Zandy's MortMud Project

Zandy says, 'Anyway, shall we start? I'll try to outline things and then field questions. Charity is logging this so we can drop it in the LT.'

Zandy says, 'I posted a while ago that we were planning to accept mort-built areas for april 1st... which wasn't technically true, it was more that I was planning to...'

Zandy says, 'But, after much discussion, we have decided to go with that plan... subject to some conditions.'

Zandy says, 'So, basically, what we're offering here, is to let any mortal who wishes build a small (25 to 50 room) area.'

Zandy says, 'These areas will be used on April 1st, which is traditionally a day when characters are backed up...'

Myriad says, 'How is this different from a building proposal? Any chance it will become a real area?'

Zandy says, 'Since it is April 1st, these areas don't have to be consistant with Legend's theme. I'll get there.'

Zandy says, 'They will still need to be in-spec and appropriate, but humor and/or wierdness are seriously encouraged.'

Vesper says to Zandy, 'I'd be surprised if you asked us to be serious.'

Zandy says, 'The areas _may_ be used again, for pkill tourneys or on occasion when people seem restless, and _may_ be distributed with Legend as example areas when the code is released.'

Zandy says, 'This plan is ENTIRELY seperate from any plan to let mortals build "real" areas for Legend proper.'

Zandy says, 'It may be used to gauge how much effort and how effective it will be, be I'm not guaranteeing anything...'

Zandy says, 'That, essentially, is a decision for someone higher than me to decide.'

Zandy says, 'Questions so far? I'll go into time frame and method in a second...'

Zelda says to Zandy, 'What role does equip play in this?'

Lysandra raises hand

Zandy says to Zelda, 'Hmm... any equipment gathered in the Mortmud (as it has been dubbed) will not carry over on April 2nd.'

Zelda nods solemnly.

Zandy says to Lysandra, 'Yes?'

Lysandra says, 'How much supervision/consultation will we be able to get from real builders?'

Zandy says, 'Well... that's where I was going, so that was a perfect lead-in.'

Lysandra chuckles politely.

Zandy says, 'I'm going to be heading up this project, but many other immorts have offered to be of assistance.'

Zandy says, 'The content really has to be your own.. we don't want to tell you how to do an area, but...'

Zandy says, 'Quite a few other people have voulnteered to help you troubleshoot your area and explain things if you get confused, including Ladyace, Charity, and Kheldar.'

Myriad says, 'Are you going to register the themes so there is not 3 people making star wars areas?'

Zandy says, 'Certain times will be set that I (and/or other immortals, I'm hoping for some australian help because austrialian hours are so radically different from my own) can run the testmud and let you test your areas periodically.'

Zandy says, 'And yes, I'd like to register themes... I have a few mailed to me already...'

Lysandra says, 'I'd like to hear what themes people are thinking about--it will give me some ideas.'

Zandy says, 'To keep me from running ragged, I'm going to have to set some requirements... there needs to be significant growth since the last testmud session of yours, etc... but I'm really excited about this, so I should be available quite a bit.'

Kheldar says to Lysandra, 'I have a fantasy dragon hunter idea and a Goonies idea in mind.'

Myriad says, 'I want to do an Alice in Wonderland theme.'

Zelda has no idea yet.

Zandy says, 'Your areas will be due to me AT LEAST 1 month before April 1st... completed, so I can look for bugs, and verify that items are in spec.'

Lysandra says, 'Yea, I was thinking of a fairy tale or Dr. Seuss area maybe.'

Zandy nods solemnly.

Elminster says, 'I want to do a M:TG area if noone has clamed it yet...'

Zandy says, 'Mail these to me, please :).'

Elminster nods solemnly.

Zandy says, 'But not right now...'

Charity says, 'Lagged, just got back... i was thinking a Little Mermaid from hell area... beat up on your least favorite disney chars... to go along with my real reef areas.'

Charity giggles.

Kheldar says, 'I was thinking a hitchickers guide area would be cool :P'

Zandy says, 'Okay, let me lay down some conditions...'

Zandy says, 'First and foremost, the obligitory "no special privleges" for mort builders beyond getting to have an area in on April 1st...'

