Matrix Text Game — 2 of 11

Part 1 - Tutorialville

Section 1 - Setting up Tutorialville

[It is helpful to group related nodes into a single nexus (system network); it makes it easier to localize alerts, to limit the movement of IC, to change descriptions as needed, etc. A nexus simply means "all these nodes belong together". We set it up here, but we use it later.]

Tutorialville is a nexus. Tutorial Town is in Tutorialville. Tutorial Security is in Tutorialville.

Tutorial Town is north of My Commlink. Tutorial Town is a node. It is revealed. "This area is a place you can come to practice your Matrix skills or learn about new commands.[paragraph break]A 'node' (like this 'room') can represent the interior of a node (including the security you need to pass to enter the node) OR a node can represent an unprotected node, one that you can get into with a public account.[paragraph break]There are also real 'rooms,' a physical meat-body location, and the icons in it can represent augmented reality icons, such as personal profiles, information, or control panels for devices. The Pit, which is 'down' from your commlink, is one such room[if Tutorial Alert is happening].[line break]There is an enormous samurai here. He is actively looking around the node, and he looks ready for a fight[end if]." The item-type-description is "This is a node, basically a public vestibule for the Tutorial system."

Table of Tutorial Town Stats

When play begins:

initialize Table of Tutorial Town Stats for Tutorial Town at rating 2;

Give Tutorial Town a rating 0 in "firewall";

Deactivate the "firewall" stat of Tutorial Town;

[We will put a simple "slave object" here. These things don't do much. Technically if the character has been authorized in a node, they have access to a slaved device.]

The picture is a slave-object in Tutorial Town. "There is a picture hanging on the wall. You can see things in the picture are moving. To find out more about it, you can try 'analyze picture' or just 'examine picture'." [This second description is only shown when the player uses "analyze" or "examine" on the picture.] The item-type-description is "This is a camera slave node. It's actually pretty boring right now." The description is "The picture is showing a lonely street in the Barrens."

[Here's another "slave object" here. This time it's followed by a custom action & result. If the character pushes the button, he's a klutz, and later you'll see that when the character is a klutz, an alert goes off.]

The button is a slave-object in Tutorial Town. "There is a big red button on a pedistal in the center of the node[if Tutorial Alert is happening]. Maybe you shouldn't have pushed that button[end if]." The item-type-description is "This slave object is an alarm. Pushing this button will probably cause an alert in this system."

[Every person can be a klutz or be stealthy. This is the switch that will trigger an alert. Other circumstances might also trigger an alert, like failed die rolls, etc. We are not yet distinguishing between general and restricted alerts.]

Check an actor pushing the button:

now the actor is a klutz;

[This IC wakes up when the Tutorial system is on alert. He's a pushover. When the game starts he is "nowhere" and when an alert is sounded, he enters play.]

The Tutor Samurai is in Tutorial Town. The Tutor Samurai is an ice. "[if the Tutor Samurai is peaceful]The Tutor Samurai is here. Have you tried 'analyze samurai'?[otherwise]The Tutor Samurai is holding his katana threateningly." The item-type-description is "This is an attack IC." The Tutor Samurai is security of Tutorial Town.

Table of Tutor Samurai Stats

When play begins:

initialize Table of Tutor Samurai Stats for Tutor Samurai at rating 1;

Give Tutor Samurai a rating 1 in "armor";

Give Tutor Samurai a rating 1 in "attack";

Give Tutor Samurai a rating 1 in "firewall";

[We told the application that there was another node -- now we're defining it.]

Tutorial Security is north of Tutorial Town. It is a node. "This is another bland node. You might try to 'analyze <object>' on the objects here.[if Tutorial Alert is happening] Your peaceful reverie is punctuated by the deafening blasts of the alarm klaxon[otherwise] Honestly, very little goes on here in Tutorial Security[end if]."

Table of Tutorial Security Stats

When play begins:

initialize Table of Tutorial Security Stats for Tutorial Security at rating 4;

[Slave-Objects are different from other objects -- they don't do much of anything yet. If you have control of the node they're in you should be able to control the object.]

The panel of lights is a slave-object in Tutorial Security. "There is a panel of lights to one side of the node." The item-type-description is "This panel represents the slaved traffic signal sensor nodes for a corner in the Barrens."

[A data-object holds items of data. It can be encrypted (give it a crypt-rating). It could be unlocked (specify "The item is unlocked.")]

Tutorial Security contains a safe. The safe is a data-object. "[if safe is closed]There is a safe in a corner of the node. The safe looks very strong. You probably want to 'analyze safe' to make sure that the safe is, ahem, safe[otherwise]There is an open safe in the corner of the node[end if]."

The crypt-rating of the safe is 2. The bomb-rating of the safe is 1.

The item-type-description of the safe is "This safe is actually a data store. Data stores are tricky, but they're often the entire reason why you're in the matrix in the first place. All data stores can hold actual paydata or quest data inside, they can be rigged with a bomb, a virus, or encrypted. You will want to check this safe for these issues using 'analyze'. [if the safe is locked][line break][line break]For sake of the tutorial, I'll tell you that the data is encrypted (crypt rating [crypt-rating]). You may need to 'run Decrypt' then try 'decrypt safe'. Normally you would have to check to find out whether it's encrypted with analyze.[end if][if bomb-rating of safe is greater than 0][line break][line break]Also, there is a data bomb on the safe. You had best defuse it (normally you find this out through analyze).[end if]". The description is "The safe door swings open. And there's no explosion! Phew. What's in here? Oh, you see a folder and a stack of papers.". The encrypted description of the safe is "Drek! The safe won't open. Must be 'locked'." The defused description of the safe is "Well, it should finally be ok to open ('browse')...You could 'analyze' it again to be sure." The decrypted description is "The safe now appears transparent. The door is still closed. You might be able to open ('browse') it, but if there's a data bomb you'll get hurt. Even if you analyze the safe and it says it seems OK to open it, you might want to 'run defuse' and 'defuse safe' just to be sure."

In the safe is a folder. The folder is a paydata. "You see a folder in the safe. You can analyze it to find out what it really is, you can 'take folder' to download the data, or you can 'examine folder' to just take a better look at the icon." The item-type-description is "Your analyze program reveals that this folder is actually data -- your objective!"

In the safe is a stack of papers. The stack of papers is paydata. The street value of the stack of papers is 1000. The item-type-description is "While this stack of papers might look useless, your analyze program reveals that it's actually a bunch of very interesting looking data. (Street value approximately [street value of the stack of papers]¥.)"