Resets and repops (a really short post)

[claw at null.net]

On 27/03/97 at 10:03 PM, Adam Wiggins <nightfall at inficad.com> said:

>> I basically avoided the plot viewpoint as I have no control over what
>> other builders do, I've never seen it done well (multiple
>> order/solution path intersections (and that's with a background as a
>> paid writer (SF&F, mostly short stories))) and I don't think its
>> suited to a MUD world which is in a constant state of development and
>> change (ie user's changes permanently afffect the world for all
>> players).

>I'm in agreement with ya here...there's a thread in one of the r.g.m
>ngs right now about zones with 'stories'.  That is, there is a
>definite goal to the zone, that you comple through a combination of
>adventure-game style puzzles and the sheer might of your character,
>rather than just a collection of rooms, objects, and mobiles.  I
>rather disagree with this setiment, however - to me it's regressing
>to be more like a single-player game instead of progessing to
>something which is less a 'game' and more just a giant, believable
>world within a given setting. 

The best plot based area I've seen (and possibly the only one that
worked) was wrapped around the distant past.  The key I think was that
plot did not occur in present time, but that present time actions
re-wrote the past.  Your character could wander a castle with a very
tragic history (multiple royal murders, unpleasant successions etc
very Tower Of London style (which was what the room map was based
on)), and thru actions done in the present castle affect and even
partially re-write the past into, err, a less painful form.  The whole
goal was to save a princesses life and by doing that prevent a
valuable necklace from being lost in the river when she plunged from
the battlements.  Then, if you cleaned up the final strings, you could
recover the necklace from where she lost it.

>...This is our goal - to make a place where
>all sorts of cool things CAN happen, not necessarily WILL.  This ends
>up making the world infitely more interesting (there aren't a fixed
>number of paths).

Equally I hope, a world where there are many more ways than one to
achieve a particular end, or even solve a puzzle or quest.  Its a
bitch to do from a quest design viewpoint, but once you do its a *LOT*
more fun, and a load more confusing for players as they don't know if
one of their actions advanced them to the solution, or merely diverted
them to another solution path.

>> As you may guess from my compleat Gordon R Dickson collection, and
>> signed mint set of the Dorsai quadrilogy, I'm a fan of strategy.  I
>> really like the idea of changing combat from a spontaneous blast of
>> chaotic violence, to something that is prepared for and launched as a
>> series of predicted set pieces.  Its no longer a penis waving question
>> of who has the biggest weapon, but who has the best application of
>> their available attacks and defenses in regard to that particular
>> foe's similar set.  Yet again, EQ is driven down in significance, and
>> the importance of the point of application of the EQ is raised.

>For some reason I alwasy think of those old battle-script games like
>Corewars, CBots, etc when you talk about your battle-programming
>thing.  

That's a pretty good analogy.

>How technical is it going to be, exactly?  Basically
>programming an AI, or something more in the 'mood' of the game?
>That is, the difference between:
>
>  if blow.power > 5 joules
>    call parry
>  else
>    call dodge
>
>and:
>
>  > dodge all blows
>  Okay, you'll now dodge all blows.
>  > parry heavy blows
>  Okay, you'll now parry heavy blows and dodge all others.

Neither really.  The script language defines particular blows to be
delivered with particular weapons to a specified location on the
opponent, or particular reactions (equally detailed) to make against a
specific attempted blow or defense by an opponent.  This is then all
overlaid with feints which disguise real attacks/defenses.  The Combat
Package presents the user with a script which define what
blows/defences etc he will attempt in that combat round, along with
what reactions (if he does that, then forget about that attack and do
this instead).  The user then has the chance to edit, refuse, or
otherwise alter the script before it is submitted to the controlling
combat object for resolution against everyone elses scripts (the
scripts are repetitively played against each other, some more than
others, with scripts from more able characters getting more
repetitions and so more chances at an intended result).

None of this is long-term predictive.  There's no setting up things
like wimpy factors, default reactions to all XXX attacks for all
combat scripts etc.  To do that sort of thing you need to tailor the
combat package directly.  (Actually I shouldn't say "NO" above, if the
combat package author adds that support, then yes, you could have a
"parry heavy blows" type configuration).

>It seems, though, from your example battle-log, that quick thinking
>is still of some value.  

Not quite so fast.  That battle log was written off the top of the
cranium to give an idea of what the /character/ of a battle may be. 
It wasn't taken from a real fight on a real server.  Were it a real
log, it would have been filled at every step with suggested battle
scripts from the player's Combat Packages, any real-time editing made
to those scripts by the player, the results of the round arbitration
by the combat object monitoring the fight as it resolves the results
of the submitted script from each combatant, and then the results of
the actual blows/defenses/etc made.

