> I was wondering if framing output had ever been
> done. What I mean is something like this:
>
> ============================================================
> =Devyn says, "Hi!" =
> => =
> =You say, "Hola" =
> = =
> = =
> ============================================================
>
Yes, and No.
One of the muds I spent a decent bit of time on had a segmented
display screen, using (I believe) two scrolling window segments - it
depended heavily upon using VT100 (er, ANSI?VT100? etc? compatible)
terminal control codes.
It didn't have the output exactly the way you have it - with
things like communication being placed in one box, and (I'm assuming
here) the rest in another.
It just seperated input from output with a status bar inbetween.
------------
. output .
. output .
. output .
............
.status bar.
............
<empty line> <- anything a user types goes here, though the output like
"You say, 'Hi!'." is still in the output screen.
There were a few problems with this; while scrolling output,
often times, the input would be 'lost' - it'd be blanked out and you
coudln't see what you wrote. This was a problem with backspace
functioning as you'd expect too. Sometimes a control command would be
ignored and the scrolling window sizes would be set incorrectly, or
there'd be artifacts from a previous display overwriting existing text.
It also couldn't handle things like terminal resizing.
So, yes, it's been done, it just wasn't done well.
When you consider that most mud clients are even less compliant to
the vt100 (et al) standards than the mud itself, well.. you're in a world
of trouble. It'd be difficult to tailor for each one-off client out there
(zmud, windows 'standard' telnet, etc). It's hard to do right.
Whatever you end up doing, make sure it's toggleable, by the
player, to an 'OFF' position. Even something simple-seeming like a
map-wildneress has all sorts of problems, and trust me, you'll hit each
one.
If you're not sure where to start, I'd recommend searching for
"VT100 Terminal Control" or "Terminal Control Codes", and go from there.
Realize though, the problem will always be lack of adherance to
standards - your best bet is to make a gui to take care of it.
PjD
ps:
offtopic -
sorry for the late reply, my company was bought out the other day
and i've been off-site getting retrained. Who else here enjoys having an
entire work-week blown out of the water so you can learn safty procedures
like proper evacuation, or political/ethnic/minority awareness training;
"Bob wears an american flag pin - this upsets Ishmal, who believes that
the American system is decadant, and deserves the events of Sept 11'th.
Neither is wrong here, and neither is right. The two must have a dialog
with the company ombudsman, and their respective managers, or other
certified employee-to-employee awareness facilitators, and arrange for a
situation which is acceptable to both parties. These are the sorts of
things that pop up - wearing a pin may seem innocent, but here, you've
created a problem, so think about what you're doing." .... I left this
session with a blank expression. I think that scenario broke something
inside my head.
--
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