| | 1 | #charset "us-ascii" |
| | 2 | |
| | 3 | /* |
| | 4 | * Copyright (c) 2000, 2006 Michael J. Roberts. All Rights Reserved. |
| | 5 | * |
| | 6 | * TADS 3 Library: Instructions for new players |
| | 7 | * |
| | 8 | * This module defines the INSTRUCTIONS command, which provides the |
| | 9 | * player with an overview of how to play IF games in general. These |
| | 10 | * instructions are especially designed as an introduction to IF for |
| | 11 | * inexperienced players. The instructions given here are meant to be |
| | 12 | * general enough to apply to most games that follow the common IF |
| | 13 | * conventions. |
| | 14 | * |
| | 15 | * This module defines the English version of the instructions. |
| | 16 | * |
| | 17 | * In most cases, each author should customize these general-purpose |
| | 18 | * instructions at least a little for the specific game. We provide a |
| | 19 | * few hooks for some specific parameter-driven customizations that don't |
| | 20 | * require modifying the original text in this file. Authors should also |
| | 21 | * feel free to make more extensive customizations as needed to address |
| | 22 | * areas where the game diverges from the common conventions described |
| | 23 | * here. |
| | 24 | * |
| | 25 | * One of the most important things you should do to customize these |
| | 26 | * instructions for your game is to add a list of any special verbs or |
| | 27 | * command phrasings that your game uses. Of course, you might think |
| | 28 | * you'll be spoiling part of the challenge for the player if you do |
| | 29 | * this; you might worry that you'll give away a puzzle if you don't keep |
| | 30 | * a certain verb secret. Be warned, though, that many players - maybe |
| | 31 | * even most - don't think "guess the verb" puzzles are good challenges; |
| | 32 | * a lot of players feel that puzzles that hinge on finding the right |
| | 33 | * verb or phrasing are simply bad design that make a game less |
| | 34 | * enjoyable. You should think carefully about exactly why you don't |
| | 35 | * want to disclose a particular verb in the instructions. If you want |
| | 36 | * to withhold a verb because the entire puzzle is to figure out what |
| | 37 | * command to use, then you have created a classic guess-the-verb puzzle, |
| | 38 | * and most everyone in the IF community will feel this is simply a bad |
| | 39 | * puzzle that you should omit from your game. If you want to withhold a |
| | 40 | * verb because it's too suggestive of a particular solution, then you |
| | 41 | * should at least make sure that a more common verb - one that you are |
| | 42 | * willing to disclose in the instructions, and one that will make as |
| | 43 | * much sense to players as your secret verb - can achieve the same |
| | 44 | * result. You don't have to disclose every *accepted* verb or phrasing |
| | 45 | * - as long as you disclose every *required* verb *and* phrasing, you |
| | 46 | * will have a defense against accusations of using guess-the-verb |
| | 47 | * puzzles. |
| | 48 | * |
| | 49 | * You might also want to mention the "cruelty" level of the game, so |
| | 50 | * that players will know how frequently they should save the game. It's |
| | 51 | * helpful to point out whether or not it's possible for the player |
| | 52 | * character to be killed; whether it's possible to get into situations |
| | 53 | * where the game becomes "unwinnable"; and, if the game can become |
| | 54 | * unwinnable, whether or not this will become immediately clear. The |
| | 55 | * kindest games never kill the PC and are always winnable, no matter |
| | 56 | * what actions the player takes; it's never necessary to save these |
| | 57 | * games except to suspend a session for later resumption. The cruelest |
| | 58 | * games kill the PC without warning (although if they offer an UNDO |
| | 59 | * command from a "death" prompt, then even this doesn't constitute true |
| | 60 | * cruelty), and can become unwinnable in ways that aren't readily and |
| | 61 | * immediately apparent to the player, which means that the player could |
| | 62 | * proceed for quite some time (and thus invest substantial effort) after |
| | 63 | * the game is already effectively lost. Note that unwinnable situations |
| | 64 | * can often be very subtle, and might not even be intended by the |
| | 65 | * author; for example, if the player needs a candle to perform an |
| | 66 | * exorcism at some point, but the candle can also be used for |
| | 67 | * illumination in dark areas, the player could make the game unwinnable |
| | 68 | * simply by using up the candle early on while exploring some dark |
| | 69 | * tunnels, and might not discover the problem until much further into |
| | 70 | * the game. |
| | 71 | */ |
| | 72 | |
| | 73 | #include "adv3.h" |
| | 74 | #include "en_us.h" |
| | 75 | |
| | 76 | /* |
| | 77 | * The INSTRUCTIONS command. Make this a "system" action, because it's |
| | 78 | * a meta-action outside of the story. System actions don't consume any |
| | 79 | * game time. |
| | 80 | */ |
| | 81 | DefineSystemAction(Instructions) |
| | 82 | /* |
| | 83 | * This property tells us how complete the verb list is. By default, |
| | 84 | * we'll assume that the instructions fail to disclose every required |
| | 85 | * verb in the game, because the generic set we use here doesn't even |
| | 86 | * try to anticipate the special verbs that most games include. If |
| | 87 | * you provide your own list of game-specific verbs, and your custom |
| | 88 | * list (taken together with the generic list) discloses every verb |
| | 89 | * required to complete the game, you should set this property to |
| | 90 | * true; if you set this to true, the instructions will assure the |
| | 91 | * player that they will not need to think of any verbs besides the |
| | 92 | * ones listed in the instructions. Authors are strongly encouraged |
| | 93 | * to disclose a list of verbs that is sufficient by itself to |
| | 94 | * complete the game, and to set this property to true once they've |
| | 95 | * done so. |
| | 96 | */ |
| | 97 | allRequiredVerbsDisclosed = nil |
| | 98 | |
| | 99 | /* |
| | 100 | * A list of custom verbs. Each game should set this to a list of |
| | 101 | * single-quoted strings; each string gives an example of a verb to |
| | 102 | * display in the list of sample verbs. Something like this: |
| | 103 | * |
| | 104 | * customVerbs = ['brush my teeth', 'pick the lock'] |
| | 105 | */ |
| | 106 | customVerbs = [] |
| | 107 | |
| | 108 | /* |
| | 109 | * Verbs relating specifically to character interaction. This is in |
| | 110 | * the same format as customVerbs, and has essentially the same |
| | 111 | * purpose; however, we call these out separately to allow each game |
