Room description before & after title? [RESOLVED]

[Happitec]

I’m working on a game in the Inform 7 editor. When I click “Go,” everything compiles fine, and the game starts in the “Game” window, but it gives the opening room description twice – first thing, then after the title. Looks something like this:

Dirt Road
You can go west from here.

Attack of the Killer Dirt
An Interactive Fiction by Happitec
Release 1 / Serial number xxxxxx / Inform 7 build 6G60, etc.

Dirt Road
You can go west from here.

Is this a fairly common issue? If so, what is usually the cause, and how is it resolved?

I’d prefer not to paste my code here if I can avoid doing so. Thanks!

[MTW (Marshal Tenner Winter)]

@Happitec

I’m working on a game in the Inform 7 editor. When I click “Go,” everything compiles fine, and the game starts in the “Game” window, but it gives the opening room description twice – first thing, then after the title. Looks something like this:

Dirt Road
You can go west from here.

Attack of the Killer Dirt
An Interactive Fiction by Happitec
Release 1 / Serial number xxxxxx / Inform 7 build 6G60, etc.

Dirt Road
You can go west from here.

Is this a fairly common issue? If so, what is usually the cause, and how is it resolved?

I’d prefer not to paste my code here if I can avoid doing so. Thanks!

Pasting the code is your best bet for us to pinpoint the problem.

[Juhana]

The most likely reason is that you have code something to this effect:

When play begins: move the player to Dirt Road.
Moving the player manually will also print the room description. If you want to set the starting room you should have just “The player is in the Dirt Road.”

[jacksonmead]

@Juhana

The most likely reason is that you have code something to this effect:

When play begins: move the player to Dirt Road.
Moving the player manually will also print the room description. If you want to set the starting room you should have just “The player is in the Dirt Road.”

Or, if possible, have the dirt road be the first room you define, and the player will automatically start there, right? (It’s been too long since I’ve done anything in Inform, so please forgive if I’m missing something.)

-Kevin

[Kawa]

@jacksonmead

Or, if possible, have the dirt road be the first room you define, and the player will automatically start there, right?

That’s actually true.

[zarf (Andrew Plotkin)]

You can also say “move the player to the Dirt Road, without printing a room description.” The above solutions are easier for start-of-game, though.

[xxiggy]

“Surreptitiously move the player to the Dirt Road” also does the move silently, but I’m not sure what other effects it has if any.

[zarf (Andrew Plotkin)]

The “surreptitiously” phrases are undocumented internal tools. Don’t use them unless you’re rewriting the low-level “going” rules in the standard library.

If you use it like this, backdrops and light may be screwed up for the player.

[Kawa]

I wonder if the use of such a difficult word is meant to discourage its use…

[Happitec]

@Juhana

The most likely reason is that you have code something to this effect:

When play begins: move the player to Dirt Road.
Moving the player manually will also print the room description. If you want to set the starting room you should have just “The player is in the Dirt Road.”

Yes! You were right, and your fix worked!

Thanks everyone, for the quick and helpful responses.