![]() | Chapter 3: Things | ![]() ![]() |
3.1. Descriptions |
At its simplest, the interactive fiction will be simulating a physical world to explore. The forerunner of today's IF is generally agreed to be a computer simulation by Will Crowther of the exploration of a cave system in the Mammoth and Flint Ridge chain of caves in Kentucky, a part of which might be described in Inform thus:
"Cave Entrance"
The Cobble Crawl is a room. "You are crawling over cobbles in a low passage. There is a dim light at the east end of the passage."
A wicker cage is here. "There is a small wicker cage discarded nearby."
The Debris Room is west of the Crawl. "You are in a debris room filled with stuff washed in from the surface. A low wide passage with cobbles becomes plugged with mud and debris here, but an awkward canyon leads upward and west. A note on the wall says, 'Magic word XYZZY'."
The black rod is here. "A three foot black rod with a rusty star on one end lies nearby."
Above the Debris Room is the Sloping E/W Canyon. West of the Canyon is the Orange River Chamber.
Here we sketch in four of Crowther's locations, and two objects: just enough to be able to walk around the caves and pick up the rod and the cage. The text in quotation marks will appear verbatim as paragraphs shown to the player as the caves are explored. The first paragraph, as we have seen, is the title of the work. The other quotations describe the places and objects introduced.
| ![]() Making rooms give full descriptions each time we enter, even if we have visited before. |
| ![]() ![]() A room whose description changes slightly after our first visit there. |
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