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Rules Index

Rules not directly tied to actions (see the Actions Index) or scenes (the Scenes Index).
What are rulebooks?  ; What are activities?  ; Moving or abolishing rules  

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Rules governing actions

These rules are the ones which tell Inform how actions work, and which affect how they happen in particular cases.

 persuasion  ... rulebook (5 rules)

 unsuccessful attempt by  ... rulebook (3 rules)

 before  ... rulebook (30 rules)

 instead  ... rulebook (886 rules)

 check ... rulebook (0 rules)

 carry out ... rulebook (0 rules)

 after  ... rulebook (3 rules)

 report ... rulebook (0 rules)

Rules added to the sequence of play

These rulebooks are the best places to put rules timed to happen at the start, at the end, or once each turn. (Each is run through at a carefully chosen moment in the relevant top-level rulebook.) It is also possible to have rules take effect at specific times of day or when certain events happen. Those are listed in the Scenes index, alongside rules taking place when scenes begin or end.

 when play begins  ... rulebook (6 rules)

 every turn  ... rulebook (8 rules)

 when play ends  ... rulebook (0 rules)

How commands are understood

'Understanding' here means turning a typed command, like GET FISH, into one or more actions, like taking the red herring. This is all handled by a single large rule (the parse command rule), but that rule makes use of the following activities and rulebooks in its work.

 does the player mean  ... rulebook (7 rules)

 reading a command  ... activity (2 rules)

 deciding the scope  ... activity (1 rule)

 deciding the concealed possessions  ... activity (0 rules)

 deciding whether all includes  ... activity (6 rules)

 clarifying the parser's choice  ... activity (0 rules)

 asking which do you mean  ... activity (1 rule)

 printing a parser error  ... activity (4 rules)

 supplying a missing noun  ... activity (4 rules)

 supplying a missing second noun  ... activity (0 rules)

 implicitly taking  ... activity (0 rules)

How things are described

These activities control what is printed when naming rooms or things, and their descriptions.

 printing the name  ... activity (7 rules)

 printing the plural name  ... activity (1 rule)

 printing a number  ... activity (1 rule)

 printing room description details  ... activity (0 rules)

 listing contents  ... activity (1 rule)

 grouping together  ... activity (0 rules)

 writing a paragraph about  ... activity (0 rules)

 listing nondescript items  ... activity (0 rules)

 printing the locale description  ... activity (4 rules)

 choosing notable locale objects  ... activity (1 rule)

 printing a locale paragraph about  ... activity (7 rules)

How accessibility is judged

These rulebooks are used when deciding who can reach what, and who can see what.

 reaching inside  ... an object based rulebook (2 rules)

 reaching outside  ... an object based rulebook (1 rule)

 visibility  ... rulebook (1 rule)

Light and darkness

These activities control how we describe darkness.

 printing the name of a dark room  ... activity (0 rules)

 printing the description of a dark room  ... activity (0 rules)

 printing the announcement of darkness  ... activity (0 rules)

 printing the announcement of light  ... activity (1 rule)

 printing a refusal to act in the dark  ... activity (0 rules)

The top level

An Inform story file spends its whole time working through these three master rulebooks. They can be altered, just as all rulebooks can, but it's generally better to leave them alone.

 startup rules ... rulebook (10 rules)

 starting the virtual machine  ... activity (2 rules)

 printing the banner text  ... activity (1 rule)

 turn sequence rules ... rulebook (11 rules)

 constructing the status line  ... activity (1 rule)

 shutdown rules ... rulebook (4 rules)

 amusing a victorious player  ... activity (0 rules)

 printing the player's obituary  ... activity (3 rules)

 handling the final question ... activity (4 rules)

How actions are processed

These form the technical machinery for dealing with actions, and are called on at least once every turn. They seldom need to be changed.

 action-processing rules ... rulebook (11 rules)

 specific action-processing rules ... rulebook (8 rules)

 player's action awareness rules ... rulebook (4 rules)

Procedural rules

Procedural rules are super-powerful, controlling how all other rulebooks are read. Like any drastic solution, a procedural rule should only be used when all else fails. (Procedural rules are now deprecated: they'll likely be withdrawn in a future release.)

 procedural  ... rulebook (0 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Locksmith by Emily Short

 refusing keys ... activity  (1 rule)

New rulebooks and activities from Adaptive Hints by Eric Eve

 hint activation ... rulebook  (7 rules)

 hint deactivation ... rulebook  (13 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Smarter Parser by Aaron Reed

 smarter Parser ... rulebook  (34 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Menus by Emily Short

 displaying ... activity  (1 rule)