[ibg.git] / chapters / 11.rst

====================
Captain Fate: take 2
====================

.. epigraph::

   | |CENTER| *U was a usurer, a miserable elf;*
   | |CENTER| *V was a vintner, who drank all himself.*

.. only:: html

   .. image:: /images/picV.png
      :align: left

|V|\iewed from the inside, Benny's café is warm and welcoming, and packed
with lunchtime customers.  We'll try to conjure up some appropriate images,
but the main focus of the room isn't the decor: it's the door leading to
the toilet -- and, perhaps, privacy?

.. _homely-atmos:

A homely atmosphere
===================

Benny's café is populated with customers enjoying their lunch, so it won't
be a good place to change identities.  However, the toilet to the north
looks promising, though Benny has strict rules about its use and the door
seems to be locked.

.. admonition:: Cultural Note
   :class: admonition note

   Not for the first time, this guide betrays its origins.  In European
   countries the word "toilet" often refers not only to the white porcelain
   artefact, but also to the room in which it can be found (also, a
   "bathroom" is for taking a bath, a "restroom" for taking a rest).  Bear
   with us on this; the dual usage becomes important a little later on.

We define the café room in simple form:

.. code-block:: inform

  Room    cafe "Inside Benny's cafe"
    with  description
          "Benny's offers the FINEST selection of pastries and
           sandwiches. Customers clog the counter, where Benny himself
           manages to serve, cook and charge without missing a step. At
           the north side of the cafe you can see a red door connecting
           with the toilet.",
          s_to street,
          n_to toilet_door;

We'll elaborate on the last line (``n_to toilet_door``) later, when we
define the door object which lies between the café and the toilet.

We've mentioned a counter:

.. code-block:: inform

  Appliance counter "counter" cafe
    with name 'counter' 'bar',
         article "the",
         description
             "The counter is made of an astonishing ALLOY of metals,
              STAIN-PROOF, SPILL-RESISTANT and VERY EASY to clean. Customers
              enjoy their snacks with UTTER tranquillity, safe in the notion
              that the counter can take it all.",
         before [;
           Receive:
             <<Give noun benny>>;
         ],
    has  supporter;

That :prop:`before` property, superficially normal, actually conceals a
little surprise.  By now you should be entirely comfortable with using an
object's :prop:`before` property to intercept an action directed at that
object; for example, if the player types HIT COUNTER then the counter's
:prop:`before` property is potentially able to intercept the resulting
:act:`Attack` action.  However, the command PUT KEY ON COUNTER generates
*two* actions.  First, a :act:`PutOn` action is offered to the key
(effectively saying, do you want to be placed on top of the counter?);
that’s the normal bit.  And then the surprise: a :act:`Receive` action is
offered to the counter (effectively saying, are you happy to have the key
placed on you?)  Both actions have the same opportunity of returning
:const:`false` to let the action continue, :const:`true` to prevent it.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: LetGo; library action
   pair: Receive; library action

The :act:`Receive` action is generated by the library in the ``PutOnSub``
action handler, and also in ``InsertSub`` (so a command like PUT BIRD IN
NEST sends a Receive to the nest object).  There’s a matching :act:`LetGo`,
generated by the library from commands like TAKE KEY OFF COUNTER and REMOVE
BIRD FROM NEST.  :act:`Receive` and :act:`LetGo` are examples of what’s
called a :term:`fake action`.

.. note::

  In "William Tell" we defined the ``quiver``, way back in
  :ref:`possessions`, as an ``open container``.  As things stand, the
  player can put *any* held object, however inappropriate, into it.  We
  could have trapped the :act:`Receive` action to ensure that arrows are
  the only acceptable contents (recollect that ``~~``, to be read as "not",
  turns true into false and vice versa):

  .. code-block:: inform

    before [;
      Drop,Give:
        print_ret "But it was a present from Hedwig, your wife.";
      Receive:
        if (~~(noun ofclass Arrow))
            print_ret "Only arrows -- clean arrows -- go in your quiver.";
    ],

Here, we intercept any attempt to place an item on the counter, and
translate it into an attempt to give that item to Benny.  Part of the
game's plot depends on the player returning the toilet key to Benny, and
also paying him for his delicious cup of world-famous Cappuccino.  Putting
the key and the money on the counter is a reasonable alternative way for
the player to accomplish this.

