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Molly · 08-29-2004, 08:33 PM

In my opinion what separates an excellent area from all those that are just fair is often consistency.
Everything must work together in a zone to make it really good; rooms, mobs, objects, scripts and resets.

I hate futuristic objects in medieval zones for instance, or zones where you can skip from a hot jungle to a tundra of snow and ice in just a few steps. . Climate, ecology, vegetation, wildlife, population, economy, architecture, culture etc. are equally important. Usually I start up by writing a background for my zone, which outlines those features, and also some sort of a plot, that I can use as a base for quests. The next thing I do is always a map, on graph paper. The map may need to be adapted as the zone develops, but it is the backbone of the world, and prevents bad linking (which is usually annoying).

To me all descs are equally important, object and mob descs as well as room descs. I cannot stand objects without descs (which is very common in some muds). And the more extra descs the better for me. The players get a choice whether to read them or skip them, which is always a good thing.

I prefer room descs to be kept rather short, around 4-7 lines. If they are longer they get spammy, and just tempt players to put brief mode on. If you cannot contain what you have to say to 7 lines, make another room, or use extra descs. The extra descs are also excellent for adding hidden and secret things, which only the players that pay attention find. In our mud there are so many hidden features in the zones, that even the most confirmed hack’n’slashers start reading all descs sooner or later, when they realise what they are missing out on otherwise. In our mud we also have listen/smell/taste descs and look behind/above/under descs, which gives a lot of extra tools for the ambitious builder.

In my opinion a good zone should always have several 'levels'; the basic ‘hunting ground’ on top for those just out to kill as many mobs as possible, and an ‘extra desc’ level, for those just like to read and delve into the depths of a zone. And then the ‘secret’ level, which takes a bit more time, effort and brains to figure out, and where the quests and rewards are usually ‘hidden in the high grass’ (metaphorically spoken).

Flavour, imagination and creative writing are things that vastly influence the general quality of a zone, but there are so many different styles of writing, that it is hard to set up any rules here. Again consistency is a key word. Always stick to the same style of writing throughout the zone. There usually is no problem recognising talent or mediocrity in a zone, whichever style it is written in. Checking a well written zone is a sheer pleasure to me, somewhat comparative to reading a good novel, but a bit more interactive than that, because of the code and the scripts.

Mob_progs – (or scripts, as we call the equivalent in Circle code) – are really important, not just for adding flavour, but for adding all kinds of quests, quirks and challenges to a zone. A zone without scripts usually looks a bit dead, however well written the descs are. But a zone with too many scripts gets spammy and irritating, so take care how you set them up, and be particularly cautious with Greet triggers.

I am no big fan of code generated descs. However much effort that you put into the variables, they always get repetitive at a certain point, and they usually lack ‘flavour’. IMO they can never replace well written individual descs. The only cases when I find them acceptable are in grids, or large spaced areas, where the descs would otherwise have to be totally repetitive, because of the excessive workload involved in writing hundreds of individual descs for a prairie or ocean zone.

The order you make things in doesn’t really matter; there are as many methods as there are builders. Some like to make all rooms first, others prefer to finish each room in turn, with descs, mobs , objects scripts and resets. Whatever method you find most effective is good.

Personally I always write down all descs in wordpad before even opening the OLC. And I really mean ALL, including the extra descs. Then I just copy and paste the descs into the OLC, which minimises the time I need to spend on line (which is important if you are on dial-up like I am). Writing everything down first gives you a much better overall view of the zone than you ever get in OLC. You can also trim the descs to a fairly even length, perhaps moving some sentences from one room to another, or even from a room to a mob or object, or the reverse. (Also this gives you a back-up of your work, in case the Mud shuts down, or you work for one of those Muds where Builders’ rights are not respected, and the Admin refuse to give you a copy of your own work).

