16.6. Actions applying to kinds of value

| Chapter 16: Understanding |

| 16.6. Actions applying to kinds of value

Almost all actions apply to things: the player picks them up, pushes them, looks at them and so on. We only occasionally need to recognise other kinds of value, but when we do, we can. For instance:

> Adjusting it to is an action applying to one thing and one number.

> Understand "adjust [something] to [a number]" as adjusting it to.

The substitution "[a number]" matches any number (actually any whole number that is not too large) typed by the player. Inform checks the various kinds being used to make sure that everything matches, so, for instance, this would be disallowed:

> Understand "adjust [something] to [something]" as adjusting it to.

287
| Example Safety A safe whose dial can be turned with SPIN SAFE TO 1131, and which will open only with the correct combination. |
RB

288
| Example Tom's Midnight Garden A clock kind that can be set to any time using "the time understood"; may be turned on and off; and will advance itself only when running. Time on the face is also reported differently depending on whether the clock is analog or digital. |
RB

289
| Example Ibid. A system which allows the author to assign footnotes to descriptions, and permits the player to retrieve them again by number, using "the number understood". Footnotes will automatically number themselves, according to the order in which the player discovers them. |
RB

Previous | Contents | Next