We've also mentioned some customers.  These are treated as NPCs, reacting
to our hero’s performance.

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  customers "customers" cafe
    with  name 'customers' 'people' 'customer' 'men' 'women',
          description [;
              if (costume has worn)
                  "Most seem to be concentrating on their food, but some do
                   look at you quite blatantly. Must be the MIND-BEFUDDLING
                   colours of your costume.";
              else
                  "A group of HELPLESS and UNSUSPECTING mortals, the kind
                   Captain FATE swore to DEFEND the day his parents choked on a
                   DEVIOUS slice of RASPBERRY PIE.";
          ],
          life [;
            Ask,Tell,Answer:
              if (costume has worn)
                  "People seem to MISTRUST the look of your FABULOUS costume.";
              else
                  "As John Covarth, you attract LESS interest than Benny's
                   food.";
            Kiss:
              "There's no telling what sorts of MUTANT bacteria these
               STRANGERS may be carrying around.";
            Attack:
              "Mindless massacre of civilians is the qualification for
               VILLAINS. You are SUPPOSED to protect the likes of these
               people.";
          ],
          orders [;
              "These people don't appear to be of the cooperative sort.";
          ],
          number_of_comments 0,          ! for counting the customer comments
          daemon [;
              if (location ~= cafe) return;
              if (self.number_of_comments == 0) {
                  self.number_of_comments = 1;
                  print "^Nearby customers glance at your costume with open
                      curiosity.^";
              }
              if (random(2) == 1) {       ! do this 50% of the time
                  self.number_of_comments = self.number_of_comments + 1;
                  switch (self.number_of_comments) {
                   2: "^~Didn't know there was a circus in town,~ comments one
                        customer to another. ~Seems like the clowns have the
                        day off.~";
                   3: "^~These fashion designers don't know what to do to show
                        off,~ snorts a fat gentleman, looking your way. Those
                        within earshot try to conceal their smiles.";
                   4: "^~Must be carnival again,~ says a man to his wife, who
                        giggles, stealing a peek at you. ~Time sure flies.~";
                   5: "^~Bad thing about big towns~, comments someone to his
                        table companion, ~is you get the damnedest bugs coming
                        out from toilets.~";
                   6: "^~I sure WISH I could go to work in my pyjamas,~ says a
                        girl in an office suit to some colleagues. ~It looks SO
                        comfortable.~";
                   default: StopDaemon(self);
                  }
              }      
          ],      
    has   scenery animate pluralname;

Let's go step by step.  Our hero enters the café dressed as John Covarth,
but will eventually manage to change clothes in the toilet, and he'll have
to cross back through the café to reach the street and win the game.  The
customers' :prop:`description` takes into consideration which outfit the
player character is wearing.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: Answer; library action
   pair: Ask; library action
   pair: Attack; library action
   pair: Kiss; library action
   pair: Tell; library action
   pair: life; library property

In "William Tell" we’ve seen a brief manifestation of the :prop:`life`
property, but here we'll extend it a little.  As we explained, :prop:`life`
lets you intercept those actions particular to animate objects.  Here we
trap :act:`Attack` and :act:`Kiss` to offer some customised messages for
these actions when applied to the customers.  Also, we avoid conversation
by intercepting :act:`Ask`, :act:`Tell` and :act:`Answer` in order just to
produce a message which depends on the player character's attire.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: animate; library attribute
   pair: orders; library property

