<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux --> <!--X-From-R13: X Q Znjerapr <pynjNpc.arg> --> <!--X-Date: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:11:14 -0800 --> <!--X-Message-Id: E120uuR-0000qI-00#under,eng.cp.net --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: Pine.LNX.4.10.9912202223390.15152-100000#drizzle,com --> <!--X-Reference: 10563.991221#io,com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Li</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:claw#cp,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="msg00733.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00735.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00709.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00676.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00734">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00734">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00734">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</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: Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux </LI> <LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 22 Dec 1999 15:11:07 -0800</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 Tue, 21 Dec 1999 13:31:15 -0500 Travis Casey <efindel#io,com> wrote: > On Tuesday, December 21, 1999, Dan Shiovitz wrote: >> On Sat, 18 Dec 1999, J C Lawrence wrote: >> [..] >>> Mage2Mage still seems much more promising. >> The problem I have with mage2mage and that kind of "let's make >> magic into a programming language" system is it seems biased >> towards simple spells, like "CREATE + FIREBALL" and not more >> interesting stuff like "MEND + NONMAGICAL + METALS + LESS THAN + >> 3 + GRAMS". > I think "seems" is a key word here. There's no reason why it > *has* to be biased towards simple spells. It's true that complex > spells will be harder to create than simple spells, but they don't > necessarily have to be harder to *cast*. Given that Mage2Mage supports and even encourages incremental spell development either by aggregation or incorporation (ie the fact that M2M spells are essentially modular and can reference and call each other in structured programmatical forms), yes, I see the bias as towards simple spells as Dan asserts, but the in-game reward systems as easily tending toward specifically rewarding complex spells as tougher to defend against and more effective/efficient. > Also, simple spells may be less effective, depending on other > aspects of the magic system. For example, in my current (paper) > fantasy campaign, I'm using a magic system which has an underlying > programming language paradigm. However, spells are powered by the > caster's life energy (or their death energy -- more on this > below), and gross effects like creating something from nothing are > extremely costly. Hence, while mages *can* do things like throw > fireballs, doing so is likely to kill them. Yup, or the mana mechanics I use, or any other base economic system for magic. Thus the efficiency concerns I reference. > This puts the emphasis on less "flashy" spells that are carefully > set up -- e.g., instead of throwing a fireball, burn out an > opponent's heart. Neat. I must remember that one. FWLIW I have a neat blindness spell that works by curdling the aqueous humor of the opponent's eyes rather than doing something simple to reverse, or which depends on further mana consumption. > Again, this depends on the setup. In many systems, almost any > spell can be countered with a simple "destroy magic" spell. I have simple mana destruction spells, but they cost considerable mana to invoke and carry a high flashback probability (danger they will mis-cast and reverse in someway to damage the caller). -- J C Lawrence Internet: claw#kanga,nu ----------(*) Internet: coder#kanga,nu ...Honorary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith... _______________________________________________ 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="00704" HREF="msg00704.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Dan Shiovitz <dans#drizzle,com></LI></UL></LI> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00709" HREF="msg00709.html">Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Travis Casey <efindel#io,com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00733.html">Re: Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] The grass is always greener in the other field</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00735.html">Re: Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] The grass is always greener in the other field</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00709.html">Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00676.html">[MUD-Dev] The Habitat Papers are missing</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00734"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00734"><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><A NAME="00688" HREF="msg00688.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Upload to ftp.kanga.nu</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#kanga,nu">claw#kanga,nu</a>, Sun 19 Dec 1999, 20:59 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00687" HREF="msg00687.html">[MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#kanga,nu">claw#kanga,nu</a>, Sun 19 Dec 1999, 05:53 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00704" HREF="msg00704.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</A></strong>, Dan Shiovitz <a href="mailto:dans#drizzle,com">dans#drizzle,com</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 06:39 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00709" HREF="msg00709.html">Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</A></strong>, Travis Casey <a href="mailto:efindel#io,com">efindel#io,com</a>, Tue 21 Dec 1999, 19:06 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00734" HREF="msg00734.html">Re: Re[2]: [MUD-Dev] Waving Hands -- Debian's Spellcast for Linux</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#cp,net">claw#cp,net</a>, Wed 22 Dec 1999, 23:11 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00676" HREF="msg00676.html">[MUD-Dev] The Habitat Papers are missing</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#kanga,nu">claw#kanga,nu</a>, Sat 18 Dec 1999, 19:11 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00659" HREF="msg00659.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Souveniers</A></strong>, Lovecraft <a href="mailto:dave#darkages,com">dave#darkages,com</a>, Sat 18 Dec 1999, 04:26 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00665" HREF="msg00665.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Souveniers</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#kanga,nu">claw#kanga,nu</a>, Sat 18 Dec 1999, 06:11 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00674" HREF="msg00674.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Souveniers</A></strong>, Raph & Kristen Koster <a href="mailto:koster#eden,com">koster#eden,com</a>, Sat 18 Dec 1999, 17:51 GMT </LI> </UL> </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>