Magma (Pre-release) version 0.80
Tuesday, July 20, 1999
Veygoth veygoth@stax.net
=== Note
All of the stock Envy and UltraEnvy areas no longer work with this
codebase and should not be used. This codebase now only currently
supports areas written with some version of DikuEdit, preferably version
3.00c.
The areas are included in the archive in the strange that someone may be
masochistic to want to convert all of the flags. The format is correct,
but the flags in the areas are still from old Envy. Since all of the
flags here have been rearranged, there will have to be some sort of mass
'if' statement written in load_mobiles and load_objects in db.c before
their bits will be handled properly. They will currently load, but will
behave wackily.
=== Preface
This document was originally from the UltraEnvy 0.87j code release by Zen.
Most of it has been left intact, and only the portions that have changed
have been modified
- Veygoth
Portions of this document contains certain clarifications and
modifications sent in by hub@hub.eden.com. Otherwise, the original
document is intact.
- Kahn
The majority of this document was submitted to the merc mailing list by RoX of
Farside, and we are greatly indebted to the Farside staff for this excellent
introduction to area building. We have modified the text slightly to
match the changes made at EnvyMud (especially the removal of slot numbers),
removed references to Farside immortals (You may still ask them them what to
do! :) ), and have added our own examples, but have otherwise left the
original document intact.
- Thelonius
=== Acknowledgment (from Silence of Farside)
This document contains information from 'database.doc', 'dbsup.doc', and
'values.doc', part of the original Diku mud release and copyrighted by the
Diku folks. See their 'license.doc'.
I have made this file from building.txt and the other area building files
included in the Merc22 package then expanded and edited them to make it
easier for first area writers. All thanks go out to the creators of mud.
Some starting hints
Plan out your area on paper before writing it out. Check the mud to see if
that area is already in place or something similar. Map out your area, then
place the mobs and items BEFORE you start writing the area. Think before you
write. Read through this document, and try and figure it out. If you still
need help, don't hesitate to ask someone online. Try to have as close to, but
less than, sets of 100 rooms as you can, since we use 100 roomed slots. Let
your imagination run wild and remember to place exits in the long description,
including doors. While writing your area, have a previously written and
debugged area nearby so you can use it as a reference.
=== Overview of Areas:
An area is one piece of the world. Each area is defined in a separate file.
All of our area files have the extension '.are'. Areas are what make the
game special, sure the gods help, but it is the areas. Please keep your
areas original and not too far out. Use good and proper English and try and
spell check your area before sending it in. Hatchet and the high up gods will
debug if necessary. Remember the world is a magical one, where technology
was not really developed. So please keep the machine guns, grenades, lasers,
etc out.
EnvyMud has changed the format of the value# fields of the objects in the
area files. Mainly the removal of slot number references in potions, wands,
staves, etc. But, since each area file is a separate file, it is still easy
to port areas from one diku mud to another through a simple conversion.
EnvyMud 2.2 has added race definitions for mobiles taking the place of the
former repop position. IE) sleeping or etc. See the #MOBILES section below
for a more indepth description.
All of our areas may be freely distributed, as long as the internal notices
(such as those on plaques, signs, graffiti, or tombstones) are kept. If you
write new areas, and would like to contribute them back to EnvyMud, just
e-mail to one of the addresses above. As you can see from typing 'areas' in
the game, we credit the original authors whenever we can find them.
Although the format of EnvyMud areas is (somewhat) compatible with other Diku
and MERC muds, EnvyMud ignores many of the fields in the area files,
generating its own values based on mobile and object levels. We adopted this
policy in order to maintain balance between areas originally written by many
different authors.
=== New area format and OLC info
This file may be incomplete but at least you have a reference to work on.
The server can still load old UltraEnvy areas and then you can do an
'asave world' to save the entire database in the new format. This file format
is picky on the #RESETS section. You may need to erase one or two lines but
it will warn of that in the log file.
The new area format is a work in progress, so it may change and i'm not certain
i'll bother doing a converter from my older area file formats.
If you want to do area editing using OLC, remember you need authorization to do
it. This means one of two things:
1) Your 'security' field (saved in the 'Security' line on the pfile) is higher
than the security level of the given area (use 'alist' to see this).
2) Your name is in the 'Builders' line on the area file's #AREADATA section.
- Zen
* NOTE *
OLC has not currently been setup to save areas in the new format. If you
save the world, areas may become corrupted and the whole MUD may become worthless.
- Veygoth
=== How to convert the standard Envy2.2 areas
If 'asaving' the Envy2.2 release areas swap the order of haon.are and
arachnos.are in the AREA.LST file so that the resets will load correctly.
The order in your AREA.LST file should now be:
arachnos.are
haon.are
Put naytil.are before grove.are like so:
naytil.are
grove.are
Put shaolin.are before ocean.are like so:
shaolin.are
ocean.are
Now the old areas should be properly converted.
=== Sections of an Area
An area file contains the following sections:
#AREADATA (unchanged)
#HELPS (unchanged)
#RECALL (unchanged/unused)
#BASTMOBS (changed alot)
#BASTOBJECTS (changed alot)
#BASTROOMS (changed moderately)
#BASTRESETS (changed moderately)
#BASTSHOPS (changed alot)
#SPECIALS (unchanged)
#GAMES (unchanged)
#$
An area is a collection of sections starting with #AREADATA until the next
#AREADATA. All of our area files (except 'help.are') contain just one
#AREADATA section, which is at the top of the file.
The file 'proto.are' contains a prototype for developing new area files.
=== Data Types (the following was taken straight out of builders.txt)
All of the data in an area file (even the section headers) consists of a
series of values. Each value has a specific type. The server parses the
file by reading in data values one at a time according to the types it
expects.
Blank characters (spaces, tabs, new lines, carriage returns) at the beginning
of a data value are always ignored (this includes strings). Thus, you can
format the area files whatever way suits your taste and your needs.
