10 Sep, 2011, donky wrote in the 2nd comment:
I made this up this morning. No world or MUD exists based on the following detail, and it's hopefully not too nonsensical content for the purposes of potential illustration.
MUD Design Document Template.
[The goal of this template is to flesh out a starting area, and to help also
flesh out the basic initial game systems.]
0. What is the goal of this effort?
[hint: create a game world players can play in most likely]
To create a game world player can play in, but also to model a medieval
economy on a small scale with use and flow of resources. Initial implementation
should concentrate on just implementing the world and objects at the simplest
level.
1. Describe the part of the world your MUD will first implement from the
perspective of someone who lives there (1 paragraph).
[hint to maintain focus: don't get hung up on names or other undecided aspects,
use capitalised nouns like CITY, TOWN, MAYOR as placeholders]
TOWN does well enough, with trade often making it through the wooded hills that
separate it and other distant places of note. Just outside town, the walled
monastery overlooks fields where grain and other foodstuffs are grown and the
riverside mill. The townspeople look after themselves and are somewhat weary
with having to fend off incursions from the forest without assistance from
the monks for whom they work the land.
2. Describe interesting places within the initially implemented area (at most
10 places, 1 paragraph each).
[hint to maintain focus: concentrate on the immediate initial area, any places
of interest outside it should be described in very limited number and in an
abstract way that only serves to implement the initial area with respect to it
and not the outside area itself.]
- The river. Separating the fields from the forest and hills beyond, the
wide and deep river with its strong current provides some safety from dangers
that lurk beyond. The mill sits alongside it with a water wheel driven by
its currents in turn driving the millstone. Locals fish from it, catching
fish, eels and sometimes strange objects that wash down from the far
mountains upriver.
- The mill. The miller, his wife and children live and work here at the
leniency of the abbot in the distant monestary. Their residence and the
millhouse are combined with a storehouse.
- The mountains. Far away, no-one in town has been there, but they've
heard stories. Wild speculation and rumours describe what happens there
and what the strange objects that wash down river might mean.
- The monastery. The abbot and the monks manage the land on behalf of the
Regent. While they may be fat lazy and egotistical posturers who worship
a god who does not seem to listen to them, they're much more preferable
to whomever else the distant Regent might appoint given rumours of his
strict rule. The monastery lands are extensive and securely walled as they
would need to be backing the forest. Gardens and orchards extend over
the grounds, providing a more than comfortable diet to the monks and their
guests. A small but sufficient guard representing the regent's army is
present, more to protect the monastery than the town.
- The fields. Lots of grains and vegetables. The occasional hut and
line of trees mostly between fields as wind breaks and alongside the
river to prevent erosion. Farmers leisurely work it during the day and
give the lions share to the monastery while taking enough for their
families to live on.
- The town. The town has an inn, a butchery, a blacksmith, and is otherwise
the collected residences of the people who live there. It has one of those
stone walls surrounding it made out of stones which aren't mortared, but
are cleverly piled on top of each other. It goes high enough that it can't
be jumped or climbed over. Wooden gates which are closed at night secure it
from the outside. The main street houses the local businesses and the most
well to do locals, including the mayor and his family. The side streets
house lesser well to do residences, but generally the houses are in good
condition and the packed dirt streets are clean enough. Everyone knows one
another, as the town is not that big.
- The inn. The innkeeper is a tired worn looking 60 year old man, who goes
about his business quietly. Hearty home-made foods are made by his grown-up
daughters who are hearty peasant stock. Both food, drink and accomodation
in the sparse but well maintained rooms are plentiful and cheap. On cold
nights the fire in the center of the room roars away.
3. What races can the players play?
- Human.
4. What races are found in the starting area?
- Human. They've never seen any other races themselves, apart from those they
have to fend off in the attacks from the forest. Or the bodies that occasionally
wash downstream.
- Dead elves. No-one has met an elf, but they're dirty short inbred creatures that
once ruled the known lands including the Regency and beyond thousands of years
ago. However, their filthy devious looking bodies are burned when they are
fished from the river. Better to get their nastiness out of there if fish and
eels are going to be eaten.
- Goblins, half-goblins. Owlbears. The village is occasionally attacked from the
forest by small groups of these creatures. The only reason they've managed to
fend them off is that the creatures are malnourished and look to be having a hard
time getting by. Often the incursing creatures are already wounded and look
like they've been attacked by others stronger than themselves.
