<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues --> <!--X-From-R13: @nguna Kbfcr <lbfcrNunjnvv.rqh> --> <!--X-Date: Thu, 14 Aug 1997 13:57:23 +0000 --> <!--X-Message-Id: Pine.GSO.3.95q.970812162448.18291A-100000@uhunix2 --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 199708111238.FAA05442#user1,inficad.com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu"> </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="msg00552.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00554.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00566.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00581.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00553">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00553">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00553">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Nathan Yospe <<A HREF="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Thu, 14 Aug 1997 03:56:59 -1000</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: Nathan Yospe <<A HREF="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</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 Sun, 10 Aug 1997, Adam Wiggins wrote: :We have a lot of different stats for general physical stalwartness. :The one which is not changable is constitution, which basically represents :your body's actual resistance to damage - the traditional example being :that dwarves have high constitutions due to very strong bones, thick limbs :(relative to their height), and are very 'meaty' in general. All :the other stats can vary dramatically during the character's life, and :include: Of course, I don't have anything exactly like this - much of this sort of thing is centered in the part of the body involved, rather than the character, which makes sense in a setting where, for example, an arm could be replaced with a steel cybernetic arm... but there are places where we coincide.. :physical fortitude (ability to take pain without crying like a baby) :mental fortitude (ability to watch someone be beheaded without puking) :long-winded stamina (ability to run a marathon) :short-winded stamina (ability to sprint 100m) The second element, in particular, is something I use a lot. Except that, for my characters, both the taking pain and the not puking are mental attributes... the physical attributes are more along the lines of taking a steel club in the arm and still having enough arm to punch back with. Do you, like me, force some of this behavior on players? I allow "force of will" (player commands) to override some, but not all, of this sort of reaction. Mobs are weak willed. :Dividing it out like this makes it possible to have a fairly wide :range of characters as far as this is concerned - you can have a burly :young hero who turns green at the sight of blood and whines like a baby :when he cuts himself; an old lady whose body is frail but who is highly :resistant to pain and emotional trauma; or a doctor who has no problem :watching open-heart surgery and eating lunch, but isn't all that physically :tough. Or, possibly, the big bad hero who acts like the blood isn't bothering him until he thinks he is alone and unobserved, and then has a nervous breakdown, the shakes, yada yada? :Also, at high levels the first two (fortitudes) have a large affect on :your text. Ie, Bubba the newbie sees: :Buffy swings her axe in a deadly arc, decapitating Bruno in a shower of :blood! You gag at the overwhealming smell of blood and death which :suddenly fills the air. Buffy turns and burries her axe into your arm! :Agh, the pain! THE PAIN! The world turns red and begins to spin... Ah, you DO do the same things to your poor players that I do... :Boffo the hardened killer sees: :Buffy swings her axe in a deadly arc, decaptitating Bruno in a shower of :blood. Buffy turns and burries her axe into your arm, making you :very angry. You yank the axe out of your arm and raise your sword... I hope that reaction (yanking the axe and drawing the sword) was a computer handled reflex... this list is populated with wimps (kidding, really, c'mon guys, put down that LART, it was a joke...) who don't want to offend people's senses of dominance over their mud bodies by letting the bodies act instinctively or reflexively, even in high stress situations. :Mobs also take advantage of this when relating events to players: :You ask the shopkeeper, 'What happened?' :The shopkeeper says, 'Buffy KILLED Bruno! It was terrible!' :You ask Boffo, 'What happened?' :Boffo says, 'Buffy killed Bruno.' You (who happen to look like Aahz) smile politely at the guard and say, "No, I am absolutely certain we had an appointment with your king." The guard's face turns white, and he faints. :> Hmm, I have a rather different view on "Mana". To try and put it fairly :> MPs (Mental Points) are the mental equivalent to SPs (Stamina points), the :> latter dictating physical state (Normal -> Exhausted), as opposed to HPs :> (Hit Points, which dictate injury level, to a degree - although being :> somewhat linked to SPs, if you're tireder, you get hurt more). That made :> no sense, so to state it bluntly: MPs dictate your mental state, from :> normal to mentally exhausted, and are NOT used solely for magic, but for :> anything which requires extra thought or consideration. That means mainly :> magic, which requires mental (and sometimes physical) exertion. :Excellent. Interesting! Mental exhaustion independant of pain/stress induced shock! I must do something like this myself.... :> Casting a spell drains your MPs, and tires you, but is related to your :> Mana (the more Mana you have, the more MPs you'll tend to have - not the :> sole factor - and the faster you'll gain them, but your magic will be more :> powerful overall as well). :So is mana also a stat 'contained' in characters? We currently have it :set up so that actually holding mana in your body is very difficult, hence :it only tends to be drawn from its source (depending on what school(s) :you follow) immediately before the actual spellcasting is going to take :place. This makes drawing and channeling the mana generally more involved :than the actually spellcasting itself. Heh. Now this has possibilities... "You? We can't take you," said the Dean, glaring at the Librarian. "You don't know a thing about guerilla warfare." - Reaper Man, Nathan F. Yospe Registered Looney by Terry Pratchett yospe#hawaii,edu <A HREF="http://www2.hawaii.edu/~yospe">http://www2.hawaii.edu/~yospe</A> Meow </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="00608" HREF="msg00608.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Adam Wiggins <nightfall#user2,inficad.com></li></ul> <li><strong><A NAME="00581" HREF="msg00581.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> clawrenc#cup,hp.com</li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00462" HREF="msg00462.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Adam Wiggins <nightfall#user1,inficad.com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00552.html">[MUD-Dev] Quad-trees/Oct-trees</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00554.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Dynamic Descriptions</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00566.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00581.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00553"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00553"><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] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00464" HREF="msg00464.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Mon 11 Aug 1997, 17:17 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00507" HREF="msg00507.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, Nathan Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Wed 13 Aug 1997, 03:02 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00516" HREF="msg00516.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Wed 13 Aug 1997, 06:35 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00566" HREF="msg00566.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Thu 14 Aug 1997, 20:51 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00553" HREF="msg00553.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, Nathan Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Thu 14 Aug 1997, 13:57 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00581" HREF="msg00581.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Thu 14 Aug 1997, 22:11 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00597" HREF="msg00597.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Fri 15 Aug 1997, 06:26 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00600" HREF="msg00600.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, Nathan Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Fri 15 Aug 1997, 06:56 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01045" HREF="msg01045.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Level abstractions - Realism vs Game Issues</A></strong>, Martin Keegan <a href="mailto:martin#cam,sri.com">martin#cam,sri.com</a>, Wed 03 Sep 1997, 11:27 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </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>