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Old 07-10-2002, 06:50 PM   #1
Alexei
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Old 07-10-2002, 08:25 PM   #2
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Old 07-10-2002, 09:53 PM   #3
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Old 07-10-2002, 10:43 PM   #4
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Red face

I don't think a text-based game would ever get to the point where a GUI game can be as far as distance attacks. They're restricted to a certain number of directions, for one: most use the four cardinal directions, up, and down. There's no sense of speed in most codebases: ie, you move as fast as you type a direction. There are some well-done (::nudge TI: implementations of character speed that make it very possible to play a fleet archer and outrun your opponents as you fill them full of projectiles. Other than these, though, the closing-on-the-archer concept is pretty hard to get away from, even when you extend range to greater than 1 room.

Automappers exist for some MUDs that show you the terrain of the area as you move, and creatures that exist near you. But this and character speed are just facets of what you enjoy about MMORPGs' range systems, and I'm of the opinion that duplicating it won't happen.
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Old 07-11-2002, 04:53 AM   #5
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The way we're handling this is that you can "target" any particular "thing" within your line of sight, and then move towards it, away from it, circle around it, etc. Thus in the case of a swordsman vs an archer, they would target each other and the swordsman would charge, while the archer retreated and fired. If the swordsman got too close the archer might instead target the nearby forest and start running as fast as he could.
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Old 07-11-2002, 05:54 AM   #6
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Old 07-11-2002, 07:37 AM   #7
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The only problem with pure coordinate-based systems is that in order to actually achieve results that are noticeably superior to a room-based system is that your coordinate resolution would have to be in the neighborhood of <1m. Anything less and effectively all you have is a bunch of rooms labeled by coordinates. You'll also have to implement 3d visualization algorithms in order to calculate what each person is able to see (You would actually have to use many of the same algorithms used in raytracing, just at much lower resolutions and minus the graphical rendering). Not only that, but everything you make will have to be modelled in 3d space. If not, it becomes impossible to accurately model line-of-sight (i.e. buildings will need to specify the locations of vertices in 3d space). In other words, it's a massive PITA, and will bring your host machine to its knees if you achieve anything resembling a respectable pbase. Also, rendering a 3d scene through a text-based interface is going to present some very difficult challenges. In room-based systems, the builder has complete control over the player's perspective. In a 3d system, the builder must design his/her areas with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever about the player's perspective. What does this mean? It means that you need seperate descs for every seperately identifiable aspect of an object, which must be modelled in 3d space. Let's look at what this might mean for a building:

Room-based system:

A large wooden shack, worn with age, sits here on the grassy knoll.

examining the shack might yield:
The old shack, its wood bleached grey by the ravages of time, leans to one side as if cowering from the elements. Faded yellow curtains are visible through two windows that seem to be gazing mournfully out onto the prarie.

looking at a window might show you the inside of the shack.

Coordinate-based system:

What you'd see would have to depend on where you are in relation to the shack. In order for that to happen, the builder must specify a different desc for each part of the shack, your visualization system would need to calculate what parts of the shack are visible from your perspective, and an AI system would need to determine what parts of what you can see are important enough that you should see on a toplevel cursory glance.

Closer inspection would tell the AI filter system that more information should be passed onto the viewer, such as more details about each visible object.

Looking at the window, you would have to calculate, based on the coordinates of the windows' vertices (which your builder did specify, right?), what the viewer can see from where he/she is located.

Building a passable description based on the parts of an object that are visible given the relative orientation of the viewer in MUD-style text format is a nontrivial task. Actually, it's far harder than doing graphical 3d visualization. Instead of employing relatively simple 3d->2d transformation algorithms and other well-documented procedures, you'll need to build an extremely powerful AI system that is able to interpret spatial data and produce a dynamically generated description that could pass for something written by a person. I may be mistaken, but I doubt that current AI technology is anywhere near being able to accomplish something like that.