The individual types are: 'letter', 'word', 'string', 'number', and 'to_eol'.
A 'letter' is a single non-blank character.
A 'word' is a sequence of non-blank characters terminated by a blank.
A 'string' is a sequence of non-tilde characters terminated by a tilde. A
tilde is this character: '~'. Thus, strings may contain blanks, and may be
multiple lines long. There is no limit on the length of an individual
string; however, all strings go into a common memory pool whose size is fixed
when the server is compiled.
A 'number' is a decimal number with an optional leading '-' or '+'. The '|'
character may be used in any number: '1|64|1048576' has the value 1048641.
The individual values separated by '|' are added together, so '5|6' is 11,
not 7. The components need not be powers of 2. This feature is extremely
useful for defining bit vectors, such as the ACT_* and AFF_* bits for
mobiles, but is not restricted to bit vectors: any number may use the '|'
construction. ie, when putting affects together, all you need to do is the
following (example is a mob who is aggressive and stays in one room) 1|2|32.
A 'to_eol' is all the characters from the current position to the end of the
current input line. It is used for parsing comments at the ends of lines.
In the syntax description below, <value:type> indicates a value to be read of
the indicated type. A backslash '\' indicates that the file format itself
has only one line, but several lines are used in this description to fit
within 80 columns.
Braces '{ ... }' are used to enclose elements. They are NOT literal parts of
the file format, but a way of indicating that the enclosed elements may be
repeated zero or more times. Braces at the same level of indentation
indicate that the parallel elements may be present in any order.
All other characters in the syntax description are literal characters.
Mobiles, objects, and rooms are identified by vnum (virtual number). The
range of vnum's is 1 to 65534. Vnum's must be unique (for that particular
kind of vnum). Vnums do not have to be in increasing order.
Typically an area uses the same range of vnum's for mobile vnum's, object
vnum's, and room vnum's, starting with a multiple of 100. This facilitates
adding the area into an existing set of areas.
At EnvyMud, we do not preassign room vnum's. Instead, all of your vnums
should be of the form XX01, or **01, or any other easily replaced string.
They will be changed when we incorporate your area into the mud.
== The #AREADATA section (from this point onwards, I have changed things around)
The syntax of this section is:
#AREADATA
Name <area-name:string>
Author <author-name:string>
Levels <lower:number> <higher:number>
Security <security:number>
Builders <builders:string>
VNUMs <start:number> <end:number>
Recall <recall-point:number>
Reset <reset-message:string>
End
The 'area-name' can be any string. Example for an #AREADATA section:
#AREADATA
Name Prototype for New Area~
Author Envy~
Levels 5 35
Security 1
VNUMs 3000 3383
Builders None~
Recall 3001
Reset You hear the patter of little feet.~
End
The two numbers in 'Levels' are recommended level range. The 'Author' is the
name of the original author of the area. The 'Name' is the name of the area.
The 'recall-point' gives the vnum of the room to which a player will
recall if they attempt to do so anywhere within the area defined in the
current file. If this section is omitted, the recall point will be the
standard ROOM_VNUM_TEMPLE as defined in merc.h. It is distributed as room
vnum 3001 in midgaard.are. If the 'recall-point' is invalid, the player
is unable to recall when attempted in the zone. This function was added by
Kahn to allow for builder-settable recall points. If ommited, 'reset-message'
will be 'You hear the patter of little feet.'
=== The #HELPS section
This section is usually omitted from area files but may be included to
better enhance your area. For instance, your zone containing many
dwarves might have a HELP DWARF section. This individual help gets tacked
onto the pool of all helps. Conflicting helps are resolved by EnvyMud by
displaying all instances of the help.
Generally, all helps are placed in one file, help.are, that contains no
other sections. The syntax of a help entry is as follows:
#HELPS
{
<level:number> <keywords:string>~
<help-text:string>~
}
{
<level:number> <keywords:string>~
<help-text:string>~
}
0 $~
The 'level' number is the minimum level necessary to read the help for the
given topic. For example:
50 IMMTALK :~
would mean that only players of level 50 or higher could read the helps
for the 'immtalk' command.
The 'keywords' are the text strings that must be matched in order to see
this particular help entry. Case is unimportant, though typically the
keywords are capitalized. For two-word entries, single quotes must be
placed around each phrase. For example:
0 'CURE POISON'~
The 'help-text' of the help is completely at the discretion of the builder.
Spells usually give a syntax example, followed by a summary:
0 'CURE POISON'~
Syntax: cast 'cure poison' <victim>
This spell will remove the effects of poison from the victim's body.
~
Normally when a player uses 'help', both the keywords and the help-text are
shown. If the 'level' is negative, however, the keywords are suppressed. This
allows the help file mechanism to be used for certain other commands, such as
the initial 'greetings' text.
If a 'help-text' begins with a leading '.', the leading '.' is stripped off.
This provides for an escape mechanism from the usual leading-blank stripping of
strings, so that picturesque greeting screens may be used.
0 $~: This goes to the end of the entire #HELPS section to notify the
area loader that the #HELPS section is over.
=== The #BASTMOBS section
These are the mobs in your neighborhood, in your neighborhood.. oh sorry
just passed through Lenny's area. Anyways, it is here that a lot of the
character of your area comes out. This is the most important section to
those players who walk around with brief on.
The syntax of this section is:
#BASTMOBS
{
#<vnum:number>
<keywords:string>
<short-description:string>
<long-description:string>
<description:string>
<act-flags:number> <aff1:number> <aff2:number> <aff3:number> <aff4:number> <alignment:number> S
<two-letter race key:string> <unused:number> <class:number>
<level:number> <hitroll:number> <armor:number> \
<hitnodice:number> d <hitsizedice:number> + <hitplus:number> \
<damnodice:number> d <damsizedice:number> + <damroll:number>
<gold:string> <exp:number>
<position:number> <default position-unused:number> <sex:number>
}
#0
The 'vnum' is the virtual number of the mobile. IE) #654
The 'keywords' are words which can be used in commands to identify the
mobile. Most mudders consider the keywords the mobile's name.
