Jmurph's BYOND Realms

Myth Updates

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 12:55:01 GMT

I haven't been active with BYOND in a while thanks to job obligations and a new girlfriend. However, a friend of mine was recently asking about MYTH and my MUD work, which prompted me to look back into it. I decided the wound system was too complicated, and have shifted the combat system over to an HP model that players are more likely to understand. Health is tentatively fixed at 100 (Resilience will increase rate of recovery, not raw health). In line with this, attributes have been revamped to work on a more intuitive 1-100 scale. This meshes well with the skill based approach I am taking. I also cleaned up some issues with output problems and prompt issues. Finally, a training area, designed to help new players get familiar with the MUD, is nearing completion.

Left 4 Dead

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 11:02:58 GMT

For those of you who enjoy zombie horror, Valve's FPS Left 4 Dead is worth checking out. Basically, you control one of four survivors trying to make it out of a zombie ridden area. In addition to 28 Days Later style "infected", there are "special infected"- mutant zombies with unusual abilities such as the pouncing Hunter and the zombie attracting bile spewing Boomer. It uses the Source engine, so nothing revolutionary, but adds some cool cinematic effects like film graining and color scaling (IE most colors look a bit washed out but red is quite bright) that do a good job of capturing the mood. The sound is very well done, and has a dynamically generated score that reflects what is going on in the game. So if you hear the music ramp up to a crescendo, for example, you know the Horde (a huge mass of zombies) is coming. And each zombie emits appropriate groans, snarls, gurgles and screams. Which can be quite disconcerting when you hear them before seeing them! The game also has an interesting scaling difficulty system based on the AI director. Essentially the director monitors character stress levels and adjusts enemy rations, item placement, etc. to fit the selected difficulty. So if you are getting savagely beaten on Easy, it will cut it back. But if you are cruising through Expert, it's going to ramp it up until you don't feel like such a tough guy.

Multiplayer offers two modes. Cooperative, where each person controls a survivor (AI controls any extras), and Versus, where players are assigned to the Survivors or Infected. Infected try to stop Survivors from making it to the Safe Room. Cooperative with friends is much more fun than using the AI, as you can coordinate much more effectively and actually employ something resembling tactics. Versus is a heck of alot of fun, but I found that I greatly prefer playing as Infected for the different playstyle (though a good Survivor team is hard to stop- given equal skill, Survivors should finish the round). Since the Survivors do seem to be much stronger, it is extremely satisfying to finish them off!

All around, a very fun game and has actually distracted me a bit from my reigning favorite, Company of Heroes. At least until Tales of Valor is released.

Worst Mud Idea Ever?

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:33:04 GMT

Or best?

I Wonder If Those HRC Diehards Feel a Bit Silly Now

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:40:29 GMT

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/11/29/ obama-nominate-clinton-secretary-state-monday/

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/01/ obama-unveils-national-security-team/

Especially those who said how bad Obama was trashing Clinton and voted for McCain. Heck, from what I have seen, Obama has even been in talks with McCain to keep him involved. And McCain seems pretty happy with Obama, especially the Napolitano pick. Lindsey Graham commended the HRC pick. Everyone seems to be playing nice now. I wonder how long it will last....

Designing a Rogue Like

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:24:10 GMT

So, there are a few BYOND roguelikes and a few non-BYOND multi-player roguelikes, bit no multi-player BYOND roguelikes that I am aware of. With that in mind, I decided to try to put one together. I decided to forgo the turn based RL structure in favor of real time. I think it makes the multiplayer much more manageable. It does change the play a bit from traditional RLs as you must now make some faster decisions.

Some issues currently bother me concerning dungeon generation. One is whether or not the entire dungeon should be generated at runtime. The idea is that it can then be saved and then allow levels to be loaded and unloaded as necessary via SwapMaps. However, I am not sure how the number of players should interact with this generation. There should probably be more gear and monsters the more players. But how do I factor this in creation? And what if a player leaves or joins after generation? I imagine I will handle logout by keeping a player's mob ingame for a while if they don't logout in a safe place (IE town, a cleared area, etc.) with a message to the player letting them know if it is safe to rest (logout) or not.