Although the second case does indeed model RL more accurately, I prefer the first. The thing I like about MUDs is that much is left up to your imagination. Just enough information is provided to maintain suspension of disbelief, while letting your mind "render" all the parts that (current) technology will never be able to get quite right. One trend I've been seeing in many new MUDs is the attempt to migrate more and more of the experience from player imagination to hardcode. While understandable, as, in moderation, it provides the consistency and structure needed for a cohesive themed RP environment, this tendency, at least in my opinion, largely defeats the draw of a text-based game. I play MUDs because I'd rather leave most of the details to my own imagination. If I wanted realistic modelling of 3d space in realtime, I'd play a graphical MMORPG.
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Old 07-11-2002, 09:41 AM   #8
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When implementing eating and drinking in a mud, you don't have to develop a full simulation of the human digestion system. Equally, when creating a coordinate-based world you don't need to represent it with 100% accuracy - there is simply no need. All you need to do is create a close enough approximation, and most players won't even be able to tell. The additional overhead is fairly minimal (even if you're using a resource-intensive language such as LPC) and it can really add a great deal to the game. Most of us are creating games, after all, rather than simulations.

Here is a cut&paste from Nathan Yospe's "Physmud++" - it's a good example of how effective a coordinate-based system can be:

> look

The flat green plain stretches away into a distant ridge of hills to your right. Sixty meters to your left, a crop of trees springs up, thick and forbidingly twisted. The strange, flat grass crunches under your feet, releasing a pungent scent. Ahead, thirty meters off, a twisting blue stream makes its slow, twisting way out of the small dark forest. Sparse clouds drift by overhead. Something streaks by overhead with a roar. A cluster bomb explodes ten meters off ahead to your right! A piece of turf flies by, but misses you.

> run

You start running toward the stream.

> run forest

You turn toward the forest, running as fast as you can. A roaring sound reaches your ears. The forest is thirty meters away. Something roars by overhead, leaving the impression of a silver streak in your eyes. A whistling sound reaches your ears. An impulse makes you dodge left, and a reddish object streaks by your right ear. The missile starts to climb, but impacts into the forest. You keep running. The forest is ten meters away. You dodge as branch as you reach the edge of the forest. You stop, winded, to catch your breath. You are just within the edge of a small, gnarled forest. Ahead and to each side, crooked black branches tangle together, making it impossible to pass without considerable effort. Mushrooms grow out of the mulch and rot at your feet, and there is a damp smell to the air. The sun filters through the treetops, almost entirely gone by the time it reaches you.

> look plain

You turn around and stare out through the edge of the forest. The plain stretches out into the distance. Far ahead, the flat green plain stretches away into a distant ridge of hills. Thirty meters ahead and to the left, a twisting blue stream makes its slow, twisting way out of the small dark forest. Far off to the right, a fence surrounds a complex of buildings.

> hold rifle

You pull your plasma rifle out of the leather holster across your back and cradle it in your arms.

> reload rifle

The current bolt has a full charge. You don't need to reload.

> hold grenade

Shifting your plasma rifle into one hand, you detatch a sonic grenade from the strap across your chest and prime it. A pack of about twelve Logran drones is approaching from the direction of the complex of buildings. They are about 300 meters away.

> focus logran

You adjust your optical cybernetics to focus on the pack of Logran drones. There are fourteen of them. Magnification is at x300. The pack is led by a class three hunter. The Logran drones are carrying laser rods. The Logran hunter c3 is carrying a rail cannon. They are heading in your direction. They are about 250 meters away.
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Old 07-11-2002, 04:34 PM   #9
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I implemented a system on Accursed Lands where each object in a room has an x,y,z coordinate.

Movement takes time, so the archer could easily shoot someone and slip away to the next room, finding a place to hide before the pursuer got there.

You also can't attack someone out of your weapon's attack range, ie: If they are flying far above you in the room, and you have a club.

