[MUD-Dev] Object Models

[Travis Casey]

Thursday, November 23, 2000, 3:36:56 AM, Bruce <bruce at puremagic.com> wrote:

> I haven't worked out entirely how this will work yet, but it is a
> large part of an approach that I'm considering taking to the
> system that I'm working on.  In my mind, this approach should
> actually simplify scaling up to many objects, rather than become
> more difficult.  It isn't really that different from some of the
> event-based systems around, but just sounds different because I
> want to focus on the interactions between the objects, rather
> than objects themselves.

[snip some]

> Taking the example of a weapon, we might look at the case of a
> sword.  Possible characteristics of a sword, in trying to model
> how it interacts with its environment might include:
>  * Can be wielded in one hand.
>  * When used, it can inflict damage:
>    * Slicing
>    * Piercing
>    * Blunt trauma

This is much like how many paper RPGs classify weapons (which you
probably know, Bruce, but I wanted to state for everyone), and could
work, insofar as it goes.  However, it is possible to go a level
deeper.

The game company BTRC puts out a product called "Guns, Guns, Guns"
(3G3 for short -- the second 3 because it's currently in its third
edition), which is a system for figuring out stats for weapons for
RPGs.  The main focus is on technological ranged weapons of various
types, but there is a small section devoted to melee weapons.
Using its system, you can take such things as length, weight, and
presence of a cutting edge and derive from them a damage value,
initiative modifier, whether or not two hands are needed to use the
weapon, etc.

A system like that might make an even better underlying layer -- with
such a system, a question like "how good is my long sword now that the
last foot of the blade has broken off" can be answered automatically,
simply by refiguring the weapon's stats.

[snip rest]

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