To begin with the title:

"Disenchantment Bay"

There are many Disenchantment Bays across the world, named by eighteenth-century ships' captains - one in Antarctica, another in Tasmania, for instance. The most famous is probably the one where Lewis and Clark's expedition broke through to the Pacific. But ours is the one in Alaska, named in 1791 by a Spanish navigator who had hoped it might lead to the fabled Northwest Passage, and all of this history is beside the point since the game is set in the present day.

The Cabin is a room. "The front of the small cabin is entirely occupied with navigational instruments, a radar display, and radios for calling back to shore. Along each side runs a bench with faded blue vinyl cushions, which can be lifted to reveal the storage space underneath. A glass case against the wall contains several fishing rods.

Scratched windows offer a view of the surrounding bay, and there is a door south to the deck. A sign taped to one wall announces the menu of tours offered by the Yakutat Charter Boat Company."

We might want to start with the glass case.

The Cabin contains a glass case. In the glass case is a collection of fishing rods.

Now Inform will have guessed that the case is a container, but its default idea of a container is something like a bucket: permanently open and not able to be opened and shut. We can change that:

The case is closed, transparent, and openable.

We get a similar set of guesses if we write

The bench is in the cabin. On the bench are some blue vinyl cushions.

Using "some" rather than "a" or "the" tells Inform that the cushions are to be referred to as a plural object in the future. And because of the "on the bench..." phrase, Inform will guess that the bench is a supporter and that it is fixed in place and cannot be moved from room to room. We do have to tell it that the bench can be sat on, though:

The bench is enterable.

And now a short script, so that if we type TEST ME, we experiment with the case and bench:

Test me with "examine case / get rods / open case / get rods / sit on bench / take cushions / get up"

If we compile our last version of the cabin, we get a room where the glass case and the bench are listed separately from the room description, even though they have already been mentioned once. We can prevent this by making the already-mentioned things scenery:

"Disenchantment Bay"

The Cabin is a room. "The front of the small cabin is entirely occupied with navigational instruments, a radar display, and radios for calling back to shore. Along each side runs a bench with faded blue vinyl cushions, which can be lifted to reveal the storage space underneath. A glass case against the wall contains several fishing rods.

Scratched windows offer a view of the surrounding bay, and there is a door south to the deck. A sign taped to one wall announces the menu of tours offered by the Yakutat Charter Boat Company."

The Cabin contains a glass case. In the glass case is a collection of fishing rods. The case is closed, transparent, and openable. The case is scenery.

The bench is in the cabin. On the bench are some blue vinyl cushions. The bench is enterable and scenery. The cushions are scenery.

Generally speaking, it is a good idea to recognize the player's attempts to interact with any objects mentioned in the room description, so we should also provide

Some navigational instruments, some scratched windows, a sign, a radar display, and some radios are scenery in the cabin.

Test me with "examine instruments / x windows / x sign / x display / x radios".

The door and the view will need to be done as well, but they are special cases which we will get to shortly.

As noted, making something scenery also means that the player will be prevented from picking it up and carrying it away. This is sensible, though: if an object can be removed from the room where it first appears, we should be careful about mentioning it in the main room description; otherwise, it will continue to be described as present even when someone has carried it off.

Suppose we wanted to have the glacier visible from the Cabin of our boat, and anywhere else we might add to the game:

The view of the Malaspina glacier is a backdrop. It is everywhere. The description is "The Malaspina glacier covers much of the nearby slope, and -- beyond it -- an area as large as Rhode Island."

Currently we have provided objects for most of what is on the boat, but it's not very interesting to look at. We might want to give some more description to these things.

"Disenchantment Bay"

The Cabin is a room. "The front of the small cabin is entirely occupied with navigational instruments, a radar display, and radios for calling back to shore. Along each side runs a bench with faded blue vinyl cushions, which can be lifted to reveal the storage space underneath. A glass case against the wall contains several fishing rods.

Scratched windows offer a view of the surrounding bay, and there is a door south to the deck. A sign taped to one wall announces the menu of tours offered by the Yakutat Charter Boat Company."

The Cabin contains a glass case. In the glass case is a collection of fishing rods. The case is closed, transparent, and openable. The case is scenery.

The bench is in the cabin. On the bench are some blue vinyl cushions. The bench is enterable and scenery. The cushions are scenery.

Some navigational instruments, some scratched windows, a radar display, and some radios are scenery in the cabin.

The description of the instruments is "Knowing what they do is the Captain's job."

The description of the windows is "They're a bit the worse for wear, but you can still get an impressive view of the glacier through them. There were whales earlier, but they're gone now."

The description of the radar is "Apparently necessary to avoid the larger icebergs."

The description of the radios is "With any luck you will not need to radio for help, but it is reassuring that these things are here."

The order in which we define these things is fairly open. We could also define an object so:

A sign is scenery in the Cabin. The description is "You can get half-day and full-day sight-seeing tours, and half-day and full-day fishing trips."

Where "the description" is assumed to refer to the thing most recently defined, if no object is specified.

