This came to me last night from Fafhrd <fafhrd@lvcm.com>, and he asked me
to pass it along the mailing list for him. Any responses should go to
him, _not_ to me. Although, if anyone is silly enough to send them to me,
I'll try to pass them along properly.
Ae.
---8<---
After many years of writing muds, I'm calling it quits. I served on the
Sojourn staff, I helped create and ran the code for Duris, and most
recently created a graphical mud based mostly on Circle. Why should you
care? Well, because I invested a lot of effort into my latest effort,
GreyMud, and a part of me will die if it does. So, I've decided to give it
away.
GreyMud is not complete, but it is fully playable. It incorporates code
from Duris and Toril (post-split), while being built upon a Circle base
(bpl16 I think). What makes GreyMud so special, is that it is no longer a
simple telnet mud. It requires a special client to connect with
(included). Aside from the normal text the mud still sends, 'codes' are
also sent which tell the client how to draw a tilebased map, using
animated bitmaps for monsters, characters, objects, etc. The server
contains numerous mathematical formulas which aid in line of sight, area
of effect, vector calculations, etc. In other words, the world truely is
3-d. All included zones have been graphically drawn, and a large number
have been outfitted as well.
Another fancy I added, was the concept of MDB or master database. After
8+ years of hosting muds, Ive decided the only way to achieve proper
balance is to force things upon builders. So, I pre-built 1000+ objects
and 2500+ monsters. These are basically exact copies from AD&D 1st
edition. When a builder needs a dagger for instance, he/she does a lookup
to find the MDB number of the standard dagger. This is then copied over to
their zone, and altered just a bit (name perhaps). This way, all normal
daggers are 1d4, speed 8 (I think), material steel, etc. The same applies
to mobs as well. A kobold is a kobold is a kobold. A builder may change
the name from 'A standard kobold' to 'A fierce looking kobold warrior',
but it will still be a 2d8 mob. As well, if a coder later writes a neat
script (DG based), or a new proc for a MDB item/mob, it will cascade down
to all occurances. ie, code something that makes the MDB kobold attack
orcs on sight, and ALL kobolds in the game will inherit that code.
Hmm, what else... (it's been some time since I stopped working on
this)... The game is heavily event oriented, with tons of events already
done. Falling, drowning, searching, camping are all events, and act quite
unlike any mud you've seen use them. Spells can be delayed, as in the AD&D
'delayed fireball' spell. Oh yeah, spells are extremely advanced. They are
book/memorization based, with support for regents if it was desired at a
later date. Races are in, racewars are in, kingdoms are partially stubbed,
justice stubs as well, vehicles, mounts, flying, swimming, wilderness, etc
etc etc.
So here's my offer. I will give this code and all associated projects to
one person. I don't want to see this posted just so bits and pieces can be
used by 100 other muds. I hope my vision/theme is followed, but I won't
restrict you to that. I do not want a god, nor any affilitation, although
I would appreciate a guided tour 6 months or so after you've played with
it. Once I've chosen the recipient, and sufficient time has passed to
prove you are an honest person, I will forgo all rights to this project. I
cannot however provide a site. Mine is currently tied up with my newest
project, 3D, which takes every bit of power I can spare :)
If you're interested, email me. Tell me what you've done, what you know,
why you want this, etc etc. I _will_ give this away, and it _will_ be
someone that reads this list. That's my payback for years of occasional
tips from you posters. I know longer am subscribed though, so do use email :)
fafhrd@lvcm.com
Fafhrd....
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