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Project 'Dynamic World Automation' Design Document
Revision 0.3
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Document Authors:
Dorzak - dorzak@earthlink.net
Zak - zak@embermud.org
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Document Last Updated: 8/16/01
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Project Overview
----------------
The purpose of this project is primarily to correct the many flaws
in the current EmberMUD resets system. Also, the old ROM reset system
is not as flexible as we would like.
The goals of the project include:
1) Create a new more flexible resets system.
2) Allow resets to be added, edited, and removed easily via OLC.
3) Allow resets to be "popped" according to a % chance.
4) Allow resets to be dependant on other resets' success or failure.
5) Allow viewing and editing of "max in areas" and "max in world"
attributes from inside the reset editor.
6) Allow for "items inside items" resets with dependencies and
% chance as well.
7) Allow builders to safely move from room to room while editing
a reset without changing what room's reset they are editing.
8) Create an area file format converter that will automatically
convert current EmberMUD format resets into the new format.
The project does not intend to do the following at this time:
1) Re-implement the currently flawed "random exit reset" code.
Unresolved Issues
-----------------
Solutions for these issues should be found before final
implementation:
1) How often do reset chances get evaluated? Once per tick?
Once per pulse? Is there some other variable in control?
New 'resets' Command
--------------------
Starting at the top, the output of the new 'resets' command should
look something like this:
Resets for room #xxxxx - Room Description Here
--------------------------------------------------
# Type Chance Depends Vnum Description
--------------------------------------------------
1 obj 100% 1000 a small statue
2 obj 50% 1001 a small wooden chest
3 mob 100% +2 2000 a wussy guard
4 obj 100% -2 1002 a large wooden chest
5 mob 100% -2 2001 a tough guard
This new format will probably need some explanation... The number
column should be self-explanatory. The "type" column indicates the
type of reset - 'obj' and 'mob' are the only types available presently.
"Chance" represents the percent chance of a particular reset being
"popped" on any given tick. ?1? The values for "Depends" illustrate
the various inter-dependencies between resets - more on dependencies
below. The "Vnum" and "Description" columns should be obvious to
anyone familiar with the existing resets system.
New OLC Commands
----------------
Entering and exiting the reset editor will be accomplished similarly
to how the other OLC editors are accessed presently. A new OLC editor
will need to be added with commands for manipulating reset properties
and for adding/deleting "sub-resets".
Getting into the reset editor will be accomplished by using one of
the following commands:
> edit reset create <obj/mob>
> edit reset <reset #>
---------
remnants of old document (I ran out of time for my updating)
---------
Interface
-----------
comments are in <> commands are preceeded by %
>edit reset 1
>edit reset create obj
would give you the following screen.
Reset [ 1 ] - <heirarchy the reset has within the room>
Room [ VNUM ] - Name of room <Room the reset is for>
Item [ VNUM ] - Short description
<changed 7/16/2001 forgot to put it in>
Type [ Obj ] - <Obj/Door/Mob>
Max Rm[ ] - <Maximum # Allowed in Room>
Max Ar[ ] - <Max allowed in areas>
Max Wd[ ] - <Max allowed in the world>
Chance[ ] - <Percent Chance of repopping>
Depend[ ] - <What this reset requires to be or not to be loaded>
Slots <if a container> Capacity
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Slot VNUM Chance Depends <max cap> Desc
--------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1000 50 <size of obj> <short of item>
1 1001 25 " " "
Commands in the object one would be:
room - change the room this reset will occur in, when creating
it, it defaults to the current room <vnum> or
room current would work
type - defined when created - and effects the other options
Maxroom - set the max allowed in the room. If this is not met,
on the next repop, an additional
1 is loaded
Maxarea - set the max allowed in the areas. If this is not
met, on the next repop, an addtional 1 is loaded
Maxworld - set the max allowed in the world. Stored in file
for the whole world. Automatically increments by 1
when a reset for an item is made. Can be incremented
manually if desired.
Chance - percent chance of repopping. On each repop, there is
a percentage chance of succeeding
Depend - What vnum does this reset require or not require.
deptype - Does this reset only when the depend is met AND loads
with it, or only when it is NOT slot
slot <number> <vnum> <chance> <depend>
slot <number>
- Slot will either add it to an existing slot if the
number of an existing slot is given, if the first
number is HIGHER than the existing number of slots,
it brings the total number of slots to that number.
