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Wrap
Text File
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1988-05-29
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239KB
|
5,912 lines
THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT
By
David R. Malmberg
and
Mark J. Welch
Distributed by
Softworks
43064 Via Moraga
Mission San Jose, California
94539
(415) 659-0533
The Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT), including all source code, object code, and
manuals on paper or on disk, is copyright 1987 and 1988 by Mark J. Welch and
David R. Malmberg. Portions originally copyright 1985 and 1986 by Mark J.
Welch.
COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARKS AND WARRANTY
COPYRIGHT:
The Adventure Game Toolkit is a copyrighted work, just like a book. It
is protected by United States copyright law and by applicable international
treaty provisions. All text, program, and source code files on disk(s) are
copyright 1987 and 1988 by Mark J. Welch and David R. Malmberg. Portions of
the manual and source code are copyright 1985 and 1986 by Mark J. Welch.
TRADEMARKS:
"Adventure Game Toolkit" and "AGT" are trademarks of Mark J. Welch and
David R. Malmberg.
WARRANTY:
The program disk(s) and printed manual are warranted to be free from
defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 90 days from the date of
purchase. In the event of a defect, registered users of AGT may obtain a
replacement copy of the program disk(s) and/or manual from Softworks. The
remedy for any breach of warranty shall be limited to replacement or refund
and shall not encompass any other damages, including but not limited to loss
of profit, special, incidental, consequential, or other similar claims.
DISCLAIMER:
THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT (AGT) COMES WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY
KIND, INCLUDING WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY OR OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
PURPOSE. THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT (AGT) IS AVAILABLE AS IS. IN NO EVENT
WILL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR
INCIDENTAL AND CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF THE AUTHORS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
i
LICENSE TERMS (Shareware Rules)
The Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) is NOT public domain or free software,
but is being distributed as "Shareware". This means that if you are a regular
user of AGT, you should pay for your copy and become a registered user. Only
from the income from your registration fees can the authors continue to
provide product support, make enhancements to AGT, and stay in business.
Non-registered users of this software are granted a limited license to
make an evaluation copy for trial use on a private non-commercial basis, for
the express purpose of determining whether AGT is suitable for their needs.
At the end of this trial period, the user should either register his/her copy
of AGT or discontinue using it.
Registered users of AGT may use AGT on any computer, provided that AGT is
used on only one computer at a time, and that the copy is not routinely used
on that computer by other people. If other people use the copy of AGT
routinely, they should become registered users themselves. Registered AGT
users may make archival and working copies of the AGT program disk(s) to back
up their software and protect their investment. They may also make evaluation
copies of AGT for trial use by non-registered users, subject to the terms
outlined above.
Operators of electronic bulletin boards (Sysops) are encouraged to post
the Adventure Game Toolkit and related Adventure Game files for downloading
by their users. However, if these bulletin boards also offer AGT-based games
for "On-Line" or "Doors" play, these Sysops should register their copy of AGT
because they are using AGT on a routine basis. Such registration will entitle
these Sysops to receive a version of AGT especially tailored for use on
bulletin boards, plus copies of all of the latest AGT games.
This license to use AGT does NOT include the right to distribute or sell
AGT. Distribution terms are detailed below.
AGT may be uploaded to and downloaded from commercial systems such as
CompuServe, the Source, and BIX, so long as the only charge paid by the
subscriber is for on-line time and there is no charge for the program. Those
copying, sharing, and/or electronically transmitting the program are required
not to delete or modify the copyright notice and restrictive notices from the
program or documentation; anyone doing so will be treated as a contributory
copyright violator.
The Adventure Game Toolkit documentation may not be modified by users.
The program may not be separated from the documentation when distributed.
Printed or "Xeroxed" copies of the AGT documentation (i.e., this manual) may
not be distributed or sold without the written permission of Softworks.
Distribution of AGT by game authors:
Authors of AGT games may distribute the AGT "driver" program, RUN.EXE,
with their games for the purpose of playing games written using the Adventure
Game Toolkit. If the game will be widely distributed, we ask that you request
written permission and send us a copy of your game so we can notify you of
updates or changes to AGT, especially changes that may affect your game. If
your game will be commercially distributed, you must obtain a written license
to distribute RUN.EXE; there is a one-time fee of $10 for this license for
commercial distribution.
Distribution of AGT by disk vendors and computer dealers:
Distributors of "public domain" or user-supported software libraries must
obtain written permission to distribute copies of AGT and related adventure
game files. No one may use AGT as a promotion for any commercial venture or
ii
as an enticement for the user to pay for any program, product, or service
unless they have received the express written permission of the program's
authors.
In order to distribute AGT, a dealer or disk vendor must comply with the
following conditions:
(1) You must obtain written permission from Softworks to distribute AGT.
If you receive no reply, write again: our silence does NOT constitute
permission, and you may not distribute "pending" receipt of permission.
(2) A fee of not more than $7 may be charged for each disk sold. This
includes "multi-disk" volumes: AGT may not be included on any disk sold for
more than $7, including CD-ROM or optical disks, without express written
permission from Softworks.
(3) Vendors may not modify or delete ANY files on the disk. Vendors may
add a "GO" program, and/or a reasonable number of small text files designed to
assist or provide a service to the user, but these added files must be easily
identifiable and end-users must be allowed to delete the added files.
(4) Vendors must make a reasonable effort to distribute only the most
recent versions of AGT. All vendors who have requested and received written
permission to distribute AGT will be notified of updates as they are
released.
(5) All disk vendors must comply with any and all vendor guidelines or
vendor requirements set forth by the Association of Shareware Professionals
(ASP); for more information about ASP, contact its chairman, Jim Button, at
Buttonware in Seattle. Violation of any ASP guideline or requirement
automatically revokes permission to distribute AGT.
Until formal requirements are adopted by the ASP, you must comply with
the following guidelines: Vendors must make an attempt to educate users on the
nature of Shareware. Catalogs, advertisements, order forms, and all disks
sold should contain ASP-approved or recommended wording describing the nature
of shareware, and should explicitly state that no part of disk sale revenues
are paid to the programs' authors. Vendors may not advertise under the
heading "Public Domain Software", "Free Software," or the equivalent. When
vendor catalogs or advertisements carry both Shareware and PD programs, the
Shareware programs must be differentiated from the public domain programs in
some way (in the description, with an asterisk, by listing the registration
fee, etc.).
iii
ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT (AGT) REGISTRATION/ORDER FORM
Remit to:
Softworks
43064 Via Moraga
Mission San Jose, California 94539
You can also order by phone using your Mastercard or VISA by dialing
(415) 659-0533, 12:00 Noon to 9:00 PM., PST ONLY, Monday to Friday.
___ AGT Registration ................................. @ $ 20.00 ea $ ______
includes: (1) Notice of all future AGT upgrades, new AGT Adventures
and related AGT products. (2) Latest version of the program, sample
Adventure game source files (CAVE, CRUSADE, UNDERGND, ALICE and
others), and summary documentation on disk. Over one megabyte of
program and data files -- ARCed on two disks. Normally, these disks
will not be sent until the next AGT upgrade. If you wish these disks
sent immediately, put a check mark here -------------------------> ______
(3) Telephone support from 7:00 to 9:00 PST (M-F). (4) A warm glow
from having supported at least one of the many Shareware products
you probably use. (5) The AGT authors' eternal gratitude.
___ Above with printed AGT manual .................... @ $ 35.00 ea $ ______
includes: Above items plus printed manual about 150 pages long with
numerous detailed examples on how to use the Adventure Game Toolkit
to create very professional and very clever Adventure games.
The printed AGT manual has approximately 150% the amount of
information as contained in the summary disk documentation.
___ Printed AGT manual (Only) ........................ @ $ 20.00 ea $ ______
___ UPGRADE to the newest AGT version (Only) ......... @ $ 12.00 ea $ ______
includes: Latest version of the program, sample Adventure game
source files (CAVE, CRUSADE, UNDERGND, ALICE and others), and
summary documentation on disk. Over one megabyte of program and
data files -- ARCed on two disks.
___ AGT Turbo Pascal 4.0 source code ................. @ $ 50.00 ea $ ______
includes: Turbo Pascal 4.0 source code for AGT's COMPILE and RUN
programs. Over 10,000 lines of Turbo Pascal source code. YOU
MUST BE A REGISTERED AGT USER TO ORDER THE SOURCE CODE!
Orders are normally shipped by US mail at no additional charge.
For UPS shipment, please add $3.00..................@ $ 3.00 ea $ ______
For shipments outside the United States, please add @ $ 5.00 ea $ ______
Subtotal ______
(California residents please add 7% sales tax) Tax ______
Total $ ______
Payment by: ( ) Check ( ) MasterCard ( ) VISA ( ) Cash
iv
ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT (AGT) REGISTRATION/ORDER FORM -- PAGE 2
Name: ____________________________________________________________
Company: ____________________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________________
: ____________________________________________________________
State: ___________________________ Zip:____________________________
Day Phone: _________________________ Eve: ___________________________
Card #: _________________________________ Exp. Date: _______________
Signature of cardholder: ____________________________________________
------------------------ User comments ------------------------------
I acquired the Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) from
[ ] - Friend [ ] - Disk Vendor
[ ] - Computer Club [ ] - Computer Store
[ ] - CompuServe [ ] - BIX
[ ] - GEnie [ ] - The Source
[ ] - Electronic Bulletin Board
[ ] - Other - Please Specify ________________________________
We would also appreciate any input you would care to give concerning
AGT. If you have any ideas or comments that would make AGT a better
system, then please let us know.
We value your comments and/or suggestions:
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________
v
ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT PRODUCT/TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Softworks will make every reasonable effort to fix AGT bugs, and help
registered users by answering technical and other AGT related questions. This
Product/Technical support for AGT is available to registered users (only) in
several forms:
(1) By leaving a message in the 'Softworks' forum on BIX (the BYTE
Information Exchange).
(2) By telephone to David Malmberg at Softworks, Monday through Friday
from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM (Pacific Coast Time) at (415) 659-0533.
Please respect these hours!
(3) By CompuServe E-Mail to David Malmberg, CompuServe ID 73435,1277.
(4) By letter to: Softworks
43064 Via Moraga
Mission San Jose, California
94539
If you send disks or listings that you wish returned, be sure to
enclosed a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) with sufficient
postage. If you do not enclose a SASE, your material will not be
returned.
Regardless of the method you use to solicit AGT support, if you are having a
problem and you can not get AGT to do what you think it should do, please
provide background information on the following:
(1) The version of AGT you are using.
(2) The computer system you are using.
(3) Your system's configuration, i.e., amount of RAM, number and type of
disk drives, the type of monitor you are using.
(4) Any memory resident programs you have installed at the same time you
are using AGT and a "rough idea" of what they do and how much memory
they take.
(5) Your problem, i.e., what is happening vs. what you think should be
happening.
vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARKS AND WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i
LICENSE TERMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT (AGT) REGISTRATION/ORDER FORM . . . . . . . . . . . iv
ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT PRODUCT/TECHNICAL SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
PART 1: INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
FEATURES OF THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
STRUCTURE OF THIS MANUAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR AGT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
QUICK START FOR PLAYING ONE OF THE AGT GAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
FILES NEEDED TO COMPILE AN AGT ADVENTURE . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
COMPILED OR FINAL VERSION FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
SAMPLE AGT ADVENTURE GAME FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
HOW TO PLAY THE ADVENTURE GAME(S) PROVIDED WITH AGT . . . . . . . . . 7
VOCABULARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
STANDARD LEVEL VERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
SOME GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
ABBREVIATIONS AND FUNCTION KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
SPECIAL WORDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
NOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
NOISE WORDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
PART 2: HOW TO WRITE AN ADVENTURE GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
INTRODUCTION: WHY SHOULD I WRITE MY OWN ADVENTURE GAME? . . . . . . 13
HOW AN AGT ADVENTURE GAME WORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
AN OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
STANDARD LEVEL GAME FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
TITLE FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
SETTING SCREEN COLORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
INSTRUCTIONS FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
THE WORK-HORSE .DAT FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
ROOMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
HELP MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
NOUNS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
MULTIPLE NOUNS WITH THE SAME NAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
PUSH, PULL, TURN, AND PLAY DESCRIPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
EATING, DRINKING, AND DYING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
WEIGHT AND SIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
LIGHT AND DARKNESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
CREATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
GROUPS OF CREATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
SPECIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
"SPECIAL" SPECIALS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
CREATING A TYPICAL ROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
SCORING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
OTHER DATA ITEMS IN THE .DAT FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
INTRODUCTION or INTRO TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
vii
STARTING ROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
TREASURE ROOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
VERB SYNONYMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
WARNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
GAME_WIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
GAME_END . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
PAGE PAUSES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
ORDER OF DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
HOW TO INCLUDE COMMENTS IN YOUR AGT DATA FILES . . . . . . . . . . . 34
CREATING YOUR SOURCE DATA FILES WITH WORD PROCESSORS . . . . . . . . 35
PART 3: USING META-COMMANDS IN PROFESSIONAL LEVEL ADVENTURE GAMES . . . . 36
CUSTOM USER-DEFINED VERBS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
MAXIMUM_SCORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
.MSG -- MESSAGE FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
A TYPICAL GAME TURN FOR PROFESSIONAL LEVEL GAMES . . . . . . . . . . 38
INTRODUCTION TO META-COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
THE FORMAT OF META-COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
META-COMMANDS CONDITIONAL TESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
PLAYER CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
ITEM(S) CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
NOUN CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
META-COMMANDS ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
PLAYER ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
A WORD OF WARNING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
ITEM/NOUN/LOCATION ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
MISCELLANEOUS ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
SPECIAL META-COMMAND SITUATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
FLAGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
DEBUG FLAG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
COUNTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
VARIABLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
NUMBER INPUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
OPENING AND CLOSING PASSAGEWAYS BETWEEN ROOMS . . . . . . . . . 56
META-COMMAND REDIRECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
PART 4: SAMPLE AGT META-COMMAND SCENARIOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
SCENARIO 1: "FIND" VERB ACTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
SCENARIO 2: RANDOM ACTIVITIES BY GUARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
SCENARIO 3: INTERACTION WITH CHARACTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
APPENDIX A: STANDARD LEVEL VERBS UNDERSTOOD BY AGT . . . . . . . . . . . 77
APPENDIX B: META-COMMANDS CONDITIONAL TESTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
PLAYER CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
ITEM(S) CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
NOUN CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
APPENDIX C: META-COMMANDS ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
PLAYER ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
ITEM/NOUN/LOCATION ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
MISCELLANEOUS ACTION TOKENS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
APPENDIX D: AGT ERROR MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
ERRORS DURING GAME COMPILATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
viii
ERRORS DURING RESTORING GAME . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
ERRORS DURING GAME PLAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
APPENDIX E: VALUE RANGES FOR GAME DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
APPENDIX F: ABOUT THE AUTHORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
ix
PART 1: INTRODUCTION
The Adventure Game Toolkit is designed to allow you to create and play your
own text adventure games. Once created, your adventure games can be shared
with and enjoyed by others -- even if they do not have a copy of the Adventure
Game Toolkit themselves.
The Adventure Game Toolkit (AGT) began life as a program by Mark Welch called
the Generic Adventure Game System (GAGS). Using GAGS it was possible for the
non-programmer to develop complete adventure games using a fixed (but
relatively large) vocabulary of action verbs. David Malmberg took GAGS and
made a number of enhancements including the ability to customize the
vocabulary and to program complex conditional tests and a rich assortment of
actions and messages using a special meta-language (designed specifically for
adventure games). The current Adventure Game Toolkit combines the best
features of both approaches to enable the user to create two distinct levels
of adventure games:
(1) Standard Level games that require no programming experience
(honestly!), only a fertile imagination. These Standard Level games
follow the original GAGS format and only require that the user
generate the game using a word processor or text editor to describe
the various locations, objects and results of actions that
collectively make up the game.
(2) Professional Level games that also make use of the special adventure
game meta-language to create games as complex and rich as the game
designer's imagination and prose style will allow. These games
should be technically comparable with the published text adventure
games from firms like Infocom.
FEATURES OF THE ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT
AGT has a number of features that make it a very comprehensive adventure
product. These features make AGT more powerful, more professional and easier
to use than any previously available Adventure Game development system. Some
of these key features are:
POWERFUL
* Big, complex games with up to 200 locations, 100 inanimate
objects (e.g., treasures, swords, lakes, trees, books, etc.) and
100 animate objects (e.g., people, animals or creatures).
* Large standard vocabulary with potential to define many more
words unique to a specific adventure. Typical games can have a
vocabulary of 400 words or more.
* Sophisticated parser that can understand (1) complex input
commands including pronouns (IT, HIM, HER, THEM, MY and ITS),
and (2) compound commands separated by AND or THEN or
punctuation symbols, and (3) commands addressed to characters
within the game. Here are a few examples of commands AGT can
handle with ease:
1
GET THE FLASH LIGHT AND THEN SWITCH IT ON
DROP THE FOOD, THE KEY AND THE BOTTLE THEN UNLOCK THE DOOR
WITH THE BRASS KEY AND THEN LEAVE
PUT ON THE CLOAK, THEN EXAMINE IT; READ ITS LABEL
PLACE THE GREEN ROCK AND THE SMALL PEBBLE BEHIND THE TREE
ENTER THE HOUSE; GET ALL; EXIT; SOUTH; SOUTH THEN DOWN
SULU, SET A COURSE FOR ALPHA 14
SCOTTY, BEAM DOWN A TRICORDER AND THE QWERTY MODULE
* Special, English-like meta-language (especially developed for
writing Adventure games) that gives the game designer total
control and flexibility in the development of his/her games.
* Source code available to Registered Users. Over 10,000 lines of
Turbo Pascal 4.0 that may be customized to fit the game
designer's unique needs.
PROFESSIONAL
* "Look and feel" of Infocom adventure games with similar screen
layout and standard vocabulary and routines.
* Automatic screen adaptation to use either a color or a
monochrome monitor. Color combinations may be specified by the
game designer or by the player during the game.
* Predefined function and cursor keys to input frequently used
commands and move directions.
* SCRIPT and UNSCRIPT commands to echo game output to printer.
EASY-TO-USE
* Large library of completed games that can be enjoyed simply as
great entertainment or used as a platform by the game designer
to build upon and/or learn from.
* Professionally written documentation totalling about 150 pages.
Has numerous examples that unveil the "secrets" of great
adventure writers.
* Total compatibility with GAGS.
STRUCTURE OF THIS MANUAL
PART 1 (the section you are reading) gives an overview of the Adventure Game
Toolkit, the various files on the disk(s), and explains how to play the
adventure games created by the AGT.
PART 2 gives a number of pointers on how to create a good adventure game. It
also explains the way AGT defines an adventure game in terms of files and game
data elements like Rooms, Nouns, and Creatures and gives several examples of
each.
PART 3 explains the use of AGT's unique meta-language and how it can be used
to create Professional Level adventure games. Numerous examples are given.
2
PART 4 presents several detailed scenarios where meta-language commands have
been used to create typical adventure games situations, like: (1) random
attacks by a villain, (2) how to expand the game's vocabulary to include new
verbs and actions, and (3) how to allow for interaction between the player and
various characters in the game.
The final part of the manual is a series of Appendices that give detailed
information on a number of specific AGT topics for easy reference.
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS FOR AGT
The games created by the Adventure Game Toolkit requires an IBM-compatible
computer with at least 384K of memory, MS-DOS 2.1, and at least one disk
drive. You may use any kind of monitor and AGT will automatically adjust its
output to best suit your monitor.
QUICK START FOR PLAYING ONE OF THE AGT GAMES
If you've never played an adventure game before, the best way to start to
understand how an adventure game works is to play one. Before you can do
that, however, there are a few things you should do first to protect your
disk(s) and to create the final version of the game from the source files on
the disk(s).
Let's make a playable copy of CAVE (the AGT version of the famous "Colossal
Cave" adventure game).
1. First, make a copy of the original disk(s) and put them in a safe place.
That way, if you accidentally damage the disk(s) you're playing with, you can
still re-copy the original(s). Check your DOS manual for the correct form of
the COPY or DISKCOPY command that is appropriate for your particular system.
2. If there is a file on the disk(s) called READ.ME or README.AGT, read that
file before going further. These files will have information on changes
and/or features that have been made after the documentation was created.
3. Copy the following files to a new, formatted disk:
COMPILE.EXE
CAVE.DAT
CAVE.CMD
CAVE.MSG
These are the "source" files for the CAVE adventure. Put this disk in the A:
drive and make that drive the default drive by entering "A:<RETURN>". Then
enter "COMPILE CAVE<RETURN>". AGT will then take 3 to 5 minutes to produce a
finished version of the CAVE adventure on the same disk, by creating the
following new files:
CAVE.D$$
CAVE.DA1
CAVE.DA2
CAVE.DA3
CAVE.DA5
These are the "compiled" or final files for CAVE that AGT has created.
3
4. Next, copy the following files to a new (different) formatted disk:
RUN.EXE
CAVE.TTL
CAVE.INS
CAVE.BAT
CAVE.D$$
CAVE.DA1
CAVE.DA2
CAVE.DA3
CAVE.DA5
ORDERFRM.AGT
Then type "CAVE<RETURN>" at the DOS prompt to play the finished version of the
"Colossal Cave" adventure created by AGT.
ADVENTURE GAME TOOLKIT FILES
FILES NEEDED TO COMPILE AN AGT ADVENTURE
Included on the disk(s) are numerous files. If there is a file on the disk(s)
called READ.ME or README.AGT, read that file before going further.
In order to compile or create a finished adventure from your source files, you
will need to put the following files on a new, formatted disk:
- COMPILE.EXE The file COMPILE.EXE is the AGT program that converts your
AGT "source" files into the "compiled" or final files
needed to play the adventure.
- *.DAT e.g., CRUSADE.DAT. Files with the extension (suffix) .DAT
are source data files read by the COMPILE.EXE program when
it is running.
- *.CMD e.g., CRUSADE.CMD. Each file with the extension .CMD is a
source data file containing a set of special meta-language
commands for a corresponding game in a .DAT file. The use
of a *.CMD file is unique to Professional Level adventure
games. Games that do not use these Professional Level
features (such as, the original GAGS games) would not have
a *.CMD file.
- *.MSG e.g., CRUSADE.MSG. Each file with the extension .MSG is a
source data file containing a set of special messages for a
corresponding game in a .DAT file. The use of a *.MSG file
is unique to Professional Level adventure games. Games
that do not use these Professional Level features (such as,
the original GAGS games) would not have a *.MSG file.