5. How can players earn money?
- Hard graft in the fields.
– Plowing.
– Scything.
- Tasks from the abbot, albeit ill-advised and nuisancsical.
– Confiscate the alcohol from the village so that villagers have to
buy monasterily approved and produced plonk.
– Take children from village families to join as monks against will of
families.
– Kill Regency guard and make it look like a monster attack.
- Tasks from the innkeeper, on behalf of others who have requested he find
people to do them.
– Go into the forest and retrieve or find something that is badly needed, herb,
lost/abducted child, item of speciality.
- Entrepreneurship.
– Set up on the roads into town and ambush and rob the traffic.
– Break into the monastery and steal something.
– Join regency guard if have skill and experience. Get given stock Regency
equipment. Go on missions with Regency guard squads.
6. How can players spend money?
- To earn favour.
- To replace lost, stolen or damaged items.
- To obtain a place to store their belongings.
- To acquire and maintain property.
7. What attributes represent a player and how do they apply to life?
There are no attributes. The player is average, with their knowledge and
ability represented by the things they know or have learned how to do.
8. What skills can a player learn?
- Reading magic.
– Represents time spent somewhere learning the basics of a form of magic and
then how to safely read its written form.
- Commune with one or more gods.
– Represents time spent somewhere learning about the god, and doing something
to gain a connection with it.
- Fishing.
– Anyone can hold a pole and dangle a line, but what's this bait stuff?
- Proficiency with weapon types.
– Can swing a sword cause that's what people do, but not usefully.
- Knowledge of different types of objects beyond general knowledge.
– Might see a trap and know what is is, but not know how to safely disarm it.
5. What weapons can players find and use in game to start off?
- Swords.
- Shields.
- Spears.
- Bow and arrows.
- Club.
6. What actions can players perform to start off?
- Wear wearable items.
- Hold useful items (including weapons).
- Carry items they want to have with them.
- Look at items to see their state.
- Look at aspects of the world around them.
- Move between rooms.
- Attack something.
- Throw something.
- Give something to someone.
- Offer something to someone.
- Take something from someone.
- Take something from somewhere.
- Put something somewhere (ground, containers).
- Eat edibles.
- Drink drinkables.
7. What objects can players find and use in-game to start off?
- Infinite resources:
– Water from well and river.
- Finite resources:
– Stones from riverside.
– Mud from riverside.
– Leaves from trees.
– Grass from roadside and fields.
– Flowers from roadside and fields.
– Dirt from roadside.
- Constructed goods:
– Brewed ale / wine.
– Bread / cheese / meat / grain / flour.
– Flagon / jug.
– Skin (contains liquid).
– Knife / fork / spoon / bowl / plate.
– Long sword / short shord / dagger.
– Bow / arrows / club.
– Buckler shield.
– Leather armor.
– Sandals / shoes / boots / pants / tunic.
– Sack / pack.
– Regency coins. Have picture of last king KING on them.
8. What events happen in-game, one-off or recurring.
- Incursions by creatures from forest.
- New and interesting river finds.
- Abbot craziness.
- Day to day economical processes and flow of medieval life. Harvesting,
milling, tithes, eating, drinking, brewing, buying, selling, obtaining
resources.
- Non-creature visitors.
– Merchant caravans with guards who are passing through on their way to
somewhere interesting.
– Small groups of adventurers.
– Knights on a quest.
9. What happens when a player dies.
They are dead forever. The world continues on, and if they are not seen for a
while they are assumed dead or missing. Eventually their room is rerented,
their goods are taken ownership of. Replacements are found for whatever roles
they have adopted in the world.
10. What happens if a player commits a crime in a populated area.
Punishment if observed. Punishment if not directly observed but action can be
inferred by possession of goods or bystander after the fact. It's a small
village. Crimes are judged by the abbot with the assistance of the leader of
the Regency guard.
At this point, I think maybe some feedback is needed to get this focused..
MUD Design Document Template.
[The goal of this template is to flesh out a starting area, and to help also
flesh out the basic initial game systems.]
0. What is the goal of this effort?
[hint: create a game world players can play in most likely]
To create a game world player can play in, but also to model a medieval
economy on a small scale with use and flow of resources. Initial implementation
should concentrate on just implementing the world and objects at the simplest
level.
1. Describe the part of the world your MUD will first implement from the
perspective of someone who lives there (1 paragraph).
