CircleMUD FAQ

From: Alex (3raf7@qlink.queensu.ca)
Date: 02/12/96


Here is the latest version of the FAQ.  Some things have been changed
since the last one, but not a whole hell of a lot yet.  If you have
any questions or additions, please mail me so that I can add them 
into it.

Thanx muchly.

--  Alex
"Spoon!" -- The Tick

---8<----

Archive-name: circle-faq
Last updated: 12 Feb 1996

Frequently Asked Questions for Circle DIKU Mud
============================================================================

This is the latest version of the Circle FAQ for the Circle Mud Mailing list
at circle@pvv.unit.no.  It is still rather new, so any contributions and 
corrections are more than welcome.  This file is intended to cover common 
questions related to the CircleMUD distributon source by Jeremy Elson
<jelson@cs.jhu.edu>, and not general DIKUmud questions.

This FAQ is currently maintained by Alex Fletcher (bka Furry) 
<furry@cambot.res.jhu.edu>  Please direct corrections to this address.
The original author was Ryan Watkins (aka VampLestat)

============================================================================
Contents
============================================================================

Section: 1 Introduction
  Subject: 1.1  What is Circle Mud?
  Subject: 1.2  What is History of Circle Mud?
  Subject: 1.3  Where is the original Circle Mud so I can check it out?

Section: 2 Resources
  Subject: 2.1  Where do I find the source code for CircleMUD?
  Subject: 2.2  Where do I find areas, etc for CircleMUD?
  Subject: 2.3  How do I subscribe/unsubscribe to the Mailing list?
  Subject: 2.4  What platforms has CircleMUD been ported to?
  Subject: 2.5  How can I submit code or areas for use with CircleMud?

Section: 3 Code Changes for CircleMUD 2.20
  Subject: 3.1  How do I fix the bug where people can junk more coins than
                available.?
  Subject: 3.2  How do I fix the 'vstat' bug?

Section: 4 Currently known bugs in CircleMUD 3.0bpl9

============================================================================
Section 1: Introduction
============================================================================

**Subject: 1.1 What is CircleMUD?

CircleMUD is a DikuMud derivitave, developed by Jeremy Elson
<jelson@cs.jhu.edu>, and is from the Gamma v0.0 of DikuMud created by Hans
Henrik, Staerfeldt, Katja Nyboe, Tom Madsen, Michael Seifert and Sebastian
Hammer at DIKU (Computer Science Instutute at Copenhagen University)  

Also, note that CircleMUD is a Diku derivative and its users must follow the
DIKU license agreement  - most notable that it cannot be used to make
money in any way, the original developers names have to be in the login
screen that the 'credits' command always present the same information, etc..

This is from the release.doc:

 "CircleMUD is highly developed from the programming side, but highly
  UNdeveloped on the game-playing side.  So, if you're looking for a huge MUD
  with billions of spells, skills, classes, races, and areas, Circle will
  probably disappoint you severely.  Circle still has only the 4 original
  Diku classes, the original spells, the original skills, and about a dozen
  areas.

  On the other hand, if you're looking for a highly stable, well-developed,
  well-organized "blank slate" MUD on which you can put your OWN ideas for
  spells, skills, classes, and areas, then Circle might be just what you're
  looking for."

  The latest full release of Circle is 2.20, released on November 17, 1993.
  Currently 3.0 is in beta, at patch level 9, released on February 9, 1996.


**Subject: 1.2  What is History of Circle Mud?

Version 2.20:  November 17, 1993
Version 2.11:  September 19, 1993
Version 2.10:  September 1, 1993
Version 2.02:  Early August
Version 2.01:  July 20, 1993
Version 2.00:  July 16, 1993

Version 3.00 is currently in beta right now and is up to patch level 9.
The final release is due out Real Soon Now(tm).  Dont bother posting 
requests for it.  It will be out when Jeremy gets it done, and it will
be announced on the mailing list and the newsgroup rec.games.mud.diku.


**Subject: 1.3  Where is the original Circle Mud so I can check it out?

CircleMUD is a public code base, freely distributable, but the author of
Circle don't actually run one personally.  There used to be CircleMUD, and
while Jeremy Elson continues to develop it, there is no original CircleMUD
on the net.  If you want to play Circle, download the source and start your
own.  :)


============================================================================
Section 2: Resources
============================================================================

**Subject: 2.1  Where do I find the source code for CircleMUD?

Circle's complete source code and areas are available now for anonymous FTP
at ftp.cs.jhu.edu (128.220.13.50) in the directory /pub/CircleMUD.  They are
also available at cambot.res.jhu.edu (128.220.39.22) in the same directory.
There is a web site for CircleMud as well, located at:
http://www.cs.jhu.edu/~jelson/circle.html


**Subject: 2.2  Where do I find areas, etc for CircleMUD?

A number of Circle-mud based Implementors have submitted areas to the
public and they are archived at the same sites as the CircleMUD
source (see 2.1) but in the directory /pub/CircleMUD/submissions.


