<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction --> <!--X-From-R13: Qnyvona Fverfvnf Rnexybpx <pnyvonaNqnexybpx.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Tue, 8 Dec 1998 23:59:18 -0800 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 199812090758.AAA00200#darklock,com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 001a01be222e$f6650c50$55e5edd0@dev-18.chilisoft.com --> <!--X-Reference: 366DA632.D18FA56D#ibm,net --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</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="msg00944.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00948.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00943.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00973.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00947">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00947">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00947">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</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: Introduction</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Caliban Tiresias Darklock <<A HREF="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Tue, 08 Dec 1998 23:55:08 -0800</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 10:20 PM 12/8/98 +0000, I personally witnessed Mik Clarke jumping up to say: > >If you're looking for insiration, I've got a >single-adventurer program engine written in Java. I'm not a big fan of Java, actually. I think its liabilities outweigh its benefits right now; I've put together a basic competency level in it all the same, however, since I don't want to make the same mistake I did with Perl and Visual Basic: ignore it, and then eventually watch it become the industry standard and have to learn it anyway. I already have a large advantage, in any case, since I actually do have a complete and (theoretically) working game. Most of what I'm doing right now is reading a meg and a half of C source which has been eaten away by bit-rot for nearly five years. (You can't tell me source code doesn't go bad. I know better.) Some of what the program does is terribly naive (the handling of specialty devices: device1(), device2(), device3(), device4()...), but some of it is very forward-thinking; it has an indexed string table, for example, which was pretty radical for the time. I wish it had readable constants for identifiers, though -- comm_write(3146,1284) is not exactly helpful when trying to figure out what a function does. No comments to speak of; comment tags are normally used to block out code that evidently doesn't work or isn't finished. <shudder> If you have a choice, don't ever take on a project that's been moldering in the corner for five years. The only saving grace to this is that I *knew* I would have to start from scratch anyway, so I'm not in a state of shock at how unreadable the code is or how much work has to be done to get it operable again. In addition, it used a third-party comm library which is no longer available and therefore needs to be replaced by homegrown routines -- which means it won't compile just yet, but it's mainly because I haven't finished going through and replacing serial communications routines with local functions. >Yeah, pretty but shallow. Unfortunately when it comes to amatures (like >most mudders), the result tends to be ugly and shallow (but with >promise). I remember when I first started looking to get back into a tabletop gaming group a couple years ago. I came across a local hobby shop that offered gaming, and I went in and looked around to see a bunch of people playing Warhammer (which I don't like). There was one group playing AD&D, so I sort of hung around nearby listening. The gist of the adventure seemed to be that the characters were wandering up and down the beach while being repeatedly crapped on by seagulls, which would anger the players greatly and inspire them to chase after the birds and try to chop them up with axes. As I listened to the group, they reminded me more and more of Beavis and Butt-head. There was no perceptible goal to the adventure; if there had ever been one, it had either been accomplished already or discarded as too difficult. The players seemed to find it much more amusing to chase seagulls, and delighted greatly in the detailed description of where the crap hit and what its consistency and color were and exactly how it splattered. The DM was very good at these descriptions, in all fairness, and had apparently had a lot of practice. This, in turn, reminded me of why I stopped playing AD&D. ;) You might note that several MUDs have a beach, along which you may wander aimlessly while seagulls fly overhead. While they don't crap on you, to my recollection, I'm quite sure someone is working on it. ----- | Caliban Tiresias Darklock caliban#darklock,com | Darklock Communications <A HREF="http://www.darklock.com/">http://www.darklock.com/</A> | U L T I M A T E U N I V E R S E I S N O T D E A D | 774577496C6C6E457645727355626D4974H -=CABAL::3146=- </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="00973" HREF="msg00973.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong> <ul compact><li><em>From:</em> J C Lawrence <claw#under,engr.sgi.com></li></ul> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00931" HREF="msg00931.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Caliban Tiresias Darklock" <caliban#darklock,com></LI></UL></LI> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00943" HREF="msg00943.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> Mik Clarke <mikclrk#ibm,net></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00944.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: DIS: Client-Server vs Peer-to-Peer</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00948.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: DIS: Client-Server vs Peer-to-Peer</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00943.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00973.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00947"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00947"><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="00915" HREF="msg00915.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, Chris Gray <a href="mailto:cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA">cg#ami-cg,GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA</a>, Mon 07 Dec 1998, 04:43 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00929" HREF="msg00929.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, Mik Clarke <a href="mailto:mikclrk#ibm,net">mikclrk#ibm,net</a>, Mon 07 Dec 1998, 21:14 GMT </LI> </UL> <UL> <li><Possible follow-up(s)><br> <LI><strong><A NAME="00931" HREF="msg00931.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Mon 07 Dec 1998, 22:03 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00943" HREF="msg00943.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, Mik Clarke <a href="mailto:mikclrk#ibm,net">mikclrk#ibm,net</a>, Wed 09 Dec 1998, 07:15 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00947" HREF="msg00947.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, Caliban Tiresias Darklock <a href="mailto:caliban#darklock,com">caliban#darklock,com</a>, Wed 09 Dec 1998, 07:59 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00973" HREF="msg00973.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#under,engr.sgi.com">claw#under,engr.sgi.com</a>, Wed 16 Dec 1998, 05:28 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00934" HREF="msg00934.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, ApplePiMan <a href="mailto:ApplePiMan#aol,com">ApplePiMan#aol,com</a>, Tue 08 Dec 1998, 01:37 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00945" HREF="msg00945.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Introduction</A></strong>, Mik Clarke <a href="mailto:mikclrk#ibm,net">mikclrk#ibm,net</a>, Wed 09 Dec 1998, 07:15 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00909" HREF="msg00909.html">[MUD-Dev] Stack-Based NPC AI</A></strong>, Eli Stevens (KiZurich) <a href="mailto:c718157#showme,missouri.edu">c718157#showme,missouri.edu</a>, Sun 06 Dec 1998, 22:38 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>