5.7. Text with random alternatives

| Chapter 5: Text |

| 5.7. Text with random alternatives

Sometimes we would like to provide a little quirky variation in text, especially in messages which will be seen often. We can achieve this with the "[one of]... [or] ... [or] ..." construction.

say "[one of]"

This text substitution produces no text. It's used only for a side-effect: it switches between a number of alternative texts, which follow it and are divided by "[or]" substitutions, according to a strategy given in a closing substitution. Example: "You flip the coin. [one of]Heads[or]Tails[purely at random]!" Here there are just two alternatives, and the strategy is "purely at random". Exactly half of the time the text will be printed as "You flip the coin. Heads!"; and the other half, "You flip the coin. Tails!".

say "[or]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only in a "[one of]..." construction. It divides alternative wordings. Example: "You flip the coin. [one of]Heads[or]Tails[purely at random]!"

There are seven possible endings, each making the choice of which text to follow in a different way:

say "[purely at random]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that the alternatives are chosen uniformly randomly.

say "[then purely at random]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that the alternatives are chosen in sequence until all have been seen, but that after that they are chosen uniformly randomly.

say "[at random]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that the alternatives are chosen at random except that the same choice cannot come up twice running. This is useful to avoid the deadening effect of repeating the exact same message. Example: "The light changes randomly again; now it's [one of]green[or]amber[or]red[at random]." Here we can safely say the light "changes", because the new colour cannot be the same as the one printed the last time.

say "[then at random]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that the alternatives are chosen in sequence until all have been seen, and then after that, at random except that the same choice cannot come up twice running. Example: "Maybe the murderer is [one of]Colonel Mustard[or]Professor Plum[or]Cardinal Cerise[then at random]."

say "[sticky random]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that a random choice is made the first time the text is printed, but that it sticks from there on. Example: "The newspaper headline is: [one of]War Casualties[or]Terrorists[or]Banks[sticky random] [one of]Continue To Expand[or]Lose Out[sticky random]." Although the newspaper headline will change with each playing, it will not alter during play.

say "[as decreasingly likely outcomes]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that the alternatives are chosen at random, except that the first is most likely to be chosen, the second is next most likely, and so on down to the rarest at the end. Example: "Zorro strides by, [one of]looking purposeful[or]grim-faced[or]deep in thought[or]suppressing a yawn[or]scratching his ribs[or]trying to conceal that he has cut himself shaving[as decreasingly likely outcomes]." There are six outcomes here: the first is six times as likely as the last, and those in between are similarly scaled, so Zorro cuts himself shaving only once in 21 tries, while he looks purposeful almost a third of the time.

But suppose we want to tuck some useful information in these messages, and we want to be sure that the player will see it. Because all of the above options involve randomness, it's possible that an unlucky player might miss a clue placed into only one variant of the message. One fix for this is to make sure that everything turns up sooner or later:

say "[in random order]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. A random order is chosen for the alternative passages of text, and they are used in that order as the text is printed again and again. When one random cycle finishes, a new one begins. The effect is somewhat like the "shuffle album" feature on an iPod. Example: "You dip into the chapter on [one of]freshwater fish[or]hairless mammals[or]extinct birds[or]amphibians such as the black salamander[in random order]." One small restriction: if there are more than 32 variations, purely random choices will be printed, and there will be no guarantee that repeats are prevented.

Another fix is to avoid randomness altogether:

say "[cycling]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that the alternatives are used one at a time, in turn: after the last one is reached, we start again from the first. Example: "The pundits discuss [one of]the weather[or]world events[or]celebrity gossip[cycling]."

say "[stopping]"

This text substitution produces no text, and can be used only to end a "[one of]..." construction. It indicates that the alternatives are used one at a time, in turn: once the last one is reached, it's used forever after. Example: "[one of]The phone rings[or]The phone rings a second time[or]The phone rings again[stopping]."

Finally, here's a convenient shorthand for one of the commonest things needed:

say "[first time]"
or: say "[only]"

This pair of text substitutions causes whatever is between them to be printed only the first time the text is printed. Example: "The screen door squeaks loudly as when you open it. [first time]Well, you'll get used to it eventually. [only]" This is exactly equivalent to "The screen door squeaks loudly as when you open it. [one of]Well, you'll get used to it eventually. [or][stopping]"; but easier to read.

66
| Example Radio Daze A radio that produces a cycle of output using varying text. |
RB

67
| Example Camp Bethel Creating characters who change their behavior from turn to turn, and a survey of other common uses for alternative texts. |
RB

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