Dreams Idea

The result was that a very old player was quoted as saying: "That's the coolest thing on the MOO I've ever seen.".

Since then, we've had 2 more people have custom tailored dreams.

Why do you think the $dream_avatar type exists?

So, umm... here's the problem: Players can't see other players histories.

However, there's plenty of 'nightmares' that can happen to players... and plenty of real life events too that they may not be able to control. Think like walking into a store and having a disembodied voice say, "Welcome, Trancer! And thank you for returning to Withmore Hall of Justice."

Ok I'll give you guys a real idea here because all my ideas so far have been crippled because I want you to come up with your own: think about how you might set about writing a script to make 2 NPC's hold up a store at gunpoint. Go ahead and give it a try and if you get confused, post about your confusion. I suggest you start by creating 2 $npc type object and naming and describing them, and then making them emote their actions and pausing inbetween. The idea is the player might step in in the middle of the robbery while these guys are just getting handed the money.

You could also do a dream around this premice very easily, where the %player was being held up at gun point, or say his girlfriend killed by a ganger, or in real life a guy shouts off in the distance and hoots and hollars, then after a pause get's silenced or... well let your immigination go wild.

-Kevlar

We promise, we'll be gentle.

// %variables can not contain spaces
create $npc and call him "%Shopkeeper1"

describe %Shopkeeper1 "A large jolly man, wearing a dirty button up dress shirt."

// %room has not been defined yet, also,
// make sure your case is consistant, %Shop is not %shop
// OLD: create a new %room and call it "%Shop"
create a new $room and call it "%shop"

// this will rename the %shop to '&Electronics Store', is this what you intended?
rename the %shop and call it "&Electronics Store"

// I'm sure you meant 'describe'
descripe the %shop "A large room with many displays lining the wall that hold thousands of dollars in merchendising."

// like, %room, %dream_avatar doesn't exist yet
// you want the object type $dream_avatar
// OLD: avat ther %player as %dream_avatar and his avatar "%avatar"
avatar %player as $dream_avatar and his avatar "%avatar"

move the %avatar in tot he %shop
pause for 15 seconds

// I think you mixed up % with & here
// OLD: tell &avatar "You stroll ..."
tell %avatar "You stroll the store looking at the merchendise, and watching the store owner out of the corner of your eye."

pause 10 seconds
tell %avatar "You reach in one of the displays and steal as much merchendise as you can fit in your jacket before the Shopkeeper sees you."
pause 5 seconds

// If you want to use double-quotes inside a string that is double-quoted
// you must escape them with a backslash (\)
// OLD: tell %avatar "You stroll ... at you, "HEY YOU!" �You ... a "BANG!"
tell %avatar "You stroll towards the door as the shop keeper yells at you, \"HEY YOU!\" �You turn to face him, his shotgun greeting �you and pulls the trigger with a \"BANG!\""

unavatar the %avatar and give me back my "%player"
force the %player to ".yell loudly in pain, feeling my body to make sure it is intact."

Really good start Dom.

~ J

********************************
create $npc "%Gangrel"
describe %Gangrel as "An elephant of a man, with squinty brown eyes and greasy dredlocks.  There is a lump protruding from his synth-leather jacket, about the size and shape of a gun."

create $npc "%Razor"
describe %Razor as "A pretty woman, long black tresses flowing to her waist.  Her cold stare makes you feel uncomfortable, and she is dressed completely in black, shiny, skin tight leather.  She carries a three-tailed whip at her side, slashing it idly this way and that."

create $npc "%Rychek"
describe %Rychek as "insert usual description here"
//Will it work to name a new NPC the same thing as the old one? Or would I have to name him something different?
//I wanted to put in the actual descs. of Rychek and the Drome but SD is down at the moment or something.

create $room "%bar"
rename %bar as "The Drome."
describe %bar as "insert usual description here"

avatar %player $dream_avatar "%avatar"
//Would you write the player's name instead of %avatar if you were doing this to someone specific?

