<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout --> <!--X-From-R13: X Q Znjerapr <pynjNhaqre.rate.ftv.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 17:39:41 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199809290039.RAA05809#under,engr.sgi.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 11A17AA2B9EAD111BCEA00A0C9B41793760960#forest,origin.ea.com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.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="msg01344.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg01346.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00721.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00717.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#01345">Author</A> | <A HREF="#01345">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#01345">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout </LI> <LI><em>From</em>: J C Lawrence <<A HREF="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 17:39:29 -0700</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> On Wed, 12 Aug 1998 13:17:09 -0500 Koster, Raph<rkoster#origin,ea.com> wrote: >> From: Michael.Willey#abnamro,com >> If you make a distinction between herbivores and carnivores, then >> you divide your critters into two groups: one group that isn't >> competing with the players for resources, and one group that is, >> but makes for much tougher competition. Players and other >> carnivores will consider herbivores as appropriate food sources, >> but at least they won't be killing them off *and* consuming their >> food sources at the same time. > It boiled down to supplying enough for all the newbies who just > want to kill, plus the craftspeople making a living off of > them. Plus the adventurers demanding that the resources taken up > by deer be spent on orcs instead... The problem is resource depletion due to population congestion. There are no deer because all the deer get killed for their resource value. The deer can't breed fast enough (not enough existent population to procreate) and the supply of deer-killers in the form of players is effectively infinite and not controlled by or subject to the deer population. Its this specific last point that seems most vulnerable to attack __without__ critically impacting gameplay. IIRC UOL doesn't implement starvation and other such mundane and generally aggravating (food/sleep/toilet/lice/jock_itch) "features" using the excuse that a character will maintain their basic living state without express player attention (breathe in, breathe out, chew, swallow, spit). How about if those icky features remained implicit until the character entered a realm where the base supplies were not available? For example, the character is in a town which has ample food, and so the character is automatically "fed". The character moves out into the wilderness and remains automatically fed as their wilderness skills when mapped against the prey/food-quotient of their location comes out as "you are fed". The character then moves to the middle of the desert. Finally their wilderness skills are insufficient to feed them without express attention and they start getting "hungry", "starving", or "faint" warnings. With no explicit action, upon return to a food-plenty environment the hunger would progressively be handled automagically under the covers. However if they remained in the desert they would have to explicitly do something about food or starve. Now, mapping this back to cities and other population centers: Population centers consume resources. In the early days the resource consumption can be considered automatic in that food (to pick one particular resource), is in sufficient supply to enter the city thru presumed osmosis. However, as the city grows, its resource consumption also grows, eveually outstripping the local wildlife's ability to sustain (this is a function of the never-realised sim-peep population). Ergo. the nascent food availability begins to drop below equilibrium and then to accelerate towards zero. Enter the farmers and the long range hunters, for without them the city will starve to death. Also enter a realistic and functionally mandated purpose and reason for caravans, shipping combines, and other transport operatives -- *especially* for larger population centers. Further farming and hunting can be both a profitable business and an opportunity for wheeling and dealing (price fixing anyone?), for there is considerable investment in the city placed at risk by starvation. That is unless instead the city decides to move, perhaps even becoming nomadic and using the latency curve in the food supply to sustain them between relocations...(something of course that has extensive RL parallels). Insert one mechanic: get many player-interesting and characterful outputs. -- J C Lawrence Internet: claw#null,net (Contractor) Internet: coder#ibm,net ---------(*) Internet: claw#under,engr.sgi.com ...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith... </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00691" HREF="msg00691.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Koster, Raph" <rkoster#origin,ea.com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01344.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Unix is a mud (Re: Ugh, IS Diablo a mud?)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg01346.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Room descriptions</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00721.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00717.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#01345"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#01345"><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>[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00687" HREF="msg00687.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, Michael.Willey <a href="mailto:Michael.Willey#abnamro,com">Michael.Willey#abnamro,com</a>, Wed 12 Aug 1998, 17:36 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00691" HREF="msg00691.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Wed 12 Aug 1998, 18:19 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00713" HREF="msg00713.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, Brandon J. Rickman <a href="mailto:ashes#pc4,zennet.com">ashes#pc4,zennet.com</a>, Fri 14 Aug 1998, 02:50 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00721" HREF="msg00721.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Fri 14 Aug 1998, 19:31 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="01345" HREF="msg01345.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Tue 29 Sep 1998, 00:39 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00717" HREF="msg00717.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, quzah <a href="mailto:quzah#geocities,com">quzah#geocities,com</a>, Fri 14 Aug 1998, 14:12 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00809" HREF="msg00809.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, Damion Schubert <a href="mailto:zjiria#texas,net">zjiria#texas,net</a>, Sat 22 Aug 1998, 03:49 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00680" HREF="msg00680.html">[MUD-Dev] Re:Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, Michael.Willey <a href="mailto:Michael.Willey#abnamro,com">Michael.Willey#abnamro,com</a>, Wed 12 Aug 1998, 13:02 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00677" HREF="msg00677.html">[MUD-Dev] Methods to Reduce Ecological Wipeout</A></strong>, Leach, Brad BA <a href="mailto:Leach.Brad.BA#bhp,com.au">Leach.Brad.BA#bhp,com.au</a>, Wed 12 Aug 1998, 06:25 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>