<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation? --> <!--X-From-R13: Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx <pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 10:51:52 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 4.1.19990726095445.009fc2b0#pop,darklock.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 4.1.19990724162408.009e67d0#pop,darklock.com --> <!--X-Reference: Pine.SOL.3.96.990725124706.9484A-100000@sun-cc203 --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00054.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00056.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00050.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00083.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00055">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00055">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00055">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Caliban Tiresias Darklock <<A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 26 Jul 1999 10:38:17 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On 01:39 PM 7/25/99 +0100, I personally witnessed Ling jumping up to say: > >Lately, I've had a huge leaning towards having an actual R&D cycle. > >Player submits design, game time passes whereby the thing is "designed". >Player gets feedback on feasibility, he then gets to alter the design or >carry on. Prototype is built, tested to expose limitations (or not as the >case may be). Done. > >The main reason was to not overwhelm the player with options on designing >a vehicle. Just limit the choice to a few types then let the player >design more later. It also turns blueprints into a commodity. But doesn't this fall prey to Mac syndrome? You pull it out of the box, and it's easy to work with... but then you get under the hood and it's so tremendously complex that you may as well not even bother. I would expect some few people will design blueprints, and that one blueprint will eventually be viewed as the top end of ship development. This one blueprint will be the goal of every player, they'll all buy one, and in the end you may as well not have had ship design in the first place. This is sort of like what happens with computer software. Lots of people make word processors, but the general consensus is that MS Word is the one to use, so only MS Word does any significant business. Compare office suites, development environments, graphics programs: on a Windows PC, these are virtually synonymous with MS Office, MS Visual Studio, and -- to add in a non-Microsoft product -- Adobe Photoshop. Even though there may very well be better products available depending on your needs, doesn't the complexity of finding such products pretty much mandate picking the one everyone else uses? Okay, player-owned ships don't have compatibility issues. ;) >On Sun, 25 Jul 1999, Caliban Tiresias Darklock wrote: > >> The real key to this plan is that any and all of those forty devices can be >> removed or replaced at any given time. You may, for example, go out >> exploring and need a vast number of unusual sensors on your ship. Since you >> don't need them all the time, when you decide to go into sweep-and-clear >> mode and run around killing everything, you can sell or discard the sensors >> you don't use often and replace them with weapons. When you log off for the >> evening, you can discard some of your weaponry and replace it with ship >> defenses in case of ambush. > >I've gone for the one drone = one function model where a ship would hold a >zillion drones to do the work. Kind of similar with different fluff >around the edges. > >What ever happened to the Star Trek mentality of "recalibrating" the >sensors? :) I really don't think any of us want that level of realism. Let's say there are four wormholes in the current sector and their destinations. There is also a recently-closed wormhole to a fifth sector, and a sixth wormhole of different properties. UU handles this with three different sensors -- your basic sensor only sees the four obvious wormholes. A specialty device is used to see each of the other wormholes. Under the Star Trek recalibration concept, you would need to scan for wormholes; then filter for trace wormhole energy signatures by setting a bandpass filter on your sensor report; and finally redefine the sensors' characteristics of wormholes to detect the sixth wormhole. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't want to define a physics engine that complex, and as a player I wouldn't want to interact with one. Sure, it has possibilities, and it's nifty -- but it's just not FUN. Imagine the instructions: "The signature of a wormhole normally fluctuates between 45 and 65 GHz at no greater than 20 cycles per second. When a wormhole is recently closed, the frequency of the residual energy is still in this range, but increases to a magnitude of 120 to 150 cycles per second, making it too unstable for most drives unless you have a proper harmonic resonator which can be calibrated to synchronise your ship's vibration to the residual wormhole energy. Certain wormholes can be found at higher frequencies, specifically the 900 to 1300 GHz range. All wormhole signatures are subject to interference from outside sources and cosmic phenomena. The destination of a wormhole is determined by the fundamental third harmonic of its base frequency applied to the following formula..." My game is ALREADY too complex. This sort of thing is nice to write out, and makes for good atmosphere or background -- but it's just not acceptable as instructions. >> We've discussed a change in which we would split the available devices into >> "hardware" and "software" devices, with some devices needing both hardware >> and software, but I'm holding off on this concept for the moment because it >> may be too complex for people to understand. > >How about all devices are hardware things but can be augmented with the >addition of software. Or maybe have software that uses devices in novel >ways... The recalibration idea actually led to this thought, since it seems reasonably obvious that a great number of sensors are really just software. The bandpass filter example above, for example; obviously there's a little more than that involved, for various reasons. But you should be able to just stick a card in your ship's computer and have it figure out how to report the trace wormhole energy *as* trace wormhole energy. It's not that you can't see it, after all, the computer just doesn't know what it is. While a laser battery or missile platform is obviously hardware, the targeting of such a device is software. While it seems like a good idea in theory, it may just be too much for most players to grasp. Likewise, to many players it may seem intuitive that if you can *buy* software, you can *write* software. Unfortunately, for every player like us, there will be dozens who are unwilling or unable to write out complex scripting functions to automate their ship. This also leads to the possibility of people thinking so far outside the box that they destroy the balance of the game; it creates so many thorny issues, I just don't really want to open that can of worms. ----- | Caliban Tiresias Darklock caliban#darklock,com | Darklock Communications <A HREF="http://www.darklock.com/">http://www.darklock.com/</A> | U L T I M A T E U N I V E R S E I S N O T D E A D | 774577496C6C6E457645727355626D4974H -=CABAL::3146=- _______________________________________________ MUD-Dev maillist - MUD-Dev#kanga,nu <A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev</A> </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <ul compact><li><strong>Follow-Ups</strong>: <ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00083" HREF="msg00083.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00047" HREF="msg00047.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Caliban Tiresias Darklock <caliban#darklock,com></LI></UL></LI> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00050" HREF="msg00050.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00054.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] The Virtual Ecology</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00056.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] The Virtual Ecology</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00050.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00083.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00055"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00055"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00034" HREF="msg00034.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Marc Hernandez <a href="mailto:marc#ias,jb.com">marc#ias,jb.com</a>, Fri 23 Jul 1999, 01:02 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00037" HREF="msg00037.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo#best,com">diablo#best,com</a>, Fri 23 Jul 1999, 01:02 GMT </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00047" HREF="msg00047.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Sun 25 Jul 1999, 10:23 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00050" HREF="msg00050.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Ling <a href="mailto:K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk">K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk</a>, Mon 26 Jul 1999, 16:49 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00055" HREF="msg00055.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Mon 26 Jul 1999, 17:51 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00083" HREF="msg00083.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Ling <a href="mailto:K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk">K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk</a>, Mon 09 Aug 1999, 16:58 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00084" HREF="msg00084.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Tue 10 Aug 1999, 10:13 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00022" HREF="msg00022.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Timothy O'Neill Dang <a href="mailto:timothy#nmia,com">timothy#nmia,com</a>, Thu 22 Jul 1999, 21:00 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00035" HREF="msg00035.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Containing automation?</A></strong>, Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo#best,com">diablo#best,com</a>, Fri 23 Jul 1999, 01:02 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </ul> </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>