The Reliques of Tolti-Aph — 6 of 57

Graham Nelson

Release 3

Section 1(d) - Strength

A person has a number called strength. The strength of a person is usually 14.

Definition: A person is alive if its strength is 1 or more. Definition: A person is killed[1] if its strength is 0 or less.

A person has a number called permanent strength.[2]

When play begins:

repeat with the patient running through people:

now the permanent strength of the patient is the strength of the patient.[3]

To restore the health of (patient - a person): now the strength of the patient is the permanent strength of the patient.

Understand "str" as a mistake ("STR is not a command, but a numerical measure of your current strength. It is constantly displayed in the status line bar at the top of the window, and you are (usually) notified of any changes.").[4]

Understand "diagnose" as a mistake ("You can check your STR at any time from the status line, the bar at the top of the window. It's currently [strength of the player].").[5]

Notes

[1]. There are no natural deaths in Tolti-Aph.

[2]. The strength you would have after a square meal and a good night's sleep.

[3]. Specifying both the permanent strength and the (current) strength for everyone in the game would be tiresome. To simplify matters we assume that everyone begins the game in rude health, and that we can therefore deduce the permanent strength from the (current) strength.

[4]. A quick way to respond to a mistaken command by the player. Testing showed that some people misunderstood the HELP text's mention of STR, and that others never noticed the status line.

[5]. Some of the Infocom games had a "diagnose" verb, and the play-testers asked for this to be added out of nostalgia.