After these are on a new, formatted disk, you should enter the command
"COMPILE GameName", e.g., "COMPILE CRUSADE". After a few minutes, AGT will
pause and give you a message about how much space there is on your disk
compared to how much space you need for the "final" or "compiled" version
files. If you don't have enough space, the program will suggest you put in a
clean (already formatted) disk, before it writes the final files.
4
COMPILED OR FINAL VERSION FILES
After the game has been compiled, you can create a final, playable disk for
the game. This disk will have the following files:
RUN.EXE This is the program "engine" that runs your compiled
adventure game. RUN.EXE must be on the disk in order to
play any compiled, final AGT game. All of the information
that is unique to the adventure will be contained in
compiled data files, described below:
- *.BAT e.g., CRUSADE.BAT. Each file with the extension .BAT is
used to start the final version of the game, i.e., it
contains the DOS batch instruction "RUN GameName", e.g.,
"RUN CRUSADE". *.BAT files are optional.
- *.TTL e.g., CRUSADE.TTL. Each file with the extension .TTL
contains the title file for a corresponding game file.
(*.TTL files are optional)
- *.INS e.g., CRUSADE.INS. Each file with the extension .INS
contains a set of instructions for a corresponding game.
(*.INS files are optional) If the game disk contains a
*.INS file (i.e., CRUSADE.INS), the game will ask the
player "Do you wish to see the instructions?" If the
player answers with a YES or Y, the instruction file will
be displayed. If the game disk does not contain a *.INS
file, play begins normally at the starting location.
- *.D$$ e.g., CRUSADE.D$$. Each file with the extension .D$$
contains all the encrypted messages for the game. *.D$$
files are NOT optional.
- *.DA1 e.g., CRUSADE.DA1. Each file with the extension .DA1
contains general data about the game. *.DA1 files are NOT
optional.
- *.DA2 e.g., CRUSADE.DA2. Each file with the extension .DA2
contains encrypted data about the ROOMS in the game. *.DA2
files are NOT optional.
- *.DA3 e.g., CRUSADE.DA3. Each file with the extension .DA3
contains encrypted data about the NOUNS in the game. *.DA3
files are NOT optional.
- *.DA4 e.g., CRUSADE.DA4. Each file with the extension .DA4
contains encrypted data about the CREATURES in the game.
*.DA4 files are NOT optional if you have CREATURES in the
game. If there are no CREATURES, then no *.DA4 file will
be created.
- *.DA5 e.g., CRUSADE.DA5. Each file with the extension .DA5
contains encrypted meta-language commands for the game.
*.DA5 files are NOT optional if you have meta-language
commands in the game. If there are no meta-language
commands, then no *.DA5 file will be created.
5
The final or compiled files of an adventure game take up less disk space than
the source files and are encrypted. These files are not only safe from
"peeking" and "prying" eyes, but have the advantage of loading very fast.
Even the largest AGT game will load in about 15 seconds -- just long enough to
read the title screen.
SAMPLE AGT ADVENTURE GAME FILES
Included with the other AGT files are three sample adventure games that use
all the power of AGT including the special meta-language. The reader is
encouraged to study these games for examples of how AGT can be used to
accomplish a wide variety of Professional Level adventure game tasks and
tricks. These games are:
CAVE.* An AGT version of the original Crowther and Woods "Colossal
Cave" Adventure Game.
CRUSADE.* Rescue the princess from the evil Baron's dungeon.
QUEST.* Recover your magic spells and amulets from Blackwing's Pit.
In addition there are a number of Standard Level games that could have been
created totally without any programming knowledge or experience:
UNDERGND.* A game of survival after World War III. Uses all of the
tricks of the original GAGS (Standard Level) adventures.
ALICE.* An adventure using the characters from Alice In Wonderland.
This game was the winning entry in the first annual GAGS
game writing contest.
DEENA.* A woman warrior's struggle to escape from the lecherous
Gendi tribe. (R-rated)
DRAGONS.* An adventure in the Sultan's palace with side trips to his
dungeon, the torture chamber and the harem. (R-rated)
FABLE.* An allegorical quest for meaning and understanding in life.
GHOSTTWN.* Find and rescue the rancher's daughter from the mysterious
ghost town. (R-rated)
LOTTERY.* An adventure in San Francisco with emphasize on the "red
light" district. (R-rated)
CTA.* An allegorical adventure where you battle figures like
"Unbelief", "Greed" and "Lust" using such weapons as the
"Sword of the Spirit" and the "Staff of Righteousness".
LASAR.* Seek out and destroy the threats to peace and prosperity in
the Kingdom of Ellasal.
6
HOW TO PLAY THE ADVENTURE GAME(S) PROVIDED WITH AGT
VOCABULARY
The Adventure Game Toolkit creates adventure games that understand a wide
variety of commands. A typical AGT game might have a vocabulary totalling 400
words or more.
Your game's commands should generally be in the format:
<verb phrase> <(multiple) noun phrase(s)> <preposition> <noun phrase/object>
Verb phrases can consist of a simple verb like EAT, SHOOT, READ or a verb
followed by a preposition such as CLIMB UP, JUMP THROUGH, or SWIM IN. Noun
(or object) phrases can consist of a single word noun like TREE, ROCK, LAKE or
a noun and its adjective such as RED ROCK, SMALL BOWL or UGLY MUTANT. Several
nouns may be connected with AND's or commas. Articles like A, AN or THE are
optional. The personal pronouns MY and ITS are also optional. The pronouns
IT, THEM, HIM and HER may be used to refer to a previously mentioned noun.
Here are some (hypothetical) examples of valid commands:
PLACE A RED ROCK IN THE SMALL BOWL
PUT THE GREEN ROCK AND THE SMALL PEBBLE BEHIND THE OAK TREE
READ MY POETRY BOOK
SWIM IN THE SWIMMING POOL
EXAMINE THE GOLD RING, THE DWARF AND THE SILVER NECKLACE
EAT THE CELERY, THE TUNA, THE APPLE AND THE ONION
THROW THE BATTLE AXE AND THE LARGE ROCK AT THE WEREWOLF
SHOOT THE BURGLAR WITH THE REVOLVER
ATTACK HIM
("HIM" will refer to last noun mentioned, e.g., the burglar)
FIRE THE LASER PISTOL AT THE ALIEN MUTANT
GET THE BOOK (also: TAKE THE BOOK)
READ IT
("IT" will refer to last noun mentioned, e.g., the book)
GET ALL (will get everything movable at the current location)
GET THE KEYS, BOTTLE, FOOD AND THE CLOAK
EXAMINE THE KEYS, BOTTLE, FOOD AND CLOAK
PUSH THE RED BUTTON AND THE GREEN BUTTON
UNLOCK THE FILE CABINET WITH THE STEEL KEY
JUMP THROUGH THE OPENING
JUMP OVER THE LOG
NORTH
SOUTHWEST
PLACE AN AXE AND THE SHIELD NEXT TO THE BIG TREE
PUT THE FOOD ON THE KITCHEN TABLE
TURN ON THE FLASHLIGHT
LIGHT THE TORCH WITH THE WOODEN MATCHES
SCREAM AT THE UGLY TROLL
CLIMB UP THE LADDER
EXTINGUISH THE FIRE (or PUT OUT THE FIRE)
DRINK THE WHITE WINE
THROW THE FIRE WOOD IN THE STOVE
PULL THE BELL CORD
WEAR THE STUPID HAT (also: PUT ON THE STUPID HAT)
7
TAKE OFF THE HAT (also: REMOVE THE HAT)
NE (for NORTHEAST)
DROP THE KEY AND THE BOTTLE
ENTER THE CAVE
XYZZY (i.e., a "magic" word)
TURN THE DOORKNOB
PLAY WITH THE DOG
TALK TO (or TALK WITH) THE OLD MAN (ABOUT THE WEATHER)
TELL JEFF ABOUT THE SWORD
ASK JODIE ABOUT THE CRIME
Compound commands can be created by connecting single commands (like those
above) with "AND", "THEN" or the punctuation symbols "," or ";" to connect two
or more separate commands. However, "end-of-sentence" punctuation symbols
like ".", "!" and "?" should not be used. Below are a few examples of valid
compound commands:
TURN THE DOORKNOB; OPEN THE DOOR THEN ENTER THE ROOM
CLIMB DOWN THE LADDER THEN SOUTH, WEST AND NORTHWEST
GET THE CLOAK AND THEN EXAMINE IT; READ THE LABEL
DROP THE FOOD AND THE BOTTLE THEN UNLOCK THE DOOR AND THEN LEAVE
GET THE TORCH, LIGHT IT WITH THE WOODEN MATCHES THEN EXAMINE IT
AGT's parser also allows you to give commands to other characters in the game
like these:
SULU, SET A COURSE FOR ALPHA 14
SCOTTY, BEAM DOWN A TRICORDER AND THE QWERTY MODULE
HELMSMAN, RAISE THE DEFLECTOR SHIELDS
BONES, COME TO THE BRIDGE
The comma after the character's name is optional.
One point of advice about command structure is in order. Your commands should
be structured to follow the most "natural" sequence of words when two or more
sequences are possible. For example, THROW THE GOLDEN EGGS TO THE TROLL will
be understood by the AGT parser, whereas THROW TROLL THE EGGS will not be
understood -- even though it is understandable to most humans as equivalent.
Similarly, you should avoid the verb "USE", such as USE THE KEY TO UNLOCK THE
DOOR. This command should be entered simply as UNLOCK THE DOOR WITH THE KEY.
NOTE: Player's input commands will be shown in all caps throughout this
document.
STANDARD LEVEL VERBS
Standard level games have a fixed set of verbs -- although these may all be
supplemented by additional synonyms. Professional level games have all of the
standard level verbs plus they can have additional verbs that are defined
uniquely for each game. The standard level verbs and the form of their
commands are shown below:
Meanings of notation:
[required word]
{optional word}
| (means OR, i.e., alternative words)
8
Verbs that do not require nouns
===============================
N,S,E,W,NE,NW,SE,SW,U,D,
NORTH,SOUTH,EAST,WEST,NORTHEAST,NORTHWEST,SOUTHEAST,SOUTHWEST,UP,DOWN
ENTER | GO [IN | INTO]
EXIT | LEAVE (* directions *)
SCORE (* display score and status *)
QUIT | Q (* end game *)
INVENTORY | I (* list things player is carrying and wearing *)
SCREAM | SHOUT | YELL (* make noise but seldom accomplish anything *)
WAIT (* waste a turn *)
BRIEF | VERBOSE (* change description mode *)
L | LOOK (* repeat full description *)
SAVE | RESTORE {GAME} (* save and restore game status *)
HELP | H (* ask for help *)
SCRIPT (* Echo all output to both printer (LP1:) and screen *)
UNSCRIPT (* Send all output to screen only *)
Verbs that require nouns (and perhaps objects)
==============================================
LIST | SHOW [EXITS] (* list visible exits *)
THROW | CAST | DUMP [noun]
{[AT | TO | IN | INTO | ACROSS | INSIDE] [noun]}
ATTACK | KILL | FIGHT | HIT [creature] {[WITH] [noun]}
DROP | PUT DOWN [noun | ALL]
GET | TAKE | PICK UP [noun | ALL]
OPEN [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
CLOSE | SHUT [noun]
LOCK [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
UNLOCK [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
EXAMINE | CHECK | INSPECT | LOOK AT | LOOK IN [noun]
(* synonym is "." or "EX" *)
READ [noun]
EAT [noun]
DRINK [noun]
PUT | PLACE [noun]
[IN | WITH | INSIDE | INTO | NEAR | BEHIND | BESIDE |
ON | UNDER] [noun]
PUSH | TOUCH [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
TURN [noun] {ON | OFF}
TURN {ON | OFF} [noun]
PULL [noun]
PLAY {WITH} [noun]
LIGHT [noun]
EXTINGUISH | PUT OUT [noun] (* synonym is "EXT" *)
SHOOT | FIRE [noun] [AT] [creature]
SHOOT | FIRE [creature] [WITH] [noun]
PUT ON | WEAR [noun | ALL]
TAKE OFF | REMOVE [noun | ALL]
ASK [creature] [ABOUT] [noun]
TALK [TO | WITH] [creature] {[ABOUT] [noun]}
TELL [creature] [ABOUT] [noun]
9
SOME GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT COMMANDS
Figuring out what words work in a game is part of the "challenge" of some
adventure games. The usual directions are understood by AGT games (N, S, E,
W, NE, NW, SE, SW, UP, and DOWN; in some cases, ENTER or EXIT might also be
appropriate). Other events might also cause you to change location: if you
detonate a nuclear warhead, for example, you'll likely be immediately
transported somewhere far, far away.
You can try to TAKE or GET most things that are in a room with you; you should
EXAMINE or LOOK AT most visible nouns as well, whether or not you are carrying
them. You can DROP or THROW anything you're carrying. Eating and drinking
are often permitted, but eating strange things is usually dangerous. If
something seems to be closed or locked, you can try to open or unlock it --
but it may require some special kind of key.
There's no penalty for incorrect words: if the game doesn't understand a word,
it gives you another chance and doesn't count the invalid input as a turn.
If you try to do something foolish like EAT CHAIR or GET THE BUILDING, the
game will give you an appropriate response like "It is impossible to eat the
chair" or "The building can not be taken".
ABBREVIATIONS AND FUNCTION KEYS
To look more closely at something, EXAMINE it. The period character ('.') is
a synonym for EXAMINE, so typing ". BOOK" is the same as "EXAMINE BOOK". You
can also abbreviate EXAMINE as EX (e.g., EX BOOK). The exclamation point
('!') is a synonym for ATTACK. To turn out a light, you can EXTINGUISH it,
and EXTINGUISH can be abbreviated as EXT (e.g., EXT LAMP).
It is also possible to use the function and cursor keys in lieu of many
frequently used commands and directions as follows:
F1 -- GET Up Arrow -- NORTH
F2 -- DROP Down Arrow -- SOUTH
F3 -- EXAMINE Right Arrow -- EAST
F4 -- READ Left Arrow -- WEST
F5 -- OPEN Home -- NORTHWEST
F6 -- CLOSE End -- SOUTHWEST
F7 -- INVENTORY Pg Up -- NORTHEAST
F8 -- LOOK Pg Dn -- SOUTHEAST
F9 -- SCORE Gray "-" Key -- UP
F10 -- HELP Gray "+" Key -- DOWN
Ins -- ENTER
Del -- EXIT
If at any time during the game the player needs to be reminded of what the
function and cursor keys stand for, hitting the ? key followed by <ENTER> will
produce a diagram of what each cursor and function key means.
SPECIAL WORDS
Certain words have special meanings to AGT games. SCORE will let you see how
much progress you've made and will give you an idea how much of the game
10
you've seen so far. QUIT will permit you to stop the game and return to DOS.
SAVE will allow you to save the current game status, and RESTORE will restore
a previously-saved game.
In addition, AGT also allows the use of SCRIPT to echo all of the game's
output to your printer (as well as the screen). UNSCRIPT may be used to turn
off the printer output.
As you move around through the game, you'll notice that the game provides a
long text description of each room only when you first enter the room. To see
the full description again, type LOOK or L or hit the F8 function key. The
game doesn't keep these long text descriptions in memory, but instead reads
them from disk each time it needs them. If you don't like this delay, you can
suppress the long text by using the BRIEF command. VERBOSE will bring them
back.
Further, in AGT it is possible to issue commands for HELP or alternatively hit
the F10 key. Be warned, however, that some game designer might feel that the
situation does not deserve any help or, worse yet, some deviate designer might
actually give the player a hint that is a little misleading.
NOUNS
While the list of verbs is generally similar from game to game, all the nouns
change every time. One game might be filled with weapons and creatures, while
another might contain many keys and locks. Most nouns are unique: you
probably won't find more than one "gold key," but you might find a "brass
key," an "access card," and an "entry pass." The game only understands an
adjective if it is correctly followed by the matching noun: if TAKE RED FLUTE
is valid, the game will not try to guess what you meant by TAKE RED or TAKE
RED INSTRUMENT or TAKE THE RED ONE. It will accept TAKE FLUTE, but not TAKE
BLUE FLUTE.
With some verbs, nouns are optional. For example, NORTH is quite clear by
itself, and any "valid" words following it will be ignored completely. EAT
needs a noun of some kind, preferably an edible one. And some things may not
be possible unless you specify a tool: UNLOCK PADLOCK may not be acceptable,
while UNLOCK THE PADLOCK WITH THE BRASS KEY may work fine.
NOISE WORDS
The words "THE", "MY", "ITS", "A" and "AN" are ignored; so are friendly words
like "PLEASE" and "NOW." This way, PLEASE PUT A RED ROSE AND MY NOTE ON THE
SMALL TABLE NOW can be understood, while the game may be quite confused by
PLEASE YOUR MOTHER.
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES
In some cases, the preposition need not be followed by an object (TURN THE GAS
STOVE ON is fine), but often the game will be puzzled unless you provide one.
For example, UNLOCK THE PADLOCK WITH or PLACE THE BOOK BESIDE just won't do.
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS
11
In order to accommodate as many hardware systems as possible, it is possible
to enter a "/B" option on the command line that invokes your adventure game.
This causes the game to use the BIOS for all output, rather than writing
directly to the screen memory locations (which is considerably faster and
AGT's default mode of operation). Some clones may require this option. Also,
some multi-tasking environments (specifically, DesqView) need this option to
allow an AGT game to run in its own "window". If you find that an AGT game
causes strange behavior on your screen, you should try this option. For
example, to play the game QUEST using this option, you would start the game
from the DOS prompt with "RUN QUEST /B".
There is one additional command line option available. If you wish the
player's input to be in lower case, rather than AGT's default mode of upper
case, use the option "/L". For example, to play CAVE with lower case player
input, start the game from the DOS prompt with "RUN CAVE /L".
12
PART 2: HOW TO WRITE AN ADVENTURE GAME
INTRODUCTION: WHY SHOULD I WRITE MY OWN ADVENTURE GAME?
Here are a few good reasons:
- Imagine your office as an adventure game. Imagine the wonderful
descriptions you could provide for your co-workers' offices, the analogies you
could make for the delivery people, and the thinly-veiled insults of your boss
you could include. If such an adventure game scenario were written in
reasonable taste, it could serve as a well-deserved diversion on a Friday
afternoon. Of course, if it's written in poor taste, and your insults aren't
veiled enough, it could be your last Friday.
- Maybe you are trying to teach someone something. Perhaps you want them to
learn about computers. Maybe you want to guide them through many screens of
tutorials. If you could write the text as an adventure game, and make
learning a game, the game players might learn faster and even have fun doing
it. An excellent example of this is a series of spreadsheet templates called
Templates of Doom which has introduced Lotus 1-2-3 (in the guise of an
adventure game) to thousands of new spreadsheet users. Another excellent
example is a game entitled Brainscape which teaches the anatomy of the human
brain by letting the player (who has been reduced to microscopic size) explore
the various "locations" of the brain in search of human growth hormone and
other "treasures" -- so the he can be restored to normal size.
- Or maybe you're well-equipped with a great imagination and you want to
develop a game that will rival the ones you've bought in stores or played with
friends. Perhaps this is your chance to prove your fiction-writing abilities.
- Or last, but not least, because writing adventures is even more fun than
playing them.
HOW AN AGT ADVENTURE GAME WORKS
AN OVERVIEW
When a player begins to play an AGT game, the first thing the program does is
look on the disk for a title file (indicated by a .TTL file extension), which
should contain the name of the game, the author's name, and perhaps a
copyright statement. Each line in the file is displayed centered on the
screen.
AGT also posts its copyright notice just below the game writer's title
information. If, for some reason, there is no file with a .TTL extension, the
AGT copyright information is displayed by itself. The title screen, with the
author's information and AGT's, stays on the screen while the program
initializes all its data arrays and records and reads the various compiled
data file.
If the game's .DAT file contains some text preceded by the keywords INTRO or
INTRODUCTION and ended with the keyword END_INTRO, that text is displayed at
the beginning of the game. It cannot be re-read during the game.
In addition to the INTRO section of the .DAT file, there can also be an
13
instruction file with a .INS extension. If such a file exists for the
adventure being played, before actual play begins AGT will ask the player if
he/she would like instructions. If the answer if yes, this file will be
displayed.
Once all the data has been read and the player has had an opportunity to read
the game's instructions (if any), the program puts the player into room 2 of
the game (or another room if the author has specified an alternative starting
location). There is no room 1; a location of 1 indicates the player's
pockets. AGT then prints the long text description for room 2, (or the
alternative starting location) and the player is asked what to do.
Each time the player types in a command and <ENTER>, the program sends the
input line to the "parse" module. The parser take the input line, breaks it
into separate words, and tries to locate an addressee (if the command is being
directed to another character), a verb, a noun, a preposition, and another
noun as the object of the preposition. It does this by eliminating extra
words like "THE" and "PLEASE"; and by checking and then eliminating
adjectives. It returns up to five words: addressee, verb, noun, preposition,
and an object of the preposition. (If any of these elements is missing, the
"empty string" ('') is returned in its place.)
If an invalid word is found by the parser, it informs the user, indicating
what part of speech AGT expected and which specific input command word it
didn't recognize. Otherwise, the program then calls the execute module; this
section selects a procedure to call based on the verb (THROW, TAKE, EAT, MOVE,
etc.). Depending on the procedure's own checking, the noun, preposition and
object might be rejected as invalid or, in some cases, ignored partly or
completely and an appropriate "error" message will be given For example, "EAT
CASTLE" would typically cause the "error" message: "It is impossible to eat
the castle."
There are two ways a player can be moved to a new room. One is by
specifically trying to do so. Moving east is generally accomplished by typing
EAST or E or hitting the Right Arrow cursor key. If the player tries to move
in a direction that is not allowed, AGT will inform him that such a move is
impossible.
The other way to move is by meeting a set of special requirements that the
game's author has defined as a "special." The special might be defined, in
plain language, as "if the player is in the sauna, and he turns the faucet,
then move him to another room X." That other room X might be anything. One
possibility is that it may be a room with a similar or identical description,
but with a new exit or without an old one. It might even be the same room,
but by executing the "special," the program displays several lines of text.
