the-infocom-files / amfv

A Mind Forever Voyaging
5 stars 2 forks source link

You can see through the closed Post Office windows in 2061 (but not in 2071) #66

Open eriktorbjorn opened 4 years ago

eriktorbjorn commented 4 years ago
>DATE
Today is 3/13/2061.

>LOOK
Post Office
This is an old post office, probably built back in the days when "mail" usually
meant letters and packages delivered by human messengers. The windows along the
counter are all closed. One bears a crude, handwritten sign that reads "Open
daily, 10am to 4pm". A doorway leads out to the northwest.

>LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
You see a typical back room of a post office.

Compare this to the 2071 simulation:

>DATE
Today is 2/26/2071.

>LOOK
Post Office
This is an old post office, probably built back in the days when "mail" usually
meant letters and packages delivered by human messengers. The windows along the
counter are all closed. One bears a crude, handwritten sign that reads "Open
daily, 3pm to 4pm". A doorway leads out to the northwest.

>LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
The window is shut tight.

That's because GLOBAL-WINDOW-F only checks for the year 2071:

        <COND (<AND <VERB? LOOK-INSIDE EXAMINE OPEN>
                <EQUAL? ,SYEAR 2071>
                <OR <L? ,STIME 900>
                <G? ,STIME 960>>>
            <TELL "The window is shut tight." CR>)

Note that in 2061 the opening time is 600 instead of 900. See POST-OFFICE-F. (And the descriptions above, for that matter.)

eriktorbjorn commented 4 years ago

Actually, there's an off-by-one error here as well. Probably not the only one, so I don't know if they're worth hunting down:

>LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
You see a typical back room of a post office.
The open window closes, and those still waiting wander listlessly out of the
post office.

>LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
You see a typical back room of a post office.

>LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
The window is shut tight.
arcanetrivia commented 3 years ago

We could imagine that the windows are transparent in 2061 but opaque in 2071 (changing from glass to steel?); or that the sense of "closed" in 2061 means "closed for service" but not actually having a physical barrier in place that would block vision?