18.14. Procedural rules

| Chapter 18: Rulebooks |

| 18.14. Procedural rules

| This section and the next are about a feature which is being withdrawn from Inform in future. Experience shows there are equally good ways to achieve the same ends without needing procedural rules. As elegant as they were, they often confused users, and they were expensive at run-time (that is, they made everything work more slowly). Withdrawing them from Inform will make it possible to make more efficient story files, and will simplify the language. Before any rule or rulebook is followed, a special rulebook is always consulted first. This is called the "procedural rules", and it starts out empty: so if we write no procedural rules, empty it will remain. Like the points of order which precede a debate, the procedural rules are not intended to contribute to any decision in themselves, but merely to sort out which voices are to be heard when the time for decision comes. Should some rules be waived, or others substituted? Should the rulebook be rearranged, in certain circumstances? And so on. Procedural rules offer enormous flexibility and with them one could deconstruct Inform and put it back together in a very different shape - but in practical situations they will only occasionally be needed. Procedural rules are not allowed to say anything, or indeed to do anything which might have practical consequences; they are only allowed to think about the current situation (if they need to) and then use special phrases (if they choose to) which affect how other rules are to be followed. For instance: A procedural rule: if the player is in the Timeless Void, ignore the advance time rule. Since the "advance time rule" is the one which moves on the number of turns and the clock, this means that the Timeless Void lives up to its name.

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| Example Access All Areas The Pointy Hat of Liminal Transgression allows its wearer to walk clean through closed doors. |
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