How to play
wet cat
Matthew Twomey wrote:
>
> Is there information on how to play the Inform type games? I.E. 'z' means pass
> time, 'n' is for north... Is there an faq that details how to "use" the
> interface?
Generally, the author of the game will put some "help screens" in the
game which provide this information. These screens can usually be
accessed by starting the game, then typing
help
Examples of such games are Christminster, Curses, Jigsaw, and The
Wedding.
- w.c., finally finished The Wedding
Matthew Twomey
Matthew Twomey
>Generally, the author of the game will put some "help screens" in the
>game which provide this information. These screens can usually be
>accessed by starting the game, then typing
>
>help
>
>Examples of such games are Christminster, Curses, Jigsaw, and The
>Wedding.
>
>- w.c., finally finished The Wedding
That is helpful... But I am talking about things that 'seem' to apply to all
these games - like 'verbose' I know that one, but I don't know how to turn it
off! If there some kind of FAQ or something???
Matthew Amster-Burton
mtw...@clc.cc.il.us (Matthew Twomey) wrote:
>That is helpful... But I am talking about things that 'seem' to apply to all
>these games - like 'verbose' I know that one, but I don't know how to turn it
>off! If there some kind of FAQ or something???
Have you tried looking at one of these intro files yet? They tend to
be quite complete.
However, in the interests of helping a new player, here is the
woefully incomplete off-the-top-of-my-head list of common
meta-commands in IF:
Command Meaning
------- -------
verbose Show room descriptions every time you enter the room
brief Show room descriptions only the first time
superbrief Show room descriptions never
x Examine
g Again (repeat previous command)
l Look (show room description)
z Wait
i Inventory
i wide Comma-separated inventory (Inform only)
i tall List-style inventory (Inform only)
score Current score and rank
save Save your game
restore Restore a saved game
What have I forgotten, folks?
aul...@koala.scott.net
In article <57fhbq$o...@news.clc.cc.il.us>,
Matthew Twomey <mtw...@clc.cc.il.us> wrote:
>In article <329A68...@cfw.com>, mun...@cfw.com wrote:
>
>>Generally, the author of the game will put some "help screens" in the
>>game which provide this information. These screens can usually be
>>accessed by starting the game, then typing
>>
>>help
>>
>>Examples of such games are Christminster, Curses, Jigsaw, and The
>>Wedding.
>>
>>- w.c., finally finished The Wedding
>these games - like 'verbose' I know that one, but I don't know how to turn it
>off! If there some kind of FAQ or something???
Well, yes, sort of. I'm making up a document just for folks like you.
It's slated to go onto the GUA CD, after which I will put it on
gmd.
For now, try "brief" and "superbrief"
That is all,
Joe
Robert A. DeLisle
Matthew Amster-Burton (mam...@u.washington.edu) wrote:
: meta-commands in IF:
: Command Meaning
: ------- -------
: verbose Show room descriptions every time you enter the room
: brief Show room descriptions only the first time
: superbrief Show room descriptions never
: x Examine
: g Again (repeat previous command)
: l Look (show room description)
: z Wait
: i Inventory
: i wide Comma-separated inventory (Inform only)
: i tall List-style inventory (Inform only)
: score Current score and rank
: save Save your game
: restore Restore a saved game
: What have I forgotten, folks?
You might mention that the directions can be typed as N, S, E, W, etc
As an addendum to 'score': in one game that command did not give the
expected reply, but a remark about a different activity.
STATUS got a more applicable response.
In very old games, saved games used LOAD. In others, there is no way.
Some were written to be played on floppies and can't save/restore now.
Also, multiple commands can be used to speed travel or whatever.
EG: N.N.N.N.E.S.W.W.N.E will let you move very fast
and GET ALL or DROP ALL works in some.
One more--some games use OOPS to correct errors and it really works.
You type X PANLE and the game can't, OOPS PANEL, game accepts it.
The best one is UNDO for those that have included it. This keeps the
player in the game most of the time. I really hate the 'sudden death'
out of the game result in some games--no choice to restore.
Since this is going to 'arts' as well as 'games', there is one comment
I would like to make--try to make your description lines shorter. I
would like a maximum of 75 characters per line. 65 would be nicer.
If this means Inform must be revised, so be it.
Andrew Plotkin
Matthew Amster-Burton (mam...@u.washington.edu) wrote:
> However, in the interests of helping a new player, here is the
> woefully incomplete off-the-top-of-my-head list of common
> Command Meaning
> ------- -------
> verbose Show room descriptions every time you enter the room
> brief Show room descriptions only the first time
> superbrief Show room descriptions never
> x Examine
> g Again (repeat previous command)
> l Look (show room description)
> z Wait
> i Inventory
> i wide Comma-separated inventory (Inform only)
> i tall List-style inventory (Inform only)
> score Current score and rank
> save Save your game
> restore Restore a saved game
> What have I forgotten, folks?
undo: go back one move
restart: restore to start of game
script: begin saving transcript to a text file
unscript: stop saving transcript
about, info, help, hint: provide some kind of information about the
game (depends on the game)
Also, note that "l", "x" and "z" aren't really meta-commands; they're
abbreviation for normals commands. They make your character do
something, and they take a game turn.
