<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD --> <!--X-From-R13: Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx <pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: from scipio.globecomm.net [207.51.48.12] by in1.ibm.net id 867263591.40244-1 Wed Jun 25 18:33:11 1997 CUT --> <!--X-Message-Id: 33B1649C.92E243AB#darklock,com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 199706242350.QAA29303#xsvr3,cup.hp.com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:caliban#darklock,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="msg01495.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01497.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg01484.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01539.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01496">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01496">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01496">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</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] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Caliban Tiresias Darklock <<A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Wed, 25 Jun 1997 14:34:04 -0400</LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> clawrenc#cup,hp.com wrote: > > I'd like to see a balance here between from-raw > development with only passing reference paid to the current > implementations to full-blown take-what-we've-got and > piece-it-together-and-make-something-better attempts. This is exactly what I'd like to see as well, since there *is* a certain benefit to reusing existing concepts and/or code, but there is also a certain benefit to implementing entirely new ideas and methods. If you peg yourself to just one or the other, you end up doing a lot of things in a pessimal fashion, if only because you don't have the proper background to do one thing or another. I don't have the astronomical background necessary to do a feasibly realistic sunrise/sunset code, but I do have a desire for something like that, so I've located a piece of code that handles the appropriate calculations for earth's orbit and is well-commented enough that I could easily replace a few constants and redefine the world's size, day length, and year length. I also have a similar function for moon phases, which I'm converting to handle multiple moons. On the other hand, someone with a strong physics and astronomy background could potentially implement something faster and better from scratch without involving the level of precision in the function I have; much of that precision is unnecessary, but I don't have the appropriate knowledge to isolate what is and isn't necessary for the function as I envision it. > I'm hoping (vainly?) for some sort of gestaltic combination to occur > here where each side feeds off the ideas and developments of the > others. Once again, this is what I always figured lists are supposed to be for. If all you do is preach your own viewpoint, and you don't consider the opinions and ideas of others, why even discuss it? > As one of the members here commented to me privately, this list is in > danger of assuming an orthodoxy. For instance most of us dislike > levels in MUDs, to the point that it has become almost assumed as 'the > list's view'. Suffice to say that many players *really* like levels > for whatever reason. As happens I also know that more than one member > here is also a big levels fan. I think that something many of us forget is that all views and structures are appropriate for certain things. The level-based system carries with it the associated idea that if a person is class X and level Y, that's all you need to save -- class and level will determine his abilities just fine. If you have (for example) 16 classes and 16 races and 100 levels, you can pack a complete description of a player's base abilities and skills into a 16-bit integer field that you can then index into some tables, which in turn only have to be instantiated once. From a server construction and memory conservation viewpoint, this is great. However, from a game system point of view, you can provide more flexibility by storing a binary array of skills ranging from 0 to 100; this allows any character to have any combination of skills and abilities, and removes the need for classes at all. If you were choosing from these two concepts (and there are really an infinite number of them, but I can't use all of them as examples), you would probably ask whether you preferred simplicity or complexity in the character abilities. You might also ask yourself whether you really like or dislike either idea, or what your specific game system would best operate with. In either case, both decisions could be made; neither one is really *better*, but if you have existing assumptions, desires, or requirements, you may see either or both as a bad solution. In other words, when you design a game, design a *game*, not a way to use the latest and greatest server-design paradigms. Sometimes the latest and greatest just isn't what you actually need. > I don't want these sorts of assumed > orthodoxies. They're not good and they're not productive. They need > to be questioned, and beat upon, and hashed over, and done, and > redone, and re-interpreted till the cows come home. Amen, brother... and I'll go out and kill the cows so they don't come home. ;) </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="01539" HREF="msg01539.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> Martin Keegan <martin#cam,sri.com></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="01484" HREF="msg01484.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> clawrenc#cup,hp.com</LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01495.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] non pk dealing with conflicts</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01497.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Integrating PK</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01484.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01539.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01496"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01496"><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] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="01500" HREF="msg01500.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Thu 26 Jun 1997, 02:33 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01531" HREF="msg01531.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Thu 26 Jun 1997, 16:14 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="01381" HREF="msg01381.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, Matt Chatterley <a href="mailto:root#mpc,dyn.ml.org">root#mpc,dyn.ml.org</a>, Fri 20 Jun 1997, 15:47 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01484" HREF="msg01484.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Wed 25 Jun 1997, 06:52 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01496" HREF="msg01496.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Thu 26 Jun 1997, 01:33 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01539" HREF="msg01539.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, Martin Keegan <a href="mailto:martin#cam,sri.com">martin#cam,sri.com</a>, Thu 26 Jun 1997, 23:04 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="01365" HREF="msg01365.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Fri 20 Jun 1997, 05:51 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01369" HREF="msg01369.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, clawrenc <a href="mailto:clawrenc#cup,hp.com">clawrenc#cup,hp.com</a>, Fri 20 Jun 1997, 07:14 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="01384" HREF="msg01384.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] RP=MUSH/PG=MUD</A></strong>, Martin Keegan <a href="mailto:martin#cam,sri.com">martin#cam,sri.com</a>, Fri 20 Jun 1997, 17:22 GMT </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>