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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 (1 rule)

 unsuccessful attempt by  ... rulebook (0 rules)

 before  ... rulebook (11 rules)

 instead  ... rulebook (86 rules)

 check ... rulebook (0 rules)

 carry out ... rulebook (0 rules)

 after  ... rulebook (15 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 (45 rules)

 every turn  ... rulebook (60 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 (21 rules)

 reading a command  ... activity (5 rules)

 deciding the scope  ... activity (2 rules)

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

 deciding whether all includes  ... activity (3 rules)

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

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

 printing a parser error  ... activity (1 rule)

 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 (16 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 (5 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 (11 rules)

 starting the virtual machine  ... activity (1 rule)

 printing the banner text  ... activity (0 rules)

 turn sequence rules ... rulebook (10 rules)

 constructing the status line  ... activity (2 rules)

 shutdown rules ... rulebook (4 rules)

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

 printing the player's obituary  ... activity (9 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 (12 rules)

 specific action-processing rules ... rulebook (9 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 Menus by Emily Short

 displaying ... activity  (1 rule)

New rulebooks and activities from Glulx Entry Points by Emily Short

 glulx timed activity ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx redrawing ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx arranging ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx sound notification ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx mouse input ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx character input ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx line input ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx hyperlink ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx zeroing-reference ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx resetting-windows ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx resetting-streams ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx resetting-filerefs ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 glulx object-updating ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 command-counting ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 input-cancelling ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 command-showing ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 command-pasting ... rulebook  (1 rule)

New rulebooks and activities from Dynamic Objects by Jesse McGrew

 cloning a new object from ... activity  (3 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Alternative Permadeath by Victor Gijsbers

 restoring from a saved game ... activity  (1 rule)

 failing to restore from a saved game ... activity  (1 rule)

 automatically saving the game ... activity  (0 rules)

 failing to automatically save the game ... activity  (1 rule)

 failing to delete a saved game ... activity  (1 rule)

New rulebooks and activities from Inform ATTACK by Victor Gijsbers

 after reporting ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 attack modifier ... rulebook  (58 rules)

 contact ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 damage modifier ... rulebook  (32 rules)

 damage multiplier ... rulebook  (9 rules)

 aftereffects ... rulebook  (24 rules)

 lose concentration prose ... a person based rulebook  (3 rules)

 aI weapon selection ... a weapon based rulebook  (7 rules)

 chance to win ... rulebook  (32 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Dungeon Generation by Victor Gijsbers

 further generation ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 resetting the map ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 creating the map ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 additional placement ... rulebook  (4 rules)

 placement possible ... rulebook  (7 rules)

 placement scoring ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 final monster placement ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 monster placement possible ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 monster placement scoring ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 treasure placement ... rulebook  (34 rules)

 treasure scoring ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 dungeon interest ... rulebook  (13 rules)

 dungeon finish ... rulebook  (2 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Events by Victor Gijsbers

 falling destination ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 preempt falling ... rulebook  (0 rules)

 falling ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 fragmentation ... rulebook  (4 rules)

 killing ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 shatter ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 teleportation event ... rulebook  (1 rule)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip ATTACK Additions by Victor Gijsbers

 ability test ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 perception test ... rulebook  (5 rules)

 dexterity test ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 willpower test ... rulebook  (4 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Systems by Victor Gijsbers

 absorbing ... a power based rulebook  (13 rules)

 repelling ... a power based rulebook  (11 rules)

 absorption stopping ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 flying ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 blindness ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 teleport impossible ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 special teleportation destination ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 followers ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 beloved of Aite ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 heat resistance ... rulebook  (4 rules)

 rusting ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 corroding ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 sudden combat reset ... rulebook  (3 rules)

 impeded movement ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 physical damage reduction ... rulebook  (6 rules)

 falling-test ... rulebook  (3 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Systems - Hiding Smoke Ethereal by Victor Gijsbers

 detection ... rulebook  (11 rules)

 smoke ... rulebook  (6 rules)

 smoke immunity ... rulebook  (2 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Items by Victor Gijsbers

 unholy wave ... rulebook  (1 rule)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Scenery by Victor Gijsbers

 extra scoring ... rulebook  (2 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Actions and UI by Victor Gijsbers

 status ... rulebook  (20 rules)

 status skill ... rulebook  (11 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Kerkerkruip Start and Finish by Victor Gijsbers

 victory message ... rulebook  (2 rules)

New rulebooks and activities from Inform ATTACK Core by Victor Gijsbers

 hate ... rulebook  (1 rule)

 combat round ... rulebook  (9 rules)

 starting the combat round ... rulebook  (2 rules)

 initiative update ... rulebook  (11 rules)

 standard AI ... a person based rulebook  (6 rules)

 aI target selection ... a person based rulebook  (14 rules)

 aI action selection ... a person based rulebook  (58 rules)

 running the parser ... activity  (6 rules)