Pronoun resolution

[troglodyte111]

Is there a simple way to remove an object from being referred to as "it"? If the player types a command that destroys an object I typically just move it to a special unreachable room Props, but then I don't want the player to be able to type "x it" and still get its description even if it is not in scope.

[Pertex]

you are right, this is a bug

[KVonGit]

Yep... The bug is in ResolveNameFromList.

When an action is successfully performed on an object, the object is added to a list called game.lastobjects.

When the player uses a pronoun, Quest checks the objects on the game.lastobjects list to see if the entered pronoun can be used for that object. If it can, Quest goes with that object without checking if the object is in scope.

To get around this, we can remove the object from the game.lastobjects list in the script of a command which destroys an object.

If using a verb, it's easy, because we can use this in the script like so:

// rev 1, need to check that the game object has a lastobjects attribute, to avoid possible error
if (HasAttribute (game, "lastobjects")){
  if (ListContains (game.lastobjects, this)) {
    list remove (game.lastobjects, this)
  }
}

---

If using a command, we can't use this. We must know if the command pattern uses object, object1, or object2. In those cases, we can use the same code snippet, replacing this with whatever is applicable in the script (object, object1, or object2).

So, if the command pattern only includes object:

// rev 1, need to check that the game object has a lastobjects attribute, to avoid possible error
if (HasAttribute (game, "lastobjects")){
  if (ListContains (game.lastobjects, object)) {
    list remove (game.lastobjects, object)
  }
}

...or use object1 or object2 instead, if applicable, depending on the command pattern.

---

The rest of this post will only help those who use the Windows app and those who maintain Quest.

In the Windows app, we can modify core Quest functions in our game, but that is not possible when creating games online.

---

The actual issue is in the ResolveNameFromList function.

https://github.com/textadventures/quest/blob/4db62756406935c5f3308098588475112d4a030c/src/Engine/Core/CoreParser.aslx#L503-L511

    // allow referring to objects from the previous command by gender or article
    
    if (objtype = "object" and game.lastobjects <> null) {
      foreach (obj, game.lastobjects) {
        CompareNames (LCase(obj.article), value, obj, fullmatches, partialmatches)
        CompareNames (LCase(obj.gender), value, obj, fullmatches, partialmatches)
      }
    }

---

This change to that bit in ResolveNameFromList seems to mostly fix the issue:

// allow referring to objects from the previous command by gender or article
if (objtype = "object" and game.lastobjects <> null) {
  foreach (obj, game.lastobjects) {
    if (ListContains (scope, obj)) {
      CompareNames (LCase(obj.article), value, obj, fullmatches, partialmatches)
      CompareNames (LCase(obj.gender), value, obj, fullmatches, partialmatches)
    }
  }
}

---

---

It would be better if it replied more like:

> x it
(the frob)
You can't see that here.

...but, ya' know what the say: it'll be fine. =) I don't know how to make that happen, haha.

[troglodyte111]

Thanks KV. It is even stranger if you try to do other things like "get it".
Your workaround seems fine but I then have to do this for all situations when an object is removed? I'm scared I might miss some.
I guess I can have a game turnscript setting game.lastobjects to an empty list. Yes that way the game can never use any pronouns. Or is there an easy way to filter game.lastobjects to remove objects not in scope?

[KVonGit]

Hmm... If you always move a destroyed object to the Props room rather than removing it from the game, you could create a new function to handle things instead of moving an object directly to Props in your script.

Name the new function MoveToProps, and give it one parameter: obj

The script would be like:

if (ListContains (game.lastobjects, obj)) {
  list remove (game.lastobjects, obj)
}
MoveObject (obj, Props)

After creating that function, you can replace your line of code that moves the object to Props (which should be something like MoveObject (object, Props)) with MoveToProps (object)

---

Alternatively, if you'd prefer a turn script, something like this should work:

// rev 1
// check that the game object has a lastobjects attribute
if (HasAttribute (game, "lastobjects")) {
  // check that there is something on the list
  if (ListCount (game.lastobjects) > 0) {
    // UPDATE: copy the list first to avoid errors
    plist = ListExclude (game.lastobjects, NewObjectList())
    // loop through each list item
    foreach (obj, plist) {
      // If object is not in the list returned by ScopeVisible(), remove it from the list
      if (not ListContains (ScopeVisible(), obj)) {
        list remove (game.lastobjects, obj)
      }
    }
  }
}

---

Or you just completely do way with the ability to use pronouns with a turn script like:

game.lastobjects = undefined

[troglodyte111]

Thanks. Using the function MoveToProps is what I'll do for next game. As it is I would have to search all of my current game for instances of moving to Props and I don't see an easy way to do that (on the web version). I'll try your proposed turnscript.
Is there any kind of documentation or manual where I can learn about things like lastobjects and ScopeVisible?

Btw your turnscript fails because you modify the structure you are looping over in the loop body. A fix is to make a copy first. I didn't find a list copy function but ListCompact seems to work:

// check that the game object has a lastobjects attribute
if (HasAttribute (game, "lastobjects")) {
  // check that there is something on the list
  if (ListCount (game.lastobjects) > 0) {
    // loop through each list item *in a copy*
    foreach (obj, ListCompact(game.lastobjects)) {
      // If object is not in the list returned by ScopeVisible(), remove it from the list
      if (not ListContains (ScopeVisible(), obj)) {
        list remove (game.lastobjects, obj)
      }
    }
  }
}

[KVonGit]

Oh, sorry about the error. I test stuff 99 percent of the time before posting, and that was one of the few times I didn't test it. I should've caught that without testing, too, honestly. =)

All apologies.

---

The scope functions are grouped together in the docs here: https://docs.textadventures.co.uk/quest/functions/#scope

I'm not sure if the game object's lastobjects attribute is in the docs...

Basically, when a command with object, object1, and/or object2 in the pattern is successful, Quest adds the object to the game.lastobjects list in the core function called ResolveNextName.

When a command includes "it", "them", "her", or "him", Quest checks if an object on the game.lastobjects list has a matching article attribute in the core function called ResolveNameFromList, where it selects that object if there is a match -- without checking if the object is still in scope.

As far as I know, that is the extent of the code that deals with game.lastobjects.

---

PS

You can also usually find good conversations about lots of Quest-related stuff in the old forums: https://archive.textadventures.co.uk/forum