Resets and repops

[Jon A. Lambert]

I heartily agree with your sentiments.  I am attempting something similar.
I treat most NPCs identically to characters.  The subsystems that NPCs run
issue commands to an input buffer.  In like fashion, the players' input
buffers are written to by the network process. 

I also agree with the concept that NPC activity continues in areas/zones
that players are not present in.  There can be significant overhead involved with this.
I have attempted to balance this by programming some NPCs to be "marshalls"
for other NPCs or controllers of city/town subsystems.  Thus not all NPC scripts are 
active and consuming resources all the time.  For instance city guard captains are 
programmed to issue patrol orders and attack orders to their charges.  An interesting side 
affect is that by taking out a "marshall" or subsystem controller, a great amount of chaos 
ensues until a replacement NPC is found.  

Player Characters can also have subsystem programs attached to them should they gain 
the title or position.  These can be altered to suit the players preferences and continue to 
execute while they are on off-line time.  Should they lose or resign the position, the subsystem 
program is inherited by the replacement PC or NPC.  I am hoping that over time the subsystems
continue to evolve according to the personality/whims of the players running them.
Should a subsystem be run into the ground by a player, I expect that they will be forced out
of their position by revolt, a higher level PC, or some other means.  This mechanism is not
clear yet.  PCs can also create and assign subsystems to hirelings such as a shop which they 
have purchased or a steward they have hired to watch over their holdings while they are
away. 

In some areas (mostly rural/dungeons/castles), only one NPC needs to be programmed
in this way, while in a city setting there are a good deal more subsystems at work.
If players are present, certainly all NPCs in the area respond to events.  If no players
are present, this leader NPC issues orders regarding maintenance, defensive positions,
patrols and under certain conditions would lead an attack on a neighboring location.
I am toying with the idea that certain locations can be destroyed and built back up
via some sort of maintenance routines, without spoiling the originality of a place
description.  This might allow siege type combat to take place and also the looting and 
sacking of villages/towns/etc. 

> Here's another example:  Honest Sammy owns an antique shop in one of those
> twilight zones just outside the city centre district.  One day, a party of
> players gets involved in a firefight and obliterates his poor old shop.
> Now, the game driver stores the fact that the shop was closed down because
> of something violent and the crime rate in there is something close to a
> warzone.  When it comes to a 'reset/repop', the driver rolls a dice to
> decide if there is gonna be some other gullible shopkeeper (not
> necessarily an antique store) or should it stay with boarded windows or if
> the local gang thinks it would be quaint to use it as a den...

I have something called repopulation programs.  They are still quite
feeble.  I am hoping to evolve them into the form of NPC controlled subsystems.
It is my theory that the shopkeeper subsystem be inherited by someone else.
Perhaps Sammy's shop passes to Sammy, jr., is auctioned to the highest bidder
or is taken over by the city tax system.

In a related vein, I was inspired by Nathan's description of his implementation of
the physical laws of the universe to do something not altogether dissimilar in
my server.  While Nathan's model seems highly appropriate to a real world with
real laws of physics, my world's physics are entirely subject to the whims of
the gods.  I don't believe in physics, I believe in divine intervention. (*grin*)
It was my original intention that all immortals/deities actually be THAT.  They 
can be player/administrator run and can be used literally as gods.
My immortal pantheon is very similar to the greek mythos albeit with different names.
They demand sacrifices, quests and generally participate in mortal affairs.  As such
they are roleplayed by whomever is granted with the responsibility.  With this in
mind, I have done away with my solar/lunar timer events and have assigned maintenance
and execution of these events to the Apollo NPC's and Artemis NPC's subsystems. 
 It may be that Apollo might wish to delay the sunrise to allow a favored player to gain 
advantage in an early morning attack or Artemis decides that an eclipse would be 
appropriate to auger a significant event.  With the NPC always "playing", it is possible
for them to respond in an automated way to sacrifices, prayers and quests.
There are many other possibilities, as I decide which dieties' subsystems control which 
mud events.

JL