Dragons' Star World Builder Documentation v1.7.1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This documentation is very technical in nature. It is highly recommended that you read the entire document first before attempting to build an area. Dragons' Star has a lot of features for you to use while building your area, and if you haven't read through the documentation, you'll never know what they are. Once you have read through and studied the documentation one time, you will be able to find information you need much easier. Disclaimer: ----------- If you donate an area to Dragons' Star, you release the Implementors of Dragons' Star to do with the area as they wish. You will receive credit for the area in our Credits listing. If you wish to Immort, an area or other significant contribution is of course required from you. Contributing an area does not mean you will Immort--it simply makes you eligible. We will offer no other form of compensation. Also, sending in an area does not mean it will automatically be installed. If the Implementors feel it does not suit Dragons' Star, they may either decide against installing it, or modify it in any way to make it fit with our vision. If any modifications are made, you will still receive credit for the area. If you give a copy of the area to some other mud, that's your business, but once given, you may not un-give the area to us. If you are not comfortable with this policy, please do not send us anything. -The Implementors ================================================================================ Table of Contents ----------------- 1. General Expectations of Areas 2. Tips on how to get started 3. Rules for Area Creation A. Rooms: The Wld File B. Mobiles: The Mob File Table 3.B.1: Mobile Minimum Hit Points C. Objects: The Obj File Table 3.C.1: Units of Power (obj) Table 3.C.2: Types of Items and Corresponding Power Ratings (obj) D. Loading: The Zon File 4. Database Structures: Quick Reference A. World file format B. Mob file format C. Obj file format D. Zone file format E. Shop file format F. Option file format G. Mission file format 5. Database Structures: Definitions Supplemental notes A. World file field descriptions Table 5.A.1: Sector Types (rooms) Table 5.A.2: Direction Numbers (rooms) Table 5.A.3: Door Flags (rooms) Table 5.A.4: Teleport Flags (rooms) Table 5.A.5: Teleport Action Flags (rooms) Table 5.A.6: Roomflags (rooms) B. Mobile file field descriptions Table 5.B.1: Mobile Positions (mobs) Table 5.B.2: Mobile Action Flags (mobs) Table 5.B.3: Spell Spheres (mobs) Table 5.B.4: Bare-Hand Damage Message Flags (mobs) Table 5.B.5: Block Directions Chart (mobs) Table 5.B.6: Spell Affect Flags (mobs) C. Object file field descriptions Table 5.C.1: Message Abbreviations (obj) Table 5.C.2: Item Types and Worn Positions (obj) Table 5.C.3: Item Apply Flags (obj) Table 5.C.4: Spell Affect Flags (obj) Table 5.C.5: Item eXtra Flags (obj) D. Zone file Table 5.D.1: Equipment Wear Positions (zone) Table 5.D.2: Door States (zone) Table 5.D.3: Directions (zone) E. Shop file field descriptions Table 5.E.1: Races Table (shop) F. Option file field descriptions Table 5.F.1: Zone Types (opt) Table 5.F.2: Zone Type--Chaos (opt) Table 5.F.3: Zone Type--Wild (opt) Table 5.F.4: Zone Type--RTime (opt) Table 5.F.5: Zone Type--RSect (opt) Table 5.F.6: Bit Vectors for Weather Messages (opt) G. Mission file field descriptions Table 5.G.1: Mission Options (imf) Table 5.G.2: Mission Complete Types (imf) Table 5.G.3: Objective Types (imf) Table 5.G.4: Reward Type (imf) Table 5.G.5: Limit Types (imf) 6. More Tables Table 6.1: Mobile Lookup Table (mob) Table 6.2: Price Guidelines (obj & shop) Table 6.3: Weapon and Carrying Capacity (obj) Table 6.4: Primary Buyable Weapons (obj & shop) Table 7.4: Spell Table for Canned Magic and Weapon Spells (obj) 7. Item Value Documentation Table 7.1a: Weapon Type (obj) Table 7.1b: Weapon Messages (obj) Table 7.2: Container Flags (obj) Table 7.3: Liquid Type and Effects (obj) 8. Sample files A. Rooms B. Mobs C. Objects D. Options ================================================================================ Section 1 ================================================================================ General Expectations of Areas that will be accepted for Dragons' Star --------------------------------------------------------------------- o First and most critical--Please use original ideas and themes for your areas. Anything that is a copyright infringment will not be accepted. o Areas should not only be challenging, but have an aesthetic quality. What we mean here is not merely great room descriptions, but an interesting and challenging layout. Check out the Bardic Colleges