move %Rychek to %bar
move %avatar to %bar
pause 6
move %Gangrel to %bar
move %Razor to %bar
tell %player "Gangrel walks in from the north."
pause 1
tell %player "Razor walks in from the north."
pause 1
//What happens when you move the npc's in?  Would it tell the player that they appear? Or was I right in describing them walking in?
tell %player "You get a sudden chill as two people stride in, looking like they mean business. You notice that several of the other patrons have stopped their conversations and looked up tensely, but most of them quietly go back to their business. A few even get up and walk out furtively."
pause 10
tell %player "The man and the woman stride over to the bar, glaring at Rychek."
pause 4
force %Razor "to %avatar What the fuck are you staring at?"
//problem above: can you use the 'to' command here? and if so, should it be as i have done it, or should it be addressed to %player?
pause 4
force %Gangrel "say All right, you behind the bar, give me all the shit in the cash drawer."
force %Gangrel "emote eyes his surroundings, gesturing at Rychek to hurry up."
pause 2
force %Rychek "emote points to the bathroom."
force %Rychek "say The only shit you'll get from me is thataway, and you'll have to clean it out of the piping."
pause 3
force %Razor "say Oh, a wise-cracking, moronic, good for nothing bartender. Aren't you brave?"
force %Gangrel "emote sneers."
pause 4
force %Gangrel "emote pulls a Magnum out of his jacket and, with a distinct clicking noise, points it at Rychek's head, grinning wickedly."
pause 1
force %Razor "emote flashes a smile, showing black teeth."
pause 3
force %Rychek "emote puts his hands in front of him calmly, in a gesture of defense. He opens the drawer and passes several handfuls of cash to Gangrel."
pause 3
force %Gangrel "to %avatar You better mind your own business and stop staring at us."
pause 2
force %Gangrel "say Come on Love Bunny, let's make off."
pause 2
force %Razor "emote smiles tenderly at Gangrel, a rather sickening sight, and the two of them head for the door."
tell %player "Gangrel goes north."
tell %player "Razor goes north."
//How do you take the npc's back out of the room? It'd be good to just be able to destroy them but that command wasn't on the list.
pause 2
tell %player "Rychek curses under his breath, going back to polishing the bar."
unavatar %avatar "%player"
**********************************
Or something like that... hehe.  Well it may have been pathetic, but I can feel myself learning.

This is fine. Just remember to:
rename %Rychek "Rychek"

//Would you write the player's name instead of %avatar if you were doing this to someone specific?

If your doing this to someone specific, then it's only going to be run in the -IC- context of someone specific. However, we need to test our scripts before we run them IC. Therefore, you should always be doing you best to do things in the context of a %player. Not someone specific. Otherwise, we can't effectively test our scripts, because we are not that person. Were %player.

Ok, so you noticed it was necessary to sub the name of the %player, or more appropiately in your case the %avatar in your strings.

Great catch Tylissa. And when I was designing with Johnny, we almost did it exactly the way you did it.

But in the end we decided to go with the standard pronoun subs. They are as follows:

%n -> Name: Kevlar
%s -> Sex: he or she
%o -> Objective: him or her
%p -> Possessive: his or her
%q -> Possessive Plural: his or hers
%r -> Reflexive: himself or herself
%N, %S, %O, %P, %Q, %R -> The same as their lowercase counterparts, except the first letter is capitolized.

'help pronoun' if you still require assistance with this.

These work off the variable %avatar by default, or if it's not defined, %player. So if you encounter some situtation where you have an object other than the player/avatar that you need to sub, you can use the set command (check the reference) to set "%player" to the object to sub against.

So if you avatar Tylissa as "%avatar" you can then do something like:

force %razor "to %n You get your stupid ugly..."

or

force %razor "to babs Did you see that? %S didn't even flinch. The fucking bullets bounced right off %o!"

Which would force Razor to say to babs, "Did you see that? She didn't even flinch! The fucking bullets bounced right off her!"

Your other option (and I suggest you only do this with tells) is to use strings as your variable value, using the set command.

See, tell takes any ammount of strings as the argument, and just puts them together end to end.

For example: Let's say you have a name which get's used over and over again. You could do something like this:

create $npc "%max"
set "%max_name" "Maximillion Gangway"
rename %max %max_name
tell %player "The tall form of " %max_name " just glares at you."

Note that the %max_name is NOT in the string in the tell, because you want the script parser to substutite it, not tell.

This, and other advanced script concepts, will be discussed in The Scripting Manual, Part 3: Advanced Scripting.

For now, I suggest you stick to what's in help pronoun, and wait for Part 2: Context specific scripting.

-Kevlar

(Edited by Kevlar at 3:24 pm on Sep. 15, 2002)

I finished my script at about 4-4:30 AM last night, and couldn't get the parser to work. I thought i'd just put it up here for you's all's enjoyment/dissatisfaction until I can. Have phun!

---------------------------{vDIS MY SCRIPTv}-----------------------------

// My Dream or Nightmare idea is as follows
// My first attempt at any babble-on script, so be lenient

create a new $room and call it "%station"
rename %station to "Cordoba Station"
describe %station as "insert usual cordoba station description here"

avatar %player as $dream_avatar called "%dreamperson"
move %dreamperson into %station

tell %dreamperson that "As you look around you, you notice that the platform is particularly empty."
pause 10

force %dreamperson ".shiver for a moment, for reasons unknown."
pause 10

tell %dreamperson that "While you wait for your train, you glance about nervously. It seems odd to you, that this section of the station should be this empty. You notice a lone shadowy figure near a pillar behind you."
pause 5

tell %dreamperson that "Growing impatient, you look around once more. As you glance towards the shadowy figure, they rush at you, sending you sprawling forward and onto the rails."
pause 2
force %dreamperson to ".push my way back up to a standing position."
pause 2
tell %dreamperson that "Just as you regain your balance, you hear a loud noise, like that of high-voltage generators. You look to your left, only to see the letters \"E7\" on a Mag-Lev speeding towards you."
pause 1
tell %dreamperson that "You have no time to escape before the train reaches you. As it bears down on you, your whole world is enveloped by the lights of the shuttle, and your vision is overwhelmed by a searing white light..."

