| Chapter 8: Change |

| 8.3. Changing the status line

The status line is the black bar along the top of a game being played, which ordinarily displays the current position, score and number of moves taken. Like the command prompt, it is not fixed but results from values which can be changed: the "left hand status line" and "right hand status line".

The default values are "[the player's surroundings]" for the left hand status line and "[score]/[turn count]" for the right hand status line. Score and turn count are numbers which vary in play (there will be much more about scoring later); "[the player's surroundings]" expands to a succinct description of where the player is, be this in darkness, in a lighted room or inside an opaque container such as a large packing case. These make useful elements to juggle in redesigning the status line, as in the following example:

> When play begins:
> change the left hand status line to
> "[the player's surroundings] / [turn count] / [score]";
> change the right hand status line to "Time: [time of day]".

The text in the right hand status line should be kept no more than 14 letters long, including any spaces. The left hand status line has more leeway, but should still be kept brief.

95
| Example Politics as Usual Have the status line indicate the current region of the map.

96
| Example Centered Replacing the two-part status line with one that centers only the room name at the top of the screen.

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