When in Rome 1: Accounting for Taste — 30 of 31
Emily Short
Chapter 5 - Help System
Table of Hints
| title | subtable | description | toggle |
| "How do I get rid of this beast?" | Table of Riddance Hints | -- | hint toggle rule |
| "I don't understand women." | Table of Esther Hints | -- | hint toggle rule |
Table of Esther Hints
| hint | used |
| "Don't worry -- you can talk to her and try to get to know her better, but you're unlikely to shape your relationship one way or the other so early in your acquaintance." | a number |
Table of Riddance Hints
| hint | used |
| "You may notice that it eats things." | a number |
| "Is there anything else around like what it wants to eat?" | -- |
| "[if the creature is wood-pulpy]Try some of the paper things[otherwise]It seems to like leather and cloth[end if]." | -- |
| "Of course, you won't be able to feed it yourself, so you'll need to get the girl to give it things for you." | -- |
| "Try GIRL, GIVE [if the creature is wood-pulpy](some paper thing)[otherwise](some textile thing)[end if] TO THE CREATURE." | |
| "Keep doing this until it is fed." | |
| "Have her [if the creature is wood-pulpy]search the trash[otherwise]give it her shoes and your fedora[end if] if you run out of food for it." |
When Drinks begins:
choose row 1 in the Table of Hints;
now title entry is "What do I do now?";
now subtable entry is Table of Drink Hints.
Table of Drink Hints
| hint | used |
| "If you like, you can chat with Esther for another minute or two, perhaps asking her about something you find interesting." | a number |
| "Sooner or later, you're going to need to leave, however." | -- |
| "Try OUT." | -- |
When Limo Ride begins:
choose row 1 in the Table of Hints;
now title entry is "How do I get out?";
now subtable entry is Table of Limo Hints.
Table of Limo Hints
| hint | used |
| "You don't." | a number |
| "Just wait until you get where you're going." | -- |
[When Test begins:
choose row 1 in the Table of Hints;
change title entry to "How do I identify this animal?";
change subtable entry to Table of Test Hints;
choose row 2 in the Table of Hints;
change title entry to "How do I let them know when I'm done?";
change subtable entry to Table of Escape Hints;
Table of Test Hints
hint used
"The paper chart gives you a number of diagnostics." a number
"You may be able to rule out certain arm numbers right away just by looking at the animal." --
"To tell whether it can sense smelly things or not, try offering it something with a pungent odor and seeing how it reacts." --
"Friendly creatures tend to react positively to being petted, while others may be hostile, ticklish, confused, or even frightened." --
"For cloth-eating, try offering it food or observing what it is fed." --
"Reflexes are the trickiest bit: try taking something it's carrying or throwing something at it and see how it responds." --
]
Table of Escape Hints
| hint | used |
| "When you decide you know what planet the animal comes from, try SAY (planet). They will hear you. (Shouting also works.)" | a number |
When play begins:
choose row 1 in the Table of Basic Help Options;
now description entry is "[story description]".
Table of Basic Help Options (continued)
| title | subtable | description | toggle |
| "Credits" | -- | "This episode was beta-tested by Storme Winfield and Josh Giesbrecht; further reports provided by Jesse McGrew. Inform 7 is the work of Graham Nelson, and [story title] was compiled on Andrew Hunter's compiler for Mac OS X." | -- |
| "Contacting the Author" | -- | "If you encounter bugs, please feel free to email me (Emily Short) at emshort@mindspring.com. Including a short transcript of the problem you ran into will make it easier for me to diagnose what went wrong, though of course it isn't required." | -- |
| "Hints" | Table of Hints | -- | -- |