Third edition, by Graham Nelson. 4th September 1996
(A full textual version of the manual is available for download, thanks to Stephen van Egmond. See also the original TeX version of the manual.)
if, true and false
else and switch
while, do... until, for, break, continue
quit and jump; saving the program state
random and indirect
move, remove, objectloop
with properties
private properties and encapsulation
give and has
Include; conditional compilation: If...,
Ifnot, Endif; Message; linking in the library; writing new modules
to link in.
Initialise
routine; some properties of mushrooms; name, description and initial;
edible foodstuffs; introducing before and after rules; the stone
steps; self-destructing rules.
<, <<; the action,
noun and second variables (and inp1, inp2); the ## notation;
the standard actions, in Groups 1 to 3; creating new actions, the
Blorple example; fake actions like ThrownAt; how actions are processed,
over Before, During and After stages.n_to, d_to, etc.; when you cant_go;
scenery objects; default rules; rooms have before and after too; a
mist object, present in many rooms, using found_in; the five senses
and reaction rules; direction objects in the compass.
container, supporter, capacity, open, openable; locks
and keys: locked, lockable, with_key; LetGo and Receive to trap
use of a container: a horrifying chasm; the Search action; transparent
objects have visible sub-objects; a television set with buttons.
door; door_to, door_dir; when_open, when_closed;
a stone door for Ruins; a two-way door, the Advent grate; why
door_dir is needed and how to trap every attempt to go through.
switchable and on: when_on, when_off; the Gotham City searchlight;
a sodium lamp; describe taking precedence.
enterable objects: a slab altar; vehicles: KAR 1; special rule about
the Go action when inside something enterable; the PushDir action:
a huge pumice-stone ball; pushing up and down.
Consult action, look up; consult_from and consult_words:
a dictionary of glyphs, Tyndale's Bible; making read and examine
different.
animate objects and the life rule; a mummified priest, Blofeld,
a coiled snake; some people are transparent; orders: actions for other
people; talkable objects; parsing conversation: Zen and Charlotte;
untypeable verbs; fake fake actions; several voice-activated machines;
applications of scope: telepathy and phone calls.
when there
is light; OffersLight and HasLightSource; going from darkness to
darkness and the DarkToDark entry point; modifying the darkness object.
daemon property; starting and stopping them; background
daemons; timers (fuses); time_left and time_out; each_turn events for
places and nearby objects; the time of day; changing it with SetTime; on
the status line; midnight, sunrise, sunset; the exact sequence of events
at end-of-turn.
Initialise should do; the location; initial restoration;
teleportation and the PlayerTo routine; what happens when the room
changes: NewRoom, initial for a room, visited; giving the player his
own before rule; using ChangePlayer to transform him into any object;
multi-character games; life and deadflag; the DeathMessage routine;
resurrection and the AfterLife routine.
Story and Headline; MAX_CARRIED; the automatic rucksack SACK_OBJECT;
amusing rewards for the victorious; two scoring systems: MAX_SCORE,
OBJECT_SCORE, ROOM_SCORE; tasks: TASKS_PROVIDED, NUMBER_TASKS,
task_scores, PrintTaskName; rankings and PrintRank; automatic score
notification and notify_mode; objects and places verbs, removable
with NO_PLACES.
LibraryMessages system for changing messages like Dropped.; changing
the prompt; the last resort, using Replace directives; even on 'hardware'
functions like random.print (The) obj, ... (the) obj and so on; indefinite and
definite article; proper nouns; the short_name of an object;
invent strings and routines; exactly how inventory lines are
printed; a matchbook; describe routines; exactly how rooms
are described; Locale.
WriteListFrom; its style bitmap; examples: tall and
wide inventories; grouping similar items together in lists: foodstuffs,
Scrabble pieces and denominations of coin.
name is used; a fried green tomato turning red; the parser breaks
text into a stream of words; wn and NextWord; reading words as
numbers or from their raw text; a parse_name routine is much more
flexible than name; the ParseNoun entry point; distinguishing
adjectives from nouns.
plural
property for printing out plurals; definition of indistinguishable;
writing parse_name routines to allow plurals to be understood; class of
crowns.
BeforeParsing entry point; the actor and
verb word; synonyms for verbs; definitions of grammar, line and token;
action_to_be; Verb directive: a simplified take grammar; meta
verbs; grammar creates actions; creating an xyzzy verb; how to Extend
grammar for an existing verb: pushing numbered buttons; priority: replace,
first, last; splitting synonymous verbs apart with Extend only; the
UnknownVerb and PrintVerb entry points.
noun and held; implicit
taking; tokens allowing multiple objects like all; filtering out nouns
by attribute: use verb; and by general routine: free verb; parsing
numbers: type verb, ParseNumber; general parsing routines; reading
from the parser's raw text buffer and parse table; exercises, including
French, telephone and floating-point numbers, times of day, adding a
third parameter to a grammar line.
scope=... tokens with
programmable scope; scope_stage, ScopeWithin and PlaceInScope;
changing the global definition of in scope using InScope;
scope_reason; looping over and testing scope; making the rules more
sensitive to darkness; a long room divided by a glass wall; the
add_to_scope property for component parts of containers.
ParserError; ambiguity-resolution and
influencing it with ChooseObjects; making eat prefer edible
objects; redefining all.Abbreviate to save run-time memory.
YesOrNo; the status line; character graphics,
escape characters; proportional- and fixed-pitch fonts, font; epigrams in
boxes and box; menus of text options, DoMenu, pretty_flag,
menu_item; an example menu; submenus are allowed; changing the text
style to bold-face, underlining, reverse video.
@; reliability of interpreters; table of opcodes worth
knowing about; upper and lower windows: splitting, setting the window, moving
the cursor, clearing the screen, word-breaking; the colour scheme; a bell
sound; keyboard reading in real-time; function and cursor keys; tokenising
with dictionaries; encoding dictionary entries; input/output streams; the
stack frame: throw and catch; examples: a title page, drawing status lines,
formatting and centering text.
