THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
Infocom interactive fiction – a science fiction story
Copyright (c) 1984 by Infocom, Inc. All rights reserved.
Release 31 / Serial number 871119 / Interpreter 0 VersionYou wake up. The room is spinning very gently round your head. Or at least it would be if you could see it which you can’t.
It is pitch black.
>flip lightswitch
I don’t know the word “lightswitch”.>lights on
There was no verb in that sentence!>turn on light
Good start to the day. Pity it’s going to be the worst one of your life. The light is now on.Bedroom, in the bed
The bedroom is a mess.
It is a small bedroom with a faded carpet and old wallpaper. There is a washbasin, a chair with a tatty dressing gown slung over it, and a window with the curtains drawn. Near the exit leading south is a phone.
There is a flathead screwdriver here. (outside the bed)
There is a toothbrush here. (outside the bed)>get out of bed
Very difficult, but you manage it. The room is still spinning. It dips and sways a little.>take nightgown
I don’t know the word “nightgown”.>put on dressing gown
You’re not holding your gown.>take gown
Luckily, this is large enough for you to get hold of. You notice something in the pocket.>put on dressing gown
You are now wearing your gown.>reach in pocket
I don’t know the word “reach”.>empty pocket
I don’t know the word “empty”.>take stuff out of pocket
You used the word “stuff” in a way that I don’t understand.>open pocket
Opening your gown reveals a buffered analgesic, pocket fluff, and a thing your aunt gave you which you don’t know what it is.>take pills
I don’t know the word “pills”.>take medicine
I don’t know the word “medicine”.>take buffered analgesic
In Ubiquity 0.1.1
CmdUtils.CreateCommand({ name: "get-stuff-from", takes: {url: noun_container}, preview: function( pBlock, dirObj ) { pBlock.innerHTML = "Gets the stuff that is inside your " + dirObj.summary; } });
From the Inform manual
An Inform verb usually has several English verb words attached, which are called synonyms of each other: for instance, the library is set up with
“take” = “carry” = “hold”
all referring to the same Inform verb.
Hitchhiker’s again
>take aspirin
You swallow the tablet. After a few seconds the room begins to calm down and behave in an orderly manner. Your terrible headache goes.>get toothbrush
As you pick up the toothbrush a tree outside the window collapses. There is no causal relationship between these two events.>hold screwdriver
Taken.
>carry robe
You are already wearing it.
In the latest Ubiquity source build, as of yesterday afternoon
CmdUtils.CreateCommand({ name: "get-stuff-from", synonyms: ["take-stuff-from", "take-stuff-out-of", "empty", "reach-in"], takes: {url: noun_container}, preview: function( pBlock, dirObj ) { pBlock.innerHTML = "Gets the stuff that is inside your " + dirObj.summary; } });
September 11, 2008 at 10:04 pm
The pictures in order:
1. Painful Fart
2. Liquid Fart
3. Cloud Fart
4. Content Fart
September 11, 2008 at 10:21 pm
Will 1.0 include a text adventure easter egg?
September 11, 2008 at 11:47 pm
This is a beautiful, beautiful thing.
September 12, 2008 at 3:44 am
Yay, now commands can define shortened forms or abbreviations.
Can modifiers also have synonyms?
September 12, 2008 at 4:36 am
This is such an awesome combination of nerdiness and code. Though I’m surprised that one of the Ubiquity suggestions isn’t “42”.
September 12, 2008 at 6:21 am
So, you said that localized versions will apear soon…? 😉
Great work!
September 12, 2008 at 7:50 am
We should definitely have an easter egg in Ubiquity.
September 13, 2008 at 8:46 am
Bwahaha you are adorable. Mad props for condensing the narrative into bare information and sparing use of a webcam.
September 13, 2008 at 9:03 pm
That’s one hell of a monobrow.
October 1, 2008 at 7:22 am
Ctrl-Space jono-face worried.
more useful than synonyms?!?
May 1, 2012 at 6:41 am
[…] > https://jonoscript.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/the-synonym-problem/ […]