Any closable container with a capacity can be locked

eriktorbjorn commented 4 years ago

The rules for if you can lock an object are pretty simple: It has to be a door (DOORBIT) or a closed container (CONTBIT) with a capacity greater than 0. Examples of containers with capacity 0 include the whiskey bottles.

To be able to close a container, it must have a capacity greater than 0, and can't have SURFACEBIT. E.g. you can't close a table.

So which lockable containers do that leave?

RECURSIVE-BOOK
BATHTUB
MASTER-BEDROOM-DRESSER
LIQUOR-CABINET
K-CABINETS
K-CUPBOARD
REFRIGERATOR
FILE-CABINET
CLOCK
KEYHOLE

Suggestions:

Change the message when trying to lock a container with SURFACEBIT so that it no longer suggests that you need to close it first.
Don't allow KEYHOLE and BATHTUB to be closed.
Should locking/unlocking KEYHOLE redirect to the clock, so that you need the clock key?
You definitely shouldn't be able to lock RECURSIVE-BOOK.
You probably shouldn't be able to lock REFRIGERATOR.
Should you be able to lock K-CABINETS, K-CUPBOARD? I've only seen lockable kitchen cabinets in student dorms.

eriktorbjorn commented 4 years ago

Some of this may also apply to the "UNLOCK" verb.

eriktorbjorn commented 4 years ago

The Witness has the same behavior as some of the earlier games, where opening a container that has only one object inside will print its FDESC. Example:

>OPEN BATHTUB
You open the bathtub.
Lying on the ground is what appears to be a ticket stub.

But I think that if we fix all of the containers listed above that you shouldn't be able to open/close, there won't be any cases left where you can trigger the bug. (Stuff you find in containers generally can't be taken.)

the-infocom-files / witness

Any closable container with a capacity can be locked #42