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Basic Tutorial -- Step 5: Link one location to another

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Select the second rule

Select the second rule from the rule table by clicking on it with the mouse. You should see the rule appear in the rule editor, as well as be highlighted as a bold line with a yellow background (unless you changed the color preferences). The bold item is always the rule now displayed in the rule editor panel. You should see a #2 in the upper left hand corner of the rule editor to show you are editing the second rule. The command field should read "climb a tree".

Add a move

Now, let's have this command move us to the tree top. To do this, enter "tree top" in the move field. What you enter here needs to match exactly in case and spacing what you previously entered for the context of rule #3. All the rule fields except the reply field will automatically convert what is entered in them to lowercase, but the spacing you need to worry about yourself.

Test the move

Now let's test it out in the player. Click on "climb a tree" and then "look". You should get something like this:

> climb a tree

You climb a tree and can see nothing but tree tops for miles around you

> look

You are at the top of a huge Sequoia, swaying in the breeze.

Add another move

Wait! How do we get down? We need to add a new command to go down the tree. Select rule three in the table, and then press the New button. We selected rule three so the context would be filled in as "tree top" and not "forest". If you didn't do this first, you can always type over the context with "tree top". Make sure it is rule #4 you are editing first, though. Enter "slide down the tree" in the command field. Then enter, "You slide back to the ground." in the reply field. Of course, we need to also enter a move field. So enter "forest" in the move field. The rule should look something like this:

context
command
reply
move
tree top
slide down the tree
You slide back to the ground.
forest

Entering tutorial text

Note that this table has the fields going left to right, but the rule editor has the fields listed top to bottom. The same holds for all the tables you will see in this tutorial. If you like, you can speed up the tutorials a bit by copying text directly from the help system and pasting it into StoryHarp. If the text is in a table like this one, just copy the text from one cell of the table at a time. You will probably find that it is easiest to type short texts (like commands) and copy and paste longer texts (like replies).

Test the second move

Now let's try it out. Click "look" again in the player. You should see "slide down the tree" as an option in the command list. Pick it. Then select look. The result should be something like this:

> look

You are at the top of a huge Sequoia, swaying in the breeze.

> slide down the tree

You slide back to the ground.

> look

You are in the forest. There are many majestic trees here.

Did it work for you? Great! Remember, your writing is central to the story. So feel free to go back in there and change things later. You might change "You slide back to the ground." to "You slide halfway down the Sequoia, get caught on a branch, bounce into the face of another tree, then dangle precariously from another branch, which breaks, dumping you unceremoniously on your rump on a deep pile of pine needles. It's a wonder none of your bones are broken."

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 Updated: March 10, 1999. Questions/comments on site to webmaster@kurtz-fernhout.com.
Copyright © 1998, 1999 Paul D. Fernhout & Cynthia F. Kurtz.