13.9. Defining new assertion verbs

| Chapter 13: Relations |

| 13.9. Defining new assertion verbs

Here is an example definition of a new verb:

> The verb to sport (he sports, they sport, he sported, it is sported, he is sporting) implies the wearing relation.

Once this is done, we can write the assertion

> Mr Wickham sports a Tory rosette.

which will do the the same thing as

> Mr Wickham wears a Tory rosette.

because both verbs have the same relation as their meaning.

Note that we have to spell out many parts of the verb:

> to sport - infinitive
> he sports - present singular
> they sport - present plural
> he sported - past
> it is sported - past participle
> he is sporting - present participle

Although it looks as if Inform could easily generate these given the infinitive "to sport" alone, by adding an "-s" here or an "-ed" there, English can be a very irregular language. Since only a few verbs will be defined in any single project it seems best to be explicit. (If we do miss out any of the parts of the verb, the result will be that the usages missed out will not be understood by Inform. Sometimes that's a good thing, as some verbs have seldom-used present participles, for instance - "he is liking me", for instance, is grammatical but odd.)

Occasionally it's convenient to have the relation the other way around. For instance:

> The verb to grace (he graces, they grace, he graced, it is graced, it is gracing) implies the reversed wearing relation.

With that defined, these two sentences have identical meanings:

> Mr Wickham sports a Tory rosette.
> A Tory rosette graces Mr Wickham.

Reversed in this sense means that the things related - the subject and object of the verb - are the other way round.

The Phrasebook index contains all the verbs associated with assertions, in the "table of verbs" section. When we add new verbs to our source, those will appear in the Phrasebook as well.

The verbs above ("to grace", "to sport") are short ones, but we're free to make them longer than that. For example:

> The verb to cover oneself with (he covers himself with, they cover themselves with, he covered himself with, he is covering himself with) implies the wearing relation.

> Peter is covering himself with a tent-like raincoat.

Here we have "to cover oneself with", four words long; the limit is 29.

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| Example Unthinkable Alliances People are to be grouped into alliances. To kiss someone is to join his or her faction, which may make a grand alliance; to strike them is to give notice of quitting, and to become a lone wolf. |
RB

The following is best tested by experimentally kissing and/or attacking, and typing RELATIONS after every change to see the effect. "Unthinkable Alliances" Unthinkable Solutions is a room. Sophie, Daisy, Ryan and Owen are in Unthinkable Solutions. Alliance relates people to each other in groups. The verb to help (he helps, they help, he helped, he is helped) implies the alliance relation. Sophie helps Ryan. Daisy helps Ryan. Owen helps the player. Instead of kissing someone (called the blessed one): say "Smack!"; now the player helps the blessed one. Instead of attacking someone (called the vilified one): say "Smack!"; now the player does not help the vilified one. Test me with "relations / kiss sophie / relations / hit ryan / relations".

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| Example The Unexamined Life An adaptive hint system that tracks what the player needs to have seen or to possess in order to solve a given puzzle, and doles out suggestions accordingly. Handles changes in the game state with remarkable flexibility, and allows the player to decide how explicit a nudge he wants at any given moment. |
RB

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