[MUD-Dev] Virtual Chemistry

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <Marcel-1.26-0802122817-b49Ky&5 at Gryphon.knoware.nl>, on 08/02/97 
   at 08:57 AM, Marian Griffith <gryphon at iaehv.nl> said:

>My personal alchemy.

>I've based this alchemy on the four elements, mostly because
>everybody is already familiar with that and this means there is no
>need to go into any detail with that.

>Everything in alchemy is based on the balance of -life- and -decay-.
...deletia of good well thought out stuff...

I won't comment on the model other than to say that its a type of
approach that I considered and ended up leaving purely because I
wasn't able to think of a decent way to prepresent it in a programmed
game.  BTW: Nathan's suggested magic model had a similar weakness for
me.  I like both the ideas, but I just don't see a workable way to
represent them programmatcially without opening yourself up for
nightmarish bugs or a *really* confusing time as a player.  

Suggestions welcome on this area.

The model that I've been playing with here, which I think I've posted
on here before, is based on my basic strategy idea of combining very
simple systems into a complex whole.  It is also follows the sme model
to attempt to create economies.

  Magic, energy, life, matter etc, all occur as particles.

  All such particles can be of -ve or +ve sign.

  Any creation of such particles results in equal quantities of -ve
and +ve particles being created.

  Particles of opposite sign and identical type destroy each other
silently upon meeting.

  At any instant in time the world is guaranteed to have a net sum of
zero of all particle types.

  "Magnets" may be created which attract or repell particles of a
given sign and type.  This prevents the creation of say 100 mana
particles to then only have them instantly self-destruct as +ve meets
negative and they vanish into /dev/null.

  Creation of particles of any type requires the destruction of some
quota of particles of other types.  

  The arrangement of particle types and number in the quota can be
highly variant at runtime based on locale, local conditions,
world-conditions, target particles being created, etc.  However the
net result is always zero.

  The general arragement of quotas is to form a +ve sum game.  This
creates a +ve feedback loop over time.

  The formula for the quota for a given particle type generally leads
to greater and greater expenses for a given particle type as its
population increases.

  The game world contains various forms of predators which monitor the
population levels of particles of particular signs and types as their
food supply (cf the Orc breeders/hunters/fighters/nobles, and the
Trash Collectors) which then multiply/breed or die/hibernate
accordingly to act as sinks for the positive feedback loops.

  Particle predators are highly attractive to their prey particles.

  The mechanics of the predators and the particle creation however
allows for the localised creation of very high levels of say mana
particles.  This allows a user to say temporarily create a massive
local population of mana for a spell, which, should he not use it all,
would then be attracted/flow away.  The mana would then be attracted
to the predators who would eat the mana, and if there was enough of
it, multiply and eat even more.  This in turn would create a "mana
river" from the creation location to the predator location (cf
Keegan's Ley lines).

  Further standard creator objects could be created which act as the
arse holes to the predators, and do nothing but emit particles
(perhaps transmogrified into new types) that the predators have eaten. 
This maintains the concept of conservation of energy/particles.  

  All spells, motion, etc consumes particles.  

  Magical objects consume mana to sustain their magical existance.

  Should an object be unable to consume the mana it needs, it will
either not do the action it needs the particles for, or begin to self
destruct.  eg your magic sword falls to dust as it runs out of mana.

  Magic is actually another form of particle which is not mana.

  Mana is a particle which facilitates the creation of magic.  It is
not magic in itself.

  Magic particles require large numbers of mana particles to be
"sacrificed" to create them.  

  Magic particles have sign just like other particles.

  Magic particles require steady infusions of new mana particles of
same sign to remain in existance.  

  The mana a magic particle consumes is destroyed.  To prevent this
from disturbing the net zero sum, the consumed mana particles are
transformed into another type (typically energy), and often act as
corrosives to the material object the magic is embedded in (ie magic
particles occasionally destruct/eat matter paticles and transform them
into some other particle type).

...etc.

I'm sure I've missed some details in the above coverage, which has of
course no background story or pretty theme behind it (that's merely
presentation frills, you want a nice thematic background?  I'll come
up with one), but then again this is typed in a rush before going home
from work

--
J C Lawrence                           Internet: claw at null.net
(Contractor)                           Internet: coder at ibm.net
---------------(*)               Internet: clawrenc at cup.hp.com
...Honorary Member Clan McFUD -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...