§18.23. Constructing the status line
1. When it happens. Just before input is accepted from the keyboard, Inform constructs a "status line" at the top of the window which is normally displayed in reverse colours (white on black instead of black on white, say).
2. The default behaviour. Makes the status line up out of two pieces, the "left hand status line" and the "right hand status line". Since these can freely be changed, note that the status line is already very customisable without using rules applied to this activity.
3. Examples. (a) The most useful thing about this activity is that it allows us to vary descriptions in the status line. This is especially helpful to abbreviate unduly long room names, which might not otherwise fit:
The Temple Of A Thousand Mightily Peeved Deities is a room. Rule for printing the name of the Temple while constructing the status line: say "Temple".
(b) Again, it's usually not necessary to apply activity rules to this, but occasionally amusing effects are possible if we do:
The blindfold is wearable and carried. Rule for constructing the status line while the blindfold is worn: do nothing.
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It may sometimes be helpful to prompt the player with a list of exits printed up in the status line. For instance, here is a status line that will print the names of nearby rooms, as well as all the doors the player can see:
Of course, we may not want to tell the player what glories are to be found in locations he hasn't yet explored.
Even when we have seen a room, we might still want a reminder about how to get there:
We may also find that printing out full directions makes the status line unpleasantly crowded. Fortunately, it isn't hard to provide a set of abbreviations to use in this context:
Everywhere else, the names of directions will still be printed out in full in the usual way. And now we give it a little map to work with:
Note that while this looks fine in some places, other locations exceed the limits of what the status-line can hold: if any given room is going to have a large number of exits, this kind of listing will almost certainly not fit. So apply cautiously. |
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It may sometimes be helpful to prompt the player with a list of exits printed up in the status line. For instance, here is a status line that will print the names of nearby rooms, as well as all the doors the player can see:
Of course, we may not want to tell the player what glories are to be found in locations he hasn't yet explored.
Even when we have seen a room, we might still want a reminder about how to get there:
We may also find that printing out full directions makes the status line unpleasantly crowded. Fortunately, it isn't hard to provide a set of abbreviations to use in this context:
Everywhere else, the names of directions will still be printed out in full in the usual way. And now we give it a little map to work with:
Note that while this looks fine in some places, other locations exceed the limits of what the status-line can hold: if any given room is going to have a large number of exits, this kind of listing will almost certainly not fit. So apply cautiously. It may sometimes be helpful to prompt the player with a list of exits printed up in the status line. For instance, here is a status line that will print the names of nearby rooms, as well as all the doors the player can see:
Of course, we may not want to tell the player what glories are to be found in locations he hasn't yet explored.
Even when we have seen a room, we might still want a reminder about how to get there:
We may also find that printing out full directions makes the status line unpleasantly crowded. Fortunately, it isn't hard to provide a set of abbreviations to use in this context:
Everywhere else, the names of directions will still be printed out in full in the usual way. And now we give it a little map to work with:
Note that while this looks fine in some places, other locations exceed the limits of what the status-line can hold: if any given room is going to have a large number of exits, this kind of listing will almost certainly not fit. So apply cautiously. |