In a few parser games that I’ve played recently, I’ve noticed that several of them offer a >VERBS command.
I’ve been working on an extension that produces an automatic, comprehensive explanation of verbs enabled in a game. Some example output from a minimal game using default verbs only:
>VERBS
This game knows 163 different verb words. They are: adjust, answer, ask, attach, attack, awake, awaken, break, brief, burn, buy, carry, check, chop, clean, clear, climb, close, consult, cover, crack, cross, cut, describe, destroy, discard, display, disrobe, doff, don, drag, drink, drop, dust, eat, embrace, enter, examine, exit, fasten, feed, feel, fight, get, give, go, hear, hit, hold, hop, hug, i, insert, inv, inventory, jump, kill, kiss, l, leave, light, listen, lock, long, look, move, murder, nap, no, normal, notify, nouns, offer, open, out, pay, pick, polish, present, press, pronouns, prune, pull, punch, purchase, push, put, q, quit, read, remove, restart, restore, rotate, rub, run, save, say, scale, score, screw, script, scrub, search, set, shed, shift, shine, short, shout, show, shut, sip, sit, skip, sleep, slice, smash, smell, sniff, sorry, speak, squash, squeeze, stand, superbrief, swallow, sweep, swing, switch, syntax, take, taste, tell, think, throw, thump, tie, torture, touch, transcript, turn, twist, uncover, unlock, unscrew, unwrap, verbose, verbs, verify, version, wait, wake, walk, watch, wave, wear, wipe, wreck, x, y, yes and z.
For more information on a particular verb, try the SYNTAX command, e.g. >SYNTAX UNSCREW.
>SYNTAX UNSCREW
Here are the ways this game knows to use the verb "unscrew":
unscrew [something] (in the sense of "turning")
unscrew [something] on (in the sense of "switching on")
unscrew on [something] (in the sense of "switching on")
unscrew [something] off (in the sense of "switching off")
unscrew off [something] (in the sense of "switching off")
The following verbs can all be used as synonyms of "unscrew": rotate screw turn twist
There’s no configuration required; you just have to add the extension.
If you think you’d like to try it out, let me know, and I’ll send a copy by PM.
EDIT: There’s now a recognition of verbless grammars. When they are present, the >VERBS command adds:
In addition, this game allows some commands that do not use any verb word at all. To see a list of these, try >SYNTAX VERBLESS.
Here’s an example of what you would get by adding Understand "[thing]" as examining. to your project:
>SYNTAX VERBLESS
Here are the ways this game knows to interpret commands without verb words:
[an applicable thing] (in the sense of "examining")
In addition, there’s now a new command to list all the grammars that allow a particular action:
>COMMANDS FOR EXAMINING
Commands that are interpreted to mean "examining" include:
check [something]
describe [something]
examine [something]
l [something]
l at [something]
look [something]
look at [something]
[an applicable thing] (no verb word required)
read [something]
watch [something]
x [something]
