The best way to do messaging these days is through a single simul
efun:
send_message()
varargs void send_message(mixed verb, string message, object agent,
mixed targets, mixed observers, mapping special);
Example:
send_message("cast", "$agent_name $agent_verb $agent_possessive pole in "
"order to fish.", this_player(), 0,
environment(this_player()));
replaces BOTH:
this_player()->eventPrint("You cast your pole in order to fish.");
environment(this_player())->eventPrint(this_player()->GetName() +
" casts " +
possessive(this_player()) +
" pole in order to fish.",
this_player());
AND
the write()/say() equivalent.
First, let's go over the arguments to send_message():
* mixed verb
This will normally be a single verb that you want conjugated in the
sentence for different viewers. In the above example, "cast" needed
to be displayed as "cast" for the caster and "casts" for observers.
In some sentences, you made need more than one verb. Take for
example:
"You rock and roll."
"Descartes rocks and rolls."
This is done by using an array instead of a single string. The rock
and roll example would look like:
send_message(({ "rock", "roll" }), "$agent_name $agent_verb and $agent_verb.",
this_player(), 0, environment(this_player()));
For each verb mentioned in the message, there must be a corresponding
verb in the verb array.
The verb should be expressed in second person singular format.
* string message
A message containing tokens that will be replaced when the message is
displayed. Campusalid tokens are:
$agent_name - replaced with the name of the agent
$agent_nominative - replaced with the nominative pronoun for the
agent (he, she, or it)
$agent_objective - replaced with the objective pronoun for the agent
$agent_possessive - the agent's possessive pronoun
$agent_possessive_noun - the possessive version of the agent's name
$agent_reflexive - the reflexive pronoun for the agent
For each of the agent tokens, there also exist target tokens:
$target_name, $target_nominative, $target_objective,
$target_possessive, $target_possessive_noun, $target_reflexive
And finally, $agent_verb and $target_verb.
You have to associate a verb with a person so that the system knows
how to conjugate the verb for each viewer. Take for example:
"Horace is struck by Descartes' sword."
"Descartes strikes Horace."
In both instances, Descartes is the agent. The verb in the first
sentence is "are" and in the second sentence "strike". But the
subject of the sentence in the first sentence is NOT the agent. It is
the target. The corresponding send_message() would look like:
send_messages("are", "$target_name $target_verb struck by "
"$agent_possessive_noun sword.", this_player(), enemy,
environment(this_player());
send_messages("strike", "$agent_name $agent_verb $target_name.",
this_player(), enemy, environment(this_player()));
Using just this knowledge, you can now send something like:
send_message(({ "miss", "sidestep" }), "$agent_name $agent_verb "
"$target_name as $target_nominative $target_verb "
"$agent_possessive_noun attack.", this_player(), enemy,
environment(this_player()));
This will show me:
"You miss Horace as he sidesteps your attack."
And Horace:
"Descartes misses you as you sidestep Descartes' attack."
And other people in the room:
"Descartes misses Horace as he sidesteps Descartes' attack."
All done in a single line of code.
* object agent
The agent is the person who is considered to be doing the action. It
can only be a single object.
* mixed targets
You can have one or more targets. Traditionally, you will have only
one. The above examples have dealt with a single target. You could
however have:
send_message("get", "$agent_name $agent_verb $target_name.",
this_player(), all_inventory(environment(this_player())),
environment(this_player()));
To show:
"You get two swords and a fish."
And to the room:
"Descartes gets two swords and a fish."
On a completely uninteresting side-note, the message also gets sent to
the two swords and a fish.
* mixed observers
Any objects which might be observing this action. It is most often
the room in which the agents and object are located.
* mapping special
Some library objects may wish to add their own tokens to the token
list for parsing. For examples, spells send ([ "$limb" : "right hand"])
You will almost never need that last argument.