The view of the Malaspina glacier is a backdrop. It is everywhere. The description is "The Malaspina glacier covers much of the nearby slope, and -- beyond it -- an area as large as Rhode Island."

Test me with "examine sign / examine glacier / examine instruments / examine windows / examine radar / examine radios / take the cushions / take the glacier".

These last two commands show how scenery and backdrops are automatically impossible for the player to take.

We mentioned that there is a door out to the deck in our example. The following two sentences will create both the door and the other room:

The cabin door is south of the Cabin and north of the Deck. It is a door and scenery.

Now Inform has constructed a generic room called "Deck" to the south. It has neither a description nor any contents yet, but we could fix that in time. It does have a view of the glacier, though, since we defined the glacier view to be everywhere.

It stands to reason that the captain wouldn't let just anyone meddle with his fishing equipment; maybe he keeps that case locked. We could replace the case description with this one, instead:

The Cabin contains a glass case. In the glass case is a collection of fishing rods. The case is closed, transparent, openable, lockable, and locked. The case is scenery. The small silver key unlocks the case.

Now there's a silver key that will unlock it -- though since we haven't said where the key is, the player will never be able to find it in the game. (If we look at the World index, we find "small silver key" right at the bottom, not inside any of the rooms. That is as good as not existing at all -- though we usually use the term "out of play" -- but as we will later see, it is possible to have things initially out of play but brought into existence later on.)

If we would like the player to be able to turn instrumentation on and off, we could add a line to this effect:

The radar, the instruments, and the radios are devices.

And since the captain is probably not navigating blind, we might also want to say

The radar and the instruments are switched on.

Now finally we can put a Captain in the boat:

The Captain is a man in the Cabin. "The captain sits at the wheel, steering the boat and occasionally checking the radar readout."

At this point we can dress both the Captain and the player with some appropriate props:

The captain wears a baseball cap. The description of the cap is "It says, THE WORST DAY FISHING IS BETTER THAN THE BEST DAY WORKING."

The player is carrying a backpack and a bottle of water. The player is wearing a pair of sunglasses. The description of the sunglasses is "The light off the water and the ice does get pretty bright sometimes."

(At present the backpack can't be worn, but see the next version.)

If we wanted, we could make the player's backpack infinitely capacious, so:

The backpack is a player's holdall.

...And now whenever the player character is unable to hold everything, he will automatically stow some of his possessions therein.

This is only useful if the player doesn't have infinite carrying capacity himself, so perhaps we also need

The carrying capacity of the player is 3.

Perhaps mercifully, items which are worn are not counted against the player's carrying capacity. We might want to let him take advantage of that, too:

The backpack is wearable.

This capacity system makes a compromise between the realistic and the absurd: on the one hand, it acknowledges that people can't carry an infinite number of items in their hands, while at the same time providing a sack that can.

Many games will have no use for object-juggling of this kind at all; others will want to be much more rigorous about questions of capacity and volume. Fortunately, it is easy to leave the whole business out by assigning no carrying capacity to anything.

We probably do not need a vehicle to ride around our boat, but there might be a heavy ice chest that can only be pushed from room to room:

The ice chest is a closed openable container in the Deck. "A very heavy ice chest sits on the ground." It is fixed in place and pushable between rooms. A quantity of ice is in the chest. The description is "Ready and waiting just in case there's any fish needing to be kept cool."

This anticipates a later chapter, but it would probably be a good idea to hint to the player, if he tries to take the ice chest, that there is another way to move it:

Instead of taking the chest: say "It's too heavy to lift, but you might be able to push it, and just inch it over the frame of the door."

Otherwise, attempts to pick it up will just reply with "That's fixed in place."

"Disenchantment Bay"

Include Locksmith by Emily Short.

Use scoring.

The Cabin is a room. "The front of the small cabin is entirely occupied with navigational instruments, a radar display, and radios for calling back to shore. Along each side runs a bench with faded blue vinyl cushions[if the compartment is closed], which can be lifted to reveal the storage space underneath[otherwise], one of which is currently lifted to allow access to the storage compartment within[end if]. A glass case against the wall contains several fishing rods.

Scratched windows offer a view of the surrounding bay, and there is a door south to the deck. A sign taped to one wall announces the menu of tours offered by the Yakutat Charter Boat Company."

The Cabin contains a glass case. In the glass case is a collection of fishing rods. Understand "rod" as the collection. The case is closed, transparent, openable, lockable, and locked. The case is scenery. The small silver key unlocks the case.

The bench is in the cabin. On the bench are some blue vinyl cushions. The bench is enterable and scenery. The cushions are scenery.

A storage compartment is an openable closed container. It is part of the bench. Instead of opening the bench, try opening the storage compartment. Instead of closing the bench, try closing the storage compartment. Instead of pushing or pulling or turning the cushions, try opening the storage compartment. Understand "space" as the storage compartment.

Some nets and a Coke are in the compartment. Understand "net" as the nets. The description of the nets is "They must have something to do with fish as well. Really, you're just here for the sights." The nets are a container.

