[MUD-Dev] [Fwd: Warfare on retromud.org 3000]

[Richard Woolcock]

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From: trescami at pilot.msu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.diku,alt.mud,rec.games.mud.misc,rec.games.mud.lp
Subject: Warfare on retromud.org 3000
Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 00:23:33 GMT
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I'm investigating the implementation of a war system on our MUD
(retromud.org 3000) and I was curious how many other MUDs have
taken gaming to this level.  That is, do the folks who hack dragons
up (or try) and jealously guard their castles find the prospect of
waging wars with armies over large terrain an appealing concept or
just a nuisance?

There's a few aspects we've been grappling with in particular with
this sort of code.

1) A representation of lots of people in one single object.  This
requires all sorts of code changes (you can't knock 200 soldiers
unconscious, trip all of them simultaneously, etc., but that's possible
with a variety of skills and spells against a single monster) but
also a change in the concept of just how many beings you can
cram into one room.  We made this "virtual outdoors only" code,
essentially turning the six outerworlds into big chess games.

2) What exactly is considered a holding, castle, etc.  We're
suffering greatly in this transition from "castle" to "domain" --
it was considerably easier prior to these changes to just take
a castle over, so we're switching to a siege system.  This
should help, but it will take time to code.

3) Who gets to command armies.  Some people view fighter
types as tight-lipped warriors, others view them as charismatic
leaders of war.  Fitting the warrior-leader concept into our
current guild system is a challenge.

4) Army vs. army combat as opposed to army vs. person combat.
Even if Bob the Warrior has a gigantic sword, it seems strange
that he could avoid being skewered by several swordsman
as he wades into the thick of battle with no room to dodge.
We have a summoning system that represents a "soldier
stepping to the fore" to engage anyone who is insane
enough to melee along with an army-swarm attack to
represent the rest of the army.  But with this sort of thing, to
prevent farming (attacking the army so it clones soldiers
repeatedly while you reap the benefits) means they're worth
no exp and they don't leave anything of value behind.

Has any other MUD attempted this?  To what degree of
success?  Does it significantly add to the MUDding experience
for players?  Does it attract highbies who settle down and
become wargamers or does it end up being a curiosity that
nobody utilizes?

I'm interested to see how these concepts have been
implemented elsewhere.  Thanks!

Talien Radisgad
RetroMUD Administrator
retromud.org 3000

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