slot <number> clear
- clears the current items from the specified slot
Sample of a Mob Editing
-----------------------
comments are in <> commands are preceeded by >
>edit reset 1
>edit reset create mob
Reset [ 1 ] - <heirarchy the reset has within the areas>
Room [ VNUM ] - <Room the reset is for>
Item [ VNUM ] - <Added 7/16/2001, previous overlooked>
Type [ mob ] - <Obj/Door/Mob>
Max Rm[ ] - <Maximum # Allowed in Room>
Max Ar[ ] - <Max allowed in areas>
Max Wd[ ] - <Max allowed in the world>
Posit [ ] - <Does the mob load sitting, sleeping, standing>
Chance[ ] - <Percent Chance of repopping>
Depend[ ] - <What this reset requires to be or not to be loaded>
Short Descrip of Item <pulled when the vnum is set>
Equipment
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Slot # VNUM Chance Depends Short Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Light 1 1000 25 Rainbow Staff
Light 2 1001 50 -1 Lantern
Light -- 25 NOTHING
Finger1 -- 100 NOTHING
Finger2 -- 100 NOTHING
Neck (1) 1 1003 50 Necklace
Neck (1) 2 1004 50 Locket
Neck (1) 2a 1005 100 Picture of Somebody
Neck (2) -- 100 NOTHING
Body -- 100 NOTHING
Head -- 100 NOTHING
Legs -- 100 NOTHING
Feet -- 100 NOTHING
Hands -- 100 NOTHING
Arms -- 100 NOTHING
Shield -- 100 NOTHING
About Body -- 100 NOTHING
Waist -- 100 NOTHING
Wrist -- 100 NOTHING
Wielded -- 100 NOTHING
Held -- 100 NOTHING
Secondary -- 100 NOTHING
Inventory Capacity
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Slot VNUM Chance Dep <max cap> Desc
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1000 50 <size of object> <short of item>
2 1001 25 " " "
1 -- 25 NOTHING
Commands in the object one would be:
room - change the room this reset will occur in, when
creating, it defaults to the current room but could
be changed:
>room <vnum>
>room current
type - defined when created or shortly after
>type mob
>type obj
>type
Maxroom - set the max allowed in the room. If this is not met,
on the next repop, an additional 1 is loaded
>maxroom <number>
Maxarea - set the max allowed in the areas. If this is not met,
on the next repop, an addtional 1 is loaded.
>maxarea <number>
Maxworld - set the max allowed in the world. Stored in file for
the whole world. Automatically increments by 1
when a reset for an item is made. Can be incremented
manually if desired.
>maxworld <number>
Chance - percent chance of repopping. On each repop, there is
a percentage chance of succeeding.
>chance <number>
Position - position <resting, sitting, sleeping, standing> sets
what position the mob will be in when reset.
>position <sleeping>
>position <resting>
>position <standing>
Depend - What vnum does this reset require or not require.
>depend <number>
>depend +<number>
>depend -<number>
<equip location> <vnum> <chance> <depend>
- if chances is less than 100 total an additional
equip slot is shown. If chance with current modifier
would be >100 told illegal reset.
<equip location> clear
- clears specified wear location of resets
Samples of equip commands:
slot - >slot <number> <vnum> <chance> <depends>
>slot <number>
Slot will either add it to an existing slot if the number of
an existing slot is given, if the first number is HIGHER than
the existing number of slots, it brings the total number of
slots to that number.
slot <number> clear - clears all items from the current slot
Limitations
--------------
I still have not worked out how to do resets within resets.
However, as we discovered last night this functionality is
broken in the current ember implementation. Quick way to
completely corrupt the area file with the unchanged Ember reset
code for immort.are:
goto a room in there.
Add a reset for a backpack
Add a reset for a bag in the backpack
Add a reset for a pipeweed bread in the bag
asave changed
The area file will loose the #RESET section and everything after
it, the mud will crash, and not reboot.
Sample Sessions
---------------
>edit reset #
Now editing reset #
>edit reset create
If resets < # don't exist say:
Now editing reset # (where the # is lowest number reset available, I think we can
move type to being a toggle)
>vnum <number>
//Vnum exists as a at least two of the following: mob, object, or room.
Please choose type first.
or
// If <number> is only 1 of the three, do:
Vnum <number> is a mob, setting type to mob
Vnum <number> is a mob, setting type to obj
Vnum <number> is a mob, setting type to door
// If type was not set above:
>type obj
>type mob
>type door
Type set to obj
Type set to mob
Type set to door
// After setting type we would get
>vnum <number>
VNUM now set to <number>, <number's short descript>
// The following 3 commands applies only to objects and mobs, doors
// are currently not addressed in this document, but will be in the
// near future.
// (7/16/2001 - Dorzak)
>maxroom 5
Maximum in room set to 5, up to 5 will repop in the room, 1 at a time.
Max for this mob in world was updated to 30.
>maxarea 10
Maximum in the area has been set to 10
// The maximum in the world can also be modified. I have as a builder used a max
// area and max world that was lower than the total of the room max's to force
// some variation on where mobs repop. I would like to have another place to edit
// the max world besides each reset. However, having the maxworld read for all of
// an item from 1 location would resolve the issue that at least partially led
// us to the need to redo resets.
>maxworld 25
Maximum in the world has been updated to 25
>chance 100
This object will repop 100% of the time.
>depend 1
ERROR: Chance of repopping is greater than 100%, please use +/- to designate type of
dependency.
>depend -1
Reset will trigger 100% of the time when reset 1 does NOT.
// The 100% is pulled from the chance above.
>depend +1
Resest will trigger 100% of the time when reset 1 DOES.
