The MLI Project

[Niklas Elmqvist]

On Wed, 25 Feb 1998, Caliban Tiresias Darklock wrote:

[3D MUD Engines:]
> Actually, if you can live with the restrictions (which aren't really that
> bad when you consider the restrictions under which many MUD builders
> labor), you could even just use Doom for the 3D aspect. Hell, the source
> has been released, so why not? I still say Quake II is *the* engine for 3D
> (at least until Trinity hits), since some of the levels are positively
> gorgeous, but Doom is certainly adequate.
> 
> Okay, so I harp too much on Quake being viable for MUD development. So
> what? All of us in here harp on *something* people think is a dumb idea. ;)

The problem with using a Quake-like graphics engine for a MUD is the
connotations it bears with it -- players tend to PK each other by default 
(as they do on a regular Quake server). That is, first-person shooters in
multiplayer settings have been around so long (in an internet sense, that
is) that most players would shoot or slash at anything that moves,
especially if the MUD gameplay is as fast-paced as in a "normal" shooter.
(Okay, not a serious problem, and the players would most likely get used
to it after a while.) 

Another problem with the Quake engine is that it does not work well with
large outdoor areas, and it is hard (read: memory-consuming) to include a
lot of "organic" terrain (most Quake-levels are still very angular) such
as rolling hills, steep canyons and craggy mountains. Using some kind of
voxel scheme for the terrain rendering would be neat, especially if the
terrain could be generated client-side using a suitable fractal and a seed
sent from the server. (I don't think 3D accelerators support voxels,
however, just texture-mapped polygons?)

Otherwise, I generally agree about the Quake II engine's suitability for
MUDs, at least for dungeons/castles/towns.

> How realistic is this? Let's say I have a great sense of smell. That blob
> is supposed to represent the pile of horse manure in the corner? What if I
> go into some location and there's a bucket of spoiled milk? Would I be able
> to see anything in the room at all? ;)
> 
> This is a fantastic idea for "detect magic" or the like, though.

Hmm, yes, but the problem we're facing here (as you point out with the
blob representing the smell of a pile of horse manure) is that we're
trying to represent sensory perceptions with visual aids, something which
really can't be done. In a text MUD, you can simulate this by simply 
stating "you feel an overpowering stench emanating from that pile of
horse manure in the corner". In a graphical MUD, we can get around a part   
of the problem by saying that special senses such as "detect magic" really  
is just an extension of normal vision, but until we get smellcards in
addition to the soundcards we already have, the sense of smell will be
hard to reproduce in a computer game. ;)

-- Niklas Elmqvist (d97elm at dtek.chalmers.se) ----------------------
"You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you 
 could do is give them a meaningful look."	 
	- Terry Pratchett, Small Gods