Giving Commands to TAF - System Commands
March 4, 2022•1,017 words
System commands are commands that usually—but not entirely exclusively—control TAF itself, rather than the game play. Loading a game, closing TAF down, or turning sound effects off and on are the types of things you can do with system commands.
In moderator-led sessions, such as virtual escape rooms, the moderator will fInd some system commands make hosting and controlling the event easier. In turn, that improves the experience for the team of “captives”.
System Commands begin with a full stop "." which differentiates them from regular user commands. It also helps prevent you issuing a system command by mistake.
| Command | Abbreviation | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| .quit | .q | Closes TAF. If there are unsaved changes, you're prompted to make sure you really want to close down. |
| .exit | .x | Exactly the same as the .quit system command. |
| .autocls | .ac | Toggles the automatic screen clears in the Main window. With auto screen clears on, whenever the player moves to a new location the screen is cleared before the location is described. autocls is ON by default. |
| .sound | .sfx | Toggles sound effects on and off. Solving problems, timed event messages, and timer decrements due to clue penalties can be accompanied by sound effects. Sound effects are ON by default. |
| .dump | .dp | Writes (dumps) the contents of the Trace window to a log file. The log file name is created automatically. It is a timestamp, of the form TAF_2022-01-01_13-45-14.log. Note that this doesn't turn on saving to a file. It saves a snapshot of the contents of the Trace window to the file, then closes the file. |
| .tron | .trn | Opens the Trace window if it is not visible. |
| .troff | .trf | Close the Trace window. Logging messages are still sent to the Trace window even when it is not open. |
| .showtimer | .st | Displays the Timer window if it is not open. |
| .hidetimer | .ht | Closes the Timer window. The timer countdown continues even if the timer is Timer window is hidden. |
| .duration | .dur | Sets a new duration for the timer. The time can be specified in seconds or minutes and seconds. Both .duration 3600 and .duration 60:00 set the timer value to 60 minutes. Setting a new duration stops the timer. When you are ready to start (or restart) your game, click the start button in the Timer window, or use the .timerrun system command. |
| .timerrun | .tr | Starts the timer running. Has no effect if the timer is already running. It's the same as clicking the Start button in the Timer window. |
| .timerstop | .ts | Stops the timer running. Has no effect if the timer is already stopped. It does not reset the timer. This allows you to stop the timer, do something elkse, then come back to the game, restart the timer, and carry on. That means the timer displays your actual game time, not the real-world elapsed time. It's the same as clicking the Stop button in the Timer window. |
| .timerreset | .trx | Resets the timer to the last specified duration. This only works if the timer is stopped. The last specified duration might be the TAF default timer value of 45:00, a game target completion time which is set by the game author, or a value that has been set using the .duration system command. It's the same as clicking the Reset button in the Timer window. |
| .time | .tm | Displays the elapsed and remaining game time. Useful if you've hidden the Timer window. |
| .clue | .cl | Requests a clue about a problem, set dressing, or location. If there are clues available for the item and they haven't been previously displayed and in the case of problems, the problem hasn't been solved, a clue will be displayed in the Main window. Whether clues are available at all, is a choice made by the game author. |
| .version | .ver | Displays a paragraph of data about the version of TAF you're running, and some details about the current game, if any. |
| .system | .sys | Lists all of the system commands in the Main window. Note that they are shown without their leading full stops. Regardless, make sure you preced each one with an initial full stop. |
| .score | .sc | Displays the score. Points are awarded for visiting locations, interacting with objects, and solving problems. A bonus is applied if you score the maximum points in each of those categories. Points are deducted each time you recieve a clue. |
| .manifest | .man | Lists the manjor items defined in a game in the Trace window. The game title, locations, objects, problems, clues, and set dressings are listed. The current location is also displayed. |
| .aliases | .al | Lists all of the alias definitions for the current game. |
| .docs | .docs | Opens the (local) TAF documentation website on http://localhost:8080. This must already be running. |
| .touches | .to | Lists all locations, objects, problems, aliases, and set dressings that directly link back to the named location. If no location name is provided in the command the current location is used. |
| .load | .lo | Loads a GDL file into TAF, and starts the game from the start. |
| .save | .sa | Saves the current game state as a TAF file. To reload and start the saved game from where you left off, use the .restore system command. |
| .abandon | .ab | Purges the current game from memory. |
| .restore | .res | Loads a TAF saved game file. |
| .restart | .rx | Reloads the current game. This is the same as using the .abandon and .load system commands one after the other, and loading in the same game. |