Separate each keyword you use with a space and make sure at least one
of them occurs in the description the player sees when they enter the
room for ease of reference if you intention is to have a visible mobile.
The 'short-description' is the description used by the 'act' function and
other functions to identify the mobile. Do not use a capital letter
in the description as it is used from within sentences.
The 'long-description' is the description used when a character walks in the
room and the mobile is visible. It is suggested to not use more than
one line for the 'long-description'. Make sure you end the
description with a newline with a '~' only. (example:
An old woman totters down the street~
is incorrect.
An old woman totters down the street.
~
is correct.)
The 'description' is the longest description. It is used when a character
explicitly looks at the mobile. This may contain as many lines as you
wish. This can even include a fake listing of what it is wearing.
The 'act-flags' define how the mobile acts. See merc.h for a full list of
the act flags.
ACT_ flags:
IS_NPC 1 Auto set for mobs
SENTINEL 2 Stays in one room
SCAVENGER 4 Picks up objects
AGGRESSIVE 32 Attacks PC's
STAY_AREA 64 Won't leave area
WIMPY 128 Flees when hurt
PET 256 Auto set for pets
TRAIN 512 Can train PC's
PRACTICE 1024 Can practice PC's
MOUNTABLE 131072 Can be mounted (ridable)
The 'affected-flags' define more attributes of the mobile. See merc.h and
bit.c for a full list of the affected flags.
AFF_ flags:
BLIND 1
INVISIBLE 2
DETECT_EVIL 4
DETECT_INVIS 8
DETECT_MAGIC 16
DETECT_HIDDEN 32
HOLD 64
SANCTUARY 128
FAERIE_FIRE 256
INFRARED 512
CURSE 1024
POISON 4096
PROTECT_EVIL 8192
SNEAK 32768
HIDE 65536
SLEEP 131072
CHARM 262144
FLYING 524288
PASS_DOOR 1048576
WATERWALK 2097152
SUMMONED 4194304 (Soon to be implemented)
MUTE 8388608
GILLS 16777216
VAMP_BITE 33554432 (internally set)
GHOUL 67108864 (internally set)
FLAMING 134217728
DETECT_GOOD 268435456
PROTECT_GOOD 536870912
PLAGUE 1073741824
The 'alignment' of the mobile ranges from -1000 to +1000. Keep in mind that
certain spells ('protection' and 'dispel evil') give characters fighting evil
monsters an advantage, and that experience earned is influenced by alignment.
The literal letter 'S' must be present after the alignment. In the original
Diku mob format, 'S' stands for simple. Envy supports only simple mobs, so
the 'S' is redundant. It is retained not only for compatibility with the
Diku format, but also because it helps the server report errors more
accurately.
The 'level' is a number from 1 to 50.
The 'hitroll', 'armor', 'hitnodice', 'hitsizeddice', 'hitplus', 'damnnodice',
'damsizedice', 'damroll', 'gold', 'exp', and 'position' fields are
present for compatibility with original Diku mud, but their values are ignored.
Envy generates these values internally based on the level of the mobile.
Race name consists of one of these many races built into EnvyMud 2.2. This
list may change when you add more races into the mud.
Human, Elf, Halfelf, Drow, Dwarf, Halfdwarf, Hobbit, Giant, Ogre, Orc,
Kobold, Minotaur, Troll, Hobgoblin, Insect, Dragon, Animal, God, Undead,
Harpy, Bear, Githyanki, Elemental, Bat, Plant, Rat, Vampire, Werewolf,
Goblin, Faerie, Arachnid, Mindflayer, Object, Mist, Snake, Worm, Fish,
Hydra, Lizard, Gnome, Halfkobold
Sex:
NEUTRAL 0
MALE 1
FEMALE 2
As an example, I will use a mob that is in the githzerai castle.
#15012
githzerai trainee~
A githzerai trainee~
A githzerai is here training in the art of death.
~
This githzerai is covered in scratches. He obviously doesn't want to end up
like the blood stains on the ground. He stands on guard waiting for you to
make your first move.
~
67 548 0 0 0 -1000 S
GI 0 0
41 0 1 0d0+0 0d0+0
0.0.0.0 0
8 8 1
=== The #BASTOBJECTS section
These are the items that the people who journey through you area will keep
and use, it is best to think up good descriptions for them. Remember to
balance these items with those that already exist.
The syntax of this section is:
#NEWOBJECTS
{
#<vnum:number>
<keywords:string>~
<short-description:string>~
<long-description:string>~
<action-description:string>~
<item-type:number> <extra-flags:number> <wear-flags:number>
<val0:string>~ <val1:string>~ <val2:string>~ <val3:string>~ <val4:string>~
<weight:number> <cost:number> <cost-per-day:number>
{
E
<keyword:string>
<description:string>
}
{
A
<apply-type:number> <apply-value:number> <apply-bitvector:number>
}
}
#0
The 'vnum' is the virtual number of the object.
The 'keywords' are words which can be used in commands to identify the
object.
The 'short-description' is the description used by the 'act' function and
other functions to identify the object. The first character of the short-
description should be lower case, because this description is used in the
middle of sentences. The 'short-description' is used with the
commands: 'get', 'drop', 'inventory', 'equipment', 'look', etc.
The 'long-description' is the description used when a character walks in the
room and the object is visible. This string will display when someone
types 'look <obj>'.
The 'action-description' is not used, which why you just put a ~ there.
The 'item-type' is the type of the item.