In this case, the special text might be "You turn on the faucet, and scalding
hot water pours onto your feet. You scream in agony and kick the faucet,
which is turned off." If the author was cruel, the "special" here might move
the player to a new room called "hell" and be told "As you turn the faucet,
scalding hot water pours out onto your legs. You scream in agony, but the
faucet won't shut off. In minutes, you are scalded to death. You awaken in
purgatory, where Satan tells you that your punishment for killing the lizard
[something the player did earlier to get here] will be boiling in oil for
eternity." The new room description would describe a vat of boiling oil,
provide no exits, and include the keyword GAME_END to end the game.
For relatively simple adventure games (i.e., Standard Level games), "Specials"
14
are the way you do almost anything unusual. Of course, a special can be used
to move a player to a new room (i.e., TOUCH MIRROR might cause the player to
fall through the looking-glass and into a new room). But specials also allow
a room to be "changed" in the player's view -- this is accomplished by
actually moving the player to a new, but similar room. If you want an airlock
to close one door and open another, you use a "special" which moves the player
to a 'new' airlock with a different exit. If you want a player to 'teleport,'
you use a special. If you want to player to be surprised by some action but
not moved (i.e., PLAY STEREO could lead to "Beethoven's Fifth plays loudly,
awakening the neighbors. Someone pounds loudly on the ceiling"), use a
special. More examples of "Specials" will be given later.
STANDARD LEVEL GAME FILES
Each Standard Level games can have up to three files: A title file (e.g.,
ALICE.TTL), an instruction file (e.g., ALICE.INS), and a data file
(ALICE.DAT). Each of these file types will be explained in separate sections
to follow.
TITLE FILES
If there is a file with a .TTL extension, that file is displayed first before
the actual game play begins. The contents of this file will be displayed
centered on a cleared screen. For example, the title file for the ALICE IN
WONDERLAND game contained in the ALICE.TTL file is:
The Adventures of Alice
Who
Went Through the Looking-Glass
And
Came Back
Though Not Much Changed
Based on characters created by Lewis Carroll
Game and Text Copyright 1986 D.A. Asherman
This would actually be centered on the screen as follows:
The Adventures of Alice
Who
Went Through the Looking-Glass
And
Came Back
Though Not Much Changed
Based on characters created by Lewis Carroll
Game and Text Copyright 1986 D.A. Asherman
SETTING SCREEN COLORS
AGT sets the screen colors to be used during the adventure automatically. If
the game is being played on a color monitor, the screen output is quite
colorful. Specifically, the default screen colors will be:
Normal text color is Cyan
High lighted text color is Yellow
Background color is Black
15
Reverse text color is Red
Reverse background color is Light Gray
These colors cause the normal screen output to be shown as "Cyan on Black",
while the player's input is shown as "Yellow on Black", and the status line at
the top of the screen is shown as "Red on Light Gray".
These default colors can be changed to specific different colors in the first
line of the .TTL file. For example, if you wanted to change the color
combinations to normal output of "White on Blue", and player input of "Yellow
on Blue", and the status line of "Black on Cyan", then you are specifying:
Normal text color is White
High lighted text color is Yellow
Background color is Blue
Reverse text color is Black
Reverse background color is Cyan
This could be accomplished by putting the following line as the first line of
the .TTL file:
COLORS WHITE YELLOW BLUE BLACK CYAN
If you are playing the game on a monochrome monitor, most of the screen output
will be "White on Black", i.e., the normal monochrome output for your monitor.
The only exceptions will be the player input which will be shown high-lighted
and the status line on the top of the screen which will be shown in reverse,
i.e., "Black on White". On monochrome monitors, this basic monochrome color
combination will be used automatically regardless of what may have been
specified in the COLORS command in the first line of the .TTL file.
It is also possible for the player to change the screen color combination by
giving input during the game. For example, if the player inputs:
COLORS YELLOW GREEN CYAN BLACK LIGHTGRAY
during the game, the screen will immediately change to "Yellow on Cyan", with
the player's input shown as "Green on Cyan", and the status line displayed as
"Black on Light Gray" -- if the game is being played on a color monitor. If
the game is being played on a monochrome monitor, the above player input would
have no effect. Other player color commands allowed are:
COLORS MONO
which changes the screen to a monochrome color combination - even on a color
monitor, and:
COLORS DEFAULT
which will return the screen to AGT's default color combination -- depending
upon the type of monitor the game is currently being played upon.
INSTRUCTIONS FILES
If there is a file with the correct filename and the suffix .INS, then AGT
will ask the player if he wished to read the instructions for the game. If
the response is Y or YES, the filename.INS file will be displayed a screen at
16
a time with a pause between screens. If the player responds with N or NO,
then the instructions will be skipped and the game will begin normally in the
starting room location.
If there is no .INS file, then the instruction prompt will not appear and play
will begin without any instructions.
THE WORK-HORSE .DAT FILE
Adventure games are really just a special kind of data base application. The
game driver (for AGT, this is RUN.EXE) just accesses the adventure data base
to retrieve data based on the player's commands. This is much like how a
"standard" data base application might display all employees in the marketing
department with salaries over a certain amount after getting a query from the
data base user. For Standard Level AGT games, the data base is contained in
the .DAT file. This file is the real work-horse file for AGT adventure games.
The most important data elements in an AGT game are three large data arrays:
the game's rooms, nouns, and creatures. Each of these data types will be
explained in separate sections that follow.
ROOMS
The room specification in the .DAT data file is quite simple:
Required:
|<-----significant----->|<------ignored------------------------>|
|
ROOM nnn <-- nnn is a number from 2 to 199
Room Name <-- short room name (up to 30 characters),
that will be shown on the status
line (do not include comments!)
{optional characteristics}
END_ROOM
Optional characteristics: <-- optional but at least one is
strongly recommended
|<---significant--->|<------ignored------------------------>|
|
{direction} nnn <-- nnn is a number from 2 to 199
(default is 0)
{any one of 12 directions can be
specified, from the list:
NORTH NORTHEAST UP
SOUTH SOUTHEAST DOWN
EAST NORTHWEST ENTER
WEST SOUTHWEST EXIT}
SPECIAL nnn <-- optional, nnn is a room number.{If
present, the current definition
must include KEY xxx and there must
be a SPECIAL nnn definition}
KEY xxx <-- xxx is a noun number (200-299)
{activates special nnn}
17
LIGHT xxx <-- xxx is a noun number (200-299)
OR the value 1 ("any light")
{default is 0}
POINTS xxx <-- xxx is number of points player is
awarded just for getting here.
Default is 0.
LOCKED_DOOR <-- default is FALSE. If TRUE, AGT
will act as if there is a locked
door that cannot be opened in
the room and give various
appropriate messages if player
tries to do something to the
door.
GAME_END <-- if this line is in the definition,
the game ends as soon as the player
enters the room (the room_descr
is displayed, then the score).
(Player loses game here.)
GAME_WIN <-- if this line is in the definition,
the game ends as soon as the player
enters the room (the room_descr
is displayed, then the score).
(Player wins game here.)
ROOM_SYNONYMS <-- default is NONE. Room synonyms are
indicated in the .DAT file as:
ROOM_SYNONYMS MAGIC_WORD XYZZY SESAME
ROOM_SYNONYMS CHANGE_LOCATIONS CLIMB
ROOM_SYNONYMS PLAY SHOW DISPLAY FLASH
These cause the first word (which must
be a valid verb) to be substituted
whenever the player enters one of the
words following the first word in that
room. For example, if the player
entered SHOW, DISPLAY, or FLASH (above),
AGT would act as if the word PLAY (which
is a "special") was entered and react
accordingly. There can only be one room
synonym specification in each room.
It is recommended that at a minimum, one exit from each room be provided;
otherwise the player will be stuck in the room until he quits. Of course,
that direction might be a special -- which will be explained in a later
section.
A room description should also be provided in .DAT file:
ROOM_DESCR <nn>
Some text, any number of lines, about the room.
END_ROOM_DESCR
This room description will be what is printed whenever the player enters the
room or gives the command to LOOK.
HELP MESSAGES
An optional HELP message may also be provided for each room:
18
HELP <nn>
Some text, any number of lines, gives a HELP message for this room.
END_HELP_DESCR
If you don't enter a specific HELP message for a room, the default message if
the player asks for HELP is "Sorry, but you are on your own here."
Here is a more complete example of how a room might be specified in the .DAT
file:
ROOM 32
Top of Cliff
NORTH 33
SOUTH 34
WEST 35
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 32
You are standing near the edge on the top of a tall cliff. To the east is
a sheer drop of several thousand feet. To the north, west and south are
paths that lead down the side of the mountain.
END_ROOM_DESCR
HELP 32
Be careful, don't go too near the edge!
END_HELP_DESCR
NOUNS
Nouns are necessarily more complex than rooms. They are specified in the
following format, listed with the possible values (and defaults):
|<-----significant----->|<------ignored------------------------>|
|
NOUN nnn <-- nn is a number from 200 to 299
Name <-- one-word name of the noun
Adjective <-- one-word adjective
Short one-line description of the noun
{other characteristics go here}-
END_NOUN
Other characteristics (optional):
SIZE nn <-- nn is a number from 1 to 99+
Default is 1.
WEIGHT nn <-- nn is a number from 1 to 99+
Default is 1.
UNMOVABLE <-- default is movable (carryable)
LOCATION nn <-- nn is a "room" number (1-299, 1000)
1 - if being carried
2-199 - in room 2, etc.
200-299 - inside another noun
1000 - if being worn
19
READABLE <-- default is "not readable"
{if READABLE then <TEXT nn>
must also be defined}
CLOSABLE <-- default is "not closable"
CLOSED <-- default is "open"
{if open then it can hold
something}
LOCKABLE <-- default is not lockable
LOCKED <-- default is unlocked
KEY nn <-- default is 0
{noun nn unlocks this noun
if it's lockable}
EDIBLE <-- default is inedible
DRINKABLE <-- default is undrinkable/solid
POISONOUS <-- default is nonpoisonous
{predictable effect if poisonous
edible/drinkable noun is eaten}
ON <-- default is 'off'
PUSHABLE <-- default is not pushable
{PUSH_DESCR nn recommended but
not required if it is pushable}
PULLABLE <-- (ditto, PULL_DESCR nn)
PLAYABLE <-- (ditto, PLAY_DESCR nn)
TURNABLE <-- (ditto, TURN_DESCR nn)
IS_LIGHT <-- default is NOT is_light
(IS_LIGHT -> illuminates any room
defined as LIGHT 1 or LIGHT nnn
where nnn is the noun number)
POINTS <-- default is 0 (points awarded to player
if object is being carried, present or
in the "treasure" room at game_end)
GAME_WIN <-- default is FALSE. Player wins game
if TRUE when he get this noun.
CAN_SHOOT <-- default is can't shoot (can the
weapon be used to shoot a
creature? if not, it must be
thrown)
NUM_SHOTS <-- default is 0 (how many bullets/
charges are there initially?
decremented each time the noun is
fired.)
WEARABLE <-- default is not wearable
POSITION <-- default in NONE. If the game designer
wishes to have a noun's original
position as "(behind the tree)"
he would have:
POSITION behind the tree
in the .DAT file. The verbs
PUT/PLACE and GET/TAKE change the
noun's position.
SINGULAR <-- default is SINGULAR. The only
alternative is PLURAL. AGT
verbs/pronouns will be singular
or plural depending upon this
value.
20
NOUN_SYNONYMS <-- default is NONE. If the .DAT file had
NOUN_SYNONYMS GOLD COIN COINS
then all of these words would be
accepted as valid synonyms for
this noun. Of course, the
"official" NAME will also work.
Note: To 'spice' up the game, you might want to put things inside other things
initially, so the player has to open everything to be sure s/he doesn't miss
anything important. Be logical, though: a refrigerator seems likely to be
open-able, but a crabapple probably ought to be 'closed' and 'unclosable' and
thus unable to contain something else.
Similar to the complete room descriptions, there is a way to specify a lengthy
description of a noun by using a NOUN_DESCR in the .DAT file. When the player
gives the command to EXAMINE the noun, this description will be displayed on
the screen.
TEXT
If a noun is readable, the description that is printed whenever the player
gives the command to READ it is contained in a TEXT description in the .DAT
file. Thus, the following would be a valid set of definitions:
NOUN 232
Book
Red
There is a small red book here.
WEIGHT 1
SIZE 3
LOCATION 32
READABLE
NOUN_SYNONYMS Cover Title
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 232
The red book is quite thin, and has a hard cover. There is writing on the
book's cover.
END_NOUN_DESCR
TEXT 232
The title of the book is "The Wisdom of Ronald Reagan." The pages are all
blank.
END_TEXT
MULTIPLE NOUNS WITH THE SAME NAME
AGT allows multiple nouns with the same name. The parser examines the current
room and player environment and assumes that if only one noun with a
particular name is in the room then that must be the noun that the player
meant as the NOUN or OBJECT of his command. If there is more than one noun
with the same name in the room, the parser gives an "error" message and asks
the player to be more specific about which NOUN (or OBJECT) he means. For
example, if there are three kinds of trees in the "room" and the player had
entered the command to EXAMINE TREES, the parser would ask for the
clarification: "Which 'TREES', the OLIVE TREES or the OAK TREES or the PINE
21
TREES?" The player could then enter any response with one of the proper
adjectives to specify which trees were meant, i.e., any of these responses
would tell the parser that the OAK trees were correct:
THE OAK TREES
EXAMINE THE OAKS
OAK
THE OAKS, YOU OAF!!
If the player still doesn't enter a response with one of the proper
adjectives, a message is given that asks the player to re-enter his command
using the NOUN's adjective to clarify which NOUN is meant. This means that if
there are two or more nouns with the same name, their adjectives must be
unique, i.e., you can have a RED BOWL and a GREEN BOWL, but the game should
not contain two RED BOWLs (at least it should not have two of them if they can
be together in the same room.)
PUSH, PULL, TURN, AND PLAY DESCRIPTIONS
Similar to TEXT descriptions if a noun is readable, you may also give unique
descriptions if a noun is described as being pushable, playable, turnable, or
pullable and the player takes one of those actions with the noun. These
descriptions are included in the .DAT file as a PUSH_DESCR, PULL_DESCR,
TURN_DESCR and PLAY_DESCR. They will be displayed only if the player takes
the specified action AND that action does not activate a SPECIAL for the
current room. If there is no description provided, a standard ("nothing
happens" or something equally appropriate) message is provided.
For example, if you want to generate messages whenever the player gives the
commands to PLAY RADIO or to TURN ON RADIO or TURN DIAL, you could set up the
following in the .DAT file:
NOUN 218
Radio
Portable
There is a large "ghetto blaster" portable radio here.
MOVABLE
WEIGHT 10
SIZE 10
NOUN_SYNONYMS GHETTO BLASTER DIAL DIALS KNOB KNOBS
PLAYABLE
TURNABLE
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 218
The radio is barely portable. It weighs about 47 pounds and must be
carried with both hands. It has many dials and knobs.
END_NOUN_DESCR
PLAY_DESCR 218
As you turn on the radio, you hear a song by "Duran Duran." After a few
moments, you become bored with the music and you turn the radio off.
END_PLAY_DESCR
22
TURN_DESCR 218
As you turn the dial on the radio, you hear the Beatles singing
"Yesterday". This sounds like a good station and you stop turning the
dial. The music sounds nice and you sing along softly.
END_TURN_DESCR
EATING, DRINKING, AND DYING
Any object defined as EDIBLE can be eaten. Any object defined as DRINKABLE
can be drunk. And any object defined as POISONOUS will kill the player if
s/he eats or drinks it. POISONOUS has no effect if the noun is neither edible
nor drinkable. In most situations, it is considered poor sport to make
completely non-threatening and logically edible things poisonous; it is
likewise questionable to make packages of rat poison edible but non-poisonous.
When a noun is eaten or drunk it normally disappears (into the player's
stomach -- naturally). The only exception to this is when the noun is
unmovable. This makes it possible for the player to drink from a lake without
having all the water (or the lake itself) disappear.
WEIGHT AND SIZE
Those values are there for a reason. No player can lift an object heavier
than 100, even if it's defined as MOVABLE. Likewise, objects whose size is
more than 100 are too awkward to be carried. The total weight the player can
carry is 100, so the player cannot carry two 60-weight objects at once. Total
size limit is also 100. It is considered poor sport to assign large weight
values to feathers and low values to large slabs of steel, but cruel game
writers are able to do so. Likewise, a game will be less baffling if small
objects (pens, tin cans) have small size values and large ones (desks, cars)
are larger.
(Remember, of course, that if your scenario puts the player in the role of
King Kong or Godzilla, you'd want to scale everything down so s/he might be
able to easily carry six cars and a bus but have difficulty with more than one
fully-loaded semi or house.)
LIGHT AND DARKNESS
If a room has a LIGHT value other than 0 (the default), the room will appear
pitch black if the player wanders in empty-handed. There are two "types" of
lights and two types of darkness. A noun may be defined as being a light by
specifying the word IS_LIGHT in its definition; in this case, it will light
any dark room defined as LIGHT 1. The light value of 1 in a room definition
means that any light will make the room visible. Of course, these
"general-purpose" lights must be turned on to light the room, and thus all
LIGHTs can be TURNed ON and OFF (or LIGHTed and EXTINGUISHed.). (EXT is an
acceptable abbreviation for EXTINGUISH; EX is the abbreviation for EXAMINE.)
If the LIGHT value is other than 1 (i.e., LIGHT 218), only the noun with the
matching number will make the room's contents visible. This is useful if the
darkness comes from something other than an absence of light: for example, a
fan might be the only object that makes a smokey room clear enough to see in.
A special-purpose light need not be defined as a light (i.e., it doesn't have
to be defined IS_LIGHT), nor does it have to be on, to work as a light in a
room with that noun as a LIGHT. A noun can function as a special-purpose
23
light for more than one room, but each room can only be lit by one
special-purpose light. (A room with a LIGHT value of 1 will be lit by ANY
noun defined as IS_LIGHT.)
CREATURES
Any living thing is identified as a 'creature', and can be either 'friendly'
or 'hostile'. Friendly creatures are quite passive; hostile creatures are not
quite as friendly. It is recommended that provisions be made for a weapon to
kill any hostile creatures. For fairness, that weapon should be accessible by
the player before s/he meets the hostile creature.
Players should be discouraged from wild and unwarranted killing: i.e., they
ought not kill friendly creatures. If no weapon will kill the creature (i.e.,
if you leave or specify WEAPON as the default value 0), the player cannot kill
it. For friendly creatures, you should not lead the player on by making the
weapon something unexpected: if the player kindly offers a jelly bean to the
friendly creature, it ought not be fatal. Only one weapon can kill any given
creature, but the same weapon might be used to kill many creatures.
The format in the .DAT file for Creatures, like rooms, are relatively simple:
|<-----significant----->|<------ignored------------------------>|
|
Required:
CREATURE nnn <-- nnn is a number from 300 to 399
Name <-- one word name
Adjective <-- one word adjective
Short one-line description of creature.
{optional characteristics}
END_CREATURE
Optional:
LOCATION nn <-- nn is a room number from 1 to 199.
{default is 0}
WEAPON nn <-- nn is a noun number from 200 to 299
{default is 0}
{noun nnn kills this creature}
HOSTILE <-- default is friendly
THRESHOLD n <-- {n is number of times a hostile creature
can be unsuccessfully attacked before it
kills the player - default 3}
TIME_THRESH n <-- {n is number of turns player can be
in the same room with the creature
before it kills the player - default
value is infinite, or disabled}
POINTS nn <-- nn is the number of points player
gets for having this creature in the
current room, i.e., for "capturing"
or "rescuing" the creature.
{default is 0}
24
GROUPMEMBER <-- default is NOT a GroupMember. If a
creature is specified as a GROUPMEMBER
then it will automatically follow the
player from location to location once
they meet.
GENDER <-- default is THING. GENDER may also be
specified as MAN or WOMAN. GENDER
causes pronouns and verbs to be used
that are appropriate to the specific
creature. THINGs are ferocious and
referred to as "IT". MANs are less
ferocious and are referred to as
"HE" and "HIM". WOMANs are "SHE"
and "HER".
CREATURE_SYNONYMS <-- default is NONE. If the .DAT file had
CREATURE_SYNONYMS BOB BILLY then all
of these names would be accepted as
valid synonyms for the creature.
Of course, the "official" NAME will
also work.
NOTE: A player cannot exit a room containing a hostile creature. When killed,
creatures are relocated to LOCATION 0. Friendly/non-hostile creatures have no
effect on the (Standard Level) game's outcome -- they just add a little
"spice" to the game.
For example, to define a female Froobious Bandersnatch in room 9, which can be
killed with noun 205, we could use the following specifications in the .DAT
file:
CREATURE 301
BANDERSNATCH
FROOBIOUS
There is a mommy froobious bandersnatch, looking for her cubs.
LOCATION 9
WEAPON 205
THRESHOLD 2
TIME_THRESH 5
WOMAN
HOSTILE
CREATURE_SYNONYMS BEAST
END_CREATURE
The thresholds specify that you can try to attack the bandersnatch twice
(unsuccessfully) or be in the room with the bandersnatch for 5 turns, before
the beast kills you. The player will not be able to leave the room if the
Bandersnatch is present, because she is hostile, until the creature has been
killed (with weapon 205). To use the weapon to kill the creature, the player
would FIRE THE GUN AT THE BANDERSNATCH or SHOOT THE BEAST WITH THE GUN, if the
weapon is a gun, or THROW the weapon AT the creature or KILL the creature WITH
the weapon, if the weapon is not a gun.
The complete EXAMINE description might be contained in the .DAT file as:
25
CREATURE_DESCR 301
The bandersnatch is snorting and drooling. It is a large female and she
appears to have misplaced her cubs, which makes her very unpleasant and
very dangerous. She seems to harbor few honorable intentions towards
you.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
GROUPS OF CREATURES
Creatures can be designated as a member of the "Group" by using the
GROUPMEMBER specification. All group members in the current location will
automatically move with the player when he/she moves to another location.
However, their group status will not effect other aspects of their behavior
during the game, i.e., they can still be talked to or killed as individuals.
Probably the best known example of an adventure creature following the player
once they meet is the Robot Floyd who is the player's constant companion in
the Infocom adventure games Planetfall and its sequel Stationfall. The group
can have several members, so this feature could be used to beam down a
"landing party" consisting of the player, Spock, Sulu, McCoy and Scotty and
have them explore the planet as a group in a Star Trek adventure.
Part 3 of this manual introduces a variety of meta-commands that enable the
game designer to test the status of the group and to manipulate the group in
many ways, i.e., add or subtract members, disband the group, send the group
off to another location, etc.
