Instruction Manual for BureaucracyIf you're an experienced Infocom game player, you may only want to read Section 1: About Bureaucracy.
SECTION I: About BureaucracyPreface to the StoryOnce upon a time (not very long ago), a man moved from one apartment in London to another. He dutifully notified everyone of his new address, including his bank; in fact, he went to the bank and filled out a change-of-address form himself. The man was very happy in his new apartment. Then, one day, the man tried to use a credit card but couldn't. He discovered that his bank had invalidated his credit card. Apparently, the bank had sent a new card to his old address. For weeks, the man tried to get the bank to acknowledge his change-of-address form. He tallied to many bank officials, and filled out new forms, and tried to get a new credit card issued, but nothing worked. The man had no credit, and the bank behaved like, well, a bank. It's a sad story, one that gets replayed every day for millions of people worldwide. Of course, sometimes it's not a bank at fault: sometimes it's the postal service, or an insurance company, or the telephone company, or an airline, or the Government. But all of us, at one time or another, feel persecuted by a bureaucracy. You begin Bureaucracy in your new house. As per the letter in your package, you will fly to Paris (for business and pleasure) just as soon as you get some money to take you to the airport. That money should be in today's mail, so you should be off soon . . . unless, of course, there's some problem with the mail. Oh, by the way: The man in our story about the bank was Douglas Adams, the principal author of this game. The bank did finally send him a letter, apologizing for the inconvenience-but they sent it to his old address. Your Blood Pressure On the right-hand side of the status lure, you'll see a couple of numbers indicating your blood pressure. You start the game with a healthy blood pressure of 120/80. However, your blood pressure will go up whenever something annoying happens. Conversely, your blood pressure will gradually lower and return to normal if nothing annoying happens for a while. An extremely high blood pressure can be fatal. If you think your blood pressure is getting dangerously high, you should probably do only "safe," non-annoying activities until your blood pressure is normal again. Forms As you play Bureaucracy, you will occasionally be asked to fill out a form on the computer screen (a form is, after all, a highly effective tool for most bureaucracies). Look at the form carefully to see what information you need to supply next, then simply type your answer and press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. Fill out the form truthfully and/or to the best of your ability; failure to do so will surely cause something to go wrong. Questions Every now and then, someone in Bureaucracy will want you to answer a specific question. When this happens, you will see two prompts (> >) instead of the usual one (>) on the command line. You must answer the question(s) to proceed; failure to do so will surely cause something to go wrong, or worse. A Note About Mapping In most text adventures, players are advised to draw a map of the game's geography as they explore its locations. Mapping is a useful and sometimes essential way to learn how to get from one place to another. However, there are two places in Bureaucracy where mapping will not help. One such place is the Airport; like airports in real life, the airport in Bureaucracy is a cartographer's nightmare but a bureaucrat's dream. The other location where mapping is pointless is in the numbered rooms in the Jungle. (Don t ask what numbered rooms are doing in a jungle; just take our word for it that you don't want to map that area.) Players who throw caution to the wind and insist upon mapping the Airport and the Jungle will miss the entire point of those areas. Such players deserve the fate that awaits them. (Everyone else does not deserve the fate that awaits them.) Some Recognized Verbs This is only a partial fist of the verbs that Bureaucracy understands. There are many more. Some of the verbs fisted can be found in all Infocom stories; others are included especially for Bureaucracy. Remember you can use a variety of prepositions with some verbs. (For example, LOOK can become LOOK INSIDE, LOOK BEHIND, LOOK UNDER, LOOK THROUGH, LOOK AT, and so on.)