Some navigational instruments, some scratched windows, a radar display, and some radios are scenery in the cabin. The radar, the instruments, and the radios are devices. The radar and the instruments are switched on.

A screen is part of the radar. The description of the screen is "[if the radar is switched on]Phantom lights move across the screen.[otherwise]The screen is dark.[end if]". Instead of doing something other than examining to the screen, say "It's not good for much but looking at."

The Captain is a man in the Cabin. "The captain sits at the wheel, steering the boat and occasionally checking the radar readout." The captain wears a baseball cap. The description of the cap is "It says, THE WORST DAY FISHING IS BETTER THAN THE BEST DAY WORKING." The captain carries the silver key. The description of the captain is "[The captain] is wearing [a list of things worn by the captain][if the captain carries something] and carrying [a list of things carried by the captain][end if]."

The description of the instruments is "Knowing what they do is the Captain's job." Instead of doing something other than examining to the instruments in the presence of the Captain: say "The Captain glares at you. Clearly you are not welcome to do that."

The description of the windows is "They're a bit the worse for wear, but you can still get an impressive view of the glacier through them. There were whales earlier, but they're gone now." Understand "window" as the windows.

The description of the radar is "Apparently necessary to avoid the larger icebergs."

The description of the radios is "With any luck you will not need to radio for help, but it is reassuring that these things are here."

A sign is scenery in the Cabin. The description is "You can get half-day and full-day sight-seeing tours, and half-day and full-day fishing trips."

The view of the Malaspina glacier is a backdrop. It is everywhere. The description is "The Malaspina glacier covers much of the nearby slope, and -- beyond it -- an area as large as Rhode Island." Understand "view of the surrounding bay" or "surrounding bay" as the view.

The cabin door is south of the Cabin and north of the Deck. It is a door and scenery. The description of the Deck is "The whole back half of the boat is open, allowing you to view the surroundings without intervening windows -- if you can stand the cold."

The ice chest is a closed openable container in the Deck. "A very heavy ice chest sits on the ground." It is fixed in place and pushable between rooms.

A quantity of ice is in the Deck. "All around the boat bob chunks of glacier ice." Understand "glacier ice" as the quantity. The description is "Curiously cooled into funny-shaped chunks." The printed name of the quantity is "glacier ice".

Instead of taking the quantity of ice when the player is not carrying the nets:
    if the quantity of ice is handled, continue the action;
    say "You are having a hard time fishing out the ice with your bare hands."

Instead of taking the quantity of ice when the player is carrying the nets:
    if the quantity of ice is handled or the quantity of ice is in the nets, continue the action;
    now the quantity of ice is in the nets;
    say "You scoop up the ice with the net."

Instead of taking the chest: say "It's too heavy to lift, but you might be able to push it, and just inch it over the frame of the door."

The player is carrying a backpack. The player is wearing a pair of sunglasses. The description of the sunglasses is "The light off the water and the ice does get pretty bright sometimes."

The backpack is a player's holdall. The carrying capacity of the player is 3. The backpack is wearable.

Instead of asking the Captain for the key:
    say "'Sure, you can -- well, get me a drink first, would you?'"

Instead of asking the Captain for the key when the Captain is carrying a cold Coke and the Captain is carrying the key:
    move the key to the player;
    say "'Here, knock yourself out.'"

Instead of asking the Captain for the key when the Captain is not carrying the key: say "'I already gave it to you. You didn't lose it, did you?'"

Heat is a kind of value. The heats are cold, cool, room temperature, and warm.

A beverage is a kind of thing. A beverage can be open or closed. A beverage can be openable or unopenable. A beverage is always edible and openable. A beverage has a heat. A beverage is usually warm. The Coke is a beverage. The beer is a beverage. The beer is in the backpack.

Instead of giving or showing a beer to the Captain:
    say "'I don't drink on the job, thanks,' he says. 'You can help yourself if you want it, though.'"

Instead of giving or showing a Coke to the Captain:
    say "'It needs chilling,' the Captain remarks, disgruntled."

Instead of giving or showing a cold Coke to the Captain:
    move the Coke to the Captain;
    increase the score by 2;
    say "'Ah, thank you,' he says. How he can drink an iced soda on a day like today is an open question, but Alaskans are special."

Every turn when the quantity of ice is in the ice chest:
    repeat with item running through beverages in the ice chest:
        let the current heat be the heat of the item;
        if the current heat is not cold, now the heat of the item is the heat before the current heat.

Before printing the name of a beverage (called the drink):
    say "[heat of the drink] ".

Understand the heat property as describing a beverage.

The maximum score is 5.

After taking the fishing rods:
    end the story finally;
    increase the score by 3;
    say "Success is yours! (Now if only you knew anything about fishing.)"

Test me with "test first / test second / test third".

Test first with "x captain / open case / i / ask captain for the key / give beer to captain / open bench / x nets / get nets / get coke / give coke to captain".

Test second with "s / open chest / drop nets / get glacier ice / get nets / get glacier ice / g / put glacier ice in chest / get coke / put coke in chest".

Test third with "x coke / g / g / g / get coke / n / give coke to captain / ask captain for key / open case / get rods".