[MUD-Dev] SOC DGN - Spawn locations

[Sean Middleditch]

On Tue, 2004-08-24 at 17:31 -0400, Brian Hook wrote:
> On Tue, 24 Aug 2004 15:18:54 -0500, Matthew Rick wrote:

>> The basic idea is to not have mobs spawn if there are players
>> near by.

> Griefing is a major potential opportunity here.  Park your guild
> in "hot spots" specifically to deny other players access to key
> mobs.

There are quite a few fixes for this.  First, don't make the game
rely on a few hot spots.  Spread things out as much as possible.
Second, the "local" areas that a lot of games have these days (where
a separate copy of the area is spawned for each group) in the hot
spots you do have will get rid of this entirely.

> On top of this, it forces players to spread out a little too much,
> possibly ruining the socialization factor.  You basically set up
> an invisible force field around players, and with enough players,
> mobs may not be able to get in edgewise.

If it is based purely on distance, sure.  It doesn't have to be,
however.  it could be based on sight or many other factors.  In
dense forest monsters could be spawned almost right next to a
player; just make them appear in a "hiding" state, and then they can
ambush the player.  You then even get all sorts of incredibly
interesting behaviour for free with little to no AI modifications.

So long as your terrain is fairly interesting, there will always be
easy ways to introduce monsters so that they don't just pop into
view.

In a classic MUD, you can even spawn creatures right into the room.
Just pick one of the exits and print the usual text you would if the
NPC walked in through that exit.  Maybe for a tad of realism pick an
exit that leads to a room with no players.  Or go with the hiding
NPC thing again.

So long as the NPCs have a wide area to pop out of, camping
shouldn't be too much of an issue.  In most current MMORPGs, the
NPCs always appear in some given XYZ location, which is bloody
stupid.  If you say the NPC appears someone in the zone, the game
can pick the least crowded part of the zone, or the part of the zone
that will cause the most damage to the campers.

You can even spawn in different kinds of NPCs based on how crowded
or powerful the area is.  Area filled with campers?  Spawn in some
really nasty NPCs that don't have anything worth killing them for.
If the NPC is supposed to be classified as "a very tough fight,"
then when the NPC is spawned, base it on who is in the area.  If the
power level of the area changes (the campers run away and some lower
powered people come in) tone down the NPC.

With a bit of planning, you can even make that *realistic*.  Is the
Orc King supposed to spawn in some area?  Instead, always make an
orc scout appear first.  If the scout sees players, he reports back
to the king to not come this way.  If the scout is killed, he won't
report back.
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