Sample Transcript and Map This transcript is not from Bureaucracy, but it does show many of the typical commands you might use in the story. It contains some simple puzzles and their solutions, and it will give you a good idea of how Infocom's interactive fiction works. The player's commands appear in capital letters after each prompt (>). The map represents the terrain in the sample transcript as you might have drawn it. Front Porch You're standing outside the closed front door to your house. The street runs east and west, and a path leads northwest around the side of the house. > OPEN THE DOOR The door is locked. >INVENTORY You are empty-handed. In your pocket is a wallet. A mailman appears by your side, pulls an envelope from his bag, looks at it, and knocks on the door. > TAKE THE ENVELOPE FROM THE MAILMAN The mailman pulls the envelope out of your reach. "I'm supposed to deliver this to the resident of this house. Do you live here?" > >YES "Well, then, I wish you would hurry up and answer the front door." He knocks again on the door, a little more impatiently. > NORTHWEST Side of House You are standing by the side of your house. A large closed window overlooks a path which leads southeast toward the front of the house. > OPEN THE WINDOW The window slides open. > CLIMB IN Inside the House You are standing inside an unusually small house. On the west wall is a large open window, to the south is a closed front door, and to the east is a closed closet door. Someone knocks impatiently at the front door. > OPEN THE DOOR [Which door do you mean, the closet door or the front door?] > FRONT The mailman registers no surprise when you open the door. "One dollar postage due;" he yawns. [Your blood pressure just went up.] > TAKE THE WALLET Taken. > LOOK IN IT Your wallet contains a driver's license and $1. > GIVE $1 TO THE MAILMAN [taking the $1 from your wallet first] The mailman stuffs the money into his pocket, hands you the envelope, and disappears down the street. > LOOK AT THE ENVELOPE The envelope is large and yellow and addressed to you. The return address says "Sweepstakes, Acme Building;" and the post office has scrawled on the envelope "$1 postage due." > OPEN IT Opening the envelope reveals a letter. > READ THE LETTER "Dear Occupant: You have already won $5,000.00!! Simply bring this letter to our headquarters and collect your cash prize! Congratulations!" [You're feeling better now.] > GO TO THE ACME BUILDING That's too far away to walk. > OPEN THE CLOSET DOOR The closet door is now open. > GO IN THE CLOSET Closet This closet is as small as a walk-in closet can be. An open door leads west. On the floor is a book. > TAKE THE BOOK Taken. > LOOK AT IT The book is entitled "How to Hug." You borrowed this book with great embarrassment from the library yesterday, hoping to pick up some pointers for your next date (heaven knows when that would be). Unfortunately, only after you got home did you realize this book was volume 26 of "The Pocket Encyclopedia to Words of Three Letters." Inside the book is a library card. > W. S Inside the House Front Porch >W Path A phone booth stands sentry on this path. Inside the phone booth you see a phone. The road runs east and west. > IN Phone Booth This is just about the cleanest phone booth you've ever seen. The only imperfection is a sticker on the phone. > LOOK AT THE STICKET [The word "sticket" isn't in the vocabulary that you can use.] > OOPS STICKER "Acme Cab Company. We take you where you deserve to go. 555-7302." > CALL 555-7302 This is a pay phone, and you don't have any money. > OUT Path > GO WEST Outside the Bank Acme Bank can be entered to the north. The street runs east and west. > ENTER THE BANK Inside the Bank Acme Bank is not much larger than the phone booth. (In fact, almost everything made by the giant Acme Corporation is about the same size. While this saves them lots of money, few women are willing to wear Acme's phone-booth-sized earrings.) A teller behind an iron-barred window looks at you and asks, "Do you wish to make a deposit?" > > NO The teller asks, "Do you wish to cash a check?" > > NO The teller asks, "Do you wish to make a withdrawal?" > > YES The teller gives you a form. "Fill this out, please." > FILL OUT THE FORM Amount of withdrawal: >$20 Shoe size: > 8 The form is now complete. > GIVE THE FORM TO THE TELLER The teller takes the form and reads it, then looks at your feet. "May I see some ID, please;" drones the teller. >I You are carrying a wallet, an envelope, a book, and a letter. Inside the wallet you see a driver's license. Inside the book you see a library card. > GIVE THE DRIVER'S LICENSE TO THE TELLER The teller laboriously studies your driver's license. Then she says, "Do you have a