The last important quality in a zone is Game balance. All Builders want their zone to be popular among the players. The easiest and – in my opinion – cheep way of ensuring this, is to put some overpowered equipment in it. Builders that do this have really misunderstood their role. If people play a zone simply because the equip in it is better than it should be, the Builder should be deeply ashamed of themselves, and the Head Builder too, for allowing it to happen. Some muds try to avoid this by not allow the Builders to create objects at all, they have a small, trusted team that do this in all zones. To me that is the wrong path to go. Mainly because to me Building entails the entire zone, and the objects are an important part of that whole. But also because I prefer to trust my Builders – up to a certain point. No zone goes into the Game Port, without being thoroughly checked by me and preferably one more Head Builder.

Also, in our Mud, completing a zone is usually the only way to get an immortal, and the content of the zone gives you a hint of what new imms you should keep a sharp eye on. If the zone is full of cheat equip and ‘cute’ scripts, you might not even want to admit the builder as an imm. I do believe in second chances though, mainly because I was given one myself. I was known as a major Troublemaker in my first mud, and the head Builder told me I’d never get an imm in the Gameport. I ended up Head Builder and Imp. One of our more talented Builders turned in a zone that was so crammed with various – and very advanced – ‘cheat’ scripts that it made my head spin. He didn’t get his imm until much later, after some long and serious talks. But he ended up as Head Coder and Imp, and I trust him more than anybody else on the mud.

Last, a serious advice too all prospective Builders out there. Don’t cheat. You MIGHT get away with it – at least for a while - if the Head Builders don’t know their job. And cheating and overpowered equip MIGHT be fun for you and your closest friends – at least for a while. But it isn’t fun for everybody else, and in the long run it isn’t even fun for you. Cheating ruins every mud, and cheating imms is worse than anything else. So, don’t cheat.

If you want your zone to be popular, put some challenge or original feature in it, something that makes the players want to come back to it, after the first time. To solve a quest, figure out a hard puzzle, or whatever you can think of. Use your imagination. The sky is the limit. You can do it.

