| Chapter 17: Activities |

| 17.20. Listing nondescript items of something

1. When it happens. This activity prints up the also-ran paragraph at the end of a room description. These are nondescript items because they don't merit paragraphs of their own: if, as sometimes happens, there are none in the room, then no such paragraph is printed and this activity does not happen. (So to add a further paragraph to a room description, a simpler "after looking" rule should be used, not an "after listing nondescript items" rule.)

2. The default behaviour. The paragraph ordinarily reads as "You can also see a cask and a clock." or similar. Before the activity begins, those objects which are nondescript - in this case the cask and the clock - are given the property of being "marked for listing". If it turns out that nothing is marked for listing, because of before rules like the one in the example below, then nothing is printed.

3. Examples. (a) Promoting something out of the nondescript category, by unmarking it.

> Before listing nondescript items:
> if the watch is marked for listing begin;
> say "The watch catches your eye.";
> change the watch to not marked for listing;
> end if.

(b) Changing the normal phrasing of the paragraph. Note that we can also change the listing style; the one below is the default.

> Rule for listing nondescript items of the Distressingly Messy Room:
> say "Strewn carelessly on the floor";
> list the contents of the Distressingly Messy Room, as a sentence,
> tersely, listing marked items only, prefacing with is/are,
> including contents and giving brief inventory
> information;
> say "."

266
| Example Happy Hour Listing visible characters as a group, then giving some followup details in the same paragraph about specific ones.

Previous | Contents | Next