Post by auraes in has_not_created vs !is_exists

Viewing post in has_not_created vs !is_exists

"Storeroom", seems to me a right and simple word to define the position of objects that "are not" in the game (word used in the TRS-80 Manual: Adventure Editor (Bruce Hansen))

Adventuron's documentation refers to "special non-existence location" or "object exists somewhere in the game world"; this can create confusion (but also words like Create, Destroy, is_exists, has_not_created etc.)
The objects are in the Storeroom or not. If they are then is_exists == false, otherwise is_exists == true.
The definition of the swap() function, is now correct (Swaps the location of object1 and object2) and easier to understand in this case:
o1 in room1 (is_exists == true)
o2 in Storeroom (is_exists == false)
swap (o1, o2)
o1 in Storeroom (is_exists == false)
o2 in room1 (is_exists == true)
I'm not sure I'm clear, but it seems to me that Storeroom makes it easier for beginners to understand things.

Adventuron4 years ago(+1)

I think the concept of non existing is relatively easy to understand.

If we used "storeroom" as an alias for the place where things don't exist, I'd personally find it more difficult to understand and find it more difficult to explain - especially as a lot of games may have a room called the storeroom. Certainly, I'll try to clean up the description in the documentation, but storeroom is not the appropriate name for the non existent place in my view.

Polyducks4 years ago

I quite like it as it is right now. It's convenient to know whether something exists or does not, instead of just shifting items around to additional rooms.

8bitAG4 years ago

I definitely don't like the idea of a "storeroom". It's really very clear as it is.

Garry Francis4 years ago

I don't like the term "storeroom". Adventure authors have been using the term "limbo" for many years.

Inform handles this differently. Any object that does not start in a room is in "nothing". When it's destroyed, it returns to nothing. If you don't want it to return to nothing, you create a room called limbo and move the object to that room. In this way, you have full control over the life cycle of the object.

Adventuron does the latter automatically, but you can't return an object to nothing. There's nothing wrong with this. You just have to be careful to use the right tests for the situation and it needs to be explained more clearly in the user manual.

auraes4 years ago (1 edit)

THE ADVENTURE SYSTEM (1982):
"Room zero is reserved as a storeroom for objects currently not in any room. The player can not get to room zero by using one of the reserved directions. Actions usually do not permit the player to enter this room. The last room is reserved for some sort of limbo state should the player die. This is where the player is sent with a DEAD command. It may or may not contain exits back to the other rooms."

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