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SAVTec - Sir Pistonalots' Piston Palace: Piston Trick Tutorial

Learn what it means to be piston!

• 100% mod-free
  
• No scripts. 1 rotor - perfectly safe
  
• Is a tutorial about pistons, so "may contain pistons"
  
• World file, not a blueprint!
  
• Perfect introduction to piston & merge block tricks for new players
  
• Still fun even for seasoned veterans (may contain hidden and not-so-hidden humour)

In a departure from my usual, this is a world file, not a blueprint.
Do not look for it in your blueprints folder - it wont be there!

Sir Pistonalots' Piston Palace is part 1 of a 3-part series of tutorial scenarios aimed mainly at new players, to help you come to grips with some of the simple tricks you'll need to master in order to build my workshop items (and lots of other things) in survival mode.

It plays like an "interactive museum exhibit", with the player controlling the action from behind glass with the aid of button panels & simple written instructions.

The goal is to learn what is possible and see the methods in action, then to escape the closed environment using nothing but what the scenario provides.

For long-time players, don't dismiss it. There are laughs to be had playing it and a nice big surprise waiting for you when you complete it... And who knows, you may even pick up a trick you didn't know!

Sir Pistonalot is the famed space-knight of the realm and the lord of Pistonalots' Palace. He recently took out an ad in the village bugle for a new squire... and you applied for the job!

After questing for many moons to reach his remote Piston Palace, you've finally arrived and now stand at its gate.
An imposing structure with a single entryway looms before you. A long corridor can be seen beyond, stretching as far as the eye can see.

You dust yourself off & try to make yourself presentable for Sir Pistonalot and it's then that you realise you've lost all your belongings on the journey here. Your ship exploded, your faithful jetpack got spooked in the woods and flew away. You dropped your welder into the bottomless ravine as you crossed the rope bridge of doom, the last of your ammo is now lodged in the carcass of that damnable giant spider and you traded your rifle for a new pair of mag boots to climb the cliffs of dispair... then last night a crow stole your hand drill while you slept!
But wait... your grinder... hmm. You don't remember loosing that. It's not in your pack though.
You sigh and resign yourself to also having no grinder. It'll bug you later but you'll get over it!
All you have left now is your space suit and the torn scrap of paper that you ripped out of the bugle.
Ah well, it'll have to be enough!

On the scrap of paper is Sir Pistonalot's ad. You read it one last time, just to be sure you have all the details. It says that before he'll name you as his squire, you'll need to "prove your worth to him" by studying and mastering the art of something called "pistonry"... whatever that is!

Suddenly you're startled by movement at the door.
It's Sir Pistonalot himself, come to welcome you to Piston Palace!

Wasting no time, Sir Pistonalot sets before you 5 challenges as your trials, each designed to not only test your skill and cunning with the piston but to teach you a little more about how to wield it correctly. Should you pass these trials, he promises you the key to his treasury, within which there are riches beyond your wildest imaginings!

"But alas I must leave on business" he says.
"I'm sure you'll do just fine but I'll be watching you all the same through my crystal scrying sensor.
Since there will be no-one guarding my glorious palace, I'm sorry to say I'll have to lock you in until I return. Can't have you wandering around outside fiddling with my prize pistons now can I?! Hahaa!"
He slaps you on the back and pushes you toward the door...
"In you go then! And good luck! I've been in desperate need of a new squire since my last one tragically passed away in that horrible rotor accident last season... so don't bloody fail me!"

He mutters something under his breath about all the good squires... something, something... dead... and with that, Sir Pistonalot spins on his heels and sprints for the horizon, laughing like a deranged madman... why would he be laughing... or sprinting? What a strange chap!

As he disappears from view, you're overcome by a peculiar sensation... like rain falling on your head... warm rain... yellow warm rain... it's almost like you're being....

No! Surely not?!

Not wanting to look up and confirm your worst suspicions, you head inside to seek shelter...

The rules for this scenario are simple. It's a very quick scenario and will take you as little as 10-15 minutes to work through, though you're free (and encouraged) to play for longer & repeat any of the examples as many times as you need to in order to understand the concepts being demonstrated.

• You have no tools, no weapons, no jetpack and no way to build or destroy anything
  
• You have no access to the control panel. You may press buttons and watch pistons and that is all
  
• You have unlimited Oxygen but no way to recharge your suit (Don't worry, you have more than enough time to complete the scenario)
  
• Sir Pistonalot was really sprinting. I don't think he's coming back! You'd better figure out how to escape once you've finished your trials!

Most importantly, read the signs! All the information you need is in there!

• All examples can be reset & repeated easily and infinitely using the controls & instructions provided.
  
• The more advanced examples may require you to think just a little... it's ok though, it wont hurt, I promise!
  
• Some examples can be completed in more than one way.
  
• Some examples will break if you operate them incorrectly. To fail is to learn a new way not to do it!

You may skip any / all example/s completely if you choose and even skip straight to claiming your "prize" & escaping, though if you're just going to do that there's not much point playing the scenario.
I could've lashed you to rails the whole way but it's a learning scenario, so I've given you the freedom to learn at your own pace & in your own way. If you're the kind of person who needs to exploit that in order to "win" at everything... well there's a subtle lesson for you hidden at the end.

If you want the most out of this scenario & want to learn what it has to teach then play fair with it. It'll reward you in amusing ways for not knowing what you're doing / where you're going. If you cheat it, you'll miss out on the laughs and come away with no new understanding of anything.

When you're done playing the scenario, change it's world settings to Creative mode and load it up - you can then claim ownership of all the blocks & access the control panel for a closer look at how everything is set up. You may even find some hidden humour in there!

Comments / questions / suggestions / constructive criticism all very welcome.
I've even been known to do the odd request-build from time to time, so if you have an idea, drop me a line. If I like it I may build it.

If you like this scenario & want to see more of my work, please check out my workshop pages
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/profiles/76561198064838288/myworkshopfiles/