In all seriousness.. what features do people find compelling in a system? Do you want just straight up basic curing, and leave the rest to you?

Do you like having GUI elements built in? Should they be available modules/add-ons?

Obviously, everything comes after the curing, but assuming it cures well, what -else- should it do.

Both out of box and as side options, either free or paid for?


I'm curious as to what folks want/need/wish for in their deepest darkest fantasies (within the limitations of the mechanics of the game)

I like the code to be general and flexible enough that you can customize it for different people or characters, such as simply overriding one function with your own to replace a particular healing queue or setting values in a table to control priorities. Configurable options, a useful GUI, and easy-to-use add-ons are always great.

Rock solid curing and changable priority queues.

Something that cures and pks on its own.

I wish more systems made use of GUI elements.

I have some of my own custom coded things but I have never really seen other people take advantage of a gui.

For example I found it useful to have my affliction queue displayed visually, sorted by priority, and colored by balance type. I also have a display that lists each person in the room color coded for allies/enemies. I was working on making these lists interactive (say clicking on a name would set it as your target) but I got fed up with cmud and gave up.

A system that is integrated with an automapper would also be nice. So your map position would always update when you were moved, despite things like dust making the in game map not display.

On the non-combat side I always break out channels and tells into a separate window and gag them from the main display. I was working on doing the same for more utility messages as well to try and cut down on spam but I had mixed results. In theory I never need to see messages about things like regaining salve balance but in practice I found that removing those messages made combat seem weird.

I guess it all boils down to how everyone seems to just use the single text window for everything while I try to work on using the entire screen and only keep the highest priority things in the main window.

* Highly configurable and modular. Easy to hook in my own functions.

* GUI elements that are useful and streamlined. I've seen some that just make my head hurt. In Achaea I used a simple status bar in zMUD above the command line with flame level and morph and I was fine.

* Easy to understand and tinker with.

* Functional. If it doesn't work, there's really no point.

* Not for MUSH. I've loved Zarquan's work since the ACP back in the day, but I've never gotten comfortable working in MUSH and it makes me sad.

I was the same way for a long time until the current system I use now. I don't think I could ever go back zmud now.

And, Nick finally made it possible to put hotspots (clickable GUI) in MUSHclient without requiring a plugin, so I'm very happy now. Of course, I need to really start taking advantage of that now, but I learned a few nice things in building a Nexus-like interface.

mushclient miniwindows are still a lot harder then zmud/cmud

I think one of the most usefull non combat related addons is actually a communication miniwindow. If someone sells me a scrollable one for mushclient I would love you to death. (note I am already using the dummy world system, but it just isn't as pretty as a miniwindow would be)

Plenty of colournotes.
Updates when I need them, or easy to understand the code so I can update it myself.
Settings for each of my alts, so I don't have to change variables for FocusMind/Tumble/artifact pipes or not.

What I think would be awesome is if a system could set itself on what to use if I use SKILLS. For instance, if I use SKILLS and it sees that I am at least Fabled in Discipline, it knows I can use Focus Mind. If I'm not, it won't try. If it notices I'm an Acrobat with at least Adept Acrobatics, it will springup instead of stand, and when I actually go prone, not when I regain balance. A system that can tell the difference in "prone" between paralyzed, entangled and actually prone. Something that can tell between illusions or not, and if it falls for a certain illusion before, it won't fall for it again.

Use separate worlds for separate characters and configure each according to that character's abilities and gear.

Any system should be able to tell if you're "sprawled" or prone via any number of ways. If it doesn't, you're going to have troubles with basic curing.

Not all key abilities happen at a nice, even rank in a skill. Some fall in between and are harder to detect from SKILLS. At any rate, you set the option once and you're done, no big deal.

Illusions are handled by most systems, but there will always be some that get through to a certain degree. The rest is up to the individual user to find his or her own workarounds.

I have actually bookmarked this Thread because of all of the great ideas that you guys are throwing around.

Thank you, Demonnic for making this! Not especially for me, but for all future programmers, and current ones, that want to build a product to better serve the community.

Catarin's system will (well would) do this by looking at your AB listings. It would also set up a defense list to maintain based on what skills you had. She was really good about adding in a bunch of auto config type things because she got tired of trying to help people do something like set a variable hehe.

For the questionable skills in between skill ranks, you can generally attempt them once with your auto-config, and discern whether or not the character has access to them.

Please try rewording.
Come again?
You've baffled me!
I don't quite catch your drift.
I cannot fathom your meaning.
Clarification is in order.
I missed that altogether.
Pardon me?
Please explain.
Come now, you don't really mean that.
Brilliant! Dumb it down for me?
Might I suggest trying again?
Your meaning eludes me.
I do not understand.
Most perplexing.
One more time?
Interesting...
Quit trying to confuse me.
I don't follow.
Please restate.

That doesn't sound like a good idea to me... sorry.

I suppose it's up to each coder to decide, but simply checking AB to see what skills they chose, then AB to see how far they've gotten in each seems the way to go.

Just be sure to account for potentially changing skillset lessons (Teacher tarot, divine favours).

I myself wouldn't bother, but then I haven't considered a system for distribution in some time.

Doesn't seem too hard to check to me. <,<

Check AB

If Acrobatics Skillrank below capable or not there, don't use springup.

if it's above capable, do use spring up.

If it's at Capable, then Check AB Acrobatics and if it's there, use spring up.

The Lusternia skill web makes it slightly more complicated to check for the many little things like this that could be made options in a combat system, and it's really not hard for the user to just use an alias for that one time setup. Really, coding in some automated system to try and make it fool-proof seems like overkill to me. But, to each his own.

Catarin would check the AB listing directly. It is not that hard and no guessing is needed. It is only done once per character but you can run a quick command to have it reconfig at any time.

I think autoconfigure could be an option, though it would add some compexity to the upkeep of the system. And it can be done in such a way as to not break manual configuration if you prefer to go that route.

It seems like opinions vary quite a bit as to what a system should or should not have. The main thing I'm getting out of this is configurability is important. Also, it seems some folks like a lot of colour. I cut my screen into sections currently (top is tabbed, scrollable chat window, right side is calendar, map, afflictions list, etc.. Bottom is my status bar.) because I like having a lot of information available to me visually. I like the color-coding of affs based on the cure for them, I'll be taking that idea I think.


If I release a system into the wild, it'll be for mudlet, as that's the client I use.
If I release a system into the wild, it'll almost certainly be on a similar fee schedule to Treant. I like the idea of there being a decent free one for mudlet (no offense, Jules =) ) but that you can get extra support for if you buy the contract. Also, addons are a good thing, imo.

I'd expect to see Cern dying a lot in the upcoming week or so.