My game has two main characters (let’s call them Joe and Mary) each of whom is controlled by the player at different times determined by gameplay (i.e. not by saying “switch to Joe.”) Joe and Mary can visit all the same locations, and there are different room descriptions for each of them:
[if the player is Joe]This is Joe's description of the Dining Room He loves the wallpaper.[otherwise]This is Mary's description of the Dining Room. She hates the wallpaper"
There are times when I want the room description to say something other than one of the characters’ preset descriptions. In this case, the player is Mary:
[if unvisited]This is the part where I describe that Mary didn't make it to the phone before the answering machine picked it up.[end if][if the player is Joe]This is Joe's description of the Dining Room. He loves the wallpaper.[end if] [if the player is Mary]This is Mary's description of the Dining Room. She hates the wallpaper."
But, of course, that’s going to give me this the first time the player goes into the dining room:
This is the part where I describe that Mary didn’t make it to the phone before the answering machine picked it up. This is Mary’s description of the Dining Room. She hates the wallpaper
What I’d really like is for the player to see This is the part where I describe that Mary didn't make it to the phone before the answering machine picked it up. by itself the first time they enter the dining room and then get This is Mary’s description of the Dining Room. She hates the wallpaper on subsequent visits and look actions.
Am I going about this all wrong? I’ve been having a really hard time with structures like
After examining the desk for the first time, say "(Your employers were able to tell you to look for it, but not which drawer to look in. Typical.)"
from example 83 - I get all manner of error messages for "After [actioning] the [thing]" constructions.
I hope this wasn’t too confusing. Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.