| | 112 | * not only to supplement the default list we provide but to replace |
| | 113 | * our default list. This is desirable for conversation-related |
| | 114 | * commands in particular because some games will not use the |
| | 115 | * ASK/TELL conversation system at all and will thus want to remove |
| | 116 | * any mention of the standard set of verbs. |
| | 117 | */ |
| | 118 | conversationVerbs = |
| | 119 | [ |
| | 120 | 'ASK WIZARD ABOUT WAND', |
| | 121 | 'ASK WIZARD FOR POTION', |
| | 122 | 'TELL WIZARD ABOUT DUSTY TOME', |
| | 123 | 'SHOW SCROLL TO WIZARD', |
| | 124 | 'GIVE WAND TO WIZARD', |
| | 125 | 'YES (or NO)' |
| | 126 | ] |
| | 127 | |
| | 128 | /* conversation verb abbreviations */ |
| | 129 | conversationAbbr = "\n\tASK ABOUT (topic) can be abbreviated |
| | 130 | to A (topic) |
| | 131 | \n\tTELL ABOUT (topic) can be entered as T (topic)" |
| | 132 | |
| | 133 | /* |
| | 134 | * Truncation length. If the game's parser allows words to be |
| | 135 | * abbreviated to some minimum number of letters, this should |
| | 136 | * indicate the minimum length. The English parser uses a truncation |
| | 137 | * length of 6 letters by default. |
| | 138 | * |
| | 139 | * Set this to nil if the game doesn't allow truncation at all. |
| | 140 | */ |
| | 141 | truncationLength = 6 |
| | 142 | |
| | 143 | /* |
| | 144 | * This property should be set on a game-by-game basis to indicate |
| | 145 | * the "cruelty level" of the game, which is a rough estimation of |
| | 146 | * how likely it is that the player will encounter an unwinnable |
| | 147 | * position in the game. |
| | 148 | * |
| | 149 | * Level 0 is "kind," which means that the player character can |
| | 150 | * never be killed, and it's impossible to make the game unwinnable. |
| | 151 | * When this setting is used, the instructions will reassure the |
| | 152 | * player that saving is necessary only to suspend the session. |
| | 153 | * |
| | 154 | * Level 1 is "standard," which means that the player character can |
| | 155 | * be killed, and/or that unwinnable positions are possible, but |
| | 156 | * that there are no especially bad unwinnable situations. When |
| | 157 | * this setting is selected, we'll warn the player that they should |
| | 158 | * save every so often. |
| | 159 | * |
| | 160 | * (An "especially bad" situation is one in which the game becomes |
| | 161 | * unwinnable at some point, but this won't become apparent to the |
| | 162 | * player until much later. For example, suppose the first scene |
| | 163 | * takes place in a location that can never be reached again after |
| | 164 | * the first scene, and suppose that there's some object you can |
| | 165 | * obtain in this scene. This object will be required in the very |
| | 166 | * last scene to win the game; if you don't have the object, you |
| | 167 | * can't win. This is an "especially bad" unwinnable situation: if |
| | 168 | * you leave the first scene without getting the necessary object, |
| | 169 | * the game is unwinnable from that point forward. In order to win, |
| | 170 | * you have to go back and play almost the whole game over again. |
| | 171 | * Saved positions are almost useless in a case like this, since |
| | 172 | * most of the saved positions will be after the fatal mistake; no |
| | 173 | * matter how often you saved, you'll still have to go back and do |
| | 174 | * everything over again from near the beginning.) |
| | 175 | * |
| | 176 | * Level 2 is "cruel," which means that the game can become |
| | 177 | * unwinnable in especially bad ways, as described above. If this |
| | 178 | * level is selected, we'll warn the player more sternly to save |
| | 179 | * frequently. |
| | 180 | * |
| | 181 | * We set this to 1 ("standard") by default, because even games that |
| | 182 | * aren't intentionally designed to be cruel often have subtle |
| | 183 | * situations where the game becomes unwinnable, because of things |
| | 184 | * like the irreversible loss of an object, or an unrepeatable event |
| | 185 | * sequence; it almost always takes extra design work to ensure that |
| | 186 | * a game is always winnable. |
| | 187 | */ |
| | 188 | crueltyLevel = 1 |
| | 189 | |
| | 190 | /* |
| | 191 | * Does this game have any real-time features? If so, set this to |
| | 192 | * true. By default, we'll explain that game time passes only in |
| | 193 | * response to command input. |
| | 194 | */ |
| | 195 | isRealTime = nil |
| | 196 | |
| | 197 | /* |
| | 198 | * Conversation system description. Several different conversation |
| | 199 | * systems have come into relatively widespread use, so there isn't |
| | 200 | * any single convention that's generic enough that we can assume it |
| | 201 | * holds for all games. In deference to this variability, we |
| | 202 | * provide this hook to make it easy to replace the instructions |
| | 203 | * pertaining to the conversation system. If the game uses the |
| | 204 | * standard ASK/TELL system, it can leave this list unchanged; if |
| | 205 | * the game uses a different system, it can replace this with its |
| | 206 | * own instructions. |
| | 207 | * |
| | 208 | * We'll include information on the TALK TO command if there are any |
| | 209 | * in-conversation state objects in the game; if not, we'll assume |
| | 210 | * there's no need for this command. |
| | 211 | * |
| | 212 | * We'll mention the TOPICS command if there are any SuggestedTopic |
| | 213 | * instances in the game; if not, then the game will never have |
| | 214 | * anything to suggest, so the TOPICS command isn't needed. |
| | 215 | * |
| | 216 | * We'll include information on special topics if there are any |
| | 217 | * SpecialTopic objects defined. |
| | 218 | */ |
| | 219 | conversationInstructions = |
| | 220 | "You can talk to other characters by asking or |
| | 221 | telling them about things in the story. For example, you might |
| | 222 | ASK WIZARD ABOUT WAND or TELL GUARD ABOUT ALARM. You should |
| | 223 | always use the ASK ABOUT or TELL ABOUT phrasing; the story |
| | 224 | won’t be able to understand other formats, so you don’t |
| | 225 | have to worry about thinking up complicated questions like <q>ask |
| | 226 | guard how to open the window.</q> |
| | 227 | In most cases, you’ll get the best results by asking |
| | 228 | about specific objects or other characters you’ve encountered |
| | 229 | in the story, rather than about abstract topics such as |
| | 230 | MEANING OF LIFE; however, if something in the story leads you |
| | 231 | to believe you <i>should</i> ask about some particular abstract |
| | 232 | topic, it can’t hurt to try. |
| | 233 | |
| | 234 | \bIf you’re asking or telling the same person about several |