Zandy says, 'This won't effect our appraisels of proposals for immorthood, our reactions to cheating or anything...'

Zandy says, 'The building documents (in a slightly modified form) will be distributed to you.'

Zandy says, 'These documents lay out, very clearly, the specs an area must conform to.'

Zandy says, 'So you have to follow that'

Zandy says, 'You must complete a minimum of 25 rooms.. you can create a max of 50 rooms, mobs, and items.'

Zandy says, 'Standard obscenity rules, etc... keep it clean, we're a family mud.'

Zandy says, 'You don't get to teach skills or spells....'

Zandy says, 'No whining...'

Zandy says, 'And this is supposed to be fun.... so if it reaches a point where it's not fun anymore, stop.'

Zandy says, 'Don't bother immorts about this that have not volunteered to take place.'

Zandy says, 'Or to participate or whatever I mean.'

Zandy says, 'Questions?'

Zandy says, 'I've got a few more, but I'll pause here.'

Zelda raises her hand.

Zandy says to Zelda, 'Yes?'

Zelda says, 'Was that max of 50 each for rooms mobs and items?'

Zelda says, 'Or altogether?'

Zandy nods solemnly.

Zandy says, 'Each.'

Zelda nods solemnly.

Myriad raises her hand.

Zandy smiles at Myriad.

Zandy nods his agreement with Myriad.

Myriad says, 'What about quests?'

'Quests are encouraged...' Zandy says.

Zelda smiles happily.

Lysandra raises hand

Zandy says, 'So are whois flags, but I'd prefer you keep it to eq quests and exp quests...'

Zandy says, 'No stat quests, please.'

Zandy nods his agreement with Lysandra.

Zandy says to Lysandra, 'Go ahead...'

Lysandra says, '2 questions - will the building docs be detailed enought for us to do things like room acts?'

Zandy says, 'Yes... room acts, mob acts, darn near anything full immortal builders do.'

Lysandra says, 'And can we have a discussion board to talk amongst ourselves about all of this,' 'Part of the fun for me will be trading ideas/questions, etc.'

Myriad nods her agreement with Lysandra.

Zandy says, 'Explore rooms... you want a board or a list?'

Zandy says, 'I'd almost prefer a list because that keeps it somewhat private...'

Zandy says, 'That way you can surprise the majority of the mud.'

Lysandra says, 'A list maybe. I'd like it private not to be exclusive, but so that we can let our hair down without being embarrassed.'

Zandy nods solemnly.

Jeannette raises her hand.

Zandy points at Jeannette.

Jeannette says, 'Cans we be on the list even if we aren't sure or aren't gonna build an area :)'

Jeannette is laggy, sorry

Zandy says, 'Hmm... I suppose so... don't want to encourage that large-scale, but if you think you might want to, it seems okay with me. Opinions?'

Zelda says, 'Somebody who is building might always change their mind, its no different I suppose.'

Sandra slowly fades into existence.

Zandy nods solemnly.

Zandy peers around the room intently.

Zandy says, 'Hmm.. okay, I'll go on....'

Zandy says, 'You'lll be given an actual area (minus quest acts) to look at as an example, that's just benificial because the docs aren't real good.'

Zandy says, 'We _may_ be giving out an expie for this, that is solely PR's decision, a group which I am not a member of, but I think they plan to....'

Zandy says, 'Immortals are welcome to build a fun area for this too.'

Zandy says, 'If your area is consistantly crashing on April 1st, and I can't patch it quickly or yank the offending mob, we may have to pull it.'

Myriad says, 'Do we build online?'

Zandy shakes his head.

Zandy says, 'We're an offline building mud... you'll write your area as a (sorta) text file and then upload it to us...'

Myriad says, 'Do you need special software for that?'

Kheldar says to Myriad, 'A text editor'

Lysandra says, 'Also, Imagination, V3.4.'

Zandy says, 'Your area becomes the property of Legend... We can do what we want to with it. (that's SOP).'

Zandy says, 'You're welcome to do what you want to with it, as well, but this avoids potential problems later.'

