[MUD-Dev] Virtual machine design

[Shane King]

On Sat, Apr 17, 1999 at 04:08:42AM +0000, Ben Greear did spake thusly:
> I'm curious why so many people want to build internal languages into
> their MUD?  I don't mean to sound critical, it's just that I have never
> really seen the benefit.  These are the issues that I see:
> 
> 1)  Common users can't program in any real language, so why implement
> one
> in the game.  Surely it would be easier to just write all the code in
> a 'real' language of your choice and then use readily available
> compilers
> to make it into a binary....

I want common users to be able to code in a real language though. :)

Otherwise, I would agree with you...

I guess that places an additional contraint on what I want to do -
there has to be some concept of privelledge levels.

> 2)  Common users can script, so I definately see the need for simple
> scripting.

Scripting isn't good enough for what I want. I want a system where
players don't disappear from the world, but instead they can write AI's
for themselves. Of course, standard AI options need be provided for
those who don't or can't code.

Considering I also want the same option for "mobs", scripting gets both
too slow and too inflexible.

> 3)  I understand that many people strive for a basic interpreter type of
> shell, which is incredibly flexible, and then use this language to write
> their game particulars in.  However, to me this looks a lot like
> re-writing
> the OS.

Yeah, I agree, to an extent. I'm not too worried about being
increadibly flexible, rather my aim is something more dynamic, which
I've thought of doing in native code but turns out to be rather clumsy
and ugly, and just plain unworkable.

> 4)  I think it would be pretty cool to implement such a system, just for
> the
> sake of coding it up, but I don't see the practical benefits.  Please
> enlighten me! :)

There is of course that. :)

--
- Shane King <thandor at ihug.com.au>     <ICQ#:2492866>
             <http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~thandor/>
"If a machine, a terminator, can learn the value of human life, maybe we
can too." - Sarah Connor, Terminator II: Judgement Day.


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