One other feature of :attr:`animate` objects is the possibility of giving
them orders: BILL, SHAKE THE SPEAR or ANNIE, GET YOUR GUN .  These actions
are dealt with in the :prop:`orders` property and, as with the :prop:`life`
property, the embedded routine can become quite complex if you want your
NPCs to behave in an interesting way.  In this case, we don't need the
customers to perform tasks for us, so instead we provide a simple rejection
message, just in case the player tries to order people around.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: daemon; library property

Which leaves us with the :prop:`daemon` bit.  A daemon is a property
normally used to perform some timed or repetitive action without the need
of the player’s direct interaction; for example, machines which work by
themselves, animals that move on their own, or people going about their
business.  More powerfully, a daemon may take notice of the player’s
decisions at a particular moment, allowing for some interactive behaviour;
this is, however, an advanced feature that we won't use in this example.  A
daemon gets a chance of doing something at the end of every turn, typically
to (or with) the object to which it’s associated.  In our example, the
daemon triggers some sneers and nasty comments from the customers once our
hero comes out of the toilet dressed in Captain Fate’s costume.

To code a daemon, you need to do three things:

#. First, define a daemon property in the object’s body; the value of the
   property is always an embedded routine.

#. However, daemons do nothing until you activate them.  This is easily
   achieved with the call :samp:`StartDaemon({obj_id})`, which may happen
   anywhere (if you want some object's daemon to be active from the
   beginning of the game,you can make the call in your Initialise routine).

#. Once the daemon has finished its mission (if ever) you may stop it with
   the call :samp:`StopDaemon({obj_id})`.

How does our particular daemon work?  The appearance of our hero in full
crime-fighting wear will make the customers stare at him and make snarky
remarks.  This must happen in the café room – the place where the customers
are -- so we need to make certain that the daemon does something
interesting only while the player stays in the right place (and hasn’t
wandered, say, back into the toilet):

.. code-block:: inform

  if (location ~= cafe) return;

So if the location is not the café room (remember ~= means "not equal to"),
return without doing anything else; on this turn, there’s nothing for the
daemon to do.  We use a plain ``return`` statement because the value
returned from a daemon doesn’t matter.

We have defined a customised local property, ``number_of_comments``, to
control the sequence of customers' remarks.  When the Captain enters the
café room from the toilet for the first time, the value of the property
should be zero, so the statement block under the test:

.. code-block:: inform

  if (self.number_of_comments == 0) {
      self.number_of_comments = 1;
      print "^Nearby customers glance at your costume with open
          curiosity.^";
  }

will happen only this once.  What we intend is to output the text "Nearby
customers..."  right after the startling entrance of our hero, setting up
the scene for the comments which are about to happen.  Since we assign a
value of 1 to the property, the message will not be printed again.  Notice
how we use an explicit ``print`` statement; the execution of the daemon
will continue normally to the next line.

We want the customers to indulge in witticisms once they see the costumed
Captain, but not on a completely predictable basis.

.. code-block:: inform

  if (random(2) == 1) ...

``random`` is an Inform routine used to generate random numbers or to
choose randomly between given choices; in the form
:samp:`random({expression})` it returns a random number between 1 and
``expression`` inclusive.  So our condition is actually stating: if a
random choice between 1 and 2 happens to be 1 then perform some action.
Remember that a daemon is run once at the end of every turn, so the
condition is trying to squeeze a comment from a customer roughly once every
other turn.

Next, we proceed as we have already seen in "William Tell", with a switch
statement to order the comments in a controlled sequence by cunning use of
our tailored local property, ``number_of_comments``.  We have written just
five messages (could have been one or a hundred) and then we reach the
default case, which is a good place to stop the daemon, since we have no
more customers’ remarks to display.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: after; library property

Ah, but when does the daemon *start* functioning?  Well, as soon as our
protagonist comes out of the toilet dressed in his multicoloured super-hero
pyjamas.  Since we want to minimise the possible game states, we’ll make
some general rules to avoid trouble: (a) players will be able to change
only in the toilet; (b) we won’t let players change back into street
clothes; and (c) once players manage to step into the street thus dressed,
the game is won.  So, we can safely assume that if players enter the café
in their Captain’s outfit, they’ll be coming from the toilet.  As a
consequence of all this, we add an :prop:`after` property to the café room
object:

