***************************************************************************** * CREATIA BUILDING DOCS * * * * CREATIA COPYRIGHT 2000, MYRETHA * * * * FILE: creatiabuilding.txt CREATED BY: myretha * ***************************************************************************** THE CREATIA BUILDER'S MANUAL SUMMARY: This document describes how to create areas for Creatia, as well as mobiles, objects, shops, and rooms. Examples of each have been included, wherever possible. Almost everything necessary to build an area for Creatia can be found in this document. PLEASE NOTE: These documents are intended to cover building for Creatia online with OLC or offline with an area creator If you should encounter anything that is not covered within these docs, please notify me at myretha@earthlink.net. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Thanks to Ailania, Amergin, Blade, Paladine and others who have helped me compile the necessary information, in order to create these docs. I'd also like to worship the creators of Diku, Merc, Rom (and Circle MUD, too!), as I've occasionally borrowed liberally from their docs and credit should be ultimately given to them. --myretha VERSION: October, 2000--Revamped by Myretha for Creatia MUD. TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction 1.1. Creatia's Purpose 1.2. The Building Docs Purpose 1.3. Game Balance 1.4. The Area Purpose 1.5. Tips and Suggestions 2. The Basic Layout 2.1. Virtual Numbers 3. Creating Areas--ONLINE WITH OLC 3.1. The Area Editor 3.1.1. Creating Areas 3.1.2. The Area Format 3.2. The Room Editor 3.2.1. Creating Rooms 3.2.2. The Room Format 3.2.3. Directions...which way do I go? 3.2.4. Room Extra Descriptions 3.2.5. Mana and Heal Regeneration Rates 3.2.6. Pet Shops 3.2.7. Completed Room Example 3.3. The Mobile Editor 3.3.1. Creating Mobiles 3.3.2. The Mobile Format 3.3.3. Special Functions 3.3.4. Let's go to the Mall! 3.3.5. Completed Mob Examples 3.4. The Object Editor 3.4.1. Creating Objects 3.4.2. The Object Format 3.4.3. Object Types and Their Values 3.4.4. Adding Special Applies, Affects, Imm/Res/Vuln 3.4.5. Extra Descriptions on Objects 3.4.6. Completed Object Example 3.5. RESETS 4. Miscellaneous Commands ***************************************************************************** 1. Introduction 1.1. Creatia's Purpose Creatia is dedicated to the creation of well-written, balanced areas that will be available to any and all within the MUD Community. Creatia is a stock Rom 2.4b6 with OLC version 1.81 (mob progs and all). We chose to stick as close to stock as possible so that our areas may be more easily adapted to the larger majority of muds. Since the mob progs can be removed easily, if necessary, most Rom muds should be able to convert our areas. Our intent is to provide realistic, informative, and interesting areas. Approach building an area, or group of areas, as if you were writing a book. Every area should have a 'theme', be descriptive, and be filled with interesting people and places. 1.2. The Building Docs Purpose Whereas I have tried to make these documents as detailed as possible, they are only intended as a reference manual. Do not limit yourself to only those examples that you find here. Be creative. Visit other areas that have been created. Ask questions. 1.3. The Purpose of Balance Game Balance. A subject of many a discussion (argument) on most MUDs. "Why is game balance important?", you might ask OR, for that matter, "WHAT is game balance?". When creating an area, you must keep in mind WHO the area is designed for level-wise and balance the objects and mobiles within that area accordingly. You don't want to make items too easy to get, but nor do you want to make them too hard. Say you have a level 5 to 15 area. You could leave a level 15 piece of armor lying on the ground, or you could put the level 15 piece of armor on a level 45 mob, OR you could put the level 15 item on a level 15 mob. The third case is your best bet. Every area can potentially throw the entire game out of balance. No area should be impossibly hard nor incredibly easy. Each Builder is responsible for making sure their areas are balanced. Each new area that is added should also be balanced in a like fashion. Builders, wanting to make sure their areas are popular, tend to try and 'out do' the other areas currently on the MUD. If every builder does so, wal-lah, you have a world that is now out of balance! You've heard of the arms races; this is 'area race' and can be quite detrimental to the good of the MUD. 1.4. The Area Purpose Remember, we want our areas to be as interesting and realistic as possible. Be descriptive. Write extra descriptions. If the room has a painting on the wall, make sure that if the player types 'look painting', that there is something for the player to see. Write exit descriptions. If you 'look north', what do you see? The more descriptive the area is, the more 'fleshed out' it will feel to the player. Don't use one line descriptions for your rooms. 3 lines to 5 lines per room is a good medium. Think of a plot for your area. For example, the stock Gnome Village on Yerth has been modified slightly. The Hobgoblins, which dwell beneath a large hill, are planning to overthrow the Gnomes. They've recently murdered the Gnome Fortress' guard in an attempt to gain the key to the treasures held within the fortress. As the Hobgoblin King plots, the Captain of the Gnome Guards is torn between planning a defense and ridding the Gnome Village of litter that seems to be amassing at an alarming rate. This is a rather simplified plot and was done mainly to amuse the Builder, but the effort has been generally well received. Don't make the area a mere slay one...give it a purpose! With the help of mob programs, programs written to make the world come alive, quests can be written, plots can be solidified, and mobs can interact with the players. The more time, thought, and effort that goes into your area, the better your area can be. Be creative! Be imaginative! And most of all, have fun! If YOU enjoy your area, it's highly possible that others will too! 1.5. Tips and Suggestions Before you start, please read the following tips. These suggestions will see to it that you have a well built, successful area that is pleasing to any player. Make your rooms direction insensitive unless there is only one exit. If a room has a south exit and a west exit, the line 'You enter through the southern door' is a bad line. Even if the