[MUD-Dev] Maintaining fiction.

[Caliban Tiresias Darklock]

On Wed, 13 Jun 2001 09:59:33 -0500, "Hulbert, Leland" <LHulbert at czn.com>
wrote:
> Caliban Tiresias Darklock [mailto:caliban at darklock.com] wrote:
 
>> Saving the game means saving the state of the GAME. Not just an
>> object.
 
> Granted.  But...In any modern computer game I can think of, there
> a "random" aspects that affect gameplay.  Even if I'm playing
> Diablo II as a single-player game, things will change if I play my
> saved game today, then quit, without saving, and replay it
> tomorrow. The random seed will change, the monsters will be in
> different places when I find them, and the treasure they drop will
> be different than what they drop today.

But the *environment* doesn't change. Monsters move around, what
they carry is different, etc. But if you save your game near a door
and the door is locked, it will still be locked when you come
back. In a multiplayer scenario, this is not the case.

Furthermore, allowing people to backup their characters permits
several abuses. Consider:

You walk into a tavern. There, you meet a guy who will sell you
seven different pieces of information for 500 gold each. You only
have 600 gold. So you go outside and save. Now you walk in, buy the
information, write it down, and restore your backup. Repeat this six
more times, and you get all seven pieces of information free.

This is not an easy problem to fix. It's not the only one,
either. Think about it a little. Remember floppy disk saves in the
SSI AD&D games?  Make two save disks. Save the same game on both of
them. Now give all your gold and useful items to one party
member. Remove everyone else from the party. Swap floppies. Add
everyone to the party again. Swap floppies. Repeat as necessary, and
you have unlimited funds and plenty of everything.

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