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KaVir · 01-22-2010, 05:17 AM

I think it depends on what you consider an "autoquest". I agree that the typical implementation and presentation used by most muds (i.e., go and kill X, or go and collect Y) isn't going to be a good fit for all muds. But the underlying concept is fairly generic and pretty flexible, and if you look past the cosmetics you may well find something of use.

For example, many muds have shopkeeper mobs who will buy certain types of item (eg a weaponsmith who buys weapons as well as selling them). Using the autoquest approach you could have mobs that vary their requirements - for example, a witch who will pay well for special ingredients for her spells (but the ingredients she wants always change), or a high-class tailor who only buys the most fashional materials (and of course fashions keep changing). I know your mud has player-run shops, but you could also have it work the other way around - use the autoquest system to occasionally generate mobs who want to buy certain things (warm clothes in winter, fashionable clothes if they're rich, food if it's lunch time, etc).

Likewise, many muds allow you to wander around killing mobs, although those same mobs are usually in place all year round, day and night. However the autoquest system could be used spawn mobs based on specific conditions, for example you might have "hungry wolves" (more aggressive but not as tough) spawn in winter rather than regular wolves, and have these wolves pester the local farmers every year, who will pay to have them killed (effectively turning them into winter-only shopkeepers). Or you might have bloodflies that gather around lakes and are usually harmless, but as winter approaches they gather into large aggressive swarms to lay their eggs (and perhaps those eggs can be sold as a delicacy, maybe even in combination with a food-preparation minigame).

I also have another type of autoquest system that I'm still working on, which I call "events". The mud stores a list of events, and every so often it will start one, with a (current) maximum of ten events running at any one time - a little while after an event has been completed, another will begin. Right now the events are just special mobs that appear in designated places, but I plan to use the same system to generate entire villages complete with shops and houses. This means players will be able to literally burn an entire village to the ground, and it won't ever come back (but because new events spawn to replace old ones, eventually another village with a different name and layout will get built elsewhere in the world).

An autoquest system can be used to add flavour in subtle ways - indeed your players might not even view it as an autoquest system. It's easy to be put off by specific implementations, but if you look at the underlying concept you may find something worth using.

01-22-2010, 05:17 AM	#8
KaVir Legend Join Date: Apr 2002 Name: Richard Home MUD: God Wars II Posts: 2,052	Re: Autoquests I think it depends on what you consider an "autoquest". I agree that the typical implementation and presentation used by most muds (i.e., go and kill X, or go and collect Y) isn't going to be a good fit for all muds. But the underlying concept is fairly generic and pretty flexible, and if you look past the cosmetics you may well find something of use. For example, many muds have shopkeeper mobs who will buy certain types of item (eg a weaponsmith who buys weapons as well as selling them). Using the autoquest approach you could have mobs that vary their requirements - for example, a witch who will pay well for special ingredients for her spells (but the ingredients she wants always change), or a high-class tailor who only buys the most fashional materials (and of course fashions keep changing). I know your mud has player-run shops, but you could also have it work the other way around - use the autoquest system to occasionally generate mobs who want to buy certain things (warm clothes in winter, fashionable clothes if they're rich, food if it's lunch time, etc). Likewise, many muds allow you to wander around killing mobs, although those same mobs are usually in place all year round, day and night. However the autoquest system could be used spawn mobs based on specific conditions, for example you might have "hungry wolves" (more aggressive but not as tough) spawn in winter rather than regular wolves, and have these wolves pester the local farmers every year, who will pay to have them killed (effectively turning them into winter-only shopkeepers). Or you might have bloodflies that gather around lakes and are usually harmless, but as winter approaches they gather into large aggressive swarms to lay their eggs (and perhaps those eggs can be sold as a delicacy, maybe even in combination with a food-preparation minigame). I also have another type of autoquest system that I'm still working on, which I call "events". The mud stores a list of events, and every so often it will start one, with a (current) maximum of ten events running at any one time - a little while after an event has been completed, another will begin. Right now the events are just special mobs that appear in designated places, but I plan to use the same system to generate entire villages complete with shops and houses. This means players will be able to literally burn an entire village to the ground, and it won't ever come back (but because new events spawn to replace old ones, eventually another village with a different name and layout will get built elsewhere in the world). An autoquest system can be used to add flavour in subtle ways - indeed your players might not even view it as an autoquest system. It's easy to be put off by specific implementations, but if you look at the underlying concept you may find something worth using.