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<H1>(fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</H1>
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<LI><em>To</em>: Multiple Recipients of MUD Design Mailing List <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Subject</em>: (fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</LI>
<LI><em>From</em>: Raz <<A HREF="mailto:muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk">muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk</A>></LI>
<LI><em>Date</em>: Sun, 27 Apr 1997 17:51:55 GMT</LI>
<LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk">muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk</A></LI>
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<PRE>
On Fri, 18 Apr 1997 02:25:31 +0100 (BST), Ling <K.L.Lo-94#student,lut.ac.uk>
wrote:
[re: command completion / command filters]
> On Wed, 16 Apr 1997, Shawn Halpenny wrote:
>
> > On Apr 10, 6:57pm, clawrenc#cup,hp.com wrote:
>
> > JCL> >> 3
> > JCL> You take the leather satchel,
> > JCL>
> > JCL> I currently do this, with caveats for nested compleations, multiple
> > JCL> character support (multi-playing) and priority interrupts.
[...]
> > Will the parser still be waiting
> > for a response of 0-3? Or if a response of anything _not_ 0-3 fails the
> > get command without notification, executes the just-typed command
> > [...] and then returns to the base state of waiting for any
> > command? I'm leaning toward the latter,
>
> The later for me too. It's natural after all. I've been thoroughly
> annoyed by the MudOS parsing which just prompts me: Which one? then
> forcing me to retype the entire sentence again.
I've a feeling I may be in the minority of being an English member of the
list, so the following may not ring many bells to too many people:
Remember the old, single-player text adventures, particularly the later
games from Magnetic Scrolls/Rainbird? Their parser supported, to some
extent, this sort of command completion quite successfully.
You could enter:
> get bag
And get back:
Which bag? The green one or the red one?
Whereupon you could enter and get back either:
> red
You get the red bag.
...or...
> north
You are in a [...]
I'm afraid I can't quite remember how it handled the remaining case, eg:
Which bag? The green one or the red one?
> splort
...but it was most likely with a "What?" rather than a "There is no splort
bag" or whatever.
This completion could go pretty deep, they made a point of discussing it in
the manuals. You might get a sequence like:
> get
Get what? The big green bag, the smelly green bag, the red bag, the green
key, the gold key, or the rampant wildebeest?
> bag
Which bag? The big green one, the smelly green one or the red one?
> green
The big green bag or the smelly green bag?
> big
You get the big green bag.
Of course, at any time you could forget the 'get' command and do something
else instead.
They also used this kind of completion for more frivolous stuff. You might
see:
> ftrhgf
Are you talking to yourself again? // Scroll's equivalent of "Huh??"
At which point you could actually enter any of the three responses below and
for each get back:
> north
You are in a [...]
> yes
That's the first sign of madness; stop it!
> no
Well it sounded like it.
In fact, the parsers in use by those games back in the eighties and running
on Spectrums and C64's are far in advance of mainly verb/noun systems in the
existing MUD codebases.
I assume we're all aiming at something better in terms of parsers? Forgive
me if I've missed a whole discussion - I'm foolishly writing this without
catching up on the other mails - but its something I've not seen mentioned
at least during the time I was able to keep up to date with the list.
By something better, I mean such features as the above type of command
completion (which I *have* seen you discussing =)), pronouns, conjunctions,
support for EXCEPT, etc. This is the sort of parser my coder friend
supplied for a very old experimental engine, which would support a sequence
such as (engine responses snipped):
> get all except the green bag
> examine bag
> get it and put the flask in it
> put key in box and put it in the bag
It even supported the command that Magnetic Scrolls made such a big deal
about, namely:
> put the pot plant in the plant pot
Though, apparently, there's nothing very complicated about that syntax at
all =)
Raz
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<li><strong><A NAME="00289" HREF="msg00289.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] (fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> clawrenc#cup,hp.com</li></ul>
<li><strong><A NAME="00288" HREF="msg00288.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] (fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>
<ul compact><li><em>From:</em> clawrenc#cup,hp.com</li></ul>
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<ul><li>Thread context:
<BLOCKQUOTE><UL>
<LI><STRONG>Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM>
<ul compact>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00239" HREF="msg00239.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>,
Jon A. Lambert <a href="mailto:jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com">jlsysinc#ix,netcom.com</a>, Sat 26 Apr 1997, 10:56 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00240" HREF="msg00240.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>,
Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Sat 26 Apr 1997, 11:37 GMT
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00245" HREF="msg00245.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>,
Jeff Kesselman <a href="mailto:jeffk#tenetwork,com">jeffk#tenetwork,com</a>, Sat 26 Apr 1997, 12:03 GMT
</LI>
</ul>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00216" HREF="msg00216.html">(fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>,
Raz <a href="mailto:raz#mushroom,demon.co.uknospam">raz#mushroom,demon.co.uknospam</a>, Fri 25 Apr 1997, 13:03 GMT
<UL>
<li><Possible follow-up(s)><br>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00257" HREF="msg00257.html">(fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>,
Raz <a href="mailto:muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk">muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk</a>, Mon 28 Apr 1997, 01:02 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00288" HREF="msg00288.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] (fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>,
clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Wed 30 Apr 1997, 00:53 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00324" HREF="msg00324.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] (fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>,
Raz <a href="mailto:muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk">muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk</a>, Wed 07 May 1997, 04:09 GMT
<UL>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00343" HREF="msg00343.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] (fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>,
clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Sat 10 May 1997, 00:01 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
<LI><strong><A NAME="00289" HREF="msg00289.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] (fwd) Re: Issues from the digests and Wout's list</A></strong>,
clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Wed 30 Apr 1997, 00:53 GMT
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL>
</LI>
</UL></BLOCKQUOTE>
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