July 2000
- Scalable Network I/O in Linux J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players adam@treyarch.com
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Scatter
- curses and grief players Marc Bowden
- curses and grief players David Bennett
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Marc Bowden
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players stoddart@slip.net
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Matthew Mihaly
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players jolson@micron.net
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Josh Olson
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players Zak Jarvis
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Malcolm Valentine
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Patrick Dughi
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- curses and grief players Travis Nixon
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- curses and grief players Geoffrey A. MacDougall
- curses and grief players Marc Bowden
- curses and grief players Matthew Mihaly
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Dave Rickey
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players John Buehler
- curses and grief players Nicholas Daley
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Val Trullinger
- curses and grief players David Bennett
- curses and grief players Timothy Dang
- curses and grief players KevinL
- curses and grief players Raph Koster
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players KevinL
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Nicholas Daley
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- curses and grief players KevinL
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players Marian Griffith
- curses and grief players J C Lawrence
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Jon A. Lambert
- curses and grief players Greg Miller
- curses and grief players Andy
- curses and grief players Timothy Dang
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting casual about casual gamers) Brian Green
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Raph Koster
- Fantasy cliché s (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Travis Nixon
- Fantasy cliché s (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Dave Rickey
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting cas ual aboutcasualgamers) S. Patrick Gallaty
- Combat systems, the good the bad and the ugly Malcolm Valentine
- Combat systems, the good the bad and the ugly Travis Casey
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Tim Vernum
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Raph Koster
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Travis Casey
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing adam@treyarch.com
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Greg Miller
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Travis Casey
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Nameless Solforge
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Chris Turner
- "Mud-school", character-gen and role-playing Christopher Allen
- Fantasy clichés Michael Tresca
- Fantasy clichés Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Fantasy clichés Zak Jarvis
- Online gaming conference Matthew Mihaly
- Online gaming conference J C Lawrence
- Online gaming conference Milne, Alistair
- A new combat system Dragat123@aol.com
- A new combat system Thinus Barnard
- A new combat system Ryan P.
- A new combat system Hess, Ian W {Ian}
- A new combat system Ryan P.
- A new combat system Russo, Joe
- A new combat system Ryan P.
- A new combat system Travis Casey
- A new combat system adam@treyarch.com
- A new combat system Travis Casey
- A new combat system J C Lawrence
- A new combat system Travis Casey
- A new combat system J C Lawrence
- A new combat system John Bertoglio
- A new combat system Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- A new combat system J C Lawrence
- A new combat system adam@treyarch.com
- A new combat system Ben
- Fantasy clich=?ISO-8859-1?B?6Q==?=s Ryan Schotte
- Fantasy clich s J C Lawrence
- Fantasy clich s Raph Koster
- Number Economy Michael Tresca
- Number Economy Philip Loguinov, Draymoor
- Number Economy Matthew Mihaly
- Fantasy clich=?ISO-8859-1?B?6Q==?=s Ryan Schotte
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics S. Patrick Gallaty
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics John Bertoglio
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Chris Jacobson
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics S. Patrick Gallaty
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Matthew Mihaly
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Raph Koster
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Matthew Mihaly
- Corruption of the game, profit and ethics Greg Miller
- Why Socializers are our Comrades (long) Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Why Socializers are our Comrades (long) Sam Axon
- Why Socializers are our Comrades (long) Raph Koster
- Harry Potter J C Lawrence
- Harry Potter John Bertoglio
- Harry Potter Todd McKimmey
- Harry Potter Todd McKimmey
- Harry Potter Raph Koster
- Harry Potter J C Lawrence
- Harry Potter Michael Tresca
- [Meta] Harry Potter David Bennett
- Fantasy clich=?ISO-8859-1?B?6Q==?=s (was: Acting casual about casualgamers) Ananda Dawnsinger
- MUDs, eBay Farmers in The Economist Daniel James
- Introduction System Nathan Clemons
- Introduction System Nathan Clemons
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System S. Patrick Gallaty
- Introduction System seanl@literati.org
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System adam@treyarch.com
- Introduction System Bruce
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Eli Stevens
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Bruce
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Tim Vernum
- Introduction System Dan Merillat
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System razor
- Introduction System Travis Nixon
- Introduction System Travis Nixon
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System Dan Shiovitz
- Introduction System Ryan P.
