[MUD-Dev] Room-based vs. Coordinate based[Was semi-graphical muds]

[J C Lawrence]

On Sun, 11 Feb 2001 18:54:27 -0800 
Ben Chambers <bjchambers at phoenixdsl.com> wrote:

> Which do you prefer?  I can find arguments for both.  Room-based
> allows for easier implementation of odd shaped rooms and bizarre
> exits.  

I do both, simultaneously, for the same locations.  First, there are
rooms, much as typical, except that each room is in itself a
coordinate space (internally and externally), and each room lies
within a coordinate space which positions it with other rooms to
which is is related in some fashion, and there are any number of
those coordinate space groups (ie clusters of related rooms) within
the world.  

This is done deliberately to be able to model non-einsteinian,
non-linear, and directionally sensitive spaces among other things,
and yes, I play with many of the possibilities.

> Coordinate based allows for easier representation.  

Coordinates get a bit messy when the door to the east actually
enters to the west of you (eg you stand facing east and can see your
back to the east looking at yourself further east).  It took me a
while to get the algebras for that sort of thing, as well as things
like the Blue Grass Path and Mobiue Row worked out (see archives).

> Coordinates are displayed on the map screen, and bizarre exits can
> still be used in the text based portion.  

One of my goals was to be able to build in-game constrcutions which
could not be automatically/representationally mapped, but could only
be mapped by the player manually assembling a directed graph of the
location nodes.  The Blue Grass Path was the initial example of
that.  Fortress Fract (which I really should try and ressurect) was
the were I kinda went hog wild.

--
J C Lawrence                                       claw at kanga.nu
---------(*)                          http://www.kanga.nu/~claw/
--=| A man is as sane as he is dangerous to his environment |=--
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