The Recipe Book | ![]() |
PLACE COMPLEX OBJECTS
TIME
PLOT PEOPLE
UNDERSTANDING
DESCRIBING EXTRA FEATURES
INFORMATION ONLY
MAP Basic room, container, and supporter descriptions DOORS Basic door SCENERY Backdrops which can only be examined TRANSPORTATION Car which can only be driven on roads POSITION WITHIN ROOMS A pushable box VIEWS BETWEEN ROOMS Basic window similar to a door CLOTHING Basic clothing CONTAINERS AND SUPPORTERS, GENERAL Basic holdall CONTAINERS AND SUPPORTERS, ENTERABLE Automatically leaving an object before trying to take it DEVICES Basic switchable light for a room FRAGILE, DAMAGEABLE, OR MODIFIABLE THINGS Broken and unbroken flowerpots GASES Diffusion of gas through the map, where gas sinks LIQUIDS Flotation of objects MONEY Catalog of juggling equipment with prices OBJECTS IN SETS Deck of cards with identified poker hands OBJECTS THAT ATTACH Computer with numerous components READING MATTER Book with numbered pages SUPERNATURAL OBJECTS (BREAKING NORMAL RULES) Cloak that makes a room dark Clocks that can be SET TO any time Atmospheric background events that occur randomly during a scene YOURSELF DIAGNOSE command COMBAT Corpses left behind when a character dies CONVERSATION ASK made like SHOW when applied to objects REACTIVE CHARACTERS Actions prohibited in the presence of a dangerous character TRAVELING CHARACTERS FOLLOW command GOAL-SEEKING AND SCRIPTED CHARACTERS Escape action for non-player characters only Adverbs used in commands VISIBLE OBJECTS Basic descriptions LIGHTING Dark rooms given non-standard description OTHER SENSES Dark room which relies on other senses when light is off DESCRIPTIONS MODIFIED BASED ON WHAT THE PLAYER KNOWS Box reports whether it has been open DESCRIPTIONS VARIED FOR STYLISTIC EFFECT Adding to descriptions without using "after examining" HELPING AND HINTING Footnote system SCORING AND ENDING THE GAME AMUSING menu shown at the endgame SCREEN DISPLAY Accented and exotic letters and symbols PUBLISHING Producing an EPS floorplan About the examples Phrases applying to specific things PLACE
Carousel Room from which exits lead to random locations
Cave Entrance
Compass directions renamed
Disenchantment Bay 1. The charter boat
Disenchantment Bay 12. Complete playable scenario
Exits added to a room
Exits and rooms listed in the status line
Exits listed when the player tries a wrong direction
Exits only listed in the status line
FIND command
GO BACK command
GO equivalent to GO OUT
GO OUT and GO IN determine most appropriate direction if none is defined
GO UP and GO DOWN determined by room altitude
Map rearranged as player wanders so he finds rooms in order
Map region listed in status line
Maze with randomized room links
Message on leaving a region
Port Royal 1. A landscape from Jamaica, 1691
Port Royal 2. With one-way connections added
Port Royal 3. Divided into regions
Region off-limits to a player without VIP pass
Rooms with sounds of nearby water
Shipboard directions
Sloping landscape on which round things roll away
Travel to a room described
Travel with a pushed object given a new description
Traveling by room name rather than compass direction
Traveling by room name, opening doors on the way
Deadbolted door unlockable without a key on one side
Door described differently depending on where it is
Door kind that describes the destination
Doors that open automatically
Plank bridge breaks on being crossed when the player is carrying something
Readout showing status of all doors
Staircase kind of door which diverts the CLIMB command
Staircase kind of door, always open and unopenable
Basic backdrop
Basic scenery
Evidence hidden until item is searched
Moving a backdrop during play
Scenery taking with a new message
Tinted wallpaper
An elevator which takes the player to alternate floors
Train that makes station stops
Travel requiring a vehicle
Variety of postures
Continuous space with distant objects visible and automatic room description
Continuous space with distant objects visible
Continuous space, simple
Large objects visible from distant rooms
LOOK [direction] command
Signposts to distant rooms
Telescope allowing view of another room
Window connecting two rooms
Window that can be opaque or transparent
Windows in high places
COMPLEX OBJECTS
Clothing kinds
Clothing that layers
Concealing clothing for other characters
INVENTORY listing with separate carried and worn items
Jerseys defined by a table
Pocket added to every jacket
Basic locked container
Basic pushable object
Bottles with removable stoppers
Chest with a supporting lid
Containers referred to by contents
Containers that calculate internal volume and available room
Containers which have a breaking strain
Desk with top, drawers, and lever
