A Guideline for Making Programs

This is intended as a set of guidelines to those who are just beginning as Builders. Nothing here is written in stone, this file is based on my experience and the online help files.

Herne the Hunter

Remember that most important command: SAVEAREA

Table of Contents:

Giving Life to your Areas

This is by no means the LAST word on how to make programs for SMAUG-type MUDs, this is merely intended as a "place to start". There are many people who have MUCH more experience when it comes to making programs, and this file is my crude attempt at helping those who are just starting out. The main thing is, this file will provide all the required HELP files in one place for the new programmer.

Programs are the tools that provide "life" to an area, from something as simple as providing "atmosphere" to something as complicated as a fight program. Programs bring the MUD alive.

How to Make Programs

Programs can be linked to either rooms, mobs or objects, but all programs require a trigger to set them in motion. What you use for a trigger will probably depend on what you want the program to do. Should you require a mob to sell a special key, you'd need a bribe trigger. If you wanted a room to check the alignment of players that passed through it, you'd need an entry trigger, and so on.

When writing your programs, you first need to figure out what you want the program to do, and then work from there towards your goal. If, for example, you want to make a program that will combine various objects into another object (The Sword of Legends comes to mind) then you'll need to have the objects handy, and you will also need to program in some sort of error-checking before the object can be combined. Think your process out logically and writing the program becomes easier.

This page is intended to provide you with an overview of the commands you'll need to make your own programs, and I have also provided a few easy sample programs for you to try. Kindly do not email me and ask me to write programs for you, it will not happen.

TRIGGERS

A trigger is an action, phrase, or game event that causes a program held within a room, mob or object, to begin playing out its commands.

Triggers can be anything from a player or mob entering a room, to a player stating a particular phrase within a room, or to a mob or an object.

For detailed information on triggers, see also: RPTRIGGERS, OPTRIGGERS and MPTRIGGERS.

ROOMTRIGGERS   RPTRIGGERS

*NOTE*
• {hour}/(hour) is in military time. ie, 15 hours is 3pm mud time.
• The mpcommand MPDONOTHING currently only works in Script progs, NOT in Time
    or Hour progs.

See also: MPSTAT, MPEDIT, TRIGGER, MPCOMMANDS, IFCHECKS, VARIABLES.

OBJTRIGGERS   OPTRIGGERS

See also: OPSTAT, OPEDIT, TRIGGER, OPCOMMANDS, IFCHECKS, VARIABLES.

USEPROG

Syntax : opedit (object) {command} [number] [use_prog] [percentage]

Example: opedit helmet add use 50 (Prog triggers 50% of the time worn)

The use_prog is an objtrigger that can be used in object programs. The use_prog will be executed when the item is used. To define what will trigger the use_prog, here is a list:

» Wands — when you zap
» Staves — when you brandish
» Food/pills — when you eat
» Blood/fountains/drink containers — when you drink
» Lights/armour/weapons — when you wear/wield/hold
» Potions — when you quaff
» Pipes — when you smoke

When the use_prog is executed you will not see the standard 'use message' (ie You quaff a violet potion). What you will see will be any mpechoes placed in the program. Also, any mobprog commands can be used in use_prog (see MPCOMMANDS).

*NOTE* The use_progs on lights, armour, and weapons are executed BEFORE the player wears/holds/wields any item. Therefore, a mpforce to remove the item will not work in the use_prog. You will have to use a wear trigger to accomplish this.

MOBTRIGGERS   MUDTRIGGERS   MPTRIGGERS

*NOTE*
• {hour}/(hour) is in military time. ie, 15 hours is 3pm mud time.
• The mpcommand MPDONOTHING currently only works in Script progs, NOT in Time
    or Hour progs.

See also: MPSTAT, MPEDIT, TRIGGER, MPCOMMANDS, IFCHECKS, VARIABLES.

Commands for Editing Programs

MPEDIT

Syntax: mpedit (mobile) {command} [number] [program] [arguments]
Syntax: mpedit (mobile) add {program} [arguments]
Syntax: mpedit (mobile) insert {number} {program} [arguments]
Syntax: mpedit (mobile) edit {number} [program] [arguments]
Syntax: mpedit (mobile) delete {number}
Syntax: mpedit (mobile) list

Add, insert and edit will put you into the line editor to edit your program. The arguments consist of a trigger, plus any arguments associated with that trigger.