| | 235 | topics in succession, you can save some typing by abbreviating |
| | 236 | ASK ABOUT to A, and TELL ABOUT to T. For example, once you’re |
| | 237 | talking to the wizard, you can abbreviate ASK WIZARD ABOUT AMULET |
| | 238 | to simply A AMULET. This addresses the question to the same |
| | 239 | character as in the last ASK or TELL. |
| | 240 | |
| | 241 | <<firstObj(InConversationState, ObjInstances) != nil ? |
| | 242 | "\bTo greet another character, type TALK TO (Person). This |
| | 243 | tries to get the other character’s attention and start a |
| | 244 | conversation. TALK TO is always optional, since you can start |
| | 245 | in with ASK or TELL directly if you prefer." : "">> |
| | 246 | |
| | 247 | <<firstObj(SpecialTopic, ObjInstances) != nil ? |
| | 248 | "\bThe story might occasionally suggest some special conversation |
| | 249 | commands, like this: |
| | 250 | |
| | 251 | \b\t(You could apologize, or explain about the aliens.) |
| | 252 | |
| | 253 | \bIf you like, you can use one of the suggestions just by |
| | 254 | typing in the special phrasing shown. You can usually |
| | 255 | abbreviate these to the first few words when they’re long. |
| | 256 | |
| | 257 | \b\t>APOLOGIZE |
| | 258 | \n\t>EXPLAIN ABOUT ALIENS |
| | 259 | |
| | 260 | \bSpecial suggestions like this only work right at the moment |
| | 261 | they’re offered, so you don’t have to worry about |
| | 262 | memorizing them, or trying them at other random times in the story. |
| | 263 | They’re not new commands for you to learn; they’re just |
| | 264 | extra options you have at specific times, and the story will always |
| | 265 | let you know when they’re available. When the story offers |
| | 266 | suggestions like this, they don’t limit what you can do; you |
| | 267 | can still type any ordinary command instead of one of the |
| | 268 | suggestions." : "">> |
| | 269 | |
| | 270 | <<firstObj(SuggestedTopic, ObjInstances) != nil ? |
| | 271 | "\bIf you’re not sure what to discuss, you can type TOPICS any |
| | 272 | time you’re talking to someone. This will show you a list of |
| | 273 | things that your character might be interested in discussing |
| | 274 | with the other person. The TOPICS command usually won’t list |
| | 275 | everything that you can discuss, so feel free to explore other |
| | 276 | topics even if they’re not listed." : "">> |
| | 277 | |
| | 278 | \bYou can also interact with other characters using physical |
| | 279 | objects. For example, you might be able to give something to |
| | 280 | another character, as in GIVE MONEY TO CLERK, or show an object |
| | 281 | to someone, as in SHOW IDOL TO PROFESSOR. You might also be |
| | 282 | able to fight other characters, as in ATTACK TROLL WITH |
| | 283 | SWORD or THROW AXE AT DWARF. |
| | 284 | |
| | 285 | \bIn some cases, you can tell a character to do |
| | 286 | something for you. You do this by typing the character’s name, |
| | 287 | then a comma, then the command you want the character to perform, |
| | 288 | using the same wording you’d use for a command to your own |
| | 289 | character. For example: |
| | 290 | |
| | 291 | \b\t>ROBOT, GO NORTH |
| | 292 | |
| | 293 | \bKeep in mind, though, that there’s no guarantee that other |
| | 294 | characters will always obey your orders. Most characters have |
| | 295 | minds of their own and won’t automatically do whatever you |
| | 296 | ask. " |
| | 297 | |
| | 298 | /* execute the command */ |
| | 299 | execSystemAction() |
| | 300 | { |
| | 301 | local origElapsedTime; |
| | 302 | |
| | 303 | /* |
| | 304 | * note the elapsed game time on the real-time clock before we |
| | 305 | * start, so that we can reset the game time when we're done; we |
| | 306 | * don't want the instructions display to consume any real game |
| | 307 | * time |
| | 308 | */ |
| | 309 | origElapsedTime = realTimeManager.getElapsedTime(); |
| | 310 | |
| | 311 | /* show the instructions */ |
| | 312 | showInstructions(); |
| | 313 | |
| | 314 | /* reset the real-time game clock */ |
| | 315 | realTimeManager.setElapsedTime(origElapsedTime); |
| | 316 | } |
| | 317 | |
| | 318 | #ifdef INSTRUCTIONS_MENU |
| | 319 | /* |
| | 320 | * Show the instructions, using a menu-based table of contents. |
| | 321 | */ |
| | 322 | showInstructions() |
| | 323 | { |
| | 324 | /* run the instructions menu */ |
| | 325 | topInstructionsMenu.display(); |
| | 326 | |
| | 327 | /* show an acknowledgment */ |
| | 328 | "Done. "; |
| | 329 | } |
| | 330 | |
| | 331 | #else /* INSTRUCTIONS_MENU */ |
| | 332 | |
| | 333 | /* |
| | 334 | * Show the instructions as a standard text display. Give the user |
| | 335 | * the option of turning on a SCRIPT file to capture the text. |
| | 336 | */ |
| | 337 | showInstructions() |
| | 338 | { |
| | 339 | local startedScript; |
| | 340 | |
| | 341 | /* presume we won't start a new script file */ |
| | 342 | startedScript = nil; |
| | 343 | |
| | 344 | /* show the introductory message */ |
| | 345 | "The story is about to show a full set of instructions, |
| | 346 | designed especially for people who aren’t already familiar |
| | 347 | with interactive fiction. The instructions are lengthy"; |
| | 348 | |
| | 349 | /* |
| | 350 | * Check to see if we're already scripting. If we aren't, offer |
| | 351 | * to save the instructions to a file. |
| | 352 | */ |
| | 353 | if (scriptStatus.scriptFile == nil) |
| | 354 | { |
| | 355 | local str; |
| | 356 | |
| | 357 | /* |
| | 358 | * they're not already logging; ask if they'd like to start |
| | 359 | * doing so |
| | 360 | */ |
| | 361 | ", so you might want to capture them to a file (so that |
| | 362 | you can print them out, for example). Would you like to |
| | 363 | proceed? |
| | 364 | \n(<a href='yes'>Y</a> is affirmative, or type |
| | 365 | <a href='script'>SCRIPT</a> to capture to |
| | 366 | a file) > "; |
| | 367 | |
| | 368 | /* ask for input */ |
| | 369 | str = inputManager.getInputLine(nil, nil); |
| | 370 | |
| | 371 | /* if they want to capture them to a file, set up scripting */ |
| | 372 | if (rexMatch('<nocase><space>*s(c(r(i(pt?)?)?)?)?<space>*', str) |
| | 373 | == str.length()) |
| | 374 | { |
| | 375 | /* try setting up a scripting file */ |
| | 376 | ScriptAction.setUpScripting(nil); |
| | 377 | |
| | 378 | /* if that failed, don't proceed */ |
| | 379 | if (scriptStatus.scriptFile == nil) |
| | 380 | return; |
| | 381 | |
| | 382 | /* note that we've started a script file */ |
| | 383 | startedScript = true; |
| | 384 | } |
| | 385 | else if (rexMatch('<nocase><space>*y.*', str) != str.length()) |
| | 386 | { |
| | 387 | "Canceled. "; |
| | 388 | return; |
| | 389 | } |
| | 390 | } |
| | 391 | else |
| | 392 | { |
| | 393 | /* |
