the-infocom-files / zork2

Zork II: The Wizard of Frobozz
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"POINT <object> AT <object>" doesn't work #5

Open eriktorbjorn opened 5 years ago

eriktorbjorn commented 5 years ago

The game doesn't recognize the syntax "point at ", as shown by this rather silly example:

>POINT SWORD AT LANTERN
I don't know the word "point".

This is unfortunate, because the only clue to how the magic wand works is found in a book in the volcano area, which says that "Apparently these devices work by pointing them at the object to be ensorcelled, and then chanting the appropriate magic words."

In Release 22, the syntax is:

<SYNTAX WAVE OBJECT (HELD CARRIED) = V-WAVE PRE-WAVE>
<SYNTAX WAVE OBJECT (HELD CARRIED) AT OBJECT = V-WAVE PRE-WAVE>
<SYNONYM WAVE BRANDISH AIM POINT>

In Release 48, it's extended a bit further:

<SYNTAX WAVE OBJECT (HELD CARRIED TAKE HAVE) = V-WAVE>
<SYNTAX WAVE OBJECT (HELD CARRIED TAKE HAVE) AT OBJECT = V-WAVE>
<SYNTAX WAVE AT OBJECT = V-WAVE>
<SYNONYM WAVE BRANDISH POINT AIM>

But for some reason, Release 63 drops some synonyms:

<SYNTAX WAVE OBJECT (HELD CARRIED TAKE HAVE) = V-WAVE>
<SYNTAX WAVE OBJECT (HELD CARRIED TAKE HAVE) AT OBJECT = V-WAVE>
<SYNTAX WAVE AT OBJECT = V-WAVE>
<SYNONYM WAVE BRANDISH>

My suggestion would be to simply reinstate POINT and AIM as synonyms. They're not used for anything else.