[MUD-Dev] Component Based Items Was:Re:data structure design in a new mud

[Kwon Ekstrom]

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Buehler" <johnbue at msn.com>

> Can you say more about the component technology you'll be working
> with?

I had planned to allow players to modify and build their own
equipment, as a fundamental system in my game.  I've noticed a few
very simple (too simple for my tastes) systems that were taken up well
by players on another mud I was involved with.

Anyhow, I refined my ideas from a simple fashion system into a
component system during one of the earlier threads, it'll work
something like this:

Most items are made up of basic components.  I'll provide players the
ability to combine certain components into various equipment that they
might need, which should also allow them to take things apart for
(hopefully) improvement.

Suppose I wanted to make a sword, there'll be 2 major components, the
hilt and the blade.  So I goto the local blacksmith, and pay him to
use his forge (I'm too poor to afford my own), and proceed to make a
fine blade.  When it's ready, I set it to the side to cool off and get
to work on my hilt...  Well, I make your basic joe smoe, steel hilt to
fit on it, take some leather and wrap the handgrip, there you go... of
course, I've got a few fancy gems I took off the corpse of some
mage... hrmm, is that one glowing?  Oh well, I think they'd look
pretty on my hilt so I take them to the jeweller to have it done (I
can swing a hammer, but that fine work is beyond my ability)

So now I have me a fine steel blade, and a fancy jewell encrusted
hilt, not bad, I have some extra coin and I start to think about the
local magician, he seems to be pretty friendly, wonder if I can get
him to enchant my blade?  You get the point.  Anyway, after all this
work, it's time to put the blade and hilt together and go test the new
weapon out...

Here's the summary of what just got done.  First, you need to make the
components (or acquire them somehow), in this case, a blade and a
hilt.  Next you add whatever improvements you want, adding gems to the
hilt, and enchanting the blade Then you put your pieces together, and
make a useable piece of equipment.

I plan to make each step as simple as possible... working a forge will
be "forge blade" for example...  Probably have other directives for
more control, ie "forge longsword blade" Afterall, knives and daggers
have blades that would be so out of place on a sword.

The trick is I want to spread out the work of creating "superior"
items to multiple characters... My character was obviously more
warrior inclined, perhaps he could have learned to work the gems into
his hilt, but it's very unlikely that he could have ever learned to
enchanted the blade.

It creates a whole new area of things to do on the game that players
can learn, I suppose it'd be feasible that players could even become
proffessional craftsmen with fighting on the side, but at the very
least, it'll encourage players to work together.

This is already a long post, and I've just scratched the bucket, so
I'll leave off for now.

-- Kwon Ekstrom

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