library card?" > > YES The teller asks, "Do you have it with you?" > > YES "Let me see your library card," demands the teller. > GIVE THE LIBRARY CARD TO THE TELLER [taking it from the book first] The teller looks at the library card with disappointment. Then she gives you your driver's license and your library card and hands you $20. Finally she says "Have a nice day." This last comment almost kills her. > GO TO THE PHONE BOOTH Phone Booth There is a sticker here. > READ THE STICKER "Acme Cab Company. We take you where you deserve to go. 555-7302. " > CALL 555-7302 You put 10 cents into the phone and dial. An electronic voice comes on and says, "That will be $2 for the next 30 seconds." > PUT $2 IN THE SLOT "Thank you," says the electronic voice. The number you called rings once. Someone answers the phone and says "Please hold." You hear a click, then the dreaded silence of Hold. > WAIT Time passes . . . > WAIT Time passess . . . An electronic voice comes on and says, "That will be $2 for the next 30 seconds." [Your blood pressure just went up.] > PUT $2 IN THE SLOT "Thank you," says the electronic voice. >Z Time passes ... A voice gets on the phone. "Acme Cab Company. Where do you want to go?" > >ACME BUILDING "Acme Building, right. Listen, we got a cab going to the Acme Bank. You anywhere near that?" > >YES "Okay, that cab will take you to the Acme Building." Then you hear the phone on the other end hang up. [You're feeling better now.] > OUT. WEST Path Outside the Bank > WAIT FOR CAB Time passes ... A cab pulls up next to you. The driver leans out the window and shouts to you, "You going to the Acme Building?" > >YES "Well, get in!" The driver opens the door for you. > GET IN THE CAB As soon as you have one foot in the cab, the driver guns the engine. You are thrown into the back seat, the door closes on your fingers, and you have a nauseating ride to the Acme Building. You turn several shades of green and almost get very sick. Just when you're seriously considering jumping out of the cab and ending it all, the cab stops, the driver pours you out of the cab, and says, "That'll be $10. " > GIVE $10 TO THE DRIVER The driver takes the money from you and speeds away. Outside the Acme Building The green and pink exterior of the Acme Building, which is in the middle of nowhere, lurks before you. A landmark of bad taste, the building has been featured in "Architectural Digest" under the headline "Wrong." The building can be entered through a door to the north. > NORTH Lobby You are standing in the lobby of the Acme Building. Hallways lead north, west, and east, and a door lies south. A receptionist sits behind a desk, reading a newspaper. > GIVE THE LETTER TO THE RECEPTIONIST The receptionist looks at you with a mixture of disgust and pity. "To collect your prize, all you have to do is sit through a short promotional film we've produced." She hands you a ticket. "Just go to the auditorium, to the north." > LOOK AT THE TICKET "Ticket number 69105. Seat 25F. Acme Building Auditorium." >N Hallway This hallway stretches north and south. To the west is a closed door marked "Auditorium." > WEST The door is closed. > OPEN THE DOOR The door is now open. >W Auditorium Aisle 15 The lights are off in the auditorium, but from the light reflecting off the giant screen, you can tell that many people are sitting in the seats. > GO TO SEAT 25F You stumble your way through the dark aisles, step on lots of people's feet, and find your seat. Seat 25F Like all the seats in this auditorium, you have a painfully clear view of the screen. Fortunately for you, this sample transcript is ending, so you don't have to suffer through the inane promotional film produced by the Acme Company. About the Authors Douglas Adams graduated from Cambridge in 1974, where he was an active member of the Footlights Club, which has launched the careers of many of Britain's great comics. He has collaborated on several projects with Monty Python's Graham Chapman, and has served as a writer and script editor for the TV series "Dr. Who:" In 1978 he wrote the radio serial The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and its popularity soon propelled it into a four-book trilogy, a television series, two records, a stage show, an Infocom computer game, and maybe a film. Bureaucracy is Adams's doomed attempt to have the last laugh on bureaucracies everywhere. Original Implementer W. E. B. "Fred" Morgan was dragged out of an early retirement (spent developing new strains of Scotch) to collaborate on Bureaucracy. A prolific hacker, Fred worked on ZIL, the