southern door is the only entrance to the room, it's best to remain direction insensitive, as players may teleport into the room. A room doesn't know if you've seen it before, so avoid lines like 'you gaze on the mighty mirror of Zenabit for the first time'. Avoid putting sentiments into the mind of the reader. If the line has 'you think' in it, it's probably bad, since you don't know if that's really what they think. Try to convey things in another manner as to make them think what you want them to think. Avoid pointless anachronism. It's tacky. Areas should have some internal logic, as well as logic to the rest of the world, instead of just being a lump of anachronism to provoke a titter the first time, and gradually to become tiresome. Strive for cleverness and wit instead. Avoid mentioning the weather or time in your room descriptions. "The sun glints off the surface of the lake" would not make much sense if it was night time. Put in extra descriptions in rooms especially, but also on objects. It fleshes the area out more. Overdo extra descs rather than underdoing them. Write utility linker rooms. If you have a long and winding road going up to the castle -- write at least a couple of road rooms. Be sure to say 'the castle to the north' and not 'the castle in front of you' since the person might have left it. Write 'useless' objects for colour. If the princess is the sort to wear perfume, put some type furniture perfume in a type object vanity table that could be found if looked for. It too fleshes out the world. (Note that Satin wrote 600 useless objects for Cordreas Heart, but you don't have to be as thorough (read, insane) as her. ;) If there's furniture in a room, write it as an object and load it there, so that it could be sat on/etc. If you have no_take objects (such as the donation pit) or mobs that cannot be killed and are sentinel (shopkeepers, adepts, etc.) write them as normal objects/mobs, consider giving them no long description, just a ~, and describe them as part of the room, to blend them into the world more. If the mob can be killed, or the object taken, though, you should give it a long desc, since it might not be there. Do NOT write descriptions of a mobile into the room description if you also load that mobile in the area. Do not do the following: You are in a throne room. A huge gold throne with the king of the goblins sitting on it is in front of you. He cries out and several bodyguards attack! Instead do: You are in a throne room. A huge gold throne is immediately in front of you. Tapestries depicting the greatness of the ruler whose castle you have intruded hang on all walls. The king of the goblins is here. He cries for help! A bodyguard screams and attacks! A bodyguard screams and attacks! A bodyguard screams and attacks! A bodyguard screams and attacks! NEVER write an area that is too easy, or that has absurdly powerful equipment, just to make it popular. Do not rely on a mobile being 'really tough' as the sole balance to an otherwise overpowered item -- people have soloed 30,000hp mobiles (admittedly, people with nothing better to do, but you get the idea). A well-balanced item (for example, the enchanted leather bracer) will ultimately earn popularity of its own right, and be less likely to be adjusted by a disgusted implementor who was tired of seeing people immort after spending a half day in your zone. Besides, then all the Real Studly Area Builders like Satin and Andersen will laugh at you. :) ***************************************************************************** 2. The Basic Layout An area file consists of 8 basic sections, as follows: The area header: vital statistics for the area The mobiles: the stats and descriptions of all monsters in the area The objects: the stats and descriptions of all objects in the area The rooms: a listing of all rooms and exits in the area Area resets: instructions for loading/maintaining the area The shops: a listing of any shops that the area contains Specials: procedures to enchance the performance of mobiles Mob Programs: programs similar to special procedures Areas may also include special notes and procedures, such as a help file, information on where on the area should be placed, and any special code that should be written to make the area work properly. This should be included outside the main body of the area, but within the same file. 2.1. Virtual Numbers Areas are created using a defined number of 'virtual numbers', or vnums. Every mobile, object, mobprog, and room has a vnum that is distinct from every other mobile, object, mobprog, and room. Some confusion occasionally arises regarding whether a room can have the same vnum as an object, for example. Mobiles' vnums, objects' vnums, mobprogs' vnums, and rooms' vnums are all completely independent from one another. In other words, it's possible (and even desirable) for a room to have vnum 6532, for a mob to have vnum 6532, for an object to have vnum 6532, and for a mobprog to have vnum 6532. It's not even necessary (or even likely) that the room with vnum 6532 will be related in any way to the object with vnum 6532. Be VERY careful to use ONLY those vnums assigned to you. ***************************************************************************** 3. Creating Areas--ONLINE WITH OLC 3.1. The Area Editor 3.1.1. Creating an Area To create an area, type 'aedit create'. This will create a brand new area and switch into it. From here, you have several commands at your disposal. We will look at just those used to create the area itself. You can enter an area editor for any area that has been created previously, by typing 'aedit . The area # can be found under 'alist all'. 3.1.2. The Area Format (also, see "help aedit" in Creatia) After typing 'aedit create', hitting 'enter' or 'show' will list the area format below: Name: [ 50] New area File: area0.are Vnums: [0-0] Age: [3] Players: [0] Security: [1] Builders: [None] Credits : [(null)] Flags: [added] "NAME" : syntax 'name ' : This is the area name that will show in the 'alist all', not in the 'area' list, though both names should be the same. "FILE" : syntax 'filename ' : This is the actual filename in the shell. Be very careful with this. No more than 8 characters are allowed in the filename and we would prefer that the area # be included in that. "VNUMS" : syntax 'vnum ' : This sets the vnum allotment for the area. 