Myriad doesnt really know what a text editor is

Zelda says, 'Any text editor?'

Charity says, 'Microsoft word.'

Zandy says, 'Like wordpad.... or edit.'

Sandra nods her agreement with Zelda.

Zandy nods solemnly.

Charity says, 'Turbopascal, vi or pico...'

Candide says, 'Bbedit.'

Zelda giggles.

Myriad says, 'Just normal wordprocessor?'

Zandy says, 'Well, usually they work, there's a few that give me problems.'

Charity says, 'And uedit for windows.. which we have a zip of on the mud site, and can move to the directory you'll be using.'

Kheldar says, 'Only thing you'll find is you're going to need to be able to switch between line wrapping and not... most can do that.'

Zandy nods solemnly.

Jeannette says to Myriad, 'You need one that will save as ascii.'

Zandy says, 'We can help you with that.'

Charity says, 'For microsoft word, just save as text, and use a nonproportional font like Monaco 9.'

Sandra says, 'For windows, wordpad seems to work the best(for me).'

Myriad nods solemnly.

Zandy says, 'Learning is a little difficult for some people, but creating a basic area isn't real complex. The acts can get a little hairy, but if you can't figure out how to do something, do somethign else :)'

Zandy says to Kheldar, 'I forget anything?'

Candide says, 'What's the next step?'

Lysandra is excited and wonders when we can start!

Kheldar says to Zandy, 'Not that I can think of off the top... when/how will the docs be distributed?'

Zandy says, 'We intend to release the docs to people I have heard from in 2 weeks....'

Zandy says, 'They'll be available for ftp from the mud machine or I can mail them to you.'

Zandy says, 'Or they may be available via the web page.'

Zandy says, 'I think I'm running out of stuff.. keep questioning...'

Lysandra says, 'Is the sample area that will be sent to actually in Legend? It would be nice to see how a text area and live area match up.'

Zandy nods solemnly.

Zandy says, 'We're thinking about egypt...'

Charity says, 'Minus quests.'

Zandy says, 'Minus quests...'

Charity says, 'Which leaves in lots of acts that most people have never bothered to find.'

Lysandra giggles.

Charity giggles.

Lysandra says, 'Ooh, I've just thought of the perfect area to do. I'll email it to you Zandy.'

Myriad says, 'Are there gonna be test-times set for uploads?'

Myriad says, 'Before april 1st?'

Zandy says, 'You can upload whenever.. there will be set test time when I'm running the testmud.'

Zandy says, 'I'll try to be flexible, but I have a job and a wife, so I don't know how flexible I can be...'

Zelda says, 'What happens when we upload?'

Zandy says, 'You'll upload it and wait until I show up to run the testmud :)'

Zelda says, 'Ah.'

Lysandra says, 'BTW, I think it's great that you all are doing this. I know it's a little controversial, and I'm sure it will take a lot of time!'

Kheldar says to Zandy, 'And the others of us volunteering will probably be available to boot the testmud occastionally.'

Sandra nods her agreement with Kheldar.

Zandy nods his agreement with Kheldar.

Charity says, 'I'll be able to try areas that get uploaded, on my home testmud, and mail you if the area simply won't load, so you can work on critical fixes. Don't know how much i'll be able to put up testmuds here for you to playtest.'

Sandra will probably be able to do the same.

Zandy says, 'We have syntax checkers as well... so if you're really buggy, we can send you a list.'

Zandy says, 'When designing, bear in mind that players are only going to have 1 day to check these out...'

Zandy says, 'So don't make quests too obscure, or things like that.... unless you really want to... it's kinda up to you.'

Charity says, 'For instance... whatever theme area i pick, all the mobs are going to be straight out of the docs lvl 50s. i want to do room descs and cool mobacts and quests, and not have to balance for fighting...'

Charity says, 'But then i'm supposed to be doing permanent area work too, so i don't want to kill too much time. =)'

Zandy nods solemnly.

Candide giggles.

Zandy looks up into the sky and ponders.

Zandy says, 'How do you feel about these potentially being released with legend as "sample areas" and popping up all over the place?'

ParticleMan has arrived from the east.

