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Molly · 09-16-2004, 04:59 PM

In her post Sonya mentioned ’updating’ zones, and I’d like to comment on that, because the term ‘updating’ might mean different things to different people.

To some it might mean just changing the level of the mobs and the stats of the objects in the zone, to fit in with the general level of their game. That’s not updating to me, it’s just balancing the zone.

To some it might mean changing the names of the key mobs and some references in a few of the rooms, (like for instance renaming Midgard to Mos Eisley), and then replacing the name of the original Builder with your own. That’s not updating to me, it’s stealing – (and it is appalling to see how many Muds that do this deplorable thing).

But in 4D ‘updating a zone’ means something much more. Our Mud has been on line for almost eight years now, and during that time we have changed the codebase and made a lot of additions to the OLC, giving several new opportunities for the Builders.

Some of the oldest zones are only half the ‘standard’ size of 100 rooms, because we had a lot of inexperienced Builders back then - including myself - and figured that one small zone in the Game Port was worth more than ten unfinished big ones in the Buildport. And to tell the truth, some of them are really not all that good - including my own - because we started out from scratch without any Stock zones at all, and needed the world to grow fast. So in those old days quantity meant more than quality, and some of the old zones could best be described as ‘hunting grounds’. And even if some of them are small jewels in their own way, since the Builder had a way with words, they still lack the depth and twists that the newer ones have, because in those old days the Builders just didn’t have the tools that we have now.

Every zone, simple or complex, is unique, because every Builder has their own style and puts some of their own personality into it. You could call it the essence of the Builder, or maybe the ‘flavour’ of the zone. What Sonya does when she updates a zone is to pick up that flavour and adapt her own style of writing to it. You need to be a good writer, with a firm sense of the valour of the language to do this.

Updating a zone in 4D includes adding all the extra descs (listen, smell, taste, feel) to rooms and objects, checking the balance, getting rid of any remaining typos, adding some of the new OLC options to make it more challenging (like scripts, hidden portals and containers, look behind/above/under objects, segmented mobs, etc). Usually she also adds a couple of built-in Quests, and fills the number of rooms up to a 100. (At times she adds a 100 room grid to it as well). And while doing all this she sticks to the theme and style of the original zone.

The result of this rather unselfish work is a zone that the original Builder would recognise as their own, but which also is bigger, better and more challenging for the players. Naturally the original Builders keep their credits, she just adds her own name as ‘updated by…’. And in this she follows the tradition of 4D, where the work of Builders has always been respected and recognised. Maybe that’s why we have been blessed with so many amazing Builders over the years.

And you know what? Any good Builder is worth their weight in gold to any Mud, even if some mudowners are too stupid or too arrogant to acknowledge it. And I wouldn’t trade Sonya for anything.

09-16-2004, 04:59 PM	#20
Molly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sweden Home MUD: 4 Dimensions Posts: 574	In her post Sonya mentioned ’updating’ zones, and I’d like to comment on that, because the term ‘updating’ might mean different things to different people. To some it might mean just changing the level of the mobs and the stats of the objects in the zone, to fit in with the general level of their game. That’s not updating to me, it’s just balancing the zone. To some it might mean changing the names of the key mobs and some references in a few of the rooms, (like for instance renaming Midgard to Mos Eisley), and then replacing the name of the original Builder with your own. That’s not updating to me, it’s stealing – (and it is appalling to see how many Muds that do this deplorable thing). But in 4D ‘updating a zone’ means something much more. Our Mud has been on line for almost eight years now, and during that time we have changed the codebase and made a lot of additions to the OLC, giving several new opportunities for the Builders. Some of the oldest zones are only half the ‘standard’ size of 100 rooms, because we had a lot of inexperienced Builders back then - including myself - and figured that one small zone in the Game Port was worth more than ten unfinished big ones in the Buildport. And to tell the truth, some of them are really not all that good - including my own - because we started out from scratch without any Stock zones at all, and needed the world to grow fast. So in those old days quantity meant more than quality, and some of the old zones could best be described as ‘hunting grounds’. And even if some of them are small jewels in their own way, since the Builder had a way with words, they still lack the depth and twists that the newer ones have, because in those old days the Builders just didn’t have the tools that we have now. Every zone, simple or complex, is unique, because every Builder has their own style and puts some of their own personality into it. You could call it the essence of the Builder, or maybe the ‘flavour’ of the zone. What Sonya does when she updates a zone is to pick up that flavour and adapt her own style of writing to it. You need to be a good writer, with a firm sense of the valour of the language to do this. Updating a zone in 4D includes adding all the extra descs (listen, smell, taste, feel) to rooms and objects, checking the balance, getting rid of any remaining typos, adding some of the new OLC options to make it more challenging (like scripts, hidden portals and containers, look behind/above/under objects, segmented mobs, etc). Usually she also adds a couple of built-in Quests, and fills the number of rooms up to a 100. (At times she adds a 100 room grid to it as well). And while doing all this she sticks to the theme and style of the original zone. The result of this rather unselfish work is a zone that the original Builder would recognise as their own, but which also is bigger, better and more challenging for the players. Naturally the original Builders keep their credits, she just adds her own name as ‘updated by…’. And in this she follows the tradition of 4D, where the work of Builders has always been respected and recognised. Maybe that’s why we have been blessed with so many amazing Builders over the years. And you know what? Any good Builder is worth their weight in gold to any Mud, even if some mudowners are too stupid or too arrogant to acknowledge it. And I wouldn’t trade Sonya for anything.