'vnum 200 299' would set aside vnums 200 through 299 to be used within the area. PLEASE check the 'vlist' command before assigning vnums. Available vnums have been increased from 32k to 2 billion+. "AGE" and "PLAYERS" : do not use. "SECURITY" : syntax 'security <#>' : Security can be set from 2 to 9. Please use a security 9 for any IMP areas. Otherwise, set to security 2. "BUILDERS" : syntax 'builder ' : This adds a builder to the area. "CREDITS" : syntax 'credit ' : Please use the format currently on the 'area' list, which is '##### Builder Name of Area'. (#####--signifies the player levels for the area, Builder--the author of the area, Name of area--area name). Always check the 'area' list to make sure your credits line up correctly. "FLAGS" : do not use. Type 'done' whenever you are finished with an area editor. This will make sure you do not type over an existing area's information, which can crash the mud. ALWAYS assign an area's vnums prior to creating objects or rooms or mobs in the area. To do otherwise, can cause the mud to crash. ***************************************************************************** 3.2. Rooms 3.2.1. Creating Rooms To create a room, you must enter OLC. 'Redit' will take you into the room editor. From 'redit', you have a group of commands at your disposal. For starters, we will look at just those used to create the rooms within your area. 3.2.2. The Room Format (also, see "help redit" in Creatia) To create a room with no exits (usually your first room), you type 'redit create '. Hitting 'enter' or 'show' will list the room format below: Description: Name: [] Area: [ 123] Builder's Area Vnum: [ 8234] Sector: [inside] Room flags: [none] Characters: [myretha] Objects: [none] "NAME" : syntax: 'name ' This field is for the name of the room. (This string is the room's title, which is displayed before the room description when players look at the room, or displayed alone if players are using 'brief'). "AREA": This field will default to the area in which you are building. "VNUM": This field will default to the vnum which you are building. "SECTOR": syntax: 'sector ' This field determines the amount of movements between one room and another, and, in the cases of water or sky, whether a boat or flying is needed. '? sector' will give you a list of the available sectors on Creatia (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "ROOM FLAGS": syntax: 'room ' This field can give a room certain attributes. For example, you can designate a room be 'dark', requiring a light be worn, or no_recall, meaning a player cannot recall. '? room' will give you a list of the available room attributes on Creatia (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "CHARACTERS" and "OBJECTS": These fields show any characters, PC or NPC, and any objects currently in the room. "DESCRIPTION": syntax: 'desc' Now, you've given your room a name, you've decided on sector types and room flags, it's time for...the room description! To enter the room description editor, from 'redit', type 'desc'. This will take you into the append mode. The following commands are available in the append mode: Append Mode help (commands on blank line): .r 'old' 'new' - replace a substring (requires '', "") .h - get help (this info) .s - show string so far .f - (word wrap) string .c - clear string so far .ld - delete line number .li - insert at line .lr - replace line with @ - end string and exit editor To delete a room vnum: 'redit delete ' will remove the room and any links to it. 3.2.3. Directions...which way do I go? Okay, so you've created and built your first room. Now, you need to put exits in so that players can move about from one room to another. There are several different ways to create exits, so always refer to 'help exit' when in doubt. Creatia recognizes the directions: north, south, east, west, up, and down. We do not use the other 4 corners, as not all muds have them. To create a randomized exit, create the exits according to the directions below and then see 3.5 RESETS. To create an exit, type the direction (north/s/e/w/u/d) followed by: dig - creates the room and makes a two way link Say you're first room was vnum 1800. You want a north exit into room 1801, but you haven't created room 1801 yet. 'north dig 1801' will put in a two way exit and create room 1801. (Note: a two way exit means that you can go back and forth between the rooms. From 1800, you could go north into 1801. From 1801, you could go south into 1800.) link - make a two way link between two previously created rooms You have two rooms created, 1500 and 1503. You want a west exit in 1500 to take you to 1503. 'west link 1503' will link the two rooms together with a two way exit. room - make a one way link (use with caution) You have two rooms created, 1600 and 1602. You want to put in an east exit from 1600 to 1602, but you do not want the player to be able to go back into 1600 FROM 1602. 'east room 1602' will put a one way link between the two rooms, allowing the player to go east from 1600 into 1602 and keep them from being able to go back into 1600 from 1602. key - makes specified object the vnum of the key required For locked doors, you MUST make a key for players to be able to open the door. This sounds like such an easy thing, but it's easy to forget. name - makes the door's name/keywords = to the given name USE door names! If the exit is a gate, NAME it a gate. If it's a wooden door, NAME it 'wooden door'. This keeps players from having to 'open east', etc. desc - edit the description of the exit When building your rooms, give them a little flavor by describing all your exits. Typically, this'll just mean stating what the character sees in a given direction, but you can have some fun with it, too. A very basic example of this can be found in Seas of the Lords by Lok. When on the seas at night, the only means of navigation characters have (unless they have the map from the ghost ship) is to look in a direction before moving in it. Without looking, characters are likely to run aground on the shoals. You can also hide secret information in your exit descriptions. For example, perhaps you're building a sacred grove of trees. The description for the east exit might be: "You see markings on a tree on the eastern side of the grove." Add an extra description to the room with the keyword markings, and you have some secret information that only observant players will pick up. delete - delete this exit Note: the syntax is ' delete' :) Having almost deleted myself trying to delete an exit, be berry careful :) - type ? EXIT for a list (or see the appendices at the end of these docs) The exit flags (door, closed, locked, etc) are presented in the following manner. The capitalized flags are ones not included in the reset info, i.e. CLOSED is due to a player closing the door and not due to the door being set to be closed. -South to [ 3744] Key: [ -1] Exit flags: [door CLOSED bashed pickproof] 3.2.4. Room Extra Descriptions Extra descriptions are used to make rooms more interesting, and make them more interactive. Extra descriptions are accessed by players when they type "look at ", where is any word you choose. For example, you might write a room description which includes the tantalizing sentence, "The wall looks strange here." Using extra descriptions, players could then see additional detail by typing "look at wall". There can be an unlimited number of Extra Descriptions in each room. Syntax: ed add [keyword] -creates a keyword and places you in the editor ed edit [keyword] -enters editor for the previously added keyword ed delete [keyword] -deletes the keyword and it's description ed format [keyword] -formats the desc of the previously added keyword 3.2.5. Mana and Heal Regeneration Rates The standard regeneration percentage is 100. Unless you plan to increase or decrease the percentage, there is no need to set the rates. To increase rates, go higher. To decrease rates,go lower. Do not overuse. Do not set too high or mud will crash. The rates are generally used for the recall points within a hometown. Rates can be increased from 1% of normal to 200% of normal. Syntax: mana (i.e. 'mana 120') heal (i.e. 'heal 120') 3.2.6. Pet Shops: The ROOMS will need to be flagged as pet_shop and the pets must be kept in a separate room, as well as being flagged 'act pet'. The vnum of the pet storage room must be numbered one higher than the shopkeeper's. 3.2.7. Completed Room Example Description: Large trees, hanging oppressively over the path, block almost all light. Spider webs drip from the limbs in a creepy imitation of Spanish moss. The sidewalk has broken and cracked, as grassy tendrils have sought their evil purchase. Sickly weeds have taken control of the flowerbeds which once lined the path. The gate is swallowed in a dim, diseased light, making it impossible to see the other side. Name: [Cemetery Entrance] Area: [ 146] St.Clyde's Cathedral Vnum: [22235] Sector: [inside] Room flags: [dark indoors no_recall no_scan] Desc Kwds: [weeds trees] Characters: [myretha Objects: [webs -East to [22208] Key: [22203] Exit flags: [door closed locked nopass ] Kwds: [gate] You see a gate through the sickly light. -West to [22217] Key: [ 0] Exit flags: [none ] Too dark to tell. 'look weeds' Sickly yellow, black-spotted weeds grow in flowerbeds of old. 'look trees' Pure evil radiates from the dark oppressive trees. Their bony skeletal limbs seem almost alive... This room is vnum 22235, called "The Cemetery Entrance". It is dark, indoors, no_recall, and no_scan, with an "INSIDE" sector type to keep weather messages from being shown. It has an exit east and west. The east exit is a closed, locked, nopass door, named 'gate', that leads to room 22203 and which takes key number 22203. The west exit leads to room 22217. If a player types 'look east', it will say "You see a gate through the sickly light." There are two extra descriptions, 'weeds' and 'trees'. Myretha (me!) is standing in the room and an object "web" is in the room too. ***************************************************************************** 3.3. Mobile (Monster) Files 3.3.1. Creating Mobiles Creating a mobile is much like creating a room. 'Medit' will take you into the mobile editor. From 'medit', you have a group of commands at your disposal. Again, we will look at just those used to create mobiles in your area. 3.3.2. The Mobile Format (also, see "help medit" in Creatia) To create a mobile in your area, you type 'medit create '. Hitting 'enter' or 'show' will list the mobile format below: Name: [no name] Area: [ 48] Newcomers Village Act: [npc] Vnum: [ 200] Sex: [neutral] Race: [human] Level: [ 0] Align: [ 0] Hitroll: [ 0] Dam Type: [none] Hit dice: [ 0d0 + 0] Damage dice: [ 0d0 + 0] Mana dice: [ 0d0 + 0] Affected by: [none] Armor: [pierce: 0 bash: 0 slash: 0 magic: 0] Form: [none] Parts: [none] Imm: [none] Res: [none] Vuln: [none] Off: [none] Size: [medium] Material: [unknown] Start pos. [standing] Default pos [standing] Wealth: [ 0] Short descr: (no short description) Long descr: (no long description) Description: "NAME": syntax: 'name ' This field is the list of keywords, separated by spaces, that can be used by players to interact with the mobile. The keywords are what determine if you can look at it, kill it, or do whatever you want to do to it. For example, "a fat, ugly worm" might have a name list of: "fat worm". So a player could either type 'look fat', or 'look worm', 'kill fat', or 'kill worm', or whatever. It's best to have more than one name per mobile. Great care should also be taken to ensure that the spellings in the name field and short and long descriptions match. Fill words such as "the", "a", and "an" should not appear in the name field. Any keyword set for a mobile will be illegal for any character to use as their own name. This includes characters already existing. It will not allow a character to log on under that name. It will inform them "Illegal name, try another." For this reason, please try to avoid using proper names in the keywords field. For example, a mob using a long description of "Sir Robert, the Church Crusader, stands here" could have the keywords "church crusader". The short description could read "Sir Robert". "AREA": This field will default to the area in which you are building. "ACT": syntax: 'act ' Act bits, or action bits, determine the in-game behavior of your mobile. They determine what your mobile does. You may have as many act bits as you like. Also, if you set an act bit like mage, cleric, undead or thief, you have to add a "SPEC FUNCTION", which will be covered later. ? act will give you a list of act bits (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "VNUM": This field will default to the vnum of the mobile you are building. "SEX": syntax: 'sex ' This would be the sex of the mob. Default is "neutral" (it). The other choices are: male (he), female (she), random (he, she, or it--can change every time the mob resets), neutral (it), or none (it). Before you ask, there is no difference between neutral and none, other than say...a eunich as compared to a fire elemental. ? sex will also give you the list. "RACE": syntax: 'race ' This field is for the mob's race. Setting the mob's race will also set the "FORMS", "PARTS", and "IMMUNITIES", "RESISTANCES", and "VULNERABILITIES" fields. The race field will default to "human". To set the forms and parts for "human", type 'race human'. 