This is the history button. Clicking it allows you to see up to the last four objects you created with the notepad. How it records what you enter is a clue into how the word parsing of Scribblenauts works.
- A single word, if spelled correctly, will usually generate a word -- BEAN makes a small green-colored bean appear, and BEAN is recorded in the history.
- Pluralizing a single word by adding an S or ES will usually revert the word to its singular spelling -- BEANS changes to BEAN in the history.
- Oddly enough, BEANES will also change to BEAN, despite it being spelled wrong. This is because the parser is attempting to remove both S and ES from plurals to identify the word.
- A word that naturally ends in S will be recognized as singular -- WALRUS makes a walrus, and WALRUS is recorded in the history. Both WALRUSS and WALRUSES are changed to WALRUS in the history. This even works for words ending in multiple Ss -- GRASS, GRASSS and GRASSES all make a patch of grass and are recorded as GRASS.
- A similar effect happens for words ending in ES -- MOLASSES, MOLASSESS and MOLASSESES all create a pot of molasses and are recorded as MOLASSES.
- In a strange twist, words ending in E react differently -- HORSE creates a horse, but HORSES is not found. In the suggestions, HORSE is not even in the list. Even stranger, the spelling HORSEES does make a horse, and is recorded as HORSE. This same effect goes for the words SPONGE and CHEESE.
- On the other hand, some words will add an S or ES to a word to complete it. The effect works a little differently for different words:
- WALRU is recorded as WALRUS, Same for PANT and SCISSOR
- GLAS (GLASS), GRAS (GRASS) and CHES (CHESS) however, are not found. It would appear that if the entered word already ends in S or ES, it doesn't try to add any letters.
- MOLASSE, but not MOLASS, is recorded as MOLASSES.
- SHACKLE and SHACKL are recorded as SHACKLES. This may be because SHACKLE is a real word (a verb), while MOLASSE means nothing.
- Adding a E or ES creates other conflicts when the two spellings generate different words:
- GLASS and GLASSS are both recorded as GLASS in the history and either generate a sheet of raw glass or a drinking cup.
- GLASSE, GLASSES, GLASSESS and GLASSESES are all saved as GLASSES -- eye glasses.
- To review: the words CH, CHES, CHEE and CHEESES are not found. CHE is a type of berry. CHEESE makes cheese. CHEESEES is shortened to CHEESE. CHEES is not extended to CHEESES, but is instead shortened to CHE. Got all that? No? Don't worry.
- MAN, MANS and MANES create an adult male and are recorded as MAN, while MANE and MANEES create the hair around a lion's head, and are recorded as MANE.
- MEN, WOMEN and MOUSES are not found, but MICE creates a rodent mouse and is recorded as MICE. MOUSEES changes back to MOUSE and lets you choose between the animal or the computer input device.
Now we come to compound words - either words that are entered as singular and converted to multiple (PORKCHOP becomes PORK CHOP) or just words entered a multiple words (GREEN BEAN):
- Plural words that are part of a compound phrase (green beans) react differently...
- Certain compound words are converted into split words: Enter "Porkchop" and then look in the "retype" option -- the phrase "Pork Chop" has been recorded.
- More complex phrases tend to trim off words until it finds a phrase it recognizes. Entering "Green Peas" may give you an object, but looking in the history shows you the game only recorded "pea". Enter "Pea Pod" and the history shows "pod", which indicates that even if it knew the first word alone, it didn't recognize them in a phrase. Enter "Tub" and you get a bathtub. Enter "Hot Tub" and you get a different object - a hot tub. Enter "Alien Hot Tub" and you get a regular Hot Tub, while the history only stores "hot tub". So Scribblenauts seems to trim off words one by one from left to right until it finds a phrase it recognizes. Enter "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" and you get a regular Turtle. Any number of adjectives will be cut off until the first recognized phrase of any size is found.
- green bean -> green bean
- green beans -> green beans
- green beanes -> green beanes
- greenbean -> green bean
- greenbeans -> green bean
- frozen bean -> bean
- frozen beans -> beans
- frozen green bean -> green bean
- frozen green beans -> green beans
- frozen greenbean -> greenbean
- frozen greenbeans -> greenbeans
- be an -> be an
- be ans -> be ans
- green be an -> green be an
- green be ans -> green be ans
- greenbe an -> greenbe an
- greenbe ans -> greenbe ans
- frozen be an -> be an
- frozen be ans -> be ans
- frozenbe an -> NOT FOUND
- frozenbe ans -> NOT FOUND
- frozen green be an -> green be an
- frozen green be ans -> green be ans
- frozen greenbe an -> greenbe an
- frozen greenbe ans -> greenbe ans
- pea -> pea
- peas -> pea
- green pea -> pea
- green peas -> peas
- greenpea -> NOT FOUND
- greenpeas -> NOT FOUND
- frozen pea -> pea
- frozen peas -> peas
- frozen green pea -> pea
- frozen green peas -> peas
- frozen greenpea -> NOT FOUND
- frozen greenpeas -> NOT FOUND
- pod -> pod
- pods -> pod
- pea pod -> pod
- pea pods -> pods
- peapod -> NOT FOUND
- peapods -> NOT FOUND
- frozen pod -> pod
- frozen pods -> pods
- frozen pea pod -> pod
- frozen pea pods -> pods
- frozen peapod -> NOT FOUND
- frozen peapods -> NOT FOUND
- soup -> soup
- pea soup -> pea soup
- peasoup -> pea soup
- peasoups -> pea soup
- warm peasoup -> peasoup
- warm peasoups -> peasoups
- pork -> pork
- porks -> (need to test)
- po rk -> po rk
- po rks -> (need to test)
- pork chop -> pork chop
- pork chops -> pork chops
- porkchop -> pork chop
- porkchops -> pork chop
- green pork chop -> (need to test)
- green pork chops -> (need to test)
- green porkchop -> porkchop
- green porkchops -> porkchops
- pan cake -> pan cake
- pan cakes -> NOT FOUND
- pancake -> pancake
- pancakes -> NOT FOUND
- pretzel -> pretzel File:Pretzel.png
- pretzels -> pretzel File:Pretzel.png
- pret zel -> pret zel File:Pretzel.png
- pret zels -> pret zels File:Pretzel.png
- fat walrus -> walrus
- fat walruss -> walruss
- fat walruses -> walruses
There seem to be a number of steps in the word parsing process, and what is stored in the reloader isn't always consistent.
So it seems internally, it takes a phrase like "Green Porkchops", cuts off words until it finds something it recognizes (Porkchops), the records the phrase in the reloader. Then it converts "Porkchops" into "Porkchop" and then into "Pork Chop" (otherwise it would have converted "Porkchops" into "Pork Chops" which STAYS "Pork Chops")
All of this basically comes down to two things:
1. A better understanding of the word parsing structure (only interesting to programmer types)
2. A way to determine how better to construct the wiki -- how should converted compounds and plurals be dealt with if the game sees some of them as the same word, or two different words (even if all the object properties are identical)
From research so far, it seems like plurals should not be recorded in the wiki, unless the game specifically spells them differently (such as MICE).