| | 394 | * they're already logging; just confirm that they want to |
| | 395 | * see the instructions |
| | 396 | */ |
| | 397 | "; would you like to proceed? |
| | 398 | \n(Y is affirmative) > "; |
| | 399 | |
| | 400 | /* stop if they don't want to proceed */ |
| | 401 | if (!yesOrNo()) |
| | 402 | { |
| | 403 | "Canceled. "; |
| | 404 | return; |
| | 405 | } |
| | 406 | } |
| | 407 | |
| | 408 | /* make sure we have something for the next "\b" to skip from */ |
| | 409 | "\ "; |
| | 410 | |
| | 411 | /* show each chapter in turn */ |
| | 412 | showCommandsChapter(); |
| | 413 | showAbbrevChapter(); |
| | 414 | showTravelChapter(); |
| | 415 | showObjectsChapter(); |
| | 416 | showConversationChapter(); |
| | 417 | showTimeChapter(); |
| | 418 | showSaveRestoreChapter(); |
| | 419 | showSpecialCmdChapter(); |
| | 420 | showUnknownWordsChapter(); |
| | 421 | showAmbiguousCmdChapter(); |
| | 422 | showAdvancedCmdChapter(); |
| | 423 | showTipsChapter(); |
| | 424 | |
| | 425 | /* if we started a script file, close it */ |
| | 426 | if (startedScript) |
| | 427 | ScriptOffAction.turnOffScripting(nil); |
| | 428 | } |
| | 429 | |
| | 430 | #endif /* INSTRUCTIONS_MENU */ |
| | 431 | |
| | 432 | /* Entering Commands chapter */ |
| | 433 | showCommandsChapter() |
| | 434 | { |
| | 435 | "\b<b>Entering Commands</b>\b |
| | 436 | You’ve probably already noticed that you interact with the story |
| | 437 | by typing a command whenever you see the <q>prompt,</q> which |
| | 438 | usually looks like this: |
| | 439 | \b"; |
| | 440 | |
| | 441 | gLibMessages.mainCommandPrompt(rmcCommand); |
| | 442 | |
| | 443 | "\bKnowing this much, you’re probably thinking one of two things: |
| | 444 | <q>Great, I can type absolutely anything I want, in plain English, |
| | 445 | and the story will do my bidding,</q> or <q>Great, now I have to |
| | 446 | figure out yet another heinously complex command language for |
| | 447 | a computer program; I think I’ll go play Minefield.</q> Well, |
| | 448 | neither extreme is quite true. |
| | 449 | |
| | 450 | \bIn actual play, you’ll only need a fairly small set of |
| | 451 | commands, and the commands are mostly in ordinary English, so |
| | 452 | there’s not very much you’ll have to learn or remember. |
| | 453 | Even though that command prompt can look intimidating, don’t |
| | 454 | let it scare you off — there are just a few simple things you |
| | 455 | have to know. |
| | 456 | |
| | 457 | \bFirst, you’ll almost never have to refer to anything that |
| | 458 | isn’t directly mentioned in the story; this is a story, after |
| | 459 | all, not a guessing game where you have to think of everything that |
| | 460 | goes together with some random object. For example, if |
| | 461 | you’re wearing a jacket, you might assume that the jacket has |
| | 462 | pockets, or buttons, or a zipper — but if the story never |
| | 463 | mentions those things, you shouldn’t have to worry about them. |
| | 464 | |
| | 465 | \bSecond, you won’t have to think of every conceivable action |
| | 466 | you could perform. The point of the game isn’t to make you |
| | 467 | guess at verbs. Instead, you’ll only have to use a relatively |
| | 468 | small number of simple, ordinary actions. To give you an idea |
| | 469 | of what we mean, here are some of the commands you can use:"; |
| | 470 | |
| | 471 | "\b |
| | 472 | \n\t LOOK AROUND |
| | 473 | \n\t INVENTORY |
| | 474 | \n\t GO NORTH (or EAST, SOUTHWEST, and so on, or UP, DOWN, IN, OUT) |
| | 475 | \n\t WAIT |
| | 476 | \n\t TAKE THE BOX |
| | 477 | \n\t DROP THE DISK |
| | 478 | \n\t LOOK AT THE DISK |
| | 479 | \n\t READ THE BOOK |
| | 480 | \n\t OPEN BOX |
| | 481 | \n\t CLOSE BOX |
| | 482 | \n\t LOOK IN THE BOX |
| | 483 | \n\t LOOK THROUGH WINDOW |
| | 484 | \n\t PUT FLOPPY DISK INTO BOX |
| | 485 | \n\t PUT BOX ON TABLE |
| | 486 | \n\t WEAR THE CONICAL HAT |
| | 487 | \n\t TAKE OFF HAT |
| | 488 | \n\t TURN ON LANTERN |
| | 489 | \n\t LIGHT MATCH |
| | 490 | \n\t LIGHT CANDLE WITH MATCH |
| | 491 | \n\t PUSH BUTTON |
| | 492 | \n\t PULL LEVER |
| | 493 | \n\t TURN KNOB |
| | 494 | \n\t TURN DIAL TO 11 |
| | 495 | \n\t EAT COOKIE |
| | 496 | \n\t DRINK MILK |
| | 497 | \n\t THROW PIE AT CLOWN |
| | 498 | \n\t ATTACK TROLL WITH SWORD |
| | 499 | \n\t UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY |
| | 500 | \n\t LOCK DOOR WITH KEY |
| | 501 | \n\t CLIMB THE LADDER |
| | 502 | \n\t GET IN THE CAR |
| | 503 | \n\t SIT ON THE CHAIR |
| | 504 | \n\t STAND ON THE TABLE |
| | 505 | \n\t STAND IN FLOWER BED |
| | 506 | \n\t LIE ON THE BED |
| | 507 | \n\t TYPE HELLO ON COMPUTER |
| | 508 | \n\t LOOK UP BOB IN PHONE BOOK"; |
| | 509 | |
| | 510 | /* show the conversation-related verbs */ |
| | 511 | foreach (local cur in conversationVerbs) |
| | 512 | "\n\t <<cur>>"; |
| | 513 | |
| | 514 | /* show the custom verbs */ |
| | 515 | foreach (local cur in customVerbs) |
| | 516 | "\n\t <<cur>>"; |
| | 517 | |
| | 518 | /* |
| | 519 | * if the list is exhaustive, say so; otherwise, mention that |
| | 520 | * there might be some other verbs to find |
| | 521 | */ |
| | 522 | if (allRequiredVerbsDisclosed) |
| | 523 | "\bThat’s it — every verb and every command phrasing |
| | 524 | you need to complete the story is shown above. |
| | 525 | If you ever get stuck and feel like the story is expecting |
| | 526 | you to think of something completely out of the blue, remember |
| | 527 | this: whatever it is you have to do, you can do it with one |
| | 528 | or more of the commands shown above. |
| | 529 | Don’t ever worry that you have to start trying lots of |
| | 530 | random commands to hit upon the magic phrasing, because |
| | 531 | everything you need is shown plainly above. "; |
| | 532 | else |
| | 533 | "\bMost of the verbs you’ll need to complete the story are |
| | 534 | shown above; there might be a few additional commands you’ll |
| | 535 | need from time to time as well, but they’ll follow the same |
| | 536 | simple format as the commands above."; |
| | 537 | |
| | 538 | "\bA few of these commands deserve some more explanation. |
| | 539 | LOOK AROUND (which you abbreviate to LOOK, or even just L) |
| | 540 | shows the description of the current location. You can use |
| | 541 | this if you want to refresh your memory of your character’s |
| | 542 | surroundings. INVENTORY (or just I) shows a list of everything |
| | 543 | your character is carrying. WAIT (or Z) just lets a little |
| | 544 | time pass in the story."; |
| | 545 | } |
| | 546 | |
| | 547 | /* Abbreviations chapter */ |
| | 548 | showAbbrevChapter() |
| | 549 | { |
| | 550 | "\b<b>Abbreviations</b> |
| | 551 | \bYou’ll probably use a few commands quite a lot, so to save |
| | 552 | typing, you can abbreviate some of the most frequently-used |