implementation language for Infocom games; Muddle, the implementation language for ZIL; and Zork I, Zork II, Zork III, Enchanter, Deadline, Wishbringer, Ballyhoo, Trinity, Cutthroats, and the sampler. Fred also helped develop Infocom's database manager, Cornerstone. After Bureaucracy, Fred plans to re-retire, and begin work on a hooked rug, roughly the size of Delaware, representing the Great Underground Empire. SECTION II: About Infocom's Interactive FictionAn Overview Interactive fiction is a story in which you are the main character. Your own thinking and imagination determine the actions of that character and guide the story from start to finish. Each work of interactive fiction, such as Bureaucracy, presents you with a series of locations, items, characters, and events. You can move from place to place, use the objects you find, and interact with the other characters, to affect the outcome of the story. An important element of interactive fiction is puzzle-solving. You should think of a locked door or a ferocious animal not as a permanent obstacle, but merely as a puzzle to be tackled. Solving puzzles will frequently involve bringing a certain item with you, and then using it in the proper way. In Bureaucracy, time passes only in response to your input. You might imagine a clock that ticks once for each sentence you type, and the story progresses only at each tick. Nothing happens until you type a sentence and press the RETURN (or ENTER) key, so you can plan your turns as slowly and carefully as you want. Starting and Stopping Starting the story: To load Bureaucracy, follow the instructions on the Reference Card in your package. Because we do strange things to the disks (nothing satanic), owners of IBM (and compatible) computers, as well as all other computer owners, should follow the instructions on the Reference Card carefully. After a brief introduction to the story, you'll see a description of the Front Room, the opening location. Then the prompt (>) will appear, indicating that Bureaucracy is waiting for your first command. Here's a quick exercise to help you get accustomed to interacting with Bureaucracy. Try the following command first: > GO WEST Then press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. Bureaucracy will respond with a description of the Back Hall and all the items in the room, including a passport. Then try: > LOOK AT THE PASSPORT After you press the RETURN (or ENTER) key, Bureaucracy will respond: You flip open your passport, glance to make sure your French visa is still readable, shudder at the picture and close the book. Now you decide what to do next. Saving and restoring: It will probably take you many days to complete Bureaucracy. Using the SAVE feature, you can continue the story at a later time without having to start over from the beginning, just as you can place a bookmark in a book you are reading. SAVE puts a "snapshot" of your place in the story onto another disk. You should also save your place before (or after) trying something dangerous or tricky. That way, even if you get lost or "killed" in the story, you can return to your saved position. To save your place in the story, type SAVE at the prompt (>), and then press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. Then follow the instructions for saving and restoring on your Reference Card. Some computers require a blank disk, initialized and formatted, for saves. Using a disk with data on it (not counting other Bureaucracy saves) may result in the loss of that data, depending on your computer. You can save your position as often as you like by using additional blank disks. You can restore a saved position any time you want. To do so, type RESTORE at the prompt (>), and press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. Then follow the instructions on your Reference Card. You can then continue the story from the point where you used the SAVE command. You can type LOOK for a description of where you are. Quitting and restarting: If you want to start over from the beginning, type RESTART and press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. (This is usually faster than re-booting.) Just to make sure, Bureaucracy will ask if you really want to start over. If you do, type Y or YES and press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. If you want to stop entirely, type QUIT and press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. Once again, Bureaucracy will ask if this is really what you want to do. Remember when you RESTART or QUIT: if you want to be able to return