It makes for a lot less exciting reading then what I wrote, even if
the actual fight sequence and results were identical.

>Currently I'd say that's the most important
>thing for good combat (*especially* PK), aside from actually have a
>strong character. 

Quick thinking is definitely of value -- most especially as I'm
deliberately making many states increasingly unstable as the leave 0. 
The result is that while you can use magic to (say) blow one of your
stats sky high, that ultra-high stat is very unstable, and if your
opponent counters appropriately you'll lose all your gained and more
immediately.  The hope of course is that your opponent is slow enough
that you can take advantage of your stat gain for a round or two to
get some serious damage in.  THe problem is that your opponent may
also have blown a stat high, or have launched ant attack which takes
another of your stats to near-zero.  All very very fluid and (sorta)
fast.

>I generally do well at PK simply because I type
>~100 wpm, and read very quickly.  Would be nice to see a mud where
>this wasn't much of an issue, and it was actually your tactical
>ability.  

I've slowed down combat rounds even further to 15seconds a round as
they are very spammy right now.

>Of course, most muds are too simple for this right now - if
>you had a lot of time to think about what you were doing, everything
>would be insanely easy.  On the other hand, I do like the frantic
>pace of combat; certainly gets your heart pumping when things get
>hairy!  Versus..."Oh dear, he just lobbed a plasma grenade at me,
>primed for 3 seconds...think I'll go get a beer out of the fridge
>while I think about what I'm gonna do about it."

That's where the combat object comes in.  Each combatant submits their
actions/reactions etc for the round based on what they think and/or
hope the other combatants will be submitting.  The combat object then
takes all of these, resolves them against each other atomicly, and
effects the resultant blows/damage/etc.  The pacing may not be
hair-raising, but the result is more:

"Hmm, He's big and strong, but he hasn't tried magic attack yet.  He's
either low on mana, low on spells, or holding out.  His sword does
appear to be enchanted tho.  I'll guess that he's mana low, so I'll
throw a mana eater on him to see if I can't destruct the sword. 
However, he also been doing some serious damage to me with the
cleaver, so lets kick him in the goolies and try and wrestle it away
from him.  Of course, that'll leave my head unprotected, so if he
strikes for my head, forget about kicking him, block with the shield
there and stab him in the gut with the dagger I have in my other hand. 
If I do that I'm not going to have time to do the mana eater, and he
could easily block me there with his buckler, so if he does go for my
head, forget the mana eater and the stomache thrust, and lets cast a
sink hole on the ground beneath him.  Oh yeah, and forget everything
if he attacks my torso, and just block.

"Yeah..that should do it.  Leave me pretty wide open if he attacks my
arms or legs, but I don't have time to actively defend there much
right now, and my guard spells are still in pretty good shape.

"Okay, lets do it.

"DAMN!  The sod has lots of mana!  Bastard just thew a mana sink on
me, and then reflected my own mana sink back on me to boot!  I lost
over 5,000 mana!  All my spell guards are gone!  Most of my armour is
gone,  My dagger is gone,  My keys are all gone...  Still, it looks
like he's really out of mana now 'cause his sword destructed -- even
if after taking out most of my left leg.  I still have a couple spells
left, so I *could* create some mana, summon a dragon and sic it on
him.  Of course if he has any spells left he could then reflect it on
me... Hmmm  That would hurt.  I think I'll heal myself, hope he
doesn't catch it and divert the heal to himself, and then cast a
sinkhole on the ground beneath him.  That'll use almost all my mana
and all my spells, but it might make him think I'm tougher than I
really am...  If the sinkhole sticks he should be disabled for long
enough for me to finish him off.

"Oops.  He really got me.  I'm almost dead.  I could drop me recall
bug to teleport back to my castle, but he might have a tracer or a
band on me.  That would be deadly.  OTOH he's stuck in my sinkhole and
looks almost dead as well.  I could try and finish him off -- should
be a piece of cake unless he's still got something up his sleeve..."

There are very few points where someone can launch an attack which
does not deliver immediately.  This prevents the old game of "Oh, he
lobbed a grenade, wonder what I'll do?"  The few delayed reaction
attacks are really just preparations, followed by delivery, ala "He
summoned a dragon, red one I think.  He could attack me with it, he
could use it for defense, or he could just use it as a mana producer
for a nasty attack spell on me..."

--
J C Lawrence                               Internet: claw at null.net
----------(*)                              Internet: coder at ibm.net
...Honourary Member of Clan McFud -- Teamer's Avenging Monolith...