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From: buzzard@world.std.com (Sean T Barrett)
Subject: Re: [Inform] Conversation complexities
Message-ID: <GGAH6w.6LB@world.std.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Jul 2001 03:18:30 GMT
References: <B77093ED.A579%amerenbach@mac.com> <20010710214232.05160.00003033@ng-mb1.aol.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
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Xref: news.duke.edu rec.arts.int-fiction:89653

Sometimes I wonder why Graham Nelson bothered writing DM4, when
people won't look in it.

OKB -- not okblacke <brenbarn@aol.comRemove> wrote:
>Andrew Merenbach amerenbach@mac.com wrote:
>>there's a problem: the switch statement in the Ask action tests the actual
>>words the player input, not only what is in scope--so, as soon as it finds
>>the first occurrence of "general," it matches the responses up.

Did you check the DM4 for sections which talk about "scope" to see
if there was anything relevant?

>     I don't entirely understand.  You yourself can write any code you want in
>the NPC's before routine for Ask (or Life routine, if you dare).  If you want
>this kind of parsing you must parse the input yourself.
....
>     This, like most NPC programming, is far from simple.

Or you can just drop in somebody's easy-to-use library extension,
especially when Graham has gone to the effort to mention its existence
on page 236 of DM4.

SeanB
