get here, take the stairway down from the first floor.

The generator runs on batteries, and only you have the "power" to put the batteries in the right combination! But you'll have to work fast, before the batteries lose their spark.

Each monitor displays a specific battery requirement.
Find two batteries that, when combined in the required math operation, equal the number on the monitors.
Click on a battery and drag it to one of the magnets sitting on top of the generator.

The Kitchen Door

Oops. The Kitchen Door's locked. So you'll need to figure out the combinations. That will require some math--addition, subtraction, and multiplication.

Solve the problems by entering the correct numbers at the bottom of each equation.
Click on the arrows above or below each box to spin the numbers. Each time you click the Up Arrow, the number will increase by one. Each time you click the Down Arrow, the number will decrease by one.
To make the numbers spin faster, hold down the mouse button.
When you see the number you want, click on the glowing red button.
You can also try entering numbers from the keyboard.

The Robot Feeder

Mort's not shy. He'll tell you just what he likes to eat. And the Professor's got lots of cool ways to measure the ingredients. Better get them right though, or Mort might get sick. Very sick.

Click the Feeding Lever on the Robot Feeder to begin.
To measure the toppings, click on one of the instruments along the back wall, then click on one of the toppings moving along the conveyor belt.
To add the measured ingredient, click on the bowl.
If you put in the wrong amount, empty the bowl by clicking on the Feeding Lever and the topping will be removed from the dish.
Make sure you don't add anything Mort doesn't want, because then you'll have to start over.
When you think you've got the recipe correct, let the bowl run right into Mort's mouth.

The Professor's Virtual Collection

If you want to view any of the art in the Professor's collection, you'll first have to get by Polly--each time you click on the Virtual Collection, she'll give you a clue related to one of the Professor's works of art. She's hidden either a Mission Clue or some of those precious Invention Points there, and it's your challenge to find them!

Use Polly's clue and Mrs. Beasley's hints to select the right category of art from the rotating drum. To change the category, click on the lever.
Click once on the tiny picture to learn more about that particular piece of art.
Click on the tiny picture again to display the art inside the Virtual Viewer.
If Polly's hidden a Mission Clue or Invention Points in the artwork, she'll scramble it into a puzzle.
Put the pieces in the right order. Click on any puzzle piece to lift it off the display, then click on another piece to switch them.
To turn a piece right-side-up, click the Rotate button or press the spacebar on your keyboard.

The Painting Gallery

Click on an empty frame to begin a new painting.
To finish a painting you began earlier, just click on it.
If you've filled up the gallery, click on any painting and erase it.

When you are close to the canvas, you can:

Choose any tool by clicking on it.
Choose colors from the bottom of the frame.
Click on the Background button and add your own touches to one of the Professor's own paintings.
Click on the Sticker button to add stickers to your painting. Some of them even animate! Just select an animated sticker from the sticker menu, hold down the mouse button while you drag the sticker around your painting, then release the button and watch it move!
Add sound or music to your artwork by clicking the Sound button.
Click on the New button to start over with a fresh canvas.
Print your work by clicking on the Print button.
Save your picture and hang it in the gallery by clicking on the Back button on the Utility Belt and saving your work. You can save up to eight pictures.

The Music Hall Door

Is the door to the Music Hall locked? You'll have to decode the secret password by unscrambling words.

Click on a letter on the top row of buttons, then click on the button on the bottom row where you want to place it.
Click on the button next to each scrambled word for a hint. Bothoven, the door-knocker robot, will help you along the way.
Each word you unscramble on the left side of the door will win you letters of the password on the right side. Once you have all the letters, unscramble the password and the door will open.

Hint: The password is related to the words you've already unscrambled.

The Music Player

Now that you've made it inside the Music Hall, it looks like something's wrong with the organ. All the music is scrambled, and Polly wants to hear something--fast! Maestro, the Professor's personal robot conductor, might help.

Maestro will play the piece that Polly wants to hear, all the way through. Click on him to hear it again.

Click on the button next to each Music Chip to hear the music programmed in that chip.
Click on Maestro to hear the piece again, then click and drag the chips into the right order.

When you arrange the Music Chips in the right order, you'll earn Invention Points, and maybe even one of those Mission Clues you've been looking for!

Launching Pad

To launch a Biosphere Explorer, click on the Launch button in front of the Biosphere Viewer under the window to the Biosphere.

Biosphere Maze

Unfortunately for you--or fortunately, depending on how much you like challenges--your Biosphere Explorer emerges way beneath the Biosphere, in a giant underground maze. To get to the top, you'll have to fly the explorer through narrow passages and avoid dead ends. Also, Polly is up to her old tricks, and sometimes she'll interrupt your trip and ask you a question. Listen carefully and answer correctly, because each answer will lead you closer to where a Mission Clue or Invention Points are hidden!

Maneuver through the maze using the arrow keys on your keyboard. The Up Arrow blasts the explorer's thrusters, while the Left and Right Arrows rotate the explorer.
Be on the look-out for twinkling Force Shields, located throughout the maze. Fly over them to pick them up, because they'll help keep the explorer in one piece if you happen to crash into a wall!
When you enter an airlock, Polly will appear to ask you a question. Answer correctly and she'll give you a hint and let you pass through the airlock.
Use Polly's hints to select the right environment and land on the designated landing pad.
Click on the key on your console to open Polly's hiding place and see what's there! When you start your trip, you'll have two keys to unlock the Mission Clue or Invention Points that Polly has hidden inside the Biosphere.
If you run out of keys before selecting the correct site, you'll have to go back to the Launching Pad to select another explorer.

