§18.34. Implicitly taking something
1. When it happens. When an action is tried which requires the actor (normally the player, of course) to be carrying something, but which is not in fact carried by that person. For instance, if the player types WEAR OVERCOAT in reference to a Moroccan overcoat currently draped over a chair.
2. The default behaviour. To print text such as "(first taking the Moroccan overcoat)" and then silently try taking the object in question (the overcoat). If the take succeeds, the silence means that nothing else is printed: if it fails, it will say why.
No matter what rules are written for this activity, it is impossible to use it to allow the action to go ahead even without the item. The activity allows us to change how, or if, an implicit take will happen, but not to change the consequences of failure. (To do that, we would need to say that "The ignore the carrying requirements rule does nothing", but this kind of unstitching of the action machinery needs to be done with caution.)
3. Examples. (a) Forbidding implicit takes for certain dangerous items. (This seems especially fair if taking such items might cause death: the player will not wish to be killed on the strength only of our guess as to what he might be intending to do.)
Rule for implicitly taking the curare:
say "Ordinarily you'd pick up the curare in order to be able to do that, but this seems like a good moment for caution." instead.
(b) Changing the way the implicit action is reported for the player:
Rule for implicitly taking something (called target):
try silently taking the target;
if the player carries the target, say "You appropriate [the target] first, of course. [run paragraph on]"
(c) Combining implicit takes when the noun and second noun must both be carried:
Rule for implicitly taking the noun when the second noun is a thing and the second noun is not carried by the player:
try silently taking the noun;
try silently taking the second noun;
say "(first taking both [the noun] and [the second noun])[line break]"
(d) Making another character reply amusingly:
Rule for implicitly taking something which is carried by the player when the person asked is Clark:
say "'I don't see how I'm supposed to do that when you're holding [the noun],' remarks Clark sulkily." instead.
(e) Causing implicit takes which wouldn't otherwise happen. Suppose we have a photographing action, and there are very small flowers which can't conveniently be snapped without being first picked. We then want an implicit take to occur, even though we wouldn't want this for other sorts of photography. So:
Check an actor photographing a flower:
if the actor is not carrying the noun:
carry out the implicitly taking activity with the noun;
if the actor is not carrying the noun, stop the action.
Note that if the activity doesn't succeed in taking the item, it's expected to print some text explaining this, which is why we don't need to say anything further.
| ExampleThe Big Sainsbury's Making implicit takes add a minute to the clock, just as though the player had typed TAKE THING explicitly.
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| ExamplePizza Prince Providing a pizza buffet from which the player can take as many pieces as he wants.
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As mentioned in this section, the "implicitly taking" activity does not allow us to skip an implicit take entirely. In order to do this, we need to borrow from the chapter on Rulebooks and tell Inform that one of the rules normally built in to the Standard Rules does nothing in certain circumstances:
"Lollipop Guild"
The carrying requirements rule does nothing when showing something to the guardian.
The can't show what you haven't got rule does nothing when showing something to the guardian.
The block showing rule does nothing.
Candyland is a room. "A fizzing, popping wonderland of sugary delights. A path tiled with butterscotch sweets leads to the horizon."
The butterscotch path is scenery in Candyland.
The player carries a basket. In the basket are a licorice gumdrop and a can of tuna. The gumdrop is edible. The description of the gumdrop is "Covered all over with grains of sugar." The can of tuna is edible. The description of the can of tuna is "A rare import in this place."
The giant lollipop is a fixed in place edible thing in Candyland. "Growing right next to the path, on a trunk of white paper, is a giant lollipop colored green and red and white." The description of the lollipop is "If you were very blind, like Aunt Myrtle, you might mistake it for a young sapling just planted: the lollipop is just that leafy shade of green, with swirls of white and red that might be branches or flowers."
The guardian is a man in Candyland. "Right beside you is a guardian in a mint-colored uniform." The description of the guardian is "A killjoy wielding a gigantic toothbrush." The guardian carries a gigantic toothbrush. The description of the toothbrush is "Bristles as long as your hand. Firm bristles, too, not those soft ones. The guardian doesn't care about your tender gums."
A thing can be sweet. The butterscotch path, the lollipop, and the gumdrop are sweet.
Carry out showing a sweet thing to the guardian:
say "The guardian shrieks! You don't understand its language, but from its ululations you understand the idea of decay. There may have been a bit in there about a root canal." instead.
Carry out showing something to the guardian:
say "The guardian nods approvingly at the unsweetened [noun]." instead.
Report eating a sweet thing in the presence of the guardian:
say "The guardian looks mournful, but unholsters his tube of paste and begins applying it to the toothbrush, as though to say that he really did not want to have to do this...";
end the story saying "Everything goes minty" instead.
Report eating something:
say "You consume [the noun] with gusto." instead.
Test me with "x guardian / x toothbrush / show gumdrop to guardian / show path to guardian / show tuna to guardian / look / eat gumdrop".
Note that because we only deactivate the carrying requirements rule for showing purposes, the player still takes the gumdrop before eating it.
|   ExampleLollipop Guild Overriding the rules to allow the player to show something to another character without first taking it.
