Greetings y'all,
I'm currently working on an old codebase of mine. I'm not going to sit here and blast you with information, or what it is I'm looking to do with the code yet, but I'd like to call upon you for some suggestions.

When you go on Mudbytes.net, or whatever site it is that you use for downloading codebases…what is it your looking for?

Everyone says they want to use a 'bare bones' code so they can just start working, but then I see people go download someone's MUD. You go and download a codebase that was driven towards a former administrator's ideas, not your own, but yet, you use the code. Spending countless hours changing simplistic things like the MUD name and colors to make it your own.

I'm sure someone is already planning on blasting this post, for the fact I'm ragging on some code already, however, this isn't meant to do that.

I want to know what your looking for when your downloading your code.

Obviously, you'll want it bug free, and to compile without major code modifications. Personally, I despise downloading a code, only to be inundated with every color my MUD client offers, all within 2 lines of each other. Less is more. I get tired of logging on a MUD and seeing 400 skills, 10 of which I use.

Is it an Arena your looking for? What about a more detailed clan system? Room and object programs?

BUT! I will say this now…


I do NOT intend on adding any 'skedit', 'raedit', 'gedit', etc… These are things I believe should be coded, and obviously…most of it still is. If you want to add classes, skills, spells, or races…just learn to do it. It isn't very hard.

'grep' command is awesome for you newbies. ;)

But I digress….. Please, reply to this post, talk to me on AIM @ AndrewTolmasoff. Email me @ atolmasoff87@gmail.com and let me know what it is Your looking for in a Rom Codebase. No matter how big or small, I'd like to know.


For those of you out there who are gonna say this is an attempt at getting free ideas, it's not. Believe what you will, this is just an attempt at seeing what the public is looking for.

I know what I'm looking for. And it isn't snippets from mudbytes.net. :)

I'm curious as to why you think skills (and commands?) as well as other things should not allow editing in game? I'm not disagreeing that they should be code.

I suppose it depends on your level of code, and or how your skills are going to work. I worded it as I did, mostly for the fact that is is my belief. But from my experience, all those skills do is link to a gsn you still have to code in yourself. I don't like them cause it would restrict someone who doesn't have shell access from coding a complex command.

If you just want to add a new skill that has x hits, x beats, a name, blah blah, that's fine. But I'd rather code a skill that (based on your current affects, level, etc.), displays itself differently, performs differently, and isn't subject to the same exact checks and damage modifiers as every single last command.

I could delve much deeper into the topic, but it seems the 'easy' and quick way of doing it. Which usually has it's costs.

Don't get me wrong, I don't say those commands are completely useless, and I could see them being made even better. I just prefer doing things with the code. Hides it from the MUD. Kind of creates some form of illusion..versus anyone MAX_LEVEL-1 able to add a race on the fly. Use it to build a MUD, yeah, but not to bulk it up.

Blah blah :P

I agree it should be code. However, you can write code from editors in game. I'm not aware of what most people do (which sounds like some kind of skill wizard.)

Wouldn't doubt it. And it's been a long time since I've used em. I think I liked the ones rogue comes with, but hey, I obviously don't remember, so I didn't like it that much! :biggrin:

I think that most people who claim to want a "bare bones" codebase don't actually want a bare bones piece of software; they want something from which they can easily pick and choose. Another way of putting it is that they don't want something with a lot of features that they don't want that are hard to remove or disable – in other words, they just want plain old well designed software. Since most MUD base releases aren't, err (sorry!) well designed in this respect, people end up wanting the bare minimum.

That said, I suspect that people spend (waste) far more time on taking a bare bones base and rewriting a bunch of features than they would have spent on just taking some standard base and removing the pieces they don't want. I guess it's not at all uncommon that people prefer to deal with their own dog food rather than work their way through somebody else's, even if it costs them more time to do so.

Variety.

People start looking at barebones codebases when they know their codebase requires significant deviance from established codebases. Sure I could have shoehorned my combat systems, but A: it would have a worse quality result than something purpose-built B: be saddled with the labyrinthine licenses of diku/derivatives and C: would only minimally be meeting my requirements. Minimal may be acceptable for some oeople, but not for me.

Maya/Rudha

Most people get satisfaction and learn more from working barebones. Regardless of more or less work that's pretty compelling.

Hopefully after everything is said and done you've contributed to a better mousetrap.

I like ROM because it has all the features I liked in CircleMud but it's actually a MERC derivative (unlike circle)
That being said, I don't see much purpose in starting out with ROM when you can startout with MERC. What I don't like about ROM is that it
feels incomplete. In other words, as far as Dikus are concerned, MERC gives you a minimal starting point, SMAUG gives you much more, and ROM is somewhere in the middle. I like where ROM was going, but it's like they didn't feel like finishing everything which stinks.

If you are planning on recreating ROM into something new and interesting, I would say barebones yet familiar is a good mix.

They actually didn't finish a lot of things… so that's prolly why it feels incomplete :P

There's documentation for stuff that's not even there.

Out of curiosity, any examples?

I know Dawn of Time has an "sedit" command and a "createspell" command. The sedit command I'm fine with – it lets you edit apply, wearoff, and damage messages of the spell, lets you set flags and DamTypes, things like that. Pretty useful, especially for the flags. The createspell one I hate, but just because it allows people to use the cheap option of creating a "template" spell and then inserting different damtypes and names in. Makes the spells all feel the same – a DoT MUD I played on had something like 5 offensive spells that all did the same damage, and used createspell and sedit to just change the damtypes to make 40 different spells. Laziness, I think.

Just for the record templates can be a powerful. It depends on the amount of options you get in the template. You can also accompany the system with companion scripts of code to give even more power.

Oh, additionally strong template systems can make fun player crafted spells and have a measurable way to set a mana cost/difficulty/cost to craft them.

I kind of liked how Morrowind did spell making, which made it all the more a pity that using magic in Morrowind was such a pain.

Maya/Rudha

They certainly can – I played Twilights Dawning for a time and the coder there, Mordrid, had a really awesome custom-skill/spell system there. From what I've seen it's more common to see a good system that's employed at the player level, though, that at the Immortal level, where they're just shuffling some commands around. That's just a basic generalization over the few systems of "create spell" that I've seen, though.

Currently CoralMud has no spell system but I think ill include a template system. I think it will be interesting to see how flexible it can be for players and immortals.

I'm pretty sure they never actually added in the effects of different weapons, like axes breaking shields and so on. I don't remember much else, but I know there's more.

Sidenote:

I think that the downside to ROM is actually what is desirable to newbies: No hassle setting it up.
Unless your talking about some minor GCC stuff, it's out of the box right away. Especially QuickMud.
The downside to this, is that most new comers say "I've got a mud! Oh goodie! Now I will…er…make it my own?"

Because they don't know C or basic programming, they launch another cookie on the market.

I personally would like to see more high level codebases out there that are user friendly that new comers can use to make their
games quickly. TeensyMud boots easy, but you have to learn quite a bit about the infrastructure before you can use it.
CoralMud is quite good as well, its a good starting point if you don't mind a more custom approach. Alas, I am faced with the dilemma of being
too busy to really program as much these days. I've messed around with Nakedmud, which I like, but I would like to see a Ruby version ;)