1.1. Truth

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings or views of such a man may be on his first entering a neighbourhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.

"My dear Mr. Bennet," said his lady to him one day, "have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"

"But it is," returned she; "for Mrs. Long has just been here, and she told me all about it."

display the boxed quotation (text)

This phrase displays the given text on screen in an overlaid box. For reasons to do with the way such quotations are plotted onto the screen, their text is treated literally: no substitutions in square brackets are obeyed. The quo ation will only ever appear once, regardless of the number of times the "display the boxed quotation ..." phrase is reached. Rather than being shown immediately - and thus, probably, scrolling away before it can be seen - the display is held back until the next command prompt is shown to the player. Example:

After looking in the Wabe, display the boxed quotation
    "And 'the wabe' is the grass-plot round
    a sun-dial, I suppose? said Alice,
    surprised at her own ingenuity.

    Of course it is. It's called 'wabe,'
    you know, because it goes a long way
    before it, and a long way behind it --

-- Lewis Carroll".

This was the original example used in Trinity, by Brian Moriarty, which invented the idea. A player exploring Kensington Gardens comes upon a location enigmatically called The Wabe; and by way of explanation, this quotation pops up.

"Why, my dear, you must know, Mrs. Long says that Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England; that he came down on Monday in a chaise and four to see the place, and was so much delighted with it, that he agreed with Mr. Morris immediately; that he is to take possession before Michaelmas, and some of his servants are to be in the house by the end of next week."

"Oh! Single, my dear, to be sure! A single man of large fortune; four or five thousand a year. What a fine thing for our girls!"

ExampleThe Über-complète Absolute Truth
An explanation of the examples in this documentation, and the asterisks attached to them. Click the heading of the example, or the example number, to reveal the text.

This is the first of about 400 numbered examples. In a few cases, such as this one, they provide a little background information, but almost all demonstrate Inform source text. The techniques demonstrated tend to be included either because they are frequently asked for, or because they show how to achieve some interesting effect.

In most cases, typing the single command TEST ME will play through a few moves to show off the effect being demonstrated. (You may find it convenient to create a "scratch" project file for temporary trials like this, clearing all its text and starting again with each new test.)

As part of the testing process which verifies a new build of Inform, each example in turn is extracted from this documentation, translated, played through, and the resulting transcript mechanically checked. So the examples may even work as claimed. But the flesh is weak, and there are bound to be glitches. We would welcome reports, so that future editions can be corrected.

Each example is loosely graded by difficulty: if they were exercises in a textbook, the asterisks would indicate how many marks each question scores. As a general rule:

- A simple example, fairly easily guessed.
- A complicated or surprising example.
- An example needing detailed knowledge of many aspects of the system.
- A complete scenario, containing material not necessarily relevant to the topic being demonstrated.

In general, the main text of Writing with Inform tries never to assume knowledge of material which has not yet appeared, but the trickier examples almost always need to break this rule.

The same examples are included in both of the books of documentation, but in a different order: in Writing with Inform, they appear near the techniques used to make them work; in The Inform Recipe Book, they are grouped by the effects they provide. For instance, an example called "Do Pass Go", about the throwing of a pair of dice, appears in the "Randomness" section of Writing with Inform and also in the "Dice and Playing Cards" section of The Inform Recipe Book. Clicking the italicised WI and RB buttons at the right-hand side of an example's heading switches between its position in each book.

"The Über-complète Absolute Truth"

The Minivan is a room. The Open Road is outside from the Minivan. Pete is a man in the Minivan. "Pete [if the player has been in the Minivan for 3 turns]is starting to look bored[otherwise]is playing with his travel activity book[end if]."

Every turn:
if the player has been in the Minivan for 5 turns, say "'Are we there [if saying no]now?'[otherwise]yet?' asks Pete.[end if]"

Instead of saying no:
say "'Oh,' says Pete. There is a blessed, momentary silence."

Table of Value Names

term	value	topic
"ace"	"1"	"ace/A/one"
"deuce"	"2"	"deuce/two"
"three"	"3"	"three"
"four"	"4"	"four"
"five"	"5"	"five"
"six"	"6"	"six"
"seven"	"7"	"seven"
"eight"	"8"	"eight"
"nine"	"9"	"nine"
"ten"	"10"	"ten"
"jack"	"11"	"jack/knave/J"
"queen"	"12"	"queen/Q"
"king"	"13"	"king/K"

Instead of going to the Open Road:
say "You leap to your death.";
end the story.

Test me with "z / z / look / g / g / g / no / z / z / z / no / z / out".

And indeed

The example continues here.

And goes on.

feeling	extent	consequence
pumped	1	"you feel able to run for your life"
pumped	2	"you feel able to run for President"
wired	1	"you feel able to run"
languid	1	"you feel"

feeling	extent	consequence
pumped	2	"you feel able to run for the Nebraska State Legislature"