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Hi guys, I want to build a figure skating MUD, and I need advice on choosing a code base. At first, I considered a MUSH, since the game will be role-playing intensive (by definition ;) ). However, I'm also toying with the idea of somehow modifying a combat system into a system for "jumps" and "spins", other figure skating moves, etc.

As in, player will type "toeloop", and his/her character will attempt the jump with varying degrees of success based on attributes, skill level, etc. "Fighting" in regular MUDS would be converted into "practicing" or training jumps/spins/footwork. Is this idea feasible?

If it is possible to somehow modify the combat system in such a fashion, I guess I could use any of the LPMuds... otherwise, from what I've been reading about code bases, UberMud sounds really intriguing because of its flexibility, & the fact that it has a completely internal language... but there doesn't seem to be a lot of info/support on UberMud out there.

Anyway, I am a newbie to MUD building, so all advice welcome!

Well, what you could do is have a turn-based system. Then, it would look something like this (Just an idea, though):

Player 1> Spin left
Player 1 spins left (1 Point)
Player 2> Spin right
Player 2 spins right (1 Point)
Player 1> Jump
Player 1 spin-jumps (Because last move was spin) to the left!
Player 2> Trip player1
You fail to trip Player 1, and he continues his jump.
Player 1>
Player 1 lands perfectly on the ice! (5 points)

And so on and so on, with different move combos and stuff people can try to trip the other players. First player who gets 100 points wins...

Just an idea, though, and I'm sure you can do it with any MUD Codebase, or if you know of one, one that uses turn-based combat.

I guess I could use any of the LPMuds... otherwise, from what I've been reading about code bases, UberMud sounds really intriguing because of its flexibility, & the fact that it has a completely internal language... but there doesn't seem to be a lot of info/support on UberMud out there.

Yeah UberMud is ancient and there is no development of U afaik. LP sounds suitable. I usually recommend MOO as it appears to be generally easy for people to learn. It depends on one's background. If you're into lispy/forth languages look at Mux, Muck, Muq.

Should leave the regular combat code in too for when tonya_harding logs in to play.

Actually, what I have in mind is similar to DragonRealm’s fighting system, as in, depending on the player’s skill, the feedback from the fight would be different. So, in figure skating terms, this would look sort of like:

NewbiePlayer> flip

You reach back your right leg and tap in with your toepick… but your toepick slips and doesn’t get a good grip of the ice! As your body pole vaults into the air, you can feel yourself tilting, tilting…

// there might even be a roundtime here, so that the “jump” portion and “landing the jump” portion would be two separate messages.

…THUD, after three revolutions, you crash land on your butt and bruise your tailbone! Ouch, that’s going to sting in the morning.

NewbiePlayer> stand

You manage to pull yourself upright without falling on your soft spot. Congratulations, your mother would be proud.

NewbiePlayer> camel

You try to throw yourself into a camel spin from standstill… and manage not to slam your forehead into the ice, as your arms reach out to break the fall.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a more experieced player with a higher “flip skill”, it might look something like:

ProPlayer> flip

You reach back with your right leg and tap in with your toepick… it digs in securely and as you bring your arms in tight against your chest, your body pole vaults into the air (what spring!)…

// 2 second pause

…SWOOSH, after three revolutions, you check your shoulders… and land on a beautiful right back outside edge!

ProPlayer> back crossover

You push off with powerful strokes, building up speed seemingly effortlessly with silent blades.

ProPlayer> camel

Stepping into a right back inside edge, you twist your body and lean in, deepening the edge. You push off with your left foot into a deep forward outside edge… just as you feel the toepick hook into the ice, you snap your shoulders back and feel your body settle into a perfect arabesque position…

// 2 second pause

…eight, nine, ten revolutions! What great centering! What great speed! You check out of the spin with perfect control.

Okay, is all of that possible with LPMud? I would really like to know what Gemstone/Dragonrealms is based on…

Of course, I like your idea of the turn-based tripping system too… maybe I can leave that part in for players like tonya_harding ;) [Seriously though, actually, the “trip” idea would be good for “practice sessions” when many players are out on the ice at the same time… it would be a way for the cattier skaters to injure their competitors before a competition! Not to mention the Rping possibilities ;)]

That’s all for now, ta.