to your current position, you must first use the SAVE command. Communicating with Infocom's Interactive Fiction In Bureaucracy, you type your commands in plain English each time you see the prompt (>). Bureaucracy usually acts as if your commands begin with "I want to . . . ," although you shouldn't actually type those words. You can use words like THE if you want, and you can use capital letters if you want; Bureaucracy doesn't care either way. When you have finished typing a command, press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. Bureaucracy will then respond, telling you whether your request is possible at this point in the story, and what happened as a result. Bureaucracy recognizes your words by their first nine letters, and all subsequent letters are ignored. Therefore, DEMONSTRAtion, DEMONSTRAtive, and DEMONSTRAtor would all be treated as the same word by Bureaucracy. To move around, just type the direction you want to go. Directions can be abbreviated: NORTH to N, SOUTH to S, EAST to E, WEST to W, UP to U, and DOWN to D. Note that IN and OUT will also work in certain places. In some places, you can just type GO TO [a location]; for instance, on the airplane you can type GO TO SEAT 6A or GO TO THE LAVATORY. Bureaucracy understands many different kinds of sentences. Here are several examples. (Note some of these objects do not actually appear in Bureaucracy.) > WALK NORTH > DOWN > GO UP > TAKE THE RED CANDLE > READ THE SIGN > LOOK UNDER THE BED > LIGHT THE CIGAR > TURN THE DIAL > EXAMINE THE LARGE RED MACHINE > PUSH THE BLACK BUTTON > DIG IN THE GROUND > PUT THE STICK IN THE HOLE > GIVE THE FLY TO THE FROG > LOOK INSIDE THE CAGE > CALL 555-121 > GO TO SEAT 7C You can use multiple objects with certain verbs if you separate them by the word AND or by a comma. Some examples: > TAKE BOOK AND KNIFE > DROP THE YELLOW BALL, THE SPOTTED FROG, AND THE PEANUT > PUT THE LADYBUG AND THE SPIDER IN THE JAR You can include several sentences on one input line if you separate them by the word THEN or by a period. (Note that each sentence will still count as a turn.) You don't need a period at the end of the input line. For example, you could type all of the following at once, before pressing the RETURN (or ENTER) key: > READ THE SIGN. GO NORTH THEN TAKE THE CROWBAR AND MALLET If Bureaucracy doesn't understand one of the sentences on your input line, or if something unusual happens, it will ignore the rest of your input line (see "Common Complaints"). The words IT and ALL can be very useful. For example: > TAKE THE APPLE. POLISH IT. PUT IT IN THE BOX< > CLOSE THE HEAVY METAL DOOR. LOCK IT > TAKE THE SHOE. EMPTY IT. PUT IT ON > TAKE ALL > TAKE ALL EXCEPT THE WET EGG AND THE KEY > TAKE ALL FROM CABINET > DROP ALL BUT THE PENCIL The word ALL refers to every visible object except those inside something else. If there were an apple on the ground and an orange inside a cabinet, TAKE ALL would take the apple but not the orange. You can use quotes to say something out loud. For example: > SAY "HELLO" > SAY "TOTO, I DON'T THINK WE'RE IN KANSAS ANYMORE" In many Infocom stories, you will meet other characters as you play. You can "talk" to some of them by typing their name, then a comma, then whatever you want to say to them. Here are some examples: > LOIS, HELLO > OLD WOMAN, GIVE ME A BOWLING BALL > SALESMAN, TELL ME ABOUT THE PLATYPUS [or ASK THE SALESMAN ABOUT THE PLATYPUS] > HANDSOME FELLOW, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR WIFE [or ASK THE HANDSOME FELLOW ABOUT HIS WIFE] > YOUNG WOMAN, PUT ON THE GLOVE THEN THROW THE BALL > HARRY, TAKE THE GUN. SHOOT THE PENGUIN Notice that in the last two examples, you are giving a person more than one command on the same input line. But remember: Most people don't care for idle chatter. Your deeds will speak louder than your words. Bureaucracy tries to guess what you really mean when you don't give enough information. For example, if you say that you want to do something, but not what you want to do it to or with, Bureaucracy will sometimes decide that there is only one possible object you could mean. When it does so, it will tell you. For example: > UNLOCK THE DOOR (with the key) The door is now unlocked. If your command is ambiguous, Bureaucracy will ask what you really mean. You can answer most of these questions briefly by supplying the missing information, rather than typing the entire input again. You can do this only at the very next prompt. For example: > CUT THE ROPE What do you want to cut the rope with? > THE KNIFE As you cut the rope, you