.. code-block:: inform

  Room   cafe "Inside Benny's cafe"
         ...
         first_time_out false,           ! Captain Fate's first appearance?
         after [;
           Go:   ! The player has just arrived. Did he come from the toilet?
             if (noun ~= s_obj) return false;
             if (costume has worn && self.first_time_out == false) {
                 self.first_time_out = true;
                 StartDaemon(customers);
             }
         ],
         s_to  street,
         n_to  toilet_door

There are two useful techniques to detect when the player is entering or
leaving a room.  We'll later see in detail how to deal with a player trying
to go away and how to avoid it if need be.  For now, let’s just mention
that, in both cases, you have to intercept the :act:`Go` action in a room
object; if you trap it in a :prop:`before` property, you’re checking for
departure from the room; if you trap it in an :prop:`after` property,
you’re checking for arrivals into the room.  Right now we wish to know if
the player just came from the toilet, so we use an :prop:`after` property.

The first line:

.. code-block:: inform

  if (noun ~= s_obj) return false;

is telling the interpreter that we want to do something if the player
entered the room by typing a GO SOUTH command (this would normally mean
"coming from the north", but remember that nothing stops you from
connecting rooms without cardinal logic); the interpreter will apply normal
rules for the other available directions.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: daemon; library property
   pair: true; library constant

Then we check whether the player character is wearing the costume, in which
case it starts the :prop:`daemon` of the ``customers`` object.  The use of
the local ``first_time_out`` property ensures that the condition is
:const:`true` only once, so the statement block attached to it runs also
once.

We've finished with the customers in the café.  Now, we have the toilet to
the north which, for reasons of gameplay *and* decency, is protected by a
door.

A door to adore
===============

Door objects require some specific properties and attributes.  Let's first
code a simple door:

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  toilet_door "toilet door" cafe
    name name 'red' 'toilet' 'door',
         description
             "A red door with the unequivocal black man-woman
              silhouettes marking the entrance to hygienic facilities.
              There is a scribbled note stuck on its surface.",
         door_dir n_to,
         door_to toilet,
         with_key toilet_key,
    has  scenery door openable lockable locked;

We find this door in the café.  We must specify the direction in which the
door leads and, as we have mentioned in the café's description, that would
be to the north.  That’s what the :prop:`door_dir` property is for, and in
this case it takes the value of the north direction property :prop:`n_to`.
Then we must tell Inform the identity of the room to be found behind the
door, hence the :prop:`door_to` property, which takes the value of the
toilet room -- to be defined later.  Remember the café's connection to the
north, ``n_to toilet_door``?  Thanks to it, Inform will know that the door
is in the way, and thanks to the :prop:`door_to` property, what lies
beyond.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: door; library attribute
   pair: lockable; library attribute
   pair: locked; library attribute
   pair: open; library attribute
   pair: openable; library attribute
   pair: with_key; library property

Doors *must* have the attribute :attr:`door`, but beyond that we have a
stock of options to help us define exactly what kind of door we are dealing
with.  As for containers, doors can be :attr:`openable` (which activates
the verbs OPEN and CLOSE so that they can be applied to this object) and,
since by default they are closed, you can give them the attribute
:attr:`open` if you wish otherwise.  Additionally, doors can be
:attr:`lockable` (which sets up the LOCK/UNLOCK verbs) and you can make
them :attr:`locked` to override their default unlocked status.  The verbs
LOCK and UNLOCK are expecting some kind of key object to operate the door.
This must be defined using the :prop:`with_key` property, whose value
should be the internal ID of the key; in our example, the
soon-to-be-defined ``toilet_key`` .  If you don't supply this property,
players won't be able to lock or unlock the door.

This simple door definition has one problem, namely, that it exists only in
the café room.  If you wish the door to be present also from the toilet
side, you can either (a) define another door to be found in the ``toilet
room``, or (b) make this one a two-sided door.