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System adam@treyarch.com
- Introduction System Colin Coghill
- Introduction System birgit.schulte@philips.com
- Introduction System J C Lawrence
- Introduction System birgit.schulte@philips.com
- Introduction System Michael Hohensee
- Introduction System Chris Turner
- Introduction System Eli Stevens
- Introduction System Mordengaard
- Introduction System Jon A. Lambert
- Introduction System Jon Callas
- curses and grief players - dark ages game solutions S. Patrick Gallaty
- Fantasy clichés (was: Acting casual aboutcasualgamers) adam@treyarch.com
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Greg Miller
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Travis Casey
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Greg Miller
- Getting stuck (was Fantasy clichés) Travis Casey
- ADMIN: SQL troubles appear to be over. J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev request rejected Patrick Dughi
- Spherical World Design Philip Loguinov, Draymoor
- Spherical World Design Michelle Thompson
- Spherical World Design Jon A. Lambert
- Spherical World Design J C Lawrence
- Spherical World Design Jon A. Lambert
- Spherical World Design Christopher Allen
- Spherical World Design Patrick Dughi
- Modelling combat Vladimir Prelovac
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat adam@treyarch.com
- Modelling combat Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Modelling combat J C Lawrence
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat adam@treyarch.com
- Modelling combat adam@treyarch.com
- Modelling combat John Bertoglio
- Modelling combat Vladimir Prelovac
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat Greg Miller
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat Greg Miller
- Modelling combat Chris Gray
- Modelling combat Jon A. Lambert
- Modelling combat Travis Casey
- Modelling combat jolson@micron.net
- ScryMUD 2.1.1 released. Ben Greear
- Identity and Ethics briefly touched on in Washington Post Raph Koster
- Interesting expansion on Bartle's Four Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Mud Imp
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs J C Lawrence
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Hess, Ian W {Ian}
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs jolson@micron.net
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Marc Bowden
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Patrick Dughi
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Jon A. Lambert
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Jeff Freeman
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Colin Coghill
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs KevinL
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Nixon
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Travis Casey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs KevinL
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Chris Turner
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- Code Repository Kyndig
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #164 - 12 msgs Raph Koster
- Mud-Dev FAQ 1 Marian Griffith
- Mud-dev FAQ 1 Marian Griffith
- Mud-Dev FAQ 2 Marian Griffith
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Dr. Cat
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Greg Miller
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs John Buehler
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Dave Rickey
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Tamzen Cannoy
- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #165 - 14 msgs Greg Miller
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs J C Lawrence
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Matthew Mihaly
- [Meta] MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- fantasy cliches Travis Casey
- fantasy cliches J C Lawrence
- grief players S. Patrick Gallaty
- Combat Systems Ben
- Combat Systems Patrick Dughi
- Combat Systems J C Lawrence
- Combat Systems Ben
- Combat Systems adam@treyarch.com
- Combat Systems Ben
- Combat Systems adam@treyarch.com
- Combat Systems Phillip Lenhardt
- Combat Systems adam@treyarch.com
- Combat Systems KevinL
- Combat Systems Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Combat Systems Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- threading server models (was: Combat Systems) Bruce
- eXistenZ WAS -- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Zak Jarvis
- eXistenZ WAS -- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- eXistenZ WAS -- MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #163 - 25 msgs Raph Koster
- Battlenet Hack Geoffrey A. MacDougall
- eXistenZ Zak Jarvis
- eXistenZ Dave Rickey
- Sustainable Ecosystem Geoffrey A. MacDougall
- Sustainable Ecosystem J C Lawrence
- Sustainable Ecosystem S. Patrick Gallaty
- Sustainable Ecosystem Timothy Dang
- Sustainable Ecosystem Greg Miller
- Sustainable Ecosystem Michael Tresca
- Sustainable Ecosystem Mordengaard
- Sustainable Ecosystem jolson@micron.net
- Sustainable Ecosystem adam@treyarch.com
- Sustainable Ecosystem Raph Koster
- Sustainable Ecosystem Dave Rickey
- Sustainable Ecosystem Raph Koster
- Sustainable Ecosystem Mordengaard
- Sustainable Ecosystem Matthew D. Fuller
- Sustainable Ecosystem quzah@kanga.nu
- Sustainable Ecosystem Josh Olson
- Sustainable Ecosystem Timothy Dang
- Sustainable Ecosystem Andy
- Sustainable Ecosystem Patrick Dughi