| | 553 | commands: |
| | 554 | |
| | 555 | \b |
| | 556 | \n\t LOOK AROUND can be shortened to LOOK, or merely L |
| | 557 | \n\t INVENTORY can be simply I |
| | 558 | \n\t GO NORTH can be written NORTH, or even just N (likewise E, W, S, |
| | 559 | NE, SE, NW, SW, U for UP and D for DOWN) |
| | 560 | \n\t LOOK AT THE DISK can be entered as EXAMINE DISK or simply X DISK |
| | 561 | \n\t WAIT can be shortened to Z |
| | 562 | <<conversationAbbr>> |
| | 563 | |
| | 564 | \b<b>A Few More Command Details</b> |
| | 565 | \bWhen you’re entering commands, you can use capital or small |
| | 566 | letters in any mixture. You can use words such as THE and A |
| | 567 | when they’re appropriate, but you can omit them if you |
| | 568 | prefer. "; |
| | 569 | |
| | 570 | if (truncationLength != nil) |
| | 571 | { |
| | 572 | "You can abbreviate any word to its first << |
| | 573 | spellInt(truncationLength)>> letters, but if you choose not |
| | 574 | to abbreviate, the story will pay attention to |
| | 575 | everything you actually type; this means, for example, that you |
| | 576 | can abbreviate SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS to << |
| | 577 | 'SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS'.substr(1, truncationLength) |
| | 578 | >> or << |
| | 579 | 'SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS'.substr(1, truncationLength+2) |
| | 580 | >>, but not to << |
| | 581 | 'SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS'.substr(1, truncationLength) |
| | 582 | >>SDF. "; |
| | 583 | } |
| | 584 | } |
| | 585 | |
| | 586 | /* Travel chapter */ |
| | 587 | showTravelChapter() |
| | 588 | { |
| | 589 | "\b<b>Travel</b> |
| | 590 | \bAt any given time in the story, your character is in a |
| | 591 | <q>location.</q> The story describes the location when your |
| | 592 | character first enters, and again any time you type LOOK. |
| | 593 | Each location usually has a short name that’s displayed just |
| | 594 | before its full description; the name is useful when drawing a map, |
| | 595 | and the short name can help jog your memory as you’re finding |
| | 596 | your way around. |
| | 597 | |
| | 598 | \bEach location is a separate room, or a large outdoor area, |
| | 599 | or the like. (Sometimes a single physical room is so large that |
| | 600 | it comprises several locations in the game, but that’s fairly |
| | 601 | rare.) For the most part, going to a location is as specific |
| | 602 | as you have to get about travel; once your character is in a |
| | 603 | location, the character can usually see and reach everything |
| | 604 | within the location, so you don’t have to worry about where |
| | 605 | exactly your character is standing within the room. Once in |
| | 606 | a while, you might find that something is out of reach, perhaps |
| | 607 | because it’s on a high shelf or on the other side of a moat; in |
| | 608 | these cases, it’s sometimes useful to be more specific about |
| | 609 | your character’s location, such as by standing on something |
| | 610 | (STAND ON TABLE, for example). |
| | 611 | |
| | 612 | \bTraveling from one location to another is usually done using |
| | 613 | a direction command: GO NORTH, GO NORTHEAST, GO UP, and so on. |
| | 614 | (You can abbreviate the cardinal and vertical directions to one |
| | 615 | letter each — N, S, E, W, U, D — and the diagonal |
| | 616 | directions to two: NE, NW, SE, SW.) The story should always |
| | 617 | tell you the directions that you can go when it describes a |
| | 618 | location, so you should never have to try all the unmentioned |
| | 619 | directions to see if they go anywhere. |
| | 620 | |
| | 621 | \bIn most cases, backtracking (by reversing the direction you |
| | 622 | took from one location to another) will take you back to where you |
| | 623 | started, although some passages might have turns. |
| | 624 | |
| | 625 | \bMost of the time, when the story describes a door or passageway, |
| | 626 | you won’t need to open the door to go through the passage, as |
| | 627 | the story will do this for you. Only when the story specifically |
| | 628 | states that a door is blocking your way will you usually have to |
| | 629 | deal with the door explicitly."; |
| | 630 | } |
| | 631 | |
| | 632 | /* Objects chapter */ |
| | 633 | showObjectsChapter() |
| | 634 | { |
| | 635 | "\b<b>Manipulating Objects</b> |
| | 636 | \bYou might find objects in the story that your character can |
| | 637 | carry or otherwise manipulate. If you want to carry something, |
| | 638 | type TAKE and the object’s name: TAKE BOOK. If you want to |
| | 639 | drop something your character is carrying, DROP it. |
| | 640 | |
| | 641 | \bYou usually won’t have to be very specific about exactly |
| | 642 | how your character is supposed to carry or hold something, so you |
| | 643 | shouldn’t have to worry about which hand is holding which item |
| | 644 | or anything like that. It might sometimes be useful to put one |
| | 645 | object inside or on top of another, though; for example, PUT BOOK |
| | 646 | IN SHOPPING BAG or PUT VASE ON TABLE. If your character’s |
| | 647 | hands get full, it might help to put some items being carried |
| | 648 | into a container, much as in real life you can carry more stuff |
| | 649 | if it’s in a bag or a box. |
| | 650 | |
| | 651 | \bYou can often get a lot of extra information (and sometimes |
| | 652 | vital clues) by examining objects, which you can do with the LOOK |
| | 653 | AT command (or, equivalently, EXAMINE, which you can abbreviate |
| | 654 | to simply X, as in X PAINTING). Most experienced players get |
| | 655 | in the habit of examining everything in a new location right |
| | 656 | away. "; |
| | 657 | } |
| | 658 | |
| | 659 | /* show the Conversation chapter */ |
| | 660 | showConversationChapter() |
| | 661 | { |
| | 662 | "\b<b>Interacting with Other Characters</b> |
| | 663 | \bYour character may encounter other people or creatures in the |
| | 664 | story. You can sometimes interact with these characters.\b"; |
| | 665 | |
| | 666 | /* show the customizable conversation instructions */ |
| | 667 | conversationInstructions; |
| | 668 | } |
| | 669 | |
| | 670 | /* Time chapter */ |
| | 671 | showTimeChapter() |
| | 672 | { |
| | 673 | "\b<b>Time</b>"; |
| | 674 | |
| | 675 | if (isRealTime) |
| | 676 | { |
| | 677 | "\bTime passes in the story in response to the commands |
| | 678 | you type. In addition, some parts of the story |
| | 679 | might unfold in <q>real time,</q> which means that things |
| | 680 | can happen even while you’re thinking about your next move. |
| | 681 | |
| | 682 | \bIf you want to stop the clock while you’re away from your |
