I noticed in the documentation that there are examples which use the line Scene begins when the time since scene ended is x minutes. Is there a way to do this but using turns instead of minutes? I’ve tried the lines:
Scene begins when the turns since scene ended is x.
Scene begins when the turns since scene ended is x turns.
Scene begins when the time since scene ended is x turns.Is there something I’m missing or is using turns to start scenes just not possible?
“ends” and “begins” is the other way around, e.g.,
Sulky Ramble ends when the time since Sulky Ramble began is 2 minutes.
More turn-count-centric scene control is something I’ve wanted, too. There isn’t direct built-in support, but it’s not hard to implement. Here are some relevant bits from a not-yet-released extension of mine:
A scene has a number called the turn-started.
When a scene (called the occurrence) begins: now the turn-started of the occurrence is the turn count.
To decide what number is the number of turns since (S - a scene) began/started:
decide on the turn count minus the turn-started of S.
To decide if we conclude the/a/an/-- (N - a number) turn since (S - a scene) began/started:
decide on whether or not the number of turns since S began is N plus 1.
[ and then... ]
Train stop is a scene.
Train stop begins when the current action is jumping.
Train stop ends when we conclude the 3rd turn since Train stop began.
When train stop ends: say "It's over!"
test me with "scenes / jump / z / z / z".
These are synonymous:
End of Days ends when we conclude the 2nd turn since End of Days began.
End of Days ends when the number of turns since End of Days began is 3.
I find the meaning of the first more intuitive, so I’d stick to that.
Out of world actions don’t increment the turn count, but taking inventory or examining yourself does. If the context is giving the player just X turns to do something, they might be unpleasantly surprised to find that things they didn’t expect to use up time did.
Thank you very much for this. I’m kind of surprised this isn’t built in but I’m glad there is a way to do it. I’m using this to stagger a recurring scene, so that it starts 2 turns after it ends if the player stays in the same room, so this should work perfectly.
By default, one turn equals one minute (and changing that relationship is not quite trivial), so in that sense it sort of is built in.
And probably also worth pointing out: with the Variable Time Control extension, basing things on time becomes a much more flexible approach.