§10.4. During scenes
Scenes are not only useful for changing the setting, by moving items or people around and providing a little narration. We can also make the rules different in one scene from another. For instance, at a sleepy country halt there is no reason why one should not walk across the tracks: but if there is a train in the way, that would be impossible.
Before going north during the Train Stop, say "The train blocks your way." instead.
Any rule can have the clause "during ..." attached, provided that clause goes at the end and either explicitly names a scene, or gives a description of which scenes would match. This is especially useful with "every turn":
Every turn during the Train Stop, say "Water is sluiced out of the tank and into the engine."
We can test whether a scene is happening with the adjective "happening":
if Train Stop is happening, ...
if (scene) has not happened:
This condition is true if the given scene has not ended (or never started).
We need to be a bit careful: it's possible to set things up so that the Train Stop scene will play out more than once, so "Train Stop is happening" and "Train Stop has happened" might both be true at once.
The kind of value "scene" is one which is allowed to have properties - it has a tick in the "properties" column in the chart in the Kinds index - and this can be very useful in describing scenes. For instance, we could write:
A scene can be thrilling or dull. Train Stop is dull.
A scene has a text called cue speech. The cue speech of Train Stop is "All aboard!".
Inform has the adjectives "recurring", "non-recurring" and "happening" all built in to describe scenes, and the above would add "thrilling" and "dull". Moreover, the "during" clause of a rule can give a description of a scene as easily as a specific scene name. For instance:
Before going north during a dull non-recurring scene, ...
![]() | Start of Chapter 10: Scenes |
![]() | Back to §10.3. Using the Scene index |
![]() | Onward to §10.5. Linking scenes together |
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Scenes can have properties -- a fact that is very useful when it comes to writing a series of scenes that all need to act alike in some respect. Suppose we have a plot that features a number of scripted scenes, where we need the player to stand still and wait while the events of the scene play out. One way to set this up is to create a property for such scenes -- let's call them "restricted" -- and then write a rule that keeps the player in place while the scene happens:
And now let's set up our restricted scene. In it, a clown is going to turn up wherever the player is (it doesn't matter where on the map he's gotten to at this point) and do a performance; the player will not be able to leave the area until the performance completes. We'll start with the setting:
...And now the scene itself:
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Scenes can have properties -- a fact that is very useful when it comes to writing a series of scenes that all need to act alike in some respect. Suppose we have a plot that features a number of scripted scenes, where we need the player to stand still and wait while the events of the scene play out. One way to set this up is to create a property for such scenes -- let's call them "restricted" -- and then write a rule that keeps the player in place while the scene happens:
And now let's set up our restricted scene. In it, a clown is going to turn up wherever the player is (it doesn't matter where on the map he's gotten to at this point) and do a performance; the player will not be able to leave the area until the performance completes. We'll start with the setting:
...And now the scene itself:
Scenes can have properties -- a fact that is very useful when it comes to writing a series of scenes that all need to act alike in some respect. Suppose we have a plot that features a number of scripted scenes, where we need the player to stand still and wait while the events of the scene play out. One way to set this up is to create a property for such scenes -- let's call them "restricted" -- and then write a rule that keeps the player in place while the scene happens:
And now let's set up our restricted scene. In it, a clown is going to turn up wherever the player is (it doesn't matter where on the map he's gotten to at this point) and do a performance; the player will not be able to leave the area until the performance completes. We'll start with the setting:
...And now the scene itself:
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