- Sustainable Ecosystem Timothy Dang
- Sustainable Ecosystem ERI
- Sustainable Ecosystem Jon A. Lambert
- Sustainable Ecosystem Patrick Dughi
- Sustainable Ecosystem jolson@micron.net
- Sustainable Ecosystem Nathan Clemons
- Sustainable Ecosystem holding99@mindspring.com
- Sustainable Ecosystem Raph Koster
- My favorite game systems, what are yours? S. Patrick Gallaty
- My favorite game systems, what are yours? Marc Bowden
- Thread models and Linux J C Lawrence
- eXistenZ Zak Jarvis
- Player skill Tess Lowe
- Player vs. Character Skills Ananda Dawnsinger
- Command Qeues - Was "Combat Systems" Ben
- Command Qeues - Was "Combat Systems" Eli Stevens
- Roleplaying in Muds Ben
- Roleplaying in Muds Colin Coghill
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Malcolm Valentine
- Roleplaying in Muds Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- Roleplaying in Muds Matthew Mihaly
- Roleplaying in Muds Ben
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Dave Rickey
- Roleplaying in Muds Raph Koster
- Roleplaying in Muds Peter
- Roleplaying in Muds Phillip Lenhardt
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Patrick Dughi
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds J C Lawrence
- Roleplaying in Muds Ben
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Erik Jarvi
- Roleplaying in Muds Josh Anderson
- Roleplaying in Muds rayzam
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Erik Jarvi
- Roleplaying in Muds Josh Anderson
- Roleplaying in Muds Malcolm Valentine
- Roleplaying in Muds Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying in Muds Josh Anderson
- Roleplaying in Muds Patrick Dughi
- Roleplaying in Muds Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying in Muds Solmyr of the Azure Star
- Roleplaying in Muds Travis Casey
- Roleplaying in Muds Jeremy Noetzelman
- Classless systems Ryan P.
- Classless systems J C Lawrence
- Classless systems Ben
- Classless systems Ben
- Classless systems Christopher Allen
- Classless systems J C Lawrence
- Classless systems David Bennett
- Classless systems J C Lawrence
- Classless systems adam@treyarch.com
- Classless systems Val Trullinger
- Classless systems Ling Lo
- Classless systems David Bennett
- Classless systems Steve Houchard
- Classless systems David Bennett
- Classless systems Steve Houchard
- Classless systems Mordengaard
- Classless systems Gabriel
- Classless systems Travis Casey
- Classless systems Brian 'Psychochild' Green
- Classless systems Val Trullinger
- eXistenZ Richard Tew
- Scaling a world. Saereth2000@aol.com
- Scaling a world. Bruce
- Scaling a world. Patrick Dughi
- Scaling a world. Nat Blundell
- Scaling a world. Patrick Dughi
- Scaling a world. David Bennett
- AutoClass Ling Lo
- AutoClass Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Required EXP algorithms Ben
- Required EXP algorithms Travis Casey
- Questing Systems Ben
- Questing Systems Chris Gray
- Questing Systems Nathan Clemons
- Questing Systems Mordengaard
- Questing Systems Travis Casey
- Questing Systems John Hopson
- Questing Systems Raph Koster
- Questing Systems Kristen L. Koster
- Questing Systems Todd McKimmey
- Questing Systems Malcolm Valentine
- Questing Systems Malcolm Tester
- Thoughts on Classless systems Travis Casey
- Thoughts on Classless systems Greg Miller
- Thoughts on Classless systems Josh Anderson
- Thoughts on Classless systems Ben
- Thoughts on Classless systems Ryan P.
- Thoughts on Classless systems Raph Koster
- Thoughts on Classless systems David Bennett
- Thoughts on Classless systems Koster, Raph
- Thoughts on Classless systems Malcolm Valentine
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds John Hopson
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds Matthew Mihaly
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds Tess Lowe
- Basic principles of reinforcement for muds Dave Rickey
- Realism and NPCs Ben
- Realism and NPCs Travis Casey
- Realism and NPCs Christopher Allen
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Ben
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Travis Casey
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Raph Koster
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Patrick Dughi
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Raph Koster
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Patrick Dughi
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Gabriel
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Koster, Raph
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Malcolm Valentine
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Mordengaard
- Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game? Malcolm Valentine
- [rpg-create] Martial arts rules (fwd) J C Lawrence
- SQL and Muds Jeremy Noetzelman
- SQL and Muds J C Lawrence
- SQL and Muds Nathan Clemons
- [rpg-create] Maneuvers (fwd) J C Lawrence
- Memory, the Brain, and Dogma rayzam
- emlenmud Josh Rollyson
- emlenmud Greg Miller
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard J C Lawrence
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard Caliban Tiresias Darklock
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard Greg Underwood
- How to Hurt the Hackers: The Scoop on Internet Cheating and How You Can Combat It by Matt Pritchard Hans-Henrik Staerfeldt
- Getting info from NPCs Dmitri Zagidulin
Hi everyone. I'd like to share some ideas about
a topic I came up against recently, as well as
to ask your opinion and tips on the matter.