ITEM_ types:
LIGHT 1
SCROLL 2
WAND 3
STAFF 4
WEAPON 5
TREASURE 8
ARMOR 9
POTION 10
FURNITURE 12
TRASH 13
CONTAINER 15
DRINK_CON 17
KEY 18
FOOD 19
MONEY 20
BOAT 22
CORPSE_NPC 23
CORPSE_PC 24
FOUNTAIN 25
PILL 26
PORTAL 28
WARP_STONE 29
CLOTHING 30
RANGED_WPN 31
AMMO 32
The 'extra-flags' describe more attributes of the object. The 'wear-flags'
describe whether the item can be picked up, and if so, what bodily locations
can wear it.
Extra ITEM_ flags:
GLOW 1
HUM 2
DARK 4
LOCK 8
EVIL 16
INVIS 32
MAGIC 64
NODROP 128
HOLY 256
ANTI_GOOD 512
ANTI_EVIL 1024
ANTI_NEUTRAL 2048
NOREMOVE 4096
INVENTORY 8192
POISONED 16384
VAMPIRE_BANE 32768
VISIBLE_DEATH 131072
WEAR_ flags:
TAKE 1
WEAR_FINGER 2
WEAR_NECK 4
WEAR_BODY 8
WEAR_HEAD 16
WEAR_LEGS 32
WEAR_FEET 64
WEAR_HANDS 128
WEAR_ARMS 256
WEAR_SHIELD 512
WEAR_ABOUT 1024
WEAR_WAIST 2048
WEAR_WRIST 4096
WIELD 8192
HOLD 16384
The interpretation of the four 'values' depends upon the type of the object.
These values are entered as strings and MUST be terminated by a tilde (~), but
will be changed to integers depending on the type of the object and the form
of the input. Interpretations are given below.
The 'weight' of the object is just that.
'Cost' and 'cost-per-day' are ignored. 'Cost' is generated internally based
on the level of the object. Because Envy has no rent, 'cost-per-day' is
completely ignored.
The optional 'E' sections and 'A' sections come after the main data. An 'E'
section ('extra description') contains a keyword-list and a string associated
with those keywords. This description string is used when a character looks
at a word on the keyword list, ie) a gem on a scepter would be:
E
gem~
A small glowing red gem pulsates silently on the tip of the scepter.
~
This allows for an added dimension in your objects. I suggest you put extra
descriptions on your important objects that have items of note on them.
It might even be desirable to link your extra descriptions to give just so
much information at a time, leading each extra description to each other.
An 'A' section ('apply') contains an apply-type, an apply-value and an bitvector.
When a character uses this object as equipment (holds, wields, or wears it),
then the value of 'apply-value' is added to the character attribute identified
by 'apply-type'. The 'apply-bitvector' is added to the attribute of the
character.
APPLY_ types:
NONE 0
STR 1
DEX 2
INT 3
WIS 4
CON 5
SEX 6
CLASS 7
LEVEL 8
AGE 9
HEIGHT 10
WEIGHT 11
MANA 12
HIT 13
MOVE 14
GOLD 15
EXP 16
AC 17
HITROLL 18
DAMROLL 19
SAVING_PARA 20
SAVING_ROD 21
SAVING_PETRI 22
SAVING_BREATH 23
SAVING_SPELL 24
The 'apply-bitvector' defines the altered attributes of the character.
AFF_ flags:
BLIND 1
INVISIBLE 2
DETECT_EVIL 4
DETECT_INVIS 8
DETECT_MAGIC 16
DETECT_HIDDEN 32
HOLD 64
SANCTUARY 128
FAERIE_FIRE 256
INFRARED 512
CURSE 1024
POISON 4096
PROTECT_EVIL 8192
SNEAK 32768
HIDE 65536
SLEEP 131072
CHARM 262144
FLYING 524288
PASS_DOOR 1048576
WATERWALK 2097152
SUMMONED 4194304 (Soon to be implemented)
MUTE 8388608
GILLS 16777216
VAMP_BITE 33554432 (internally set)
GHOUL 67108864 (internally set)
FLAMING 134217728
DETECT_GOOD 268435456
PROTECT_GOOD 536870912
PLAGUE 1073741824
An object may have an unlimited number of 'E' and 'A' sections.
--- Meaning of Value Numbers by Item Type
As mentioned above, the 'value' fields are entered by the builder as TEXT
strings even though they will be converted to and stored as integer values.
EnvyMud made this modification so that spell names, rather than slot numbers,
could be used for scrolls, staves, wands, potions, and pills. For these types
of items, the text string containing the spell name (for example, cure
critical) is translated to an internal skill/spell number or 'sn'. For the
other item types, the strings are converted directly to integer values. If a
potion, scroll, or pill only has one spell, the other strings must still be
terminated by a '~' but need not have any content. A complete list of spells
is given at the end of this file.
NOTE: Because these are read in as strings, the '|' format cannot be used for
the flags; i.e. 1|4|8~ is an invalid entry, but 13~ is valid. (cf.
