& help

Welcome to AlloyMUSH 1.0's default news file, which is mostly TinyMUSH
2.2's news file.
 
Here is some information which you might find useful:
 
Code            (last updated 11/20/95)
Writing News    (last updated 1/7/95)
Zones		(last updated 3/19/95)
Ansi		(last updated 11/20/95)
New Stuff	(last updated 11/20/95)
 
Type 'news <topic name>' for more information about a given topic.
 
& Writing News
 
The format of a news entry file is simple. A news entry begins with
"& <topic name>", where <topic name> is whatever you want that news
entry to be called. Topics with similar names should be placed in
alphabetical order; i.e., "Magic" should come before "Magic Weapons".
Topic names are not case-sensitive.
 
News entries are displayed "as is". No special formatting is done.
Blank lines are normally "eaten"; to get a blank line into a news
file, enter a line with a single space on it. You may want to avoid
"tab" characters in news files, since some terminal types are confused
by them. You will probably want to make individual news topics no more
than 23 lines long, in order to accomodate screen sizes.

& Code

AlloyMUSH is derived from an early, unofficial beta of TinyMUSH 2.2. It is
supported by Jesse McGrew (jessem@comtch.iea.com), not by the TinyMUSH 2.0
or 2.2 authors.
 
The most recent version of AlloyMUSH is available via World Wide Web at
http://www.iea.com/~jessem/mush/index.html.  A lot of neat mush-related
stuff is available via ftp at caisr2.caisr.cwru.edu:/pub/mush.
 
Users may also be interested in the TinyFugue client, available from
glia.biostr.washington.edu, in /pub/tinyfugue.

& Zones

   How does AlloyMUSH support zones?
 
AlloyMUSH supports zones, much like PennMUSH.  To make a zone object, type
"@mkzone <zone object's name>".  To set an object's zone, type "@zone
<object to be zoned>=<zone object>".  A zone object is a lot like a ZMO in
PennMUSH.  There is no AlloyMUSH equivalent of the ZONE flag for players.
Making a zone object is totally free (no coins, no quota), for now.
 
   What do zones do?
 
Zones are like the poor man's mush.  They let you have a local master room
and local wizards.  If you're in a room and type an unknown command, that
room's zone is checked for an exit or $-command that matches the unknown
command.  If you control a zone object, you control anything that has been
@zoned to that zone object.
 
   What's the point of a special zone object type?
 
Future expansion.  If you look, you can see that zone objects have quota
attributes set on them.
 
(for an example, type "news zones2")

& Zones2

Zone Example:
  > @mkzone Ice Cream Zone
  Ice Cream Zone created as object #161
  > @dig/teleport House
  House created with room number 70.
  House(#70)
  > @zone here=#161
  Zone set.
  > @lock/control #161=me|*dreamline|*benji
  Locked.
  > ex #161/controllock
  ControlLock: Mortal(#185Pc)|Dreamline|Benji
  > @set #161=control_ok
  Set.
 
Now, since Mortal (the owner), Dreamline, and Benji control the zone object,
they control anything zoned to that object, i.e., House.

& Ansi
AlloyMUSH has supported ANSI color since version 0.99, and now with 1.0p1,
you can give your objects colorful names.  For example, to name your
location "A Fun Room" with the word "Fun" highlighted, type
'@name here=A [ansi(h,Fun)] Room'.  However, you can't put color into player
names.
 
If you don't explicitly color an object name, it will be shown in the
default color.  The default color for each object type, as well as the
attribute names in 'examine', are settable by the wizards.
 
Look up ansi() in help for more information.

& New Stuff
This news entry is basically a conversion of the AlloyMUSH 1.0p1 CHANGES
file, included with the source distribution.  It documents how AlloyMUSH has
been changed from the early TinyMUSH 2.2 beta it was based on.
 
- A chat system has been added.  Look up '@chat' and 'channels()'.
 
- A mailer has been added.  Look up '@mail' and 'mail()'.
 
- Iter() now accepts a fourth argument, the output separator.
 
- An art() function has been added, as in PennMUSH.
 
- Variable exits have been implemented.  Look up 'VARIABLE EXITS'.
 
- The server will now read TinyMUX databases (but it only writes AlloyMUSH
  databases).

- Parent() can now be given a second argument, in which case it behaves like
  @parent.
 
{ 'news new stuff2' for more }

& New Stuff2
- You can now have a colon in a $-command name or ^-command trigger by
  escaping it with a backslash.  As always, you can also use this technique
  to get a literal asterisk or question mark.
 
- A bug in @ps/long has been fixed that would sometimes show a line like:
     Enactor: Alloy(#45PWXc)Alloy(#45PWXc)
 
- The setqmatch() and listmatch() functions have been added.  Awesome.  Look
  them up in help.
 
- A 'think' command has been added, as in PennMUSH.
 
- A baseconv() function has been added that converts numbers between bases.
 
- A GUEST flag is now used instead of the guest-related config parameters.
 
- Zones have been added, kind of like PennMUSH.  Look up 'ZONES' and
  'zone()' in help.
 
{ 'news new stuff3' for more }

& New Stuff3
- A chr() function has been added that produces a specific ASCII/ANSI
  character.  It's only for wizards, and therefore is in wizhelp.
 
- Building functions have been added: create(), set(), trigger(), tport(),
  and link().
 
- Players now have a 'First' attribute that tells when they were created.
  #1's First attribute is wrong because of fiddly internal reasons.
 
- A master room is now created when the mush is first started.
 
- ANSI color has been implemented.  You can use the ansi() function to make
  your strings colorful, and you can put color into the names of every kind
  of object but players.
 
- The 'page' command has been improved to be like the one in PennMUSH, and
  the 'reply' command returns a page.
 
- SpeakLocks have been added, as in MUSE.  I was the one who gave the idea
  for SpeechLocks to Lauren.
 
{ 'news new stuff4' for more }

& New Stuff4
- A NOWALL flag has been added.  Not only does it block non-urgent @walls,
  as in MUSE, but it also lets anyone open exits from a room, like TinyMUD's
  BUILDER flag.
 
- A MORTAL flag has been added, as in MUSE.  It makes wizards temporarily
  mortal.
 
- Powers have been implemented, like as in PennMUSH, only with different
  powers.  See '@power' in wizhelp and 'powers()' in normal help.
 
- Debug output (from the PUPPET, TRACE, or VERBOSE flags) can now be
  redirected to a different player.  The REDIR_OK flag makes it possible for
  mortals to use.
 
- Three text-oriented functions have been added.  Column() makes a list into
  columns.  Elist() makes a list into an English list (a, b, and c).  Wrap()
  wraps text at a certain point (character wrap, not wordwrap).