I have a DJ desk in my game, I want there to be a box of records underneath the dek. I don’t want the box of records to be hidden, just for the text to return the decription 'under the DJ desk is…and then list whatever is underneath there.The DJ desk is already a supporter with things on top of it. I have installed Underside and created the underside of the desk, but anythign in there is hidden.
Simple solution is ‘the floor under the DJ desk is a supporter’…
@necrodeath, my question is: Is the requirement to have objects be fully modelled as being underneath other things going to come up a lot (or at least more than once) in this game?
See, my own instinct with this one, before I add an extension modelling underneath-ness for the whole game, is to just make the initial description of the box of records be ‘Under the DJ desk is a box of records.’ and plonk them in the room. I’d definitely do it this way if I wasn’t going to bother allowing the player to put them back under the desk.
I’d then have to write a few instead rules to cover looking under the desk when the records are there, and blocking trying to put records (or other things) under the desk. And the records’ description would have to change when they’re pulled out.
I just share this as an example where tweaking the basics can sometimes cover a one-off situation that may not have to be modelled. Of course, adding an extension gets you proper object modelling and is then useable throughout the game. And maybe you want it modelled anyway.
-Wade
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An even more pertinent question perhaps, standing back from this ‘problem’- why do the records even need to be under the desk, if they’re not concealed there?. What difference would it make if they were anywhere else?
If the records were near the desk, suddenly both the concept of ‘under the desk’ and all your problems of implementation evaporate…
Often helpful to remind yourself It’s a story, not a simulation, before writing a mountain of implementation or installing an extension…
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PS, if you want to stick with the modelling approach using Underside, does it help to make the desk transparent? Supporters don’t usually have the transparent property, but you can make it so:
A supporter can be transparent. The DJ desk is transparent.
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Thanks both, and sorry for all the typos in my original post!
I was overthinking this, I’ll put the box of records in the room and do the rest with room description smoke and mirrors.
As a late clarification for anyone stumbling over this thread seeking solutions to the same problem, having glanced at the ‘Underside’ extension, it models access and visibility to spaces under things by making them opaque incorporated containers that are either open (contents visible and in scope) or closed (contents invisible and out of scope).
So, making the thing the ‘space under’ is part of (in this case the DJ desk) transparent will make no difference. Making the actual ‘space under’ itself transparent will make the contents visible but inaccessible. ‘Spaces under’ start closed by default, so the contents are invisible and inaccessible. To achieve what was needed in this post, the object representing the ‘space under’ simply needs to be made open.