ITEM_CONTAINER, value[1])
01 ITEM_LIGHT
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] hours of light available, 0 is dead, -1 is infinite
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
02 ITEM_SCROLL
value[0] level
value[1] spell name 1
value[2] spell name 2
value[3] spell name 3
value[4] spell name 4
03 ITEM_WAND
value[0] level
value[1] max charges
value[2] current charges
value[3] spell name
value[4] unused
04 ITEM_STAFF
value[0] level
value[1] max charges
value[2] current charges
value[3] spell name
value[4] unused
05 ITEM_WEAPON
value[0] unused
value[1] unused (formerly min damage)
value[2] unused (formerly max damage)
value[3] weapon type:
00 hit
01 slice
02 stab
03 slash
04 whip
05 claw
06 blast
07 pound
08 crush
09 grep
10 bite
11 pierce
12 suction
13 chop
14 vorpal
15 cleave
16 wail
value[4] unused
08 ITEM_TREASURE
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
09 ITEM_ARMOR
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
10 ITEM_POTION
value[0] level
value[1] spell name 1
value[2] spell name 2
value[3] spell name 3
value[4] spell name 4
12 ITEM_FURNITURE
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
13 ITEM_TRASH
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
15 ITEM_CONTAINER
value[0] weight capacity
value[1] flags: 1 closeable, 2 pickproof, 4 closed, 8 locked
value[2] key vnum
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
17 ITEM_DRINK_CON
value[0] capacity
value[1] current quantity
value[2] liquid number (see 'liq_table' in const.c)
value[3] if non-zero, drink is poisoned
value[4] unused
18 ITEM_KEY
value[0] unused (often vnum of room/container it unlocks)
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
19 ITEM_FOOD
value[0] hours of food value
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] if non-zero, food is poisoned
value[4] unused
20 ITEM_MONEY
value[0] value in gold pieces
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
22 ITEM_BOAT
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
23 ITEM_CORPSE_NPC
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
24 ITEM_CORPSE_PC
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
25 ITEM_FOUNTAIN
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
26 ITEM_PILL
value[0] level
value[1] spell name 1
value[2] spell name 2
value[3] spell name 3
value[4] spell name 3
28 ITEM_PORTAL
value[0] current charges
value[1] flags: 1 closeable, 2 pickproof, 4 closed, 8 locked
value[2] key vnum
value[3] flags: 1 nocursed, 2 gowith, 4 random, 8 buggy
value[4] destination vnum
29 ITEM_WARP_STONE
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
30 ITEM_CLOTHING
value[0] unused
value[1] unused
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
31 ITEM_RANGED_WEAPON
value[0] ammo vnum
value[1] unused (formerly min damage)
value[2] unused (formerly max damage)
value[3] ranged weapon type:
00 bow
01 crossbow
02 catapult
value[4] unused
32 ITEM_AMMO
value[0] ammo type:
00 bow
01 crossbow
02 catapult
value[1] add to damage
value[2] unused
value[3] unused
value[4] unused
Examples:
ITEM_ARMOR:
0~ 0~ 0~ 0~ 0~
(all values are set internally)
ITEM_WEAPON:
0~ 0~ 0~ 11~ 0~
(damage range value[1]-value[2] is set internally; this is a piercing weapon)
ITEM_POTION:
25~ teleport~ cure critical~ ~ ~
(note that only two spells are used; the third is left blank)
ITEM_PORTAL:
12~ 1~ 0~ 0~ 3001~
Portal with 12 charges (can transport 12 people), closeable, when you enter
the portal you go to vnum 3001 (Temple of Midgaard)
ITEM_STAFF:
15~ 3~ 3~ ultrablast~ 0~
And a complete item from the githzerai castle:
#15010
black control staff~
Black staff of control~
A black staff that is neither wood or rock stands here.
~
~
4 64 16385
47~ 25~ 25~ charm person~ 0~
2 0 0
A
24 -5
Remember, you can use previously defined items. So if you don't wish to make
a bunch of useless and repetitive swords, use some that have been declared
already.
=== The #ROOMS section
The rooms in your area are what make your area. It is here that the players
meet your mobs and fight for their lives. Remember these rooms set the
atmosphere of the area. Go beyond just regular descriptive words, use far
out language, have a thesaurus handy when writing your rooms so you can use
that one exact word that expresses what the room is trying to convey.
I can't stress enough that your descriptions even if short have to create the
atmosphere. Even the room string can add to the affect.
The syntax of this section is:
#ROOMS
{
#<vnum:number>
<name:string>
<description:string>
<area:number> <room-flags:number> <sector-type:number>
{
D <door:number>
<description:string>
<keywords:string>
<locks:number> <key:number> <to_room:number>
}
{
E
<keywords:string>
<description:string>
}
S
}
#0
The 'vnum' is the virtual number of the room.
The 'name' is the name of the room.
The 'description' is the long multi-line description of the room.
The 'area' is obsolete and unused. Rooms belong to whatever area was most
recently defined with #AREA.
The 'room-flags' describe more attributes of the room.
ROOM_ flags:
DARK 1 need a light source
NO_MOB 4 no mobs may enter
INDOORS 8 room is indoors
UNDERGROUND 16 room is underground (useful for avoiding sun)
PRIVATE 512 only 2 people allowed (or 1 mob, 1 player)
SAFE 1024 no pkilling
SOLITARY 2048 only 1 person allowed
PET_SHOP 4096 A pet shop
NO_RECALL 8192 Can't recall
CONE_OF_SILENCE 16384 No speech/spells/communication channels
ARENA 32768 May attack anyone, No xp loss upon death
The 'sector-type' identifies the type of terrain. This affects movement cost
through the room. Certain sector types (air and boat) require special
capabilities to enter.
SECT_ types:
INSIDE 0
CITY 1
FIELD 2
FOREST 3
HILLS 4
MOUNTAIN 5
WATER_SWIM 6
WATER_NOSWIM 7
UNDERWATER 8
AIR 9
DESERT 10
Unlike mobiles and objects, rooms don't have any keywords associated with
them. One may not manipulate a room in the same way one manipulates a mobile
or object.
The optional 'D' sections and 'E' sections come after the main data. A 'D'
section contains a 'door' in the range from 0 to 5:
0 north
1 east
2 south
3 west
4 up
5 down
A 'D' command also contains a 'description' for that direction, and
'keywords' for manipulating the door. 'Doors' include not just real door,
but any kind of exit from the room. The 'locks' value specifies special
features about a door, and there are several combinations. Doors can be
bashproof, pickproof, and passproof. The following table gives the 'locks'
value and how the door will be set for each acceptable value:
value pickproof bashproof passproof eatkey
1 no no no no
2 yes no no no
3 no yes no no
4 yes yes no no
5 no no yes no
6 yes no yes no
7 no yes yes no
8 yes yes yes no
9 no no no yes
10 yes no no yes
11 no yes no yes
12 yes yes no yes
13 no no yes yes
14 yes no yes yes
15 no yes yes yes
16 yes yes yes yes
The 'key' value is the vnum of an object which locks and unlocks the door.