SPECIALS
To 'activate' the special, the player must 'do something' to the noun
specified as the room's KEY. This can include turning it, pushing it, pulling
it, or playing it (depending on what can be done to the noun as defined). If
the proper action is taken on the noun while in the room, the player will be
relocated to the room specified in the SPECIAL line and the SPECIAL nn text
will be displayed. (If the Special points to the current room, the only
effect apparent to the reader will be the display of the SPECIAL text.)
For example, to enter the house (by going to the entry hall -- ROOM 14) by
pushing the door bell on the porch (ROOM 13) could be done with the following
special:
ROOM 13
Front Porch .
.
.
SPECIAL 14 (* Entry Hall *)
KEY 222 (* Door Bell *)
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 13
You are standing on the front porch of a large mansion. The doors are
about 10 feet high.
END_ROOM_DESCR
26
NOUN 222
Bell
Door
Beside the door in a door bell.
.
.
PUSHABLE
UNMOVABLE
LOCATION 13 (* Front Porch *)
NOUN_SYNONYMS doorbell
END_NOUN
SPECIAL 14
You boldly push the door bell. Deep inside the house, you hear some
chimes that sound vaguely like Big Ben. After a few minutes, the door is
opened by a butler dressed in a black morning coat. He says "Good
morning, Sir. I will tell the Master that you have arrived." With that,
he disappears down the hall. You are left alone in the entry hall of the
house.
END_SPECIAL
ROOM 14
Entry Hall .
NORTH 15
.
.
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 14
The entry hall is long and narrow. You can see open doors at the end
of the hall to the north. The front doors are behind you to the south.
END_ROOM_DESCR
"SPECIAL" SPECIALS
AGT has two "special" specials: the verbs MAGIC_WORD and CHANGE_LOCATION.
These words are used in conjunction with a room synonym declaration to create
a "special" for any words the game designer may wish to use (i.e., you are not
restricted to PULL, PUSH, TURN and PLAY). For example, the designer may
specify that XYZZY and MAGIC_WORD are synonyms in a particular room -- so that
if the player gives the command XYZZY in that room, it causes a "special" for
that room which might send the player to another room with an appropriate
"special" messages being written. CHANGE_LOCATION works the same way except
it requires a specific NOUN that is the "key" to the "special" to be present
in the room. For example, the game designer might make SHOW a synonym for
CHANGE_LOCATION in particular room and make the noun PASS the "key" to the
"special" in that room, then whenever the player gives the command SHOW THE
PASS TO THE GUARD (in the particular room), the "special" would be executed
and a message like "The guard examines your security pass and finds it in
order. He opens the steel door and allows you to enter the vault, where you
find...."
NOTE: In AGT, each room may have only one special. So, you will not be able
to have a Magic_Word and another special in the same room.
For example, in order to be able to define a special for CLIMB TREE or SCALE
TREE to cause the player to go from room 10 to room 15 with a special message,
27
the game designer could use the following specifications in his data file:
ROOM 10
Dark Forest
.
.
SPECIAL 15 (* Top of Tree *)
KEY 221 (* Oak Tree *)
ROOM_SYNONYMS CHANGE_LOCATION CLIMB SCALE
END_ROOM
NOUN 221
tree
oak
There is a large oak tree at the edge of the clearing.
.
.
UNMOVABLE
LOCATION 10 (* in Dark Forest *)
END_NOUN
SPECIAL 15
You manage to climb up to the top of the oak tree.
END_SPECIAL
ROOM 15
Top of Oak Tree
.
.
DOWN 10 (* going DOWN puts you back in the dark forest *)
END_ROOM
MAGIC_WORD works the same way except, the KEY for the room MUST be zero. For
example, if you wish to allow the player to go from room 23 to room 44 when he
gives the commands SESAME, SHAZAM or ABRACADABRA you would do it as follows:
ROOM 23
Emperor's Tomb
.
.
SPECIAL 44
KEY 0
ROOM_SYNONYMS MAGIC_WORD SESAME SHAZAM ABRACADABRA
END_ROOM
SPECIAL 44
By saying the magic word $VERB$, you are suddenly transported
to the outside of the Emperor's Tomb. You are very lucky to
have escaped, because the air in the tomb was almost gone.
END_SPECIAL
ROOM 44
Outside Tomb Entrance
.
.
END_ROOM
28
In this example, the SPECIAL message uses a very convenient and helpful
feature of AGT, namely $VERB$. This causes the original verb to be repeated
back in the message, i.e., if the command was SHAZAM, then the special message
would be "By saying the magic word shazam, you are suddenly transported..."
Similarly, in AGT, the game designer may also have the NOUN, the noun's
ADJECTIVE, the PREPOSITION and the OBJECT of the commands repeated back in
messages by specifying $NOUN$, $ADJECTIVE$, $PREPOSITION$ and $OBJECT$ within
the message text. If a command is being addressed to a character in the
adventure, e.g., SCOTTY, BEAM ME UP, the character's name may also be echoed
back in a message by using $NAME$.
CREATING A TYPICAL ROOM
Let's suppose that your game contains a bedroom, connected to a closet, a
bathroom, and a hallway. In the bedroom are a lamp, a bed, a dresser, a
mirror, and a werewolf.
First, you want to define the room itself:
ROOM 34
Master Bedroom
WEST 33 (33 is the hallway)
EAST 35 (35 is the bathroom)
NORTHEAST 36 (36 is the closet)
END_ROOM
A description of the room is appropriate here:
ROOM_DESCR 34
This is the master bedroom, where Mommy and Daddy usually sleep. Plainly
visible in the room are a bed, a dresser, a lamp, and a large wall mirror.
The room smells horrible, as if a large, unclean animal had been here
recently.
END_ROOM_DESCR
Note that this description mentions the nouns that are initially in the room.
This is OK, since all of the nouns are UNMOVABLE, but if they could be taken
by the player, they should not be described in the room description since they
may not be there if the player should return.
That werewolf is begging to be described, too:
CREATURE 315
Werewolf
Black
There is a menacing black werewolf here.
LOCATION 34
WEAPON 217 <-- Noun 217 will kill it
HOSTILE <-- ever met a friendly werewolf?
END_CREATURE
CREATURE_DESCR 315
The werewolf is about the size of a small horse. Its matted fur stinks,
and a sickening smell emerges from its open mouth, through which you can
see sharp, large teeth.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
29
A HELP message might be given as follows:
HELP 34
The werewolf looks dangerous. Perhaps, you should get out of here as fast
as you can.
END_HELP
Finally, each noun within the room ought to be defined and described:
NOUN 220
Bed
Large
There is a large (king-size) bed here.
LOCATION 34
UNMOVABLE
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 220
The bed is quite ordinary.
END_NOUN_DESCR
NOUN 221
Dresser
Wooden
There is a large wooden dresser here.
LOCATION 34
CLOSABLE
CLOSED
UNMOVABLE
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 221
The wooden dresser looks pretty much like most wooden dressers.
END_NOUN_DESCR
NOUN 222
Lamp
Small
There is a lamp on the dresser.
LOCATION 34
UNMOVABLE
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 222
The small table lamp is pink and has a green shade.
END_NOUN_DESCR
NOUN 223
Mirror
Strange
There is a wall-size mirror here.
LOCATION 34
UNMOVABLE
END_NOUN
30
NOUN_DESCR 223
As you gaze into the mirror, you sense something unusual about it. It
seems to shimmer, and your reflection seems somehow unreal, as if the
mirror weren't really there at all.
END_NOUN_DESCR
Hmm. That mirror seems rather interesting. Maybe you could make a "special"
out of it. For example: when the player touches it, s/he is sent to room 50,
the mystic cavern of the Wizardess. To do so, you need to add a "special" to
room 34 and specify the mirror as its key, and you need to make the mirror
touchable. (Note: "touch" and "push" are synonyms -- but, you should use the
word "push," not the word "touch," in your definitions.)
ROOM 34
Master Bedroom
WEST 33 (33 is the hallway)
EAST 35 (35 is the bathroom)
NORTHEAST 36 (36 is the closet)
SPECIAL 50 <-- Special goes to room 50 (cavern)
KEY 223 <-- Special activated by touching mirror
END_ROOM
NOUN 223
Mirror
Strange
There is a wall-size mirror here.
LOCATION 34
UNMOVABLE
PUSHABLE <-- Here's how we'll activate the special
END_NOUN
The player will see room 50's description when s/he gets there, but the
SPECIAL text for room 50 will be displayed first:
SPECIAL 50
You reach out to touch the mirror, and are shocked to find that your
fingers vanish through the surface. Before you can react, you feel
yourself drawn forward through the mirror, and into a black nothingness.
You look back to try to see the mirror, but everything is black.
You are falling, but not very quickly -- it's almost as if you are
floating. As you fall, your eyes begin to adjust to the darkness. Then,
suddenly, you land on a soft cushion of some sort. As you rest on the
cushion, your eyes adjust to the very dim light of this new room.
END_SPECIAL
(Note that usually, you'd want to have a PUSH_DESCR prepared for when the
player touches a noun when it doesn't activate a special, but the mirror can't
be moved so it will always activate a special when touched.)
SCORING
The player's progress in the game is reported in two ways: the number of rooms
visited, and the number of points currently held. The player receives the
defined number of points for visiting each room (default point value is 0),
and for possessing (i.e., carrying, wearing or in the current room or in the
treasure room) each noun (or creature with points) when scoring is done. The
31
point defaults for both nouns and creatures are zero. Players get no points
for having eaten something, since objects which are eaten or drunk are removed
from the game.
For best results, it is best to assign a point value to each room which the
player arrives at after solving some puzzle. It's also wise to award a few
points for out-of-the-way rooms. Objects should only have point values if
they can reasonably be expected to be carried at the end of game -- if an
object is too heavy to be lifted or moved, it's not logical to assign it a
point value.
OTHER DATA ITEMS IN THE .DAT FILE
INTRODUCTION or INTRO TEXT
In the .DAT file, you can include some introductory remarks by using the
header INTRO or INTRODUCTION and ending these remarks with END_INTRO. These
kinds of remarks are particularly useful for telling the player what has
happened prior to his arrival in the game's starting room. The introductory
text is displayed during the game's initialization and cannot be re-read
later. It also cannot be skipped over.
STARTING ROOM
A AGT adventure normally starts in room number 2. This location can be
over-ridden by specifying an alternative location in the .DAT file. For
example, if the .DAT file had:
STARTING_ROOM 23
then the game would start in room 23.
TREASURE ROOM
Normally, the player only gets points for visiting rooms and for possessing
treasures (i.e., nouns or creatures with value). However, many classic
adventure games use a convention that required the player to bring his various
treasures to a "Treasure Room". Probably, the best example of this is the
Well House in the original "Colossal Cave" adventure. AGT adds this feature
by allowing the game designer to specify a treasure room in the .DAT file as:
TREASURE_ROOM 41 (or wherever)
Normally, there is no treasure room. This option is only activated if a
statement like the above appears in the .DAT file.
VERB SYNONYMS
To specify verb synonyms, simply create a AGT definition starting with
VERB (alone on a line) and ending with END_VERB (alone on a line). For
example:
32
VERB
KILL STAB CHOP
ATTACK STRANGLE CHOKE THROTTLE
UP CLIMB ASCEND
END_VERB
In the above example, if the player types STAB THE DWARF WITH THE KNIFE, AGT
will translate the sentence to KILL THE DWARF WITH THE KNIFE and attempt to do
so. Synonyms do not replace the original verb, e.g., the verb KILL would also
work. Likewise, if the player types CLIMB the game will execute the sentence
as if the player had typed UP -- which means that CLIMB DOWN would be
translated to UP DOWN which would, of course, confuse the game somewhat and
generate an error message which might, in turn, confuse the player.
Because the verb synonyms are not actually user-defined verbs, you should
think carefully about the possible uses of words you add, to make sure the
player won't be confused by the meaning of a word.
WARNING: It is NOT possible to define a synonym for a synonym. For example,
the following entry would generate an error message:
VERB
ATTACK CHOKE
CHOKE STRANGLE <-- "Verb not recognized - Line ignored"
END_VERB
Verb synonyms defined as those above are "global" in that they apply in each
room of the game. On the other hand, room synonyms apply only in the
particular room for which they are defined. Room synonyms take precedence
over global synonyms. For example, you could define CHOKE to be a synonym for
ATTACK globally (as above), then define CHOKE to be a synonym for PULL in a
particular room. If you were in that room, CHOKE would be treated like the
verb PULL; outside of that room CHOKE would be treated as if you had input
the verb ATTACK.
GAME_WIN
Acquiring all the points defined in the game doesn't let the player "win," and
winning isn't even related to points. If you define a room as GAME_WIN, then
the player wins the game upon entering the room, and the game ends and the
final score is displayed. It is usually desirable to make that room very
difficult to enter and not let the player get there unless he or she has done
everything else there is to do.
The room description is displayed, so you should put your congratulatory
description there. For example:
ROOM 21
End of the Rainbow
GAME_WIN
POINTS 50
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 21
At long last, you have reached the end of the rainbow. The pot of gold
lies at your feet. You have won the game!!
END_ROOM_DESCR
33
Note that is also possible to win the game when a specific Noun is acquired.
This is done be putting a GAME_WIN in the Noun's specification.
GAME_END
If you desire to have the game end, without having the player win, you can use
a GAME_END in the room definition. When this is done, the game will end when
the player enters the room and the final score is displayed. The room
description is also displayed, so you should put any final comments to the
player in the room description. For example:
ROOM 26
End of the trail
GAME_END
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 26
You have reached the end of the trail. There is no turning back.
Sorry, but your adventure is OVER!
END_ROOM_DESCR
PAGE PAUSES
Normally, the game pauses after every 22 lines of text (so that the player can
read it), and the player then hits <CR> to read more. As you play-test your
game, you might try to adjust your paragraph or line spacing so that the page
breaks don't come at awkward spots and confuse the player. This is probably
most important in the title screen and the INSTRUCTION and INTRO texts; it is
less controllable in the individual room descriptions.
ORDER OF DEFINITIONS
AGT doesn't require that the definitions be in any specific order within the
data files. Definitions can be freely mixed throughout your data files.
You'll probably want to group items together that logically belong together.
That's how the sample games were written. The order of definitions in the
file has no effect on game performance, as long as each definition is properly
structured.
HOW TO INCLUDE COMMENTS IN YOUR AGT DATA FILES
Within your data file, you'll probably want to include comments which won't be
processed by the game itself, so you'll be able to understand why you did
certain things.
In general, AGT treats anything it doesn't understand as a comment. Thus, if
you have a paragraph of text in between definitions, AGT will usually ignore
it.
BEWARE: If one of the lines in the paragraph begins with a keyword like "noun"
or "text," AGT will probably decide that it's the beginning of a definition
and get confused.
34
To avoid this, you can use a nonsense word to start each line of a comment:
words like "REM" (for remark) are useful since they also clearly state what
the line is.
AGT ignores most punctuation completely, so using "comment" indicators like
"(*" and "*)" or { and } at the beginning of a line won't help. However,
using these kinds of comment indicators will make your game files easier to
read. AGT usually only sees alphabetic characters ('a'..'z' and 'A'..'Z') or
the digits ('0'..'9').
CREATING YOUR SOURCE DATA FILES WITH WORD PROCESSORS
When creating your source data files for your AGT game, you must use a word
processor which creates plain ASCII/DOS text files with a true carriage return
at the end of each line. Lines longer than 80 characters, and WordStar
document files, will cause AGT to abort! The best rule-of-thumb is to use the
MS-DOS "TYPE" command to view the file. If it looks normal, it's probably OK
for AGT. If words split at the end of the line and strange characters appear,
it's probably not OK for AGT.
35
PART 3: USING META-COMMANDS IN PROFESSIONAL LEVEL ADVENTURE GAMES
Before discussing meta-commands in detail, it is convenient to present a quick
overview of other changes in Professional Level games. The principal changes
are the addition of custom user-defined verbs and Maximum_Score to the .DAT
file (NOTE: everything else about the .DAT files as previously presented still
applies in Professional Level games), the addition of a .MSG file to hold your
unique output messages, and the addition of a .CMD file to hold your game's
meta-commands. Each of this will be presented below in separate sections.
CUSTOM USER-DEFINED VERBS
Custom user-defined verbs are defined very much like "Verb Synonyms". For
example, the following lines in the .DAT file will define several new verbs
(and synonyms):
VERB
Dummy_Verb1 KISS HUG LOVE CARESS
Dummy_Verb2 GO CLIMB CROSS
Dummy_Verb3 CUT CHOP BREAK CRACK BUST
Dummy_Verb4 JUMP LEAP
Dummy_Verb5 SEARCH FIND
END_VERB
AGT adds 50 "dummy verbs" (Dummy_Verb1 ... Dummy_Verb50) to the list of valid
verbs. These dummy verbs are then redefined as if they had synonyms in
statements like the ones above. These user-defined verbs are then used in
meta-commands to specify new conditional tests and appropriate actions. For
example, the following meta-commands (in the .CMD file) would allow the player
to CLIMB a tree and to CROSS a bridge:
COMMAND CLIMB TREE
InRoom 208 (* sturdy oak tree *)
GoToRoom 36 (* in branches at top of oak tree *)
PrintMessage 43 (* You climb up to the top of the tree. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND CROSS BRIDGE
AtLocation 23 (* West side of bridge *)
GoToRoom 24 (* East side of bridge *)
PrintMessage 44 (* You walk across the bridge to the other side. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND CROSS BRIDGE
AtLocation 24 (* East side of bridge *)
GoToRoom 23 (* West side of bridge *)
PrintMessage 44 (* You walk across the bridge to the other side. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
The above meta-commands could also have been done by CHANGE_LOCATION
specials. However, custom verbs and meta-commands can also be used to
create more unusual situations, like these meta-commands for processing
the user's input to KISS or HUG something:
36
COMMAND KISS PRINCESS
InRoom 305 (* Princess *)
AtLocation 99 (* Bridal Suite of palace *)
PrintMessage 45 (* The princess melts into your strong arms, etc. *)
PlusScore 25 (* Bonus for Kiss *)
WinGame (* Win the game *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND KISS PRINCESS
InRoom 305 (* Princess *)
NOT AtLocation 99 (* Not in Bridal Suite of palace *)
PrintMessage 46 (* The princess pushes you away coyly, "Not here!" *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND KISS TROLL
InRoom 307 (* Ugly Troll *)
PrintMessage 47 (* The troll kills you! *)
KillPlayer (* That will teach you to KISS THE TROLL!! *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND KISS ANY
NOUNpresent (* NOUN (whatever it is) is here *)
PrintMessage 48 (* You try to $VERB$ the $NOUN$ for awhile. *)
MinusScore 10 (* penalty for sick mind *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND KISS ANY
PrintMessage 49 (* The $ADJECTIVE$ $NOUN$ isn't here! *)
MinusScore 10 (* penalty for sick mind *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
Meta-commands are processed in the order encountered in the .CMD file, so the
last two KISS ANY commands represent "default" commands and would be activated
only if you weren't trying to KISS, HUG, etc. the PRINCESS or the TROLL. For
example, if you gave the input "KISS THE BLARNEY STONE", the game would
respond with "You try to kiss the stone for a while" (Message number 48 in the
.MSG file) or "The blarney stone isn't here!" (Message number 49) depending
upon if the Blarney stone is present at your current location or not.
MAXIMUM_SCORE
AGT allows the score to be manipulated via meta-language commands. For
example, using meta-language commands, one could adjust the score whenever the
player:
-- Accepts a hint
-- Solves a particularly difficult puzzle
-- Gives the correct answer to a riddle
-- Performs a daring and/or noble act
The score can be manipulated either positively or negatively in this way.
37
Since in AGT you may add (or subtract) points from your score via your deeds,
the maximum score for the game will often be different from the sum of the
scores for visiting rooms and possessing objects. In this situation, you will
need to specify a maximum score for the game in the .DAT file. For example,
to have a maximum score of 350 points for the game you would put the following
statement in the game's .DAT file:
MAXIMUM_SCORE 350
.MSG -- MESSAGE FILES
A file with the suffix of .MSG can contain up to 250 messages that are used by
various meta-language commands. The format for each message is straight-
forward text as follows:
MESSAGE 4
"Oh, NNOOO!! Not the dog!", he cried hysterically.
END_MESSAGE
.
.
MESSAGE 87
As you say $VERB$ into the microphone, the security door slides open
noiselessly. You hurry into the vault. The door closes behind you.
END_MESSAGE
The messages need not be in numerical order, but it helps for debugging.
In any message, the game designer can use $VERB$, $NOUN$, $ADJECTIVE$,
$PREPOSITION$, $OBJECT$ and $NAME$ wherever he wants to have the original
verb, the noun, the noun's adjective, the preposition, the objective of the
preposition or the name of the person the command is addressed to (if any)
echoed back in a message. $VERB$ uses the original verb which is input by
the player, not the verb for which it may be a synonym, e.g., if SPEAK is a
synonym for TALK and you input the verb SPEAK, the above MESSAGE 87 would
output "As you speak into the microphone..."
A TYPICAL GAME TURN FOR PROFESSIONAL LEVEL GAMES
Before launching into a detailed discussion of meta-commands, it will be
helpful to review what happens during a typical turn in a AGT game. This is
illustrated in the following diagram:
38
> Get Player's Input Command <
V
Parse into Addressee's Name (if
any), then Noun, Verb, Prep, Obj
V
Any YES Give
Errors > Error
? Message
NO
V
Any
Meta- NO
Language
Commands
?
YES
V
Do meta-commands for ANY Words
V
YES All
< Done
?
NO
V
Do meta-commands for Input Words
V
YES All
< Done
?
NO
V
Do Standard AGT routine for Verb <
The meta-command boxes shown above are for Professional Level AGT games only.
39
Now for a brief description of what these meta-command boxes do in an AGT
game. The first meta box represents the process of testing for conditions and
performing various actions that do not depend on the player having given a
specific Addressee-Verb-Noun-Object combination, i.e., conditions and actions
for ANY words. These kinds of situations are typically "random" events, such
as, (1) having a dwarf appear in the room and throw an axe at the player, or
(2) having a bear (that the player has befriended) follow him into a new room,
or (3) having a voice boom out an announcement that "The Cave will close in 25
turns", or (4) having the player die because of some random event (e.g.,
falling into a pit). During each turn, these ANY-words meta-commands are
checked to see if the commands' conditions are true and (if true) the
meta-commands' designated actions are taken. This ANY-words process occurs
before any specific vocabulary-dependent meta-commands are executed. Often,
the results of these ANY-words events will make subsequent actions unnecessary
and/or inappropriate. For example, if a player dies a horrible death by a
random dwarf attack, finishing the player's specific command like GET GOLD or
EXAMINE BOOK is certainly inappropriate.