Feel free to drop by and check it out, if you want to see one such text based system in effect.

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Old 07-11-2002, 06:02 PM   #10
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Well said KaVir, one can afford to be lazy when making a game. Room-based muds usually don't take these things into account, so why would a coordinate-based one have to do so?
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Nice ad, xotl, but wouldn't it look better in the advertising for players forum?
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Old 07-11-2002, 07:14 PM   #11
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Old 07-11-2002, 08:12 PM   #12
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Old 07-11-2002, 08:54 PM   #13
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Because that's the whole point of having a coordinate-based system--if you don't, you basically lose all the important functionality a coordinate-based system offers that can't be done in a room-based system. The rest of the functionality described here could more easily be implemented in either a room-based system, or a hybrid system. If all locations in your coordinate system are point objects, and do not have volume, all you've really done is masked a room-based system by replacing each room with a bunch of autogenerated rooms for each point on the grid.
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Old 07-11-2002, 09:36 PM   #14
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Old 07-12-2002, 12:48 AM   #15
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Ahh, yes, coordinate-based system for pure wilderness is much more feasible. You start to run into most of the problems designing the heuristics for an AI interpreter that does raw spatial data->human-readable text on man-made objects and environments.

As for mentioning the name of a specific MUD, it's generally considered bad form unless it's either:

A) absolutely necessary to make your point clear

or

B) explicitly asked for (as is the case when someone asks where they can see a working implementation of X)
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Old 07-12-2002, 01:53 AM   #16
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Old 07-12-2002, 02:19 AM   #17
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Pathfinding is incredibly trivial compared to the kind of interpretive AI I mentioned earlier.

I had on the subject (pathfinding) on TMC a while back.
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Old 07-12-2002, 07:46 AM   #18
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It can, yes - and I've done it in the past - but generally I found the results to be a bit disappointing compared to a true coordinate-based system, as the "rooms" still create artificial boundries which interfere with combat.

Try reading the post pinned to the top of this forum, entitled "Pinned: Posting Guidelines, IMPORTANT: Please read".

Icons and sigs are generic, so it doesn't really matter what you place in them, but each post is written individually - so (in order to try and keep a decent signal/noise ratio) I ask people not to post adverts in this forum.

Not so - even without giving things volume, you still gain a number of major advantages from the coordinate-based approach. In particular, you'd be able to calculate distances, allowing you to easily implement a decent ranged combat system (which was, after all, the subject of the original post).

It would also allow you some excellent opportunities for melee combat, including tactical positioning (eg attacking someone from behind), weapon lengths, and best of all a reasonable approach to fleeing from a fight. You wouldn't have to worry about someone typing "flee" and suddenly vanishing into another room, because you'd actually be able to SEE them running off - and give chase, if you so wished. Furthermore because the world is logically layed out, and you can see beyond the constraints of an artificial "room" entity, you'd be able to take short-cuts rather than having to follow their exact route.

In addition you'd be able to implement one of my favourite features, which is ranged sound. A "whisper" wouldn't be a private channel, but instead would be a very short-range channel. Equally a "shout" would travel a lot further, particularly if you were standing on a hill at the time. The "sneak" skill might allow you to move a lot quieter, but you'd still make SOME sound as you walked around - so a very perceptive person might hear you creeping up on them (or possibly even hear you draw your weapon). The sound of battle would also travel, and you might well hear the sound of steel striking steel as two people fight nearby. You could even spawn sounds as events, to realistically simulate sound moving slower than light - useful when trying to determine how far away the lightning is (personally I think that's going a bit OTT for most muds, but it would be fun to code).
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Old 07-12-2002, 09:08 AM   #19
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Are there any published examples of a coordinate based system? Any codebase, or anything? I would love to see an actual implementation.
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Old 07-12-2002, 09:32 AM   #20
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Telford's entry in the is coordinate based.

If you're interested in design approaches, you may want to search the , as this topic has been discussed extensively there.
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