[MUD-Dev] Re: Simulation (Was Re: Room descriptions)

[James Wilson <jwilson#rochester,rr.com>]

On Tue, 29 Sep 1998, Adam Wiggins wrote:

>So then, one can only imagine that doing a in simulation, there are certain
>themes which are much more difficult than others, graphic requirements aside.
>I tend to think that, similar to the examples above, or other simulationist
>games (for example, Creatures), an abstract concept works much better, since
>you get to define your own rules instead of having to model the "real" world
>and a "real" setting.

>How about a Gibsonesque "cyberspace" (ack, I'm sure you can think of a less
>worn-out term) where hackers try to invade corporate servers and do battle
>against guardian ICE programs?  How about a lighter theme - ToonMUD (cue
>archive search), or something in the vein of Furcadia?  (Aside: Furcadia
>*almost* works under WINE now; you can make a character and connect, but
>some of the graphics get scrambled during play.)

there was a reference a while back to some 3d animations, done in java, which 
used highly abstract visuals and trippy music to create a surreal environment -
they suggested acid trips through an ocean of amniotic fluid. this seems like a
fertile area for development - virtual spaces which are governed by laws 
wholly alien to RL would be fascinating to explore (though perhaps constructing
interesting scenarios and storylines atop them might be harder than in
more realistic worlds).

James

p.s. thanks all for the many helpful responses to my questions about server
processes a ways back. If you care, I've chosen (and implemented) a thread 
pool using non-blocking io: one thread for reads, doing select(), another
thread for writes, using some custom buffer classes, and a pool of worker
threads for event processing. I'll probably put in another thread devoted 
to db io as well when I get to that point.