[I7] 7.8. Rules applying to more than one action

Authoring Inform 7
1

I think I’m being dense, ha ha. Hopefully someone can simplify this for me.

I want to trigger some code if the player does anything other than looking at a specific thing (not looking in general) or waiting. 7.8. in the I7 document seems to talk specifically about this, but I don’t understand it.

Thanks for reading.

2

You may be encountering the problem that section mentions about how the actions need to be compatible. Specifically:

Instead of looking or waiting:

is fine as is

Instead of examining or searching the desk:

But you can’t mix an action that applies to a particular noun and one that doesn’t, so

Instead of looking or examining the desk:

won’t compile.

I think I have this working:

[code]
Monastery is a room. “Strictly for contemplating the icon.” The icon is in Monastery. The magazine is in Monastery.

Instead of doing anything other than waiting or examining or looking: say “Don’t get distracted!”

Instead of examining when the noun is not the icon: say “Don’t get distracted!”[/code]

though this is less than ideal because the message is in two places so if you edit it one place you need to edit it the other. You could work around this by using a text substitution or other phrase – like if you say “instead of blah blah: release the hounds” and write a phrase “To release the hounds: do this stuff” then you don’t need to worry about keeping them in sync.

Also note that looking is a permissible action, because otherwise it won’t print the room description at the beginning of the game. If you want to exclude looking after the first time you might have to do something a bit more complicated.

3

That works perfectly, thanks very much for the help! If you get time to write a complete I7 documentation in that easy to understand format, it would be much appreciated. Seriously though, many thanks.