The Shrink-O-Matic

To begin your work in the Shrinking Room, click on the Analyzer in Egbert's hand.
To find out about any specimen in the specimen case, click on it.
When you think you've got the specimen you want, hand the analyzer back to Egbert. He's kind of a neat freak.
Now move the specimen to the platform in front of the Shrink-O-Matic.
Click on the microscope to shrink Botley and get him ready for his fantastic voyage--inside the specimen.

The Fantastic Voyager

Now that you've miniaturized Botley in the Shrink-O-Matic, the real fun begins! You're peering down to the molecular level of the specimen now. You've got to break away the molecules to find the object. And a shrunken Botley is your tool!

Click your mouse to launch Botley.
Use your mouse to move the electromagnet back and forth. You've got to aim Botley so he breaks away all the round molecules and reveals Polly's hidden Mission Clue or Invention Points.
After you've released the prize, click on it. You can now store it in your Inventory.

Black Hole Blaster

Now that you're in the Observatory, you can use one of the Professor's deep space probes to shoot at the radio waves and knock them out of the black hole.

Warning: Asteroids and comets are common in this area of the universe!

To start, click on the Telescope.
To spin your probe, use the arrow keys on your keyboard.
To shoot, hit the space bar on your keyboard or click the Shoot button on the Utility Belt.
Destroy the asteroids before they hit you. Get hit too many times and your spaceship is history.
Of course comets are too big to destroy so easily, but if you turn the probe's back to it, you just might deflect it without sustaining too much damage.
If your probe is destroyed, another will replace it--until you run out.
When you've collected all the radio waves, you're ready to unscramble the clues in the Alien Signal Decoder.

The Alien Signal Decoder

Professor Spark loves to search the sky for signs of life in outer space, and just in case he finds it, he's built this Alien Signal Decoder to help him communicate. Luckily, it will also help you decode the scrambled radio waves of Polly's hint that you blasted out of the black hole and put the words into the right order.

Click on a piece of Polly's hint. Drag it to any other part of the unscrambling window.
Click again to release the piece.

In Level 3, the hint will include words you don't need.

Click on the word or set of words you don't want and move it to the Space Disposal Unit located on the right side of the Decoder.
When you've unscrambled the hint, you're ready to identify the constellation.

Far Out Star Chart

Once you've unscrambled Polly's hint using the Alien Signal Decoder, move on to the Professor's star chart to locate the correct constellation.

Click on the round star chart on the left side of the Observatory.
To change the star chart display from the northern to the southern hemisphere, click on the Globe.

Move your pointer over the stars to see the lines of different constellations appear.

Click on any constellation to hear something about it.
When you think you've identified the constellation where Polly sent her father's space ship, click on it.
If you're right, the space ship will come zooming back to the Observatory and its robot pilot will present you with the Mission Clue or Invention Points.

What's at work in the Robot Obstacle Course?

Now you've entered the most dangerous part of the mountain. You'll find the Robot Obstacle Course on the third floor of the MountainMansion. It's not safe for humans to enter, but one robot can. His name's Buster, and he's a bit of a stone face. Unfortunately, Polly programmed Buster to leave a box filled with a Mission Clue or Invention Points in the maze, then she scrambled the program to make it difficult on you and Botley. Luckily, Buster will follow every one of your commands, too. So it's up to you to reassemble the program using the Remote Programmer:

To move a command, click on it and drag it to where you want it to go.
To test your program, press the Run button at the bottom of the Remote Programmer. Buster will follow your commands to a T--or over the edge.
If you put the commands in the wrong order, try again.

How Do You Complete A Mission?

You'll need to collect Polly's four Mission Clues and a bunch of Invention Points to rescue a robot. When you've collected all four objects and enough Invention Points, head for Time Machine Mission Control at the very top of the mountain. Look for the passageway on the third floor of the MountainMansion.

Time Machine Mission Control

Enter Time Machine Mission Control through the passageway on the third floor of the MountainMansion. On the left side of Mission Control is the Wheel of Invention. It's here where you'll learn where and when you have to go back in history to retrieve Polly's robot--before it's too late. Just click on the Wheel to get started.

Wheel of Invention

All the Mission Clues are loaded into the Wheel when you arrive at Time Machine Mission Control, and you're ready to begin. Just listen to Monty Monitor--he's really up on his history facts, and lots of other subjects as well--and answer three of his questions for each Mission Clue. When you answer them correctly, you'll be given a year, a place, and a person's name, along with the invention. In the end, you'll also win a Time Key.

The Time Machine

The Time Key you won at the Wheel of Invention has all the information you'll need to retrieve Polly's robot. Now you're ready to follow Botley to the Time Machine itself. Go! Go inside, but take Botley with you. Once inside, insert the key into the console, and all the information you'll need to retrieve Polly's robot will be put in place. Now, it's up to you and Botley to travel through history, find the robot, and snatch it away before it does any real damage to the future of the world.