<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds --> <!--X-From-R13: @byna Rnevyrx <abyna_qNovtsbbg.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 19:16:20 -0800 --> <!--X-Message-Id: E11wtfn-0000y1-00@ethereal.dhis.org --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: NDBBLNJIOLHKIPFIGHACCEMGCAAA.chimera@SoftHome.net --> <!--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:nolan_d@bigfoot.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="msg00598.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00599.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00594.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00619.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00597">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00597">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00597">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>: Nolan Darilek <<A HREF="mailto:nolan_d#bigfoot,com">nolan_d#bigfoot,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 15:03:23 -0600</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> >>>>> "Chimera" == Chimera <chimera#SoftHome,net> writes: Chimera> Hello, Glad to meet another lurker, though by these posts Chimera> I guess we don't qualify any more. What you have in mind Chimera> sounds similar to my own project (which has also been on Chimera> hold thanks to college and its trappings... funny how I Chimera> finally find time to work on it during _finals_, eh? Chimera> <grin>), so I thought I'd speak up for once. Heh, same thing here. I can either study for a final that won't matter very much next year anyway (I'm switching majors and this class won't be required for the new major) or I can work on my project. I'd much rather work on the project. :) Chimera> I want a grid-based system too, but I admit that I have Chimera> not thought about using layers. I think the problem with Chimera> mountains can be solved by assigning height to each Chimera> layer. The parser would then take into account only those Chimera> grids that are in the line of sight (on a plane parallel Chimera> to the grid the user is on). A side effect (which may not Chimera> be undesirable) might be that users can look down and up Chimera> as well as straight ahead. Hmm, interesting. I had initially considered treating mountains as objects atop which maps can be placed, but heights assigned to maps might work. The only drawback that I can think of is, I don't know quite how to simulate slopes. The slopes wouldn't be very important for the descriptions, but they would be needed to assign coordinates to each location on the map. Without a slope, a mountain might be represented by a map whose hight is much higher, without any sloping to reach that height. (Of course, that would probably be the case for objects, too.) Chimera> I think it makes sense to assign "visibility" levels to Chimera> objects (but have it calculated automatically and give Chimera> builders the ability to modify this value if they want, Chimera> or it will get tiresome). A glittering tower will Chimera> certainly be more eye-catching than the rocks on the Chimera> ground! I want to make this visibility level dependent on Chimera> the user too, so a character with keener eyesight or who Chimera> is on alert will notice more things than someone who is Chimera> dozing off. I was thinking of tying this into object size, maybe correlating it to surface area, weather conditions, distance and the user's eyesight. Since I'm designing a system which I want others to build on, though, one of my aims is not to dictate a game designer's choices of statistics. I may have some internal statistics such as strength and perception, though these are more abstract. I.e. vehicles and such can also possess strength; since maximum velocities may differ based on terrain, the strength of something is merely how much energy it can put forth. I may rename this to 'force', or something more abstract. Then if someone wants to use the internal statistic for their own games, it could tie into all pre-written systems. Chimera> Regarding roads, I've decided to use compass directions Chimera> for simplicity's sake. It would be nice to have "follow Chimera> road" commands, but my main concern is that with Chimera> increasing population the calculations will bog down the Chimera> server. I thought about that too. My thoughts are that processing power is continuously becoming less expensive, and that it should be possible for most game designers to afford reasonably fast machines. Furthermore, I don't anticipate the platform becoming insanely popular if I ever finish it, and most of the community will probably be happy with older servers. (Besides, by the time I finish it, 2 GHz boxes may be extremely popular. :) Chimera> Another thing I'd like to do is make the objects Chimera> themselves composites of other objects -- a shovel is Chimera> composed of a pole and a metal head, the pole is composed Chimera> of wood... I hope to get all the way down to the atomic Chimera> level (with considerable simplification, of course). This Chimera> will make it possible for objects to "know" what should Chimera> happen to them if the user does something, without all Chimera> the contingencies having to be hard-wired except in the Chimera> lowest levels. As an example, suppose the user decides to <snip> Wow, I like this idea. Mind if I steal it? ;) Seriously though, it's much better than my idea of coding in lots of interactions. My only concern is with an object's descriptions: how would you then describe the shovel head or the ashes once the shovel burns? It may be possible to describe the ashes, since one pair of ashes looks like another, but what if the person burns a rake instead? You could probably tell the difference between a burned shovel head and a burned rake head, but how would it be described? Would the builder have to describe both the head and the pole? Chimera> To cut a long e-mail short, there is just one more point Chimera> I'd like to address. You mentioned having the server Chimera> concoct strings "on the fly". This is something I've been Chimera> thinking long and hard about, and I thought to use a Chimera> natural language processing subroutine which would make Chimera> it possible for the server to understand "plain English" Chimera> as well as produce sentences from raw information (this Chimera> is one of the things I got stuck at too). Again, I am Chimera> worried about performance. What did you have in mind, if Chimera> you don't mind telling? No, not at all. The server isn't generating raw strings from scratch. The user still writes descriptions in a markup language. The markup language has tags which perform switches based on a large number of variables which the user can expand upon. I.e. Something like: <switch variable="daynight"> <case value="day"> <str>The sun shines brightly.</str> </case> <case value="night"> <str>The moon shines brightly.</str> </case> </switch> In this case, daynight can either hold the value "day" or "night" and is defined server-side. You could also have additional variables, "timeofday" which could hold dawn, morning, afternoon, evening, night, etc. It would even be possible to define game-specific variables. If, for example, your setting had two moons, you could define a variable which described the phase of both moons and tie that into the game scheduler. The markup language would also be used for all messages, so it would be possible to describe all actions differently based on any factors. If, for example, you coded a black limousine, and coded it to emit certain message events to those outside as it travels, during the day its actions could describe it as a luxurious black limousine, while at night it may appear as a sinister dark shadow. _______________________________________________ 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> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00594" HREF="msg00594.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Chimera" <chimera@SoftHome.net></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00598.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00599.html">[MUD-Dev] Metakit</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00594.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00619.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00597"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00597"><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> <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> <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="00595" HREF="msg00595.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] Ideas for dynamic worlds</A></strong>, Ilya, Game Commandos <a href="mailto:Ilya@gamecommandos.com">Ilya@gamecommandos.com</a>, Sat 11 Dec 1999, 19:24 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>