cant_go

cant_go is property for room objects. Its code will replace the standard “You can’t go that way.” message. Here is an example of its usage:

room ocean "Middle of the Ocean"
{
      long_desc
           "Who thought jumping off the ocean liner in the middle of the ocean was a good idea?"
      cant_go
           "There is no land in that direction."
}

Advanced Usage

Besides that obvious case, you can also tweak cant_go to replace single-direction “can’t go” messages. It can be beneficial to keep location directional properties (n_to, e_to, etc.) clear of printed code so that exit-checking routines and extensions work properly. So, instead of:

room cave "Cave"
{
      w_to
           "That direction is blocked by a cave-in."
      e_to treasure_vault
}

You can have:

room cave "Cave"
{
      e_to treasure_vault
      cant_go
            {
            if object = w_obj
                 "That direction is blocked by a cave-in."
            else
                 return false
            }
}

This way, going west will still get the special message but the other unsuccessful directions will get the default.