Drawers where thing is always in the last opened
EXAMINE always lists contents of containers and supporters
Finding the bottom of a pile
Hiding things under other things
LOOK UNDER shows nothing unless the player has a light
PUT and INSERT automatically TAKE first even with multiples
PUT and INSERT automatically TAKE first
Safe that can be opened with a combination
SEARCH [room] action that opens every visible unlocked container
SHAKE command
Shuffling the arrangement of items in a container
Supporter from which the player cannot take things
TAKE action reports where the noun came from
Automatically leaving an object before trying to travel
Basic enterable containers and supporters
Description from inside a vehicle
DROPPING into and onto things
GET DOWN and DOWN understood as EXIT
Stool, from which dropped objects fall to the floor
Batteries that can power devices and eventually run down
Camera and photograph command
Camera producing instant photographs
Electric light kind of device
Electrified objects
EMF Meter for ghost detection
Lighthouse whose light can shine in different directions
Machine that transmutes objects
Machine to announce progress
On/off button for devices
Radar aboard ship
Radios and other devices active when switched on
Recorder that records sounds made by player and non-player actions
Signpost that can be turned
Telephones reaching distant parties
Telephones with standard American-length phone numbers
Television with aspect ratio
Television with channels, advanced
Television with channels, simple
Weighbridge
Broken flowerpots
Candle that changes as it burns down
Fire that spreads
Food the player can eat without taking it first
Food with ingredients affecting the player
Foods with flavor
Fragile objects broken when things are thrown at them
Fragile things that break when attacked
Fragile things, basic
Hot and cold objects approach room temperature
Multipart objects broken into components by gun blast
Paint that colours blocks
Poisoned candy chosen randomly
Soft objects able to be cut open
String that can be divided and tied together again
Diffusion of gas through the map, with concentrations
Smoke which spreads, not tracking concentration
Liquid container removed when drunk
Liquid container that can be full, depleted, or empty
Liquid containers with measured contents
Liquid model with large bodies of liquid added
Liquid which soaks into porous items
Liquids in mixtures, identified by recipe
Money system including denominations of bills and coins
Money system with simple tracking of player wealth
OFFER price FOR command allowing player to bargain
Deck of cards with individual card objects
Deck of cards
Encyclopedia set
Letters described as a group
Magnet which picks up nearby metal objects
Red sticky label
Rope, able to be tied to things and dragged betwixt rooms
Shirts constructed from component parts
Book with various contents
Bookshelf with numerous books
READ command separate from EXAMINE
Person capable of reaching through solid objects
The Pointy Hat of Liminal Transgression
Wand which reveals a person's concealed possessions
TIME
Cycle of day and night scenes
Instant EXAMINE and LOOK
Scheduling an eclipse
Shops open and close at specific hours
Time expressed in units other than minutes
Turns take 15 minutes each
Turns take a quarter day each
WAIT [number] MINUTES command
WAIT UNTIL [time] command
Waiting repeatedly causes new reactions
PLOT
Commercial break
Flashback scenes, simple
Flashbacks with multiple outcomes
Goal-seeking plot manager, simple
Hurrying the player on a specific task
Moving props on and off-stage as scenes start and end
Resuming play after an accidental death
Sequence of background events that plays out in order
Triggering a new scene when the player does any of several things
PEOPLE
Examining the player
Hunger eventually killing the player
Player controls multiple player-characters in turn
Restrictions preventing inappropriate behavior
Sleep and waking
Randomized Combat with Weapons
Simple Randomized Combat
ASK, TELL, and ANSWER commands rolled into one
Basic character
Child who asks if we're there yet
Conversation based on keyword recognition
Conversation system with recap of past exchanges
Conversation where characters seek logical connection to foregoing topics
Conversation with multiple options for each conversation topic
GIVE command extended
People who must be greeted before conversation
Person who answers questions based on a common pool of knowledge
Person who answers what, where, and when questions differently
Princess who makes various remarks
Substituting insults and boasts
TALK TO command used with scenes
TALK TO usage corrected
To say rules for insults and boasts