Solution (a) seems superficially straightforward, but then you have the
problem of keeping the states of the two doors – open/closed,
locked/unlocked -- in synch.  In this scenario, where you can access the
toilet only through this door, that wouldn't be too complicated, since you
could leave the door object in the café room opened all the time,
regardless of what players do with the door object in the toilet room and
vice versa -- they are never going to see them at the same time.  In
general terms, though, such inconsistencies lead to problems; solution
(a) is best ignored for most purposes.

Solution (b) is better, since you have only one door object to deal with
and its possible states affect both sides.  However, the coding gets a
little bit complicated and you''ll have to define routines for most
properties:

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  toilet_door "toilet door"
    with  name 'red' 'toilet' 'door',
          description [;
              if (location == cafe)
                   "A red door with the unequivocal black man-woman silhouettes
                    marking the entrance to hygienic facilities. There is a
                    scribbled note stuck on its surface.";
              else
                    "A red door with no OUTSTANDING features.";
          ],
          found_in cafe toilet,
          door_dir [;
              if (location == cafe) return n_to;
              else                  return s_to;
          ],
          door_to [;
              if (location == cafe) return toilet;
              else                  return cafe;
          ],
          with_key toilet_key,
    has   scenery door openable lockable locked;

First of all, the door now needs a :prop:`found_in` property, since it's
going to be located both in the café and the toilet.  The
:prop:`description` checks which side of the door we are looking at –
testing the current value of the variable :var:`location`, which holds the
room the player is in -- because we have a scribbled note stuck on one
side, but not on the other.  And the :prop:`door_dir` and :prop:`door_to`
properties must use the same trick, because we travel north from the café
into the toilet, but south from the toilet into the café.

Right now, the game will display "the toilet door" every time it needs to
refer to this object.  It would be nice if we could somehow get the game to
distinguish between "the door to the toilet" and "the door to the cafe",
depending on the side we are facing.  For this, a ``short_name property``
is the thing.  We have already talked about the external name defined as
part of an object's header information:

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  toilet_door "toilet door"

That ``toilet door`` will be the name displayed by the game at run-time to
refer to the door.  With identical effect, this could also have been coded
thus:

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  toilet_door
    with  short_name "toilet door",

:prop:`short_name` is a property that supplies the external name of an
object, either as a string or an embedded routine.  Normally, objects
retain the same external name throughout the game -- and the header
information method is perfect in that case -- but if it needs to change,
it's easy to write a routine as the value of :prop:`short_name`:

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  toilet_door
    with  name 'red' 'toilet' 'door'
          short_name [;
              if (location == cafe) print "door to the toilet";
              else                  print "door to the cafe";
              return true;
          ],
          description
              ...

Notice the ``return true`` at the end of the routine.  You''ll recall that
the standard rule says "return false to carry on, true to take over and
stop normal execution".  In the case of :prop:`short_name`, "carry on"
means "and now display the external name from the header information",
which is sometimes handy; for instance, you could write a
:prop:`short_name` routine to prefix an object's external name with one of
a range of adjectives -- perhaps a shining/flickering/fading/useless
lantern.

.. note::

  What's displayed if there isn't an external name in an object's header?
  If you've read the section :ref:`compile-as-you-go`, you'll recall that
  the interpreter simply uses the internal identifier within parentheses;
  that is, with no external name and no :prop:`short_name` property, we
  might see::

    You open the (toilet_door).

  And the same principle applies if we were mistakenly to ``return false``
  from this short_name routine: we would get, first, the result of our
  ``print`` statement, and then the standard rules would display the
  internal ID::

    You open the door to the toilet(toilet_door).

Doors can get more complicated than this (no, please, don't throw our guide
out of the window).  Here comes some optional deluxe coding to make the
door object a bit friendlier in game play, so you can skip it if you
foresee headaches.