--Z
--
"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
FReDRiK RaMSBeRG (WILdcARD)
mtw...@clc.cc.il.us (Matthew Twomey) writes:
There is a game that serves as an introduction, where you can type
"help" to get information on just the kind of things you are asking about, as
well as hints for the game. I suggest you start with that.
It can be found at ftp://ftp.gmd.de/if-archive/starters/cdsample.z5
/Fredrik
--
Fredrik Ramsberg, Comp Sci student, Linkoeping, SWEDEN
d91f...@und.ida.liu.se, http://www-und.ida.liu.se/~d91frera
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Proud winner of the 1996 Humility World Championships!!!
Gareth Rees
Matthew Twomey <mtw...@clc.cc.il.us> wrote:
> Is there information on how to play the Inform type games? I.E. 'z'
> means pass time, 'n' is for north... Is there an faq that details how
> to "use" the interface?
Some games tell you in some detail. If you type "help" in
Christminster, and read the menus, you get the following information:
again repeat the last command
brief use long and short room descriptions
die quit the game
fullscore show how your score was achieved
inventory list your possessions
inventory wide paragraphed inventory lists
inventory tall one item per line inventory lists
long always use long room descriptions
normal use long and short room descriptions
noscript turn transcripting off
notify on/off turn score notification on and off
nouns show current settings of "it", "him", "her"
objects list the objects you have held
oops <word> correct mistake in previous input
places list the places you have been
pronouns show current settings of "it", "him", "her"
quit quit the game
quotes on/off turn the display of quotations on and off
restart start the game again from the beginning
restore restore a saved game from a file
save save the game to a file
score show your current score
script on/off start and stop transcription to a file
short always use short room descriptions
superbrief always use short room descriptions
undo undo last command, if possible
unscript turn transcripting off
verbose always use long room descriptions
verify check that the story file is undamaged
version give version and release numbers
wait do nothing for a turn
Abbreviations:
g for again
i for inventory
l for look
n for north (and so on)
o for oops
q for quit
x for examine
z for wait (short for "zzz")
--
Gareth Rees
Paul Trauth
Matthew Twomey (mtw...@clc.cc.il.us) wrote:
: In article <329A68...@cfw.com>, mun...@cfw.com wrote:
:
: >Generally, the author of the game will put some "help screens" in the
: >game which provide this information. These screens can usually be
: >accessed by starting the game, then typing
: >
: >help
: >
: >Examples of such games are Christminster, Curses, Jigsaw, and The
: >Wedding.
: >
: >- w.c., finally finished The Wedding
: That is helpful... But I am talking about things that 'seem' to apply to all
: these games - like 'verbose' I know that one, but I don't know how to turn it
: off! If there some kind of FAQ or something???
Ah. Basically, an adventure written with high-profile authoring systems
will support the standard commands that an old-school adventurer has
engraved on the inside of their skull from countless hours spent playing
the Infocom games.
Some games, especially the bigger ones, include an introduction to IF that
runs down these standard commands - there's a readme that a lot of TADS
games come with, for instance. But off the top of my head:
z: abbreviation for "wait", which makes time pass - varies from one turn to
about five.
i: abbreviation for "inventory", listing what you're carrying.
x: abbreviation for "examine"
l: abbreviation for "look"
script/unscript: start/stop recording a transcript of the game, in the
olden days to the printer, but now more commonly to a file.
verbose/brief/superbrief: different modes of room description. verbose
gives you the full description every time you enter the room; brief gives
it the first time and thereafter just prints the name and any objects;
superbrief gives the name and objects all the time. 'brief' is typically
the default mode.
save/restore: save and load a game.
Also, you can stack several commands with periods, as follows:
> e.e.n.e.get catnip mouse.n.w.z.z.z.show mouse to cute kitten.kill it with
mallet
Hope this helps.
-
Matthew Twomey wrote:
> That is helpful... But I am talking about things that 'seem' to apply to all
> these games - like 'verbose' I know that one, but I don't know how to turn it
> off! If there some kind of FAQ or something???
I know that Curses' help menu tells you ('brief' or 'normal' to go to
normal display, or 'superbrief' or 'short' to go to short descriptions)
Nicholas Daley
<mailto:dal...@ihug.co.nz>
FReDRiK RaMSBeRG (WILdcARD)
I've seen the growing list of general commands here. Does anyone feel like
compiling a summary, adding things as they pop up?
It could then be put at if-archive, with a reference to it in the file
how_to_play_these_games.faq or whatever it is called. Also, it could be
included in Starter's Kits. Just an idea.
Den of Iniquity
>I've seen the growing list of general commands here.
I don't think I've seen anyone mention methods of addressing characters...
ie...
ask (tom) about (mouse)
tell tom about mouse
show mouse to tom
tom, show me the mouse
tom, go north
tom, what is a grue
and so on and so on. That is to say, few games nowadays recognise anything
along the lines of
say "get the mouse" to tom
say to thorin "follow me"
--
Den