A Guide for Writing Actions Under the DYRT1.* Gaming System
    ========================================================================
                     Copyright (c)1993 The Mystique Project
                    Internet: owner-mystique@gnu.ai.mit.edu

                          written by Valentin Popescu
                         <vpopesc@opus.calstatela.edu>

		updated for use with Dyrt 1.2* by Katie Mowry
                            <96mowry@matt.alma.edu>
   ===========================================================================
Actions are defined in a file residing in the /data directory, and are 
called...well... "actions". Everything below is the same on pdirt. I haven't
changed anything about this part of the system.

An action is defined by 3 to 6 lines.  An example of an action is:

	:worship sa
	all:%a falls to the ground in worship of the gods of MUD.
	me:You fall to your knees in reverence of the gods of MUD.
	target:%a snivels and grovels and shamelessly worships you.
	sender:You worship %t.
	others:%a falls down to worship %t.



1.0 DEFINING AN ACTION

First line (:worship sa) denotes the name of the action (preceded by a 
colon), then a number of special flags:

	s = single action.  Something that can be done to a person in
		particular.

	a = room action.  Something that can be done to the room (i.e. wave).

	h = hostile action.  If this is done to a person or mobile, the 
		receiver will consider it hostile and a fight would ensue.  
		(for example, "slap puff" on some muds would start a fight 
		with Puff).

	i = ignore if aloof.  People who have "aloof" on will not be bothered
		by these actions.

	f = action can be performed on people not in the same room.

Now... the s/a flags determine how many lines the description will require.
If the flag "s" is set, you will need to put in a description that the
receiver will see, one that the sender will see, and one that the room will
see.  For "a", you will need one for sender and one for room.  The above
example illustrates the required fields for an "sa" action.  Another action
may be defined as:

	:yawn a
	all:%a yawns.
	me:My, what big teeth you have!

or

	:kick shi
	target:%a kicks you.  "Ooof!"
	sender:You kick %t.
	others:%a kicks %t!

(notice the use of h[ostile] and i[ignore if aloof] flags in the last example).

Note also that there is a different set of messages for what the person sees
and what the target sees, depending on if the action has a destination or not.
Sender: and Others: will be used if there is a target, whereas All: and Me:
if there is no target.



2.0 USING PRONOUN FLAGS

The following flags may be used within an action:

	%~ = This flag will be replaced by "him or her", as in "You kiss %~".
		When this is used in the Sender: field, it will pertain to 
		the sex of the target, whereas in the other fields, to the 
		sex of the actor.

	%^ - This flag will be replaced by "his or her", as in "You take
		%^ hand".  Otherwise same as for %~.

	%a - This is the actor, the one who performs the action.

	%t - This is the target, the one on whom the action is being done.

Also, the following clauses allow for the selection of whole strings based
on gender.  These can be tricky at first.

	%<string 1:string 2%>
	%[string 1:string 2%]

The first one will select string 1 if the ACTOR is male and string 2 if she's
female.  The second one will select string one if the TARGET is male, and
string 2 if she's female.



3.0 QUICK EXAMPLES
 
        :accuse s
        target:%a puts all the blame on you.
        sender:%<He%:She%> did it! Not me!
        others:%a points a finger at %t and yells '%<He%:She%> did it!'

        :beam a
        all:%a is beaming so brightly. What could be the source?
        me:You beam with utter brilliance.

        :beg sai
        all:%a gets out %^ tin cup and starts to beg.
        me:You get out your tin cup and begin to beg.
        target:%a stares at you with %^ best puppy face.
        sender:You prostrate yourself in front of %t.
        others:%a kneels in front of %t and puts on a puppy face.

        :think as
        all:%a is thinking about %^ next hot date.
        me:What's on your mind?
        target:%a is thinking about you...
        sender:Oh, isn't %<he%:she%> wonderful!
        others:%a is thinking about %t.