Lastly, 'to_room' is the vnum of the room to which this door leads.
You must specify two 'D' sections, one for each side of the door. If you
specify just one then you'll get a one-way exit.
An 'E' section (extended description) contains a 'keywords' string and a
'description' string. As you might guess, looking at one of the words in
'keywords' yields the 'description' string.
The 'S' at the end marks the end of the room. It is not optional.
The outhouse from the githzerai castle will serve to illustrate most of the
commands. Including an extra description that adds flavor to the room.
With the extra descriptions and the right wording, you can make your rooms
come alive.
#15017
Outhouse~
You stand in a small revolting outhouse. There is a little box like
chair with a hole cut in the middle. From this hole a faint brownish mist
pours forth. You have to hold your breath to prevent yourself from releasing
your last meal. The walls are covered with mild and the seat is beginning to
rot. Just before the hole, the floor is wet.
The only exit is to the west, thank god you left the door open.
~
0 1 0
E
hole~
You hold your breath and plug your nose to look in the hold. At
the bottom you see a large pile that does not look pleasant. Your
last meal comes bubbling up and spews forth adding to the pile. You
quickly stand straight up and notice that everything now looks blurry.
You stand for a second with your head out of the door to clear yourself. ~
D1
The door is the only way out of this smelly and sickening place. ~
door~
1 -1 15016
E
door~
The door on this side is covered with more scratch marks. It's as if the
people who come in here don't want to be here for long.... ~
S
=== The #RESETS section
The most important section of the area, and the easiest to mess up. It is
here that you place your mobs and equip them. Make sure you use the proper
location flags.
To reset an area, the server executes each command in the list of reset
commands once. Each area is reset once when the server loads, and
again periodically as it ages. An area is reset if it is at least 3
area-minutes old and is empty of players, or if it is 15 area-minutes
old.
An 'area-minute' varies between 30 and 90 seconds of real time. The
average is 60 seconds.
The syntax of this section is:
#RESETS
{
* <comment:to_eol>
}
{
M 0 <mob-vnum:number> <limit:number> <room-vnum:number> \
<comment:to_eol>
}
{
O 0 <obj-vnum:number> <:number> <room-vnum:number> \
<comment:to_eol>
}
{
P 0 <obj-vnum:number> <:number> <obj-vnum:number> \
<comment:to_eol>
}
{
G 0 <obj-vnum:number> 0 <comment:to_eol>
}
{
E 0 <obj-vnum:number> 0 <wear_loc:number> <comment:to_eol>
}
{
D 0 <room-vnum:number> <door:number> <state:number> \
<comment:to_eol>
}
{
R 0 <room-vnum:number> <last-door:number> <comment:to_eol>
}
S
The 'resets' section contains a series of single lines. The backslashes and
line splitting above are for readability; they are not part of the file
format. Because of the end-of-line comments, this section is not as free-
format as other sections.
The reset commands are:
* comment
M read a mobile
O read an object
P put object in object
G give object to mobile
E equip object to mobile
D set state of door
R randomize room exits
S stop (end of list)
The '*' lines contain comments. The 'S' line is the last line of the
section.
Every other command contains four numbers (three for the 'G' command). The
first number is ignored. The next three (or two) numbers are interpreted as
follows:
For the 'M' command, the second number is the vnum of a mobile to load. The
third number is the limit of how many of this mobile may be present in the
world if the mobile is NOT sentinel. NOTE, world! not room. BUT, if the
mobile is set to be sentinel, the third number is limit present in the room.
The fourth number is the vnum of the room where the mobile is loaded.
For the 'O', 'P', 'G', and 'E' commands, the second number is the vnum of an
object to load. The third number is ignored.
For the 'O' command, the fourth number is the vnum of the room where the
object is loaded. The object is not loaded if the target room already
contains any objects with this vnum. The object is also not loaded if any
players are present in the area.
For the 'P' command, the fourth number is the vnum of a container object
where the object will be loaded. The actual container used is the most
recently loaded object with the right vnum; for best results, there should be
only one such container in the world. The object is not loaded if no
container object exists, or if someone is carrying it, or if it already
contains one of the to-be-loaded object.
For the 'G' command, there is no fourth number. If the most recent 'M'
command succeeded (e.g. the mobile limit wasn't exceeded), the object is
given to that mobile. If the most recent 'M' command failed (due to hitting
mobile limit), then the object is not loaded.
For the 'E' command, the fourth number is an equipment location. Be careful
where you equip the mobile or you might end up with a breast plate used as
a weapon.
If the most recent 'M' command succeeded, that mobile is equipped with the
object. If the most recent 'M' command failed, then the object is not loaded.
Equipment wear locations:
NONE -1
LIGHT 0
FINGER_L 1
FINGER_R 2
NECK_1 3
NECK_2 4
BODY 5
HEAD 6
LEGS 7
FEET 8
HANDS 9
ARMS 10
SHIELD 11
ABOUT 12
WAIST 13
WRIST_L 14
WRIST_R 15
WIELD 16
HOLD 17
WIELD_2 18
All objects have a level limit, which is computed by inheritance from the
most recently read 'M' command (whether it succeeded or not) in 'area_update'
in 'db.c'. As distributed, an object's level equals the mobile level minus
2, clipped to the range 0 to 50.
For the 'D' command, the second number is the vnum of a room. The third
number is a door number from 0 to 5. The fourth number indicates how to set
the door: 0 for open and unlocked; 1 for closed and unlocked; 2 for closed
and locked.
Room exits should be coherent: if room 1 has an exit to room 2, and room 2
has an exit in the reverse direction, that exit should go back to room 1.
