Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: gmd.de!Germany.EU.net!mcsun!uknet!doc.ic.ac.uk!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!gatech!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!caen!batcomputer!munnari.oz.au!bruce.cs.monash.edu.au!labtam!labtam!philip
From: philip@labtam.labtam.oz.au (Philip Stephens)
Subject: Re: physics
Organization: Labtam Australia Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 1993 23:14:31 GMT
Message-ID: <philip.735866071@labtam>
References: <0foio9q00WBLA4lc9s@andrew.cmu.edu> <neilg.735341091@sfu.ca> <C5y9L7.H9J@acsu.buffalo.edu>
Lines: 43

Phil Goetz writes:

>The way I handled liquids in _Inmate_ was to have a bit flag an object as
>a liquid.  If it was a liquid, it had an additional set of rules to follow
>in physical interactions.

  Here's another (admittedly simple) idea: why not have two properties
attached to an object:

  1. The amount of liquid currently contained in that object.  This would
     be added to the size of the contents.
  2. The noun describing what kind of liquid is in the object e.g. "water",
     "tea", "coffee" and so on.

  The "pour" verb will then simply transfer X units of liquid from one
container to the next, and the noun attached to the container will be used
to both describe what kind of liquid it is, as well as giving a name for
the player to use in the "pour" sentence.

  e.g. "pour water from the jug."

  Of course, there are two fundemental problems to be addressed in this
scheme:

  1. How to pour liquid from one indirect object to another when most
     parsers can't handle more than one indirect object.  i.e. "pour water
     from the jug in to the bucket." may not be understood by your favorite
     parser.

  2. What happens when you pour one kind of liquid into an object
     containing another kind?  Do we define nouns like "black coffee", "milk"
     and "white coffee" to handle each of the desired combinations?

  Still, this scheme would be quite adequate for filling up kettles from a
room containing a lake!  I'll probably be implementing a scheme like this
in my upcoming 'newstandard.adl' for ADL (almost finished, for those who
care!). 

-- 
| Philip Stephens, Systems Programmer. | %%%%  %     Labtam Australia Pty Ltd |
| Address:  43 Malcolm Road, Braeside, |   % % % %     "Applied Ingenuity"    |
|           Victoria, 3195, AUSTRALIA. |  %  % %  %  We make the fastest RISC |
| Internet: philip@labtam.labtam.oz.au | %%%%% %%%%% X terminals in the world | 
