Chapter 5: Text
5.5. Text with variations

Messages sometimes need to take different forms in different circumstances. For instance, suppose we have a cask which, being a container, is always either open or closed. Then setting this:

The printed name of the cask is "[if open]broached, empty cask[otherwise]sealed wine-cask".

we find that the cask is described as "a broached, empty cask" when open, and "a sealed wine-cask" when closed. Any condition can follow an "if", and there will be much more about conditions later. Here is a more substantial example:

The Customs Wharf is a room. "Amid the bustle of the quayside, [if the cask is open]many eyes stray to your broached cask. [otherwise]nobody takes much notice of a man heaving a cask about. [end if]Sleek gondolas jostle at the plank pier."

The text following "[otherwise]" is printed only if none of the previous "if" conditions have been satisfied. After the "[end if]", it is back to printing as normal: so the part about gondolas is printed in every eventuality. (As earlier examples show, "[otherwise]" and "[end if]" are optional. We could also specify alternatives by writing, say, "[otherwise if the cask is transparent]".)

We sometimes need to be careful about the printing of line breaks:

The Cell is a room. "Ah, [if unvisited]the unknown cell. [otherwise]the usual cell."

This room description has two possible forms: "Ah, the unknown cell. ", at first sight, and then "Ah, the usual cell." subsequently. But the second form is rounded off with a line break because the last thing printed is a ".", whereas the first form isn't, because it ended with a space. The right thing would have been:

The Cell is a room. "Ah, [if unvisited]the unknown cell.[otherwise]the usual cell."

allowing no space after "unknown cell."


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* Example  When?
A door whose description says "...leads east" in one place and "...leads west" in the other.

RB

Very simple, but quite frequently useful:

"When?"

The temporal vortex is an open door. It is west of Yesterday and east of Today. "A whirling temporal vortex leads [if in Yesterday]west[otherwise]east[end if]."

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*** Example  Persephone
Separate the player's inventory listing into two parts, so that it says "you are carrying..." and then (if the player is wearing anything) "You are also wearing...".

RB
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*** Example  Whence?
A kind of door that always automatically describes the direction it opens and what lies on the far side (if that other room has been visited).

RB


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