Another rules order query

Authoring Inform 7
1

I’m setting up my own ‘throw’ mechanics.

I’m starting off with the command ‘throw [noun]’ only, so we’re not even up to throwing things at other things yet.

I have lately been starting to get the hang of ordering things in check and instead rulebooks so that they do what I want, but I can’t get this example to do what I want.

Here I set up ‘throw [noun]’

[code]Understand the command “throw” as something new.

Understand "throw [something preferably held]"as throwing without target.

Throwing without target is an action applying to one thing.

Check throwing without target anyone: instead say “A funny but [nonsense] idea.” [block stuff like ‘throw jane’]

Check throwing without target something worn: instead say “No way, clothes thrower!” [block stuff like ‘throw panties’]

Instead of throwing without target something not carried by the player: say “You can’t throw something you aren’t carrying.” [block throwing things you aren’t carrying][/code]

The trick is, if I try to throw a person, the ‘not carried by the player’ message always fires over the ‘anyone’ message, when I want it to be the other way around. If I throw Jane, I wanna see ‘A funny but dumb idea.’, not ‘You can’t throw something you aren’t carrying.’

I’ve tried swapping the ‘anyone’ and ‘throwing something not carried’ rules between check and instead rulesbooks, listed them in different orders and also tried changing ‘something preferably held’ to just plain old ‘something’ in the original command definition, but I can’t get what I want to happen.

Any insights?

2

I typically avoid this kind of problem by putting all of my conditions in one check rule – something like this:

Check throwing without target: if the noun is a person: say "But you're not a pro wrestler." instead; otherwise if the player wears the noun: say "That would leave you feeling under-dressed." instead; otherwise if the player does not carry the noun: say "But you're not holding [the noun]." instead; otherwise: [etc.]
This lets me order the responses in the way that seems most natural to me.

3

The Standard Rules way to do it is name all the rules and then explicitly specify the order. You can do that by listing them in reverse order and making each one “last,” or you can do it by making each one “before” or “after” another.

4

All instead rules run before all check rules, and Jane is certainly a Thing that the player isn’t carrying. I personally would use Check for all three rules, writing them down in the order I want. But if the something-uncarried-by condition is considered more specific than the anyone condition, then you’ll need to move the conditions inside their rule so all the rules have equal precedence, and so, will be ordered in the order you’ve written them.

Check throwing without target: if the noun is someone, instead say "A funny but [nonsense] idea."

Check throwing without target: if the noun is something worn, instead say "No way, clothes thrower!" 

Check throwing without target: if the noun is something not carried by the player, instead say "You can't throw something you aren't carrying."
5

Ok, so it appears in my case the ‘something-uncarried-by’ condition is more specific, and therefore fires first ahead of less specific conditions when I list these rules separately.

I didn’t know about this behaviour til I read the other ‘rules order’ topic that appeared today, and it’s only now that I understand what it actually means, so well done everyone.