Our door now behaves nicely at run-time.  It can be locked and unlocked if
the player character has the right key; it can be opened and closed.  A
sequence of commands to go into the toilet and lock the door behind you
would be: UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY, OPEN DOOR, GO NORTH, CLOSE DOOR, LOCK DOOR
WITH KEY.  After we are finished, let's go back to the café: UNLOCK DOOR
WITH KEY, OPEN DOOR, SOUTH.  If the player is of the fastidious kind: CLOSE
DOOR, LOCK DOOR WITH KEY.  This game features only one door, but if it had
three or four of them, players would grow restless (at the very least) if
they needed to type so many commands just to go through a door.  This is
the kind of thing reportedly considered as poor design, because the game is
suddenly slowed down to get over a simple action which involves no secrets
or surprises.  How exciting can the crossing of an ordinary door be, after
all?

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: after; library property
   pair: before; library property

If a few lines of code can make the life of the player easier, it's worth a
shot.  Let's provide a few improvements to our toilet door in
:prop:`before` and :prop:`after` properties:

.. code-block:: inform

  before [ ks;
    Open:
      if (self hasnt locked || toilet_key notin player)
          return false;
      ks = keep_silent; keep_silent = true;
      <Unlock self toilet_key>; keep_silent = ks;
      return true;
    Lock:
      if (self hasnt open) return false;
      print "(first closing ", (the) self, ")^";
      ks = keep_silent; keep_silent = true;
      <Close self>; keep_silent = ks;
      return false;
    ],
    after [ ks;
      Unlock:
        if (self has locked) return false;
        print "You unlock ", (the) self, " and open it.^";
        ks = keep_silent; keep_silent = true;
        <Open self>; keep_silent = ks;
        return true;
    ],

The basic idea here is to let the player who holds the key perform just one
action to both unlock *and* open the door (and, conversely, to close *and*
lock it).  The relevant actions are :act:`Unlock` and :act:`Open`, and
:act:`Lock` (:act:`Close` is not necessary; if players just close the door
we shouldn’t assume that they want to lock it as well).

* **Open**: if the door isn't locked or the player doesn't hold the key,
  keep going with the default :act:`Open` action defined by the library.
  That leaves a locked door and a player holding the key, so we redirect
  processing to the :act:`Unlock` action, giving as arguments the door
  (self) and the toilet key.  Since we are using single angle-brackets
  ``<...>``, the action resumes after the unlocking is done (note that the
  :act:`Unlock` action also takes care of opening the door).  Finally, we
  ``return true`` to stop the library from trying to open the door by
  itself.

* **Lock**: if the door is already closed, keep going with the standard
  library :act:`Lock` action.  If not, tell players that we are closing the
  door for them, redirect the action briefly to actually close it, and then
  ``return false`` to let the :act:`Lock` action proceed as before.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: true; library constant

* **Unlock**: we place this action in the after property, so (let's hope)
  the :act:`Unlock` action has already happened.  If the door is still
  locked, something went wrong, so we ``return false`` to display the
  standard message for an unsuccessful unlocking.  Otherwise, the door is
  now unlocked, so we inform the player that we are opening the door and
  redirect the action to actually open it, returning :const:`true` to
  suppress the standard message.

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: false; library constant
   pair: keep_silent; library variable

In all processes there is a library variable called :var:`keep_silent`,
which can be either :const:`false` (the normal state) or :const:`true`;
when :const:`true`, the interpreter does not display the associated message
of an action in progress, so we can avoid things like:

.. code-block:: transcript

  >OPEN DOOR
  You open the door to the toilet.
  You unlock the door to the toilet and open it.

