Issues from the digests and Wout's list

[Shawn Halpenny]

On Apr 10,  6:57pm, clawrenc at cup.hp.com wrote:

JCL> >One of the things that were not discussed at length is the issue of
JCL> >parsing and handling user input.  Could you comment on that too?
JCL>
JCL> <shake head>
JCL>
JCL> The only outstanding one I can remember here is suggesting command
JCL> compleation ala:
JCL>
JCL>   > get bag
JCL>   Do you want the:
JCL>     1 -- Mouldy sack
JCL>     2 -- Paper bag
JCL>     3 -- Leather satchel
JCL>     0 -- Cancel command
JCL>   >> 3
JCL>   You take the leather satchel,
JCL>
JCL> I currently do this, with caveats for nested compleations, multiple
JCL> character support (multi-playing) and priority interrupts.

I remember a posting to one of the ng's a while back in this vein, and I
wondered then, as now, what happens if the poor sod who just typed "get
bag" and was suddenly attacked by UggUgg.  Will the parser still be waiting
for a response of 0-3?  Or if a response of anything _not_ 0-3 fails the
get command without notification, executes the just-typed command
"c superkill UggUgg", and then returns to the base state of waiting for any
command?  I'm leaning toward the latter, since IMO forcing a reply of 0-3
makes the interface work against the user in cases like above.

[ stuff about combat scripts cut, but churning in the back of my head and
will hopefully generate a useful reply in the near future ]

JCL> >2) Namespaces.
JCL> >* Allowing players to name one another.
JCL> >* Introduction systems.
JCL> >* The "familiar face" element and remembering/forgetting names. *
JCL> >Naming objects and exits.

I'm not into this too much, so I'll give it a miss.

JCL> >3) Skills and skill trees.
JCL>
JCL> Nathan: I like your recent comment on flat trees without
JCL> pre-requisites (eg anyone can *try* to fly, it just won't work if you
JCL> don't have wings/rocket assist etc)  Care to expand?

Related to this vein, I'm moving towards a model where there are no skill
sets, really, just commands bound to particular objects which can be added
or removed from a character's immediate environment (inventory, equipment,
body).	For example:  the only people who can attempt to fly are people
who have wings or a rocket pack.  The reason they can attempt it is
because the "fly" command is built into the wings/rocket pack, which, when
added to the immediate environment, bestow the "skill" on the character by
giving them the fly command in this case.  No one has to go "buy" their
flying skill, they just acquire the means to make it possible.	Then as
they attempt to use the command, the code for the command is responsible
for handling all the variables used to fly.  I don't know if that was very
clear.	How I'll determine how good the person is at flying, I haven't
explored to much detail (yet)--suffice it to say though that it could get
interesting since my "skill" system is a loose, mutated thing that I'm not
entirely convinced will do what I want.

JCL>
JCL> >4) Rumors.
JCL> >* Decaying rumors.
JCL> >* "Alerting authorities".
JCL>
JCL> We definitely need to get back into this.

I have thoughts on this, but have to find where I've stashed them...

JCL> >5) Containers and grouping.
JCL> >* Handling different yet similar objects.
JCL> >* Groups of people/mobs.
JCL> >* "Piles of junk".
JCL> >* Referring to specific items/individuals in a group.
JCL>
JCL> Still no real idea how to handle.

Hmm.  A sort of pseudo-container that is created when similar objects are
in the same place, where any interactions with the pseudo-container are mapped
to the items inside the container?  Dunno.

JCL> >6) Global mob AI.
JCL>
JCL> Ouch.  Like it.  Don't have an elegant solution yet.

<gurgle><spastic-twitching>

--
Shawn Halpenny