Terminator — 33 of 33

Chapter 16 - About, Credits, Help

Requesting the about text is an action out of world. Understand "about" as requesting the about text.

Carry out requesting the about text: say "Terminator is a randomized rescue game that experiments with commanding multiple actors at once and grid-based movement and vision.[paragraph break]For the credits, type 'CREDITS.'[paragraph break]For a list of commands, type 'COMMANDS.'[paragraph break]For a general description of how the game works, type 'DESCRIPTION.'[paragraph break]For some general advice about what to do, type 'HELP' or 'HINT.'"

Requesting the credits is an action out of world. Understand "credits" or "credit" as requesting the credits.

Carry out requesting the credits: say "Terminator was written by Matt Weiner for ParserComp 2015.[paragraph break]Thanks to Daniel Stelzer for the Multiple Actors extension, without which this game could not exist. Thanks also to Ron Newcomb and Andrew Plotkin for their extensions, and to all the denizens of intfiction.org for their coding help.[paragraph break]Especially warm thanks to Neil Butters, Steph Cherrywell, Andrew Schultz, and Caleb Wilson for beta testing and providing invaluable feedback.[paragraph break]Thanks also to Carolyn VanEseltine for organizing ParserComp and providing the theme.[paragraph break]The cover image is an image of Mercury taken by the MESSENGER spacecraft; credit to NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington.[paragraph break]For more information about the game, type 'ABOUT.'"

Requesting the description is an action out of world. Understand "description" or "guide" as requesting the description.

Carry out requesting the description: say "Terminator takes place on an 18 by 18 grid. Your spaceship is always around the middle of the west edge and the wreckage of the Russ is always around the very middle of the grid. Everything else--robots, astronauts, terrain features--is randomly placed.[paragraph break]The robots will describe what's around them every turn, in a rather crude way--they're only robots. What they see will depend on how big the things around them are and how far they can see; scouts can see things from a little farther away than haulers.[paragraph break]Sometimes terrain features will obscure things from sight. In particular, craters always have a little dip in the middle and the crater wall may hide what's inside.[paragraph break]Scouts are faster than haulers and carry beacons that robots can move toward from anywhere on the map, but haulers are the only robots that can carry astronauts (each hauler can carry an unlimited number of astronauts). Robots will move only when you command them.[paragraph break]Your goal is to find the astronauts and bring them back to your spaceship, before the sun comes from the east and burns everything up. Good luck!"

Asking for a hint is an action out of world. Understand "help" or "hint" or "hints" as asking for a hint.

Carry out asking for a hint during Tutorial:

if the expected action is the action of launching:

say "It looks like you've finished the tutorial! Anytime you want, you can type 'TAKE OFF' to return to the main game.";

otherwise:

say "[Expected action] will get you to the next step of the tutorial--though if you've got off track, things might not happen exactly as the tutorial text describes."

Carry out asking for a hint during Rescue Mission:

say "It helps to cover as much ground as you can early on, so at the beginning I suggest having all the robots move; the more robots there are moving, the more new territory will be visible each turn, and the more likely you are to be able to locate astronauts and find landmarks to orient yourself.[paragraph break]Since the sun comes in from the east, you might want to try to rescue the easternmost astronauts first.[paragraph break]Many players find it helpful to place a beacon near your spaceship, so haulers can be directed toward the spaceship from anywhere on the map. Also, often scouts will often find astronauts before haulers do, so you can use beacons to help direct the haulers toward the astronauts.[paragraph break]Remember, once you find an astronaut you don't have to rescue them immediately; you just have to get them back to the spaceship before the terminator comes. Still, haulers can only just outrun the terminator, so don't let them get caught.[paragraph break]Good luck!"

Requesting the command list is an action out of world. Understand "commands" or "command" or "verbs" or "verb" or "verb list" as requesting the command list.

Carry out requesting the command list:

say "You yourself can WAIT or end the game by typing TAKE OFF.[line break]But mostly you'll be commanding robots. Type the names of the robots or a description like 'ROBOTS,' 'SCOUTS,' or 'HAULERS,' followed by a comma, and then:[line break]GO a direction (or just the direction)[line break]GO TO something they can see, or a beacon[line break]DROP something[line break]PICK UP something[line break]LOOK[line break]INVENTORY to see what they're carrying[line break]EXIT to leave the Tiptree once they've entered it.[line break]Entering the Tiptree and transferring astronauts to the Tiptree is done automatically."