House 6 Inform Tutorial
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In 1998, David Cornelson put together a set of Inform 6 source files that would help beginners with their interactive fiction education. They are recreated here.
Jump to any of the source code examples: Tutorial 1 | Tutorial 2 | Tutorial 3 | Tutorial 4 | Tutorial 5 | Tutorial 6 | Tutorial 7 | Tutorial 8
Return to main article: House Tutorial (Inform)
! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
! Inform for New Writers
!
! The House - Version 6
!
! Last Modified: David Cornelson - 31-Jan-1998
!
! This work is freely offered to the Public Domain. - DAC 12-12-2015
!
! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Constant Story "The House";
Constant Headline
"^Inform for New Writers^
The House - Version 6^
By New Writer (1998) - Last Compiled: 31-Jan-1998^";
Constant MAX_SCORE 100;
Serial "980131";
Release 1;
Include "Parser";
Include "VerbLib";
!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
! Initialise
!
!-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
!
! VERSION 6 - Adding a non-playing character or daemon to your game
!
! We are going to add a little pink Jarbigruen to our game, His name is Snark
! and he tends to be a little inquisitive. In this version of 'The House', he
! won't really 'do' anything but sit in your arms and blabber a few
! phrases, which of course you can add to at your discretion.
!
! The first thing to do is create the object for Snark. We're going to put him
! in the mailbox. This means that after the '-> Mailbox' object, we need to add
! '-> -> Snark' to tell Inform that he is a child object of the mailbox.
!
! The Snark daemon will be started the first time you open the mailbox.
[ Initialise;
location = Sidewalk;
];
[ PrintRank;
print ", earning you the rank of ";
if (score >= 100) "the greatest.";
if (score >= 80) "above average.";
if (score >= 60) "average.";
if (score >= 40) "below average.";
if (score >= 20) "the barely living.";
"the living dead.";
];
! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
! Locations
!
! In this section we will define our locations. These are "Objects" to Inform.
!
! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Object Sidewalk "Sidewalk"
with description
"You are standing on the sidewalk in front of a house to the west.",
w_to Front_Porch,
has light;
Object -> Mailbox "mailbox"
with name "mailbox" "box",
!
! The 'before' property is used to 'catch' verb commands before Inform
! handles them. In this case, we're going to catch the verb 'Open'.
!
! If Snark is in the Mailbox (which he is at the initial start of the
! game) then we execute some special code.
!
! We are writing a 'function'. Remember that functions may have arguments
! which would be defined before the semi-colon. This is important to
! Inform so don't forget to begin the 'before' function with the bracket
! AND the semi-colon.
!
! Each verb you intend to 'catch' is started simply by the verb followed
! by a colon. The verb's execution ends with the next verb or at the end
! of the function.
!
before [; Open: !
! This function has a special behavior if Snark is
! in the mailbox, which he is in the beginning.
!
if (Snark in Mailbox) {
StartDaemon(Snark);
move Snark to player;
give Mailbox open;
print "~Hey! It's about time! Why are you piddling
around out there? Don't you know I need air? Who
do you think you are anyway, some big adventurer
or something? Pullllease!~, exclaims a small pink
thing from the mailbox.^^~Hi. I'm Snark, the
Jarbigruen!~, he cries in a high-pitched voice
and then leaps from the mailbox into your
arms.^";
rtrue;
}
!
! This is where the default behavior is executed for
! the verb open. We don't have to 'do' anything and
! Inform will know to execute the default processing.
!
],
when_open "There is an open mailbox here.",
when_closed "There is a closed mailbox here.",
has static container openable;
! SNARK, THE JARBIGRUEN
!
! Snark has a lot of different names you can refer to him with so we have to
! put these in the 'name' property. Each name is separated by a space.
!
Object -> -> Snark "small pink Jarbigruen"
with name "snark" "jarbigruen" "alien" "monster" "thing",
description
"Snark, a little pink Jarbigruen, stands approximately ten
centimeters tall, has two legs, two arms with tiny little hands,
a wide-eyed face, and a tuft of yellowish hair on his head.",
!
! We want Snark to stay with the player so we catch a 'drop'
! and 'Insert' before Inform can let that happen.
!
! Except if it's the couch...that's handled differently...
!
before [; Drop,Insert: if (second == Evil_Couch) {
print "You drop Snark onto the couch and the
cushions begin to smother him slowly,
until he completely disappears. After
a few seconds you hear strange noises
and, ** POP **, a pink ball is spit out
of the couch back into your arms!^^
Snark looks up at you and winks,
~Jarbigruen's don't go down very easy,
I guess.~^";
rtrue;
}
print "~Hey! I'm not going anywhere without you!~,
Snark says.^";
rtrue;
],
!
! The daemon property is central to handling the characterization
! of Snark, the Jarbigruen. For each turn the player takes, this
! property is called.
!
! We're not going to do anything complex at this point. Just to
! show that Snark is alive and kinking, we're going to add random
! conversation from Snark. We're also adding the 'switch' statement.
!
! The 'switch' statement is used to differentiate different values
! of a variable or expression. For each possible value, you can
! code a different set of instructions.
!
! The random(10) function will return, randomly, a number from
! 1 to 10. You can make this number anything you like.
!
! We're only giving Snark responses for half of the random numbers
! so he isn't talking all of the time.