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As mentioned in this section, the "implicitly taking" activity does not allow us to skip an implicit take entirely. In order to do this, we need to borrow from the chapter on Rulebooks and tell Inform that one of the rules normally built in to the Standard Rules does nothing in certain circumstances:
"Lollipop Guild"
The carrying requirements rule does nothing when showing something to the guardian.
The can't show what you haven't got rule does nothing when showing something to the guardian.
The block showing rule does nothing.
Candyland is a room. "A fizzing, popping wonderland of sugary delights. A path tiled with butterscotch sweets leads to the horizon."
The butterscotch path is scenery in Candyland.
The player carries a basket. In the basket are a licorice gumdrop and a can of tuna. The gumdrop is edible. The description of the gumdrop is "Covered all over with grains of sugar." The can of tuna is edible. The description of the can of tuna is "A rare import in this place."
The giant lollipop is a fixed in place edible thing in Candyland. "Growing right next to the path, on a trunk of white paper, is a giant lollipop colored green and red and white." The description of the lollipop is "If you were very blind, like Aunt Myrtle, you might mistake it for a young sapling just planted: the lollipop is just that leafy shade of green, with swirls of white and red that might be branches or flowers."
The guardian is a man in Candyland. "Right beside you is a guardian in a mint-colored uniform." The description of the guardian is "A killjoy wielding a gigantic toothbrush." The guardian carries a gigantic toothbrush. The description of the toothbrush is "Bristles as long as your hand. Firm bristles, too, not those soft ones. The guardian doesn't care about your tender gums."
A thing can be sweet. The butterscotch path, the lollipop, and the gumdrop are sweet.
Carry out showing a sweet thing to the guardian:
say "The guardian shrieks! You don't understand its language, but from its ululations you understand the idea of decay. There may have been a bit in there about a root canal." instead.
Carry out showing something to the guardian:
say "The guardian nods approvingly at the unsweetened [noun]." instead.
Report eating a sweet thing in the presence of the guardian:
say "The guardian looks mournful, but unholsters his tube of paste and begins applying it to the toothbrush, as though to say that he really did not want to have to do this...";
end the story saying "Everything goes minty" instead.
Report eating something:
say "You consume [the noun] with gusto." instead.
Test me with "x guardian / x toothbrush / show gumdrop to guardian / show path to guardian / show tuna to guardian / look / eat gumdrop".
Note that because we only deactivate the carrying requirements rule for showing purposes, the player still takes the gumdrop before eating it.
As mentioned in this section, the "implicitly taking" activity does not allow us to skip an implicit take entirely. In order to do this, we need to borrow from the chapter on Rulebooks and tell Inform that one of the rules normally built in to the Standard Rules does nothing in certain circumstances:
"Lollipop Guild"
The carrying requirements rule does nothing when showing something to the guardian.
The can't show what you haven't got rule does nothing when showing something to the guardian.
The block showing rule does nothing.
Candyland is a room. "A fizzing, popping wonderland of sugary delights. A path tiled with butterscotch sweets leads to the horizon."
The butterscotch path is scenery in Candyland.
The player carries a basket. In the basket are a licorice gumdrop and a can of tuna. The gumdrop is edible. The description of the gumdrop is "Covered all over with grains of sugar." The can of tuna is edible. The description of the can of tuna is "A rare import in this place."
The giant lollipop is a fixed in place edible thing in Candyland. "Growing right next to the path, on a trunk of white paper, is a giant lollipop colored green and red and white." The description of the lollipop is "If you were very blind, like Aunt Myrtle, you might mistake it for a young sapling just planted: the lollipop is just that leafy shade of green, with swirls of white and red that might be branches or flowers."
The guardian is a man in Candyland. "Right beside you is a guardian in a mint-colored uniform." The description of the guardian is "A killjoy wielding a gigantic toothbrush." The guardian carries a gigantic toothbrush. The description of the toothbrush is "Bristles as long as your hand. Firm bristles, too, not those soft ones. The guardian doesn't care about your tender gums."
A thing can be sweet. The butterscotch path, the lollipop, and the gumdrop are sweet.
Carry out showing a sweet thing to the guardian:
say "The guardian shrieks! You don't understand its language, but from its ululations you understand the idea of decay. There may have been a bit in there about a root canal." instead.
Carry out showing something to the guardian:
say "The guardian nods approvingly at the unsweetened [noun]." instead.
Report eating a sweet thing in the presence of the guardian:
say "The guardian looks mournful, but unholsters his tube of paste and begins applying it to the toothbrush, as though to say that he really did not want to have to do this...";
end the story saying "Everything goes minty" instead.
Report eating something:
say "You consume [the noun] with gusto." instead.
Test me with "x guardian / x toothbrush / show gumdrop to guardian / show path to guardian / show tuna to guardian / look / eat gumdrop".
Note that because we only deactivate the carrying requirements rule for showing purposes, the player still takes the gumdrop before eating it.
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