Here are a few examples of typical ANY Meta-Commands:
COMMAND ANY
Present 210 (* Blazing torch is here *)
CounterGT 2 75 (* Torch has been lit for at least 75 turns *)
PrintMessage 21 (* Your torch is flickering and growing weaker *)
CounterEquals 2 100 (* Torch has been lit for 100 turns *)
PrintMessage 22 (* The torch finally goes out! *)
TurnCounterOFF 2 (* Torch has gone out, so turn torch counter OFF *)
SwapLocations 210 211 (* swap blazing torch for unlit torch *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
NOT Present 312 (* Angry guard is not in room (yet) *)
Chance 10 (* 10 % chance of guard appearing *)
PutInCurrentRoom 312 (* put guard in room *)
PrintMessage 23 (* An angry guard suddenly storms into the room! *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
FlagON 5 (* Flag 5 is ON if player has befriended parrot *)
PutInCurrentRoom 306 (* Once befriended, parrot stays with player *)
VerbIsDirection (* Player is going to new room *)
PrintMessage 24 (* The parrot flies after you and lands nearby. *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
InRoom 306 (* The parrot is here *)
FlagOFF 4 (* Parrot is thirsty if Flag 4 is OFF *)
Chance 5 (* 5 % chance of parrot talking *)
PrintMessage 25 (* The parrot squawks "Polly wants a beer!" *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
InRoom 308 (* A vampire bat is here *)
Chance 5 (* 5 % chance of being bitten *)
PrintMessage 26 (* The vampire bat bites you on the neck!! *)
KillPlayer (* Too bad, but vampire bat bites are fatal! *)
DoneWithTurn (* No further process for this turn *)
END_COMMAND
40
If the ANY-words meta-commands have not drastically changed the player's
status in the game, then specific Addressee-Verb-Noun-Object combination
meta-commands are tested and (if the conditions are true) the designated
actions are taken. Using these meta-commands is the way that the game
designer can use unique verbs (that are not predefined in AGT). For example,
the game designer could specify a meta-command for KISS PRINCESS that would
first check that the princess was in the room, and (if she was) print a
message like "The princess rudely pushes you away, straightens her crown and
loudly says, 'Stop the hanky-panky, buzzard breath!'" The word ANY may be
substituted for the Verb, or the Noun, or the Object in a meta-command. For
example, a meta-command for ATTACK ANY might be used to specify a "default"
response for the verb ATTACK, such as, printing a message like "Don't be
ridiculous, $VERB$ing the $NOUN$ is really sick!" If the player entered the
command ATTACK THE DOOR, the response would be "Don't be ridiculous, attacking
the door is really sick!"
Meta-commands can also be used to supplement or replace standard verb
processing. For example, a meta-command could be used for verbs like READ,
GET, EAST, etc. This type of substitution of meta-commands for standard verbs
could be used to (1) cause a key to fall out of a book the first time the
player gave the command to GET BOOK, (2) cause a player to go into a
hallucinatory state (i.e., a new room) whenever he gives the command DRINK THE
STRANGE LIQUID, or (3) cause a player to fall to his death on the rocks far
below if he gives the command NORTH (where there is a cliff to the north in
the current room).
If after doing both the ANY-words and the specific vocabulary meta-command
processing for a specific game turn, the player is still alive and further AGT
command processing is still appropriate, then the usual routine for the
player's verb is executed (if the input VERB is a standard AGT verb). This
will be the way that the most of the player's inputs will be handled!
Remember, most player commands in a typical adventure game deal with
manipulating items (GET, DROP, EXAMINE, READ, etc.) and traveling from room to
room (NORTH, SOUTH, UP, EXIT, etc). Standard Level AGT handles these types of
commands quite nicely, and there will seldom be a need for meta-commands for
this type of typical player input.
INTRODUCTION TO META-COMMANDS
Meta-commands are specified in the .CMD file. The .CMD file can hold up to
400 meta-commands. This capacity will enable the game designer to develop
some very sophisticated adventure games -- especially since the a majority of
a player's input will not require any meta-commands at all.
41
THE FORMAT OF META-COMMANDS
A typical meta-command in the .CMD file might look like this:
COMMAND BREAK LOCK
InRoom 208 (* Oak door with iron lock *)
NOT InRoom 307 (* Evil Wizard is not in room *)
IsCarrying 223 (* Battle Axe *)
OR
Present 246 (* Large Two-handed Sword *)
VariableGT 7 90 (* Player has enough strength to swing sword *)
FlagON 3 (* Sword has been pulled free from stone *)
OR
IsCarrying 221 (* Iron Mace *)
VariableGT 7 50 (* Player has enough strength to swing mace *)
SwapLocations 208 209 (* Swap locked oak door with open doorway *)
PrintMessage 86 (* Your blows break the lock and door swings open *)
ChangePassageway 1 25 (* open passage North (Dir 1) to room 25 *)
DoneWithTurn (* No further process for this turn *)
END_COMMAND
Each meta-command begins on a separate line with the keyword COMMAND.
Following this is the input phrase for which this meta-command applies. The
input phrase will be parsed, so you can use extra words for clarity. After
being parsed, AGT will only remember the ADDRESSEE (if there is one), the
VERB, the NOUN and the OBJECT of the COMMAND. If one of these is missing,
there is an implied ANY for the missing item. For example, the "BREAK LOCK"
above is missing an OBJECT (and a preposition), so an implied OBJECT of ANY is
recorded for this COMMAND. Because of this implied object of ANY, this
meta-COMMAND would be considered for any of the following player inputs:
BREAK LOCK
BREAK THE LOCK WITH MACE
BREAK LOCK WITH THE LARGE SWORD
BREAK LOCK WITH AXE
BREAK LOCK WITH ROCK (will not produced desired result)
BREAK LOCK WITH DWARF'S HEAD (will not produced desired result)
If the COMMAND is an ANY meta-command, the word ANY will be the only word
follow the word COMMAND. The end of the meta-command is signalled by
END_COMMAND on a separate line.
Between COMMAND and END_COMMAND are a series of conditional tests and actions
to be performed. Each condition or action appears on a separate line. The
first word of the action or condition line is the "Token", or abbreviation for
the action or condition. AGT allows 155 such tokens. These tokens are a
short-hand description of what condition is being tested or what action is to
be performed. The tokens are normally shown with each of the separate words
of the short-hand description capitalized, e.g. PrintMessage. This is only
for better readability. Internally, AGT does not distinguish between upper
and lower case in tokens.
There may be some numerical parameters on the line following the token. The
number of parameters varies from none to two depending upon the specific
token. For example, the token "KillPlayer" has no numerical parameters; the
token "PrintMessage" requires one numerical parameter (i.e., the number of the
message to be printed); the token "SwapLocations" requires two numerical
parameters (i.e., the two item numbers of the items to have their locations
42
switched). Following the parameters (if any) on the line is space for
comments. It is recommended that meta-commends be very well commented and
that the comments be written as the meta-commands are first written. Don't
try to document them afterwards -- because you'll never get around to really
doing it! For added clarity, comments should be set off by some type of
delimiter, such as, "(*", "*)" or "{", "}" or a preceding ";".
If a conditional token is preceded on the line with the word "NOT", the sense
of the conditional test is reversed, i.e., NOT InRoom 307 tests that creature
number 307 (the evil wizard) is NOT in the current room.
The token OR may be used to connect two or more separate conditional tests
within a meta-command. The overall test will be TRUE if any of the individual
OR conditions is TRUE. In the above example, the sequence
IsCarrying 223 (* Battle Axe *)
OR
Present 246 (* Large Two-handed Sword *)
VariableGT 7 90 (* Player has enough strength to swing sword *)
FlagON 3 (* Sword has been pulled free from stone *)
OR
IsCarrying 221 (* Iron Mace *)
VariableGT 7 50 (* Player has enough strength to swing mace *)
tests if the player is carrying or has access to one (or more) of the heavy
weapons which is capable of breaking the lock on the door.
If there isn't an OR token between two conditions, there is an implied AND
condition between successive conditions. The end of the series of OR's is
determined when AGT encounters the first Action token following the first OR.
For example, the above meta-command might be rewritten in pseudo-PASCAL as:
IF (Verb = 'BREAK') AND (Noun = 'LOCK') THEN (* "BREAK LOCK" *)
IF InRoom(208) THEN (* Locked oak door is here *)
IF (NOT InRoom(307)) THEN (* Wizard not here *)
IF IsCarrying(223) (* Player has means to break door *)
OR (Present(246) AND (Variable[7] > 90) AND FlagON[3])
OR (IsCarrying(221) AND (Variable[7] > 50)) THEN
BEGIN
SwapLocations(208,209); (* Swap open doorway for locked door *)
PrintMessage(86); (* Print appropriate message *)
ChangePassageway(1,25); (Open passage north to room 25 *)
DoneWithTurn := TRUE; (* Nothing more for this turn *)
END;
When processing a meta-command, AGT starts at the first action or condition
and continues to process each token until one of the conditions within the
meta-command is not met, i.e., it is FALSE, then AGT skips to the next
meta-command within the .CMD file. For example, consider the following:
43
COMMAND ANY
Present 210 (* Blazing torch is here *)
CounterGT 2 75 (* Torch has been lit for at least 75 turns *)
PrintMessage 21 (* Your torch is flickering and growing weaker *)
CounterEquals 2 100 (* Torch has been lit for 100 turns *)
PrintMessage 22 (* The torch finally goes out! *)
TurnCounterOFF 2 (* Torch has gone out, so turn torch counter OFF *)
SwapLocations 210 211 (* swap blazing torch for unlit torch *)
END_COMMAND
In this meta-command, Counter number 2 is used to keep track of the number of
turns that the torch has been blazing. If the blazing torch isn't being
carried by the player or in the current room, the very first condition is
FALSE and AGT would skip ahead to the next meta-command -- i.e., no further
tokens in this meta-command would be considered. However, if the blazing
torch was present in the room, AGT would consider the second condition,
specifically, if the torch has been blazing for more than 75 turns. If it
has, then the next token would cause message 21 to be printed. Then the next
token would test if the torch has been blazing for exactly 100 turns. If it
hasn't, then AGT skips ahead to the next meta-command in the .CMD file. If
the torch has been blazing for exactly 100 turns, then the last three tokens
(all action tokens) are processed and message 22 is printed, the blazing torch
counter is turned OFF, and an unlit torch (noun number 211) is swapped for the
blazing torch (noun number 210). For example, the above meta-command might be
rewritten in pseudo-PASCAL:
IF (Verb = 'ANY') THEN (* ANY and ALL commands *)
IF Present(210) THEN (* Blazing torch *)
IF (Counter[2] > 75) THEN (* Torch burning for more than 75 turns *)
BEGIN
PrintMessage(21); (* The torch is growing weaker. *)
IF (Counter[2] = 100) THEN (* Torch burning exactly 100 turns *)
BEGIN
PrintMessage(22); (* The torch goes out. *)
TurnCounterOFF(2); (* Turn burn counter off *)
SwapLocations(210,211); (* Swap for unlit torch *)
END;
END;
META-COMMANDS CONDITIONAL TESTS
The are a total of 84 separate condition tokens in AGT. Since each of this
conditions may be prefaced by a NOT condition, there are actually a total of
168 conditional tests possible within a meta-command. These conditional tests
divide into several logical groups:
- Tests about the player's status and/or condition
- Tests about the status/condition of specific item(s)
- Tests about the status/condition of the current NOUN
- Other miscellaneous tests
Let's consider each of these logical groups in order. First, tests about the
player's status and/or condition:
*********************** PLAYER CONDITIONS ******************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
44
AtLocation 1 Location# Player is located at room Location#
AtLocationGT 1 Location# Player is in room greater than Location#
AtLocationLT 1 location# Player is in room less than Location#
FirstVisitToRoom 0 None First visit to current room
IsCarryingSomething 0 None Player is carrying something
IsCarryingNothing 0 None Player is carrying nothing
IsCarryingTreasure 1 Points# Player is carrying at least one item
that is worth at least Points#
IsWearingSomething 0 None Player is wearing something
IsWearingNothing 0 None Player is wearing nothing
LoadWeightEquals 1 Number Player's load weighs equals Number
LoadWeightGT 1 Number Player's load weighs more than Number
LoadWeightLT 1 Number Player's load weighs less than Number
NewLife 0 None Player has just been resurrected or
it is the start of the game
All these tokens test conditions about the player current status, i.e., where
he is/isn't located, if he is/isn't wearing or carrying something, and if his
current load weighs a certain amount. All these conditions are obvious except
for
IsCarryingTreasure 10 (* Has something worth at least 10 points *)
which might be used to test whether it is appropriate to have some type of
thief (randomly) rob the player of his valuables.
The second group of conditions test the status of various items or nouns:
*********************** ITEM(S) CONDITIONS *****************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
Present 1 Item# Item# is in room, carried or worn
IsWearing 1 Item# Item# is being worn
IsCarrying 1 Item# Item# is being carried
IsNowhere 1 Item# Item# is located NOWHERE (room 0)
IsSomewhere 1 Item# Item# is located somewhere (not in 0)
InRoom 1 Item# Item# is located in current room
IsLocated 2 Item# Loc# Item# is located in room Location#
Together 2 Itm1# Itm2# Itm1# and Itm2# are in same place
IsON 1 Item# Item# is ON
IsOFF 1 Item# Item# is OFF
IsOpen 1 Item# Item# is Open
IsClosed 1 Item# Item# is Closed
IsLocked 1 Item# Item# is Locked
IsUnLocked 1 Item# Item# is UnLocked
IsEdible 1 Item# Item# is Edible
IsDrinkable 1 Item# Item# is Drinkable
IsPoisonous 1 Item# Item# is Poisonous
IsMovable 1 Item# Item# is Movable
IsGroupMember 1 Item# Item# is a member of the group
All but two of the above tokens require one parameter: the number of the item
for which the conditional test is being considered. Examples of these two
exceptions are:
IsLocated 205 34 (* Tests if Noun number 205 is in Room 34 *)
Together 256 257 (* Tests if Nouns 256 and 257 are together *)
45
The next group of conditional tokens is similar to the above except that they
are tests for the current NOUN which has been input, not a specific item:
************************ NOUN CONDITIONS *******************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
NOUNPresent 0 None NOUN is in room, carried or worn
NOUNIsWearing 0 None NOUN is being worn
NOUNIsCarrying 0 None NOUN is being carried
NOUNIsNowhere 0 None NOUN is located NOWHERE (room 0)
NOUNIsSomewhere 0 None NOUN is located somewhere (not in room 0)
NOUNInRoom 0 None NOUN is located in current room
NOUNIsLocated 1 Location# NOUN is located in room Location#
NOUNIsON 0 None NOUN is ON
NOUNIsOFF 0 None NOUN is OFF
NOUNIsOpen 0 None NOUN is Open
NOUNIsClosed 0 None NOUN is Closed
NOUNIsLocked 0 None NOUN is Locked
NOUNIsUnLocked 0 None NOUN is UnLocked
NOUNIsEdible 0 None NOUN is Edible
NOUNIsDrinkable 0 None NOUN is Drinkable
NOUNIsPoisonous 0 None NOUN is Poisonous
NOUNIsMovable 0 None NOUN is Movable
NOUNpointsEquals 1 Number NOUN's points equal Number
NOUNpointsGT 1 Number NOUN's points are greater than Number
NOUNpointsLT 1 Number NOUN's points are less than Number
NOUNweightEquals 1 Number NOUN's weight equals Number
NOUNweightGT 1 Number NOUN's weight is greater than Number
NOUNweightLT 1 Number NOUN's weight is less than Number
The above tokens are especially useful if the game designer wants to create
his own unique standard default responses to situations, rather than relying
on the normal AGT responses. For example, below are new default responses for
the verb GET:
COMMAND GET ANY
NOUNInRoom (* NOUN is in current room *)
NOUNIsMovable (* NOUN can be moved *)
LoadWeightLT 90 (* carrying less than 90 pounds *)
NOUNweightLT 11 (* NOUN is less than 11 pounds *)
GetNOUN (* Add NOUN to items being carried *)
PrintMessage 1 (* You add the $NOUN$ to your load. *)
DoneWithTurn (* Nothing more required for this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND GET ANY
NOUNIsCarrying (* NOUN is currently being carried *)
PrintMessage 2 (* You already have it, Stupid! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Nothing more required for this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND GET ANY
NOT NOUNPresent (* NOUN is NOT present *)
PrintMessage 3 (* The $NOUN$ isn't here, you oaf! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Nothing more required for this turn *)
END_COMMAND
46
COMMAND GET ANY
NOT NOUNIsMovable (* NOUN cannot be moved *)
PrintMessage 4 (* Sorry, but the $NOUN$ cannot be moved! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Nothing more required for this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND GET ANY
NOUNIsMovable (* NOUN can be moved *)
LoadWeightGT 89 (* carrying 90 pounds or more already *)
PrintMessage 5 (* Your load is too heavy to carry the $NOUN$. *)
DoneWithTurn (* Nothing more required for this turn *)
END_COMMAND
A series of COMMANDS like these is processed sequentially by their order of
appearance in the .CMD file. As a result, the COMMAND's order is very
important! For example, if the player gave the input GET STATUE and the
statue was not in the room and was also not movable, the error message "The
statue isn't here, you oaf!" would be printed rather than "Sorry, but the
statue cannot be moved!" because of the order of their respective COMMANDS
above (or in the .CMD file).
The last group of conditional tokens is a catch-all:
******************** MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS **************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
NamePresent 0 None Addressee is present in current room
NameIsNumber 1 Number Addressee is Creature or Noun number
LightPresent 0 None Current room has necessary light
RoomNeedsLight 0 None Current room needs a light
FlagON 1 Flag# Flag# is ON
FlagOFF 1 Flag# Flag# is OFF
ScoreEquals 1 Number Current score is equal to Number
ScoreGT 1 Number Score is greater than Number
ScoreLT 1 Number Score is less than Number
NumberEquals 1 Number Number input is equal to Number
NumberGT 1 Number Number is greater than Number
NumberLT 1 Number Number is less than Number
AnswerIsCorrect 0 None Last answer was correct
AnswerIsWrong 0 None Last answer was wrong
TurnsEquals 1 Number Number of turns is equal to Number
TurnsGT 1 Number Number of turns is greater than Number
TurnsLT 1 Number Number of turns is less than Number
CounterEquals 2 Ctr# Number Counter# is equal to Number
CounterGT 2 Ctr# Number Counter# is greater than Number
CounterLT 2 Ctr# Number Counter# is less than Number
VariableEquals 2 Var# Number Variable# is equal to Number
VariableGT 2 Var# Number Variable# is greater than Number
VariableLT 2 Var# Number Variable# is less than Number
CompareVariables 2 Var#1 Var#2 Variable#1 is less than Variable#2
VariableChance 2 Var# Number Variable# is less than a random number
from 1 to Number
Chance 1 Percent Odds percent, i.e., 10 % chance of TRUE
PromptForYES 0 None Prompts for Y or N -- TRUE if Yes
PromptForNO 0 None Prompts for Y or N -- TRUE if No
47
VerbIsDirection 0 None Verb is movement or direction
Just a few words of explanation about a couple of these. PromptForYES and
PromptForNO cause the player to be queried and to respond by entering a YES
(or Y) or NO (or N) on the keyboard. These conditions are then TRUE or FALSE
depending upon the what is entered. These tokens are particular useful when
you want to ask the player a question that requires a YES or NO answer like
whether he would like a hint. AnswerIsCorrect and AnswerIsWrong are similar
tokens for asking questions which do not have YES and NO answers like asking a
riddle. An example of how to ask a trivia question will be given later in
this document.
The number referenced by the NumberEquals, NumberGT and NumberLT is a number
that the player inputs via the keyboard in response to a GetNumberInput action
token. An example of this sequence of events will be given later.
The game designer has 255 Flags (1 to 255) which can be tested for being ON or
OFF respectively by the FlagON and FlagOFF tokens. There are 9 Counters (1 to
9) and 9 Variables (1 to 9) which can also be tested by various tokens
described above. How to set these Flags, Counters and Variables will be
described in the section on ACTION tokens below.
META-COMMANDS ACTION TOKENS
There are a total of 71 separate action tokens in AGT. These actions divide
into several logical groups:
- Actions involving the player
- Actions involving specific item(s), the NOUN or locations
- Other miscellaneous actions
Let's consider each of these logical groups in order. First, actions
involving the player:
********************** PLAYER ACTION TOKENS ********************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
GoToRoom 1 Location# Send player to Location#
GoToRandomRoom 2 Loc#1 Loc#2 Randomly pick a room between Loc#1 and
Loc#2 and send player to it
GetIt 1 Item# Item# is now being carried
WearIt 1 Item# Item# is now being worn
DropIt 1 Item# Drop Item# into current room
RemoveIt 1 Item# Remove Item# and drop into room
GetNOUN 0 None NOUN is now being carried
WearNOUN 0 None NOUN is now being worn
DropNOUN 0 None Drop NOUN into current room
RemoveNOUN 0 None Remove NOUN and drop into room
DropEverything 0 None Drop all items being carried
RemoveEverything 0 None Remove all items being worn
KillPlayer 0 None Make player dead at end of turn
These actions are all straight-forward.
48
A WORD OF WARNING:
When AGT encounters and processes an action token, it is done without fanfare
or logical checking. For example, if the actions
DropIt 204 (* Put the Rubber Ducky in the room *)
WearNOUN (* Put on or Wear NOUN *)
are encountered, they are done without checking whether the player is carrying
the Rubber Ducky currently or if the NOUN is something that might be logically
worn. The game designer is warned that this kind of logical checking before
taking actions is his responsibility -- not AGT's!
