Escapade!
An interactive fiction by Juhana Leinonen (2008) - the Inform 7 source text
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Book Main menu
Understand "help" or "menu" or "about" or "info" or "credits" as asking for help.
Asking for help is an action out of world.
Carry out asking for help:
change the current menu to the Table of Menu options;
change the current intro text to "";
change the current menu title to "Main menu";
carry out the displaying activity;
clear the screen;
try looking.
Table of Menu options
| title | subtable | description | intro | toggle | |
| "About [italic type]Escapade![roman type]" | -- | "[about Escapade!]" | -- | -- | |
| "How to play" | -- | "[how to play]" | -- | -- | |
| "Talking with characters" | -- | "[discussing with characters]" | -- | disable keyword setup hint rule | |
| "Settings" | Table of Keyword Settings | text | "When the game prints a word that can be used as a discussion topic with other characters, it will be highlighted for the first time. Here's an example of a highlighted word using your current settings: [hint style start]keyword[hint style end][paragraph break]Select a new highlight style below and press Q to return. Note that not all interpreters support every highlighting style; choose the one that works for you." [During the game some cutscenes may clear the screen. You can disable this behavior by changing the screen clearing to OFF."; ] | disable keyword setup hint rule | |
| "License" | -- | "[license]" |
To say about Escapade!:
say "[italic type]Escapade![roman type] is an entry to the One Room Game Competition 2008.[paragraph break]";
say "If you get stuck, there's a HINT command and a walkthrough included in a separate file. The hints and the walkthrough will cover only the minimum solution, so there will still be some optional puzzles you have to find the solution without help.[paragraph break]";
say "The source code is distributed with the game. You can also download it from [italic type]http://www.nitku.net/if/escapade/[roman type]. You are free to modify the game or use snippets from the code; see LICENSE for details.[paragraph break]";
say "There's a good chance of a post-competition release. If you find bugs or you have other suggestions, please email me at [Juhana's email]. I'm also interested in seeing transcripts of playthroughs.[paragraph break]";
center "[bold type]CREDITS[roman type][paragraph break]";
say "The game was programmed with Inform 7 by Graham Nelson and others, using extensions by Eric Eve, David Fisher, Jon Ingold, Juhana Leinonen, Michael Martin, Andrew Owen, and Emily Short.
And last but not least, a big thank you to the playtesters: Taleslinger, Mike Tarbert, Christian Moura, George Oliver, Jim Aikin, S. John Ross, and Roger Carbol. This would have been a lesser game without your help.[paragraph break]";
say " -- Juhana";
To say how to play:
say "[italic type]Escapade![roman type] is a work of Interactive Fiction. You take the role of Scotty who has been captured by the Screaming Communists. Your goal is to find an escape from your prison.
You do this by giving simple instructions like KNOCK ON DOOR to Scotty by typing them on the prompt. The game responds and tells you how Scotty and the game world reacts. The commands are usually simple <verb> <noun> -constructs so you should try to use as simple language as possible (instead of LET'S SEE WHAT'S IN THE BOX just type LOOK IN BOX).
Some important and most used commands:[line break]
[bold type]EXAMINE[roman type] or [bold type]X[roman type]: The EXAMINE command gives you a more detailed description of the objects found in the cell. This is possibly the most used and most useful command.[line break]
[bold type]LOOK[roman type] or [bold type]L[roman type]: While EXAMINE inspects a particular object closer, the LOOK command gives an overview of everything you see around you.[line break]
[bold type]INVENTORY[roman type] or [bold type]I[roman type]: The INVENTORY command tells you what you are carrying and wearing at the moment.[line break]
[bold type]SAVE[roman type] and [bold type]RESTORE[roman type]: These commands let you save your progress and continue later where you left off. Note that you can't die or end up in an unwinnable situation in this game.[paragraph break]";
say "Other useful commands:[fixed letter spacing]
TAKE READ[line break]
GIVE KNOCK[line break]
PUT ATTACH[line break]
OPEN YELL[line break]
CLOSE POUR[line break]
PUSH CLIMB[line break]
PULL EAT[line break]
TURN DRINK[line break]
SCREW POINT[line break]
TALK ABOUT[variable letter spacing]
The command TALK ABOUT can be abbreviated to T. See 'Talking with characters' entry in the main menu.
If you get stuck, you can type HINT to get some pointers on how to go on. Don't spoil the game for yourself by overusing hints!
For more information on how to play Interactive Fiction see for example [italic type]http://brasslantern.org/beginners/[roman type] and for more games see [italic type]http://ifdb.tads.org/[roman type]";
To say discussing with characters:
say "To talk with the NPCs (non-player characters) use the TALK ABOUT <topic> command. This can be abbreviated to T (or A if you like). Keep the topics simple; the game recognizes mostly only one or two word topics. The game chooses the character most suitable for the situation, so you don't have to explicitly address them.
Some of the topics you can talk about are highlighted in the game text. The default highlighting is [bold type]bold type[roman type], but you can change this from the Settings menu or by commanding OPTIONS. Some interpreters do not support bold type. If this is the case for you, you should change the highlight type to something else.
Topic highlighting is not essential to finishing the game. Highlights are not exactly hints but they can give you a nudge toward asking the 'right' questions. If you wish to play without this feature you can turn it off from the Settings menu.
Note that highlighted topics are not the [italic type]only[roman type] topics available - they're just a small sample of everything the NPCs understand."