[hint to maintain focus: don't get hung up on names or other undecided aspects,
use capitalised nouns like CITY, TOWN, MAYOR as placeholders]
TOWN does well enough, with trade often making it through the wooded hills that
separate it and other distant places of note. Just outside town, the walled
monastery overlooks fields where grain and other foodstuffs are grown and the
riverside mill. The townspeople look after themselves and are somewhat weary
with having to fend off incursions from the forest without assistance from
the monks for whom they work the land.
2. Describe interesting places within the initially implemented area (at most
10 places, 1 paragraph each).
[hint to maintain focus: concentrate on the immediate initial area, any places
of interest outside it should be described in very limited number and in an
abstract way that only serves to implement the initial area with respect to it
and not the outside area itself.]
- The river. Separating the fields from the forest and hills beyond, the
wide and deep river with its strong current provides some safety from dangers
that lurk beyond. The mill sits alongside it with a water wheel driven by
its currents in turn driving the millstone. Locals fish from it, catching
fish, eels and sometimes strange objects that wash down from the far
mountains upriver.
- The mill. The miller, his wife and children live and work here at the
leniency of the abbot in the distant monestary. Their residence and the
millhouse are combined with a storehouse.
- The mountains. Far away, no-one in town has been there, but they've
heard stories. Wild speculation and rumours describe what happens there
and what the strange objects that wash down river might mean.
- The monastery. The abbot and the monks manage the land on behalf of the
Regent. While they may be fat lazy and egotistical posturers who worship
a god who does not seem to listen to them, they're much more preferable
to whomever else the distant Regent might appoint given rumours of his
strict rule. The monastery lands are extensive and securely walled as they
would need to be backing the forest. Gardens and orchards extend over
the grounds, providing a more than comfortable diet to the monks and their
guests. A small but sufficient guard representing the regent's army is
present, more to protect the monastery than the town.
- The fields. Lots of grains and vegetables. The occasional hut and
line of trees mostly between fields as wind breaks and alongside the
river to prevent erosion. Farmers leisurely work it during the day and
give the lions share to the monastery while taking enough for their
families to live on.
- The town. The town has an inn, a butchery, a blacksmith, and is otherwise
the collected residences of the people who live there. It has one of those
stone walls surrounding it made out of stones which aren't mortared, but
are cleverly piled on top of each other. It goes high enough that it can't
be jumped or climbed over. Wooden gates which are closed at night secure it
from the outside. The main street houses the local businesses and the most
well to do locals, including the mayor and his family. The side streets
house lesser well to do residences, but generally the houses are in good
condition and the packed dirt streets are clean enough. Everyone knows one
another, as the town is not that big.
- The inn. The innkeeper is a tired worn looking 60 year old man, who goes
about his business quietly. Hearty home-made foods are made by his grown-up
daughters who are hearty peasant stock. Both food, drink and accomodation
in the sparse but well maintained rooms are plentiful and cheap. On cold
nights the fire in the center of the room roars away.
3. What races can the players play?
- Human.
4. What races are found in the starting area?
- Human. They've never seen any other races themselves, apart from those they
have to fend off in the attacks from the forest. Or the bodies that occasionally
wash downstream.
- Dead elves. No-one has met an elf, but they're dirty short inbred creatures that
once ruled the known lands including the Regency and beyond thousands of years
ago. However, their filthy devious looking bodies are burned when they are
fished from the river. Better to get their nastiness out of there if fish and
eels are going to be eaten.
- Goblins, half-goblins. Owlbears. The village is occasionally attacked from the
forest by small groups of these creatures. The only reason they've managed to
fend them off is that the creatures are malnourished and look to be having a hard
time getting by. Often the incursing creatures are already wounded and look
like they've been attacked by others stronger than themselves.
5. How can players earn money?
- Hard graft in the fields.
– Plowing.
– Scything.
- Tasks from the abbot, albeit ill-advised and nuisancsical.
– Confiscate the alcohol from the village so that villagers have to
buy monasterily approved and produced plonk.
– Take children from village families to join as monks against will of
families.
– Kill Regency guard and make it look like a monster attack.
- Tasks from the innkeeper, on behalf of others who have requested he find
people to do them.
– Go into the forest and retrieve or find something that is badly needed, herb,
lost/abducted child, item of speciality.
- Entrepreneurship.
– Set up on the roads into town and ambush and rob the traffic.
– Break into the monastery and steal something.
– Join regency guard if have skill and experience. Get given stock Regency
equipment. Go on missions with Regency guard squads.
