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Starting to understand why so many people hate items. They are very annoying to script. Was wondering if someone could help me with a couple of things:

1. Is there any way to get rid of the "Use Item" button on pages where the item can't be used, because the whole "This item cannot be used on this page" thingy is really ugly.

2. Is there any way to make the "Use Item" button say something else, such as "Eat Item" or something like that?

Nope and Nope.

You can reference variables on item descriptions though, so what you could do is have a flag that you set on each page, then the item description could be like:

%%ITEM1CAN%=%1%You can use this here%%%%ITEM1CAN%=%0%You can't use this here.%%

So they know not to try.

Awh, that's a shame. :(

You just have to create a default page for every item you have, for when it is used out of sync.

Such as "Try as you might, you just cant seem to fit the entire catus up your arse."

Even that is a bit annoying, as it still means the player will see the same page many times. 

The central issue seems to be that there are two styles of games that are actually quite different. The one is the classical CYOA which did not have items (and very few variables) and the other are 'Maniac Mansion' style point and click adventures. 

Between these two lies an uncanny valley.  Somehow just having item actions and story options at the same time seems clunky. 

I totally see how items add fun by strongly increasing the search space of options. But in most games the options that are presently added are just a bunch of dead ends.

 

 

While some customization might be nice, I think the core issue is authors don't really use items well/the way they should be used.

Just like a game, you should teach your readers the rules and logic behind how items work in your game, along with when they should be trying to use them, before setting them loose.

Classifying types of items, prompting the user to use them, and giving a sort of "tutorial" of one in use are all important steps that basically no one ever does.

It's unfortunate. I either put a message in the item description that mentions that it cannot be used, remove the item until it can be used, or hide the entire item table until items can be used (this is somewhat useful because you don't have to mess with item states).

Got another annoying question. Is there any way I can make it so that an item only appears on a page if you already have (or don't have) another item in your inventory? Basically, I want to make an item that appears on two separate pages, but if you already picked it up on one page, it won't appear on the second page.

A very pedestrian solution would be to have two copies of the respective pages. One with the item and one without and use a link script to switch the right link on depending on whether you have the item already.

... That is an incredibly easy solution. Well done! ^_^

There is a way.

First, you need to set the number of Uses of any Item you want to randomize to say 10.

Then use a Page Script on your first page to set all the Items to $ITEMSTATEX := 1 AND (in the same script) $ITEMUSEDX := 11.

This will add all the items to the player, but make them disappear (before the player sees them), because they have been used up.

In the Global Script, you add something like IF $ITEMUSEDX = 9 THEN $ITEMUSEDX := 0. This will keep the items usable forever.

When you want an Item to appear, just change $ITEMUSEDX := 0. To disappear, $ITEMUSEDX := 11 again.

For Items you actually want to have limited uses, you need to add a variable to track it and turn the item off when appropriate - or just give the item a number of uses less than your ON/OFF number AND less than the RESET number in the Global Script.

This is how you also get around the $ITEMSTATEX Bug off Page Links.