The problem is this:
NPCs are a time-honored source of information,
rumours, quest info, tips, etc, in any and all RPGs.
How do we get that information to the players?
There seem to be three main approaches:
I. "Static" response.
The player comes up to the NPC, hits the 'talk'
command, and the NPC spouts his appropriate
line, like "Beware of monsters outside the town"
or "Please save our princess!"
There are variations on this, such as when
the townspeople give different information
depending on whether it's day or night,
when NPCs say different things depending on
how many times you've talked to them or when
an NPC modifies his usual line depending on
the quest actions of the player. Thus, in
Diablo, the town smith presents the player
with a quest at an appropriate time rather
than his usual "Come in and stay a while".
Advantages:
Most players readily recognize this type
of NPC approach; it's fairly straightforward
to code, and gives them whatever information
the creators deemed necessary.
This approach also simulates a pressing need.
That is, a worried mother is not going to
stand around and talk about the weather to
a strange warrior, but rather is likely to
scream "Save my baby!"
Disadvantages:
-Repeating the same lines does not seem
particularly elegant or lifelike, and..
well, will not help the players believe that
the NPCs are "real" in any sort of way and
exist for anything else than player enjoyment.
This approach, does, however, have its use
(and is believable) in times of pressing
need, as I've mentioned.
-Limits the amount of information a player
can get out of an NPC.
II. A Menu of choices
This approach to NPC information is exemplified
by games like Diablo and Planescape: Torment,
where the NPC presents a choice of topics
the player can ask them about (usually as
a menu). The choices can be dynamically
adjusted depending on player skills/abilities,
and the situation at hand.
An optional component of a menu-based approach
to conversation is the character's own pre-written
speech. This kind of thing is found mostly in
console-type games -- the player selects
'ask about sword'
and the character says (maybe in an appropriate voice)
something like "Nice sword you got there, Joe.
Where'd you get it?"
I don't know if this part (the script) is effective
or desirable in a MUD situation.
A further variation on the menu-type conversation
is that the character's responses can also be
given to the player. For example:
Orc King: Surrender now and I'll let you live!
You respond with:
1. Yes Sir, whatever you say, Sir!
2. Can we talk about this like reasonable
humanoids?
3. Draw steel, knave!
[Or, if you have the Saved_Orcish_Princess
flag set:]
4. Wait! I come bearing news of your daughter!
And depending on how the player answers, they
get into fights, adjust their alignment, advance
the plot, etc.
Advantages:
-The player can choose to hear only the pertinent
information.
-An increased level of interaction - a player
has to actually extract the info.
-Compared to the next approach (III),
the player knows at a glance what info
is available to him at that moment --
a menu-based approach is "complete".
-This allows for an opportunity for in-game
social skills and mechanics to operate.
Reputation, honor (maybe karma/alignment?)
all have a chance to influence the NPC
responses. And even if the player is
clueless and ill-mannered, if the _character_
has a high Social/Charm skill, the NPC
would be favorably inclined.
Disadvantages:
-A little more difficult to code
than (I).
-The player knows at a glance what info
is available -- there is no player
ingenuity or guessing possible.
-Could be considered as not too realistic,
i.e. people don't usually wear on their
foreheads a directory of their knowledge.
III. AI approach - language recognition
Some sophisticated RPGs (didn't the Wizardy
series do this?) allow you to interact with
the NPCs directly by composing sentences to
which they respond to. All the AI tricks come
out to play here - maybe the NPCs detect a
key word that triggers a response, or maybe
it actually does natural language parsing,
whatever.
Advantages:
-Talk about realism and immersive experience!
I think this level of interaction is the wet
dream of almost every RPG designer.
-The emphasis now shifts to _player_ social
skills rather than the _character_ social stats.
This may be a good or bad thing, depending on
personal preference.
-The player must now ferret out the information
by herself -- know what to ask, how and when.
Disadvantages:
-Obviously, this is heinously difficult or
impossible to implement, and has been a
holy grail of AI research since the beginning.
That is, of course, unless you put a human
behind that NPC :)
-But even if possible, it might not be as
desirable for certain situations since unlike
(II), in the natural-language approach the
player does not necessarily know what to ask.
An image of the player asking an NPC about
everything under the sun in the hopes of
hitting on a key topic comes to mind.