MPSTAT

Syntax: mpstat (mob/mobvnum)

Mpstat will display all of the mobprograms that have been written for the specified mob. If an instance of that mob exists in the game, it can be accessed with its vnum.

See also: TRIGGER, MPTRIGGERS, MPCOMMANDS, IFCHECKS, VARIABLES

OPEDIT

Syntax: opedit (object) {command} [number] [program] [arguments]
Syntax: opedit (object) add {program} [arguments]
Syntax: opedit (object) insert {number} {program} [arguments]
Syntax: opedit (object) edit {number} [program] [arguments]
Syntax: opedit (object) delete {number}
Syntax: opedit (object) list

Add, insert and edit will put you into the line editor to edit your program. The arguments consist of a trigger, plus any arguments associated with that trigger. Object programs are like mobprograms, with trigger differences.

To edit an Objprogram, you must be holding the object in your inventory.

OPSTAT

Syntax: opstat (object/object vnum)

Opstat will display all of the objprograms that have been written for the specified object. If a copy of the object exists in the game, it can be accessed by its vnum.

See also: TRIGGER, OPTRIGGERS, OPCOMMANDS, IFCHECKS, VARIABLES

RPEDIT

Syntax: rpedit {command} [number] [program] [arguments]
Syntax: rpedit add {program} [arguments]
Syntax: rpedit insert {number} {program} [arguments]
Syntax: rpedit edit {number} [program] [arguments]
Syntax: rpedit delete {number}
Syntax: rpedit list

Add, insert and edit will put you into the line editor to edit your program. The arguments consist of a trigger, plus any arguments ssociated with that trigger.

To edit a roomprogram you must be in the room you wish to edit.

RPSTAT

Syntax: rpstat

Rpstat will display all of the roomprograms that have been written for a room. You must be standing in the room that you are rpstatting (though you can also use 'rpstat' in conjunction with the 'at' command to rpstat a room remotely).

See also: TRIGGER, RPTRIGGERS, RPCOMMANDS, IFCHECKS, VARIABLES

The Meat of the Program

Once you've set the trigger for a program, you enter into a note-like text editor that you use to write the program itself. Just like writing a program for a PC, a MUD Program can perform many tasks such as issuing mpcommands (MUD Program Commands), ifchecks, or merely printing text to the screen.

MPCOMMANDS RPCOMMANDS OPCOMMANDS

The following commands can be used for Room, Mob and Object progs. The commands listed at the bottom of the left column are for mob progs only.

The MPCommand Help Files are in a separate HTML document to preserve space here.

See also: MPSTAT, RPSTAT, OPSTAT, MPEDIT, RPEDIT, OPEDIT, TRIGGER,
MPTRIGGERS, RPTRIGGERS, OPTRIGGERS, IFCHECKS, and VARIABLES.

Note: MPCommands are not case sensitive.

SILENT (RoD Specific)

Syntax: Silent <Commands>

Usage: M/O/Rprograms

Adding this word to the beginning of a line in a mob program will force the resulting command to be silenced to all players in the room. An example would be:

silent mpforce 0.$n remove all

This will cause the player to remove all. Only mobs in the room with the character will see the remove messages. This can also be used to silently trigger other mobprograms in the room.

ECHO_COLOURS

The following 16 colors are supported in the commands echo, recho, mpecho, mpechoat and mpechoaround.

Note: When choosing a colour, remember that not everyone sees screen colours as you do.

If the indicator is preceded by an asterisk, the message will blink. To save line space, you only need to enter as much of the color indicator as required to uniquely identify it.

Using Multiple Rand Programs

All mobs/objects/rooms with multiple programs of the same type at less than 100% on any of them will result in the following programs being restricted to basic probability rules.

For instance, if a mob A has:

To (roughly) divide parts equally (As calculated by Dria):

So if we wanted a mobile to have 4 programs, each with an even chance of triggering, we'd use the option that has "4 parts" or "3 randoms," giving us;

IFCHECKS

The bulk of the IfCheck Help Files are in a separate HTML document to preserve space here.