'race ?' will give you a list of the available races (or see the appendices at the end of the docs); however, please note that the 'unique' race does NOT work. Use the closest thing available or use 'human' and set your own forms and parts. "LEVEL": syntax: 'level ' The mob level from 1 to 100. You MUST set the MOB level before using any of the "autoset" commands, which will be mentioned later. "ALIGN": syntax: 'align ' A number from -1000 to 1000 representing the mob's initial alignment. -1000 to -350 is considered evil, -349 to 349 is considered neutral, and 350 to 1000 is considered good. "HITROLL": syntax: 'hitroll <#>' This is the mob's hit bonus. This is automatically set by choosing the mob's level. "DAM TYPE": syntax: 'damtype ' A mobile's damage type defines three things: what message is seen when it attacks in combat, what armor class is used to defend against it's attack, and what type of resistance or vulnerability affects the damage received from the attack. ? weapon will give you a list (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "HIT DICE": syntax: 'hitdice d + ' This can be set automatically by using the "autoset" functions mentioned later. "DAMAGE DICE": syntax: 'damdice d + ' This can be set automatically by using the "autoset" functions mentioned later. "MANA DICE": syntax: 'manadice d + ' This can be set automatically by using the "autoset" functions mentioned later. "AFFECTED BY": syntax: 'affect ' Affect bits are what the mobile is affected by. You can have as many of these as you like. Please note: they should suit the mob. For example, a level 4 goblin wouldn't be sanc'd, or have a lot of affects. '? affect' will list the affect bits (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "ARMOR CLASS": syntax: 'armor ' This can be set automatically by using the "autoset" functions mentioned later. "FORM", "PARTS": syntax: 'form
', 'part ' These fields are automatically set by choosing the mob's race. ? form and ? part will give you a list (or see the appendices at the end of the docs) if you want to change them for any reason. "IMMUNITIES", "RESISTANCES", "VULNERABILITIES": syntax: 'imm ', 'res ', 'vuln ' Mobiles have differing immunities, resistances, and vulnerabilities both to better explain certain creatures (i.e. dragons) and to make fighting them take a little more strategy than just mindlessly pumping out damage. Most normal mobiles probably won't have much in the way of these flags, so don't add flags without sound reason. It's important to make shopkeeper-type mobiles (as well as guild masters, healers, et cetera) immune to summon, charm, magic, and weapons just to insure that they cannot be killed. Similarly, weak, low-level mobiles (goblins, for example) might be made vulnerable to magic just to accent their weakness. ? imm will give you a list of available flags (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "OFFENSIVE BITS": syntax: 'off ' Offensive flags control mobile behavior in combat -- allowing some variety in how your mobiles fight back against players. A typical mobile should have a few (2-3) attack abilities and one or none defensive abilities. More skilled mobiles may have more, but try not to make them too flexible. There is no limit to the number of offensive flags that may be set on a mobile. ? off will give you a list of available offensive bits (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). Example: An orc might have bash, kick, and kick dirt (it will probably be a warrior, so will parry and disarm if armed), and will assist by race and alignment. "SIZE": syntax: 'size ' The size of the mobile has many game effects, and should be chosen carefully. The current default is 'medium'. '? size' will give you the list of acceptable sizes (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "MATERIAL": syntax: 'material ' The material type for mobiles is not currently supported. It should be left as 'unknown' for flesh-and-blood creatures, or spirits, but golems and other animated beings should have a material appropriate to their body construction (i.e. stone, iron, diamond). Put the material in single quotes if it is longer than one word. "START POSITION" and "DEFAULT POSITION": syntax: 'position [start/default] [position]' The start position is the position a mobile will be loaded in, the default position is the position it returns to after a fight. These are often the same, but a sleeping mobile (for example) is not likely to go back to sleep. The acceptable positions are sleeping, resting, sitting, and standing. ? position will give you the list. "WEALTH": syntax: 'wealth ' This can be automatically set by using the "autoset" function mentioned later. "SHORT DESCRIPTION": syntax: 'short ' The description of the mobile used by the MUD when the mobile takes some action. For example, a short description of "The Beastly Fido" would result in messages such as "The Beastly Fido leaves south." and "The Beastly Fido hits you hard." The Short Description should never end with a punctuation mark because it will be inserted into the middle of sentences. "LONG DESCRIPTION": syntax: 'long ' The description displayed when a mobile is in its default position; i.e., "The Beastly Fido is here, searching through garbage for food." When the mobile is in a position other than its default position, such as sleeping or incapacitated, the short description is used instead -- i.e., "The Beastly Fido is lying here, incapacitated." Unlike the Short Description, the Long Description should end with appropriate punctuation. "DESCRIPTION": syntax: 'desc' (which puts you into an editor similar to the room description editor) The description displayed for a mobile when a player looks at the mobile; i.e. types "look at ". "AUTOSET" functions: syntax 'autoeasy', 'autoset', 'autohard'. The mob difficulty is based upon that order: easy, set (medium), and hard. To use the "auto" functions, SET MOB LEVEL FIRST. The "auto" functions will then set the mob's HITROLL, HIT DICE, DAMAGE DICE, MANA DICE, ARMOR, and WEALTH. To delete a mob's vnum: 'medit