So, my question to you all is, what's the best
compromise we can achieve for a humble MUD
environment (while we wait for the AI technology
to mature)?
On DustMARE, we currently plan to have a sort of
mix of (I) and (II). There is a 'talk' command
to which the mobs respond in the usual fashion,
giving their scripted line depending on player
quest flags, etc. But also, in the description
of the NPC, the room, and the NPC dialogue, there
are "key words" denoted by asterisks
about which the player can ask.
For example:
> l
A room
...
Contents:
An old soldier is sitting, sharpening his *sword*
Exits: ...
> l soldier
A grizzled veteran with a *scar* on his left cheek. ...
This would mean that the player could then
execute:
> ask soldier about sword
The soldier looks up and says "This sword
was given to me by my grandfather, who was
in turn given it by his ... "
> ask soldier scar
The soldier touches his scar, remembering.
The soldier says "What, this? The evil
sorcerer Boffo gave this to me when I dared
to lay eyes upon his daughter. ..."
etc.
This *key word* approach seemed cheesy to
me at first. Then again, it's no worse than
the common "You look at the old soldier and
have a sudden urge to type 'ask soldier about
sword'" - type of prompting one finds on some
MUDs. Keywords seemed an easy way to present
a menu-based conversation system without
actually typing out a menu every time one
encountered an NPC. Plus, it does put the
initiative into the player's hands in that
he must still find the keywords to ask
about - they're not automatically given
to him in a menu.
Maybe, when I'm more ambitious, we can start
messing around with NPC AI... but that's
much later.
What do you think?
How have you solved this problem in your MUDs?
If one implements a menu-type system, is it
practical or desirable to trigger character
"scripts" like in a Final Fantasy animated
sequence? Is it practical/desirable to present
a menu of _responses_?
My appologies if this is a beaten-to-
death topic already discussed.
- Dmitri Zagidulin - Getting info from NPCs Josh Anderson
- Getting info from NPCs Patrick Dughi
- Getting info from NPCs Warren Powell
- Getting info from NPCs Paul Schwanz - Enterprise Services
- Getting info from NPCs Travis Casey
- Getting info from NPCs Lazarus
- Skill defaulting Ryan "BC|Uller" Myers
- Skill defaulting rayzam
- Skill defaulting Mordengaard
- Skill defaulting Ryan "BC|Uller" Myers
- Skill defaulting Marian Griffith
- Skill defaulting rayzam
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Erik Jarvi
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Miroslav Silovic
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Matthew Mihaly
- Roleplaying vs Immersion Miroslav Silovic
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Bruce
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Greg Underwood
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Bruce
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA J C Lawrence
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA KevinL
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Patrick Dughi
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA KevinL
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Bruce
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA Greg Underwood
- On Lockless Threading and X/Open XA J C Lawrence
- WorldForge Acorn demo 0.1 alpha released Alistair Riddoch
- Threading Models and Command Queues Ben
- Medievia advertises in Dragon magazine Charles Hughes
- MUD Wimping Michael Tresca
- MUD Wimping Dan Shiovitz
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping Michael Tresca
- MUD Wimping adam@treyarch.com
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping Raph Koster
- MUD Wimping adam@treyarch.com
- MUD Wimping Patrick Dughi
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping J C Lawrence
- MUD Wimping Lazarus
- MUD Wimping adam@treyarch.com
- MUD Wimping KevinL
- MUD Wimping Chris Turner
- MUD Wimping Koster, Raph
- MUD Wimping J C Lawrence
- MUD Wimping Matthew Mihaly
- MUD Wimping Matt Chatterley
- MUD Wimping Raph Koster
- MUD Wimping stoddart@slip.net
- Article: Constructive Politics in a MMORPGs (fwd) Matthew Mihaly
- Permadeath (was: Balance... RPG or Role-Playing Game?) Eli Stevens
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Nathan Clemons
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook ROBERT MCCAULEY
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Val Trullinger
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Jeremy Noetzelman
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Malcolm Tester
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook rayzam
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Patrick Dughi
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Brian Vrolyk
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Warren Powell
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Marc Bowden
- The Player Wimping Guidebook rayzam
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Greg Underwood
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Greg Underwood
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Jerry Hill
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook rayzam
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Michael Tresca
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Nathan Clemons
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Zak Jarvis
- The Player Wimping Guidebook J C Lawrence
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Steven Wallace
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matthew Mihaly
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph
- The Player Wimping Guidebook adam@treyarch.com
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Raph Koster
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Matt Chatterley
- The Player Wimping Guidebook Koster, Raph