[MUD-Dev] The MLI Project

[Chris Gray]

[Caliban:]

:One of the things I've been enamored with lately is a throwback to Ultima
:1. If anyone remembers that game, the way it worked was that you wandered
:around in a tile-based graphic world until you got to a dungeon, and then
:it went to a 3D first person view. So I got to thinking...

I played a bit of the early ones on a friend's Apple-II. Is it true that
there was also a space mode on the first one? It doesn't sound reasonable,
but that's what I was told.

I've always liked that format. I did a game system for CP/M that used the
combination (I had a graphics card on my CP/M computer). I later ported
it to the Amiga, but the graphics weren't good enough, so it never went
anywhere. The CP/M version required specific additions to my linker to
make it fit - there were something like 20 bytes of memory left when it
and the scenario were loaded.

I've thought about it for my AmigaMUD system, too. There is a tile graphics
capability just for that surface mode, and I've thought of constructing
simple tunnel views by cutting and pasting various elements of walls
and floors, etc. Nothing real-time, but still could be reasonable. One
definitional problem I have is what to do for encounters (PC's, NPC's)
in the maze area. Ultima went to a third display mode for tactical stuff,
but I don't think that would be appropriate for a MUD, since the arrival
of wandering NPC's or other PC's could then trigger a mode switch - bad
user interface design! I also don't like some of the alternatives - the
icons for PC's and NPC's bumping into each other, and thus blocking
passage unnecessarily; the icons overlaying each other, resulting in an
often incomprehensible blur of jiggling pixels; etc.

: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.

I was thinking more of the positional senses, such as the "detect magic"
and "heat sense". With a set of three speakers, sound might work, but I
suspect most humans would be poor at locating a sound within the area of
a small monitor. Smell will have to wait for appropriate output devices.
There are graphical alternatives, however. How about showing sounds as
a slight jiggling or wavering of the image (along with coming out of your
stereo speakers, arranged beside your monitor, of course). Or smells
resulting in a wavering general clouding (colours wash out) of the image?
The "colour" of the misting could vary depending on a classification of
the smell according to a few basic smell components (rotten, acrid,
flowery, chemical, etc.). The strength of the misting could vary by the
strength of the smells, with a weak one being barely noticeable.

:Ugh. I hate numeric values in displays. "There is a rank 14 magic aura over
:THERE." Uhhhh... what the hell does that mean? ;)

Agree, but I couldn't have alternativeS unless I presented more than one!
Also, it seems some people really like numbers.

--
Chris Gray   cg at ami-cg.GraySage.Edmonton.AB.CA