[MUD-Dev] Re: Introductions and descriptions

[Matt Chatterley]

On Thu, 20 Nov 1997, Maddy wrote:

> Previously, Matt Chatterley wrote....
> 
> > 2. Set up probabilities of occurance for each name, rather than making it
> > arr[random(sizeof(arr))] or something to that effect - this way you would
> > have more Johns than Naseems, which is probably realistic. ;)
> 
> You could go one better than this and produce a probability for syllables
> and then randomly generate new names.  I guess this probably wouldn't work
> too well for English names, but it'd certainly work well for foreign/alien
> names.

Yeah. Possibly overdoing it for something where all your names are coming
from one cultural index (eg: Humans), but very interesting when you have a
very different set of such indices (entirely difference Species).

> [Snip]
> 
> > By this notion, are there any good themes, or is something wrong with the
> > 'non-automated' approach taken by many games? Personally I am either
> > minimalistic (very little code, very little built, because the game is
> > really just a social construct between the players), or the other extreme
> > (very heavy automation, and suchlike).
> 
> The problem with basing the theme on a book or TV series is that you have to
> include everything the author has designed.  Now that isn't so bad, except
> that some of the stuff was designed with being a book/TV series in mind so
> it doesn't map well to a mud.  It seems far easier in my mind, to just pick
> a genre and to design your own game world around it - maybe borrowing a few
> ideas.

Yes. Having worked on one game based heavily on a TV show (Battlestar),
and then building another one based on another show (Babylon 5; this theme
was *doomed* because the shows arc moved away from what we actually wanted
to do, and our divergence was very controversial), and then going on to
begin the creation of an original theme (more recently taking up the
admin-garb on a single other game, based on the Riverworld books, which
are far more suitable), I definitely advocate creation of your own theme.

So happy am I with the theme my mud is building, that I intend to write
some of it down (perhaps in an apocalyptic style, certainly as a sort of
'prequel' to the game base), in the form of a novel, eventually.

Regards,
	-Matt Chatterley
"I shall never believe that God plays dice with the world." -Einstein