Extend purpose of Stub Exits

All and any discussion and development of the Mudlet Mapper.
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SlySven
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Extend purpose of Stub Exits

Post by SlySven »

Currently the UI to add stub exits is via a number code that specifies the direction that a stub on the map is drawn. This takes care of marking an exit in a known direction n, ne,..., nw, up, down, (and "in" & "out" once the map drawing code gets "fixed") - if we were to unify the code to use the actual exit commands like the other exit functions setDoor() and setExitWeight() do, we could then accommodate Special Exits that we know of but do not know the destination of. I believe that unification of exit information commands has been listed as a "to do" item.

We do not currently have a system to map such Special exits stubs (although a short, custom line can be done already) - and it may not be something that can be generated auto-magically; however from a perspective of modelling a MUD world it would be constructive to have a way of detailing, say, that one can "jump out" of a tower several stories up - even if you do not know if your character would survive the fall let alone where your battered body will end up... :D

Such a change would allow that at the cost of breaking the current interface.

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Heiko
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Re: Extend purpose of Stub Exits

Post by Heiko »

How would you graphically represent special exits? The mapper has a clear seperation between graphically representable rooms (regular exits) and exits that need user help to represent them (custom lines, special exits). The central problem is that most people use very small mapper widgets with very small zoom level. Using text for non graphically representable exits is thus illegible and exit stubs and lines that look like a standard exit are confusing. One solution that has been on my feature list for a long time is a compass that shows the current room exits in a readable size, but this is low priority because it won't be used much except when players are doing quests. In regular game play most people use the autowalker feature of the mapper exclusively in conjunction with room tag search e.g. search shops area 17, then pick their destination and let the mapper do its job - and the mapper knows all special exits anyways. Nobody walks with the keyboard any longer once he's got a fully fledged mapper script with autowalking.

Daagar
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Re: Extend purpose of Stub Exits

Post by Daagar »

ZMud/CMud used a small 'period' graphic next to the room to indicate that a special exit existed. I found this quite handy myself. What I've done in my own mudlet mapper scripts is to emulate this by parsing all the exits in a room and if not part of the cardinal set of directions, use setRoomChar() to mark the room with a '>' character (akin to a roguelike stair-case). Obviously, this is visually ugly if the room also has actual up/down exits, but...

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SlySven
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Re: Extend purpose of Stub Exits

Post by SlySven »

Well for TinTin++ I had space to put an "!" in one part of the 6x3 character "cell" that was used for for the "detailed" (#MAP FLAG ASCIIGRAPHICS ON) drawing mode by doing pretty much that (though there wasn't "in" or "out" included in the standard exit directions) ...

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