AGT Programming (4) - Turn that container into a room!

                       by Bev Truter

If you have played AGT games before, what's probably driven you
mad with annoyance is typing "I" for Inventory, and getting a huge
screenful of objects you are carrying, plus a listing of all
objects in a container (eg rucksack, bag, suitcase) you might be
lugging around with you. If the container can be closed, then that
will avoid the list of things you've shoved into it for
safekeeping being displayed on the screen; but then you have to
continually "open bag/rucksack/whatever" if you want to delve
around inside it to retrieve something. So here's how to create a
container that's visually neater for the player to handle and more
pleasing to the eye of the programmer.

First of all, create a Noun in the .DAT file that you want to be a
container, i.e. something that you can put objects into for
storage or safekeeping, and preferably tote about with you. Eg.
VELVET BAG, HEAVY RUCKSACK, etc., making it closed and closable.
Then create a Room, which you can specify as the TREASURE_ROOM at
the top of the .DAT file if you want the player to be able to
retain the points for any treasures he puts in the bag or rucksack
or suitcase or whatever.  In the example below I've made ROOM 18 a
velvet bag - anything you put into the NOUN velvet bag will get
sent to Room 18 (Interior of Velvet Bag). I've made NOUN 201 a
velvet bag which can be picked up and opened or closed by the
player.

The beauty of this type of container (i.e. the velvet bag as NOUN
and ROOM) is that it can be used for carrying something very
heavy, for example an iron bar with a weight of 100, because as
soon as you put it in the bag it is sent to Room 18, resulting in
you being able to stuff all your belongings into the bag, no
problems with weight or size of objects, and no increasingly
unwieldy inventory of things.

Another nifty idea is to program the bag/suitcase/rucksack (i.e.
the Room 18 above) so that you can enter it - after all, if it has
a limitless size, you should theoretically be able to enter it as
well as stuff all the bits and bobs you are carrying into it. But
more of that idea in Article #5.....

So, to create your container that is both a NOUN and a ROOM in the
.DAT file, you could do something like the following:

  NOUN 201
  BAG
  VELVET
  There is a tiny velvet bag here with a gold drawstring
  LOCATION 67    ;the bag's original location
  CLOSABLE
  CLOSED
  SIZE 99   ;size irrelevant - everything will be sent to room 18
  WEIGHT 2
  POINTS 10 ;assuming the bag itself is a treasure
  END_NOUN



  NOUN_DESCR 201
  The bag has been sewn from bright red plush velvet studded with
  rubies, and has the slogan "Infinity Unlimited" embroidered in
  white silk across the middle.
  END_NOUN_DESCR

  ROOM 18
  Inside Velvet Bag
  END_ROOM

  ROOM_DESCR 18
  You are sitting inside the spacious interior of a magical bag. It
  is very comfortable, and you sink back against the plush quilted
  lining with a sigh of relaxation.
  END_ROOM_DESCR

  Then, to cope with putting things into the bag, you'll need a
  Command in the .CMD file which looks something like this:


  COMMAND PUT ANY IN BAG
  Present 201          ;velvet bag is in room or being carried
  IsOpen 201           ; bag must be open
  NOUNIsCarrying       ;the item to be put in bag is being carried
  SendNOUNToRoom 18    ; put item in bag
  PrintMessage 34      ;You put the $noun$ into the velvet bag.
  DoneWithTurn
  END_COMMAND

If you `examine' the bag you'll get the long description of the
noun BAG, followed by a list of the bag's contents, if there is
anything inside it. To do this, you'll probably need a Command
something like the following in the CMD file:

  COMMAND EXAMINE BAG
  Present 201        ;velvet bag is in the current room, or carried
  SomethingInside 18 ;checks if there is currently something in bag
  DescribeThing 201  ;repeats description of bag
  PrintMessage 32    ;the red velvet bag currently contains:

  ShowContents 18    ;displays what's currently in the bag (room
                     ;18)
  DoneWithTurn
  END_COMMAND

If the bag (i.e. Room 18) is empty, then you will only see the bag
description. If you want to take something from the bag, eg. a
knife, you will need a Command in the .CMD file something like
this:

  COMMAND GET ANY
  Present 201
  IsOpen 201
  NOUNIsLocated 18  ;the noun you want to get is inside the bag
  SendNOUNToRoom 1  ;you take the noun (Room 1 = the player)
  PrintMessage 36   ;You root around inside the bag until you
                    ;find..
  DoneWithTurn
  END_COMMAND

And you'll need a similar Command for when the player is trying to
remove something from the closed bag:

  COMMAND GET ANY
  Present 201
  IsClosed 201
  NOUNIsLocated 18   ;the noun you want is inside the bag
  PrintMessage 37    ;Can't take anything from a closed bag!
  DoneWithTurn
  END_COMMAND

The advantage of having a room like this as a container is that it
avoids the automatic AGT response of listing all the bag's
contents whenever you enter `inventory' or `examine bag' followed
by "...(in the bag)..." after every item. This way, when you enter
`inventory' you only see a list of what you are currently
carrying, and not the increasingly long (and often annoying!) list
of the bag's contents, if you happen to be carrying the bag.


And lastly, as a final touch, you can program the bag, suitcase,
rucksack or whatever so you can enter it, i.e. room 18......See
next exciting instalment in following issue of SynTax - if I can
bribe Sue to publish it. Does ANYONE out there still program games
with AGT???

@~I reckon more use TADS now ... Sue












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