This doesn't prevent one-way exits; room 2 doesn't HAVE to have an exit in
the reverse direction.
For the 'R' command, the second number is the vnum of a room. The third
number is a door number. When this command, the doors from 0 to the
indicated door number are shuffled. The room will still have the same exits
leading to the same other rooms as before, but the directions will be
different. Thus, a door number of 4 makes a two-dimensional maze room; a
door number of 6 makes a three-dimensional maze room.
Use of both the 'D' and 'R' commands on the same room will yield
unpredictable results.
Any line (except an 'S' line) may have a comment at the end.
=== The #SHOPS section
The syntax of this section is:
#SHOPS
{
<keeper:number> \
<trade-0:number> <trade-1:number> <trade-2:number> \
<trade-3:number> <trade-4:number> \
<profit-buy:number> <profit-sell:number> \
<open-hour:number> <close-hour:number> \
<comment:to_eol>
}
0
Like the #RESETS section, the #SHOPS section has one command per line.
The 'keeper' is the vnum of the mobile who is the shopkeeper. All mobiles
with that vnum will be shopkeepers.
The 'trade-0' through 'trade-4' numbers are item types which the shopkeeper
will buy. Unused slots should have a '0' in them; for instance, a shopkeeper
who doesn't buy anything would have five zeroes.
The 'profit-buy' number is a markup for players buying the item, in
percentage points. 100 is nominal price; 150 is 50% markup, and so on. The
'profit-sell' number is a markdown for players selling the item, in
percentage points. 100 is nominal price; 75 is a 25% markdown, and so on.
The buying markup should be at least 100, and the selling markdown should be
at most 100.
The 'open-hour' and 'close-hour' numbers define the hours when the shopkeeper
will do business. For a 24-hour shop, these numbers would be 0 and 23.
Everything beyond 'close-hour' to the end of the line is taken to be a
comment.
Note that there is no room number for a shop. Just load the shopkeeper
mobile into the room of your choice, and make it a sentinel. Or, for a
roving shopkeeper, just make it non-sentinel.
The objects a shopkeeper sells are exactly those loaded by 'G' reset commands
for that shopkeeper. These items replenish automatically. If a player sells
an object to a shopkeeper, the shopkeeper will keep it for resale if he, she,
or it doesn't already have an identical object. These items do not
replenish.
See the #SHOPS section in midgaard.are or mirror.are for good examples.
=== The #SPECIALS section
Use this section to make your mobs mages, clerics etc...
The syntax of this section is:
#SPECIALS
{
* <comment_to_eol>
}
{
M <mob-vnum:number> <spec-fun:word> <comment:to_eol>
}
S
Like the #RESETS section, the #SPECIALS section has one command per line.
The 'M' command assigns 'spec-fun' to all mobiles of with virtual number
'mob-vnum'. All spec-fun's are assigned by name. An 'M' line may have a
comment at the end.
SPEC-FUNS are included below.
The following special functions are available for mobiles:
spec_breath_any Dragon breath randomly chosen from the 5 below
spec_breath_acid Acid Breath
spec_breath_fire Fire Breath
spec_breath_frost Frost Breath
spec_breath_gas Gas Breath
spec_breath_lightning Lightning Breath
spec_cast_adept Healer
spec_cast_cleric Combative Cleric
spec_cast_ghost Undead ghost (repop during night, gone by day)
spec_cast_judge Combative Mage in Mega1.are
spec_cast_mage Combative Mage (generic)
spec_cast_psionicist Combative Psionicist
spec_cast_undead Undead (generic)
spec_executioner Executioner
spec_fido Corpse-eating mobile
spec_guard Midgaard Cityguard
spec_janitor Midgaard Janitor
spec_mayor Midgaard Mayor
spec_poison Poisonous Bite
spec_repairman Bashed Door Repairman
spec_thief Pick-pocketing Thief
An example from draconia.are would be thus:
M 2243 spec_breath_any
=== The #GAMES section
( Games and gambling structure developed by Thelonius for EnvyMud )
( Furter coding by Maniac and later by Zen )
Use this section to allow your mobs to host gambling games.
The syntax of this section is:
#GAMES
{
* <comment_to_eol>
}
{
M <mob-vnum:number> <game-fun:string> <bankroll:number> \
<max_wait:number> <cheat:number> \
<comment:to_eol>
}
S
Like the #RESETS and #SPECIALS sections, the #GAMES section has one command
per line.
The 'M' command assigns 'game-fun' to all mobiles of with virtual number
'mob-vnum'. All game-fun's are assigned by name.
The 'bankroll' is the amount of gold that the croupier (the mob running
the game) has when it is loaded. When the bankroll goes below zero, the
mob shuts down its game.
The 'max_wait' value is the number of PULSE_MOBILE's the croupier will wait
for each person to make a decision. PULSE_MOBILE is defined in merc.h, and
is currently 1 second per pulse. The wait between rounds depends upon the
number of players, not 'max_wait'.
If 'cheat' is non-zero (meaning TRUE), this mobile will cheat at the given
game, if such code is in place.
An 'M' line may have a comment at the end.
The following game functions are available for mobiles:
game_blackjack (Not yet here) Blackjack or twenty-one, dealer participates
game_u_l_t Upper-Lower-Triple, a dice game
game_high_dice High dice, a dice game
game_seven Seven, a dice game
Here is an example of a #GAMES section:
#GAMES
*
M 3160 game_u_l_t 100000 4 0 /* Croupier */
M 3161 game_blackjack 1000000 8 0 /* Dealer */
*
S
=== The #$ section
The syntax of this section is:
#$
This section marks the end of an area file. If you concatenate several area
files into one, remember to delete the terminating '#$' from all but the last
file. Conversely, if you split area files, remember to terminate each new
file with a '#$'.