for an example of this. Run through it with brief off. The colleges have one general theme, that of music. Each college has a different layout, challenge, and feel to it. o Spend some time on the area. An area that has been thrown together in a few days REALLY looks thrown together. Who wants to spend their relaxation time in an area that looks and feels boring? Would you rather vacation in a 100 acre corn field or on a sandy beach in Hawaii? (Space Raiders is one of our fastest areas. From start to finish it took about two weeks of work. Dragons' Rock, currently our most complex area, took about 3-3.5 months. Our next major area has a minimum expectation of 6 months to completion once we get started.) o Use the features coded for Dragons' Star to add pizazz to your area. Some of the better features include: multiple teleports per room, immunities on objects and mobs, mob races, customizeable weather, zone movement (switching), and best of all...scripts (a soft code language available for use by any builder). These and other features, give you the builder, total control over your area design. o If we have to fix more than a dozen or so things for your area, it will be rejected. The point here is to make sure all your ~'s are in the right place. We will send you a note giving you a general idea of what happened, but you will have to find and fix the problems. On occasion we will fix something significant and package the area back to you. PLEASE use this as a base for further corrections. ================================================================================ Section 2 ================================================================================ How to get started: Tips on Area Writing Style ----------------------------------------------- When Infoteq and Trillian put together an area, they use some of the steps, tips, and tricks below. Keep in mind that each person will write an area differently, but if you are having a hard time getting started, or just need some suggestions, here's a good place to look. o Start with a concept, a theme. Think of an interesting and original idea that would make a great area. Think in terms of worlds, because that is essentially what you would be making. The more your area tells a story with the room descriptions, the mobs, and objects, the more interesting it will be, and the more that players will actually choose your area as a place they will visit often. Don't just build an area just to make some cool items or or mobs strictly for EXP runners--although these things are important, an area based on them is rather dull. Use your theme first, then add cool items or good EXP run mobs based on the overall area concept. If you need an idea for an area, feel free to talk to one of the Implementors. o Decide what levels you want your area to be. Below are the standards used to categorize an area: --------------------- | Category | Levels | --------------------- | Newbie | 1-10 | | Low-Mid | 11-20 | | Mid | 21-30 | | Mid-High | 31-40 | | High | 41-50 | | Extra High | 45-50 | | All | 1-50 | --------------------- Your area's levels don't have to follow this scale exactly. If, for example, you want a low level area that ranges from levels 1-15, go for it! This will decide not only the difficulty of the mobs in your area, but also the mazes, puzzles, death traps, teleport rooms, to mention a few options. o Death Traps are a touchy subject for players. Remember, when you put one of these in, the player loses EVERYTHING they are carrying and wearing. Please use DTs in a logical manner. Don't simply put them there because you feel you have to. Use them to add flavor and an element of danger to careless exploration. Please keep in mind that you can create an excellent area with none at all. Below is the limitations on number of Death Traps for every 100 rooms in your area. --------------------- | Category | DTs | --------------------- | Newbie | 1 | | Low-Mid | 1-2 | | Mid | 2 | | Mid-High | 2-3 | | High | 3 | | Extra High | 4 | | All | 1-2 | --------------------- o Think about how you want your world to look: What challenges do you want to await your visitors and what riches can they find? A winding maze? A difficult puzzle you have to solve by killing the right mob for the key? Make some notes and start mapping out your world on a piece of graph paper. When mapping, be sure to number your rooms, with the first room the one that connects your area to the rest of the mud. o Create your .wld file first. Begin with room numbers and titles first, then add your exits next. Save your room descriptions for last when you have more of an idea of how you want the rooms to actually look. Until you are ready to