AlaMOO User's Guide					Introduction
MOO Interface	Character Options	Getting Around	Communicating	Working with Objects	Objects Help
Creating Objects and Rooms	Xpress Options	Getting Help	Command Summary	Beginner's Guide	QuickStart

Getting Around

The MOO can be thought of as a "virtual world" made up of objects, people and rooms; feeling comfortable moving around and interacting in this world can seem a bit strange at first. One thing to keep in mind is the fact that MOOs treat everything in them as a separate "object" and assign each object a specific number. Each object has a description and a set of properties and commands associated with it. Part of what makes MOOing so fun is the ability to explore the space and interact with the objects and people that populate it. This part of the guide will cover the basics of how to move around the MOO and look at objects and people .

Two ways exist in EnCore to move about the MOO. You can either use text commands in the left hand side of the screen alone, or you can point and click to navigate in the Xpress graphical side of the MOO. Pointing and clicking is the easiest method, but some knowledge of the text commands is very useful.

Text Commands to Move Around in the MOO
When you look at the description of a room printed in the left, text-side of the MOO, it will display the name of the Room, a description of the room (not always), and a list of exit names to other rooms.

You view AlaMOO Plaza... .
Obvious exits: [in/out] to Help Kiosk, [east] to College Plaza, [west] to La Villita, [down] to Mitchell lake

Here are some commands that you can use to navigate the MOO.

Navigating by Pointing and Clicking in the Viewing Area
A description of a room will appear in the graphical side of the MOO on the right as well, but notice that below the description is another area with two headings in bold: "You see:", and "Links:". Next to the "You see:" heading will be listed the people and objects in the room (discussed below), and beside the "Links:" heading are hyperlinks to other rooms connected to the room you are in.

To navigate to any particular room in this Links: section simply click on the link to the room.

Looking at Objects and People

Looking at objects and people allows you to focus on them and get more information about them. Every person and object in the MOO has its own separate "description" which you can access by looking at it. You can look at objects and people in two different ways. One way involves typing commands into the command window. Another way involves clicking on the link for the object or person displayed in the viewing area. You can always refresh the description of the room you are in by clicking on the LOOK button on the button bar.

As explained in the MOO interface part of the guide, the MOO displays information about objects in the talk area and the viewing area.

By default, the viewing area displays a description of the room you are in, all of the objects and people in the room, and links to other rooms. The talk area will display the URL for the description of the room that the viewing area is displaying, a list of the room's objects, people, and links to other rooms.

Text Commands for looking at objects and people

There are a number of commands you can use to see the description of an object or person or to get more information about an object or a person. You type these commands into the command window (make sure that the radio button for "normal" is checked) . Commands such as @examine are particularly useful because they reveal all the "verbs," or special commands, that are unique to that object and reveal how to work with that object.

In these commands, you will need to substitute the name of the person you want to look at where the command says <person>, and the name of the object you want to look at where the command says <object>. If you know the object number of an object or a person, you can also use that in place of person or object.

Looking at Objects and People in the Viewing Area by Pointing and Clicking

To look at an object or person in the viewing area, just click on its name. Its description will display in the talk area and the viewing area. If you want more information about an object or a person than what this gives you, you can use one of the commands listed above. Clicking on the light bulb icon in the upper right will display the help file for that room or object.

For example, in this room, you could click on Daphne to see her description or on Daphne's recorder to see the recorder and its contents. To look at the room you are in, click on the LOOK button in the button bar. In this situation, the LOOK button works similar to a BACK button