delete ' will delete the mob and any resets on the mud. 3.3.3. Special Functions A special procedure gives a mobile some added functionality, allowing it to do more complicated actions than are normally possible. Examples are Hassan's guardian duties and the fido's ability to eat corpses. At this time, no mobile may have more than one special procedure. '? spec' will give you a list, (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). Syntax: 'spec spec_' Example: 'spec spec_cast_adept' 3.3.4. Let's Go To The MALL! When building shops, the MOBILE is flagged as the shopkeeper, NOT the room. The exception to this would be 'pet shops'. See section 3.2.6 Pet Shops. Once you've set up your mob as a shopkeeper, the items are loaded onto him through resets, which will be covered in a later section. The following shop menu can be seen by typing 'shop': syntax: 'shop assign' Assigns a shop to the mobile. syntax: 'shop remove' Removes a shop from a mobile. syntax: 'shop hours [opening] [closing]' The times the shop will open. The shop hours are set in military time (minus the 00's). For example, shop hours 7 15, will open the shop at 7am and close it at 3pm. syntax: 'shop profit [buying%] [selling%]' Sets the price that the shopkeeper will buy and sell merchandise at based upon the item's value. For example, shop profit 150 75: the shopkeeper will sell merchandise for 150% the value and will buy merchandise for 75% of the value. syntax: 'shop type [line # 0-4] [item type]' These are the items that the shopkeeper will BUY. This doesn't set what the shopkeeper can SELL. That is set through the mob's resets (discussed in later sections). 'help shoptype' will give you a list of items that can be bought by shops (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). 3.3.5. Examples of Completed Mobiles This is an example of a standard mob: Name: [Hassan] Area: [ 3] Midgaard Act: [npc sentinel warrior nopurge] Vnum: [ 3011] Sex: [male ] Race: [giant] Level: [45] Align: [1000] Hitroll: [30] Dam Type: [crush] Group: [ 3000] Hit dice: [ 1d1 +3999] Damage dice: [ 5d4 + 40] Mana dice: [ 1d1 + 499] Affected by: [detect_evil detect_invis detect_hidden infrared haste] Armor: [pierce: -250 bash: -250 slash: -250 magic: -150] Form: [edible sentient biped mammal] Parts: [head arms legs heart brains guts hands feet fingers ear eye] Imm: [summon charm mental] Res: [magic weapon fire cold] Vuln: [lightning] Off: [area_attack bash berserk disarm dodge trip crush assist_guard] Size: [huge] Material: [unknown] Start pos. [standing] Default pos [standing] Wealth: [ 0] Spec fun: [spec_executioner] Short descr: Hassan Long descr: Hassan is here, waiting to dispense some justice. Description: Big. Very big. Stupid. Very stupid. Hassan, the guardian of the Temple of Mota, towers over you. He's over 12 feet tall, every inch of it muscle. It would be a Bad Thing to commit a crime in his presence. This mobile is vnum 3011, in the area "Midgaard". Players walking into the room with him will see the description "Hassan is here, waiting to dispense some justice". If they attack "hassan", they will see the short description "Hassan". "Hassan" is a level 45 male human, with actions of 'npc' (non-player character', 'sentinel' (he won't leave the room) and 'warrior' and 'nopurge' (if an imm purges the room, he won't be purged). He is affected by 'detect_evil', 'detect invis', 'detect hidden', 'infrared' and 'haste'. He's immune to 'summon', 'charm', and 'mental'. Resistant to 'magic', 'weapon', 'fire', and 'cold'. Vulnerable to 'lightning'. He will react offensively with 'area_attack', 'bash', 'berserk', 'disarm', 'dodge', 'trip', 'crush', and 'assist_guard'. He carries no money and will use a special function for 'executioner'. His hitroll, hitdice, damdice, mana dice, and armor class were automatically set using 'autohard' and his forms, parts, resistances and vulnerabilities were set by choosing his race. The following is an example of a mobile that's a shopkeeper: Name: [weaponsmith] Area: [ 3] Midgaard Act: [npc sentinel warrior nopurge] Vnum: [ 3003] Sex: [male ] Race: [human] Level: [23] Align: [ 900] Hitroll: [10] Dam Type: [punch] Hit dice: [ 1d1 + 999] Damage dice: [ 1d8 + 32] Mana dice: [ 1d1 + 99] Affected by: [none] Armor: [pierce: -150 bash: -150 slash: -150 magic: -150] Form: [edible sentient biped mammal] Parts: [head arms legs heart brains guts hands feet fingers ear eye] Imm: [summon charm magic weapon] Res: [none] Vuln: [none] Off: [bash disarm kick parry] Size: [medium] Material: [unknown] Start pos. [standing] Default pos [standing] Wealth: [25000] Short descr: the weaponsmith Long descr: A weaponsmith. Description: A young weaponsmith, who still has lots to learn. Shop data for [ 3003]: Markup for purchaser: 120% Markdown for seller: 40% Hours: 0 to 23. Number Trades Type ------ ----------- [ 0] weapon [ 1] none [ 2] none This mobile is vnum 3003, in the area "Midgaard". Players walking into a room with it will see the description "A weaponsmith.". If they poke "weaponsmith", they will see the short description "the weaponsmith". "The weaponsmith" is a level 23 'good' human, with actions of 'npc' (non-player character), 'sentinel' (it won't leave the room), 'warrior', and 'nopurge (mob won't be purged from room). It is has no special affects, is immune to 'summon', 'charm', 'magic', 'weapon', 'acid', 'sound', and 'iron', has no resistances and no vulnerabilities, and offensive bits 'bash', 'disarm', 'kick', and 'parry'. It carries wealth of '25000' gold. Players can shop 24 hours a day. "The weaponsmith" will sell merchandise at 120% of its value and buy merchandise (weapons) for only 40% of its value. "The weaponsmith" hitroll, hit dice, damage dice, mana dice, and armor class were automatically set by the "autoset" function. ***************************************************************************** 3.4. Objects 3.4.1. Creating Objects Creating an object is much like creating a room or mobile. 