write the actually room descriptions, put in a temporary description that gives you an idea of what the room should have in it, the exits, etc. Infoteq & Trillian usually split up the area writing work. They first discuss the concept and theme together, rounding it out the more they work on the area. Then Infoteq creates the maps and layout of the area, as well as the specifics on the mobs and puzzles. Meanwhile Trillian writes the descriptions. "What Infoteq does is create the numbers, titles, and then puts a general idea of how he sees the room, including exits. Then he hands the file to me [Trillian], and I use his notes to create the room descriptions." If you are writing an area with someone else, it's best to play to each other's strengths so that each element in the area is designed well. Some players see descriptions as un-important, but think about it this way: a MUD is a text-based game that we play. We play MUD's not only because of the other players that we meet on the game, but also because of what we see and experience on our screens. Without descriptions to add flavor to areas, Dragons' Star as a whole would be a rather dull place to spend our hobby time. Think of a MUD as an interactive story, where you are the main character. Why would anyone want to star in a story that had dull sets? How to get started: Tips on Writing Descriptions ------------------------------------------------- Room Descriptions: o Room titles - Titles should convey a sense of what the room is about in specific terms. This could mean anything from a specific location (The Bridge of the Tarot) to a change in action (The Waters Rise!!!). Non-specific room titles (for example: A Hallway) are good for mazes, but not for rooms that contain important creatures or objects. Try to cut back on overusing non- specific room titles. If you have to use them, try to give the title flavor (for example, use A Dank Hallway instead of A Hallway). o First room - This room sets the mood and feel for an area, so its description is of utmost importance. You will want to write and rewrite this room many times until the description feels right to you. Have a fellow mudder read over your final draft of this room before you "write it in stone." Here is an example from The Mythic Tarot's first room: The Bridge of the Tarot Standing inside a small chamber, you set out a fair-sized square of pure silk cloth in preparation for the warding ritual. Reciting some incantations, you invoke the powers of the four elements--Earth, Air, Fire, and Water--and create a magic circle of protection around you. The circle serves as a bridge between worlds, and while you stand inside the protective area, you find yourself outside of time in a place not of earth. You can see a sign with gold lettering here as you look around the protective area. The bridge lies in the center of the four elements, each of which you have invoked and now lie in all the cardinal directions from you. Each path of the elements represents one of the suits of the Minor Arcana from the Tarot and also a mythical journey as well. Each path can also lead to riches or uncertain death. Be wary, young seeker of knowledge. o Mob rooms - These are rooms that center around a mob (for example, the Office of Percussion centers around the mob: Master of Percussion). These rooms should have some flavor to them and not be just another description of the mob. Rather, these rooms should describe the environment and/or habitat of the mob. Spend a little time on these room descriptions so that the player can get a sense of what the mob looks like and how it behaves (makes the area more realistic). This example is the President's Office in the Bardic Colleges area: The President's Office Well, you were going to try to sneak into your last test quietly, but the loud thud you made as you clumsily landed on the floor didn't exactly help you out there. As you look around the office, you suddenly realize that you have entered an instrument shop. Beautiful stringed guitars carved out of wood by skilled craftsmen line the walls of this room. The President, who was strumming a fine double-stringed guitar and humming a tune, starts at your loud entrance. He then eyes you carefully, sizing you up. He says, "I've been expecting you. You were long overdue to graduate from here awhile back. Now let's see if you've studied hard enough and are worthy of this fine instrument!" As he quickly wields a weapon and laughs, he says, "Welcome to your final test!" ...I think you might want to fight him back. o Maze rooms - Even though one description will usually be used repeatedly throughout the maze, the description does not have to be boring. Give the