[MUD-Dev] C&C and Event Rescheduling

[clawrenc at cup.hp.com]

In <33F408A9.13BE at dial.pipex.com>, on 08/14/97 
   at 04:48 PM, Richard Woolcock <KaVir at dial.pipex.com> said:

>clawrenc at cup.hp.com wrote:

>> I have severe allergic reactions to tick based systems.
>> Characteristically I prefer the "as fast as the system will let you,"
>> model. The idea that I'll deliberately program a system so that a
>> human can wait on a computer seems treasonous.

>Okay fair enough.  I personally prefer delays which will allow the
>users to perform other things in the process.  It takes time to walk
>from A to B, after all.  

Yeah, I'm aware of the fallacy of the model.  Its a holdover from my
days on Shades and company.  I lived and died back then based on how
well I knew the map and how quickly I could move ad adapt my movements
about the map.  I liked that aspect.  

Of course it also meant that anyone on a lcoal terminal could
slaughter even the best dial-up user, but that seemed a small expense.

>Out of interest, how does your combat work?

Combat currently consists of a stateless form, and a stated form.  In
the major case I have no concept of a character being "in combat". 
This is due to the fact that most of the commands used to fight are
identical to the commands they would use for more normal and less
damaging purposes (see UggUgg's fight again).  

However a character can define himself as "fighting", which is then a
state unique to him.  This then invokes the various combat packages he
has written or installed on his character, which on a timed round
basis attempt to analyse the actions of his opponents and propose
possible scripted action sequences (attacks, defences, feints,
sequences etc) to attempt during the next round (at the end of the
round the script is thrown away and a new one generated).  The result
is that his own combat participation is then somewhat timed, due to
the fact that he's making tactical combat decisions every round. 
However the fact that he's in combat state does not prevent him from
doing anything else he may wish, including dancing the polka, or
juggling under ripe apples, or clobbering poor Bubba over the head
with his mace, as the combat packages only define to-be-attempted
tactics, not strategy, or an inability to do anything else.

>I assume you have delays in there?  

Not really.

>Perhaps I'm thinking StockCombat,
>and you've found some new method?

I've borrowed very little from what we commonly think of as MUDs. 
About my only hold over is the fact that we're manipulating
"characters" in a "world".  All the rest of the mechanics have been
dissassembled and rebuilt from new clay.

>...Whatever system you DO
>decide to use however, have you considered using the same thing for
>some sort of 'wrestling' style combat?  

Not really.  Its not terribly useful in my world-model.  Wrestling
just doesn't add much advantage -- there are too many other much more
profitable and much less dangerous lines to take instead.  

  Why wrestle with a chap when he can potentially create a dagger out
of thin air or summon it from somehere else in the land and stab you
with it?

This is a very high magic world.  I have no idea what it will end up
really looking like once the players discover that time and space
aren't really any sort of direct barriers any more, only familiarity
is...

>One of the main reasons I would use delays in here is to
>stop people with clients having a truely sick advantage.  They will
>always have some sort of advantage, I just want to reduce it a bit.

I am a firm believer that any game which can be profitably automated
via a client or other bot-like system is fundamentally flawed as a
game.  I'm not keen on reducing players to merely slower but smarter
machines.

As such I do allow generally unlimited speed actions, but attempt to
craft the world so that that it is actually not a very valuable
ability.  

  "Okay, you can move very quickly.  Big whoop.  I can teleport. 
Wanna race?"

--
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...