[ibg.git] / chapters / 11.rst

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

.. epigraph::

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

.. only:: html

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

.. raw:: latex

   \dropcap{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 ``before`` property, superficially normal, actually conceals a 
little surprise. By now you should be entirely comfortable with using an 
object's ``before`` property to intercept an action directed at that 
object; for example, if the player types HIT COUNTER then the counter's 
``before`` property is potentially able to intercept the resulting 
Attack action. However, the command PUT KEY ON COUNTER generates *two* 
actions. First, a 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 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 ``false`` to 
let the action continue, ``true`` to prevent it.

.. todo::

  There are a lot of actions here that are rendered in a typewriter font
  and others that are not.  Should these ones that are not be promoted 
  to having a typewriter font?

The 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 LetGo, generated by the
library from commands like TAKE KEY OFF COUNTER and REMOVE BIRD FROM
NEST. Receive and 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 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' ``description`` takes into consideration which 
outfit the player character is wearing.

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

One other feature of ``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 ``orders`` property and, as with the 
``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.

Which leaves us with the ``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.

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 ``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 ``Go`` action in 
a room object; if you trap it in a ``before`` property, you’re checking 
for departure from the room; if you trap it in an ``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 ``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.

Then we check whether the player character is wearing the costume, in 
which case it starts the ``daemon`` of the ``customers`` object. The use 
of the local ``first_time_out`` property ensures that the condition is 
``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 ``door_dir`` property is for, and 
in this case it takes the value of the north direction property 
``n_to``. Then we must tell Inform the identity of the room to be found 
behind the door, hence the ``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 ``door_to`` 
property, what lies beyond.

Doors *must* have the attribute ``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 ``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 ``open`` if you wish otherwise. Additionally, doors can be 
``lockable`` (which sets up the LOCK/UNLOCK verbs) and you can make them 
``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 ``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 ``found_in`` property, since it's 
going to be located both in the café and the toilet. The ``description`` 
checks which side of the door we are looking at – testing the current 
value of the variable ``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 ``door_dir`` and ``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",

``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 ``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 ``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 ``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 ``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?

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 
``before`` and ``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 ``Unlock`` and ``Open``, and 
``Lock`` ( ``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 ``Open`` action defined by the library. 
  That leaves a locked door and a player holding the key, so we 
  redirect processing to the ``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 ``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 ``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 ``Lock`` action proceed as before.

* **Unlock**: we place this action in the after property, so (let's 
  hope) the ``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 ``true`` to 
  suppress the standard message.

In all processes there is a library variable called ``keep_silent``, 
which can be either ``false`` (the normal state) or ``true``; when 
``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 ``keep_silent`` to ``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 ``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 ``keep_silent`` 
has (either ``true`` or ``false``; we actually don't care). We then set 
``keep_silent`` to ``true``, make the desired silent actions, and we 
assign:

.. code-block:: inform

  keep_silent = ks;

which restores the value originally stored in ``ks`` to ``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 3 and 4 in the *Inform Designer's Manual*, 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 ``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 ``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 ``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 ``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 ``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 ``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.)

Another small innovation here: the ``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 ``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 ``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 ``Open`` and ``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 ``Open`` or ``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.