Re: [MUD-Dev] Games vs. simulations

[Richard Woolcock <KaVir#dial,pipex.com>]

Dmitri Zagidulin wrote:
> 

[snip]

> Not to spark a holy war, but can anyone explain to a newcomer why non-room
> systems (read some kind of coordinate systems) are a bad idea?
> They seem like a good holy grail to me...

A holy grail?  No - but in my opinion such systems provide a greater 
level of control and realism within the mud.  Implemented carefully, 
they provide more flexibility than a room-based system without any 
of the drawbacks.

[snip]

> Does anyone know of any examples of text-based muds with non-room based
> location systems?

Telford's entry in the 16K mud contest (http://www.andreasen.org/16k.shtml)
is fully coordinate based.  I know he's released his code, but I don't have 
a copy with me at home - if you email him you can find the site (his email 
address is on the 16K mud page).

> The only thing that I know of was the space system on old MicroMUSE - with
> x, y & z floating point coordinates, the whole bit.
> Which turns the question around for matt & other avid room-based
> proponents -- how _do_ you handle things like flight, sailing, and, most
> importantly, the question of world scope discussed in that excellent
> article on Gamasutra (don't remember the name).
> 
> That is, do you agree that having a large, wide-scope world has many
> in-game benefits and is desirable?
> If so, do you think it's really possible to do expansive terrain (lakes,
> fields, wilderness in general, seas, planets) using the myopic room-based
> system?

I have a huge wilderness system which uses rooms.  However my system is 
a sort of hybrid room/coordinate system - each room is exactly the same 
"size" and is located at a specific x/y/z coordinate position within the 
world.  In addition, each room contains it's own internal x/y coordinates 
(used for combat).  The rooms are all virtual and their descriptions are 
determined dynamically on the fly.

KaVir.



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