| | 683 | computer for a moment (or you just need some time to think), |
| | 684 | you can type PAUSE."; |
| | 685 | } |
| | 686 | else |
| | 687 | { |
| | 688 | "\bTime passes in the story only in response to commands |
| | 689 | you type. This means that nothing happens while the story |
| | 690 | is waiting for you to type something. Each command takes |
| | 691 | about the same amount of time in the story. If you |
| | 692 | specifically want to let some extra time pass within the |
| | 693 | story, because you think something is about to happen, |
| | 694 | you can type WAIT (or just Z). "; |
| | 695 | } |
| | 696 | } |
| | 697 | |
| | 698 | /* Saving, Restoring, and Undo chapter */ |
| | 699 | showSaveRestoreChapter() |
| | 700 | { |
| | 701 | "\b<b>Saving and Restoring</b> |
| | 702 | \bYou can save a snapshot of your current position in the story |
| | 703 | at any time, so that you can later restore the story to the |
| | 704 | same position. The snapshot will be saved to a file on your |
| | 705 | computer’s disk, and you can save as many different snapshots |
| | 706 | as you’d like (to the extent you have space on your disk, |
| | 707 | anyway).\b"; |
| | 708 | |
| | 709 | switch (crueltyLevel) |
| | 710 | { |
| | 711 | case 0: |
| | 712 | "In this story, your character will never be killed, and |
| | 713 | you’ll never find yourself in a situation where |
| | 714 | it’s impossible to complete the story. Whatever happens |
| | 715 | to your character, you’ll always be able to find a way |
| | 716 | to complete the story. So, unlike in many text games, you |
| | 717 | don’t have to worry about saving positions to protect |
| | 718 | yourself against getting stuck in impossible situations. Of |
| | 719 | course, you can still save as often as you’d like, to |
| | 720 | suspend your session and return to it later, or to save |
| | 721 | positions that you think you might want to revisit."; |
| | 722 | break; |
| | 723 | |
| | 724 | case 1: |
| | 725 | case 2: |
| | 726 | "It might be possible for your character to be killed in |
| | 727 | the story, or for you to find your character in an impossible |
| | 728 | situation where you won’t be able to complete the story. |
| | 729 | So, you should be sure to save your position |
| | 730 | <<crueltyLevel == 1 ? 'from time to time' : 'frequently'>> |
| | 731 | so that you won’t have to go back too far if this should |
| | 732 | happen. "; |
| | 733 | |
| | 734 | if (crueltyLevel == 2) |
| | 735 | "(You should make a point of keeping all of your old saved |
| | 736 | positions, too, because you might not always realize |
| | 737 | immediately when a situation has become impossible. |
| | 738 | You might find at times that you need to go back further |
| | 739 | than just the last position that you <i>thought</i> |
| | 740 | was safe.)"; |
| | 741 | |
| | 742 | break; |
| | 743 | } |
| | 744 | |
| | 745 | "\bTo save your position, type SAVE at the command prompt. |
| | 746 | The story will ask you for the name of a disk file to use to store |
| | 747 | snapshot. You’ll have to specify a filename suitable for |
| | 748 | your computer system, and the disk will need enough free space |
| | 749 | to store the file; you’ll be told if there’s any problem |
| | 750 | saving the file. You should use a filename that doesn’t already |
| | 751 | exist on your machine, because the new file will overwrite any |
| | 752 | existing file with the same name. |
| | 753 | |
| | 754 | \bYou can restore a previously saved position by typing RESTORE |
| | 755 | at any prompt. The story will ask you for the name of the file |
| | 756 | to restore. After the computer reads the file, everything in |
| | 757 | the story will be exactly as it was when you saved that file."; |
| | 758 | |
| | 759 | "\b<b>Undo</b> |
| | 760 | \bEven if you haven’t saved your position recently, you can |
| | 761 | usually take back your last few commands with the UNDO command. |
| | 762 | Each time you type UNDO, the story reverses the effect of one command, |
| | 763 | restoring the story as it was before you typed that command. UNDO |
| | 764 | is limited to taking back the last few commands, so this isn’t |
| | 765 | a substitute for SAVE/RESTORE, but it’s very handy if you |
| | 766 | find your character unexpectedly in a dangerous situation, or you |
| | 767 | make a mistake you want to take back."; |
| | 768 | } |
| | 769 | |
| | 770 | /* Other Special Commands chapter */ |
| | 771 | showSpecialCmdChapter() |
| | 772 | { |
| | 773 | "\b<b>Some Other Special Commands</b> |
| | 774 | \bThe story understands a few other special commands that |
| | 775 | you might find useful. |
| | 776 | |
| | 777 | \bAGAIN (or just G): Repeats the last command. (If your last input |
| | 778 | line had several commands, only the last single command on the line |
| | 779 | is repeated.) |
| | 780 | \bINVENTORY (or just I): Shows what your character is carrying. |
| | 781 | \bLOOK (or just L): Shows the full description of your |
| | 782 | character’s current location."; |
| | 783 | |
| | 784 | /* if the exit lister module is active, mention the EXITS command */ |
| | 785 | if (gExitLister != nil) |
| | 786 | "\bEXITS: Shows the list of obvious exits from the current |
| | 787 | location. |
| | 788 | \bEXITS ON/OFF/STATUS/LOOK: Controls the way the game |
| | 789 | displays exit lists. EXITS ON puts a list of |
| | 790 | exits in the status line and also lists exits in each room |
| | 791 | description. EXITS OFF turns off both of these listings. |
| | 792 | EXITS STATUS turns on just the status line exit list, and |
| | 793 | EXITS ROOM turns on only the room description lists."; |
| | 794 | |
| | 795 | "\bOOPS: Corrects a single misspelled word in a command, without |
| | 796 | retyping the entire command. You can only use OOPS immediately |
| | 797 | after the story tells you it didn’t recognize a word in your |
| | 798 | previous command. Type OOPS followed by the corrected word. |
| | 799 | \bQUIT (or just Q): Terminates the story. |
| | 800 | \bRESTART: Starts the story over from the beginning. |
| | 801 | \bRESTORE: Restores a position previously saved with SAVE. |
| | 802 | \bSAVE: Saves the current position in a disk file. |
| | 803 | \bSCRIPT: Starts making a transcript of your story session, |
| | 804 | saving all of the displayed text to a disk file, so that you |
| | 805 | can peruse it later or print it out. |
| | 806 | \bSCRIPT OFF: Ends a transcript that you started with SCRIPT. |
| | 807 | \bUNDO: Takes back the last command. |
| | 808 | \bSAVE DEFAULTS: Saves your current settings for things like |
| | 809 | NOTIFY, EXITS, and FOOTNOTES as defaults. This means that your |
| | 810 | settings will be restored automatically the next time you start |
