Newsgroups: rec.arts.int-fiction
Path: gmd.de!Germany.EU.net!mcsun!sunic!liuida!d88hanpe
From: d88hanpe@odalix.ida.liu.se (Hans Persson)
Subject: Re: Design of a New Language: 2
Message-ID: <1993Nov13.100303.2429@ida.liu.se>
Sender: news@ida.liu.se
Organization: CIS Dept, Univ of Linkoping, Sweden
References: <)> <2bqtv5INN81f@life.ai.mit.edu> <CGAuqF.42C@cantua.canterbury.ac.nz>) <2bu79dINN5bc@life.ai.mit.edu>
Date: Sat, 13 Nov 1993 10:03:03 GMT
Lines: 48

dmb@min.ai.mit.edu (David Baggett) writes:

>- programmer-extensible parsing:
>
>	It would be nice if you could make your own rules for
>	specifying how command line parses turned into object
>	calls.  The current TADS (verDo, verIo, do, io) system
>	would just be part of adv.t.  But you could also handle
>	other things like multiple prepositions, special question
>	forms, etc.  Any context-free grammar can be parsed in
>	O(n^3) using a standard (Earley) algorithm, so there's
>	no fundamental technical problem here.  (Didn't say it
>	would be *easy* though.)

Yes!

>- more classes:
>
>	Standard classes for things like liquids and liquid-holders,
>	inter-room connections like doors and windows should be added
>	or made more natural.

A simple vehicle item that can actually be moved in some standard way
for instance.

>- higher-level algorithms:
>
>	Planning.  Shortest path computation.  Inference computation.
>	All these would go into better NPC classes.

Yes, something like walk randomly in these rooms would for instance be
nice.

At the moment, though, what I'd like the most is a way to refer to one
of several identical objects.

>Agreed.  But that said, I'm actually surprised at how few class modules
>have been written for TADS.  Seems like everyone rolls their own stuff but
>few people release their code.

Set a good example. Release more code! :-)

/ Hans
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
! Hans Persson / The Pink Unicorn                  SophistiChaos Game Design !
! unicorn@lysator.liu.se, d88hanpe@und.ida.liu.se                            !
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