Zandy smiles at ParticleMan.

ParticleMan smiles at Zandy.

Zelda says, 'They would not be very representative of legend tho would they?'

Charity nods her agreement with Zelda.

Lysandra says, 'I don't mind them being distributed, but they probably won't give anybody the real flavor of Legend.'

Myriad says, 'Unless its like a dream..a place where you sleep to explore wacky areas.'

Zandy says, 'We're not releasing the theme.. just the code :)'

Charity says, 'That would kinda be the idea tho, to show the variety of stuff that can be made with this codebase.'

Elminster says, 'Well, we'll be able to put our names on them won't we? I want people to at least know who built it...'

Charity nods her agreement with Elminster.

Zandy says, 'Anyway... are there more issues or questions that need to be brought up? yes, names will be attached, and we'd never release something you didn't want us to.'

Charity says, 'If you play diku/mercs you'll notice their areas lists credit people for each, whether that person plays there or not.'

Zandy says, 'Help diku for instance'

Elminster nods solemnly.

Joachim suggests a mob at the entrance that yells HEY!!!! ELMINSTER MADE THIS AREA!!!!!! when you enter.

Elminster throws his head back and cackles with insane glee!

Lysandra giggles.

Charity says, 'It'd be nice if everyone had a board at the entrance to their area, so each builder can get comments, leave hints, etc.'

Lysandra nods her agreement with Charity.

Lysandra says, 'Let us know when you have a board/list set up. I know there are a lot of interested folks who couldn't attend tonight, and I'd like to see who all's going to be involved.'

Zelda says, 'Does it have to be a literary/movie type theme or can it be just a place?'

Charity says, 'Anything.'

Zandy says, 'Any theme at all...'

Zelda nods solemnly.

Zandy says, 'So mail me as soon as possible, even if you don't have an area in mind yet, so i can get you on the list.. make sure you mudmail a REAL e-mail address.'

Charity says, 'Sadist wanted to make an area where you do a really hard quest, and if you finish it everybody but you gets playerwiped. We told him no =)'

Elminster giggles.

Sandra snickers softly.

Charity thought he should do an area where you delete yourself... it could be everyone's last stop on April 1

ParticleMan cringes in terror.

Charity giggles.

Lysandra says, 'Zandy, do you have a real email address that you'd prefer us to use?'

Zandy says, 'How about [email protected]?'

Zandy says, 'We should try and be as secretive as possible....'

Candide says, 'So as not to spoil the surprises.'

Zandy says, 'So as to provide maximum enjoyment for the people who are going to be playing.'

Zandy nods solemnly.

Zandy says, 'And, the number 1 rule....'

Zandy says, 'Everyone paying attention?'

Zandy says, 'This project is NEVER EVER EVER to be refered to as mortal building.'

Zandy says, 'It is the "mortmud" project.'

Kheldar ruffles Zandy's hair playfully.

Sandra giggles.

Lysandra says, 'Oh, I thought the number one rule was to have fun!'

Zelda says, 'Mortmud, mortmud, mortmud....'

Zandy has created a leather whip!

Candide whispers mortal building a little too loudly.

Lysandra says, 'Redrum, redrum.'

Zandy brandishes a leather whip menacingly.

ParticleMan says, 'MortMUD was my idea.. :)'

ParticleMan flexes his bulging, impressive muscles.

Elminster giggles at Lysandra.

Kheldar purges Candide.

Zandy nods his agreement with ParticleMan.

Zandy licks ParticleMan.

Sandra giggles.

Charity says to ParticleMan, 'Yeah but you made it sound like we don't get to play too.'

Zandy says, 'So, if there's no further questsions... .'

Myriad says, 'Take out the theme ideas if you are gonna put the log in the LT for the secrecy part right?'

Charity says, 'You should feel free to tell each other and non-participants the same amount of info immort builders give out... that is, the name or general theme, but no details.'

Myriad nods solemnly.

Sandra nods her agreement with Charity.

Zandy says, 'Okay... have fun, practice safe building, and mind every ~'

Zandy says, 'E-mail me those ideas as quickly as possible.'