Alternate syntax: shoot something with raygun vs shoot raygun at something

Authoring Inform 7
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I’m trying to cover my bases by considering that the player may word things in a different way than what I have intended.

“shoot mercenary with raygun” works fine.
“fire raygun at mercenary” does not.

I’m pretty sure I know what’s WRONG here… It’s got to be that “shooting the raygun at something” isn’t recognized as “shooting it at” and “shooting the noun with the raygun” isn’t recognized as “shooting it with.” Maybe?

That said, what’s the right way to word this?


Shooting it with is an action applying to two things.
Understand "shoot [something] with [something preferably held]" as shooting it with.
Understand the commands "blast" or "zap" or "fire" as "shoot".

Shooting it at is an action applying to two things.
Understand "shoot [something preferably held] at [something]" as shooting it at.

Instead of shooting the raygun at something:
	try shooting the noun with the raygun instead.
	
Instead of shooting the laser rifle at something:
	try shooting the noun with the laser rifle instead.```
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Understand "shoot [something held] at [something]" as shooting it with (with nouns reversed).
The phrase “(with nouns reversed)” is documented Here, in the chapter on understanding.

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Thanks for the tip!!!