13.10. Defining new prepositions

| Chapter 13: Relations |

| 13.10. Defining new prepositions

The term preposition is used here, a little loosely, to mean anything which we add to the verb to be in order to talk about some relation or other. We have seen many examples already, such as:

> To be in - The ball is in the box.
> To be part of - The lever is part of the slot machine.

These are easier to create than verbs, because Inform already knows the wayward grammar of to be, so we need not give any of the principal parts. Otherwise, the method is exactly the same. Compare the definitions in the following:

> Suspecting relates various people to one person.

> The verb to suspect (he suspects, they suspect, he suspected, it is suspected, he is suspecting) implies the suspecting relation.

> The verb to be suspicious of implies the suspecting relation.

The result of this is that

> Hercule Poirot suspects Colonel Hotchkiss.
> Hercule Poirot is suspicious of Colonel Hotchkiss.

are exactly equivalent, and so are these two descriptions:

> somebody who suspects Colonel Hotchkiss
> somebody suspicious of Colonel Hotchkiss

While most prepositions are short ("in", "part of", "suspicious of"), they're free to be longer if need be ("very far away from"): the limit is 30 words, which should be ample.

We can also define verbs as auxiliaries, like so:

> The verb to be able to approach (he is approached) implies the approachability relation.

Now we can ask if Poirot "can approach" Hotchkiss, and so on. (Here again we need not spell out the other parts of the verb.)

231
| Example Swerve left? Swerve right? Or think about it and die? Building a marble chute track in which a dropped marble will automatically roll downhill. |
RB

232
| Example The Abolition of Love A thorough exploration of all the kinds of relations established so far, with the syntax to set and unset them. |
RB

233
| Example Beneath the Surface An "underlying" relation which adds to the world model the idea of objects hidden under other objects. |
RB

The standard world model provides for the idea of containers and supporters, but this is not the only way that objects can relate to one another in the real world. Here we try adding the idea of concealment beneath another object: "Beneath the Surface" Section 1 - In Which our Terms are Defined Underlying relates various things to one thing. The verb to underlie (he underlies, they underlie, he underlaid, it is underlaid, he is underlying) implies the underlying relation. The verb to be under implies the underlying relation. The verb to be beneath implies the underlying relation. Instead of looking under a thing which is underlaid by something (called the lost object): say "You find [the list of things which underlie the noun]!"; now every thing which underlies the noun is carried by the player; now every thing which underlies the noun does not underlie the noun. Hiding it under is an action applying to one carried thing and one thing. Understand "put [something preferably held] under [something]" as hiding it under. Understand "hide [something preferably held] under [something]" as hiding it under. Understand the commands "shove" and "conceal" and "stick" as "hide". Check hiding it under: if the second noun is not fixed in place, say "[The second noun] wouldn't be a very effective place of concealment." instead. Carry out hiding it under: remove the noun from play; now the noun underlies the second noun. Report hiding it under: say "You shove [the noun] out of sight beneath [the second noun]." Section 2 - In Which They are Put To Use The Room of Hidden Objects is a room. It contains a sofa, an easy chair, and a rug. The sofa supports a lime-green pillow and an innocent-looking Chinese finger toy. The rug is fixed in place. The chair is a supporter. A treasure map underlies the easy chair. A skeleton is beneath the sofa. A blueprint of Atlantis, a lexicon of Linear A, and the key to Jimmy Hoffa's Mausoleum are under the rug. Test me with "look under the sofa / look under the rug / look under the easy chair / hide lexicon under rug".

234
| Example Bogart Clothing for the player that layers, so that items cannot be taken off in the wrong order, and the player's inventory lists only the clothing that is currently visible. |
RB

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