**Subject: 2.3  How do I subscribe/unsubscribe to the Mailing list?

To subscribe to the mailing list send a message to majordomo@pvv.unit.no
with any subject and the message body should be simply 'subscribe circle'.
To unsubscribe from the list send a message to majordomo@pvv.unit.no with 
the words 'unsubscribe circle' as the message body. DO NOT send 
subscription/unsubscription requests to the list in general. There are 
currently almost a hundered people on the list, and it will only irritate
a ton of people who have no power to remove you from the list.


**Subject: 2.4  What platforms has CircleMUD been ported to?

Jeremy Elson has personally compiled CircleMUD under: Ultrix 4.0, IRIX
4.0.1, 4.0.4, 4.0.5, SunOS 4.1.1, 4.1.3, AIX 3.2, Linux 0.99.11, ConvexOS
V10.2.  It is also known to compile with minor modifications under:
NeXTStep 2.1 and 3.0

If you have a BSD-compatible system, chances of getting Circle to compile
easily are pretty good.  Non-BSD systems will probably have trouble with
certain functions; getting Circle to compile for the first time on such
systems may be difficult and time-consuming.  SVR4 compatibility is on the
horizon; many functions have already been converted to be SVR4 compatible,
but the code has not yet been fully ported.

CircleMUD was ported to the Amiga by Jean-Jack Riethoven
<J.J.M.Riethoven@ab.agro.nl> and is available at ftp.cs.jhu.edu in
/pub/CircleMUD/amiga/.  Questions about the Amiga source should be directed
to Jean-Jack Riethoven <J.J.M.Riethoven@ab.agro.nl>, not Jeremy Elson.


**Subject: 2.5  How can I submit code or areas for use with CircleMUD?

Currently, you can upload code or areas to the incoming directories
off of the CircleMUD directories on the ftp sites.  These portions
of code or areas will probably not be added to the full release of
CircleMUD unless you make arrangements with Jeremy for code items,
or with me, Alex (both email addresses listed above).


============================================================================
Section: 3 Code Changes for CircleMUD 2.20
============================================================================

**Subject: 3.1 How do I fix the bug where people can junk more coins than
               available.?

Apprently in Circle 2.2, you can drop any amount of coins, and then be
rewarded with more coins than you had in the first place.  Here is the fix
from jelson@cs.jhu.edu

Around line 480 of act.obj1.c, you will find the code:

         if (!str_cmp("coins", arg) || !str_cmp("coin", arg))
            perform_drop_gold(ch, amount, mode, RDR);
         else {
            /* code to drop multiple items.  anyone want to write it? -je */
            send_to_char("Sorry, you can't do that (yet)...\n\r", ch);
   -->      return;
         }
      } else {
   ....

It should be changed to:

         if (!str_cmp("coins", arg) || !str_cmp("coin", arg))
            perform_drop_gold(ch, amount, mode, RDR);
         else {
            /* code to drop multiple items.  anyone want to write it? -je */
            send_to_char("Sorry, you can't do that (yet)...\n\r", ch);
         }
   -->   return;
      } else {
   ....


**Subject: 3.2  How do I fix the 'vstat' bug?

To the fix for the vstat bug, from jelson@cs.jhu.edu:

In the file act.wizard.c, in the function do_vstat, in the mobile section
of the switch (around line 1150), you'll find the code:

    mob = read_mobile(r_num, REAL);
    do_stat_character(ch, mob);
    extract_char(mob);

Add the line char_to_room(mob, 0) before extract_char(), like this:

    mob = read_mobile(r_num, REAL);
    do_stat_character(ch, mob);
    char_to_room(mob, 0);
    extract_char(mob);

============================================================================
Section: 4 Currently known bugs in CircleMUD 3.0bpl9
============================================================================

There are no bugs.  Only features.  Seriously though, if perchance
you find a bug, please mail it (along with a possible fix) to Jeremy
and the CircleMUD list.  If the bug is a world related bug, it is a
good idea to mail it to me, Alex, as well.

============================================================================



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