<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution --> <!--X-From-R13: "Penaqba X. Dvpxzna" <nfurfNcp4.mraarg.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Mon, 08 Sep 1997 06:54:04 +0000 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199709080653.XAA23995#pc4,zennet.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.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="msg01149.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01154.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01098.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01166.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01153">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01153">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01153">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</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] Character evolution</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: "Brandon J. Rickman" <<A HREF="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.com">ashes#pc4,zennet.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Sun, 7 Sep 1997 23:53:48 -0700</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On 04 Sep 1997 Caliban Tiresias Darklock <caliban#darklock,com> wrote: >This is just a thought which I'm fleshing out as I go along, and it may >have serious drawbacks. But I'm leaning toward something similar to what >Ultima has generally done: an NPC has a certain series of motivations >and a general routine which can be triggered by various things. This >could be abstracted by a 'goal' field, which would contain a list of >motivations and potential conditions, like > > if hungry > if have_food then > eat_food > new_condition > else > get_food > endif > endif > > proc get_food > if food_here then >... > endif > end proc > >... >I know mobprogs can handle some of this, but I'm looking for a way to >make this elegant and efficient, which isn't easy. [I'm still in digest mode, so there may have already been a few replies on this topic I have yet to see. I can't decide which is better: one unbearably large message a day, or an unbearable number of individual messages a day. Any chance of getting a digest of every 10 messages? :) ] Given a nice hierarchical structure (object oriented, natch) it shouldn't be too hard to make this efficient. (People want to be efficient about the darnedest things.) As for elegant, - if you can work out the various common goals shared by most of your creatures then you only need to code the "if hungry" routine once and override the get_food routine as needed - it might be tricky when elegance gets in the way of making unique and interesting creatures. While it might be fun to see the town guards taking occasional snack breaks (because they are hungry) you will have to figure out/justify the Guard Captain who _never_ leaves his post in front of the Royal Treasury for _any_ reason. (I say "never" to taunt those members who hate having this kind of behavior hard coded behavior.) Anyway, re: goal-directed behaviors, I am currently looking for references to different theories or implementations of goal setting behaviors, not nec. in a story or game environment. I just came across _Planning and Understanding_, a Computational Approach to Human Reasoning, by Robert Wilensky, which might be interesting reading for anyone with access to a good library. The main thesis invovles meta-planning, or what to do when multiple plans overlap or conflict. Why this is interesting: If a hungry creature gets wounded should it continue to hunt for food, go home and rest, or figure out a way to do both? If said creature has an emergency supply of food back in its cave perhaps this is the emergency. - Brandon Rickman - ashes#zennet,com - While I have never previously found a need for a .sig, this may be considered one for the purposes of this list </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01149.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Mud Games</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01154.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Hard Sci-fi muds was Character evolution</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01098.html">[MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01166.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01153"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01153"><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] Character evolution</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="01080" HREF="msg01080.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></strong>, Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Thu 04 Sep 1997, 14:38 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01082" HREF="msg01082.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Thu 04 Sep 1997, 15:16 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01081" HREF="msg01081.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></strong>, Maddy <a href="mailto:maddy#fysh,org">maddy#fysh,org</a>, Thu 04 Sep 1997, 15:07 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01098" HREF="msg01098.html">[MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></strong>, ##Make Nylander <a href="mailto:thenewt#use,usit.net">thenewt#use,usit.net</a>, Thu 04 Sep 1997, 21:41 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01153" HREF="msg01153.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></strong>, Brandon J. Rickman <a href="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.com">ashes#pc4,zennet.com</a>, Mon 08 Sep 1997, 06:54 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01166" HREF="msg01166.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Character evolution</A></strong>, Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Tue 09 Sep 1997, 06:01 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00724" HREF="msg00724.html">Inebriation</A></strong>, Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Tue 26 Aug 1997, 00:06 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00721" HREF="msg00721.html">Comments on MUDs from Shadists</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Mon 25 Aug 1997, 18:43 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00712" HREF="msg00712.html">DESIGN: R-Trees (fwd)</A></strong>, Greg Munt <a href="mailto:greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk">greg#uni-corn,demon.co.uk</a>, Sun 24 Aug 1997, 22:41 GMT </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>