Placeholders / Variables

[severenz]

An idea I've been sitting on for awhile has been placeholders / variables. I checked out CYS and their implementation is much different than mine so maybe it's a different feature altogether.

Here's how I envision it working - think MadLibs...

You can specify an unlimited number of placeholder variables with a default value. The user would then be given the opportunity to override the defaults before starting the story (or at any time while reading).

Examples might be:

reader-name (default "John")
secret-weapon (default "3d-printed brass knuckles")
homebase (default "Mcdonald's on 3rd street"

The writer would then use them in the story - something like this:

The perpetrator said "identify yourself."

You replied with "The name's [placeholder=reader-name]."

After dispatching him with your [placeholder=secret-weapon] you headed back to [placeholder=homebase] to meet with your homeys.

Any thoughts or ideas on this?

[mizal]

I somehow missed this thread before, but this would be nice for customizable flavor text. (And of course the dreaded pronoun swapping, but I suppose that can have its legitimate uses to...) The closest equivalent on CYS would be on page scripting, but that's notoriously kind of awkward to use.

It'd be ideal if there was a way to use variables here to effect a plot too though. A true/false check for a variable state to govern whether a link appeared or not would go a long way and open up a lot of possibilities.

[donteatpoop]

I think that would be a cool feature.

[MewSalamence]

I'd like to add on my own thoughts to this.

Variables are nice when hiding choices, but what if there was an [IF] code that shows text if you have a certain variable?

*User has a choice between "Dancing with Fish" [set dance=fish] or "Dancing with Birds" [set dance=birds] or "Go Home"

[if dance=fish]You go underwater to dance with the fish.[/if][if dance=birds]You soar into the sky to dance with the birds.[/if][if dance] You had a fun time dancing with the [display=dance].[/if][ifnot dance]You denied the dance and headed home to rest.[/ifnot]

Might give more options if users have a heavier-choice story with multiple options.

[severenz]

Conditional text was on the list and partially coded. It’s a bit trickier than the choices but will be coming soon.

In the meantime, you can nearly accomplish the same end result as conditional text in a single room by breaking up the text into separate rooms and using conditional choices. Yes, not as versatile perhaps.

I am confident that conditional text will lead to Item Inventories. Which will lead to reusable templates. All of this is on the horizon and boils down to turning the IS engine into a simple programming language. I love it.