Information: about, help, inventory, scoring, version
about (about, info, credits) renders the story's own
metadata. For a Chord story, that is simply the header: title, author,
version: and blurb: flow straight through (the platform materializes
them into the story-info trait). A TypeScript story can add
credits, ported-by, and build fields. One overridable message,
about-success, retargeted story-wide with override message about-success.
version (version) prints a one-line story stamp (title and
version) plus the engine's own version line.
help (help, ?, commands) renders the platform's general help;
a first-time asker gets first_time. Topic help (help movement) is
implemented in the action but unreachable: the core pattern takes no
topic slot (flagged, with save <name> in the same boat).
inventory (inventory, inv, i) splits what you carry from what
you wear; empty hands pick a random empty-message variant. The
abbreviations set a brief flag in the event for clients that care.
Burden/weight messages exist but are dormant.
score (score, points) reads the platform score ledger, exactly
where Chord's score <name> worth N / award <name> system deposits
(chord-language.md): max score is summed from the declared
worths at load, awards are idempotent, and SCORE works with zero extra
setup. Ranks fall back to a computed ladder (Novice → Master); a story
can override rank, moves, and achievements through the scoring
capability (TypeScript today). no_scoring covers score-free stories.
The player sees:
> about
The Long Watch
Version 1.2.0
By Sharpee Docs
One night in a lighthouse, told a turn at a time.
> score
You have scored 0 out of 10, earning you the rank of a Novice.
> take the flare
Taken.
> score
You have achieved a perfect score of 10 points!
> inventory
You are carrying:
a signal flare
The header alone powers ABOUT. Its one score … worth line set the
maximum, and the flare's award flipped SCORE from Novice to
perfect, with no scoring setup beyond those two lines.
| Refusals | Renders | |
|---|---|---|
about (about-*) | — | success (title, version, author, blurb in one message) |
help (help-*) | — | general · first_time (first ask) · unknown_topic (topic help — unreachable) |
inventory (inventory-*) | — | carrying · wearing · carrying_and_wearing, with holding_list / worn_list lines; empty hands: one of empty · inventory_empty · nothing_at_all · hands_empty · pockets_empty, at random |
score (scoring-*) | no_scoring | score_with_rank · perfect_score (at max) |
One honest gap: the wearing / carrying_and_wearing renders are
currently unreachable: worn items go missing from INVENTORY's listing
(they reappear only after an undo rebuilds the world). A platform fix
is pending; until then the transcript above shows carried items only.