Value checks can use == (equals) > (greater than) < (less than)
and ! (not). Combine for: != (not equal) >= (greater than or equal).

See Also: MPSTAT, RPSTAT, OPSTAT, MPEDIT, RPEDIT, OPEDIT, TRIGGER, MPTRIGGERS, RPTRIGGERS, OPTRIGGERS, MPCOMMANDS, RPCOMMANDS, OPCOMMANDS, VARIABLES, and MINPOS.

MINPOS

Minimum Positions affect both spells and skills. For example, if the minimum position for a spell was 8, it would work while sitting, fighting or any position higher than that. The same spell would not work in the resting position as it's ranked at 6.

VARIABLES

LAST_CHAR applies to the last character loaded in the game — can be used when a mob is mpmloaded in the program.

Using a * after a variable (eg. mpe $i* says hello) will cause the firstletter of the variable become capitalized.

See Also: MPSTAT, RPSTAT, OPSTAT, MPEDIT, RPEDIT, OPEDIT, TRIGGER, MPTRIGGERS, RPTRIGGERS, OPTRIGGERS, MPCOMMANDS, RPCOMMANDS, OPCOMMANDS, and IFCHECKS.

SAMPLE PROGRAMS

Program 1: Basic shopkeeper greet program.

Program 2: A simple bribe program.

Program 3: A simple act program

Program 4: A simple "atmosphere"-type room program.

Why do we use 'mea $r'?

Every time a player enters the room the random program fires and checks to see if the random number falls within the 5%. If 8 players enter the room, the program fires 8 times in succession, so this could cause your atmosphere-type program to fire several times in succession as well. To solve this problem, use mpechoat and the random variable so that only one player will see the message at any time.

Program 5: A simple Object program

The Economy Code

The Economy Code is something fairly new that was added to the MUD to encourage players to explore many areas instead of just sitting in one area repeatedly killing good cash producing mobs. The Advanced Builder can modify the economy of a specific area by "tweaking" using programs and ifchecks to cause a mob to replenish its gold, or "borrow" gold from other areas to replenish its area's economy. (I don't claim to be that advanced, but I thought I'd include this for those who wish to try.)

ECONOMY
Each area will initialize (on bootup of the mud) with a pool of gold based on the area's range and the wealth of each mob in that area.

The shopkeepers and thieves will automatically deposit gold into the economy if they are carrying more than a certain amount (the higher the level of the shopkeeper, the greater they will carry before depositing).

To allow mobprogs to be created to manipulate area economies, making them interactive and interdependent, there are two mpcommands: MPDEPOSIT, and MPWITHDRAW (see related helpfiles listed below). There is also an 'ifeconomy' ifcheck.

The aset command can also be used to adjust an area's economy by hand (Example: aset {area filename} low_economy [amount], this will give the specified area a minimum economy at the level you set).

Mobs will not repop with more gold than what they were originally created with, but if the area economy runs low they will begin to repop with less until the economy is replenished (as they all share the same gold pool).

MPDEPOSIT MPWITHDRAW
Syntax: mpdeposit (amount)
Syntax: mpwithdraw (amount)

This command orders the mobile to deposit or withdraw a specified number of gold coins from an area. These can be used in conjunction with mpat to tell the mob which area to withdraw/deposit money in.

Example: mpat 21000 mpwithdraw 5000000

This would cause the mob to withdraw 5 million coins from the new Darkhaven area, as that is the area vnum 21000 is in.

If no mpat is used, the mob will withdraw or deposit the gold from the area in which it is located at the time.

A Final Word

Once you have reached the level of "Programs", you've reached a certain level of trust in the Building circle. Mob programs have the power to add life to the MUD, and they have the power to cause the MUD to spin into an unending loop and crash. You must remember to be extremely careful when you begin making programs. As you progress and your programs become more and more complex, they also become more dangerous to the stable operation of the MUD. Always be sure you know exactly what you're doing when you make a program: start small and work your way towards the complexity you desire in small steps rather than leaps. But at the same time, don't be afraid to say "what if..."

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