Standard actions concerning other people
giving it toshowing it towakingthrowing it atattackingkissinganswering it thattelling it aboutasking it aboutasking it for
Throwing something at something (past tense thrown it at): applying to one carried thing and one visible thing
Throwing something at someone or something is difficult for Inform to model. So many considerations apply: just because the actor can see the target, does it follow that the target can accurately hit it? What if the projectile is heavy, like an anvil, or something not easily aimable, like a feather? What if there is a barrier in the way, like a cage with bars spaced so that only items of a certain size get through? And then: what should happen as a result? Will the projectile break, or do damage, or fall to the floor, or into a container or onto a supporter? And so on.
Because it seems hopeless to try to model this in any general way, Inform instead provides the action for the user to attach specific rules to. The check rules in the Standard Rules simply require that the projectile is not an item of clothing still worn (this will be relevant for women attending a Tom Jones concert) but then, in either the 'futile to throw things at inanimate objects rule' or the 'block throwing at rule', will refuse to carry out the action with a bland message.
To make throwing do something, then, we must either write Instead rules for special circumstances, or else unlist these check rules and write suitable carry out and report rules to pick up the thread.
Typed commands leading to this action
"drop [something preferably held] at/against [something]" - throwing it at
Rules controlling this action
check an actor throwing something at implicitly remove thrown clothing rule name unlist
check an actor throwing something at futile to throw things at inanimate objects rule name unlist
check an actor throwing something at block throwing at rule name unlist