'Oedit' will take you into the object editor. From 'oedit', you have a group of commands at your disposal. Again, we will look at just those used to create objects in your area. 3.4.2. The Object Format To create an object in your area, you type 'oedit create '. Hitting 'enter' or 'show' will list the object format below: Name: [no name] Area: [ 48] Newcomers Village Vnum: [ 200] Type: [trash] Level: [ 0] Wear flags: [none] Extra flags: [none] Material: [unknown] Condition: [ 100] Weight: [ 0] Cost: [ 0] Short desc: (no short description) Long desc: (no description) This is the default object format. As you choose object 'types', the format will change slightly, adding another section for value types beneath the long description. These will be discussed with each individual type. "NAME" syntax: 'name ' This is the list of keywords by which the object may be interacted with--similar to a mob's keywords. "AREA" This will default to the area of the vnum you are creating. "VNUM" This will default to the vnum of the object you are creating. "TYPE" syntax: 'type ' This will determine the type of object you are building. ? type will give you a list. (See the appendices at the end of the docs for types and their values.) "LEVEL" syntax: 'level <#>' This sets the items level. Please note: items being reset onto a mob need to be the same level as the mob, unless the mob is a shopkeeper. Otherwise, the MUD spits us out errors too numerous to count. "WEAR FLAGS" syntax: 'wear ' Wear flags determine where an object may be worn. Note that if you want the item to be able to be picked up it should be flagged "take", AS WELL AS having a wear location flagged if the object should be worn. Leaving off a take flag but flagging it wearable will make it impossible to pick up the object should it be dropped. Note that items can not have multiple wear locations (take does not count as a wear location, it only determines if the item can be picked up). Type ? wear for a list of wear locations (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "EXTRA FLAGS" syntax: 'extra ' Extra flags are visual effects and other controls on how the object may be used. Type ? extra for a list of flags (or see the appendices at the end of the docs). "MATERIAL" syntax: 'material ' Though currently not used by the mud, please use a material type, as this field MAY be implemented at some point. A list of suggested material types can be found in the appendices at the end of the docs. "CONDITION" syntax: 'condition ' Leave this field set at 100. "WEIGHT" syntax: 'weight <#>' Weight determines how heavy an object is, which factors into how much a character may carry. It is entered into the area file as tenths of pounds, so a three pound dagger would have an entry of 30. "COST" syntax: 'cost ' Cost determines how much an item may be sold to a shop for (although shops virtually always buy for less than they will sell at) or how much a shop will charge for it. When in doubt on an item sold in a shop, overprice it; when in doubt on an item that can be found in an area, underprice it. Our current guidelines on prices are as follows: Pills and Potions -- level * 20 General stuff -- level * 50 Armor and Weapons -- level * 100 Scrolls -- level * 100 Staves and Wands -- level * 200 Jewelry and such -- whatever looks/feels right "COST MULTIPLIERS" These fields will default to 100%. Basically, it has to do with the economies between the continents. Leave them be! "SHORT DESC" syntax: 'short ' This is the short description of the object. It is seen when the object is used, picked up or worn. Example: a short sword named 'Nightbringer', THE Long Sword, a scale mail coif, etc. "LONG DESC" syntax: 'long ' This is the description seen when the object is on the ground. Example: A short sword lies here on the ground. "AUTOARMOR" and "AUTOWEAPON" may be used after setting the level of either object type 'armor' or 'weapon'. This will fill in the default values, including weight and cost. To delete an object vnum: 'oedit delete ' will delete the vnum and any resets on the mud, along with any items being carried by players. 3.4.3. Object Types and Their Values Many of the object types have a menu of their own, which consists of their unique value types. Other types have no practical purpose aside from to control what shops they may be sold at. A jeweler might buy only jewelry, and not gems or treasure, for example. ? type will give you a list of the object types available and typing 'v' by itself within the object editor, and after choosing an object type, will sometimes give you a help menu for the special values. All applicable item and value lists can be found in the appendices. The available object types, and any special value types menus, are as follows: The syntax for creating an object type is : 'type '. The syntax for the special value menus would be: 'v<#> '. For example, a sword would be set using 'type weapon' and it's values would be set using 'v0 sword', 'v3 slash' and 'v4 sharp'. ARMOR **use autoarmor after setting level** [v0] Ac pierce [0] [v1] Ac bash [0] [v2] Ac slash [0] [v3] Ac exotic [0] ITEM_ARMOR value 0 ac pierce value 1 ac bash value 2 ac slash value 3 ac exotic (magic) value 4 unused BOAT (no special values) CONTAINER [v0] Weight: [0 kg] [v1] Flags: [none] [v2] Key: none [0] [v3] Capacity [0] [v4] Weight Mult [0] ITEM_CONTAINER value 0 weight capacity value 1 flags: closeable, pickproof, closed, locked value 2 key vnum value 3 unused value 4 unused An up-to-date list of flags can be obtained by typing ? CONTAINER DRINKCONTAINER [v0] Liquid Total: [0] [v1] Liquid Left: [0] [v2] Liquid: water [v3] Poisoned: No ITEM_DRINK value 0 capacity value 1 current quantity value 2 liquid type value 3 poisoned? value 4 unused An up-to-date list of liquid types can be obtained by typing ? LIQUID FOOD [v0] Food hours: [0] [v1] Full hours: [0] [v3] Poisoned: No ITEM_FOOD value 0 hours before a player will need to eat again value 1 hours a player will be full after eating value 2 unused value 3 poisoned? value 4 unused FOUNTAIN [v0] Liquid Total: [0] , see drinkcontainer [v1] Liquid Left: [0] , see drinkcontainer [v2] Liquid: water , ? liquid for types FURNITURE, see ? furniture [v0] Max people: [0] [v1] Max weight: [0] [v2] Furniture Flags: none , see ? furniture [v3] Heal bonus: [0] , similar to room heal bonuses [v4] Mana bonus: [0] , similar to room mana bonuses GEM (no special values) JEWELRY (no special values) JUKEBOX KEY (no special values) LIGHT [v2] Light: [0] ITEM_LIGHT value 2 hours of light, 0 is dead, -1 or 999 is infinite MAP (no special values) MONEY [v0] Gold: [0] ITEM_MONEY value 0 value in gold pieces NPCCORPSE (no special values) PILL / POTION / SCROLL [v0] Level: [0] [v1] Spell: reserved [v2] Spell: reserved [v3] Spell: reserved [v4] Spell: reserved, okay it LOOKS like it will work, but it doesn't ITEM_SCROLL_POTION_PILL value 0 level value 1 spell name 1 value 2 spell name 2 value 3 spell name 3 value 4 unused An