[MUD-Dev] Playing catch-up with levels

[Kwon J. Ekstrom]

Matt Chatterley wrote:

> For me, as a designer, my current prototype doesn't have levels,
> or classes or even skills - it borrows more from the RTS/Sim
> school of thought than Muds in some ways, and the 'character'
> exists only as a figurehead name. The real object which the player
> manipulates is their trading station, and their 'power' is
> measured by money, cargo and other assets (e.g. fighter craft,
> freighters) - and meta-power (so to speak) is measures in their
> political and commercial alliances.

This reminds me roughly of an old BBS game, TradeWars 2000... where
you started off by trading goods between "stations" and rather than
levels, you had a ship that you upgraded or replaced.

Depending on how you interacted, you would get an alignment.  While
there wasn't any "real" benefit from it, there were levels, and you
could advance through combat and trading.  Trading was easier,
combat was faster...

However, the true powerhouses in the game was planets... by dropping
colonists off on planets they would begin to produce resources that
could be sold for wealth, or used in other ways.  I would often find
a dead-end tunnel 3 or 4 sectors deep, cap it off with mines and
fighters, then proceed to build up plants.  The outermost sector
first, then innermost.  I'd prefer to have volcanics in my outter
region because they can support defensive systems better.

I had on occassion thought about writing a TradeWars based mud, but
have never gotten around to it.

-- Kwon J. Ekstrom
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