chapter 38 "QCS: Adding and deleting"
Rooms, containers and NPC's all are capable of holding
items, and often it is convenient to have them already holding certain
items upon creation.
The SetInventory directive in an object's file provides us with
a list of that object's "permanent inventory". To modify an object's
inventory, we use the add and delete commands.
Let's say that we want our cowboy to be wielding a
hammer when he appears...
%^GREEN%^clone cowboy%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^cd ../weap%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^clone hammer%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^add hammer to cowboy%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^wield hammer%^RESET%^
Believe it or not, it's that simple. The add command will ask
you a question after you issue it. What it wants to know is if you
want the NPC to do anything special when the hammer appears on him.
In this case, yes, we wanted him to wield it.
However, if you want to add something to an NPC and don't
have anything interesting for him to do with it, respond to the
question with the number of items that you want to appear. For
example, if I want the cowboy to be carrying a key:
%^GREEN%^cd ../obj%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^clone key%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^add key to cowboy%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^1%^RESET%^
And that's it. Now if I want the cowboy to be a permanent
resident of this room:
%^GREEN%^add cowboy%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^1%^RESET%^
The add command understands that if you don't specify a
target argument, you must mean the room. You can also be specific:
%^GREEN%^add cowboy to room%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^1%^RESET%^
The delete command works the opposite way. It removes items from
an object's permanent inventory:
%^GREEN%^delete hammer from cowboy%^RESET%^
%^GREEN%^delete cowboy%^RESET%^
The delete command is also the way to get rid of rooms. You won't
be removing the file from disk, you'll just be deleting that exit
from the room:
%^GREEN%^delete exit garden%^RESET%^
NOTE: When you delete an exit, only the connection from your room to
the other room is removed. The connection from the other room to
your room remains. This is not a bug, it's a feature. There are plenty
of circumstances where one-way travel is desirable.