description a little flavor by either describing how you would visualize the room, or by what thoughts you think the player might have while traveling in the maze. Here is an example from Dragons' Rock: On a Cloud As you stand on this cloudy plane, you stare out into the vast horizon and wonder which way to go. A maze of clouds lie before you, while the wind whispers through your soul...as it passes by you hear the faint sound of youths giggling. This maze seems to go on and on.... o Room extras - If the room contains any secret doors or extra descriptions (for example, a plaque), be sure to at least hint of these in the description. The hint can be very subtle if written correctly. Here is an example: The Grand Library Walls of bookshelves line this prestigious library. Incredible! How does someone amass such a large wealth of knowledge in our short lifetimes? You quickly glance over the rows, but wait! What was that that just caught your eye? You keep on looking over the shelves and wonder about all of the information contained in this room. Extra description: bookshelf, bookshelves This particular bookshelf catches your eye. The books on it seem somewhat different than the rest of the books in the library. Extra description: books As you examine the books more closely, you notice that a gray book catches your attention. Extra description: gray book This book is apparently a fake. Maybe you should pull it off the shelf and examine it. Action exit: pull gray book As you pull the book, you hear a soft click as the bookshelf pulls away from the wall. Mobile Descriptions: These are the second most important descriptions. You can use them to provide clues or storyline. You can also use them to give unique character to the mobs. Mob descriptions don't have to be dull (for example, look dog: He looks really mean. You should probably run away!), but can also have a little flavor. Of course it is tedious to give many mobs of the same nature an interesting description, but for special mobs you should make the effort. Here's an example of a mob that you can actually visualize: > look president The President stops strumming his double-stringed guitar and starts at your loud and clumsy entrance. He draws a weapon, preparing to give you your exit exam. Can you survive this one last test? Are you indeed worthy to be a Bard and claim this fine instrument and your diploma? Object Descriptions: Few people take the time to look at objects beyond the short description, which is unfortunate. Infoteq and Trillian often use descriptions of all kinds as an integral part of solving an area to encourage players to take the time to really appreciate a well designed area. Don't be afraid to spend that extra effort adding descriptions to objects, but also don't be afraid to settle with just using the short and long descriptions if you are running low on inspiration after writing up the Rooms and Mobs. ================================================================================ Section 3 ================================================================================ Rules for Area Creation ----------------------- A. The Rooms: Also known as the .wld file- o The room that connects to any other zone must be the first room in your zone. o When starting a .wld file, please use 00 as your first room number (where is the number of your zone. If your zone was 50, then your starting room would be 5000). o The name of your world file should be .wld. (If your zone number was 50, then it would be 050.wld) o It is preferred that you use blocks of 100 as the number of rooms you utilize. So if you have 101 rooms, try to shave off that extra room or add on at least another 20 or so rooms. o If you wish to write a QUEST area you must discuss it and get approval from an Implementor. o If your world is a QUEST area, you must make sure to put the QUEST flag on all rooms in your world. Alternatively you can use the Zone Type "Quest". This may save you quite a bit of effort. o If you have Special Procedures you would like coded that are tied to the area as a whole or to a specific room, you may first want to consider using Scripts (Documentation for Scripts can be found at the same place you retrieved this document) before requesting a SpecProc. If the feature is beyond the scope of Scripts, you must include a detailed description of what the SpecProc should do, which room(s) it should be tied too, in a file called .spe. o Death Traps should be well marked. This means that the DT must be INDOORS and not DARK. It must have a two-way exit to the room that leads to it. If a player types look there should be some clue that a DT is in that direction. The Room Title should also give a