Another idea for all...

From: Danhiel Baker (dbaker@harpo.dev.uga.edu)
Date: 03/23/94


Here's yet another in the 'I'm just a world architect, but...' series
of really-unlikely-to-be-coded ideas:    *grin*

Room and position specific 'titles'/PC long descripts!

{note that all curly-bracketed notes are just comments, which unto
itself would be nice to have in the tiny*s - anything in curly braces
is ignored!  Howabout it Jeremy? :)  }

Allow for an addition to the .wld files on a room by room basis that
wil contain info in a form similar to this:

(This is an example for one of the Guild bars)

P4 {sleeping}
%n has passed out against the bar.
~
P5 {resting}
%n is here relaxing with a drink.
~
P6 {sitting}
%n is sitting at the bar.
~
P7  {fighting - this one may be more difficult...must handle 2 names..}
%n is here brawling with %N.
~
P8 {standing}
%n is standing here surveying the patrons.
~

Thus, instead of showing:
-------------------------
The Thieves Bar
   The bar of the thieves.  Once upon a time this place was beautifully
furnished, but now it seems almost empty.  To the south is the yard, and to
the west is the entrance hall.
(Maybe the furniture has been stolen?!)
A large bulletin board is mounted on a wall here.
A waiter who knows where all of his costumers have their money.
NightFall the Scoundrel is standing here.

It would show:
--------------
The Thieves Bar
   The bar of the thieves.  Once upon a time this place was beautifully
furnished, but now it seems almost empty.  To the south is the yard, and to
the west is the entrance hall.
(Maybe the furniture has been stolen?!)
A large bulletin board is mounted on a wall here.
A waiter who knows where all of his costumers have their money.
NightFall is standing here surveying the patrons.

Sure, this could confuse a few players, but they should be able to
figure out who is a player and who is a mob by checking the WHO list.
The players actual "title" should remain the same on the 'WHO' list,
obviously :)  This format should just be an extra field that may be
used, and not a required room field.  Also, to make things *really*
compli... er, cool, you could have a message go to the player as they
change to a new position, as in:

P4 {sleeping}
You fall asleep at the bar.
~
%n has passed out against the bar.
~
P5 {resting}
You sit down and enjoy a drink.
~
%n is here relaxing with a drink.
~
P6 {sitting}
You take a seat at the bar.
~
%n is sitting at the bar.
~
P7  {fighting - this one may be more difficult...must handle 2 names..}
~   {none here...normally no 'fight starting message is given}
%n is here brawling with %N.
~
~
P8 {standing}
You stand up and take a look around the bar.
~
%n is standing here surveying the patrons.


Anyway, I think everyone can see the possibilities here :)  I've only
listed examples for one location, and only for the 5 most common positions.
Having one for dying - 
%n's blood is mixing with the spilt beer as he slowly dies here.
and such would be neat, and making this yet more complicated to look for
a specific type of object in the Players inventory could offer another
interesting possibility :
%n is floating down the river on their %{boat}.
Instead of 'Nightfall the Scoundrel is standing here.', which isn't the
greated IMO when you are in a water area...

This could still be expanded (the more I think about it, the more I find
to add...) to allow for correct-sex personal pronouns (his/her instead of
'their' boat - %s in the code, I think) and other such substitutions. Adding
a 'show to room' type field would also add to this, expanding the above
example (I actually don't think tildes will need to enter into this, as
I think these strings will have to be treated like socials are...):

P4 {sleeping}
You fall asleep at the bar.
%n falls asleep against the bar.
%n has passed out against the bar.
P5 {resting}
You find an empty chair and relax.
%n pulls up a chair and relaxes.
%n is here relaxing with a drink.
~
P6 {sitting}
You take a seat at the bar.
%n sits down at the bar.
%n is sitting at the bar.
P7  {fighting - this one may be more difficult...must handle 2 names..}
   {none here...normally no 'fight starting message is given}
   {same here}
%n is here brawling with %N.
P8 {standing}
You stand up and take a look around the bar.
%n stands up and glances around the bar.
%n is standing here surveying the patrons.


Well, that's it...  lemme know if you use it, as I'd like to see it in 
action!  Also let me know if it really isn't feasible...


And Jeremy, let me know if you could add a quick and dirty (I know, you 
don't code anything q&d :) comment-sieve to the tinyworld processor so
that it will ignore everything in brackets, I'd really appreciate it. It's
not a dire need, but adding comments for later "users" explaining this
or that would make it a bit nicer, as well as nice for me :)  Having
it simply ignore everything from a line beginning with a '{' to the
first line that ends in a '}' will do just fine.  (If you think only
code needs comments then you haven't REALLY messed with the tiny*s!)
Thanks much!

Danny

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| Danhiel Baker // Derkhil CatSpawn         /) /)     Fade away
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