Hint class | hintsys.t[362]

A Hint encapsulates one hint from a topic. In many cases, hints can be listed in a topic simply as strings, rather than using Hint objects. Hint objects provide a little more control, though; in particular, a Hint object can specify some additional code to run when the hint is shown, so that it can apply any side effects of showing the hint (for example, when a hint is shown, it could mark another Goal object as Open, which might be desirable if the hint refers to another topic that the player might not yet have encountered).

`class Hint : MenuTopicSubItem`

Superclass Tree (in declaration order)

`Hint`
`MenuTopicSubItem`
`object`

Subclass Tree

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Global Objects

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Summary of Properties

`hintText referencedGoals`

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Summary of Methods

`getItemText`

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Properties

`hintText` | `hintsys.t[364]`

the hint text

`referencedGoals` | `hintsys.t[381]`

A list of other Goal objects that this hint references. By default, when we show this hint for the first time, we'll promote each goal in this list from Undiscovered to Open.

Sometimes, it's necessary to solve one puzzle before another can be solved. In these cases, some hints for the first puzzle (which depends on the second), especially the later, more specific hints, might need to refer to the other puzzle. This would make the player aware of the other puzzle even if they weren't already. In such cases, it's a good idea to make sure that we make hints for the other puzzle available immediately, since otherwise the player might be confused by the absence of hints about it.

Methods

`getItemText ( )`OVERRIDDEN | `hintsys.t[389]`

Get my hint text. By default, we mark as Open any goals listed in our referencedGoals list, then return our hintText string. Individual Hint objects can override this as desired to apply any additional side effects.

TADS 3 Library Manual
Generated on 5/16/2013 from TADS version 3.1.3