up-to-date list of spells can be obtained by typing: ? SPELLS [ignore/attack/defend/self/object/all] PORTAL, see ? portal [v0] Charges: [0] , # of times portal can be used [v1] Exit Flags: none , same as door flags [v2] Portal Flags: none , normal_exit , go_with (portal goes with player) , buggy (will sometimes randomly teleport) , random (randomly teleports) , no_curse (cursed player cannot enter) [v3] Goes to (vnum): [0] , vnum of room portal leads to PROTECT (i have no clue what this is for yet) ROOMKEY (same as key) STAFF / WAND [v0] Level: [0] [v1] Charges Total: [0] [v2] Charges Left: [0] [v3] Spell: reserved ITEM_STAFF_WAND value 0 level value 1 max charges value 2 current charges value 3 spell name value 4 unused An up-to-date list of spells can be obtained by typing: ? SPELLS [ignore/attack/defend/self/object/all] TRASH (no special values) TREASURE (no special values) WARPSTONE (no special values--not currently in use) WEAPON **use autoweapon after setting level** [v0] Weapon class: exotic [v1] Number of dice: [0] [v2] Type of dice: [0] [v3] Type: none [v4] Special type: none ITEM_WEAPON value 0 weapon class. value 1 number of dice to roll. value 2 type of dice to roll. value 3 weapon type. value 4 special weapon type. An up-to-date list of values can be obtained by typing ? WCLASS help WEAPON_DICE ? WEAPON ? WTYPE 3.4.4. Adding Special Applies, Affects, Imms/Res/Vuln To add permanent magical affects, and such, use these guidelines: **No more than 1 affect for every 5 levels of the object. **For every 3 good affects, there should be at least ONE bad affect. Applies: addaffect <# you want to add--can be negative> For a list of locations, type ? apply. Example, addaffect hp 10, adds 10 hps. Affects: addapply affects none 0 For a list of affect types, type ? affect. Example, addapply affects none 0 haste, adds haste to the item. Immunities, Resistances, Vulnerabilities: addapply none 0 For a list of flags, type ? imm. Example, addapply vuln none 0 poison, makes the wearer vulnerable to poison. To delete any of the above from an item: 'delaffect ' 3.4.5. Extra Descriptions on Objects See adding extra descriptions to rooms, in section 3.2.4. 3.4.6. Completed Object Example Name: [water fountain] Area: [ 146] St.Clyde's Cathedral Vnum: [22204] Type: [fountain] Level: [ 0] Wear flags: [none] Extra flags: [none] Material: [marble] Condition: [ 100] Weight: [ 0] Cost: [ 0] Ex desc kwd: [fountain] Short desc: a marble fountain Long desc: A large marble fountain stands in the center of the courtyard. [v0] Liquid Total: [9999] [v1] Liquid Left: [9999] [v2] Liquid: water 'look fountain' In the center of the fountain is a statue of a man reading to a group of small children. The water pours from a jug held by one of the children. You see a small crack in the side of the fountain. This object is vnum 22204, in the area "St. Clyde's Cathedral". Players walking into the room will see the description "A large marble fountain stands in the center of the courtyard". If they drink from "water" or "fountain", they will see the short description "a marble fountain". The fountain is level 0 and there are no extra flags, no cost, and no weight, since a player cannot pick it up due to no "wear" locations. It's full of water. If you look at the fountain, you see the description above (In the center of the fountain...). Name: [crack] Area: [ 146] St.Clyde's Cathedral Vnum: [22205] Type: [container] Level: [ 0] Wear flags: [none] Extra flags: [none] Material: [nothingness] Condition: [ 100] Weight: [ 0] Cost: [ 0] Ex desc kwd: [crack] Short desc: a crack Long desc: {x [v0] Weight: [20 kg] [v1] Flags: [none] [v2] Key: none [0] [v3] Capacity [20] [v4] Weight Mult [0] 'look crack' Something glitters in the crack in the fountain. This item is reset into the same room with the fountain above. Players will not see a long description of the "crack" when they walk into the room. However, when they look at the fountain above, they see there is a crack in it. If they look at the crack, they see the description above and if they "get all crack", they will get the item that has been reset into the container, "a crack". ***************************************************************************** 3.5. RESETS This is the how you install mobiles into their various locations, equip the mobiles, and generally set up the area and populate it. To reset an area, the server executes each command in the list of reset commands once. Each area is reset once when the server loads, and again periodically as it ages. An area is reset if it is at least 3 area-minutes old and is empty of players, or if it is 15 area-minutes old and has players in it. An 'area-minute' varies between 30 and 90 seconds of real time, with an average of 60 seconds. The variation defeats area time-keepers. HELP RESET will give you the menu below: Syntax: RESET OBJ - equips last mobile RESET OBJ inside [limit] [count] - store in container RESET OBJ room - store in room RESET MOB [] [] - load a mobile RESET DELETE - delete a reset RESET RANDOM [#x exits] - creates random exits RESET alone will display the resets in the current room. The will be displayed with this list. Typing ? WEAR-LOC will list possible locations that an object can be loaded to. The [] is the maximum number of mobiles allowed in the area and will default to 1 if no number is entered. The [] is the number of mobs to load into the room, if the max has not been reached in the area. For resets to be successful make sure that you add them in a logical order. For example if you are equiping a mobile don't load a container in the room and fill it with some objects and then continue equiping the mobile. It is likely that resets will backfire if they are not carefully entered. If you wish to reset the room then use EDIT ROOM RESET. You can also do quick resets by using the syntax below: Syntax: mreset Syntax: oreset -no_args = into room - = into obj - = into mob If you have changed a mob or an object that is currently reset into the room, then you'll need to "PURGE" the room and "EDIT ROOM RESET", before you see your changes. Any mobs or objects, with the same vnum, found elsewhere in the area will need to be purged, also, before their changes take affect. 4. Miscellaneous Commands Copyover: Available to Admin Only. Use sparingly (can sometimes correct mobprogs which have quit working). Syntax: copyover now -- will immediately do a copyover copyover stop -- will stop a pending copyover copyover