hint that the room is a DT. o Teleport Death Traps must be WELL marked. This means that the room that the player is teleported from should have a very direct description about the fact that they are about to hit a TDT. The timer on a TDT should be no less than 45. Both the room that you are tp'd from and tp'd to should be lit. Which means that they should be INDOORS so that nighttime will not make them dark. o A player must be able to get to all rooms in your area by walking. You can lock as many doors as you want, and you can have lots of "magical" movement (ie: Teleports) but there should never be any rooms that are impossible for a player to get to. o CRIMEOK rooms must be approved by a Implementor. B. The Mobs(Mobiles/NPCs): Also known as the .mob file- o When starting a .mob file, please use 00 as your first mob number. (Same as with .wld file) o The name of your .mob file should be .mob. (same as .wld) o If you have Special Procedures you would like coded that are tied to one ore more mobs, you may first want to consider using Scripts (Documentation for Scripts can be found at the same place you retrieved this document) before requesting a SpecProc. If the feature is beyond the scope of Scripts, you must include a detailed description of what the SpecProc should do, which mob(s) it should be tied too, in a file called .spe. o If you have wandering mobs, please give them a StayInZone flag. This prevents mobs from wandering to connected zones they don't belong in. o All mobs must have a Race defined, the Sub Race is optional. NOTE: In the future each race will have special modifications that will be automatically done to them. A document will be created for listing these options. Right now races are primarily for the Slayer weapons, Lore, and Wards. o All mobs must have a keyword that is in common. This keyword should be in the namelist. It should be the same keyword given to items in the area, and it is preferred that you use one word from the name of your zone. o All mob hit points must fall between a range set for the level you choose for that mob. If the hit points you choose are above or below this range, the system will use the lowest or highest (respectively) setting allowed for a mob of that level. For example: The system will allow a 21st level mob to have 1984 - 2177 hit points. The equation is: level * level * 4.5. Level 1-15 mobs are 1/2 of this equation. NOTE: Since the mob hit points are set with an XdY+Z diceroll I recommend finding a diceroll that takes care of the difference between the level of the mob and the level higher, then using the lowest possible number as the Z. For level 21, 2177-1984 is 193, so a 10d19+1984 would be a good choice for hit points. Table 3.B.1: Mobile Minimum Hit Points (mob) ------------------------------------------------------------- |Level | Hit Points * Level | Hit Points * Level | Hit Points | ------------------------------------------------------------- | 1 | 2 | 21 | 1984 | 41 | 7564 | | 2 | 9 | 22 | 2178 | 42 | 7938 | | 3 | 20 | 23 | 2380 | 43 | 8320 | | 4 | 36 | 24 | 2592 | 44 | 8712 | | 5 | 56 | 25 | 2812 | 45 | 9112 | | 6 | 81 | 26 | 3042 | 46 | 9522 | | 7 | 110 | 27 | 3280 | 47 | 9940 | | 8 | 140 | 28 | 3528 | 48 | 10368 | | 9 | 182 | 29 | 3784 | 49 | 10804 | | 10 | 225 | 30 | 4050 | 50 | 11250 | | 11 | 272 | 31 | 4324 | 51 | 11704 | | 12 | 324 | 32 | 4608 | 52 | 12168 | | 13 | 380 | 33 | 4900 | 53 | 12640 | | 14 | 431 | 34 | 5202 | 54 | 13122 | | 15 | 506 | 35 | 5512 | 55 | 13612 | | 16 | 1152 | 36 | 5832 | 56 | 14112 | | 17 | 1300 | 37 | 6160 | 57 | 14620 | | 18 | 1458 | 38 | 6490 | 58 | 15138 | | 19 | 1624 | 39 | 6844 | 59 | 15664 | | 20 | 1800 | 40 | 7200 | 60 | 16200 | ------------------------------------------------------------- o Mob Currency and Experience are level dependant. You may set them in the mob file and follow these standards below: --Currency must be lower than 1000 credits * level. What this means is that if you are using a currency other than credits you will need to adjust the amount based on the ideal exchange rate for that currency. See an Implementor for specifics if you wish to use a currency other that credits. --Experience must be lower than 10000 * level. Again, if your numbers are higher, the game will override your settings. C. Objects: Also known as the .obj file- Objects must follow Dragons' Star's guidelines for object creation to maintain balance within the game. A guideline, 'The Power System', was created to aid in this task. Power is defined as how big of a modifier you can give to applies on an item. If you don't know what these terms mean, you may have to go to the Object section of this document and return here later. Think of Power