[MUD-Dev] HELP WANTED!

[Roger Hicks]

(I posted this message to the Coder's club as well, so I apologize
if you get a double post)

Hello,

I would like your help! I have designed games all my life, and have
been searching for the best way to bring a multi-player game to
market. After some examination, I have determined that a MUD style
game would be perfect.

Since then, I have put some thought into what type of MU* I would
like. I am fairly unfamiliar with the MU* systems out there, so I
would like to describe my ideas here. Please let me know if there is
an existing system already like this. If not, I would be interested
in any help with coding a new system. I am only a beginner
programmer myself, but I think I understand enough to describe the
system from a programmer's standpoint.

The system I need would have 3 types of elements (locations/rooms,
objects/items, and characters). Each element could have an unlimited
number of variables or sub-files assigned to it. For example: A
variable for a character would be Hit Points; a sub-file for a
character would be a list of items carried.

Then, all the elements would interact with each other via events. An
event would be a short script in a simple in-game language that
would be able to call, manipulate, and change variables in the
elements. To give some examples of how events would work: Bob is in
a room with a portal. Bob types USE PORTAL. The command processor
gets the USE pointer from the PORTAL object. This pointer is a
variable that contains the event number to call. The processor calls
that event. The event script then runs, changing Bob's current
location to another room (by calling and modifying variables).

Event scripts would be short, and simple enough for world biulders
to create. Events could be used by multiple elements (for example,
all portals would call the same event script, but feed it a
different destination), and more complex functions could be
performed by making a chain of events.

An important element of the system is that I would want is internal
world creation. The builders of the game world would be able to
create new elements by entering commnads from within the game.

One of the key elements that I feel is of upmost importance is
NPC's.  As I have looked around, I have been tremendously
dissapointed with the level of depth to the computer controlled
characters in a game. I know when I start speaking about AI,
programmers across the world think of labor pains, but I feel this
system would be much simpler.  First, NPC's would be treated by the
system in the same way as PC's, ie, they would have access to all
the same commands and abilities as PC's would. In addition, NPC's
would have memory (likes, dislikes, information based on keywords,
etc.) The scripts to run the NPC's would be easy to implement using
the event system described above. An NPC could simply be given a
chain of events that would interact with the elements around the NPC
and the NPC's memory to control their actions. The initial creation
of NPC's would be simple, and they could slowly be programmed to be
smarter over time by adding more event scripts.

These are my basic concepts. If there is anything out there close to
this, please let me know. If not, I would love to have someone with
the knowledge and hardware code it.

Thanks,
Roger Hicks


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