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Old 02-01-2013, 07:00 PM   #1
js_wilson
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Codebase with Crafting

I am looking for a codebase that has a built in crafting system. I have used coffeemud, but it's system requirements are too steep for my host. Any suggestions?
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Old 02-02-2013, 09:37 AM   #2
camlorn
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

Well, if you don't know enough coding to make one, you're probably not going to get far. In all honesty, I'm sure there's codebases like coffeemud that provide their own crafting, and I'm sure they're perfectly good, but my advice to you is, if you want to impress new players, make your own never-seen-before system.

If you want to run coffeemud, there's linode (what Dentin recommends if I recall correctly), and the lowest package probably would work. Also, bhost, which is cheaper, but probably at the cost of tech support. If you have a free server, then switching may not be something you want to look into, but if you're paying, well...let me put it this way. Bhost is 5 dollars. I can get, for slightly more, a package twice as large as Genesismud's biggest package, for half the price. Linode is more expensive, but appears to offer more tech support and tools for when something inevitably goes wrong, and probably a faster network. There's a ton of options out there that can run coffeemud for a reasonable price.

Coffeemud is the only codebase with out of the box crafting that I am aware of, at least as the term is understood by me. There's Diku potion brewing snippets, but they are really not real crafting: brew <spellname>, no material resources required in most cases. I'm sure you can find something besides it, but the truth is, Coffeemud is a mud without areas, not a mud codebase, and that's why it has all the stuff it does. That's both good and bad: it gets you off the ground quickly, but there's less room for originality. That said, you can practically do just about anything from the building interface--I even looked into the feasibility of making player assemblable factories once--so long as you've got builders who know a bit of programming.

The LP mudlibs may be a place to look for this sort of thing, but if you're not able to write your own, you're probably not able to build for an LP mud, as LPC building is the same as LPC programming.

Codebases with well-developed crafting, in my experience, are few and very far between.
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Old 02-02-2013, 12:18 PM   #3
js_wilson
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

Yeah, I could potentially write a crafting system with a little help from my friends, I just wanted to see if they're other options first, because I didn't wan't to have to reinvent the wheel if something already exists that I can use and possible modify a bit. The whole "not reinventing the wheel" thing is what attracted me to coffeemud to begin with, because, like you said, a lot of work was already done for me, and it has a lot of easy customization options as far as changing races, classes, skills, spells ect.

I am really more of a builder than a coder. I am pretty good with mobprogs and such, but My coding experience is limited to a few basic C# scripts I made or modified for my private Ultima Online shard, and a couple simple games I wrote in python, and I had help with both of these.

I understand that one should be more of a coder if I am going to attempt to run a MUD, but this is really just something I am doing for fun for myself and a few friends from my old D&D group. I am not trying to impress anyone with my coding skills, and I am not trying to be "the next great MUD". I just want something I can run without to much of a hassle, and has cool features I can use to focus on my building skills and create a fun and creative world with cool quests and well designed areas.

So anyway, thanks for the advice. I didn't really want to have to change hosts, even though I have found good options like the ones you have mentioned, but at this point, that's looking like it will be my best option. I just wished I hadn't been stupid and paid for my host 3 months in advance before I realized it can't run coffeemud. Stupidity should be painful
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Old 02-02-2013, 02:22 PM   #4
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

There's always Moo, which is well-documented and geared for everyone is a builder. This is at the cost of crafting systems, and it really isn't intended to be locked down to the level of a mud--it can be, but the intent is that everyone is going to be building, at least on most databases. You lose combat, though, so it depends on what you want. If your intent is that you build and others play, then that isn't the right choice; if your intent is that everyone builds and no one plays, moo is worth looking at. You could qwrite a space simulation, that's been done, or a science fiction rpg with coded combat, or anything on top of it, it's just geared towards everyone building and social interaction more so than combat and hack and slash.

For someone who does not want to program, coffeemud is probably your best bet. It provides everything, and I do mean everything; this is both good and bad. There's not much room to add new skills and spells, but you can add all sorts of crazy areas.