Stepping into a right back inside edge, you twist your body and lean in, deepening the edge. You push off with your left foot into a deep forward outside edge… just as you feel the toepick hook into the ice, you snap your shoulders back and feel your body settle into a perfect arabesque position…
…eight, nine, ten revolutions! What great centering! What great speed! You check out of the spin with perfect control.

Out of the corner of your eye you spot a flash of black and yellow...
...CRACK...
Mario Lemieux checks you hard against the boards. Your head slams into the glass snapping your front teeth off like corn from the cob. Blood gushes in a spray from your forehead trailing down the glass like a fountain of cherry soda. Just before you pass out you can hear Dick Buttons' hysterical shrieking over the rink loud-speakers.

Sorry, I couldn't help it. ;-)

lol... I'm impressed by the Dick Button's hysterical shrieking bit ;)

Okay, so I've been looking around and as of right now, I'm really not sure how to tackle implementing a system for figure skating jumps/spins...

I'm considering trying out a MUSH because softcode is supposed to be easier to master and anyway this would be my first attempt at starting up a MU*.

However, I would still like to figure out a way to implement figure skating jumps/spins by altering some prexisting system, such that dependent on the player's attributes, skill level in "camel spin", etc. etc., he/she will receive different output on how successfully he/she completed the maneuver.

This sounds like a relatively simple idea to me, but I still don't know how to go about implementing it... would this only be possible in LPMud? Or is that idea possible in MUSHs too? Any help appreciated!!

-divaexpat

(Comment added by divaexpat on Tue Jul 1 16:33:35 2003)

Actually, let me just clarify what I'm looking for in a code base instead of giving long examples ;)

-- [b]detailed skill-based system[/b] (since this is figure skating, I don't really want levels... well, there *are* technically levels in figure skating, juniors, seniors, etc., but I don't really want to get in to that...)
-- [b]detailed character creation system[/b], in terms of choosing physique, background, nationality, etc. etc.
-- [b]good parser[/b]-- I'm a little wary of MUSHs because of this... but I don't really see a good alternative.

Okay, that's all. Any ideas on a good choice of codebase? The MUD which I actually like the "feel" of the most is Dragonrealms (what a great skill/experience system!!), but of course they have a custom codebase.

Okay, as for a combat system, perhaps it is a poor choice to modify one. Many combat systems (those freely available atdistibution sites) consist of a player starting the sequence off with 'kill bob' and the game crunching numbers based on weapons/armor/skill/stat to decide who hits who how hard and when. Now, it can be done, but the whole point of a combat system is to deal damage. For a newbie, it could be a bit much to rework it all, especially since (it sounds) like you want a system where i 'type [move]' and the game crunches numbers to see how well/if i do move.

Look for a SPELL system. Granted it is magic, but change the skill NECROMANCY to FLIP and change the spells around. Anyway, in my experience, a spell system is set up for a single event, and can be self/area targeted to make it nice and easy to do the (moves?)

'sides, MUSH variants like to have it open ended. They want to describe their leaps and bounds, and often enough get angry at hard-coded things. Of course, this is something quite new to me, at least, and may be out of the realm of that statement.

Anyway, LP mudlibs have some nice examples of spell systems (Deadsouls is a mofo to get up, but it's pretty good). A little bit of coding will probably be required, but such is unavoidable. A marvelous idea, by the way. Bring the fantasy percentage down, and this is nifty. If you ever get it up I'll check it out.

Anyway, check spell systems, and if you need some help with it, I'll kick around a stock copy to see what happens.

Best of luck, and I'll check back later.

hey guys... boy, I'm making such progress here ;) Anyway, this project has been on the back burner for a while, and actually I'm still stalled on the stage of just choosing a good server/library to work with. One thing, however-- I don't have Unix. And, my last adventure with PennMUSH & cygwin was kind of horrid... grr, I wish I didn't delete my Microsoft C++ software.

Anyway, just trying to bump this up to see if you guys have any suggestions/ideas (...or Dick Button jokes ;) ).

In the meantime, I will carry on in my quest to find a good server/lib combo (which will actually compile!)...