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Transit System by Emily Short
Transit System provides a system for trains, buses, ferries, and other vehicles that might make regular stops at different places on the map for the player to mount and dismount. These items must be of the train-car kind, and must provide a table containing their t-schedule, as in
The COTA bus is a train-car in Starr Avenue. The t-schedule of the COTA bus is the Table of Bus t-schedule.
Schedules have the form of a two-column table such as
Table of Bus Schedule
transit time destination
The content of the t-schedule depends on whether the train-car is relatively-scheduled (in which case it repeatedly follows a t-schedule with fixed durations between stops) or absolutely-scheduled (in which case it arrives at specified times and stops its run when the t-schedule is complete).
A t-schedule for a relatively-scheduled train-car might look like
Table of Bus Schedule
transit time destination 1 minute Starr Avenue 1 minute Fourth Street 1 minute Fifth Street 1 minute Ninth Street 3 minutes Seventeenth Street 3 minutes Ninth Street 1 minute Fifth Street 1 minute Fourth Street
where "transit time" is the amount of time it takes to move *to* the destination listed in that row.
A t-schedule for an absolutely-scheduled train-car might look like
Table of Train Schedule
transit time destination 9:01 AM Boston 9:07 AM New York 9:10 AM Philadelphia 9:25 AM Pittsburgh 9:45 AM Chicago
We may also optionally give a train-car a "waiting duration", which is the amount of time it will spend at each stop waiting for people to get on and off. By default, waiting duration is zero, which means that a train-car will arrive at a location and then leave again on the following turn. This may be appropriate for buses but not so much for other kinds of transportation:
The waiting duration of the Virgin Train is 5.
The waiting duration of the Amtrak Train is 15.
The waiting duration of the Washington State Ferry is 45.
Note that schedules are assumed to be cyclical, so if we want a bus that goes back and forth along a straight line, we should make the t-schedule double back on itself: see the first example.
Between stops, a train-car is closed and the player is not allowed to leave. This is handled by the refusal to open while in motion rule.
Text about starting and stopping, and the opening and closing of doors, is controlled by five activities:
Describing departure of something is an activity.
Describing arrival of something is an activity.
Describing opening of something is an activity.
Describing closure of something is an activity.
Mentioning final stop of something is an activity.
So if we want to change the way something arrives -- or just how it arrives at a specific place -- we can write a rule for this. For instance:
Rule for describing arrival of the COTA bus when the COTA bus is in Fourth Street:
if the player is in the COTA bus, say "[The COTA bus] comes to an abrupt halt at Fourth Street, splashing muddy water all over the curb. [run paragraph on]";
otherwise say "[The COTA bus] pulls up suddenly and hard in a puddle. You are now dripping wet. [run paragraph on]".
The other four activities do not need "run paragraph on": it is included in this one because by default we construct a paragraph that consists of the arrival message followed immediately by the message that the doors are opening; this one would produce
The COTA bus comes to an abrupt halt at Fourth Street, splashing muddy water all over the curb. The doors open
as output. For all other cases, the activity output should be text ending with a full stop, as usual.
Example: * COTA - A bus running up and down High Street.
Include Transit System by Emily Short.
Starr Avenue is a room. Fourth Street is north of Starr Avenue. Fifth Street is north of Fourth Street. Sixth Street is north of Fifth Street. Seventh Street is north of Sixth Street. Eighth Street is north of Seventh Street. Ninth Street is north of Eighth Street. Eleventh Street is north of Ninth Street. Fifteenth Street is north of Eleventh Street. Seventeenth Street is north of Fifteenth Street.
The COTA bus is a relatively-scheduled train-car in Starr Avenue. The waiting duration of the COTA bus is 1 minute. The t-schedule of the COTA bus is the Table of Bus Schedule.
Table of Bus Schedule
transit time destination 1 minute Starr Avenue 1 minute Fourth Street 1 minute Fifth Street 1 minute Ninth Street 3 minutes Seventeenth Street 3 minutes Ninth Street 1 minute Fifth Street 1 minute Fourth Street
Test me with "get on bus / z / z / z".
Example: * Amtrak - An Amtrak train running a long northeastern route, showing off absolutely-scheduled train-cars.
For the sake of example, I have given the train an impossibly fast schedule, so that we can see it arriving and departing on time without waiting through too many turns.
Include Transit System by Emily Short.
Chicago is west of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is west of Philadelphia. Philadelphia is south of New York. New York is southwest of Boston.
The player is in New York.
The Amtrak is an absolutely-scheduled train-car in Boston. The waiting duration of the Amtrak is 1 minute. The t-schedule of the Amtrak is the Table of Train Schedule.
Table of Train Schedule
transit time destination 9:01 AM Boston 9:07 AM New York 9:10 AM Philadelphia 9:25 AM Pittsburgh 9:45 AM Chicago
When play begins, now the right hand status line is "[time of day]".
Test me with "z / z / z / z /z / z / z / enter amtrak / z / z / z / z / z".