Overriding existing commands vs New action

While I’m okay with an action called “waiting-for-minutes”, I’m not sure why this doesn’t work.

[code]Understand the command “wait” as something new. Understand “wait for [number] minutes” and “wait for [number] mins” and "wait for "and “wait for [number]” as waiting.

Waiting is an action applying to one number.

Carry out waiting:
increase the time of day by number understood minutes;
say “[number understood] minute[s] passed uneventfully.”[/code]

Inform replies that waiting is “seems to be an action already existing, so it cannot be redefined now”, but that’s the purpose of overriding a command, isn’t it?

You can think of commands as having two parts. One part is the grammar of the command, which is defined by the “understand” rubric. The other part is the action proper, which in this case is called “waiting”. So, when you declare that “wait” should be understood as something new, you are redefining only the grammar, not the waiting action itself.

Now, actions cannot be redefined, so you will need to define your own action. For example:

[code]Understand “wait for [number] minutes” and “wait for [number] mins” and "wait for "and “wait for [number]” as waiting for.

Waiting for is an action applying to one number.

Carry out waiting:
increase the time of day by number understood minutes.

Report waiting for:
say “[number understood] minute[s] passed uneventfully.”

Instead of waiting for 5:
say “That’s the magic number! You are whisked off to fairy land.” [/code]

I’d recommend that you not redefine the grammar for “wait” alongside this new action; let it stand as shorthand for “wait 1 minute”. (Experienced players are more likely to type “z” anyway, so if you do redefine the “wait” grammar, be sure to redefine “z” in the same way.)

–Erik

That makes sense. Thank you.