The second group of actions involve items, nouns and locations:
******************* ITEM/NOUN/LOCATION ACTION TOKENS ***********************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
PutInCurrentRoom 1 Item# Put Item# in current room
PutNOUNInCurrentRoom 0 None Put NOUN in current room
SendToRoom 2 Item# Loc# Put Item# in room Location#
SendNOUNToRoom 1 Location# Put NOUN in room Location#
SendAllToRoom 1 Location# Send all carried items to Location#
SendTreasuresToRoom 2 Loc# Point# Send all carried items whose
points > Point# to Loc#
Destroy 1 Item# Item# is now NOWHERE (in room 0)
DestroyNOUN 0 None NOUN is now NOWHERE (in room 0)
SwapLocations 2 Itm#1 Itm#2 Swap locations of Item#1 & Item#2
SendToItem 2 Itm#1 Itm#2 Put Itm#1 in location of Itm#2
SendNOUNToItem 1 Item# Put NOUN in location of Item#
OpenIt 1 Item# Item# is now open
CloseIt 1 Item# Item# is now closed
LockIt 1 Item# Item# is now locked
UnlockIt 1 Item# Item# is now unlocked
OpenNOUN 0 None NOUN is now open
CloseNOUN 0 None NOUN is now closed
LockNOUN 0 None NOUN is now locked
UnlockNOUN 0 None NOUN is now unlocked
AddToGroup 1 Item# Adds Item# to group
RemoveFromGroup 1 Item# Removes Item# from group
MoveGroup 1 Location# Move group to Location#
Several of these deserve some explanation. SendTreasureToRoom is useful when
the game designer wishes to have the player's current treasures or valuables
stolen or disappear. For example:
SendTreasureToRoom 28 9 (* send valuables to room 28 *)
would cause any items that were being currently carried and had point values
of 10 or more to be sent to room 28. Items being carried with values of 9 or
less would continue to be carried. The conditional token IsCarryingTreasure
can be used to test whether such a "theft" is appropriate.
The SwapLocations action token is very useful whenever the game designer
wishes to change the status or condition of an item. For example, this action
can be used to replace a closed door with an open door, or to replace an egg
with egg shell pieces (when the player gives the input BREAK EGG), or to
49
replace a small plant with a larger plant (when the player inputs the command
WATER PLANT), or to replace a frog with a handsome prince (when the player
inputs KISS FROG). A very useful and powerful token!
The last group of actions do a variety of tasks:
******************* MISCELLANEOUS ACTION TOKENS ****************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
ShowScore 0 None Show current SCORE
PlusScore 1 Number Add Number to current SCORE
MinusScore 1 Number Subtract Number from current SCORE
ShowInventory 0 None Show current INVENTORY
WaitForReturn 0 None Print 'Hit RETURN' message and wait
TimePasses 0 None Show 'Time passes...' message
Delay 1 Number Delay for Number seconds
ClearScreen 0 None Clear screen
DescribeThing 1 Number Describe thing Number (whatever)
LookAtRoom 0 None Cause a VERBOSE look at room
Tone 2 Hz Ms Makes a tone on speaker of Hz Hertz (440
Hertz = A on piano) for Ms milliseconds
PrintMessage 1 Number Print message Number in .MSG file
RandomMessage 2 Num1 Num2 Randomly picks a message from Num1 to
Num2 in .MSG file and prints it
BlankLine 0 None Print a blank line
GetNumberInput 2 Num1 Num2 Prompt for player to input a Number
where Num1 <= Number <= Num2.
If Num1=Num2, then no range will be
given in prompt.
AskQuestion 1 Question# Ask and get answer to question#
ChangePassageway 2 Dir# Loc# Create or close a passageway
from current_room to Loc# via Dir#.
Dir# = 1 = north ... Dir # = 12 = exit.
If Loc# = 0 then closes passageway.
If Loc# <> 0 then opens passageway
to room Loc# via direction Dir#.
Passageways are opened or closed at
both ends simultaneously!
TurnFlagON 1 Flag# Turn Flag# ON
TurnFlagOFF 1 Flag# Turn Flag# OFF
ToggleFlag 1 Flag# Toggle Flag#
TurnCounterON 1 Counter# Turn Counter# ON -- sets to 1
TurnCounterOFF 1 Counter# Turn Counter# OFF -- sets to 0
SetVariableTo 2 Var# Number Set Variable Var# to Number
AddToVariable 2 Var# Number Add Number to Var#
SubtractFromVariable 2 Var# Number Subtract Number from Var#
AddVariables 2 Var#1 Var#2 Add Var#2 and Var#1 and put answer
into Var#1
SubtractVariables 2 Var#1 Var#2 Subtract Var#2 from Var#1 and put answer
into Var#1
RandomVariable 2 Var# Number Set Var# to a random number between 1
and Number
NounToVariable 1 Var# Set Var# to value of noun
ObjectToVariable 1 Var# Set Var# to value of object
WinGame 0 None Player wins game at end of turn
EndGame 0 None Game ends at end of turn
QuitThisCMD 0 None Quit evaluating this CMD
50
QuitAllCMDs 0 None Finished with all meta-commands
DoneWithTurn 0 None All Done this turn -- get input next
ReDirectTo 0 None See explanation that follows below.
SPECIAL META-COMMAND SITUATIONS
There are some very powerful (and potentially confusing) actions above! Some
words of explanation and some examples are in order. Specific topics to be
covered below are Flags, Counters, Variables, Number Input, Asking and
Answering Questions, Opening and Closing Passageways Between Rooms, and Meta-
command Redirection.
FLAGS
The game designer has 255 Flags at his disposal. They are turned on with the
TurnFlagON token, turned off with the TurnFlagOFF token and toggled with the
ToggleFlag token. They are tested with the FlagON and FlagOFF condition
tokens. The game designer should take great care in selecting and documenting
his use of Flags. Always, explain what each Flag stands for and what the ON
and OFF conditions mean in comments at the beginning of the .CMD file!
Whenever you change the condition of a Flag explain what this new condition
stands for in the game!
When the game starts, all Flags are OFF. This fact can be used to test if
certain initial actions should be taken, such as, making sure the flashlight's
batteries are fresh. When the game is SAVEd and RESTOREd the condition of the
Flags, Counters and Variables is also SAVEd and RESTOREd.
DEBUG FLAG
There is a Flag number 0 which is used by AGT to toggle the debugging mode of
meta-commands. When Flag 0 is ON then each meta-command being considered will
be output to the screen. By giving the input command SCRIPT you can also
route this information to the printer. This capability can be invaluable when
you are trying to fathom a complex meta-command "bug". The best way to use
this capability in your game is to define a custom verb like DEBUG in the verb
synonym section of the .DAT file and then define a meta-command like:
COMMAND DEBUG
ToggleFlag 0 (* Toggles meta-command Debug mode *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
Both the sample games CAVE and CRUSADE have this capability. Try it in one of
those games to see how it works.
COUNTERS
There are 9 Counters (1 to 9) in AGT that can be turned ON with the
TurnCounterON token and turned OFF with the TurnCounterOFF token. When a
counter is ON, it is automatically incremented at each turn of the game. When
a counter is OFF, it is set to zero and is not incremented. The condition of
these counters can be tested using the CounterEquals, CounterGT and CounterLT
conditional tokens. Using counters is very useful for such things as keeping
51
track of the number of turns (1) a torch is lit, (2) a player has been
underwater using an aqua-lung, or (3) a time-bomb has been ticking. The value
of a counter can be printed in a message by using #CTR5# (to print counter
number 5).
The game designer's use of Counters should be very carefully commented in the
.CMD file!
VARIABLES
There are 9 Variables (1 to 9) in AGT that can be set to a specific value with
the SetVariableTo token and added to with the AddToVariable token and subtract
from with SubtractFromVariable token. These variables can also be set to a
random value with the RandomVariable token, and variables can be added
together with the AddVariables, and subtracted from one another using the
SubtractVariables token. The condition of these variables can be tested using
the VariableEquals, VariableGT and VariableLT and VariableChance conditional
tokens. Using variables is very useful for such things as keeping track of
the number of times (1) a player has asked for HELP, (2) a player has crossed
a certain rickety bridge, or (3) until a specific event happens (like the cave
closes or the lamp's batteries go out). Other excellent uses of variables are
to keep track of various attributes the player may have such as Strength,
Health, Charisma, etc. The value of a variable can be printed in a message by
using #VAR3# (to print variable number 3).
As an example, the following meta-commands in the .CMD file will (1)
initialize the flash batteries to last a total of 100 turns, (2) decrement a
variable for every turn the light is ON, (3) issue warnings when the battery
will last 20 turns or less, (4) "kill" the flashlight when the batteries
finally go out, (5) turn the flashlight ON and OFF with the input commands
LIGHT and EXTINGUISH.
; Comments
; Flag 1 is OFF at start of game and ON otherwise
; Flag 2 is OFF if the flashlight is OFF and ON if it is ON
; Variable 5 will count down the life of the battery
; Noun 200 is FlashLight in OFF condition
; Noun 201 is FlashLight in ON condition
; Noun 202 is FlashLight in DEAD condition
; ANY meta-command -- tried at each turn of game
COMMAND ANY
FlagOFF 1 (* First turn of game -- initialize Battery life *)
SetVariableTo 5 100 (* Battery life set to 100 turns *)
TurnFlagON 1 (* Initialization process is now over *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
FlagON 2 (* Flashlight is turned ON *)
SubtractFromVariable 5 1 (* Decrement Battery life count *)
END_COMMAND
52
COMMAND ANY
FlagON 2 (* Flashlight is turned ON *)
Present 201 (* No reason to give warning unless Flashlight here *)
VariableGT 5 0 (* At least one more turn left in batteries *)
VariableLT 5 21 (* Only a few more turns left in batteries *)
PrintMessage 22 (* Flashlight will last only #VAR5# more turns! *)
VariableEquals 5 20 (* Only print next message once *)
PrintMessage 23 (* You had better save your batteries! *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
FlagON 2 (* Flashlight is turned ON *)
VariableEquals 5 0 (* The batteries are finally dead! *)
TurnFlagOFF 2 (* Turn it off for the last time! *)
SwapLocations 201 202 (* Swap ON Flashlight for DEAD one *)
Present 202 (* No reason to give message unless Flashlight here *)
PrintMessage 24 (* The Flashlight's batteries are dead!! *)
END_COMMAND
etc... for other ANY meta-commands
; Specific Vocabulary meta-command -- tried only if WORDS match
COMMAND LIGHT FLASHLIGHT
Present 200 (* OFF flashlight is present *)
TurnFlagON 2 (* Flashlight is turned ON *)
SwapLocations 200 201 (* Swap OFF Flashlight for ON one *)
PrintMessage 25 (* The flashlight is ON and shining brightly! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND LIGHT FLASHLIGHT
Present 201 (* ON flashlight is present *)
PrintMessage 26 (* The flashlight is already ON, dummy! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND LIGHT FLASHLIGHT
Present 202 (* DEAD flashlight is present *)
PrintMessage 27 (* Sorry, but the batteries are dead! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND EXTINGUISH FLASHLIGHT
Present 201 (* ON flashlight is present *)
TurnFlagOFF 2 (* Flashlight is turned OFF *)
SwapLocations 200 201 (* Swap OFF Flashlight for ON one *)
PrintMessage 28 (* The flashlight is now off! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND EXTINGUISH FLASHLIGHT
Present 200 (* OFF flashlight is present *)
OR
Present 202 (* DEAD flashlight is present *)
PrintMessage 29 (* The flashlight is already OFF! *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
53
Needless to say, the game designer's use of Variables should be very carefully
commented in your .CMD file!
NUMBER INPUT
By using meta-commands it is possible to accept number input from the player
during the course of the game and to test the number he has input. An
example of where such a capability might be appropriate is having the player
open a combination safe. An example of use, GetNumberInput 4 20 would cause
the player to be prompted as follows:
"What number (from 4 to 20) ? "
This prompt would be repeated until the player entered a number in the correct
range (i.e., an integer from 4 to 20). If the game designer didn't want to
limit the input number to a specific range, both parameters should be equal.
For example, GetNumberInput 0 0 would cause the prompt to be
"What number ? "
Once input, the number can be tested by using the NumberEquals, NumberGT, and
NumberLT conditional tokens.
Another way that AGT will allow number input is as the Noun or Object within
an input command. For example, let's say the player is in an elevator and he
needs to push a button corresponding to a floor. Commands like "PUSH 3" will
be accepted by the AGT parser. The Noun "3" can then be assigned to a
variable using the NounToVariable token, tested using the VariableEquals
token, then the player would be sent to the appropriate floor. For example,
the following series of meta-commands will enable the player to go to any one
of four floors by giving the correct command.
COMMAND PUSH ANY
SetVariableTo 2 0 (* Set Variable #2 to 0 *)
AtLocation 14 (* In Elevator *)
NounToVariable 2 (* Set Variable #2 to floor number {if any} *)
VariableEquals 2 1 (* Did player push 1? *)
GoToRoom 21 (* Move player to 1st floor *)
PrintMessage 121 (* The Elevator glides to #VAR2# and you exit. *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND PUSH ANY
AtLocation 14 (* In Elevator *)
VariableEquals 2 2 (* Did player push 2? *)
GoToRoom 22 (* Move player to 2nd floor *)
PrintMessage 121 (* The Elevator glides to #VAR2# and you exit. *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
54
COMMAND PUSH ANY
AtLocation 14 (* In Elevator *)
VariableEquals 2 3 (* Did player push 3? *)
GoToRoom 23 (* Move player to 3rd floor *)
PrintMessage 121 (* The Elevator glides to #VAR2# and you exit. *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND PUSH ANY
AtLocation 14 (* In Elevator *)
VariableEquals 2 4 (* Did player push 4? *)
GoToRoom 24 (* Move player to 4th floor *)
PrintMessage 121 (* The Elevator glides to #VAR2# and you exit. *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND PUSH ANY
AtLocation 14 (* In Elevator *)
NOT VariableEquals 2 0 (* Did player push a number? *)
PrintMessage 34 (* This Elevator only has four floors. *)
DoneWithTurn (* Finished with this turn *)
END_COMMAND
ASKING AND ANSWERING QUESTIONS
Asking and answering questions can be handled by using several meta-commands.
For example, let's assume we want to ask the trivia question "What is the
largest human organ?" to which the correct answer is "skin". We would specify
the question and answer in the .DAT file as follows:
QUESTION 3 WHAT IS THE LARGEST HUMAN ORGAN?
ANSWER 3 SKIN
Then the following meta-commands would ask the question and give an
appropriate response based on whether the answer given was right or wrong:
COMMAND Verb Noun or ANY
various conditions
AskQuestion 3 (* ask it and get answer *)
TurnFlagON 255 (* temporary flag to test correctness of answer *)
AnswerIsCorrect (* tests if answer is correct *)
TurnFlagOFF 255 (* turn temporary flag off because answer right *)
PrintMessage 29 (* Fantastic, you got it right!! *)
PlusScore 10 (* Give player 10 points for correct answer *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND Same Verb Noun or ANY
FlagON 255 (* temporary flag not turned off in previous COMMAND *)
TurnFlagOFF 255 (* turn temporary flag off now *)
PrintMessage 30 (* Sorry, you got it wrong!! *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
When a question is asked and a response is given, the correct answer is
matched against the response by looking for the answer anywhere in the
response. This means that any of the following responses would be considered
55
correct by AGT:
SKIN
I THINK THE ANSWER IS SKIN
THE CORRECT RESPONSE IS "SKIN"
ANYONE KNOWS IT IS SKIN, YOU TURKEY COMPUTER!
The game designer can have up to 9 sets of questions and answers (1 to 9) in
the .DAT file. They could form the basis for a series of riddles that must be
answered during the course of the adventure in order to get all the points and
win the game.
OPENING AND CLOSING PASSAGEWAYS BETWEEN ROOMS
The ChangePassageway token can be used in a meta-command to open or close
passageways between rooms during the game. For example, to open a secret
passage between room 3 and room 7 when the command SESAME is given could be
done with the following:
COMMAND SESAME
AtLocation 3 (* Player is at location 3 *)
InRoom 203 (* Solid stone wall *)
ChangePassageway 2 7 (* open passage South(2) to room 7 *)
SwapLocations 203 204 (* Swap solid wall for wall with door in it *)
SwapLocations 227 228 (* Swap for wall with door in room 7 also *)
PrintMessage 21 (* At the sound of your voice, a large doorway *)
(* magically appears where a stone wall once was. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
Once this meta-command has opened the passageway between these rooms, the
player could go to room 7 from room 3 by giving the SOUTH, or conversely go to
room 3 from room 7 by giving the command NORTH. The passageway is opened in
both rooms in opposite directions.
The same token can be used to close a passageway as well. For example, if the
statue in the treasure room was "booby-trapped", a command of GET STATUE might
cause an avalanche of rocks to close the west exit from the treasure room as
follows:
COMMAND GET STATUE
AtLocation 23 (* Player is in the Treasure room *)
InRoom 245 (* statue *)
FlagOFF 3 (* Booby trap has not been tripped (yet) if OFF *)
TurnFlagON 3 (* It has now been tripped *)
ChangePassageway 4 0 (* close(0) passageway to the West(4) *)
SwapLocations 211 212 (* Swap doorway with jumble of rocks *)
SwapLocations 213 214 (* Put jumble of rocks in other room also *)
PrintMessage 25 (* As you pick up the statue, a lever underneath *)
(* pops up. There is a terrible crash and an *)
(* avalanche of rocks buries the doorway!! *)
GetIt 245 (* You wanted it -- You got it!! *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
The numbers corresponding to the various directions are as follows:
56
1 - North 5 - NorthEast 9 - Up
2 - South 6 - NorthWest 10 - Down
3 - East 7 - SouthEast 11 - Enter
4 - West 8 - SouthWest 12 - Exit
META-COMMAND REDIRECTION
Meta-commands can be redirected to other meta-commands. The principal use of
this capability is when there are several player input commands which should
be handled by the game in the same way. For example, in the CAVE adventure,
we want the same series of meta-commands to be used if the player enters
"WATER THE PLANT" or "POUR WATER ON THE PLANT". With meta-command
redirection, the series of meta-commands we wish to use needs to be given only
once in the .CMD file. The second use can be simply redirected to the first.
For example, let's assume that all of the necessary meta-commands are given
completely for POUR WATER ON PLANT, then the appropriate redirection for WATER
PLANT could be accomplished by the following lines in the .CMD file:
COMMAND WATER PLANT
ReDirectTo POUR WATER ON PLANT
END_COMMAND
Notice in the above example that we redirected the meta-command for a fixed
input command (WATER PLANT) to another fixed command (POUR WATER ON PLANT).
It is also possible to redirect meta-commands for ANY words. For example, if
we wished to redirect the meta-command WATER ANY we could do it with the
following:
COMMAND WATER ANY
ReDirectTo POUR WATER ON $NOUN$
END_COMMAND
Notice that by using $NOUN$ in the "redirected" command, we can "map" the
original command's noun (from WATER PLANT or WATER TREE, or WATER whatever) to
the new command's object. This redirected command causes the game to convert
a command to "WATER THING" to act as if the player had actually typed in "POUR
WATER ON THING". In addition to $NOUN$, it is also possible to use $VERB$,
$NAME$ and $OBJECT$ whenever we wish to "map" these words into another use
within a redirected command. You should not use ANY in the redirected
command, i.e., ReDirectTo POUR WATER ON ANY would make AGT think the player
had actually typed in "POUR WATER ON ANY".
ORGANIZATION OF THE .CMD FILE
Meta-commands like those described above are processed sequentially by their
order of appearance in the .CMD file. As a result, the COMMAND's order is
very important! For example, let's consider a series of meta-commands to
define a new verb FILL. We want to be able to fill a bottle with water or oil
depending upon where we are. We want to break a vase, whenever we try to fill
the vase. Finally, we want to print several default messages, such as "The
bottle is already full.", or "The $NOUN$ isn't here, so you can't $VERB$
it!", or "There is nothing here to put in the $NOUN$." or "You have to be
kidding! You can't $VERB$ a $NOUN$!!" This can be done with the following
seven meta-commands for the verb FILL:
57
; COMMENTS
;
; FLAGS:
; 2 Bottle is full if ON, empty if OFF
;
; NOUNS:
; 225 bottle filled with water
; 226 empty bottle
; 227 bottle filled with oil
; 265 broken vase -- pottery shards
; 263 Ming vase
(1) COMMAND FILL ANY
NOT NOUNPresent
PrintMessage 29 ;The $NOUN$ isn't here, so you can't $VERB$ it!
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
(2) COMMAND FILL BOTTLE
FlagON 2 ;bottle is already full
PrintMessage 105 ;The bottle is already full.
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
(3) COMMAND FILL BOTTLE
AtLocation 3 ;inside building
OR
AtLocation 4 ;valley by stream
OR
AtLocation 38 ;bottom of pit with stream
OR
AtLocation 95 ;cavern with waterfall
OR
AtLocation 113 ;reservoir
OR
AtLocation 141 ;by building
PrintMessage 107 ;bottle is now full of water
SwapLocations 226 225 ;swap empty bottle for water-filled
TurnFlagON 2 ;bottle is now full
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
(4) COMMAND FILL BOTTLE
AtLocation 24 ;east pit of two-pit room
PrintMessage 108 ;bottle is now full of oil
SwapLocations 226 227 ;swap empty bottle for oil-filled
TurnFlagON 2 ;bottle is now full
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
(5) COMMAND FILL BOTTLE
PrintMessage 106 ;There is nothing here to put in the $NOUN$.
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
58
(6) COMMAND FILL VASE
Destroy 263 ;Ming vase
PutInCurrentRoom 265 ;broken vase pottery shards
PrintMessage 145 ;You clumsy oaf! You broke the vase.
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
(7) COMMAND FILL ANY
PrintMessage 109 ;You must be kidding! You can't $VERB$ a $NOUN$!
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
The numbers shown in front of each of the COMMAND's are just for ease of this
discussion. Numbers like these should NEVER actually be included in a .CMD
file, because they would lead to serious bugs!
If these COMMAND's were in the .CMD file in the order shown, when the player
entered a command to "FILL something", AGT would first try COMMAND (1) which
would test whether the "something" was present. If it was not present,
COMMAND (1) would print the default message "The something isn't here, so you
can't fill it!" and the DoneWithTurn would cause all AGT process to cease for
this turn. Only if the something was present, would AGT try COMMANDS (2),
(3), etc.
COMMAND (2) to (5) will only be tried in the "something" was the BOTTLE.
COMMAND (2) would be tried first, and it would test if the bottle was already
full and give an appropriate message if it was full. COMMAND (3), which would
only be tried if the bottle was empty, would test if the player was located in
places where it was possible to get water, and fills the bottle with water if
possible. COMMAND (4), which would only be tried if there was no water at the
current location, would test if the player was at location 24, where there is
oil, and fill the bottle with oil, if possible. COMMAND (5) would only be
tired if the player was not located near a source of water or a source of oil
and it would print a message that "There is nothing here to put in the
bottle".