// Returning...
unavatar %dreamperson back to a "%player"

// Possibly unneccessary?
force %player to ".scream at the top of your lungs!"

tell %player that "...when you bolt awake in a cold sweat, screaming at the top of your lungs!"
pause 5

// Probably too corny, see below for what to delete.
tell %player that "You shake the sleep from your body, and contemplate your most recent nightmare. You wonder how it could be a dream, it was so real! The image of that shadowy figure is still etched in your mind..."

// Fin    -Rob
---------------------------{^DAT MY SCRIPT^}-----------------------------

*crickets chirping*
Comments? Questions? A swift kick in the ass?

(Edited by Hunter at 9:21 pm on Oct. 20, 2002)

create $npc "%Erin"
rename %Erin �Erin�
describe %Erin as "A young beautiful woman with a tall slender figure. Her red tank top fits tightly onto her body showing off her great curves. Her deep blue eyes meet yours and seem to hold your gaze."

create $npc "%Jon"
rename %Jon �Jon�
describe %Jon as "A big dark man that stands over you. His face is emotionless and you find his eyes peering through you. He has an empty sheath attached to his leg, and an open stiletto in his hands."

create $room "%bar"
rename %bar as "The Drome."
describe %bar as "insert usual description here"

avatar %player $dream_avatar "%avatar"  

move %Erin to %bar
move %avatar to %bar
 
tell %player "A young beautiful woman sits before you talking to you."
pause 1
force %player to �look %Erin�  
pause 3
force %Erin �say Hey. I�m Erin.�
pause 6
force %Erin to �emote pulls her tank top down further exposing her breasts to you.�
pause 3  
tell %player "You get suddenly aroused as your mouth opens almost drooling. You try to keep calm, but your emotions are getting to you."
pause 6
tell %player "You want to reach over and touch her, but you restrain yourself."
pause 4
force %Erin to "emote looks at you smiling as she motions towards the door.�
force %Erin to �say Follow me. I have to show you something.�
pause 4
force %player to �.stand up from his stool drunkenly trying to keep his balance.�
pause 4
force %player to �.stumble drunkenly over to Erin and begin to follow her.�  
force %Erin to "emote turns toward the door and starts out, glaring back at you with a smile."

create $room �%street�
rename %street �A foggy alley�
descibe %street as �The alley, or what appears to be an alley, is very narrow. It is polluted with trash piles laying everywhere and bodies of people that you don�t know are alive. The fog in the alley covers everything and the end of the alley is uncertain. Tall buildings rise up the sides of the alley.�

move %Erin to %street
move %avatar to %street  
tell %player �You find yourself in an alley. Erin is motioning you to keep up as she climbs what appears to be a ladder.�
pause 8
tell %player �You don�t know where she is leading you, but you follow her as if she has control over you.�
pause 8
tell %player �You clumsily make your way up the ladder, stumbling some, but always following in Erin�s wake.�
pause 10

create $room �%sewer�
rename %sewer �Small Island�
desribe %sewer as �normal description�

move %Erin to %sewer
move %avatar to %sewer
move %Jon to %sewer

tell %player �You find youself in the depths of the sewers. Before you you see Erin walking over to a dark male figure. She hugs him and gives him a kiss and then grins menacely at you. The dark figure is holding a knife in his hands, what appears to be a closed stiletto.�
pause 4
tell %player �You suddenly hear metal sliding and you look at the open stiletto pointing right at you.�
pause 4
force %Jon to �say Your time�s up man. You�ve been messin with my girl and my business. Time to die.�
pause 3
tell %player �You quickly look around for something to defend youself with, but you can�t find anything.�
pause 3
tell %player �You turn and try to run but Erin is blocking your exit. As you try to push her out of the way, you feel a knife slice across your back.�
pause 2
tell %player �You fall to the ground on your face and look up to find Erin standing there grinning as the dark figure continues his assault on you.�
pause 2
tell %player �You decide to make one last attempt at survival and you stand up and face the dark man. You turn only to see the last thing that you ever will as he plunges his knife right into your heart.�

unavatar %avatar "%player"

tell %player �You gasp for air as you feel it rush back into your lungs.�

//Please tell me if I did this right. I don't wanna submit it and have it go all wrong.//