// If we were to change the percentage for 1 and 2 (this one in the example) to 50%
// each we would get:
depend 1
This reset has a 50/50% chance of repopping instead of reset 1
// At this point the options for objects and mobs
// diverge. However, I will present objects first because the
// slots for mobs inventory will be handled the same.
//slot <number> <vnum> <chance> <depends>
//slot <number> to create slots
>slot 1 1000 25
Slot 1 now loads 1000 - A short descript with a 25% chance.
>slot 2 1001 25 +1
Slot 2 now loads 1000 - A short descipt with a 25% chance,
if Slot 1 has loaded.
//Say we make slot 3 depend on slot 1 not occurring
>slot 3 1002 50 -1
Slot 3 now loads 1003 - A short descript with a 50% chance,
if slot 1 has NOT loaded.
//If the main object being loaded is not a container we get
This reset does not load a container, slots are not available.
// If the main object, and the sub object are containers, we can
// load an object within the container by doing a sub-slot
// A subslot is accessed by a letter for example is slot 2 is
// a container and loading on the main object
slot 2a 1004 50
// Back to mobs. Basically each wear-location will act as its
// own set of slots, and the commands a will be the wear
// location, we are going to use waist in the following examples
//<wear-loc> <number> <vnum> <chance> <depends>
//<wear-loc> <number> to create slots
>waist 1 1000 25
Waist now loads 1000 - A short descript with a 25% chance.
>waist 2 1001 25 +1
The Waist can only load 1 item at a time. Dependency not
valid.
//Say we make waist 2 depend on slot 1 not occurring
>waist 2 1002 50 -1
waist 2 now loads 1003 - A short descript with a 50% chance,
if slot 1 has NOT loaded.
// If the equipment is a container, we can load an object
// within the container by doing a sub-slot
// A subslot is accessed by a letter for example is waist 2 is
// a container and loading on the main object
waist 2a 1004 50
----------------
Area File Format
----------------
Note: This was cut and pasted in here from an e-mail from
Zak. It has not been adjusted/formatted yet. Included so that
we would have it in the record.
O <room_vnum> <chance> <depends> <obj_vnum> <max_in_room> <Y/N -has subs>
<slot> <chance> <depends> <obj_vnum>
<slot> <chance> <depends> <obj_vnum>
...
#End
===
Object Example
===
Reset : 1
Room : 1000 - Some Room
Type : obj
Vnum : 5000 - a large chest
MaxInRoom : 1
MaxInAreas : 0 - unlimited
MaxInWorld : 0 - unlimited
Chance : 100%
Depends : no dependancies
Slots:
sub# slot chance depends vnum desc
---------------------------------------
1 slot1 50% 1000 a small bag
2 slot1 25% 1001 a large bag
3 slot1 25% ---- NOTHING
4 slot1a 100% +1 2000 a lump of coal
5 slot1a 100% +2 2001 a large diamond
===
O 1000 100 0 5000 0 Y
1 50 0 1000
1 25 0 1001
1a 100 +1 2000
1a 100 +2 2001
#End
===
Mob Example
===
M <room_vnum> <chance> <depends> <mob_vnum> <position>
<max_in_room> <max_in_area> <max_in_world> <Y/N - has subs>
<wear_loc> <slot> <chance> <depends> <vnum>
<wear_loc> <slot> <chance> <depends> <vnum>
...
#End
===
Example
===
Reset : 1
Room : 1000 - Some Room
Type : mob
Vnum : 5000 - a cityworker
Max Room : 0 - unlimited
Max Area : 0 - unlimited
Max World : 0 - unlimited
Position : standing
Chance : 100%
Depends : 0 - no depends
Equipment:
Slot # Vnum Chance Depends Description
--------------------------------------------------
light 1 1000 100% a candle
finger1 2 - 100% NOTHING
finger2 3 - 100% NOTHING
neck1 4 1001 50% a neck pouch
neck1 4a 1002 100% an old coin
neck1 5 1003 100% -4 a golden necklace
neck2 6 - 100% NOTHING
body 7 - 100% NOTHING
head 8 - 100% NOTHING
legs 9 - 100% NOTHING
feet 10 - 100% NOTHING
hands 11 - 100% NOTHING
arms 12 - 100% NOTHING
shield 13 - 100% NOTHING
about 14 - 100% NOTHING
wield 15 1010 50% a small dagger
wield 16 - 50% NOTHING
hold 17 - 100% NOTHING
second 18 - 100% NOTHING
Inventory: (30kg max)
Slot# Vnum Chance Depends Description
---------------------------------------------
1 5000 100% a backpack
1a 5001 50% +1 a quill
1b 5002 50% +1 a parchment
1c 5003 50% +1 an ink well (empty)
1d 5004 50% -1c an ink well (full)
2 5005 100% a white handkerchief
===
M 1000 100 0 5000 standing
0 0 0 Y
light 1 100 0 1000
neck1 4 50 0 1001
neck1 4a 100 0 1002
neck1 5 100 -4 1003
wield 15 50 0 1010
#End