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help > actions > alertness
Actions: alertness flag The alertness flag is optional and is assumed to be 0 if not provided. As such, setting the flag to 0 will also indicate normal action functionality. If the flag is set to 1, it will transmit the message to "ignorant" parties but not to "alert" or "dumb" parties, and if set to 2 will transmit to "alert" parties but not to "dumb" or "ignorant" ones, and if set to 3, it will transmit to "dumb" parties but not to "alert" or "ignorant" ones--I'll define these concepts. - An "alert" party is one that can pass both a vision check and a stealth check. - An "ignorant" party fails the vision check but passes the stealth check. - A "dumb" party fails the stealth check (the vision check doesn't matter if they can't pass the stealth check). Essentially, an ignorant party *would* have seen an action if the room wasn't too dark/light etc. while a dumb party has no chance. Usage & examples: The flags are intended to be used together to allow for more flexible messaging from the action system in cases where not all parties should see an action take place. Take the following example: this_player()->simple_action("Someone $vstrain loudly nearby.", 3) this_player()->simple_action("$N $vstrain against the lever.", 2) this_player()->simple_action("$N $vstrain loudly nearby.", 1) this_player() would see: "You strain against the lever." If this_player() isn't stealthed, anyone in the room, if the lighting is right, might see: "Megaboz strains against the lever." In poor lighting, they'd see: "Megaboz strains loudly nearby." If this_player did have stealth, you'd have to pass a stealth check to see _either_ message. NOTES: - There's no point to adding the alertness flag to my_ action variants since only you will see them. It is accepted for uniformity of syntax, but quietly ignored. The flag has some use for all other types of actions, however. - The "doer" of an action is *always* considered to be "aware" of it, but this status doesn't override action types like other/their which intentionally exempt the doer from seeing the action. - Likewise, un-aware participants in an "our" action may miss messages with an alertness flag of 1.