| Chapter 12: Advanced Actions |

| 12.9. Check, carry out, report

The normal behaviour of an action is specified by its three associated rulebooks - check, carry out and report. In the case of our "photographing" example, these rulebooks will be:

> Check photographing. Here, for instance, we need to verify that the player has the camera. If any of our checks fail, we should say why and stop the action. If they succeed, we say nothing.

> Carry out photographing. At this stage no further checking is needed (or allowed): the action now definitively takes place. At this point we might, for instance, deduct one from the number of exposures left on the film in the camera, or award the player points for capturing something interesting for posterity. But we should say nothing.

> Report photographing. At this stage no further activity is needed (or allowed): whatever effect the action had, it has happened and is now over. All we can do is to say what has taken place.

So far we have not really gone into the business of what rulebooks are, and we don't do so here either - suffice to say that we can now create whatever rules we need:

> A check photographing rule: if the camera is not carried then say "You can hardly photograph without a camera, now can you?" instead.

In fact, writing "a check photographing rule" is over-formal. We can more simply label our rules like so:

> Check photographing: if we have photographed the noun then say "You've already snapped [the noun]." instead.

> Report photographing: say "Click!"

For the sake of brevity, photography has no interesting consequence (no points to be won, no film to use up), so there are no carry out rules here. Note the way we used the word "instead" once again to stop actions in their tracks.

We can continue to add rules at any point, and a classic thing that happens when testing a new work is that the designer realises there is a case which has not been thought of:

> Check photographing: if the noun is the camera then say "That would require some sort of contraption with mirrors." instead.

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| Example Waxwork Containers and supporters that report their contents when you EXAMINE them.

The actual description of an examined thing is printed in the carry out phase, so whatever we add to the report phase will happen afterward: "Waxwork" Report examining a supporter which supports something: say "On [the noun] [is-are a list of things on the noun]." Report examining an open container which contains something: say "In [the noun] [is-are a list of things in the noun]." That's the whole of what we need to fulfill the requirements of the example -- though beware that, since otherwise undescribed supporters and containers are always described with their contents anyway, this will give redundant results for any supporters and containers that do not have descriptions. So we should be sure to use this only when we intend to provide some description or other for these objects. Then a scenario for testing with: The Bonus Room is a room. The craft table is a supporter in the Bonus Room. The description of the craft table is "A folding table used whenever a major project is in session." A basket is on the table. The description of the basket is "A straw basket with a perky pink bow on the handle." Understand "perky" or "pink" or "bow" as the basket. In the basket is a finished egg. The description of the egg is "Primarily blue and green, with filigree-like decorations in yellow on both sides." On the table are a candle, some matches, and a tablet of pure beeswax. The player carries a wax application tool. The description of the application tool is "It has a wooden handle, at one end of which is a brass fitting: this is shaped like a funnel. The trick is to heat the fitting over the candle flame, fill it with beeswax from the tablet, and then apply thin stripes of melted beeswax from the tip of the funnel wherever they are intended to go on the egg." The brass tip is part of the application tool. In the brass tip is a wax lump. The description of the tip is "Shaped like a funnel." Understand "fitting" as the tip. The player carries an unfinished egg. The description of the unfinished egg is "Ambitiously designed in a celtic knotwork pattern which you have only finished as far as the orange layer." And now, since the room is currently looking quite cluttered at first glance: After printing the name of a container while looking: omit contents in listing. Test me with "x table / x tablet / x basket / x unfinished / i / x finished / x application / x tip". We can easily override this report rule for individual items or types of item with an appropriate After.

163
| Example The Dark Ages Revisited An electric light kind of device which becomes lit when switched on and dark when switched off.

164
| Example Removal TAKE expanded to give responses such as "You take the book from the shelf." or "You pick up the toy from the ground."

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| Example Paddington A CUT [something] WITH [something] command which acts differently on different types of objects.

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