hear a loud crash in the tent. or > TAKE THE BUTTERFLY Which butterfly do you mean, the delicate magenta butterfly or the fat yellow butterfly? > DELICATE The delicate magenta butterfly flutters away as you reach for it. Bureaucracy recognizes over 1000 words, nearly all that you are likely to use in your commands. However, Bureaucracy uses many words in its descriptions that it will not recognize in your commands. For example, you might read, "The full moon is bright and clear, and the apple trees cast eerie shadows." If Bureaucracy doesn't recognize the words MOON or SHADOWS in your input, you can assume they are not important to your completion of the story, except to provide you with a more vivid description of where you are or what is going on. Special Commands There are a number of commands which have special meanings. You can use them over and over as needed. Some count as a turn, others do not. Type the command after the prompt (>) and press the RETURN (or ENTER) key. AGAIN-Bureaucracy will respond as if you had repeated your previous command. For instance, typing CALL THE POLICE then typing AGAIN would be like calling the police twice in a row. You can abbreviate AGAIN to G. BRIEF-This command tells Bureaucracy to give you the full description of a location only the first time you enter it. On subsequent visits, Bureaucracy will tell you only the name of the location and the objects present. This is how Bureaucracy will normally act, unless you tell it otherwise using the VERBOSE or SUPERBRIEF commands. The SUPERBRIEF command tells Bureaucracy to display only the name of a place you have entered, even if you have never been there before. In this mode, Bureaucracy will not even mention which objects are present. Of course, you can always get a description of your location and the items there by typing LOOK. In SUPERBRIEF mode, the blank fine between turns will be eliminated. This mode is meant for players who are already very familiar with the geography. The VERBOSE command tells Bureaucracy that you want a complete description of each location, and the objects in it, every time you enter a location, even if you've been there before. INVENTORY-Bureaucracy will list what you are carrying. You can abbreviate INVENTORY to I. LOOK-This tells Bureaucracy to describe your location in full detail. You can abbreviate LOOK to L. OOPS-If you accidentally mistype a word, such that Bureaucracy doesn't understand the word, you can correct yourself on the next line by typing OOPS and the correct word. Suppose, for example, you typed PUT THE LETTER INTO THE NAILBOX and were told "[The word 'nailbox' isn't in the vocabulary that you can use.]" You could type OOPS MAILBOX rather than retyping the entire sentence. QUIT-This lets you stop. If you want to save your position before quitting, follow the instructions in the "Starting and Stopping" section. You can abbreviate QUIT to Q. RESTART-This stops the story and starts over from the beginning. RESTORE-This restores a position made using the SAVE command. See "Starting and Stopping" for more details. SAVE-This puts a "snapshot" of your current position on your storage disk. You can return to a saved position in the future using the RESTORE command. See "Starting and Stopping" 16 for more details. SCORE-Bureaucracy will show your current score. SCRIPT-This command tells your printer to begin making a transcript of the story as you venture onwards. A transcript may aid your memory but is not necessary. It will work only on certain computers; read your Reference Card for details. SUPERBRIEF-See BRIEF above. TIME-This gives you the current time of day in the story. You can abbreviate TIME to T. UNSCRIPT-This commands your printer to stop making a transcript. VERBOSE-See BRIEF above. VERSION-Bureaucracy responds by showing you the release number and the serial number of your copy of the story. Please include this information if you ever report a "bug" in the story. WAIT-This will cause time in the story to pass. Normally, between turns, nothing happens in the story. You could leave your computer, take a nap, and return to the story to find that nothing has changed. You can use WAIT to make time pass in the story without doing anything. For example, you can wait for a specific time, or wait for an event to happen, etc. You can abbreviate WAIT to Z. Tips for Novices 1. Draw a map. It should include each location and the directions connecting it to adjoining locations. When you find yourself in a new location, make a note of any interesting objects there. (See the small sample map that goes along with the sample transcript.) However, don't draw a map of the Airport or the Jungle in Bureaucracy; see "A Note About Mapping". 