[MUD-Dev] Distributed virtual worlds (Was NEWS: Why Virtual Worlds are Designed By Newbies - No, Really (By R. Bartle))

[Mike Rozak]

Morris Cox wrote:

> This seems similar to transferring data between webservices and
> presumably can be addressed the same way. XSLT can convert
> XML-based objects between games, along with the XSDs (if
> wanted/needed). The model doesn't need to be transferred as you
> might want to use another model in its place.

I think I understand what you're getting at... You seem to be
talking about objects as data, such as <sword> <damage amount=7/>
</sword>. If objects are just data then transferring them between
worlds is doable, although there might be a destabalizing effect if
one world is overly generous with powerful items. (As JC Lawrence
was pointing out, NWN allows for this.)

I tend to think of objects as code, with a bit of data. Perhaps its
because I have more of an adventure-game leaning and think of
wandering around a virtual world in terms of visually exploring a
program, as opposed to visually exploring a database. Transferring
code is very difficult, unless you keep it sandboxed (like Java
does), but sandboxed objects cant readily interact with one another,
and just become scenery elements in a world. After all, for a sword
to do damage, it must change the object it hits. Spells are even
worse since they often inject temporary code into an object, or at
least my system treats it that way. (My object model is vaguely
similar to that described in the Inform Design Guide (.pdf on the
Internet), but written in a different scripting language which looks
more like C++ with more flexible classes/objects.)

> One wonders why the toads were allowed in in the first place. Can
> the toads be located and removed/eliminated? On a game level, it
> would be possible to list (and presumably manipulate) all the
> instances of an object. KILL ALL 'cane toad'

In real life - Scientists made a virus that would kill most of the
toads, but it would probably also kill many/most of the native toads
and frogs. And what would happen if the cane-toad killing virus
accidentally found its way to south america (where the toads are
originally from and are part of the native ecosystem)?

On a game level - What if the cane toad object injected code into
every object it came into contact with? You can't easily undo the
damage then. Of course, if your application thinks of objects as
numbers in a database the cane toad problem could be deleted.

> You would be sending more than your char info and desc. Account
> information, preferences, even inventory information can all be
> sent.

You might not want to send account information like passwords, since
every system can and will be hacked, and a seedy VW operator could
collect passwords from players.

Mike Rozak
http://www.mxac.com.au
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