.. epigraph::
- | *U was a usurer, a miserable elf;*
- | *V was a vintner, who drank all himself.*
+ | |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
-.. raw:: latex
+|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?
- \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
===================
.. admonition:: Cultural Note
:class: admonition note
- not for the first time, this guide betrays its origins. In
+ 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
],
has supporter;
-That ``before property``, superficially normal, actually conceals a
+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
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 **fake action**.
+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 "The
- player's possessions" on page 83, 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):
+ 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
the property is always an embedded routine.
#. However, daemons do nothing until you activate them. This is easily
- achieved with the call ``StartDaemon(obj_id)``, which may happen
+ 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 ``StopDaemon(obj_id)``.
+ 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
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
+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.
short_name [;
if (location == cafe) print "door to the toilet";
else print "door to the cafe";
+ return true;
],
description
...
.. note::
- what's displayed if there isn't an external name in an object's
- header? If you've read the section "Compile-as-you-go" on page 233,
- 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:
-
- .. code-block:: inform
+ 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:
-
- .. code-block:: inform
+ the internal ID::
You open the door to the toilet(toilet_door).
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::
+action in progress, so we can avoid things like:
+
+.. code-block:: transcript
>OPEN DOOR
You open the door to the toilet.
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.
+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
"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 "A class for props" on page 74) 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 on page 91 had this
-all-exclusive ``before`` property:
+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
projects / ibg.git / blobdiff