Also, how to handle death. Usually in a RL death is the end of the game. But with multiple players, it is conceivable that another player could resurrect you through a spell, wand, scroll, etc. I am leaning toward allowing players to wait a revive until their corpse rots. Then they are gone.

I am also unsure on how to handle the base dungeon structure. My initial thought is that any host will have just 1 dungeon, but once completed (or the host decides) a new one may be generated to replace it. Another approach may be to do like Darke Dungeon and allow descending into instanced dungeons.

Lack of Updates

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:07:34 GMT

Myth has been down a while and no updates because real life has me tied up. Work is pretty insane right now. We just received word of our interim CEO after our old one was suspended. Our organization is having some severe financial difficulties, is in the middle of employee contract negotiations, and attorneys have been leaving the office like rats on a sinking ship so the work is piling up. Fun times! On the upside, I have gotten out to boat or play paintball almost every weekend and have been seeing a new girl (I love how I am almost 30 and still call them girls...). So I haven't really missed messing with my ugly code :-)

Monster's Den

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 11:35:18 GMT

Play this game. Now!
http://www.kongregate.com/games/garin/ monsters-den-book-of-dread

Server Interruption

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:36:33 GMT

The Myth test server was down briefly as the host machine apparently stopped responding. According to the e-mail from slicehost, they are looking into it and will be monitoring the host machine for any further issues. Hopefully, none will emerge!

.plan 6/19/08

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:31:36 GMT

Now that the major bugs seem to be squashed, I will be turning back to development. Here are areas that are slated for immediate work:

Help files- Currently help files are minimal and need expansion. Anyone who would like to help is welcome to submit help file entries in xml. The format is simple:

< help name="HELP KEYWORD(s)" desc="HELP INFO HERE">
</help>

Skill development- Currently skills cannot be advanced or trained. The model I have in mind is that characters acquire points simply by existing. These points may be spent to develop skills. Skills that are used are easier to develop than those that are not. Additionally, training with someone knowledgeable in the area speeds development. However, development slows as a skill becomes more advanced and as overall skill totals advance imposing a soft cap. Attributes will work similarly to skills.

Stamina- Currently fatigue is not implemented. Fatigue will make resting and eating/drinking more useful.

Craft Support- A number of items to facilitate crafting need to be more widely available. Patterns will now be carried by guildmasters, not general shopkeepers. Eventually, guilds will be more active and limit access to patterns based on reputation.

Further down the road:
Reputation- Both a general and faction specific rating.
Morale- High morale results in greater effectiveness. Lower morale results in reduced performance and a likelihood of fleeing from combat. Things that increase morale: good music, being well fed and rested, inspirational leaders, etc. Things that decrease morale: hunger, pain, fatigue, particularly frightening opponents (undead, supernatural, etc.).

Also, always looking for new areas. No particular format is necessary, but the following template is basically how rooms are stored:

type = /room
name = "Temple of Light"
desc = "A large atrium opens up around you. The air is tinged with the odor of incense. Above is a large domed ceiling and small alcoves line the walls. At one end of the atrium a stone altar rises, stained glass windows behind it. Stone benches rest on the stone pavers before it. Opposite the altar is the entry way to the temple, a large arched portal with massive oaken doors ringed in wrought iron."
sector = 0
luminosity = 1
flags = 2
south = 2

Anyone who would like more information on building should just drop me a note.

Update 6/17/08

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:50:57 GMT

Fixed: OOC now displays properly.
Fixed: Blood can no longer be picked up.
Fixed: Doors should now work properly (open, close, lock, unlock).
Fixed: Priest should now heal injured mobs and be unkillable.
Changed: New players now start in the Academy, which should provide a useful introduction to the MUD. Players who wish to try it out should head south from Temple Lane.
Changed: Zealot's Assassination quest now gives a reward.

It seems like the number of bugs is down to almost nothing. Hopefully they are all almost ironed out so I can get to adding new stuff.