An ExitOnlyPassage is designed for one-way travel into a room, the other side of a passage through which you can pass but by which you cannot return. For example, imagine you have a slippery chute leading down from one cave to another below it. In the upper cave the chute might be represented by a ThroughPassage that the Player Character can enter; in the lower cave, the other end of the chute, which ejects the PC into the lower cave but can't be climbed back up could be implemented as an ExitOnlyPassage. To illustrate this we'll add four more objects: a round cave to the west of mainCave to act as the start of the chute, a long cave underneath to act as the destination of the chute, and the two halves of the chute, one in each location:
roundCave : DarkRoom 'Round Cave' 'the round cave'
"This round, rocky cave has a narrow exit to the east and a strange square
hole in the floor. "
east = mainCave
down = squareHole
;
+ squareHole : TravelWithMessage, ThroughPassage 'square hole/chute' 'square hole'
"The hole is just about large enough for one person to fit through. A glint
of something metallic can be seen just through the hole. "
travelDesc = "You find yourself sliding down a long, slippery metal chute;
After a short ride you are ejected into another cave. "
;
longCave : DarkRoom 'Long Cave' 'the long cave'
"This long narrow cave runs from east to west between rough walls and
a low ceiling. There is a large square hole in the west wall, while
a ladder fixed to the wall at the east end runs up to a trapdoor
set in the ceiling. Some words have been crudely scratched on the
south wall. "
west : NoTravelMessage { "You can't climb back up the chute, it's
too slippery. " }
;
+ ExitOnlyPassage -> squareHole 'square hole/chute' 'square hole'
"Through the square hole you can see the bottom end of the shiny metal
chute, which is too slippery to climb back up. "
;
One other thing we need to add before this can be tested is
west = roundCave
to mainCave.
Note that we don't need to give the ExitOnlyPassage a name; we simply point it to the squareHole with the -> symbol in the Passage template to connect the two halves of the chute together; in the Passage template the -> references the masterObject property. Note also the use of a NoTravelMessage to explain why we can't climb back up the chute if we try to go west, and of the TravelWithMessage mix-in class used with the ThroughPassage to provide a description of the descent via the chute.
You can compile and run this, but you'll need to use MEGA or FIAT LUX to see what you're doing in the dark rooms.