| | 811 | a new game, or RESTART this one. |
| | 812 | \bRESTORE DEFAULTS: Explicitly restores the option settings |
| | 813 | you previously saved with SAVE DEFAULTS. "; |
| | 814 | } |
| | 815 | |
| | 816 | /* Unknown Words chapter */ |
| | 817 | showUnknownWordsChapter() |
| | 818 | { |
| | 819 | "\b<b>Unknown Words</b> |
| | 820 | \bThe story doesn’t pretend to know every word in the English |
| | 821 | language. The story might even occasionally use words in its |
| | 822 | own descriptions that it doesn’t understand in commands. If |
| | 823 | you type a command with a word the story doesn’t know, the |
| | 824 | story will tell you which word it didn’t recognize. If the |
| | 825 | story doesn’t know a word for something it described, and |
| | 826 | it doesn’t know any synonyms for that thing, you can probably |
| | 827 | assume that the object is just there as a detail of the setting, |
| | 828 | and isn’t important to the story. "; |
| | 829 | } |
| | 830 | |
| | 831 | /* Ambiguous Commands chapter */ |
| | 832 | showAmbiguousCmdChapter() |
| | 833 | { |
| | 834 | "\b<b>Ambiguous Commands</b> |
| | 835 | \bIf you type a command that leaves out some important information, |
| | 836 | the story will try its best to figure out what you mean. Whenever |
| | 837 | it’s reasonably obvious from context what you mean, the story |
| | 838 | will make an assumption about the missing information and proceed |
| | 839 | with the command. The story will point out what it’s assuming |
| | 840 | in these cases, to avoid any confusion from a mismatch between the |
| | 841 | story’s assumptions and yours. For example: |
| | 842 | |
| | 843 | \b |
| | 844 | \n\t >TIE THE ROPE |
| | 845 | \n\t (to the hook) |
| | 846 | \n\t The rope is now tied to the hook. The end of the |
| | 847 | \n\t rope nearly reaches the floor of the pit below. |
| | 848 | |
| | 849 | \bIf the command is ambiguous enough that the story can’t |
| | 850 | safely make an assumption, you’ll be asked for more |
| | 851 | information. You can answer these questions by typing the |
| | 852 | missing information. |
| | 853 | |
| | 854 | \b |
| | 855 | \n\t >UNLOCK THE DOOR |
| | 856 | \n\t What do you want to unlock it with? |
| | 857 | \b |
| | 858 | \n\t >KEY |
| | 859 | \n\t Which key do you mean, the gold key, or the silver key? |
| | 860 | \b |
| | 861 | \n\t >GOLD |
| | 862 | \n\t Unlocked. |
| | 863 | |
| | 864 | \bIf the story asks you one of these questions, and you decide |
| | 865 | that you don’t want to proceed with the original command after |
| | 866 | all, you can just type in a brand new command instead of answering |
| | 867 | the question."; |
| | 868 | } |
| | 869 | |
| | 870 | /* Advance Command Formats chapter */ |
| | 871 | showAdvancedCmdChapter() |
| | 872 | { |
| | 873 | "\b<b>Advanced Command Formats</b> |
| | 874 | \bOnce you get comfortable with entering commands, you might |
| | 875 | be interested to know about some more complex command formats |
| | 876 | that the story will accept. These advanced commands are all |
| | 877 | completely optional, because you can always do the same things |
| | 878 | with the simpler formats we’ve talked about so far, but |
| | 879 | experienced players often like the advanced formats because |
| | 880 | they can save you a little typing. |
| | 881 | |
| | 882 | \b<b>Using Multiple Objects at Once</b> |
| | 883 | \bIn most commands, you can operate on multiple objects in |
| | 884 | a single command. Use the word AND, or a comma, to separate |
| | 885 | one object from another: |
| | 886 | |
| | 887 | \b |
| | 888 | \n\t TAKE THE BOX, THE FLOPPY DISK, AND THE ROPE |
| | 889 | \n\t PUT DISK AND ROPE IN BOX |
| | 890 | \n\t DROP BOX AND ROPE |
| | 891 | |
| | 892 | \bYou can use the words ALL and EVERYTHING to refer to everything |
| | 893 | applicable to your command, and you can use EXCEPT or BUT |
| | 894 | (right after the word ALL) to exclude specific objects: |
| | 895 | |
| | 896 | \b |
| | 897 | \n\t TAKE ALL |
| | 898 | \n\t PUT ALL BUT DISK AND ROPE INTO BOX |
| | 899 | \n\t TAKE EVERYTHING OUT OF THE BOX |
| | 900 | \n\t TAKE ALL OFF SHELF |
| | 901 | |
| | 902 | \bALL refers to everything that makes sense for your command, |
| | 903 | excluding things inside other objects matching the ALL. For example, |
| | 904 | if you’re carrying a box and a rope, and the box contains |
| | 905 | a floppy disk, typing DROP ALL will drop the box and the rope, |
| | 906 | and the floppy will remain in the box. |
| | 907 | |
| | 908 | \b<b><q>It</q> and <q>Them</q></b> |
| | 909 | \bYou can use IT and THEM to refer to the last object or objects |
| | 910 | that you used in a command: |
| | 911 | |
| | 912 | \b |
| | 913 | \n\t TAKE THE BOX |
| | 914 | \n\t OPEN IT |
| | 915 | \n\t TAKE THE DISK AND THE ROPE |
| | 916 | \n\t PUT THEM IN THE BOX |
| | 917 | |
| | 918 | \b<b>Multiple Commands At Once</b> |
| | 919 | \bYou can put multiple commands on a single input line by |
| | 920 | separating the commands with periods or the word THEN, or |
| | 921 | with a comma or AND. For example: |
| | 922 | |
| | 923 | \b |
| | 924 | \n\t TAKE THE DISK AND PUT IT IN THE BOX |
| | 925 | \n\t TAKE BOX. OPEN IT. |
| | 926 | \n\t UNLOCK THE DOOR WITH THE KEY. OPEN IT, THEN GO NORTH. |
| | 927 | |
| | 928 | \b If the story doesn’t understand one of the commands, it will |
| | 929 | tell you what it couldn’t understand, and ignore everything after |
| | 930 | that on the line."; |
| | 931 | } |
| | 932 | |
| | 933 | /* General Tips chapter */ |
| | 934 | showTipsChapter() |
| | 935 | { |
| | 936 | "\b<b>A Few Tips</b> |
| | 937 | \bNow that you know the technical details of entering commands, |
| | 938 | you might be interested in some strategy pointers. Here are |
| | 939 | a few techniques that experienced interactive fiction players use |
| | 940 | when approaching a story. |
| | 941 | |
| | 942 | \bEXAMINE everything, especially when you enter a new location |
| | 943 | for the first time. Looking at objects will often reveal details |
| | 944 | that aren’t mentioned in the broader description of the location. |
| | 945 | If examining an object mentions detailed parts of the object, |
| | 946 | examine them as well. |
| | 947 | |
| | 948 | \bMake a map, if the story has more than a few locations. When |
| | 949 | you encounter a new location for the first time, note all of its |
| | 950 | exits; this will make it easy to see at a glance if there are any |
| | 951 | exits you haven’t explored yet. If you get stuck, you can scan |
| | 952 | your map for any unexplored areas, where you might find what |
| | 953 | you’re looking for. |
| | 954 | |
| | 955 | \bIf the story doesn’t recognize a word or any of its synonyms, |