6. How can players spend money?
- To earn favour.
- To replace lost, stolen or damaged items.
- To obtain a place to store their belongings.
- To acquire and maintain property.
7. What attributes represent a player and how do they apply to life?
There are no attributes. The player is average, with their knowledge and
ability represented by the things they know or have learned how to do.
8. What skills can a player learn?
- Reading magic.
– Represents time spent somewhere learning the basics of a form of magic and
then how to safely read its written form.
- Commune with one or more gods.
– Represents time spent somewhere learning about the god, and doing something
to gain a connection with it.
- Fishing.
– Anyone can hold a pole and dangle a line, but what's this bait stuff?
- Proficiency with weapon types.
– Can swing a sword cause that's what people do, but not usefully.
- Knowledge of different types of objects beyond general knowledge.
– Might see a trap and know what is is, but not know how to safely disarm it.
5. What weapons can players find and use in game to start off?
- Swords.
- Shields.
- Spears.
- Bow and arrows.
- Club.
6. What actions can players perform to start off?
- Wear wearable items.
- Hold useful items (including weapons).
- Carry items they want to have with them.
- Look at items to see their state.
- Look at aspects of the world around them.
- Move between rooms.
- Attack something.
- Throw something.
- Give something to someone.
- Offer something to someone.
- Take something from someone.
- Take something from somewhere.
- Put something somewhere (ground, containers).
- Eat edibles.
- Drink drinkables.
7. What objects can players find and use in-game to start off?
- Infinite resources:
– Water from well and river.
- Finite resources:
– Stones from riverside.
– Mud from riverside.
– Leaves from trees.
– Grass from roadside and fields.
– Flowers from roadside and fields.
– Dirt from roadside.
- Constructed goods:
– Brewed ale / wine.
– Bread / cheese / meat / grain / flour.
– Flagon / jug.
– Skin (contains liquid).
– Knife / fork / spoon / bowl / plate.
– Long sword / short shord / dagger.
– Bow / arrows / club.
– Buckler shield.
– Leather armor.
– Sandals / shoes / boots / pants / tunic.
– Sack / pack.
– Regency coins. Have picture of last king KING on them.
8. What events happen in-game, one-off or recurring.
- Incursions by creatures from forest.
- New and interesting river finds.
- Abbot craziness.
- Day to day economical processes and flow of medieval life. Harvesting,
milling, tithes, eating, drinking, brewing, buying, selling, obtaining
resources.
- Non-creature visitors.
– Merchant caravans with guards who are passing through on their way to
somewhere interesting.
– Small groups of adventurers.
– Knights on a quest.
9. What happens when a player dies.
They are dead forever. The world continues on, and if they are not seen for a
while they are assumed dead or missing. Eventually their room is rerented,
their goods are taken ownership of. Replacements are found for whatever roles
they have adopted in the world.
10. What happens if a player commits a crime in a populated area.
Punishment if observed. Punishment if not directly observed but action can be
inferred by possession of goods or bystander after the fact. It's a small
village. Crimes are judged by the abbot with the assistance of the leader of
the Regency guard.
At this point, I think maybe some feedback is needed to get this focused..
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[link=2190]topic[/link]
Actually, having read up to the point where Kavir's design documents are linked, I think that there is some value in having templates available for guiding MUD design. Both Kavir and AppendixG's documentation is very specific to their games and worlds, but it should be possible to isolate some questions with guidance, examples and primer material that someone can sit down and flesh out a good short and concise design document that can be used to implement their MUD without getting distracted by feature-itus.
The goal is to make a template that someone can sit down and fill out in perhaps 20 minutes. It should enable description and breaking down of the initial part of the game world players can play in. A small initial set of races, attributes and skills. A small sufficient set of objects that can be obtained and how they can be used. How combat works. What actions can be performed in the given part of the game world. What events and personalities and places are present.
I will post my starter version in the next post in this topic. However, I think there is some value in perhaps having stock designs for some of the more fiddly aspects like common medieval fantasy game objects. Sets of attributes (e.g. DnD style). Generic combat mechanisms. Simulationist world resources and economy modelling.
If a clear workable template was created, then it could be used in the help wanted section of the website to get a clear picture of someone's design. Want help from a programmer with your game idea? Fill in a form. Or if you're on the plane and want to brainstorm, a decent template could help you do so in a productive way. Anyway, on to posting the starter version..