=== Spells
The following is a list of spells which can be used in EnvyMud. These names
would appear in the appropriate locations for wands, scrolls, staves, potions,
and pills. Note that staves typically are only useful with area-affect spells
(TAR_IGNORE) or specialized spells (like create spring).
acid blast faerie fire acid breath
adrenaline control faerie fog fire breath
agitation fireball frost breath
armor flamestrike gas breath
aura sight flaming shield lightning breath
awe flesh armor meteor swarm
ballistic attack fly chain lightning
biofeedback gate vortex lift
bless giant strength mass vortex lift
blindness harm home sick
burning hands heal detect good
call lightning identify dispel good
cause critical inertial barrier portal
cause light inflict pain nexus
cause serious intellect fortress
cell adjustment infravision
change sex invis
charm person know alignment
chill touch lend health
colour spray levitation
combat mind lightning bolt
complete healing locate object
cone of silence magic missile
continual light mass heal
control flames mass invis
control weather mental barrier
create food mind thrust
create sound mute
create spring pass door
create water poison
cure blindness project force
cure critical protection
cure light psionic blast
cure poison psychic crush
cure serious psychic drain
curse psychic healing
death field refresh
destroy cursed remove curse
detect evil remove silence
detect hidden sanctuary
detect invis share strength
detect magic shield
detect poison shocking grasp
detonate sleep
disintegrate stone skin
dispel evil summon
dispel magic teleport
displacement thought shield
domination turn undead
earthquake ultrablast
ectoplasmic form ventriloquate
ego whip weaken
enchant weapon word of recall
energy containment
energy drain
enhance armor
enhanced strength
If you have any questions about area writing, please contact any of the
immortals on EnvyMud, or perhaps get in touch with Silence at
ak709@freenet.carleton.ca.
Now that you have read how to make the area, you need to know in what to make
it in. I suggest you make it in a text editor, or you can use an application
like word perfect 5.1 by using "Text Out" then selecting DOS file. This way,
you can spell check your area before handing it in.
----------------------------Mud Administrator Section-----------------------
=== Booting and Testing Areas
When the Envy server starts, it reads a file named 'AREA.LST' in the current
directory. This file contains a list of all the area files to read in. To add
or delete areas, simply edit area.lst.
The server reads all of the area files into memory once at load time and then
closes them. Thus you can edit area files while the server is running.
Changes will take effect the next time the server boots. Because the server is
completely memory-based, zone resets are fast, too. (And paradoxically, moving
to a memory-based system allowed certain memory optimizations to be made,
cutting memory usage by 50% from Merc 1.0).
You can test areas by running Envy in a different directory with a different
'AREA.LST' file with new areas dropped into it. Setting up an appropriate
directory structure is an exercise for the student. (You DID say you're
running a mud because you wanted to learn more about system administration,
right?) Hint: you can run a program in another directory just by invoking its
full name: '../src/envy', for example.
The server reports syntax errors, including the area file name and a line
number. Take the line number with a grain of salt; some kinds of errors cause
the server to run on for quite a few lines before ultimately detecting the
error.
The server also reports semantic errors, such as references to non-existent
mobiles, objects, or rooms.
Error recovery is simply not possible without far more sophisticated input
parsing than we're willing to write. (Hey, feel free to write your own.)
Thus the server exits after reporting any error. Envy takes only a few seconds
to load, however, so it's quite practical to use the whole server as a syntax
checker.
=== Compressing the Area Files
It is possible to run Envy with a single combined, compressed area file.
Here's how to do this on a Unix system:
(1) In 'AREA.LST', remove the last line (the '$' line).
(2) Execute the command:
cat `cat AREA.LST` | compress > all_area.Z
(3) Edit 'AREA.LST' again. Insert a '-' at the beginning of every line.
Do not put any spaces between the '-' and the file name. Put the last
'$' line back at the end of the file.
(4) Edit 'startup'. Change the line:
../src/envy 4000 >&! $logfile
to:
zcat all_area.Z | ../src/envy 4000 >&! $logfile
(5) Test the changes so far. Envy should start up normally, although it
may take a few seconds longer to zcat everything.
Now you can remove all the original *.are files.
Notice that all of the compression and decompression takes place outside of the
Envy server. Thus, you can substitute any archiving program of your choice, as
long as it can write its output to standard output.
You can recover the original areas simply by running 'uncompress all_area.Z'
and dissecting them out of all_area.
From the server's point of view, when an area file name starts with '-', it
simply reads standard input for the area, terminating at '#$' as usual (but
without closing standard input). Diagnostic messages are given with the full
name (e.g. '-arachnos.are'), but the line number will be reported as zero.
You can freely mix areas from standard input with ordinary area files. Thus,
you could compress all the Envy standard zones into a file such as envy_area.Z,
prefixing them with '-' in 'AREA.LST'. Then you could add your own areas
anywhere in the file (beginning, middle, end, wherever your areas need to go),
and omit the '-' on the lines for your areas.
The server will take a little longer to load with compressed area files,
because 'zcat' needs time to run. This is offset by a reduction in time spent
opening disk files. After loading, the server has all of the area database in
memory and never rereads the files. Thus, there is zero performance impact
on server operation after loading.
=== Memory Usage
In order to simplify the code, the EnvyMud server has a fixed maximum size on
strings in the area database. This size is defined at the beginning
of 'ssm.c'. As distributed, this size is:
#define MAX_CHUNKS 33
This size is about 6% (100k) larger than needed for the areas we
distribute. Thus, you can add about 2 more areas without touching the
server at all. The server will tell you when the string table
overflows, and you can simply increase the maximum limit and
recompile. Any memory overflow is handled by SSM and will not
adversely affect the game.
The immortal 'memory' command will show you memory usage from within
the game. Memory overflow will be noted using the 'memory' command.
There is no other limit on area sizes or memory usage.
We decided to use a fixed size because it simplifies our job. It also allows
significant performance improvements: compare our load time and memory usage
versus other Diku muds with the same quantity of areas.