[ Please note, this feature is written into my lib/look program, it will not work anywhere else ]
In building, its often nice to make the place seem as real as you can, this can take a number of things, the ability to look at an item to see detail might be useful, but normally you would have to make the item, set it to be dark so its not listed on the contents list, lock it to itself to stop anyone from wandering off with it.. It can be a pain. There is a way round it, its called fake objects.
To create a fake object, think of your description, and whatever you would put in it, you put in a property in a property directory called fake. See the example below- this includes the room description.
@dig living room
@action enter=me
@link enter=#nnn
enter
@desc here=You are standing in a room, on the mantle piece are four ornaments,
a cat, a dog, a mouse and a bird. To the left of you you see a big soft chair
good enough to sit in.
@set here=fake/fireplace:A small fire has been lit in the fire place, the flames
dance before your eyes.
@set here=fake/cat:A small cat stands in human clothing, its about 1 inch high
and looks to be made of a very delicate china.
@set here=fake/dog:A rotweiler dog in amazing detail stands looking towards
the room, so small and so real looking.
@set here=fake/mouse:The mouse blinks back at you.
@set here=fake/bird:The bird is made of glass with colour painted in a transparent
paint, the light from the fire reflects in its wings.
This will mean the visitors to the room can look at the fireplace, cat, dog, mouse and bird. Without you having to create more items. This is really useful for a muck with a quota on, but in Camelot its just tidier, and cheaper.