[MUD-Dev] Re: The Best Guy on the Mud Thing

[Ilya]

On Fri, 17 Sep 1999 16:45:24 -0700 (PDT), Adam Wiggins wrote:

))It seems to me that you should be okay if your spell language has enough
))variations.  For example, let's say that you're using the normal alphabet;
))each letter, A through Z, is a 'rune'.  Strings of these runes together
))(ranging from 3 to 10 characters in length) are spells.  Even with only 3
))characters, there are 17,576 combinations of spells possible.  As soon as
))you go up to, say, 7 characters, there are 8,031,810,176 combinations.
))If it takes reasonably long to try a spell, say, one second, it would
))take over 250 years to try all the combinations.
))
))I would certainly go for nasty effects when you get a bad combination,
))however.  Adds a lot of spice to the game, and makes botting the task
))difficult, if not impossible, if you want your character to actually
))stay alive.
))
))Adam


I'd throw in one other item I've been toying with -- what if there were
indeed keywords or keyletters or whatever that you had to learn, and these
were associated with spells, but they were different for each character?

It could be as easy as coming up with a simple encrypting function for
the "base" spellword, then using some unique player datum (yes, it really
does have a singular, barely!) to do the encryption.

Now everybody has his/her own special set of words for spells, and these
words must be found somehow, or learned, or whatever.

This could still allow for teaching -- one who already knows his own
keyword for a spell could use it in the presence of the learner, and this
might somehow aid the learner a tad.  Perhaps enough people doing this
for the learner, or even staggering amounts of time spent by the learner
alone on his own meditating on the effect desired, and finally you get
the word.

Or maybe you get an _idea_ of the word.  Try it if you wish, try it at
your own risk.  The longer you wait, the more ideas you get, and the
slightly more likely the right one will be among those ideas.  So the
time factor enters in -- take a LONG time, and be pretty darned sure you've
got the word.  But risk takers could meditate (or train with another)
for their word a brief time, until the first one popped into their head.
Then they go out and try it.  Good luck!  It might even work.  Or it
might kill you.

Hey, I like this!  I know, of course I should, but I was just sort of
thinking aloud, hadn't really followed all these thoughts any further
than their beginnings.  I am having fun with it now though!

Cheers,  Ilya

--
  Ilya, Game Commandos     http://www.gamecommandos.com     





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