as a Credit Line. To give an option to an item, you must spend Power to get it. The more Power you have to spend, the more interesting the item becomes. If you add negative Power (Paying off the Credit Line) you can then add another option (Re-spending the Credit). You may not exceed the Power Rating (Credit Line) except in special instances which will be described later in this document. Table 3.C.1: Units of Power (obj) ------------------------------------------- | Option | Quantity | Power Cost | ------------------------------------------- | Hit Points | 10 | 1 | | Mana Points | 10 | 1 | | Move Points | 10 | 1 | | Regens (Any) | 10 | 1 | | Save (Any) | 5 | 1 | | Save All | 1 | 1 | | Immunities | 5 | 1 | | Damroll | 1 | 1 | | Defensive Bonus | 10 | 1 | | Offensive Bonus | 10 | 1 | | Strength | 1 | 1 | | Intelligence | 1 | 1 | | Wisdom | 1 | 1 | | Dexterity | 1 | 1 | | Constitution | 1 | 1 | | Charisma | 1 | 1 | | Weapon Spell | 1 | 1 | | Eat Spell | 1 | 1 | | Absorption | 1 | 2 | | Drains (Any) | 1 | 2 | | Race Slayer (Any) | 1 | 2 | | Align Slayer (Any)| 1 | 3 | ------------------------------------------- The Power Rating of an item also limits how much of any option you can have or remove. If you have a Power Rating of 3, you can't have +10 Dam and -7 Int. You can have +3 Dam, +20 OB, +3 Str, -2 Int, -30 Hit Points. You can not have more than one of any type of apply, like +3 Dam +3 Dam. You may use portions of options, such as +5 HP and +5 Mana, to spend 1 Power. To maintain item balance we have several types of items: Low, Mid, High, Special, Bonus and Artifact. Each of these imposes a restriction on the Power Rating of the items in your area. Table 3.C.2: Types of Items and Corresponding Power Ratings (obj) ----------------------------------------- | Type | Level | Power Rating | Bonus | |---------------------------------|------- | Low | 1-15 | 1 | 0 | | Mid | 16-30 | 2 | 0 | | High | 31-45 | 3 | 0 | | Special | Any | - | +1 | | Bonus | Any | +1 | 0 | |*Artifact | 45+ | 5 | +1 | ----------------------------------------- *Only Implementors can create Artifacts. Newbie, MidLevel and High are of main concern. These items will be the most used and aquired items, establishing the core of the object database. If your area falls across the Power Types you should make sure that the challenge to get the item is equal to it's Power Rating. For example, if you had a Low-Mid area, you could use a Mid Power item as long as it requires a Midlevel challenge to get the item. Special include items like Statue Items and Quest Area items. These items have +1 extra Power. This +1 may not be used to exceed the item's normal Power Rating. This means that a High Level, Special Item could be +3 Dam +10 HP but not +4 Dam or +40 HP. Bonus items are used to keep things interesting. In any Regular area you may have one item that would normally appear in a higher power area. For example, if you were able to use High Power items, you could use the Special Power bonus on one item. This item must be rare, loading at 5% or less and should be quite challenging to aquire. A Quest area may have two Bonus items but they must load at 1% or less and be extremely challenging to aquire. Artifact items are something you will probably never have to worry about. These items are usually only created by the Implementors, but we felt that we should include them here because we use this documentation as a reference too. These items have +1 extra Power, similar to Special items. Artifact weapons or holdable only objects can be created with a base 6 Power Rating. All Items must have at least one Alignment restriction. This does not count as as one of the Penalties you must place on an item. It should be on your items by default. You may remove this alignment by spending 1 Power. NOTE: Statue and Artifact Items are exempt from this. Spell Affects: Each of the following affects cost 1/2 Power. If you wanted to use only one of these, keep in mind that you can use +5 HP or one of the other options that can be divided by 2 easily: Invisibility, Detect Evil, Detect Invis, Detect Magic, Sense Life, Fly, Protection from Evil, Water Breath, Sneak, Hide, Infra. These affects listed below each count as -1/2 Power: Blind, Curse, Paralysis, Poison, Sleep, Second Alignment restriction. NOTE: Haste, Sanctuary, Any Element Shield are excluded. Special Permission is required to use these spell effects. Please keep in mind that you don't always have to use the maximum stats for every item. We actually prefer if you don't. Examples- Here are some example stats for items in an High Level Quest Area: head: +1Dam Anti-Good (Power +1 { 0} =1Power w/Req Align =1Power) wrist: +3HnD -10HP +10MA Anti-Evil (Power +3 -1 +1 { 0} =3Power w/Req Align =3Power) feet: +30MV -1Hit +1Dex Anti-Neutral (Power +3 -1 +1 { 0} =3Power w/Req Align =3Power) body: +20HP +2Dam -10MA Anti-Good Anti-Evil (Power +2 +2 -1 {-1} =3Power w/Req Align+Extra=2Power) face: +20HP -1Hit +5%Immune-Air (Power +2 -1 +1 {+1} =2Power + NoAlign =3Power) shield: +20HP -5MReg -5HReg (Power +2 -.5 -.5 {+1} =1Power + NoAlign =2Power) *weapon: +4HnD (Power +4 {+1} =4Power + NoAlign =5Power) (*This is a valid item because: 1) It's a weapon in a Quest Area, allowing for 3 + 1 Power. 