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Discussions about the article:

http://www.mudconnect.com/articles/dm/magic.html

Interesting topic but I'm afraid that, to me, the author approached it from the exact wrong end! The article started promisingly, suggesting that magic would be substantified, but I couldn't really see a trace of such. The focus of the article was on the implementation of a magic system.. I feel the most important aspect of a magic system is to understand how it works. Not how it works in code, but in the gameworld.

The author actually seemed to point this out, but then proceeded to do exactly the opposite..

Once you know how magic works, you'll know how to implement it.

Oh bah. I'll return to the subject once I get some more stuff installed :D

E

I completely agree in your take on the article, but I would like to suggest one more step.

The important thing on introducing a magic system is not just how to develop it conceptually, but how are you going to have the players interact with the system.

If the system is kludged, then it would be more complex to use practically. Interface is a great concern of mine when thinking about non-standard approaches to magic.

Sure, I can tie magic to a series of combinations of runes, components, gestures, etc. But the problem is how to let the player interface with it practically without having 15 command-line arguments.

Would a menu-based approach work better than command-line arguments for having so many variables?

Would pre-formed spells attached to a keyword be a better approach?


Basically, the strongest and most creative magic (and skill) system is only as strong as its interface.

Thoughts?