CODEWITHSUNDEEP
inform7
Prince_of_Oriel
Prince_of_Oriel

Reputation: 25

Inform 7: Something that was only supposed to happen in one place during one event is now happening every time the player inputs a command

When the player character goes into the Staffroom at the orphanage/boarding school they live at, said player has two turns before they hear the manager's footsteps coming down the hall and they are urged to hide. I've done this through use of number variables. At this point I have another number variable (set up like a true/false thingy by only using 0 and 1) to govern whether or not trying to do anything except 'hiding' or 'hiding wrongly' gives the response 'There's no time for that, just hide!'. The problem is this: Whenever I start the game, ANY ACTION is rejected and met by 'There's no time for that, just hide!'.

Code:

NOTSITS is a number variable.

When play begins:
    now NOTSITS is 0.

Every turn when the location is the Staffroom:
    increase NOTSITS by 1.

Every turn when the location is the Staffroom:
    if NOTSITS is 2:
        now HYF is 1;
        say "From the hall outside, you hear footsteps... Shit, that sounds like Rodger![paragraph break]HIDE!".

HYF is a number variable.

When play begins:
    now HYF is 0.

Every turn :
    if HYF is 1:
        instead of doing anything other than hiding or hiding wrongly:
            say "There's no time for that, just hide!".

Hiding is an action applying to nothing.
Understand "hide" as hiding.
Hiding wrongly is an action applying to one thing.
Understand "hide in [something]" as hiding wrongly.
Instead of hiding:
    try entering the empty cupboard;
    now HYF is 0.
Instead of hiding wrongly, say "Don't waste time with stupidity, just hide!"

Please don't suggest using Inform 7's own time system to solve this. I tried that and it was a far bigger shizztorm of problems than this has been.

Upvotes: 0

Views: 559

Answers (2)

18zehn
18zehn

Reputation: 182

You can specify an action and its time of appearance after entering a room:

After going to Staffroom for the first time:
     manager comes in three turns from now.

At the time when manager comes:
     YOUR STUFF

Upvotes: 1

curiousdannii
curiousdannii

Reputation: 2010

I think the problem is that you're relying too much on every turn rules, but they run after the actions have all been processed, so it's too late for them to do what you want them too. I also defined hiding as a synonym for entering, because that action already exists, and it's what you want to happen. So try this instead:

First turn is a truth state variable. First turn is true.

The staffroom is a room.
In the staffroom is an enterable container called the empty cupboard.

Understand "hide" as entering.
Carry out entering when first turn is true:
    now first turn is false;

Understand "hide in [something]" as a mistake ("Don't waste time with stupidity, just hide!").

Instead of doing something other than looking or entering when first turn is true:
    say "There's no time for that, just hide!";

(Also in the future it will help if you provide the full source code, or at least all that's relevant. This time you left out the staffroom and cupboard.)

Upvotes: 1

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