2) It's the Bonus Item in the area, making it Special allowing for 4 + 1 Power.) Additional Guidelines: o When starting an .obj file, please use 00 as your first item number. (Same as with .wld file) o The name of your .obj file should be .obj. (same as .wld) o WEAPONS: NO loading mortal weapon should exceed 50 damage. This is defined by xdy, where x is the number of dice, and y is the size of the dice. Any extra damage added on does not count in this equation. No regular loading slashing/blunt weapon should do more than 25 avg damage. No regular loading piercing weapon should do more than 20 avg damage. o WEAPONS (Limited): If a slashing/blunt weapon does more than 15 damage, or 10 for a piercing weapon it should have a LIMITED flag on it. o Items rated at 3 Power or more should have a LIMITED flag placed on them. o The challenge to obtain an item should be equal to or exceed the value of the item. o If you have Special Procedures you would like coded that are tied to one or more objects, you may first want to consider using Scripts (Documentation for Scripts can be found at the same place you retrieved this document) before requesting a SpecProc. If the feature is beyond the scope of Scripts, you must include a detailed description of what the SpecProc should do, which item(s) it should be tied too, in a file called .spe. o No container may exceed 1000 capacity. o All keys must have a NORENT flag. o All items must have a keyword that is in common. This keyword should be in the namelist. It should be the same keyword given to the mobs in the area. It is preferred if you use one word from the name of your zone. D. The Load Commands: also known as the .zon file- o The name of your .zon file should be .zon (same as .wld) o If more than one item (that is NOT a KEY) loads on a mob, the combined load %'s must not exceed 100%. (eg: If you have 5 items they could load at a 20% each but not 25% each.) o You should not have more than one item of any equipment position load on a mob. For example, you should not have more than one shield load on a mob. Two rings is fine because mobs have two ring positions, but three rings should not load. o All mobs in your .mob file must load someplace in your area. o All items in your .obj file must load someplace in your area. o All exceptional items should load no more than 20%. ================================================================================ Section 4 ================================================================================ DataBase Structures ------------------- NOTES: All items in the .wld, .obj, and .mob files must be in numerical order: sorted by the virtual number you assign each thing. There must be nothing on a line after a ~ or it will cause errors in the files. These files are loaded once at boot-time and other than olc can't be changed without a reboot. A. The world file (.wld): ------------------------- # ~ ~ DOORS ~ ~ ACTIONEXIT ~ ~ ~ TRAPEXIT ~ ~ @DOORS EXTRADESCS ~ ~ @EXTRADESCS MISSION . . @MISSION TELEPORT COUNTTP RANGETP +TP {if you want more than one} {insert another TP definition} @TELEPORT UTRIGGER {See Scripts Documentation} . . UTRIGGER XTRAS @XTRAS S . . . $~ <--- This tells the system that it has reached theh end of the file. B. The Monster file (.mob): --------------------------- # ~ ~ ~ ~ ACTIONS @ACTIONS ESPEC @ESPEC MISSION . . @MISSION SPELLS @SPELLS UTRIGGER {See Scripts Documentation} . . UTRIGGER . . . $~ <--- This tells the system that it has reached theh end of the file. C. The object file (.obj): -------------------------- # ~ ~ ~ ~ CREATE . . @CREATE APPLIES @APPLIES EXTRADESCS ~ ~ @EXTRADESCS MISSION . . @MISSION SPELLS @SPELLS UTRIGGER {See Scripts Documentation} . . @UTRIGGER WEAPONSPELLS <%> @WEAPONSPELLS XTRAS @XTRAS . . . $~ <--- This tells the system that it has reached theh end of the file. D. The zone file (.zon): ------------------------ # ~ * . . . S $~ <--- This tells the system that it has reached theh end of the file. E. Shop Files (.shp): --------------------- #~ . . . -1 [namelist 1] [namelist 2] [namelist 3] . . . [namelist n] -1 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ . . . -1