Adding a short delay to an adventure created in inform7

Authoring Inform 7
1

Is there any way of adding a short delay to an adventure that is created with inform7?

One example would be.

Check Read Paper:
If player is carrying a sheet of paper begin;
say “now where did I put my glasses.”;
Delay 3 seconds;
say “here they are…the sheet of paper say here is a clue, try digging in the garden.”;
End if.

I was thinking that one of the inform7’s add on’s might have a delay command in it.

Regards Brian

2

You can do it with the Real-Time Delays extension.

I would strongly suggest to reconsider, though. Timed delays are one of the most annoying features in IF: it works only if you could match the delay exactly to the reading speed of the player. Otherwise the new text jolts the previous one up while the player is still reading it, or if the player has already finished reading there’s a momentary confusion what they should do to advance the game.

3

Perhaps you could try a similar effect with the built-in extension ‘Basic Screen Effects’. Among other things it lets you pause the game until the player presses some key.

Include Basic Screen Effects by Emily Short. […] Before going south in the Place: say "Nope."; wait for any key; say "Only kidding :-D Here we go ..."

4

I have to agree with Felix here. This method enables you as a programmer to “pause the action,” but also allows the player to continue the game whenever they want to just by pressing a key. I highly recommend it!

Cheers,

5

If I include the real-time delays extension in my adventure then how do I know how to use the delay option in the source code of the text adventure?

6

You would read the extension’s documentation which would tell you how to use it.