2. EXAMINE all objects you come across in the story. 3. TAKE all objects you come across in the story. Most objects that you can pick up are important for solving one or more of the puzzles you'll run into. 4. Save your place often. That way, if you mess up or get "killed," you won't have to start over from the beginning. See "Starting and Stopping". 5. Read the story carefully! There are often clues in the descriptions of locations and objects. 6. Try everything you can think of-even strange or dangerous actions may provide clues, and might prove to be fun! You can always save your position first if you want. Here's a silly example: > GIVE THE ROLLER SKATES TO THE VULTURE The vulture attempts to eat the roller skates, but eventually gives up. It continues to peck you on the head. Here you have a clue that maybe giving something edible to the vulture (some raw meat?) would be better. 7. Unlike other "adventure games" you may have played, there are many possible routes to the end of Bureaucracy. If you get stuck on one puzzle, move on to another. Some puzzles have more than one solution; other puzzles don't need to be solved at all. Sometimes you will have to solve one puzzle in order to obtain the item(s) or information you need to solve another puzzle. 8. You may find it helpful to go through Bureaucracy with another person. Different people may find different puzzles easy and can often complement each other. 9. If you really have difficulty, you can order a hint booklet and a complete map using the order form in your package. You don't need this booklet to enjoy the story, but it will make solving the puzzles easier. 10. Read the sample transcript to get a feel for how Infocom's interactive fiction works. 11. You can word a command in many different ways. For example, if you wanted to pick up a yellow hoop, you could type in any of the following: > GET HOOP > TAKE THE HOOP > PICK UP THE YELLOW HOOP If you type in a command that Bureaucracy doesn't understand, try rephrasing the command or using synonyms. If Bureaucracy still doesn't understand your command, you are almost certainly trying something that is not important in continuing your adventure. Common Complaints Bureaucracy will complain if you type a command that confuses it completely. Bureaucracy will then ignore the rest of the input line. (Unusual events, such as being attacked, may also cause Bureaucracy to ignore the rest of your command, since the event may have changed your situation drastically.) Some of Bureaucracy's complaints: The word "_______" isn't in the vocabulary that you can use. The word you typed is not in the story's vocabulary. Sometimes using a synonym or rephrasing will help. If not, Bureaucracy probably doesn't know the idea you were trying to get across. This story can't understand the word "_______" when you use it that way. Bureaucracy knows the word you typed, but couldn't use it in that sense. Usually this is because Bureaucracy knows the word as a different part of speech. For example, if you typed PRESS THE LOWER BUTTON, you are using LOWER as an adjective, but Bureaucracy night know LOWER only as a verb, as in LOWER THE FLAG. There aren't any verbs in that sentence. Unless you are answering a question, each sentence must have a verb (or one of the special commands). There aren't enough nouns in that sentence. This usually means your sentence was incomplete, such as EAT THE BLUE or PUT THE BOOK IN THE. There are too many nouns in that sentence. An example is PUT THE SOUP IN THE BOWL WITH THE LADLE, which has three noun "phrases," one more than Bureaucracy can digest in a single action. What? You pressed the RETURN (or ENTER) key without typing anything. You can't see any here. The object you referred to was not accessible to you. It may be somewhere else, inside a closed container, and so on. You can't refer to more than one object at a time with "_______". You can use multiple objects (that is, nouns or noun phrases separated by AND or a comma) or the word ALL only with certain verbs. Among the more useful of these verbs are TAKE, DROP, and PUT. An example of a verb that will not work with multiple objects is EXAMINE; you c you typed may have been gibberish, such as TAKE ROPE WITH READ. Or you may have typed a reasonable sentence but used a syntax that Bureaucracy does not recognize, such as WAVE OVER THE MOUNTAIN. Try rephrasing the sentence. Quick Reference Guide
|