[MUD-Dev] Re: Recursive look

[Adam Wiggins]

On Wed, 21 Oct 1998, Ling wrote:
> The 'automatic brief mode' that remembers things could also do a sweeping
> generalisation.  For example, something that is metallic, probably black,
> has long cylinder with a hole in one end and a handle attached is probably
> a gun.  Likewise, a place that's grey, lots of concrete, random flashing
> lights, plenty of people milling around purposefully is probably urban. 
> This would lead to a cool effect of culture shock and the equally neat
> effect of 'seen one, seen them all'.
> 
> Bubba, having never been to the big city before, stands there with his
> mouth open staring at the pavement for 10 minutes.
> 
> Implementing it...  That's a different matter altogether.

Off the top of my head I'd say that you could implement this by sensory
levels.  That is: I'm standing in a quiet, dark room, and suddenly I'm
teleported onto the Strip in Las Vegas.  And vice versa.  Naturally these
effects would accrue over a long time such that the hermit living on the
quiet mountaintop would be shocked quite a bit longer after being
teleported to Las Vegas than the long-time gambler.

This also has the effect that travelling through twenty different casinos, all
of which "look the same" (eg, they aren't really the same but the elements
and sensory levels are the same) will result in very little new stuff added
to the description, but when you step into a quiet room you get a whole new
description output.  And vice versa - travelling through a long stretch of
woods stops telling you about all the trees that are around you, but when you
step out into the clearing where there's a big party going on you're suddenly
overwhealmed with data.

In a fantasy world, of course, this would be more like "reclusive
Wood Elf visits Midgaard" or "Drow visits the surface".

Adam W.