[MUD-Dev] DGN: Rooms, Directions, etc. - any alternatives?

[cruise]

Sean Middleditch wrote:

> The first part of the system is to break up the room system.  Most
> MUDs work by having each room be a completely distinct location with
> no overlap or intersection at all.  A better system would provide
> instead a list of specific locations you can be in which may or may
> not overlap. My favorite example would be a large room, with a stair
> case on the side up to a balcony near the top, with a door at the
> balcony level leading into the hallway.  People can stand in the
> hallway, on the balcony, on the main floor, under the balcony, etc.
> The relationship map between these locations would indicate if you
> can see, touch, or hear people in the adjoining locations.  For
> example, anyone in the room can hear anyone else talk (but not
> whisper), but those on the balcony cannot see those under it or vice
> versa.

> Now you simply name the parts of the room, and update your "go" and
> other movement commands to move between them using these name or
> alternative keywords.  go under the balcony.  climb stairs.  go down
> stairs.  etc.

> Another example would be a room with a large statue.  You could "go
> behind statue" or whatnot.  In this room, one might hear any noise
> made in the room, but you can't see on the other side of the statue.
> So this could provide some interesting role playing chances if you
> know some people talk in this room a lot; just hide behind the
> statue and snoop.

> You can also use the directional movement commands in this system,
> where it makes sense.  I'd argue that every plainly obvious movement
> node (door, open hallway, etc) should have direction associated,
> simply because it's a lot easier and quicker to type "n" or "se"
> than "go hallway" or even the short-hand "g h".

> A more complete system would require a little more architecture
> change; rooms need to be linkable with hear/see relationships even
> if there is no way to move between them.  (Imagine being able to see
> people across a chasm, even though there is no way to get to the
> other side.)  Being able to have the room descriptions display this
> better would be nice, too.

The exit system in the MUD I'm playing with could work like this, or
at least seem to. While I have the standard distinct rooms, each
exit has an "opaqueness" value associated with it that affects the
transmission of vision and sound through it - events have a
visibility/loudness attached, and each player has a perception
stat. By having a "transparent" exit, anything that happens in one
room can be heard and seen in the next.

You can also specify a "difficulty" value for crossing through the
exit, so setting this impossibly high would mimic the effect of a
deep gorge that can still be communicated across.

While currently most directions are standard NESW, exits can be
named whatever you want, so "hallway", "balcony", etc. can be
perfectly valid exits.

--
[ cruise / casual-tempest.net / transference.org ]
   "quantam sufficit"
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