Also

Also is the Avalot subsystem for storing ancillary information about each room. The file ALSO.PAS is a standalone editor which can edit Also files. This may provide insight into their format and use.

Also files contain:

• Up to 30 local objects, numbered 1 to 30. Each object has one or more names AND a description. For example, a tree might have the names TREE and OAK, and the description A tall oak tree; then typing "EXAMINE OAK" or "EXAMINE TREE" would show the description. Objects created in this way cannot be referred to when the player is not in that room.
• Another local object, object 0, has no name but its description is shown when the user types "LOOK".
• Lino is a collection of geometric information about the room:
• Lines run straight between two points, and have a notional "colour" from 1 to 15. The colour is only notional because the line is never displayed during the game. When you touch the line, it causes the corresponding "magic" to happen, as listed below. For example, there may be several lines around the outside of a swimming pool, all of which have a "colour" of 9. Touching them will trigger magic 9, which may then result in the player falling into the pool.
• Fields are always rectangular, and also have a notional "colour" which triggers a portal, much as a line's colour triggers a magic. However, a field is not triggered by entering it; it represents the potential for something to happen within that area. Fields with a colour of 9 or above are triggered when the user asks to open a door while standing within them; this means that you can have multiple doors in the same room going to different places.
• Peds are points on the screen, possibly with an associated direction. See Peds.
• Magics are a mapping between the numbers 1 to 15 and some opcode. See "lines" above.
• Portals are a mapping between the numbers 9 to 15 (note, not 1 to 15) and some opcode. See "fields" above.
• Flags: Every room has 26 boolean flags, lettered A to Z. The only ones which are significant in Avalot are:
• P: the room is considered to be outside
• B: you can hear the bells ringing from this room, if the bells are ringing
• S: you do not get a point for entering this room for the first time.