Do realize that this is only my opinion, and that this thread is not yet new enough to have attraced other responders; I watch these forums like a hawk, and many others do not.
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Old 02-02-2013, 03:09 PM   #5
js_wilson
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

I think you are right on Moo not being the choice for building, and others playing. This is being made for a D&D group who can no longer get together very often due to time and distance, and our focus is on quests, involving a combination of exploration, puzzles, and combat. Plain old D&D style races, classes, spells, skills ect. are fine, because that is what we are looking for anyway. I will be the primary builder, because building areas, doing mobprogs, and designing quests are what I am best at. One or two others in the group have expressed some interest in building some areas as well.

The MUD will be listed and available publicly, and we would be happy to have other players join us, but it is not our intention to attract a huge player-base, which is why we are not spending a lot of time up front writing unique code. I can usually figure out how to code stuff if I have to but it takes me ten times as long as some one that actually knows what they are doing.

I just checked out Bhost, and I am impressed. I proficient enough with linux server admin that I feel confident that I can get everything up and running without tech support, which is good since they don't offer any. Just for a test, I installed coffeemud on an old windows xp laptop with only 128 megs of memory, and it runs with no problems. If I try to import more than a couple dozen of my areas, it bogs down the whole system, but for a small MUD, it works just fine. This tells me that coffeemud should run just fine on Bhosts' bronze package, 512MB for $6.33/mo. My current host only gives me 30MB memory for $5.95. I get cpanel with that, which is nice, but I don't really need that. Bhost comes with Kloxo, which basically serves the same purpose, but I pretty much just manage everything through puTTy SSH anyway.
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Old 02-02-2013, 07:33 PM   #6
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

A MOO is only an "everyone builds" environment if you want it to be. LambdaMOO is actually a very flexible, extendible, easy to learn codebase that you can use to build any kind of virtual environment you want. As Camlorn said, it all depends on the core. Unfortunately, LambdaCore and its open architecture have kind of become the definition of "MOO" over the years, and I think that has steered a lot of MUD developers away from the platform.

To answer the original question: I agree with Cam. If you want to build a game with crafting as a feature, the best thing to do is write your own mechanics. If you're interested in learning what LambdaMOO has to offer, check out and .

Good luck to you! Game building can become at least as addictive as playing.
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Old 02-03-2013, 12:37 AM   #7
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

I think this has crafting:



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Old 02-03-2013, 12:44 PM   #8
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

If you do use Coffeemud, you could totally like, release your areas. I'm not being sarcastic here, I'm being quite serious. Instead of attracting players to your Mud, you could put your areas up for other muds to use. You could probably do this on other codebases too, I just think, given how much coffeemud lets you do without programming, it's likely to have more originality than more rom/diku areas, which we probably don't need.

I believe Discworld uses bhost. I know Epitaph, which is not really publicized, but I can't wait until it opens, does, and the person running that came from a ten-year or so period as a Discworld wizard. So obviously it works for muds.

The reason I don't want to use Moo is that it only has timing to a second, and would probably be too slow and/or hackish for things I would want to do; in addition, all classes are numbers, not names, unless you jump through some extra hoops. It is good, though, it's just I already know other programming languages. For someone who doesn't know much coding but wants to get something up and running, Moo is probably a good choice; it's well-documented, there's plenty of resources, and it has a complete manual including what to do if you want to start from nothing (you have no idea how rare that is in, say, the Lpc world). You'll probably have trouble finding a core that will do what you want, though.
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Old 02-03-2013, 01:18 PM   #9
js_wilson
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Re: Codebase with Crafting

Actually, I would have no problem releasing my coffeemud areas for the benefit of the greater MUD community. Right now, the only areas available to download for coffeemud are the stock MERC/ROM areas with Midgaard, smurf village and such, which I don't plan on using. I might steal the old stock Mudshcool for a couple months until I finish my own newbie area, but other than that I plan to use all new areas.

I really like the idea of putting area packs up on my site for download. I plan on releasing a new area pack on my MUD about every two months, and when I do that, I would make the previous area pack available for download, for people to use, modify and distribute any way they want. That way, the area having been live on my MUD for two months before it's publicly released, my players have a chance to play it first, and discover any bugs or typos we missed, so I can release a product I can be proud to put my name on.
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