From: George a. R. N. <no...@ac...> - 2000-08-14 17:15:14
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Nick Finco wrote: > > object, the default is to say "You get the key". The dynamic messages > > will allow a mud implementor to change it to something like "You lean > > over and pick up the key." without having to change the code. They can > > change it on the builder port easily. The challenge is to implement > > this without consuming mega resources. I thought about it a bit and > > Why not take it farther as well. In addition to dynamic actions also have > dynamic descriptions. Room descriptions could change based upon > the global weather or lighting conditions, number of objects in the room, > the number of people in the next room, etc. You could then just assign > a room description something like > > !>paragraph<!The forest looms before you. !>include desc_forest<! > > Then there would be a Message/Description object named dec_forest > that could contain something like this: > > In the !>if not daytime<!dark you can not see where the path is leading you. > !>else<!dismal light, you see a faint path winding into the trees.!>endif<! > > Of course there would have to be a better syntax for it but it gives you the > general idea. Yes, it would be like making descriptions in html/xml but > the dynamics provided would be a nice change to typical mudding where > people just run through the rooms without caring about the descriptions. > One possibility would be to get rid of showing objects in a room all > together and have the rooms show in their descriptions how many objects are > there. Then the character could look and see what was actually on the > ground. Of course, this could be a pain that players wouldn't want to put > up with but it is only an example. The possibility of extending the > language used for specials to create these dynamic action/descriptions is > also there and might be better than making something new. I'm also new > though and haven't looked at the code that handles the specials. We have the beginnings of this already in place. Currently, you can have different descriptions based upon the seasons (winter, summer, etc). This can be expanded to have different descriptions based on lighting, or even a special for the greatest flexibility. Though I like your idea of providing the possibility for one sentence in a description to be changed depending on the conditions. > > > 122 // The index in the array > > How bout just using an identifier. If the array changed, builders would > have to go back through and change all of their objects to match the change > in the array. If we used an identifier, we would need to use something like a hash table lookup. Since these will be constantly used, it will need a very fast lookup. One think I forgot to mention was that an adminflag, if set, will allow you to see the number (or identifier) that a specific message is identified with. For example, if a player has this flag set and they attack an orc, they would see: [347] You attack the orc! signifying that message 347 is the message they are seeing and they can go load it on the builder port and modify it. George |