<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Lathander's Introduction --> <!--X-From-R13: "Rhfgna [. Vbhtu" <qubhtuNfjbeq.pf.hpyn.rqh> --> <!--X-Date: from babe.globecomm.net [207.51.48.8] by mx3.ibm.net id 863882864.98744-1 Sat May 17 15:27:44 1997 --> <!--X-Message-Id: Pine.LNX.3.95.970517082601.8990B-100000#Sword,CS.UCLA.EDU --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Lathander's Introduction</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:dhough#sword,cs.ucla.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="msg00523.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00526.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00582.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00541.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00524">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00524">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00524">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Lathander's Introduction</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: Mud Development List <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#null,net">mud-dev#null,net</A>></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: Lathander's Introduction</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: "Dustan M. Hough" <<A HREF="mailto:dhough#sword,cs.ucla.edu">dhough#sword,cs.ucla.edu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Sat, 17 May 1997 08:33:03 -0700 (PDT)</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> Hello everyone, I was just invited to this list by Ling (known to me as Ceilidh) and he insists that I post an Introduction, so here goes. I'll tell a bit about me and my mud, I hope the mud part doesn't sound too much like an advertisement. Well, if it does, tough. :) I'm a long time fan of C,C++. I've programmed in a couple other languages including Fortran, Lisp, Basic, Pascal and Assembly (on a couple of different machines). I'm a fairly competent programmer and a huge fan of role-playing games. I am the head admin of a mud under development called Accursed Lands. This is the next generation of a mud called Dartmud (which was in turn the next generation of LustyMud). Accursed Lands is a skill-based mud whose primary focus is managed role-playing. The creators on Accursed Lands will be acting as game masters once they have contributed a significant project and been approved as qualified role-players. Every aspect of the game on Accursed Lands is designed to immerse the players into the culture and feel of the game. We believe that good role-players don't just happen, they are trained. Accursed Lands runs on MudOS and the Lima mudlib. Both of which I am very happy with. I'm not interested in getting into any holy wars on the subject though. MudOS suits me due to the fact that its very stable and well supported. Lima: I appreciate it because its built on a solid security system with a well-built directory structure. No, its not hacker-proof, but neither is the Pentagon. It also takes advantage of the very powerful verb-parsing system built into the MudOS driver. This design forces us to build system-wide verbs so that the same verbs work the same everywhere. This means no guesswork as to wether you 'use' the wand or 'zap' it or 'wave' it because all objects use the same syntax. Our goal at Accursed Lands is to create a mud where one can role-play, improve on your character, and pursue any career from seamtress to grand wizard. We have no classes. Skills are worked on individually. Our skill system is based on the learn-as-you-use method, very similar to Adam Wiggins' descriptions of his mud. We do not use a skill tree, however, but skill groups instead. The more skills you learn, and the higher they are in a given group, the easier it is to learn new skills in that group. True, this doesn't account for cross-over learning between groups, but there's a limit to how realistic we need to get. We have an introduction system where each person is described by many traits until you 'name' them. As such, a given person does not have to go by their true name, but they get tell others whatever name they want to go by. We have a limbs system with auto-saving inventory. Around 20 stats - perhaps too many. Various forms of timed movement, such as walk, jog, run and sprint. Various forms of personal posture - lying down, crawling, stooping, standing or flying (for those with wings.) Accursed Lands uses a hash-table type of language system which replaces mis-understood words with specific strings of syllables from the language. This makes each language 'sound' different, even if you don't know a word of it. There is a 2500x2500 square wilderness map including forests, rivers, lakes, oceans, islands, continents, mountain ranges, swamps, deserts, etc. It is a full globe. There is a large underdark which lets players dig permanent virtual rooms. Each wilderness square has room for 50x50 underdark squares beneath it...per level. Unlimited levels. As you can guess, this is a huge # of potential rooms. We've solved this problem by storing each room and all its associated data in 4 bytes. Players are able to dig permanent tunnels extending for leagues and leagues. If they run into a vein of ore, they can mine it. There will also be underground cities. The potential of this is to make a realm huge enough to have the 'feel' of the Underdark as described by Drizzt Do'Urden - a vast and mostly empty network of tunnels. Easy to get lost in and infinitely treacherous. Our combat system looks like this: Combat Style Aim | * | Control Offensive | * | Dodge Daring | * | Parry Power | * | Speed Attack |* | Defense ---*--- You increase one area of combat and lose the benefits of another area. The scale is non-linear. We have bleeding, wounds, fatigue, shock, hunger and thirst. We have an object daemon which has standardized the construction of regular objects so that even first-day creators can create complex objects, rooms and npcs. There is a construction daemon which allows players to build buildings themselves and to outfit the buildings with furnishings. (eg. It will allow a player to 'install' a new rug on the floor, which will then become part of the rooms description until removed.) There are 3 moons. The celestial bodies move in true orbits, going through lunal cycles and eclipses. The stars rotate depending on the time of year. There is a real-time calendar of days,months,years and seasons. All non-unique objects are constructable through various skills such as mining, smithing, carving, masonry, etc. Magical objects are craftable through alchemy, spells, or ritual magic. Every room is on a coordinate grid. We use this grid to time movement and to help monsters 'find' their way to a particular destination. We are developing a need-based artificial intelligence for NPCs. NPCs will evaluate their needs, desires and feelings before choosing a course of action. I'm very interested in what you all have to say on the subject of mud-development, especially regarding improving role-playing interaction between players. Thank you for your time, Dustan M. Hough aka Lathander@Accursed Lands </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="00541" HREF="msg00541.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Lathander's Introduction</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> coder#ibm,net</li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00523.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP thesis...</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00526.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: Administrative notes</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00582.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Availability of our stuff</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00541.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Lathander's Introduction</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00524"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00524"><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><A NAME="00532" HREF="msg00532.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: A brief introduction.. ok, you got me: an introduction</A></strong>, Nathan Yospe <a href="mailto:yospe#hawaii,edu">yospe#hawaii,edu</a>, Sun 18 May 1997, 02:37 GMT <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="00551" HREF="msg00551.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: A brief introduction.. ok, you got me: an introduction</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Sun 18 May 1997, 07:25 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00527" HREF="msg00527.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Availability of our stuff</A></strong>, Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Sun 18 May 1997, 00:09 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00582" HREF="msg00582.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Availability of our stuff</A></strong>, Raz <a href="mailto:muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk">muddyraz#mushroom,demon.co.uk</a>, Mon 19 May 1997, 09:24 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00524" HREF="msg00524.html">Lathander's Introduction</A></strong>, Dustan M. Hough <a href="mailto:dhough#sword,cs.ucla.edu">dhough#sword,cs.ucla.edu</a>, Sat 17 May 1997, 22:27 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00541" HREF="msg00541.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Lathander's Introduction</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Sun 18 May 1997, 03:39 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00519" HREF="msg00519.html">OO design patterns</A></strong>, coder <a href="mailto:coder#ibm,net">coder#ibm,net</a>, Sat 17 May 1997, 12:04 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00511" HREF="msg00511.html">Administration: Subscription problems</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Sat 17 May 1997, 02:01 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00510" HREF="msg00510.html">Quoting and attributions</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Sat 17 May 1997, 01:11 GMT </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>