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Keriwena · 05-02-2005, 07:17 PM

> If it is not going to be a picture, what is the next best thing you can do with a thousand words?

I like a clean, uncluttered look, with a limited ASCII palette. I don't always achieve this, but it's a goal. I like to support raw telnet on MUDs, I don't seem to care on MUSHes, for some reason. I try to keep the page length to under 20 lines to accommodate command line clients. I hate spam. I like short, poignant descriptions. I prefer horizontal contents listings.

Domo Dandolo: Salone
Morning and afternoon, a gentle Mediteranean light filters through the
coloured panes of the ornately framed windows high on the end walls and bathes
the fading frescos on the side walls with a restorative glow. Sumptuous woolen
oriental rugs are arrayed askance with a lack of precision contrapuntal to the
geometric parquet floor. Low couches, chairs, and tables with an Egyptian look
cluster in several settings.

Occupying the Salone are Magister Meduci, Dona Dandolo, and Angelina.
The Salone contains the Ancient Book, a glass of wine, and a rose.
There is a door to the north, a door to the south, and an archway to the east.

(BTW, if you use a fixed width font, the above desc is right justified.)
Some things have changed over the years:

Harbor View Cafe
Through the many panes of the broad bay window in the east wall, a
picturesque view of the harbor dominates the room. Rough tables and worn
captain's chairs add to the flavor of the setting, if not the food.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Entrances: The Pier The Deck
Standing: Anne(4m) Sandi(0s) Soruk(17s)
Seating: Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4
Seated: 0
Items:

I've become fond of lines dividing the description from the room contents. The contents is now more of a 'heads up display' than an attempt at prose. The idle times next to the players names are for roleplay, so you don't have to check the WHO to be sure you're not starting a conversation with someone that's 25 minutes idle. Seated players are not shown in the "Standing" list - you have to look at each table. The "Standing" list is not sorted from the contents by the Player flag, but by sex. This treats Puppets (a Player animated object (think 'switch')) the same as Players, and allows them to roleplay fully. And while I'm bragging, MUSH objects don't have articles, so in the first example the contents list has the articles, punctuation and conjunction added by the code (a limited version is now a built-in function in some codebases).

As far as decorative color goes, I think a game should have no more than two primary colors (that's a pun) and two accent colors, though much can be done with one primary and one accent. There are very few combinations that I find appealing. Red, white and blue looks good, but is perhaps a bit patriotic (depending on your country of origin, I suppose). Perhaps the best is a combination of blues and cyans. I've also used high red and yellow to good effect.

The main use of color, I believe, should be to expand the information provided by the text. On my mud, the results of the 'consider' command use stoplight colors - green for go ahead, yellow for caution, and red for stop, so while the dozen clever little quips might need to be deciphered to determine the exact level difference, the color provides quick recognition of safety or danger. In other command responses, I use the order of the spectrum to provide finer grained evaluations. Yes, Molly, coloring the name of the room by terrain is garish. Sorry about that. :)

Something else I've done that I hate is add the weather as the first line of the description in outdoor rooms. It gets really boring when you travel quickly, especially with short descriptions as it dominates the text field. But, it does give you sense of being outdoors. Another idea I've toyed with is making outdoor descs wrap at 80, and indoor descs wrap at 60, to give a feeling of confinement.

Anyway, yes, I care very much about how things look, but I think you can't forget that while the text might be fiction, perhaps even poetry, it's also a collection of facts. There are times when elegant formatting and appealing colors have to be restrained to ensure the information the player needs is presented in a concise, coherent display.

05-02-2005, 07:17 PM	#27
Keriwena New Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 11	> If it is not going to be a picture, what is the next best thing you can do with a thousand words? I like a clean, uncluttered look, with a limited ASCII palette. I don't always achieve this, but it's a goal. I like to support raw telnet on MUDs, I don't seem to care on MUSHes, for some reason. I try to keep the page length to under 20 lines to accommodate command line clients. I hate spam. I like short, poignant descriptions. I prefer horizontal contents listings. Domo Dandolo: Salone Morning and afternoon, a gentle Mediteranean light filters through the coloured panes of the ornately framed windows high on the end walls and bathes the fading frescos on the side walls with a restorative glow. Sumptuous woolen oriental rugs are arrayed askance with a lack of precision contrapuntal to the geometric parquet floor. Low couches, chairs, and tables with an Egyptian look cluster in several settings. Occupying the Salone are Magister Meduci, Dona Dandolo, and Angelina. The Salone contains the Ancient Book, a glass of wine, and a rose. There is a door to the north, a door to the south, and an archway to the east. (BTW, if you use a fixed width font, the above desc is right justified.) Some things have changed over the years: Harbor View Cafe Through the many panes of the broad bay window in the east wall, a picturesque view of the harbor dominates the room. Rough tables and worn captain's chairs add to the flavor of the setting, if not the food. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Entrances: The Pier The Deck Standing: Anne(4m) Sandi(0s) Soruk(17s) Seating: Table 1 Table 2 Table 3 Table 4 Seated: 0 Items: I've become fond of lines dividing the description from the room contents. The contents is now more of a 'heads up display' than an attempt at prose. The idle times next to the players names are for roleplay, so you don't have to check the WHO to be sure you're not starting a conversation with someone that's 25 minutes idle. Seated players are not shown in the "Standing" list - you have to look at each table. The "Standing" list is not sorted from the contents by the Player flag, but by sex. This treats Puppets (a Player animated object (think 'switch')) the same as Players, and allows them to roleplay fully. And while I'm bragging, MUSH objects don't have articles, so in the first example the contents list has the articles, punctuation and conjunction added by the code (a limited version is now a built-in function in some codebases). As far as decorative color goes, I think a game should have no more than two primary colors (that's a pun) and two accent colors, though much can be done with one primary and one accent. There are very few combinations that I find appealing. Red, white and blue looks good, but is perhaps a bit patriotic (depending on your country of origin, I suppose). Perhaps the best is a combination of blues and cyans. I've also used high red and yellow to good effect. The main use of color, I believe, should be to expand the information provided by the text. On my mud, the results of the 'consider' command use stoplight colors - green for go ahead, yellow for caution, and red for stop, so while the dozen clever little quips might need to be deciphered to determine the exact level difference, the color provides quick recognition of safety or danger. In other command responses, I use the order of the spectrum to provide finer grained evaluations. Yes, Molly, coloring the name of the room by terrain is garish. Sorry about that. :) Something else I've done that I hate is add the weather as the first line of the description in outdoor rooms. It gets really boring when you travel quickly, especially with short descriptions as it dominates the text field. But, it does give you sense of being outdoors. Another idea I've toyed with is making outdoor descs wrap at 80, and indoor descs wrap at 60, to give a feeling of confinement. Anyway, yes, I care very much about how things look, but I think you can't forget that while the text might be fiction, perhaps even poetry, it's also a collection of facts. There are times when elegant formatting and appealing colors have to be restrained to ensure the information the player needs is presented in a concise, coherent display.