COMMAND (6) only works if the player's input is FILL VASE. Because AGT got
past COMMAND (1), we know that the vase is present (other wise COMMAND (1)
would have caused an "error" message to be printed). COMMAND (6) causes the
broken pottery shards to be switched with the vase and an appropriate message
to be printed.
COMMAND (7) is the "default" condition for the verb FILL. It is activated
only if the player gave the input "FILL something" and the "something" is
present, but it is not the BOTTLE or the VASE. For example, if the player
entered FILL THE ROCK, COMMAND (7) would cause "You must be kidding! You can't
fill a rock!" to be printed.
The order of these COMMAND's is very important! Specifically, COMMAND (1)
must be first and COMMAND (7) must be last in order for AGT to give the
"correct" and logical default responses to the verb FILL. Further, COMMAND
(2) must precede and COMMAND (5) must follow COMMAND's (3) and (4) in order
for the input "FILL BOTTLE" to work logically. It is important to understand
why the above sequence is critical. Study the sequence again, if necessary.
Besides, the order of COMMAND's for a specific verb (like FILL), it is also
important to arrange the verbs within the .CMD file in a reasonable manner.
59
Specifically, all the meta-commands for each verb should be grouped together
in the .CMD file. For example:
; ANY Commands
(1) COMMAND ANY
.
.
(37) COMMAND ANY
; READ Commands
(38) COMMAND READ BOOK
.
.
(46) COMMAND READ ANY
; SEARCH Commands
(47) COMMAND SEARCH CLOSET
.
.
(54) COMMAND SEARCH ANY
; CLIMB Commands
(55) COMMAND CLIMB ROPE
.
.
(69) COMMAND CLIMB ANY
; SQUEEZE Commands
(70) COMMAND SQUEEZE LEMON
.
.
(82) COMMAND SQUEEZE ANY
.
.
All the ANY meta-commands are grouped together; all the READ meta-commands are
together, etc. Not only is this easier to follow and debug, but it is faster
for AGT to process. This is because, AGT processes these meta-commands using
a variation of a technique called "Indexed Sequential Access Method" (also
called ISAM). What this means is: AGT keeps track of the first and last
meta-commands for each verb. For example, if the verb was CLIMB, AGT would
only consider meta-commands with indices from 55 to 69. But within this
group, AGT considers them sequentially.
60
PART 4: SAMPLE AGT META-COMMAND SCENARIOS
This Part of the manual presents several scenarios where meta-language
commands have been used to create typical game situations. These scenarios
are presented in detail by showing how ROOMs, NOUNs and CREATUREs data are
used in the .DAT file, how messages are put in the .MSG file, and finally how
the meta-commands are written to accomplish the desired effects in the .CMD
file. The specific scenarios to be presented include: (1) defining the
actions for the new verb FILL, (2) a variety of random activities by a castle
guard, and (3) interaction with characters in a Star Trek adventure.
SCENARIO 1: "FIND" VERB ACTIONS
This scenario comes from the COLOSSAL CAVE adventure. In this scenario, we
want to define several actions/responses to the player's input using the
custom user-defined verb "FIND". Pay particular attention to how the player
is offered a hint (for 5 points) if he inputs "FIND CAVE".
In the CAVE.DAT file we would define a custom verb as:
VERB
Dummy_Verb1 FIND
END_VERB
Several messages are needed in the CAVE.MSG file as follows:
MESSAGE 24
You are already carrying the $NOUN$, dummy!
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 57
I don't know where the cave is, but hereabouts no stream
can run on the surface for very long. I would try the stream.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 59
I can only tell you what you see as you move about and
manipulate things. I cannot tell you where remote things are.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 86
Okay, If you're so smart, do it yourself!
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 94
I believe what you want is right here with you.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 116
The Dwarf's knife vanished as it struck the wall of the cave.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 138
I daresay whatever you want is around here somewhere.
END_MESSAGE
61
MESSAGE 143
The hint will cost you 5 points.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 175
Do you want the hint?
END_MESSAGE
The meta-commands for FIND in the CAVE.CMD file would be as follows:
(Be sure and understand the importance of the order of these COMMANDs.)
;FLAGS
;Flag 3 Cave is closed if ON and player is in a room with many sleeping
; dwarves -- who should not be awakened!
;Flag 9 Temporary flag
;Flag 10 A Dwarf is in the room if ON
;Flag 12 Hint about how to find cave has been offered if ON
; FIND meta-commands
COMMAND FIND KNIFE
PrintMessage 116 ;The dwarf's knife vanished.
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND FIND ANY
NOUNIsCarrying
PrintMessage 24 ;You already have it, dummy!
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND FIND ANY
FlagON 3 ;cave is closed
OR
NOUNPresent ;NOUN is here already
PrintMessage 138 ;It must be around here somewhere.
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND FIND DWARF
FlagON 10 ;dwarf in room
PrintMessage 94 ;It is here with you.
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
62
COMMAND FIND CAVE
FlagOFF 12 ;The Cave hint has not been offered yet.
TurnFlagON 12 ;Now Cave hint has been offered
PrintMessage 175 ;Do you want a hint?
PromptForYes
TurnFlagON 9 ;hint has been rejected - so far (Turn Temporary Flag ON)
PrintMessage 143 ;The hint will cost your 5 points
PrintMessage 1 ;Is that OK?
PromptForYes
TurnFlagOFF 9 ;Offer of hint has been accepted (Turn Temporary Flag OFF)
PrintMessage 57 ;Follow the stream to find the cave.
MinusScore 5 ;hint costs 5 points
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND FIND CAVE
FlagON 9 ;Offer of hint was rejected
;(Temporary Flag was not turned OFF in last COMMAND)
TurnFlagOFF 9 ;Turn temporary Flag OFF now
PrintMessage 86 ;OK, if you're so smart - do it yourself!
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND FIND ANY
PrintMessage 59 ;Sorry, I can't tell you where remote things are.
; Default message for FIND
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
SCENARIO 2: RANDOM ACTIVITIES BY GUARD
This is a modification of a scenario from CRUSADE adventure. In this scenario
we want to create a number of encounters with guards in various rooms of the
Baron's castle. We will use only one CREATURE (Guard -- 301) and move him
around from room to room randomly. The player can fight the guard, and will
be thrown into a dungeon cell if he loses, and will cause the guard to be
replaced with an unconscious guard if he wins. The player can wear a disguise
by wearing the Baron's armor. If the guard encounters the player wearing the
armor, the guard will mistake the player for the Baron and leave the room. If
the player attempts to talk to the guard without giving the proper password,
the guard will capture the player and throw him into the dungeon. If the
player angers the guard in Room 11 (a small room -- high up in the sheer wall
of the cavern), the guard will throw the player down to the cavern floor far
below where the player will lose consciousness and later awake with a broken
leg. The leg will take a random number of turns to heal. Before it heals,
the player will be unable to move around.
To give as complete a picture as possible, the needed data for this scenario
will be shown from all three necessary CRUSADE.* files: i.e., CRUSADE.DAT,
CRUSADE.MSG and CRUSADE.CMD. In CRUSADE.DAT we would define the CREATURE,
ROOMs and the various NOUNs needed as:
CREATURE 301
guard
Baron's
You see one of the Baron's guards. He looks very angry.
LOCATION 11
63
HOSTILE
MAN
END_CREATURE
CREATURE_DESCR 301
The guard is about 6 foot 8 inches tall, but he appears even bigger
as he looms over you. He looks mean and is rather ugly.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
ROOM 10
Large cavern
EAST 9
LIGHT 210 (* Blazing torch *)
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 10
You are in a very large cavern with high sheer walls. A passage
leads off to the east.
END_ROOM_DESCR
NOUN 269
walls
cavern
The cavern walls are quite steep. You can't see any way to climb them.
LOCATION 10
UNMOVABLE
NOUN_SYNONYMS WALL
PLURAL
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 269
The walls are very steep and quite smooth. You can't see any
hand or foot holds.
END_NOUN_DESCR
NOUN 219
opening
small
There is an opening in the wall -- high up near the roof of the cavern.
LOCATION 10
UNMOVABLE
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 219
You see a dim light shining out of the opening, but it is
too high and far to see more. It looks impossible to get up to
the opening from your location at the bottom of the cavern.
END_NOUN_DESCR
ROOM 11
Small room
SOUTH 42
LIGHT 210 (* Blazing torch *)
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 11
You are in a small room carved into the sheer cavern wall.
The south part of the room is totally open and looks out
64
on to the cavern floor far below. Be careful not to go south!
There is a doorway to the north.
END_ROOM_DESCR
NOUN 215
leg
broken
You have a broken leg and are unable to move.
LOCATION 0
UNMOVABLE
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 215
Your leg hurts like the dickens! You are quite discouraged because you
will need two good legs to rescue the princess and solve this adventure!
END_NOUN_DESCR
NOUN 230
armor
silver
The Baron's silver suit of armor stands nearby.
LOCATION 24
WEIGHT 25
SIZE 25
WEARABLE
POINTS 10
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 230
The armor is quite fancy, but it still looks like it would be useful
in a fight. It would cover its occupant from head to foot.
END_NOUN_DESCR
NOUN 259
guard
unconscious
An unconscious guard lies at your feet.
LOCATION 0
WEIGHT 200
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 259
The guard's unconscious body lies in a heap at your feet.
You have to step over him as you move about the passageway.
He looks like he will be out of action for a long time.
END_NOUN_DESCR
ROOM 17
Guard's quarters
EAST 16
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 17
You are in the guard's quarters. It looks like a pig sty -- it is so
messy. The door is to the east.
END_ROOM_DESCR
HELP 17
65
Leave quickly. It is very dangerous to linger here!
END_HELP
ROOM 41
Cell
(* No obvious exits *)
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 41
You are in a dingy dungeon cell. There is straw on the floor. The cell
is cold and damp. You are very depressed by just being here.
END_ROOM_DESCR
In the CRUSADE.MSG file we would define these needed messages:
MESSAGE 3
The guard looks at you suspiciously because you neglected to
identify yourself by using the proper password. He knows you
shouldn't be here and decides that he should take you to the
Baron for questioning. He rushes toward you.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 8
What a great idea! You must have played this game before, but
unfortunately you can't do that now. It is still a good idea
and you may wish to try it some other time. But now it is impossible
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 25
because the guard simply won't let you $VERB$ the $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 33
An angry-looking guard suddenly enters the room. He eyes you
suspiciously and begins to move quickly and carefully toward you.
He reaches for his sword, but pauses as if he is waiting for you
to make the first move.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 42
The guard gets mad at you because he knows you aren't allowed here.
He picks you up and throws you over the edge to the cavern floor far below.
He stands at the edge looking down at you and laughingly cries, "Stay out!
If you know what is good for you. Next time, I will get rough!"
He laughs again and that is the last thing you remember as you drift off
into unconsciousness.
When you awake, you find...
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 43
with a broken leg.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 44
Your leg has finally healed. You are now free to resume your quest.
END_MESSAGE
66
MESSAGE 45
The guard looks you over very carefully, but because you are wearing the
Baron's armor, the guard mistakes you for the Baron. "Sorry to disturb
you, my Lord!", he says as he quickly leaves the room.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 49
The guard grabs your throat with his big hands. He squeezes until you can
barely breathe. You struggle and try to pull his hands away.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 50
Finally, you slip into unconsciousness. When you awake you find
yourself in a strange and ugly little room.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 51
At last, you pry his fingers off your wind pipe. Now able to breathe,
you get enough strength to slam your elbow into his gut. He lets
go of you and doubles over. You kick him in a very vulnerable
part of his anatomy and he crumples in a pile on the floor.
END_MESSAGE
In the CRUSADE.CMD we would have several COMMANDs. First, the meta-commands
that cause the random events related to the guard:
COMMAND ANY
NOT InRoom 301 (* Guard *)
NOT InRoom 259 (* Unconscious Guard *)
Destroy 301 (* Guard disappears from room after player leaves room *)
Destroy 259 (* Unconscious Guard's body disappears from room *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
Chance 5 (* 5 % chance of guard appearing *)
AtLocationGT 10 (* Baron's castle area *)
NOT InRoom 301 (* Guard *)
NOT InRoom 259 (* Unconscious Guard *)
PutInCurrentRoom 301 (* Put guard in room *)
PrintMessage 33 (* Guard suddenly appears *)
BlankLine
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
Chance 50 (* 50 % chance of guard appearing in his own quarters *)
AtLocation 17 (* Guard's quarters *)
NOT InRoom 301 (* Guard *)
NOT InRoom 259 (* Unconscious Guard *)
PutInCurrentRoom 301 (* Put guard in room *)
PrintMessage 33 (* Guard suddenly appears *)
BlankLine
END_COMMAND
67
COMMAND ANY
InRoom 301 (* guard *)
IsWearing 230 (* Baron's Armor *)
PrintMessage 45 (* Guard thinks you are the Baron and leaves *)
Destroy 301 (* Guard disappears *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
Chance 25
AtLocation 11 (* room in wall *)
InRoom 301 (* Guard *)
GetIt 215 (* give broken leg to player *)
GoToRoom 10 (* guard throws you into room 10 *)
PrintMessage 42
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
Now the meta-commands dealing with the broken leg:
COMMAND ANY
IsCarrying 215 (* Broken leg *)
VerbIsDirection (* Trying to move *)
PrintMessage 8 (* Sorry, but you can't *)
PrintMessage 43 (* with a broken leg *)
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANY
Chance 20
IsCarrying 215 (* Broken leg *)
PrintMessage 44 (* Leg is healed *)
BlankLine
Destroy 215 (* get rid of broken leg *)
END_COMMAND
Now the meta-commands corresponding to specific input from the player:
COMMAND GET ANY
InRoom 301 (* angry guard *)
PrintMessage 8 (* Sorry, you can't *)
PrintMessage 25 (* Guard won't allow it *)
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND GET ANY
IsCarrying 215 (* Broken leg *)
PrintMessage 8 (* Sorry, you can't *)
PrintMessage 43 (* with broken leg *)
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND OPEN ANY
InRoom 301 (* angry guard *)
PrintMessage 8 (* Sorry, you can't *)
PrintMessage 25 (* Guard won't allow it *)
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
68
COMMAND ATTACK GUARD
InRoom 301 (* angry guard *)
PrintMessage 49 (* It was a fierce fight *)
TurnFlagON 255 (* Set Temporary Flag to ON *)
Chance 25 (* 25 % chance of winning fight *)
PrintMessage 51 (* but you won! *)
TurnFlagOFF 255 (* Turn Temporary Flag OFF now *)
SwapLocations 259 301 (* put unconscious guard in room *)
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ATTACK GUARD
InRoom 301 (* angry guard *)
FlagON 255 (* Temporary Flag was not turned OFF in last COMMAND *)
TurnFlagOFF 255 (* Turn Temporary Flag OFF now *)
PrintMessage 50 (* but you lost! *)
SendAllToRoom 17 (* Guard's takes stuff to his quarters *)
GoToRoom 41 (* Guard puts you in dungeon cell *)
SendToRoom 202 41 (* Put torch in dungeon with you *)
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND TALK TO GUARD
PrintMessage 3 (* chat with guard -- without using password *)
PrintMessage 49 (* It was a fierce fight *)
PrintMessage 50 (* but you lost! *)
SendAllToRoom 17 (* Guard's takes stuff to his quarters *)
GoToRoom 41 (* Guard puts you in dungeon cell *)
SendToRoom 202 41 (* Put torch in dungeon with you *)
DoneWithTurn (* no further action -- get next input *)
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ASK GUARD ABOUT ANY
ReDirectTo TALK TO GUARD
END_COMMAND
SCENARIO 3: INTERACTION WITH CHARACTERS
Let's develop an example of communicating with other characters in an
adventure game. Specifically, let's consider a situation in a Star Trek
adventure game were we wish to be able to experience the following interchange
between several of the standard Star Trek characters and the player, who is
playing the role of Captain James T. Kirk:
You are on the Bridge, the circular room at the top of the Enterprise's
disk. The walls are decked with crew members seated or standing at their
posts. In the center of the room is your command chair. Along one side of
the room is a large viewscreen. The only exit, via turbolift, is aft.
The viewscreen shows the emptiness and vastness of space.
Spock stands alert but relaxed, with his arms folded behind his back.
Chekov sits behind the weapons control console.
Lieutenant Uhura listens intently to her earphones.
At the navigator's station, Sulu sits behind a console of controls.
What now? AFT
69
You are in the TurboLift, a small closet-like room. The Bridge is to your
west.
Spock stands alert but relaxed, with his arms folded behind his back.
What now? WARP 10
Spock: Jim, surely you realize that you are not on the Enterprise's
Bridge. The command "warp 10" is quite inappropriate here.
What now? WEST
You are on the Bridge, the circular room at the top of the Enterprise's
disk. The walls are decked with crew members seated or standing at their
posts. In the center of the room is your command chair. Along one side of
the room is a large viewscreen. The only exit, via turbolift, is aft.
The viewscreen shows the emptiness and vastness of space.
Spock stands alert but relaxed, with his arms folded behind his back.
Chekov sits behind the weapons control console.
Lieutenant Uhura listens intently to her earphones.
At the navigator's station, Sulu sits behind a console of controls.
What now? SCOTTY, WARP 10
Spock: Captain, should you have Doctor McCoy check your eye sight?
Surely, you can see that Scotty isn't here.
What now? CHEKOV, WARP 10
Spock: Your extensive command experience should have convinced you that
better results can be obtained when the appropriate member of the crew
performs this operation. Permit me to redirection your command to the
proper crew member.
Spock: Sulu, warp 10
Sulu: What course should I plot first, Captain?.
What now? PLOT A COURSE FOR QWERTY
Sulu: Plotting a course for the planet Qwerty, Captain.
What now? WARP 16
Spock: Captain, surely you realize that the Enterprise is only capable of
Warp 1 through Warp 12, plus Impulse power, of course.
What now? WARP 10
Sulu: Going to warp factor 10.
To see how this scene is achieved, first let's examine the relevant entries
in the .DAT file. There are only two Rooms in the scene, the Bridge and the
TurboLift; their descriptions are as follows:
70
ROOM 114
Bridge
EAST 2
ENTER 2
EXIT 2
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 114
You are on the Bridge, the circular room at the top of the Enterprise's
disk. The walls are decked with crew members seated or standing at their
posts. In the center of the room is your command chair. Along one side of
the room is a large viewscreen. The only exit, via turbolift, is aft.
END_ROOM_DESCR
ROOM 2
Turbolift: Deck 1
WEST 114 (* Bridge *)
ENTER 114 (* Bridge *)
EXIT 114 (* Bridge *)
END_ROOM
ROOM_DESCR 2
You are in the TurboLift, a small closet-like room. The Bridge is to your
west.
END_ROOM_DESCR
Next, let's see how the Nouns are described in the .DAT file:
NOUN 201
course
ship's
You see the course plotted on the navigator's console.
LOCATION 0
NOUN_SYNONYMS CONSOLE
END_NOUN
NOUN_DESCR 201
The navigator's console shows the ship's course plotted in light blue.
The Enterprise (shown as a red circle) is on course.
END_NOUN_DESCR
NOUN 243
Viewscreen
Big
The viewscreen shows the emptiness and vastness of space.
LOCATION 114 (* Bridge *)
UNMOVABLE
NOUN_SYNONYMS SCREEN
END_NOUN
NOUN 246
Qwerty
First
You notice on the viewscreen: The planet Qwerty below.
LOCATION 0
UNMOVABLE
NOUN_SYNONYMS PLANET
END_NOUN
71
Notice that only the Viewscreen, Noun 243, is in the Bridge, Room 114, at the
beginning of the scene. The other Nouns are initially "nowhere", Room 0, and
will be put in Room 114, the Bridge, when appropriate. Specifically, The
Ship's Course, Noun 201, will be put in Room 114 as soon as a command is given
to plot a course. Similarly, Noun 246, the planet Qwerty -- shown in the
Viewscreen, will replace the empty Viewscreen when the Enterprise gets close
to the planet and assumes orbit.
There are a number of Creatures in the scene. Their descriptions might be
given in the .DAT file as follows:
CREATURE 300
Spock
Commander
Spock stands alert but relaxed, with his arms folded behind his back.
LOCATION 114 (* Bridge *)
GROUPMEMBER (* Have Spock automatically follow player *)
END_CREATURE
CREATURE_DESCR 300
Spock is the only Vulcan member of your crew. He wears a blue shirt with
a gold Star Fleet insignia.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
CREATURE 301
Chekov
Lieutenant
Chekov sits behind the weapons control console.
LOCATION 114 (* Bridge *)
END_CREATURE
CREATURE_DESCR 301
Chekov is sitting at his assigned station pressing keys on the weapons
control panel and monitoring the screen in front of him.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
CREATURE 302
Uhura
Lieutenant
Lieutenant Uhura listens intently to her earphones.
LOCATION 114 (* Bridge *)
UNMOVABLE
END_CREATURE
CREATURE_DESCR 302
Uhura is sitting in her communications station listening to her earphones
and monitoring all of the known hailing frequencies.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
CREATURE 303
Sulu
Commander
At the navigator's station, Sulu sits behind a console of controls.
LOCATION 114 (* Bridge *)
UNMOVABLE
END_CREATURE
72
CREATURE_DESCR 303
Sulu is sitting next to Chekov, monitoring lit navigation console.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
CREATURE 305
Scott
Commander
Commander Scott sits at his console, monitoring the ship's engines.
LOCATION 52 (* Engine Room *)
UNMOVABLE
CREATURE_SYNONYMS SCOTTY
END_CREATURE
CREATURE_DESCR 305
Scott is the best Engineering Officer in the Federation.
END_CREATURE_DESCR
All of these Creatures are initially in the Bridge, Room 114, except for
Commander Scott, who is in the Engine Room, naturally.
Only one other entry from the .DAT file needs to be specified in order for the
scene to work as show, and that is the definition of verbs:
VERB
EAST AFT
Dummy_Verb1 WARP
Dummy_Verb2 PLOT SET CHART
END_VERB
Notice that AFT is defined as a synonym for EAST. WARP is defined as a
"custom" verb so that commands like WARP 9 will be understood by the parser
and the rest of the AGT driver program (RUN.EXE). Integer numbers like 9, 12,
etc., are always acceptable "Nouns" to the parser; however, you must use
meta-commands to deal with numbers as Nouns properly. PLOT, SET and CHART are
all synonyms so that the player can enter PLOT A COURSE, or SET A COURSE or
CHART A COURSE and they will all be treated the same by AGT.
