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# How to make a thing that can be seen from every room?

+1 vote
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asked Apr 19 in Authoring by anonymous

Let's say I want to be able to examine the sky. If I'm in a room marked outside, or a room with a window, I get the description of the sky. Otherwise, I get a message that says I can't see the sky from here. The sky itself has some complex rules that changes its appearance now and then, and it may affect other things (such as people's moods). How can I make the sky consistent no matter where I'm observing it from?

- inform7
- programming

## 1 Answer

0 votes
answered Apr 19 by bg (692 points)
Best answer

You probably want to make the sky a backdrop, which is something that can be in more than one place (see §3.9 in Writing with Inform). That way you only have one description to modify when the sky changes appearance.

If you want the sky to be visible in every room, you can say

    The sky is a backdrop. The sky is everywhere.

If you don't want it visible in every room, you can just put it in certain rooms or regions:

    Outdoors is a region. The sky is a backdrop. The sky is in Outdoors. The sky is in the Sunroom.

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