File I/O Xtra makes conversing simple!

The ELIZA-style webpage now expires after 7200 ticks, and after a stylish deconstruction animation (ok, I admit the screen flashes black a few times), goes to an exact reconstruction of the ELIZA webpage interface (except instead of pressing the Enter key to submit the answers, you press the “Accept” button.

This first occurs before the ELIZA JavaScript runs, where the computer asks for your name. This is then saved using the File I/O Xtra onto a location of my choice on the hard drive (which means the program will not run entirely off a CD).



A (reasonably) simple bit of coding later reads this (.txt) file and spits the file contents back as a Cast Member which can be used like any other asset. This gives the illusion of the conversation continuing as it did before, but now we control it’s progression.



This also means that the file contents can be read by a different Director file (such as the Beach) and used within that file too, giving seamless integration between the files.