Happy Hour

Example 356

★★

Listing visible characters as a group, then giving some followup details in the same paragraph about specific ones.

Often it is best to have an entire paragraph about the characters present in a room, but suppose we're narrating a large party with a lot of people moving around. In that case, it might be better to list everyone together, then add a few salient details by way of follow-up, like this:

Play/modify in Borogove

Play in Quixe

"Happy Hour"

Before listing nondescript items:

say "You can see [a list of people who are marked for listing] here. ";

repeat with named party running through people:

now the named party is not marked for listing;

let count be the number of visible other people who are carrying something;

if count is 0:

say paragraph break;

continue the action;

let index be count;

repeat with holder running through visible other people who are carrying something:

if index is count, say "[The holder]";

otherwise say "[the holder]";

say " has [a list of things carried by the holder]";

decrement index;

make delimiter index of count.

The next part could be simpler, but for rigor we will write it in such a way that it will work whether or not the serial comma is in use. This requires some extra work.

To make delimiter (index - a number) of (count - a number), continuing or halting:
   if index is 0:
      if continuing, say ". [run paragraph on]";
      otherwise say ".";
   otherwise if index is 1:
      if count is 2, say " and ";
      otherwise say "[optional comma] and ";
   otherwise:
      say ", ".
 
To say optional comma:
   if the serial comma option is active:
      say ",".

And now the scene:

The Banquet Hall is a room. "A large cheery banner over the door (which, incidentally, vanishes when you approach it) reads: HELLO NEW INDUCTEES! WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE!"
 
Fred, George, and Larry are men in the Banquet Hall. Fred carries a dry martini. Larry carries a cream puff. Matilda and Louise are women in the Banquet Hall.
 
Definition: a person is other if it is not the player.
 
Every turn:
   let wanderer be a random other person;
   let place be the holder of the wanderer;
   let next place be a random room adjacent to the place;
   let the way be the best route from the place to the next place;
   try the wanderer going the way.
 
The Kitchen is west of the Banquet Hall. "Dominated by a pile of dirty plates which you imagine it will be someone's privilege to wash, later." Vanessa is a woman in the Kitchen. Vanessa carries a tray. On the tray is a salmon roll. The roll is edible.
 
Test me with "z / look / g / g / g ".

Test me with "z / look / g / g / g ".

Banquet Hall
A large cheery banner over the door (which, incidentally, vanishes when you approach it) reads: HELLO NEW INDUCTEES! WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE!

You can see Fred, George, Larry, Matilda and Louise here. Fred has a dry martini and Larry has a cream puff.

>(Testing.)

>[1] z
Time passes.

George goes west.

>[2] look
Banquet Hall
A large cheery banner over the door (which, incidentally, vanishes when you approach it) reads: HELLO NEW INDUCTEES! WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE!

You can see Fred, Larry, Matilda and Louise here. Fred has a dry martini and Larry has a cream puff.

George arrives from the west.

>[3] g
Banquet Hall
A large cheery banner over the door (which, incidentally, vanishes when you approach it) reads: HELLO NEW INDUCTEES! WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE!

You can see George, Fred, Larry, Matilda and Louise here. Fred has a dry martini and Larry has a cream puff.

Vanessa arrives from the west.

>[4] g
Banquet Hall
A large cheery banner over the door (which, incidentally, vanishes when you approach it) reads: HELLO NEW INDUCTEES! WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE!

You can see Vanessa, George, Fred, Larry, Matilda and Louise here. Fred has a dry martini, Larry has a cream puff and Vanessa has a tray.

Vanessa goes west.

>[5] g
Banquet Hall
A large cheery banner over the door (which, incidentally, vanishes when you approach it) reads: HELLO NEW INDUCTEES! WELCOME TO THE AFTERLIFE!

You can see George, Fred, Larry, Matilda and Louise here. Fred has a dry martini and Larry has a cream puff.

Fred goes west.