Creating a drop trigger

[Leigh_Bailey]

Within my game, the player is able to pick up a number of different objects. When they pick up an object the variable ‘holding’ is set to whatever it is they’re holding. E.g. *set holding "knife".

The game also tracks where, in the scene, each object is located. E.g. *set knife "in your hand".

The player needs to be able to drop whatever they are holding if they need to pick up something else. So I have implemented a drop trigger which I am trying to use as follows:

*if (drop_trigger) #Drop the ${holding} on the floor.
		*set drop_trigger false 
		You have dropped the ${holding} on the floor.
        *set ${holding} "on the floor"
        *set holding "empty"
		*goto label

I want to be able to translate that the object has gone from the player’s hand to the floor, as well as emptying the hand for the player to pick up a new object. I believe the problem is with *set ${holding} as it’s coming up as an invalid expression. Is there a better way to go about this?

[Sinnie]

To use the value of one variable, as the name of the variable you want to alter, you just need to use {} without the $.

*create holding ""
*create knife "on the floor"
*create gun "on the floor"

*label pickup_item
The knife is ${knife}

The gun is ${gun}

What would you like to pick up?
*choice
    #Pick up the knife
        *set holding "knife"
        *set {holding} "in your hand"
        *goto drop_item
    #Pick up the gun
        *set holding "gun"
        *set {holding} "in your hand"
        *goto drop_item
    
*label drop_item
The knife is ${knife}

The gun is ${gun}

You are holding the ${holding} . Would you like to drop an item and pick up a new one?
*choice
    *if holding != ""
        #Drop the ${holding}
            *set {holding} "on the floor"
            *set holding ""
            *goto pickup_item

[Szaal]

The curly braces reference a variable{}, while the dollar symbol prints it to the screen $. Sinnie is right on how to use ref in setting a referenced variable.

[Leigh_Bailey]

Thanks for your help!