The messages needed for the scene are contained in the .MSG file and are
shown below:
MESSAGE 105
Spock: Captain, should you have Doctor McCoy check your eye sight?
Surely, you can see that $NAME$ isn't here.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 106
Spock: Your extensive command experience should have convinced you that
better results can be obtained when the appropriate member of the crew
performs this operation. Permit me to redirection your command to the
proper crew member.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 107
Spock: Sulu, $VERB$ $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE
73
MESSAGE 108
Spock: Jim, surely you realize that you are not on the Enterprise's
Bridge. The command "$VERB$ $NOUN$" is quite inappropriate here.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 109
Spock: Captain, surely you realize that the Enterprise is only capable of
Warp 1 through Warp 12, plus Impulse power, of course.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 110
Sulu: What course should I plot first, Captain?.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 111
Sulu: Going to warp factor $NOUN$.
END_MESSAGE
MESSAGE 112
Sulu: Plotting a course for the planet $OBJECT$, Captain.
END_MESSAGE
Now for the heart of the scene's interaction, the .CMD file meta-commands.
First, any input command that the player addresses to a valid Creature in the
game will first be tried against a group of meta-commands that are addressed
to ANYBODY. This will happen automatically. For example, consider the
following ANYBODY meta-commands:
COMMAND ANYBODY, ANY
NOT NamePresent (* Addressee isn't here. *)
PrintMessage 105 (* Sorry, but $NAME$ doesn't seem to be here. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANYBODY, WARP ANY
AtLocation 114 (* On Enterprise's Bridge *)
NOT NameIsNumber 303 (* Command isn't being addressed to Sulu *)
PrintMessage 106 (* Spock: You should address appropriate person. *)
PrintMessage 107 (* Spock redirects command to Sulu for you. *)
RedirectTo WARP $NOUN$
END_COMMAND
COMMAND ANYBODY, WARP ANY
RedirectTo WARP $NOUN$
END_COMMAND
The first of the above will be tried for any player command that has been
addressed to a Creature, no matter what the command is. For example, this
command will be tried if the player enters SPOCK, FOLLOW ME or SULU, WARP 12.
However, it would not be tried if the player did not direct his command to
anyone, i.e., it would not be tried if the player simply inputs WARP 12
without addressing it to a specific creature. This first meta-command simply
tests that the Creature being addressed in the command is at the current
location and prints a "error" message if the creature isn't there.
The second and third meta-commands above are tried whenever a player addresses
his command to a Creature (any Creature, however) and the command is to WARP
something. The second meta-command checks if the creature being addressed is
74
Sulu, and if it isn't -- gives an "error" message and redirects the command to
Sulu. The third meta-command would only be tried if the player input SULU,
WARP Something. This meta-command simply redirects the command to WARP
Something, as if the command had not been addressed to anyone.
These WARP Something meta-commands would be defined in the .CMD file as
follows:
COMMAND WARP ANY
NOT AtLocation 114 (* NOT On Enterprise's Bridge *)
PrintMessage 108 (* Spock: "$VERB$ $NOUN$" is inappropriate here. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND WARP ANY
NounToVariable 1 (* Convert Noun to Variable number 1 *)
VariableGT 1 12
OR
VariableLT 1 1
PrintMessage 109 (* The Enterprise can only travel at warp 1 to 12. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND WARP ANY
FlagOFF 1 (* Course has not been plotted yet *)
PrintMessage 110 (* Sulu: What course to plot first, Captain?. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
COMMAND WARP ANY
FlagON 1 (* Course has been plotted already *)
PrintMessage 111 (* Sulu: Going to warp factor $NOUN$. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
The first three of the above meta-commands check for various "error"
conditions and give "error" messages if appropriate. Specifically, the first
meta-command tests if the player is not on the Bridge; the second tests if the
warp speed is outside the acceptable range; and the third tests that a course
has already been plotted. Only if none of these "error" conditions are met,
would the fourth meta-command tell that player that the Enterprise was going
to the indicated warp speed.
There are only two more meta-commands required in order for the scene to work
as shown at the start of this section. These meta-commands are both for the
situation where the play enters a command to PLOT A COURSE TO Somewhere:
COMMAND PLOT COURSE FOR ANY
NOT AtLocation 114 (* NOT On Enterprise's Bridge *)
PrintMessage 108 (* Spock: "$VERB$ $NOUN$" is inappropriate here. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
75
COMMAND PLOT COURSE FOR ANY
TurnFlagON 1 (* Course has now been plotted *)
DropIt 201 (* Put plotted course on Navigator's console *)
PrintMessage 112 (* Sulu: Plotting course for $OBJECT$. *)
DoneWithTurn
END_COMMAND
76
APPENDIX A: STANDARD LEVEL VERBS UNDERSTOOD BY AGT
Meanings of notation:
[required word]
{optional word}
| (means OR, i.e., alternative words)
Verbs that do not require nouns
===============================
N,S,E,W,NE,NW,SE,SW,U,D,
NORTH,SOUTH,EAST,WEST,NORTHEAST,NORTHWEST,SOUTHEAST,SOUTHWEST,UP,DOWN
ENTER | GO [IN | INTO]
EXIT | LEAVE (* directions *)
SCORE (* display score and status *)
QUIT | Q (* end game *)
INVENTORY | I (* list things player is carrying and wearing *)
SCREAM | SHOUT | YELL (* make noise but seldom accomplish anything *)
WAIT (* waste a turn *)
BRIEF | VERBOSE (* change description mode *)
L | LOOK (* repeat full description *)
SAVE | RESTORE {GAME} (* save and restore game status *)
HELP | H (* ask for help *)
SCRIPT (* Echo all output to both printer (LP1:) and screen *)
UNSCRIPT (* Send all output to screen only *)
Verbs that do require nouns (and perhaps objects)
=================================================
LIST | SHOW [EXITS] (* list visible exits *)
THROW | CAST | DUMP [noun]
{[AT | TO | IN | INTO | ACROSS | INSIDE] [noun]}
ATTACK | KILL | FIGHT | HIT [creature] {[WITH] [noun]}
DROP | PUT DOWN [noun | ALL]
GET | TAKE | PICK UP [noun | ALL]
OPEN [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
CLOSE | SHUT [noun]
LOCK [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
UNLOCK [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
EXAMINE | CHECK | INSPECT | LOOK AT | LOOK IN [noun]
(* synonym is "." or "EX" *)
READ [noun]
EAT [noun]
DRINK [noun]
PUT | PLACE [noun]
[IN | WITH | INSIDE | INTO | NEAR | BEHIND | BESIDE |
ON | UNDER] [noun]
PUSH | TOUCH [noun] {[WITH] [noun]}
TURN [noun] {ON | OFF}
TURN {ON | OFF} [noun]
PULL [noun]
PLAY {WITH} [noun]
LIGHT [noun]
EXTINGUISH | PUT OUT [noun] (* synonym is "EXT" *)
SHOOT | FIRE [noun] [AT] [creature]
SHOOT | FIRE [creature] [WITH] [noun]
PUT ON | WEAR [noun | ALL]
77
TAKE OFF | REMOVE [noun | ALL]
ASK [creature] [ABOUT] [noun]
TALK [TO | WITH] [creature] {[ABOUT] [noun]}
TELL [creature] [ABOUT] [noun]
78
APPENDIX B: META-COMMANDS CONDITIONAL TESTS
*********************** PLAYER CONDITIONS ******************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
AtLocation 1 Location# Player is located at room Location#
AtLocationGT 1 Location# Player is in room greater than Location#
AtLocationLT 1 location# Player is in room less than Location#
FirstVisitToRoom 0 None First visit to current room
IsCarryingSomething 0 None Player is carrying something
IsCarryingNothing 0 None Player is carrying nothing
IsCarryingTreasure 1 Points# Player is carrying at least one item
that is worth at least Points#
IsWearingSomething 0 None Player is wearing something
IsWearingNothing 0 None Player is wearing nothing
LoadWeightEquals 1 Number Player's load weighs equals Number
LoadWeightGT 1 Number Player's load weighs more than Number
LoadWeightLT 1 Number Player's load weighs less than Number
NewLife 0 None Player has just been resurrected or
start of game
*********************** ITEM(S) CONDITIONS *****************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
Present 1 Item# Item# is in room, carried or worn
IsWearing 1 Item# Item# is being worn
IsCarrying 1 Item# Item# is being carried
IsNowhere 1 Item# Item# is located NOWHERE (room 0)
IsSomewhere 1 Item# Item# is located somewhere (not in 0)
InRoom 1 Item# Item# is located in current room
IsLocated 2 Item# Loc# Item# is located in room Location#
Together 2 Itm1# Itm2# Itm1# and Itm2# are in same place
IsON 1 Item# Item# is ON
IsOFF 1 Item# Item# is OFF
IsOpen 1 Item# Item# is Open
IsClosed 1 Item# Item# is Closed
IsLocked 1 Item# Item# is Locked
IsUnLocked 1 Item# Item# is UnLocked
IsEdible 1 Item# Item# is Edible
IsDrinkable 1 Item# Item# is Drinkable
IsPoisonous 1 Item# Item# is Poisonous
IsMovable 1 Item# Item# is Movable
IsGroupMember 1 Item# Item# is a member of the group
79
************************ NOUN CONDITIONS *******************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
NOUNPresent 0 None NOUN is in room, carried or worn
NOUNIsWearing 0 None NOUN is being worn
NOUNIsCarrying 0 None NOUN is being carried
NOUNIsNowhere 0 None NOUN is located NOWHERE (room 0)
NOUNIsSomewhere 0 None NOUN is located somewhere (not in room 0)
NOUNInRoom 0 None NOUN is located in current room
NOUNIsLocated 1 Location# NOUN is located in room Location#
NOUNIsON 0 None NOUN is ON
NOUNIsOFF 0 None NOUN is OFF
NOUNIsOpen 0 None NOUN is Open
NOUNIsClosed 0 None NOUN is Closed
NOUNIsLocked 0 None NOUN is Locked
NOUNIsUnLocked 0 None NOUN is UnLocked
NOUNIsEdible 0 None NOUN is Edible
NOUNIsDrinkable 0 None NOUN is Drinkable
NOUNIsPoisonous 0 None NOUN is Poisonous
NOUNIsMovable 0 None NOUN is Movable
NOUNpointsEquals 1 Number NOUN's points equal Number
NOUNpointsGT 1 Number NOUN's points are greater than Number
NOUNpointsLT 1 Number NOUN's points are less than Number
NOUNweightEquals 1 Number NOUN's weight equals Number
NOUNweightGT 1 Number NOUN's weight is greater than Number
NOUNweightLT 1 Number NOUN's weight is less than Number
80
******************** MISCELLANEOUS CONDITIONS **************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
NamePresent 0 None Addressee is present in current room
NameIsNumber 1 Number Addressee is Creature or Noun number
LightPresent 0 None Current room has necessary light
RoomNeedsLight 0 None Current room needs a light
FlagON 1 Flag# Flag# is ON
FlagOFF 1 Flag# Flag# is OFF
ScoreEquals 1 Number Current score is equal to Number
ScoreGT 1 Number Score is greater than Number
ScoreLT 1 Number Score is less than Number
NumberEquals 1 Number Number input is equal to Number
NumberGT 1 Number Number is greater than Number
NumberLT 1 Number Number is less than Number
AnswerIsCorrect 0 None Last answer was correct
AnswerIsWrong 0 None Last answer was wrong
TurnsEquals 1 Number Number of turns is equal to Number
TurnsGT 1 Number Number of turns is greater than Number
TurnsLT 1 Number Number of turns is less than Number
CounterEquals 2 Ctr# Number Counter# is equal to Number
CounterGT 2 Ctr# Number Counter# is greater than Number
CounterLT 2 Ctr# Number Counter# is less than Number
VariableEquals 2 Var# Number Variable# is equal to Number
VariableGT 2 Var# Number Variable# is greater than Number
VariableLT 2 Var# Number Variable# is less than Number
CompareVariables 2 Var#1 Var#2 Variable#1 is less than Variable#2
VariableChance 2 Var# Number Variable# is less than a random number
from 1 to Number
Chance 1 Percent Odds percent, i.e., 10 % chance of TRUE
PromptForYES 0 None Prompts for Y or N -- TRUE if Yes
PromptForNO 0 None Prompts for Y or N -- TRUE if No
VerbIsDirection 0 None Verb is movement or direction
81
APPENDIX C: META-COMMANDS ACTION TOKENS
********************** PLAYER ACTION TOKENS ********************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
GoToRoom 1 Location# Send player to Location#
GoToRandomRoom 2 Loc#1 Loc#2 Randomly pick a room between Loc#1 and
Loc#2 and send player to it
GetIt 1 Item# Item# is now being carried
WearIt 1 Item# Item# is now being worn
DropIt 1 Item# Drop Item# into current room
RemoveIt 1 Item# Remove Item# and drop into room
GetNOUN 0 None NOUN is now being carried
WearNOUN 0 None NOUN is now being worn
DropNOUN 0 None Drop NOUN into current room
RemoveNOUN 0 None Remove NOUN and drop into room
DropEverything 0 None Drop all items being carried
RemoveEverything 0 None Remove all items being worn
KillPlayer 0 None Make player dead at end of turn
******************* ITEM/NOUN/LOCATION ACTION TOKENS ***********************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
PutInCurrentRoom 1 Item# Put Item# in current room
PutNOUNInCurrentRoom 0 None Put NOUN in current room
SendToRoom 2 Item# Loc# Put Item# in room Location#
SendNOUNToRoom 1 Location# Put NOUN in room Location#
SendAllToRoom 1 Location# Send all carried items to Location#
SendTreasuresToRoom 2 Loc# Point# Send all carried items whose
points > Point# to Loc#
Destroy 1 Item# Item# is now NOWHERE (in room 0)
DestroyNOUN 0 None NOUN is now NOWHERE (in room 0)
SwapLocations 2 Itm#1 Itm#2 Swap locations of Item#1 & Item#2
SendToItem 2 Itm#1 Itm#2 Put Itm#1 in location of Itm#2
SendNOUNToItem 1 Item# Put NOUN in location of Item#
OpenIt 1 Item# Item# is now open
CloseIt 1 Item# Item# is now closed
LockIt 1 Item# Item# is now locked
UnlockIt 1 Item# Item# is now unlocked
OpenNOUN 0 None NOUN is now open
CloseNOUN 0 None NOUN is now closed
LockNOUN 0 None NOUN is now locked
UnlockNOUN 0 None NOUN is now unlocked
AddToGroup 1 Item# Adds Item# to group
RemoveFromGroup 1 Item# Removes Item# from group
MoveGroup 1 Location# Move group to Location#
82
******************* MISCELLANEOUS ACTION TOKENS ****************************
Number/Types
TOKEN NAME Of Parameters Explanation
==================== ============= =========================================
ShowScore 0 None Show current SCORE
PlusScore 1 Number Add Number to current SCORE
MinusScore 1 Number Subtract Number from current SCORE
ShowInventory 0 None Show current INVENTORY
WaitForReturn 0 None Print 'Hit RETURN' message and wait
TimePasses 0 None Show 'Time passes...' message
Delay 1 Number Delay for Number seconds
ClearScreen 0 None Clear screen
DescribeThing 1 Number Describe thing Number (whatever)
LookAtRoom 0 None Cause a VERBOSE look at room
Tone 2 Hz Ms Makes a tone on speaker of Hz Hertz (440
Hertz = A on piano) for Ms milliseconds
PrintMessage 1 Number Print message Number in .MSG file
RandomMessage 2 Num1 Num2 Randomly picks a message from Num1 to
Num2 in .MSG file and prints it
BlankLine 0 None Print a blank line
GetNumberInput 2 Num1 Num2 Prompt for player to input a Number
where Num1 <= Number <= Num2.
If Num1=Num2, then no range will be
given in prompt.
AskQuestion 1 Question# Ask and get answer to question#
ChangePassageway 2 Dir# Loc# Create or close a passageway
from current_room to Loc# via Dir#.
Dir# = 1 = north ... Dir # = 12 = exit.
If Loc# = 0 then closes passageway.
If Loc# <> 0 then opens passageway
to room Loc# via direction Dir#.
Passageways are opened or closed at
both ends simultaneously!
TurnFlagON 1 Flag# Turn Flag# ON
TurnFlagOFF 1 Flag# Turn Flag# OFF
ToggleFlag 1 Flag# Toggle Flag#
TurnCounterON 1 Counter# Turn Counter# ON -- sets to 1
TurnCounterOFF 1 Counter# Turn Counter# OFF -- sets to 0
SetVariableTo 2 Var# Number Set Variable Var# to Number
AddToVariable 2 Var# Number Add Number to Var#
SubtractFromVariable 2 Var# Number Subtract Number from Var#
AddVariables 2 Var#1 Var#2 Add Var#2 and Var#1 and put answer
into Var#1
SubtractVariables 2 Var#1 Var#2 Subtract Var#2 from Var#1 and put answer
into Var#1
RandomVariable 2 Var# Number Set Var# to a random value between 1 and
Number
NounToVariable 1 Var# Set Var# to value of noun
ObjectToVariable 1 Var# Set Var# to value of object
WinGame 0 None Player wins game at end of turn
EndGame 0 None Game ends at end of turn
QuitThisCMD 0 None Quit evaluating this CMD
QuitAllCMDs 0 None Finished with all meta-commands
DoneWithTurn 0 None All Done this turn -- get input next
ReDirectTo 0 None See explanation in manual.
83
APPENDIX D: AGT ERROR MESSAGES
ERRORS DURING GAME COMPILATION
------------------------------
Error: "VERB is not a valid verb" -- VERB is not a standard AGT verb, nor has
it been defined (so far) as a synonym for another verb. This error is in the
*.DAT file.
Error: ">>> Ignored: ASCII text" -- ASCII text encountered during reading of
*.DAT file. Text does not correspond to anything normally expected in this
file. Probably, just a comment by the game designer.
Error: "FOR COMMAND VERB NOUN OBJECT -- MAXIMUM DATA SIZE" -- This
meta-command is too big. i.e., too many conditions and actions. Break into
two separate commands for VERB NOUN OBJECT. One COMMAND right after the
other. This is a game designer error.
Error: "Too many commands -- Processing halted" -- AGT only allows 400
meta-commands. The current meta-command being read from the *.CMD file would
have been number 401. This is a game designer error.
Error: "FOR COMMAND VERB NOUN OBJECT -- ILLEGAL VERB" -- This meta-command
has a VERB which the parser does not recognize as a standard AGT verb, a
custom verb or a synonym for a valid verb. This is a game designer error.
Error: "FOR COMMAND VERB NOUN OBJECT -- ILLEGAL NOUN or OBJECT" -- This
meta-command has a NOUN or OBJECT which the parser does not recognize as a
standard AGT noun or a synonym for a valid noun. This is a game designer
error.
Error: "FOR COMMAND VERB NOUN OBJECT -- ILLEGAL TOKEN" -- This meta-command
has something in it that the program does not recognize as a token. Probably,
a game designer comment or a spelling mistake.
ERRORS DURING RESTORING GAME
-------------------------
Error: "File not found, can't restore FileName" -- FileName is not on disk.
ERRORS DURING GAME PLAY
-----------------------
Error: "I don't understand VERB as a verb." -- Try another VERB. Probably a
spelling mistake.
Error: "I don't understand NOUN as a noun." -- Try another word to identify
this noun. May be a noun that does not really play a significant part in the
game, i.e., something described in general in the room description, but not a
separate object in the room. May also be a spelling mistake.
Error: "I don't understand PREP as a preposition." -- Try another preposition.
May be a spelling mistake.
Error: "I don't understand OBJECT as the object of a preposition." -- Try
another word to identify this noun. May be a noun that does not really play a
significant part in the game, i.e., something described in general in the room
84
description, but not a separate object in the room. May also be a spelling
mistake.
Error: "Which NOUN do you mean, the ADJ1 NOUN or the ADJ2 NOUN?" -- Two or
more nouns with the same name are present in the current room. Specify the
one you mean by some phrase that includes the appropriate NOUN's adjective.
Error :"I don't understand WORD as either a verb or a noun". Try another word
to convey what you mean. May be a spelling mistake.
Error: "You need a preposition and an object whenever you try to VERB a NOUN."
Some verbs require prepositions and objects in order to work properly. For
example, PLACE BOOK ON THE TABLE is fine, but PLACE BOOK by itself will
generate this error.
Error: "Too many words in command". AGT allows for a maximum of 12 words in
each part of a compound command (i.e., between AND's and THEN's). Re-phrase
your command to be more succinct.
85
APPENDIX E: VALUE RANGES FOR GAME DEFINITIONS
The following are the valid ranges of numbers for nouns, rooms, and creatures.
DO NOT assign improper numbers to any category, or you will experience
unpredictable (but consistently erroneous) results.
Player Carrying: 1
Player Wearing: 1000
ROOMS: 2 to 199
NOUNS: 200 to 299
CREATURES: 300 to 399
In addition, if the game designer is also using meta-commands, then the
following valid ranges are appropriate:
FLAGS 1 to 255
COUNTERS 1 to 9
VARIABLES 1 to 9
QUESTIONS 1 to 9
MESSAGES 1 to 250
META-COMMANDS 1 to 400
86
APPENDIX F: ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Mark J. Welch is a 1983 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst
[journalism/interdisciplinary (computer science)]. He worked as an editor,
writer, and reporter for BYTE and InfoWorld until August 1986, when he began
studies at the Boalt Hall School of Law of the University of California in
Berkeley. He is co-author of a syndicated column of computer reviews for
lawyers, published weekly in legal newspapers across the nation. He also
continues to write reviews and other articles for several publications.
In addition to games of all types, he is interested in law, programming
languages, politics, applications software, and technology in general. He is
just skilled enough at darts and juggling to embarrass (and possibly injure)
himself and those nearby.
David Malmberg has been active in the world of personal computer since 1977.
He is the author or co-author of five published software products.
His most successful products were the Turtle Graphics series published by
HESware. These two programs have sold over 80,000 copies world-wide, been
translated into Spanish, and won two Consumer Electronic Software Showcase
awards as some of the best software of 1983. These programs are widely used
in schools to teach computer literacy to children and other computer novices.
Dave has also published numerous articles and programs in a computer
magazines. He has been a Contributing Editor of both COMPUTE!'s HOME &
EDUCATIONAL COMPUTING and MICRO magazines. He was one of the principal
authors of COMPUTE!'s FIRST BOOK OF VIC, the best selling computer book of
1983. He has written regular columns on educational uses of computers and on
LOGO for COMMODORE and POWER/PLAY magazines.
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