Although we want to set :var:`keep_silent` to :const:`true` for the
duration of our extra processing, we need to reset it afterwards.  In a
case like this, good design practice is to preserve its initial value
(which was probably :const:`false`, but you should avoid risky
assumptions); we use a local variable ``ks`` to remember that initial
setting so that we can safely restore it afterwards.  You’ll remember that
a local variable in a standalone routine is declared between the routine’s
name and the semicolon:

.. code-block:: inform

  [ BeenToBefore this_room;

In exactly the same way, a local variable in an embedded routine is
declared between the ``[`` starting marker of the routine and the
semicolon:

.. code-block:: inform

  before [ ks;

You can declare up to fifteen variables this way -- just separated by
spaces -- which are usable only within the embedded routine.  When we
assign it thus:

.. code-block:: inform

  ks = keep_silent;

we are actually making ``ks`` equal to whatever value :var:`keep_silent`
has (either :const:`true` or :const:`false`; we actually don't care).  We
then set :var:`keep_silent` to :const:`true`, make the desired silent
actions, and we assign:

.. code-block:: inform

  keep_silent = ks;

which restores the value originally stored in ``ks`` to :var:`keep_silent`.
The effect is that we manage to leave it as it was before we tampered with
it.

Well, that's about everything about doors.  Everything?  Well, no, not
really; any object can grow as complex as your imagination allows, but
we’ll drop the subject here.  If you care to see more sophisticated doors,
check Exercises :dm4:`3 and 4 <s6.html#ex3>` in the |DM4|, where an
obliging door opens and unlocks by itself if the player simply walks in its
direction.

So far, we have the player in front of a locked door leading to the toilet.
A dead end?  No, the description mentions a scribbled note on its surface.
This one should offer no problem:

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  "scribbled note" cafe
    with  name 'scribbled' 'note',
          description [;
              if (self.read_once == false) {
                  self.read_once = true;
                  "You apply your ENHANCED ULTRAFREQUENCY vision to the note
                   and squint in concentration, giving up only when you see the
                   borders of the note begin to blacken under the incredible
                   intensity of your burning stare. You reflect once more how
                   helpful it would've been if you'd ever learnt to read.
                   ^^A kind old lady passes by and explains:
                   ~You have to ask Benny for the key, at the counter.~^^
                   You turn quickly and begin, ~Oh, I KNOW that, but...~^^
                   ~My pleasure, son,~ says the lady, as she exits the cafe.";
              }
              else
                  "The scorched undecipherable note holds no SECRETS from
                   you NOW! Ha!";
          ],
          read_once false,                ! has the player read the note once?
          before [;
            Take:
              "No reason to start collecting UNDECIPHERABLE notes.";
          ],
    has   scenery;

Just notice how we change the description after the first time the player
examines the note, using the local property ``read_once`` created just for
this purpose.  We don’t want the player to walk off with the note, so we
intercept the :act:`Take` action and display something more in character
than the default message for scenery objects: "That's hardly portable".

We've talked a lot about the toilet key; it seems about time to code it.
Originally, the key is in Benny's possession, and the player will have to
ask for it, just as the note explains.  Although we'll define Benny in
detail throughout the next chapter, here we present a basic definition,
largely so that the key has a parent object.

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  benny "Benny"  cafe
    with  name 'benny',
          description
              "A deceptively FAT man of uncanny agility, Benny entertains his
               customers crushing coconuts against his forehead when the mood
               strikes him.",
    has   scenery animate male proper transparent;

  Object  toilet_key "toilet key" benny
    with  name 'toilet' 'key',
          article "the",
          invent [;
              if (clothes has worn) print "the CRUCIAL key";
              else                  print "the used and IRRELEVANT key";
              return true;
          ],
          description
              "Your SUPRA PERCEPTIVE senses detect nothing of consequence
               about the toilet key.",
          before [;
              if (self in benny)
                  "You SCAN your surroundings with ENHANCED AWARENESS,
                   but fail to detect any key.";
            Drop:
              "Benny is trusting you to look after that key.";
          ];

While Benny has the key, there's logically no way to examine it (or perform
any other action involving it), but we want to prevent the interpreter from
objecting that ``You can't see any such thing``.  We've made the
``toilet_key`` a child of the ``benny`` object, and you can see that
Benny's got a :attr:`transparent` attribute; this means that the key is in
scope, and enables the player to refer to it without the interpreter
complaining.  Because Benny also has an :attr:`animate` attribute, the
interpreter would normally intercept a TAKE KEY action with "That seems to
belong to Benny"; however, the same wouldn't apply to other commands like
TOUCH KEY and TASTE KEY.  So, to prevent any interaction with the key while
it’s in Benny’s pockets, we define a :prop:`before` property.