| | 956 | the object you’re trying to manipulate probably isn’t |
| | 957 | important to the story. If you try manipulating something, and the |
| | 958 | story responds with something like <q>that isn’t important,</q> |
| | 959 | you can probably just ignore the object; it’s most likely just |
| | 960 | there as scenery, to make the setting more detailed. |
| | 961 | |
| | 962 | \bIf you’re trying to accomplish something, and nothing you do |
| | 963 | seems to work, pay attention to what’s going wrong. If |
| | 964 | everything you try is met with utter dismissal (<q>nothing |
| | 965 | happens</q> or <q>that’s not something you can open</q>), you |
| | 966 | might simply be on the wrong track; step back and think about other |
| | 967 | ways of approaching the problem. If the response is something more |
| | 968 | specific, it might be a clue. <q>The guard says <q>you can’t |
| | 969 | open that here!</q>\ and snatches the box from your hands</q> &emdash; |
| | 970 | this might indicate that you have to get the guard to leave, or |
| | 971 | that you should take the box somewhere else before you open it, |
| | 972 | for example. |
| | 973 | |
| | 974 | \bIf you get completely stuck, you might try setting aside the |
| | 975 | current puzzle and working on a different problem for a while. |
| | 976 | You might even want to save your position and take a break from |
| | 977 | the game. The solution to the problem that’s been |
| | 978 | thwarting your progress might come to you in a flash of insight |
| | 979 | when you least expect it, and those moments of insight can be |
| | 980 | incredibly rewarding. Some stories are best appreciated when |
| | 981 | played over a period of days, weeks, or even months; if you’re |
| | 982 | enjoying the story, why rush through it? |
| | 983 | |
| | 984 | \bFinally, if all else fails, you can try asking for help. A |
| | 985 | great place to go for hints is the Usenet newsgroup |
| | 986 | <a href='news:rec.games.int-fiction'>rec.games.int-fiction</a>. "; |
| | 987 | |
| | 988 | "\n"; |
| | 989 | } |
| | 990 | |
| | 991 | /* INSTRUCTIONS doesn't affect UNDO or AGAIN */ |
| | 992 | isRepeatable = nil |
| | 993 | includeInUndo = nil |
| | 994 | ; |
| | 995 | |
| | 996 | |
| | 997 | /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ */ |
| | 998 | /* |
| | 999 | * define the INSTRUCTIONS command's grammar |
| | 1000 | */ |
| | 1001 | VerbRule(instructions) 'instructions' : InstructionsAction |
| | 1002 | ; |
| | 1003 | |
| | 1004 | |
| | 1005 | /* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ */ |
| | 1006 | /* |
| | 1007 | * The instructions, rendered in menu form. The menu format helps break |
| | 1008 | * up the instructions by dividing the instructions into chapters, and |
| | 1009 | * displaying a menu that lists the chapters. This way, players can |
| | 1010 | * easily go directly to the chapters they're most interested in, but |
| | 1011 | * can also still read through the whole thing fairly easily. |
| | 1012 | * |
| | 1013 | * To avoid creating an unnecessary dependency on the menu subsystem for |
| | 1014 | * games that don't want the menu-style instructions, we'll only define |
| | 1015 | * the menu objects if the preprocessor symbol INSTRUCTIONS_MENU is |
| | 1016 | * defined. So, if you want to use the menu-style instructions, just |
| | 1017 | * add -D INSTRUCTIONS_MENU to your project makefile. |
| | 1018 | */ |
| | 1019 | #ifdef INSTRUCTIONS_MENU |
| | 1020 | |
| | 1021 | /* a base class for the instruction chapter menus */ |
| | 1022 | class InstructionsMenu: MenuLongTopicItem |
| | 1023 | /* |
| | 1024 | * present the instructions in "chapter" format, so that we can |
| | 1025 | * navigate from one chapter directly to the next |
| | 1026 | */ |
| | 1027 | isChapterMenu = true |
| | 1028 | |
| | 1029 | /* the InstructionsAction property that we invoke to show our chapter */ |
| | 1030 | chapterProp = nil |
| | 1031 | |
| | 1032 | /* don't use a heading, as we provide our own internal chapter titles */ |
| | 1033 | heading = '' |
| | 1034 | |
| | 1035 | /* show our chapter text */ |
| | 1036 | menuContents = (InstructionsAction.(self.chapterProp)()) |
| | 1037 | ; |
| | 1038 | |
| | 1039 | InstructionsMenu template 'title' ->chapterProp; |
| | 1040 | |
| | 1041 | /* |
| | 1042 | * The main instructions menu. This can be used as a top-level menu; |
| | 1043 | * just call the 'display()' method on this object to display the menu. |
| | 1044 | * This can also be used as a sub-menu of any other menu, simply by |
| | 1045 | * inserting this menu into a parent menu's 'contents' list. |
| | 1046 | */ |
| | 1047 | topInstructionsMenu: MenuItem 'How to Play Interactive Fiction'; |
| | 1048 | |
| | 1049 | /* the chapter menus */ |
| | 1050 | + MenuLongTopicItem |
| | 1051 | isChapterMenu = true |
| | 1052 | title = 'Introduction' |
| | 1053 | heading = nil |
| | 1054 | menuContents = |
| | 1055 | "\b<b>Introduction</b> |
| | 1056 | \bWelcome! If you’ve never played Interactive Fiction |
| | 1057 | before, these instructions are designed to help you |
| | 1058 | get started. If you already know how to play this kind |
| | 1059 | of game, you can probably skip the full instructions, but |
| | 1060 | you might want to type ABOUT at the command prompt for a |
| | 1061 | summary of the special features of this story. |
| | 1062 | \b |
| | 1063 | To make the instructions easier to navigate, they’re |
| | 1064 | broken up into chapters. At the end of each chapter, just press |
| | 1065 | <b><<curKeyList[M_SEL][1].toUpper()>></b> to proceed to |
| | 1066 | the next chapter, or <b><<curKeyList[M_PREV][1].toUpper()>></b> |
| | 1067 | to return to the chapter list. " |
| | 1068 | ; |
| | 1069 | |
| | 1070 | + InstructionsMenu 'Entering Commands' ->(&showCommandsChapter); |
| | 1071 | + InstructionsMenu 'Command Abbreviations' ->(&showAbbrevChapter); |
| | 1072 | + InstructionsMenu 'Travel' ->(&showTravelChapter); |
| | 1073 | + InstructionsMenu 'Manipulating Objects' ->(&showObjectsChapter); |
| | 1074 | + InstructionsMenu 'Interacting with Other Characters' |
| | 1075 | ->(&showConversationChapter); |
| | 1076 | + InstructionsMenu 'Time' ->(&showTimeChapter); |
| | 1077 | + InstructionsMenu 'Saving and Restoring' ->(&showSaveRestoreChapter); |
| | 1078 | + InstructionsMenu 'Other Special Commands' ->(&showSpecialCmdChapter); |
| | 1079 | + InstructionsMenu 'Unknown Words' ->(&showUnknownWordsChapter); |
| | 1080 | + InstructionsMenu 'Ambiguous Commands' ->(&showAmbiguousCmdChapter); |
| | 1081 | + InstructionsMenu 'Advanced Command Formats' ->(&showAdvancedCmdChapter); |
| | 1082 | + InstructionsMenu 'A Few Tips' ->(&showTipsChapter); |
| | 1083 | |
| | 1084 | #endif /* INSTRUCTIONS_MENU */ |
| | 1085 | |