!
daemon [; switch (random(10)) {
1: "Snark says, ~Isn't it great to be here!~";
3: "Snark looks up at you with a glint in his eye and
tickles you.";
5: "Snark says, ~You are an excellent adventurer!~";
7: "Snark cries, ~Stop it! Your holding me too tight!~";
9: "Snark rifles through your pockets and sighs,
~Got any candy?~";
}
],
has animate;
Attribute legible;
Object -> -> Letter "letter"
with name "letter" "paper",
description
"The letter is a simple page of notebook paper.",
before [; Consult,Read: "The letter contains a vague story about an evil couch,
but you can't make out anymore detail. Interesting
little tidbit though.";
Tear: remove Letter;
"You rip the letter into tiny pieces that blow away in the wind.";
]
has legible;
Object Front_Porch "Front Porch"
with description
"This is the front porch of the house. There are two doors
leading inside. The door on the left leads west and the
door on the right leads northwest.",
e_to Sidewalk,
w_to Left_Front_Door,
in_to Left_Front_Door,
nw_to Right_Front_Door,
has light;
!
! I've added the attribute 'open' to both of the doors. I figured we'd
! had that lesson and there was no need to repeat it. Both doors will
! be open at the start of the game. You can still close them and lock
! the right one with the key though.
!
Object -> Left_Front_Door "left front door"
with name "left" "front" "door",
description
"The left front door is made of brass.",
when_open "The left front door is open.",
when_closed "The left front door is closed.",
door_to Foyer,
door_dir w_to,
has static door openable open;
Object Right_Front_Door "right front door"
with name "right" "front" "door",
description
"The right front door is made of wood.",
when_open "The right front door is open.",
when_closed "The right front door is closed.",
door_to [; if (location==Front_Porch) return Den; return Front_Porch; ],
door_dir [; if (location==Front_Porch) return nw_to; return se_to; ],
found_in Front_Porch Den,
with_key right_key,
has static door openable lockable locked open;
Object Den "Den"
with description
"You are in the den of the house. The living room is west of hear
and the front porch is to the southeast.",
se_to Right_Front_Door,
out_to Right_Front_Door,
w_to Living_Room,
has light;
Object -> Rock "rock"
with name "rock",
description
"It's smooth and flat, perfect for skipping in a pond.",
before [; Insert,PutOn,ThrowAt:
if (second==Evil_Couch) rfalse; ! Allow the rock to be eaten by couch
if (second==Pond) {
print "The rock skips across the water several times and sinks.
Amazingly, after a few moments, the rock washes up at
your feet. Wow, what an undertow!^";
move Rock to Backyard;
rtrue;
} else {
print "You can't throw the rock at ",(the) second, ".^";
rtrue;
}
];
Object Living_Room "Living Room"
with name "living" "room",
description
"This is the living room of the house. The den is to the east.",
e_to Den,
has light;
!
! And here is our evil couch. Anything put on or in the couch will be
! 'eaten', including you. In fact, by setting the 'deadflag' to 1,
! Inform is informed to 'end' the game because you have died.
!
! Notice we used the 'before' property and the 'Enter' and 'Receive'
! verbs to handle the action.
!
Object -> Evil_Couch "couch"
with name "couch" "sofa",
when_open "There is a filthy, worn down couch here.",
before [; Enter: deadflag=1;
"You are eaten by the couch. As you flail for your last few
seconds, you see Snark beating on the couch trying to save
you, to no avail.";
Receive: remove noun;
"The couch eats ", (the) noun, " and belches.";
],
has static container open enterable;
Object Foyer "Foyer"
with description
"You are standing in the foyer of the house. It seems as though
you can go up a staircase, northwest, or back out the front
door to the east.",
out_to Front_Porch,
e_to Front_Porch,
nw_to Hallway,
u_to Upper_Hallway,
has light;
Object Hallway "Hallway"
with description
"You are in the hallway on the first floor of the house. The
foyer is southeast and the kitchen is west of here.",
se_to Foyer,
w_to Kitchen,
has light;
Object Kitchen "Kitchen"
with description
"This is the kitchen of the house. A hallway can be seen to the
east and an open doorway to the west leads out to the backyard.",
e_to Hallway,
w_to Backyard,
out_to Backyard,
has light;
Object Backyard "Backyard"
with name "yard",
description
"This is the backyard behind the house. There is a pond here.",
e_to Kitchen,
in_to Kitchen,
has light;
Object -> Pond "pond"
with name "pond" "water",
description
"It's a small pond, but wide enough to skip rocks.",
has static concealed container open;
Object Upper_Hallway "Upper Hallway"
with description
"This is the second floor hallway. Rooms can be seen north and
south and a staircase leads down.",
n_to North_Bedroom,
s_to South_Bedroom,
d_to Foyer,
has light;
Object North_Bedroom "North Bedroom"
with description
"This is a bedroom on the north side of the house.",
s_to Upper_Hallway,
has light;
Object -> right_key "right key" with name "right" "key", article "the";
Object South_Bedroom "South Bedroom"
with description
"This is a bedroom on the south side of the house.",
n_to Upper_Hallway,
has light;
! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
!
! Functions
!
! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
[ ReadSub; <<Examine noun>>; ];
[ TearSub; "You can't tear that"; ];
! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
! Grammar
!
! The grammar section includes the file "Grammar" and will later include
! extensions to the standard grammar library.
!
! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Include "Grammar";
Extend "read" first * legible -> Read;
Verb "tear" * noun -> Tear;