<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds --> <!--X-From-R13: "Quvzren" <puvzrenNEbsgVbzr.arg> --> <!--X-Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 11:01:22 -0800 --> <!--X-Message-Id: NDBBLNJIOLHKIPFIGHACCEMGCAAA.chimera@SoftHome.net --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: E11wakS-0007Ou-00@ethereal.dhis.org --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:chimera@SoftHome.net"> </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="msg00593.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00595.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00588.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00597.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00594">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00594">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00594">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</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] Ideas for dynamic worlds</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: "Chimera" <<A HREF="mailto:chimera#SoftHome,net">chimera#SoftHome,net</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 10:43:13 -0800</LI> <LI><em>Importance</em>: Normal</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> Hello, Glad to meet another lurker, though by these posts I guess we don't qualify any more. What you have in mind sounds similar to my own project (which has also been on hold thanks to college and its trappings... funny how I finally find time to work on it during _finals_, eh? <grin>), so I thought I'd speak up for once. I want a grid-based system too, but I admit that I have not thought about using layers. I think the problem with mountains can be solved by assigning height to each layer. The parser would then take into account only those grids that are in the line of sight (on a plane parallel to the grid the user is on). A side effect (which may not be undesirable) might be that users can look down and up as well as straight ahead. I think it makes sense to assign "visibility" levels to objects (but have it calculated automatically and give builders the ability to modify this value if they want, or it will get tiresome). A glittering tower will certainly be more eye-catching than the rocks on the ground! I want to make this visibility level dependent on the user too, so a character with keener eyesight or who is on alert will notice more things than someone who is dozing off. Regarding roads, I've decided to use compass directions for simplicity's sake. It would be nice to have "follow road" commands, but my main concern is that with increasing population the calculations will bog down the server. Your idea to construct rooms out of objects is one that I'd thought to implement as well. Instead of writing descriptions for rooms, builders will place furniture and stuff according to their tastes, and a parser will handle what users see according to their position, lighting, etc. Unfortunately this will also place quite some strain on the server. Another thing I'd like to do is make the objects themselves composites of other objects -- a shovel is composed of a pole and a metal head, the pole is composed of wood... I hope to get all the way down to the atomic level (with considerable simplification, of course). This will make it possible for objects to "know" what should happen to them if the user does something, without all the contingencies having to be hard-wired except in the lowest levels. As an example, suppose the user decides to throw the shovel into a bonfire. The wood molecules "know" that they burn, and the metal molecules "know" that they don't. So, even though the builder of the shovel did nothing more than specify that the shovel is a piece of (dry) wood attached to a piece of metal, the shovel knows how to burn and leave behind ash and metal. This will also make it possible to carry out experiments, such as finding the best fertilizer for a plant, and I hope to make it a large feature. I know it is pretty ambitious, and would appreciate any feedback. To cut a long e-mail short, there is just one more point I'd like to address. You mentioned having the server concoct strings "on the fly". This is something I've been thinking long and hard about, and I thought to use a natural language processing subroutine which would make it possible for the server to understand "plain English" as well as produce sentences from raw information (this is one of the things I got stuck at too). Again, I am worried about performance. What did you have in mind, if you don't mind telling? This is enough for one post, I think. :-) Later! _______________________________________________ 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="00619" HREF="msg00619.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> J C Lawrence <claw@cp.net></li></ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00597" HREF="msg00597.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Nolan Darilek <nolan_d@bigfoot.com></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00588" HREF="msg00588.html">[MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Nolan Darilek <nolan_d@bigfoot.com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00593.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Combat systems</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00595.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00588.html">[MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00597.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00594"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00594"><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] Combat systems</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00632" HREF="msg00632.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Combat systems</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw@cp.net">claw@cp.net</a>, Fri 17 Dec 1999, 01:24 GMT </LI> </ul> </ul> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00593" HREF="msg00593.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Combat systems</A></strong>, Chris Lloyd <a href="mailto:crl199@soton.ac.uk">crl199@soton.ac.uk</a>, Sat 11 Dec 1999, 17:17 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00590" HREF="msg00590.html">[MUD-Dev] The GTS Library</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw@kanga.nu">claw@kanga.nu</a>, Sat 11 Dec 1999, 05:54 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00588" HREF="msg00588.html">[MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong>, Nolan Darilek <a href="mailto:nolan_d@bigfoot.com">nolan_d@bigfoot.com</a>, Sat 11 Dec 1999, 01:03 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00594" HREF="msg00594.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong>, Chimera <a href="mailto:chimera@SoftHome.net">chimera@SoftHome.net</a>, Sat 11 Dec 1999, 19:01 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00597" HREF="msg00597.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong>, Nolan Darilek <a href="mailto:nolan_d@bigfoot.com">nolan_d@bigfoot.com</a>, Sun 12 Dec 1999, 03:16 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00619" HREF="msg00619.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw@cp.net">claw@cp.net</a>, Fri 17 Dec 1999, 00:19 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00598" HREF="msg00598.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong>, Joe Kingry <a href="mailto:jkingry@uwaterloo.ca">jkingry@uwaterloo.ca</a>, Sun 12 Dec 1999, 03:16 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00602" HREF="msg00602.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong>, David Morgan <a href="mailto:omorgan@muskingum.edu">omorgan@muskingum.edu</a>, Thu 16 Dec 1999, 02:45 GMT </LI> </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>