Quite an amusing read from Bartle in the Escapist on a failed sex-oriented text MUD he worked on:



--matt

Damn, a lot of that code sounds fairly good actually. I wouldn't mind having that in the mud I play.

Interesting stuff - I touched on the same subject about a year ago on , as well. I've implemented code support for sex in the past, but only as a sideline activity - even then, it caused some interesting social changes to the mud. I can only imagine what would happen if it was a fully viable means of advancement.

Note to self: I think I might have to steal Bartle's "permissions system" idea.

I THINK (I may well be wrong though as it's been years) that Skotos' Castle Marrach has/had a similar permissions system governing interaction between avatars.

--matt

I'd love to learn more about exactly how his sytem worked that he described here:

That sounds like it would be exceptionally valuable in any MUD.

Yeah, that's the same approach I used for the dynamic descriptions snippet I released back in 1999.

I use the same sort of thing, and actually combine it with the dynamic description tags (which are basically used everywhere), so that the code ends up looking like:

apCreature->PutSense( IThing::eSIGHT, "{name} gives {his/her} {weapon} a hard tug as it coils around {opponent}'s {opponent.legs}.\n\r" );

It's a pretty effective approach IMO - much less hassle than putting together strings each time, and much more readable than the $N/$n/$S/etc tags used by Diku.

Actually what value would that have? If someone wants to shake my hand, I'll shake it back, or I won't. I don't need any permission system. If they want to hug me, they can do so, but then I'll either react with revulsion or hug them back. What uses could the permission system actually have?

At most I'd have an "allow" system. Someone goes to do something, I "allow" them.

It would allow me to specify whether or not I wanted to try and dodge your hug. If I thought you were going to crush my ribcage, for example, then I wouldn't want to just stand there. But equally, I wouldn't necessarily want to dodge a hug from a friend.

Far too slow - it would render the offensive hug useless, as I could just walk away as soon as I saw you trying to hug me.

I could see the acceptance working for something like a handshake (you offer them your hand, which they can then choose to accept), as it requires an active response from the target. But something like a hug, kiss, or a pat on the back should automatically succeed unless the target responds defensively. And in those cases you really need to define your desired response in advance.

Very much enjoyed Sanvean's article and recommend it.