YES and NO handled as conversation
Another, distinct from the player
Cat interacting with toys
Concealed pet who would yip at you if it could see you
Disorderly conduct
INVENTORY revised for other characters
Issuing vague commands to characters
People attempting to detect the murderer
People changing their titles during play
People commanded to obey
People who reject categories of instruction
Person who comments on the player's every action
Person who gets fed up after being asked to do many implausible things
Person who obeys almost all instructions
Person with emotions about what is said
Shifting alliances among people
Shifting alliances demonstrating all relation types
Sleeping person who can be woken in various ways
Smuggler carrying hidden items
Multiple people's movements are collated into paragraphs
Person who finds a path to a destination specified by player
Person who follows the player
Person who moves on a pre-determined path
Person who moves randomly
Random characters seen through a window
Randomized pedestrian passer-by
Every turn an opponent plays
Furniture, resentment of
GIVE action for other characters
Murderer chosen randomly at start of play
People who follow a schedule of activities
People who interact with each other each turn
People who move around a party on their own
Person who opens a container before trying to get something from it
Person who picks up treasures
Person who pursues his own goals each turn
Reporting rules for other characters' behavior
UNDERSTANDING
Asking the player a Yes/No question
Asking the player to choose a gender
Characters referred to when absent
Colour names for exotic pigments
Command applying to an object added to the story
Disambiguating based on properties
Disambiguating body parts
Disambiguation question giving items more explicit names
Disambiguation question worded in a new way entirely
Guessing the height of characters
Joke command added
Keywords in place of ordinary commands
Model objects referred to by the thing modeled
Printed names for complex-named objects
REMEMBER command keyed to topics
Responding to questions starting with WHO, WHAT, etc.
Scope approaches compared
Understanding names of things, basic
USE action which divines rational behavior for a wide range of possible nouns
DESCRIBING
Clouds with random descriptions
EXAMINE multiple things at once
Examining everything at once
Height of player affects descriptions
People listed as a group, with their possessions afterward
TAKE prints a description
You see nothing special... message replaced
Light levels variable depending on the number of candles the player has lit
Shiny items are described as reflecting torchlight
Noisemaking gadgets which can be heard with LISTEN
Scope for listening different from scope for seeing
Characters renamed in play
Description related to player preconceptions
Description varying depending on which avatar the player uses
Horribly heavy box described differently after being taken
Infrared goggles affect what player can see and refer to
Object named differently if alone in its container
Object named differently if next to specific things
People introduced by relative
Room description changes after first visit
Room description changes after note is read
Room description changes at each of several visits
Room description given in full each time the player enters
Characters and objects with titles and special articles
Cyclical randomization of named objects
Output repeated
Replacing standard action report rules
Say rules for is-are and it/them
Saying a number in round numbers
Wide and divided variations on inventory
EXTRA FEATURES
HELP command is recommended if the player seems lost
HELP menu from extension, with added content
HELP with a simple menu
Hint access able to be turned off for the duration of the game
Hints leading the player through conversation
Hints leading the player through physical puzzles
Novice mode offers suggestions before each prompt
Death message replaced
FULL SCORE with achievements table and rankings
Plot summary in place of a score
A point for never saving the game
A room where the game cannot be saved
Scored items listed in a table
Banner printing at appropriate times
Blanking the status line before play
Coloured lettering for both z-machine and Glulx
Coloured letters on screen
Command prompt changing to reflect state of combat
Status line with centered text, the easy way
Status line with centered text, the hard way
Producing an EPS map of Greece
Producing an EPS map of Port Royal
INFORMATION ONLY
Backus-Naur form for rules
Formal syntax of sentences
Graph-theory view of relations
Mathematical view of relations
Otherwise if demonstrated
UNINDEXED
Vehicles that make noise