Chapter 5: Text
5.10. Making new substitutions

If we have some textual effect which needs to occur in several different messages, we might want to create a new text substitution for it. For instance:

The Missile Base is a room. "[security notice]Seems to be a futuristic missile base." M's Office is east of the Missile Base. "[security notice]Admiral Sir M.- M.- glares up from his desk."

To say security notice:
    say "This area is a Prohibited Place within the meaning of the Official Secrets Act 1939. "

This is only the tip of the iceberg in how to define ways to do things using "To...", as we shall see. The definition makes "say the security notice" a new phrase known to Inform. A text substitution is exactly a phrase whose name begins with "say" (well - except for the "say" phrase itself), so the effect is that "[security notice]" is a new text substitution. Several of the examples in this chapter make use of this trick.

* See The phrasebook for other forms of phrase besides To say...


65
* Example  Fifty Ways to Leave Your Larva
Using text substitution to make characters reply differently under the same circumstances.

RB
66
*** Example  Fifty Times Fifty Ways
Writing your own rules for how to carry out substitutions.

RB


PreviousContentsNext