08-29-2004, 08:33 PM	#9
Molly Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Sweden Home MUD: 4 Dimensions Posts: 574	In my opinion what separates an excellent area from all those that are just fair is often consistency. Everything must work together in a zone to make it really good; rooms, mobs, objects, scripts and resets. I hate futuristic objects in medieval zones for instance, or zones where you can skip from a hot jungle to a tundra of snow and ice in just a few steps. . Climate, ecology, vegetation, wildlife, population, economy, architecture, culture etc. are equally important. Usually I start up by writing a background for my zone, which outlines those features, and also some sort of a plot, that I can use as a base for quests. The next thing I do is always a map, on graph paper. The map may need to be adapted as the zone develops, but it is the backbone of the world, and prevents bad linking (which is usually annoying). To me all descs are equally important, object and mob descs as well as room descs. I cannot stand objects without descs (which is very common in some muds). And the more extra descs the better for me. The players get a choice whether to read them or skip them, which is always a good thing. I prefer room descs to be kept rather short, around 4-7 lines. If they are longer they get spammy, and just tempt players to put brief mode on. If you cannot contain what you have to say to 7 lines, make another room, or use extra descs. The extra descs are also excellent for adding hidden and secret things, which only the players that pay attention find. In our mud there are so many hidden features in the zones, that even the most confirmed hack’n’slashers start reading all descs sooner or later, when they realise what they are missing out on otherwise. In our mud we also have listen/smell/taste descs and look behind/above/under descs, which gives a lot of extra tools for the ambitious builder. In my opinion a good zone should always have several 'levels'; the basic ‘hunting ground’ on top for those just out to kill as many mobs as possible, and an ‘extra desc’ level, for those just like to read and delve into the depths of a zone. And then the ‘secret’ level, which takes a bit more time, effort and brains to figure out, and where the quests and rewards are usually ‘hidden in the high grass’ (metaphorically spoken). Flavour, imagination and creative writing are things that vastly influence the general quality of a zone, but there are so many different styles of writing, that it is hard to set up any rules here. Again consistency is a key word. Always stick to the same style of writing throughout the zone. There usually is no problem recognising talent or mediocrity in a zone, whichever style it is written in. Checking a well written zone is a sheer pleasure to me, somewhat comparative to reading a good novel, but a bit more interactive than that, because of the code and the scripts. Mob_progs – (or scripts, as we call the equivalent in Circle code) – are really important, not just for adding flavour, but for adding all kinds of quests, quirks and challenges to a zone. A zone without scripts usually looks a bit dead, however well written the descs are. But a zone with too many scripts gets spammy and irritating, so take care how you set them up, and be particularly cautious with Greet triggers. I am no big fan of code generated descs. However much effort that you put into the variables, they always get repetitive at a certain point, and they usually lack ‘flavour’. IMO they can never replace well written individual descs. The only cases when I find them acceptable are in grids, or large spaced areas, where the descs would otherwise have to be totally repetitive, because of the excessive workload involved in writing hundreds of individual descs for a prairie or ocean zone. The order you make things in doesn’t really matter; there are as many methods as there are builders. Some like to make all rooms first, others prefer to finish each room in turn, with descs, mobs , objects scripts and resets. Whatever method you find most effective is good. Personally I always write down all descs in wordpad before even opening the OLC. And I really mean ALL, including the extra descs. Then I just copy and paste the descs into the OLC, which minimises the time I need to spend on line (which is important if you are on dial-up like I am). Writing everything down first gives you a much better overall view of the zone than you ever get in OLC. You can also trim the descs to a fairly even length, perhaps moving some sentences from one room to another, or even from a room to a mob or object, or the reverse. (Also this gives you a back-up of your work, in case the Mud shuts down, or you work for one of those Muds where Builders’ rights are not respected, and the Admin refuse to give you a copy of your own work). The last important quality in a zone is Game balance. All Builders want their zone to be popular among the players. The easiest and – in my opinion – cheep way of ensuring this, is to put some overpowered equipment in it. Builders that do this have really misunderstood their role. If people play a zone simply because the equip in it is better than it should be, the Builder should be deeply ashamed of themselves, and the Head Builder too, for allowing it to happen. Some muds try to avoid this by not allow the Builders to create objects at all, they have a small, trusted team that do this in all zones. To me that is the wrong path to go. Mainly because to me Building entails the entire zone, and the objects are an important part of that whole. But also because I prefer to trust my Builders – up to a certain point. No zone goes into the Game Port, without being thoroughly checked by me and preferably one more Head Builder. Also, in our Mud, completing a zone is usually the only way to get an immortal, and the content of the zone gives you a hint of what new imms you should keep a sharp eye on. If the zone is full of cheat equip and ‘cute’ scripts, you might not even want to admit the builder as an imm. I do believe in second chances though, mainly because I was given one myself. I was known as a major Troublemaker in my first mud, and the head Builder told me I’d never get an imm in the Gameport. I ended up Head Builder and Imp. One of our more talented Builders turned in a zone that was so crammed with various – and very advanced – ‘cheat’ scripts that it made my head spin. He didn’t get his imm until much later, after some long and serious talks. But he ended up as Head Coder and Imp, and I trust him more than anybody else on the mud. Last, a serious advice too all prospective Builders out there. Don’t cheat. You MIGHT get away with it – at least for a while - if the Head Builders don’t know their job. And cheating and overpowered equip MIGHT be fun for you and your closest friends – at least for a while. But it isn’t fun for everybody else, and in the long run it isn’t even fun for you. Cheating ruins every mud, and cheating imms is worse than anything else. So, don’t cheat. If you want your zone to be popular, put some challenge or original feature in it, something that makes the players want to come back to it, after the first time. To solve a quest, figure out a hard puzzle, or whatever you can think of. Use your imagination. The sky is the limit. You can do it.