NO-DO Responses

Sometimes an author wants to write a work of IF with a very limited command set but also wants to use a standard IF authoring system that already has several dozen commands predefined in it. The author has a choice: they can either prune the library so unwanted commands aren't understood, or they can re-define the unwanted commands to act like a new function (e.g.: NO-DO) that does nothing but return a denial message. This page is about the latter approach's responses.

Don't expect a large list for this page. I just needed somewhere for these responses to go since they didn't really belong on the other response pages.

ADRIFTmas Party (2002)

As you try to do that, you lose your balance and fall on the slippery roof. With a horrid scream, you slide at great speed towards the edge of the roof. The last thing you see is the amused faces of your reindeer as you fall over the edge. You land hard on the front steps of the house, and all goes black............

.....Continue.....

Some time later....you awaken face down in the snow.

Now what are you going to do? It seems you have lost your magic after that nasty fall. The presents are on the roof and there is no way to get back up there. You will just have to figure something out. Sounds like there is a party going on, maybe you can slip in and figure out some way to get back up to the roof to get the presents.

.....Continue......

This happens with your first move of the game.

And the Waves Choke the Wind (2000)

You are still trying to get the world from turning around you. This damned headache!

When the game begins, most commands are overridden for several turns so the game can dole out the backstory.

Child's Play (2006)

Everything you try just winds you tighter in the darkness, this sucks.

This is during the first puzzle.

Chlorophyll (2015)

The safety restraints make it hard to do much except look around.

This is during the prologue sequence.

Cogito (2010)

*** You might not be ***

Curse of the Garden Isle (2018)

You can't do that.
You can't do that right now. Please be patient.
No, you can't do that. Just wait; pretty soon you can interact with stuff.
Well, I thought it'd be fun to do a cinematic kind of introduction where the player is a disembodied observer, but that doesn't seem to be working. I guess I can see how it'd be more fun for the author than the player. Sorry.
Yeah, that command doesn't work either. Sorry. This'll be over soon. Sorry.
Don't worry, there's not much more.
Okay I'm done

This happens during the game's prologue set in the ocean.

Dead Man's Hill (2016)

There was no time for that!

Deelzebub (2020)

[TODO First few turns]

Desolation (2020)

[TODO At game start]

Dig My Grave (2012)

```
 Oh hey. 
```
```
 Hold on a second. 
```
```
 (I forgot to put in the title) 
```
```
 Okay, you can start now. 
```
[The game's banner and initial location are now displayed.]

At the beginning of the game, the player's first four commands are ignored so the author can interrupt via box quotes.

Escape From Summerland (2012)

No time for that! I've got a man to save!

This response occurs during the prologue.

Fan Interference (2011)

You're too juiced to pay attention to anything but the television right now. Just 12 more outs, and the Cubs go to the World Series!

This happens during the prologue.

Fish Bowl (2012)

You should get up first.

This overrides most commands when you're on your cot.

Gaia's Web (2016)

[TODO: It seems a bit complicated.]

Guilded Youth (2012)

Your access on the BBS only allows you to EXAMINE, LOOK, WAIT, SHOW something to someone, or TAKE something.

Hey, I'm Supposed to Be Free Range (1998)

You're too obsessed with making it across the road to do anything but move around.

Night Driver (2001)

There is no time. You must concentrate on driving.

Oppositely Opal (2015)

But that note is such a mystery. Who wrote it? Why is it here? These are answers just waiting to be discovered.
You want to find out what's written in that note. Maybe where to get some food after you burn this place down and jet. But mostly what's in the note.
You want to find out what's written in that note.
UGH! You're so conflicted! For some reason you're not reading the note, despite it having your name so eloquently written across and the front, and despite the rest of the room being intentionally uninteresting.
You wonder what the creator of the note should have done to make you want to read it. Maybe it needed a clickbait-style tagline like You'll never believe what this person did to you! or something else equally irritating.
There's something going on here, something more than simply avoiding a note with your name on it. You're supposed to be Opal, a witch with a very particular dilemma—but no! You don't want to be her anymore. Maybe you want to be someone who wouldn't care about the note, who instead would look around and see if the owners had a tin of Earl Grey to make a nice cup of tea (spoiler: they don't). Maybe you'd like to turn on the television and watch the all-night marathon of Gogglebox repeats on BBC 4. Maybe you'd rather burst out of the cabin and hitch a ride to Reykjavik and take the elevator to the very top of Hallgrimskirkja and shout out across the island "I'm free! I'm free of the narrative confines of my life!"
If only such a thing were possible. Unfortunately, your narrative journey has put you here, in this room, with this note that has your name on it waiting to be read by you. That's what you, Opal, would do. And if you don't want to read the note, then there's no compelling reason for you to do anything that follows.
There's no reason to do anything else besides read the note.

Your commands are blocked this way at the beginning of the game.

Ritual of Purification (1998)

Blind and senseless, you move slowly through the blackness. Your power is great, but your mind is numb.
You flow through the void, crushing planets with your tail, creating stars by a mere blink, but you see nothing, and feel nothing. You are too great to perceive, and react.
Universes explode, melt and shift around you, but you are unaware of their destruction. You just crawl towards your non-existent destination, omnipotent, but mindless. Your power is not directed by your will, and thus is useless.
You have seen enough. You sink back....

This happens in The Void scene.

Rockrider (2009)

[at start of game:] You can't seem to concentrate on anything.
[when hull breach begins:] You can't move. For a split second you panic before realising you're still strapped into your crash seat.

Spiritwrak (1996)

You are caught up in the collective chanting, and cannot break your concentration to do much of anything else.

This is only applicable during the initial scene where all actions except WAIT are disallowed.

Splashdown (2004)

You can barely even feel your own body.
A hazy red light blinks through the gray and cold.
You're only aware of a mild tingling in your fingertips.
Distant klaxons reverberate in time with a flashing red panel, cutting through the chill. You feel a pinch on your right shoulder.
Your throat feels dry and scratchy, and your feet feel like they're light-years away.
Suddenly, the haze fades away and the world snaps into sharp focus.

At the very beginning of the game, you're regaining consciousness in a cryotube.

The Temple (2002)

In your current state of fear your mind and body refuse to cooperate.

This happens for one turn, while falling, just before you reach the roof of the tower.

Vicious Cycles (2001)

Actions seem meaningless here. You can't see or feel a thing.

This happens whenever you're in Darkness.

A Walk Through Forever (2001)

[while watchin' TV:] Shh. I'm watching this.
[while thinking:] You'll be watching less, doing more! Calista who?
You grab hold of the idiot box, move (with some difficulty) over to the window, and haul the thing straight through.
Unfortunately, the cable managed to wrap itself around your leg without your noticing, and you are pulled out with it. And you live on the fourteenth floor.
*** You have died ***

Even meta-commands like RESTART and VERSION may be blocked by this game's NO-DO.

The Weight of a Soul (2017)

This is not the time.

Also: The Weight of a Soul.