I'm going to just say a few of my ideas i've come across and how they relate
to yours .. go ahead and skip this post if u do not care to hear it .. Sorry
this is such a long post =(
Ok well, I cutout the original post for the length factor =) But I've just
got a few things to say on the idea behalf. Firstly, Have u played any other
mudbase besides circle? If not I'd suggest going out and looking at some
other codebase...I found LPMud to be my favorite mudbase, eventually moving
to DarkeLIB (a derivative of Nightmare lib both are which no longer
distributed) If you've played DarkeMUD or any derivative of Nightmare you
have seen how it holds its RP balance with the NUMBER balance .. if not I'll
explain
You have your character of a certain race, you have stats (yes numbers)
which u assign yourself according to a point system.. Stats affect the game,
but not as much as you might think, Darke stats ranged from about 30 to 150
which gave a broad base, considering their is about 10 stats. Again, more
and more makes it more random everytime, if you do it right. You do not pick
a class, but merely wander the towns find a guild and join in .. then
becoming a member of that class. Again an RP aspect leaving the world open
to undecideds.
As far as combat goes the combat is while quite repetative, still very very
flavorful. If you've ever roleplayed Rolemaster, u've seen the "crit
system", which uses a scale of A to E grade damages and a roll of 0 to 100+,
there are about 20+ msgs per grade, E being the most frightening and
damaging and A being the weakest. Each describes in semi-detail the damage
being done, and some do special things .. such as break limbs, forcibly
dropping weapons, sever limbs .. stun the opponent, knock the opponent down,
what not .. Also the crit tables range from "cutting, slashing, bludgeon" to
"fire, ice, cold, aether, javednite" which all have their own unique msgs
for all grades, all number ranges, the use of this Dynamic and table created
system allows for combat that i can almost gaurantee will never be the same
twice (that is unless the same numbers are thrown thru the process over and
over)
Here is an example from the "cutting" table grade A crits (again this is
LPMud base .. not circle, but it could be ported easily, as well as a new
system designed like it created)
36..45:@A @V a minor wound on @(TP) calf.:inflict:CONT_DAMAGE 1 5
46..50:@A @V a blow to @(TP) back.:deliver:DAMAGE 2:SKILL_MOD parry -30
The number range being the roll, the @A being the attacker, @V the verb
which is the 3rd token in :'s and @(TP) is the target possessive (name + 's)
.. then its hows what it does.. the one simply creates i believe 5 damage
for 1 additional round? and the 2nd does damage and drops their parry skill
..
I plan on implementing a system like this once i finish revamping the
skill/spell system ... Again just some feedback on what i have seen, u might
have also seen it and it might not be for u, but again its just ideas on the
table ..
As for the combat map, I've never seen it done .. tho i've seen it done with
a worldmap idea .. which looks great when trying to wander the world and
find places to go and see an 8 by 6 grid of sorts, or 4 by 4 depending on
time of day (visibility) Along with a description of the area of course ..
all virtually created off a map file ..
As for keeping stuff secret? I personally like the Hp, Mana, Vitality
numbers .. they help a person really figure it out .. if your mud is random
enough and has enough new options than they should not be able to know if
they're going to win or not .. that to me is a sign of a good mud. I mean
obviously if its a wuss monster you should take it no problem, but if its
something that looks formidable maybe it is? maybe it isn't? Again with the
crit system it changes this because, yes he hit you for 10 last rnd .. but
this round he whips out cuts your arm off, u start bleeding (extra damage),
your body takes shock damage from the surprise, and you're stunned? no
longer can dodge or parry while the monster beats u for a few rounds, u
regain your composure maybe grab your weapon in your other hand and start
hacking away taking penalties from the offhand wielding .. u get a good
thrust in and impale him thru the heart, he's dead. Or he parries your
attack and gets you with a nice hit to the chest, you're dead .. ? If your
skill is good enough, your weapon is enhanced, u can do excellent damage, if
your skill is low, u'll do less damage but the possibility u get a good
strike is still there .. making combat more intense as you wade passed the
week hits waiting for a nice strike .. This to me is the key .. to keeping
players in a hack-and-slash game .. If they are going to have to hack and
slash .. make it fun! exciting! descriptive! Let em kick a little ass and
get their ass kicked! I've never seen number crunching going on during a
battle simply because u'll never know who's gonna win!
As for scissors paper rock? Well .. my mud (i'm werking on) has a few things
.. for example .. trolls regenerate .. they also heal at an accellerated
rate, but .. to balance this .. they take more damage from fire .. (which
will work well once the new combat system is in which allows for diff types
of damage and crits) u may say its not quite fair? well maybe its not .. but
they also get minuses to their stats .. Trolls might make a great fighter ..
but a good mage, or even a good fighter with the right skills will balance
out .. Hell a mediocre mage with a nice fireball could take the troll out,
cook him crispy .. the fighter on the otherhand .. maybe take advantage of
his size, sweep or bash him .. take him an extra round to get up .. while a
fast elf gets up right away .. i think the more advantages and disadvantages
the more unique it makes each experience .. each person whether they are the
same race same class .. will not be the same .. in some muds, apart from
personal style alot of chars are the same which leads to boring boring play
and little rp .. since everyone can do everything .. don't let clerics use
stabbing weapons .. let the mages use anything but if they don't have a
skill for it they'll suck .. hence daggers and staves for mages .. don't be
afraid to try limits and push balance ... things can be VERY apart yet still
balance out .. its just a thing u have to try in a Beta phase
I mean anything is possible, and it seems great to me, that you want to seek
out new ideas .. i love to see ideas people come up with and i'd like to put
some i've seen or made on the table, thanks for reading this sorry i
couldn't comment on more.
Okay,
jINx
----- Original Message -----
From: Fredfish (E. Harper) <oxford_thames@ON.AIBN.COM>
To: <CIRCLE@post.queensu.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 11:11 PM
Subject: [CIRCLE] MUD essential features
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