.. code-block:: inform

  before [;
      if (self in benny)
          "You SCAN your surroundings with ENHANCED AWARENESS,
           but fail to detect any key.";
    Drop:
      "Benny is trusting you to look after that key.";
  ];

All of the :prop:`before` properties that we've so far created have
contained one or more labels specifying the actions which they are to
intercept; you'll remember that in "William Tell" we introduced the
``default`` action (see :ref:`props-class`) to mean "any value not already
catered for".  There's one of those labels here, for the Drop action, but
that's preceded by a piece of code that will be executed at the start of
*every* action directed at the key.  If it's still in Benny’s possession,
we display a polite refusal; if the player has it then we prevent careless
disposal; otherwise, the action continues unhindered.

(In fact, the hat-on-a-pole ``Prop`` introduced in :ref:`south-side` had
this all-exclusive :prop:`before` property:

.. code-block:: inform

  before [;
    default:
      print_ret "You're too far away at the moment.";
  ],

It would have behaved exactly the same if we'd omitted the ``default``
label, as we do here for Benny's key.)

.. Generated by autoindex
.. index::
   pair: article; library property

Another small innovation here: the :prop:`invent` library property (we
didn’t make it up) which enables you to control how objects appear in
inventory listings, overriding the default.  Left to itself, the
interpreter simply displays the object's external name, preceded either by
a standard article like "a" or "some", or one specifically defined in the
object's :prop:`article` property.  Here we replace "the toilet key" with
one of two more helpful descriptions, making it a most valuable object in
the eyes of John Covarth, and something to be despised haughtily by Captain
Fate once it's of no further use to him.

When we had players in the street, we faced the problem that they might
choose to examine the café from the outside.  While it's unlikely that
they'll try to examine the toilet room from the outside, it takes very
little effort to offer a sensible output just in case:

.. code-block:: inform

  Object  outside_of_toilet "toilet" cafe
    with  name 'toilet' 'bath' 'rest' 'room' 'bathroom' 'restroom',
          before [;
            Enter:
              if (toilet_door has open) {
                  PlayerTo(toilet);
                  return true;
              }
              else
                  "Your SUPERB deductive mind detects that the DOOR is
                   CLOSED.";
            Examine:
              if (toilet_door has open)
                   "A brilliant thought flashes through your SUPERLATIVE
                    brain: detailed examination of the toilet would be
                    EXTREMELY facilitated if you entered it.";
              else
                   "With a TREMENDOUS effort of will, you summon your
                    unfathomable ASTRAL VISION and project it FORWARD
                    towards the closed door... until you remember that it's
                    Dr Mystere who's the one with mystic powers.";
            Open:
              <<Open   toilet_door>>;
            Close:
              <<Close  toilet_door>>;
            Take,Push,Pull:
              "That would be PART of the building.";
          ],  
    has   scenery openable enterable;

As with the ``outside_of_cafe`` object, we intercept an :act:`Enter`
action, to teleport players into the toilet room if they type ENTER TOILET
(or to display a refusal if the toilet door is closed).  Players may try to
EXAMINE TOILET; they'll get a different message if the door is open -- we
invite them to enter it -- or if it's closed.  OPEN TOILET and CLOSE TOILET
inputs are redirected to :act:`Open` and :act:`Close` actions for the
toilet door; remember that the double angle-brackets imply a ``return
true``, so that the action stops there and the interpreter does not attempt
to :act:`Open` or :act:`Close` the ``outside_of_toilet`` object itself
after it has dealt with the door.

You're right: the toilet looms large in this game (we blame it on early
maternal influences).  We’ve introduced an ambiguity problem with the
``outside_of_toilet`` object, and we'll need some help in fixing it.