Invisible Parties — 2 of 31
Sam Kabo Ashwell
Book 1 - Indexical
Include Basic Screen Effects by Emily Short.
Include Menus by Wade Clarke.
Include Exit Lister by Gavin Lambert. [At time of publication this will not compile out of the box, due to some use of deprecated phrases; but it should be a ten-minute fix, if that.]
[The following allows EXITS to work as a command out-of-world, taking no time and unblocked by conditional rules.]
Release along with cover art ("An ornate 4 x 4 grid, with the text INVISIBLE PARTIES.").
Release along with the source text, a website and an interpreter.
Understand the command "exits" as something new.
The story genre is "Fantasy". The story headline is "An Interdimensional Romance".
New-exiting is an action out of world. Understand "exits" as new-exiting.
Carry out new-exiting: carry out the listing exits activity.
Use no scoring.
The release number is 3.
The story description is "You are a walker of the ways between the worlds. It is not an arrangement conducive to straightforward relationships. The Three Rebeccas have created a tangle, a temporary artifice woven from parts of many worlds, in order to hold a party. You don't trust them, but this might be your only chance to see Jave again."
This is the supplementary listing exits rule:
let exits be the number of exit-listable directions;
if exits is 0, do nothing;
otherwise say "[one of]Orient yourself. Picture the woven ways as ground underfoot, and they'll become walkable[run paragraph on]. [or][stopping]The tangle extends to the [list of exit-listable directions][one of]. [co]You can turn off exit notifications with EXITS OFF, or get a listing with EXITS.[/co][or].[stopping]".
The supplementary listing exits rule is listed instead of the standard exit listing rule in the for listing exits rules.
Abooting is an action out of world applying to nothing. Understand "about" or "info" or "credits" as abooting.
After printing the banner text, say "Credits, help, further information: see ABOUT."
Carry out abooting: say "[co]Invisible Parties was made for ShuffleComp in April/May 2014, an event that randomly assigned songs to authors to inspire games. It was originally published under the pseudonym Psychopup. The work was very loosely inspired by [/i]Symphony 10: Could This Really Be The End[i] by Emily Wells, from the album [/i]The Symphonies: Dreams Memories & Parties[i]; the song was suggested by Jennifer Earl. (Actually, this was sort of a cop-out, because I was already familiar with the song, owned the album, and had seen the artist play live.)[p]Thanks are due to Matt Weiner and Doug Orleans for first-round testing, to Neil Butters, Jacqueline Lott, Emily Short and Caleb Wilson for second-round testing, and to Jason Dyer, Dan Shiovitz and Carl Muckenhoupt for brainstorming post-comp improvements.[p]Finally, thanks to Bedlam Coffee, Drip City Coffee Company, Fremont Coffee Company, the Red Door, the Cyclops Café & Lounge, and Anna Armstrong; because I would never get a writing project finished if I did it all at home.[p]Complaints, bug reports, comments to magadog@gmail.com . HELP may also be of interest.[/co]"
Hinting is an action out of world applying to nothing. Understand "hint" or "help" as hinting.
Carry out hinting:
carry out the displaying activity;
clear the screen;
try looking.
Table of Help Contents
| title (text) | subtable (table name) | description (text) | used (number) | bookpage (number) | localpage (number) |
| "Am I missing an important command?" | -- | "The most important command is USE, which only applies to gifts. You can shorten this to just the name of the gift.[p]Other than that, the most important commands are directions and TALK TO." | |||
| "I'm confused. What on earth is going on?" | -- | "That's okay. This is not a story where you understand everything immediately." | -- | -- | |
| "I'm lost." | table of hinting | "Making a map is a very good idea in Invisible Parties." | -- | -- | |
| "hint" | -- | "Although the map changes over the course of play, its basic layout is fairly simple." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "The map is initially a 3x3 grid connected by cardinal directions." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "Half the rooms of the grid are connected to outside exits. Not all of these exits are at the map's edge." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "As play progresses, its northern and eastern edges gradually expand; and some rooms will be destroyed, making them permanently inaccessible." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "The game's cover art is a simple map." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "The exits are at the central four squares of the map (minus the way you came in), and its corners. Focus your efforts on the other rooms." | |||
| "How do I find Jave?" | -- | "If the game is still winnable, Jave will be in an accessible area. Explore the map thoroughly. Rooms that she passed through recently will offer clues." | -- | -- | |
| "What am I meant to do with these gifts?" | table of hinting | "Your gifts are powerful abilities that apply in wide-ranging circumstances." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "In some rooms, gifts may produce interesting results, but they won't accomplish anything." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "Gifts are also of limited use when Jave is not around. Focus on using them in her presence." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "Rooms that feature ways out of the weave are too firmly-rooted to mess about with. Focus on the rooms that don't have outside connections." | |||
| "hint" | -- | "Both you and Jave have gifts. Each suitable room has two different solutions; some of these will be more obvious than others." | |||
| -- | -- | -- | -- |
This is the Zarfian cruelty violation rule:
if the number of blank rows in Table of Help Contents > 0 begin;
choose a blank row in the Table of Help Contents;
now the title entry is "I think I've trapped myself. How do I get back in?";
now the description entry is "If you're in one of the entrance areas and the room immediately inside is destroyed, you cannot get back in: the connection has been severed. This is the main way in which you can make the game unwinnable.";
end if;
[Understand "* [text]" as a mistake ("[co]Noted.[/co]"). [Everyone should do this. I often forget.]
Understand "*[text]" as a mistake ("[co]Noted.[/co]"). [And some people, unaccountably, don't use a space.]]