Sheep Crossing — 15 of 18

Section - Useless Actions

Instead of touching something (called the passenger) which is an animal:

if the passenger is vegetative:

say "The [passenger] does not seem to respond.";

otherwise:

if the passenger is full:

say "The [passenger], though seemingly in a good mood, also seems to be ignoring you.";

otherwise:

if the player is holding the passenger or the passenger is in the boat:

say "The [passenger] leans away from you.";

otherwise:

say "The [passenger] slowly backs away..."

Instead of kissing something (called the passenger), try touching the passenger.

Understand "pet [thing]" as touching.

Playing with is an action applying to one thing. Understand "dance with [thing]" or "frolic with [thing]" or "smile at [thing]" or "sing at [thing]" or "sing to [thing]" or "play with [thing]" or "amuse [thing]" as playing with.

Instead of playing with something (called the target):

say "The [target] shows no sign of enthusiasm."

Instead of telling someone about something, try asking the noun about it.

Instead of answering someone that something, try asking the noun about it.

Understand the command "ask" as something new.

Understand "ask [thing] for [text]" or "ask [thing] about [text]" or "talk to [thing] about [text]" or "greet [thing]" as asking it about.

[Replacement messages; see §14.11. Changing the text of responses]

The parser error internal rule response (M) is "[the autolocution message]." ["You can only do that to something animate."]

The parser error internal rule response (V) is "[the autolocution message]." ["You can't talk to [the noun]."]

The block asking rule response (A) is "[the autolocution message]." ["There is no reply."]

The block answering rule response (A) is "[the autolocution message]." ["There is no reply."]

To say the autolocution message:

say "The sound of your voice dissipates feebly across the landscape[if the sheep is carrying the fluff and the sheep is not in the opposite bank of the location]. The sheep looks on warily[end if]".

Smiling is an action applying to nothing. Understand "smile" as smiling. Instead of smiling, say "You grin broadly."

Singing is an action applying to nothing. Instead of singing, try asking the player about "nothing". Understand "talk to self" or "talk to me" or "talk to myself" or "xyzzy" or "uuddlrlrbass" as singing.

Thanking is an action applying to one thing. Understand "thank [thing]" as thanking. Instead of thanking something (called the thankee), try asking the thankee about "gratitude".

Understand "inspect [thing]" as examining.

Understand "catch [thing]" or "chase [thing]" or "capture [thing]" as taking.

Understand "lick [thing]" as tasting.

Understand "kick [thing]" as attacking.

Shearing is an action applying to one thing. Understand "shear [thing]" as shearing. Instead of shearing something, say "You have no shears."

[e.g. "tell sheep to stay", copy-pasted from Example 421 "Northstar" in §7.14. Obedient Characters]

After reading a command:

let N be "[the player's command]";

replace the regular expression "^\b(ask|tell|order) (.+?) to (.+)" in N with "\2, \3";

change the text of the player's command to N.