Elven, version 4.0.1
====================
Major code revisions/additions have taken place! So many, in fact,
that we are changing the version number on the code from this point
to version 4.0.*, not that that likely means anything to most of you. ;)
Here's what we have changed and/or written:
A new command has been added, SetBounty! Please see help setbounty for
details. For mortals, a companion to this command, ListBounty, has been
added, as well. Enjoy!
All channels have been rewritten from scratch, and a new system of flags
has been introduced. TFlags now show which channels players are listening
to. If the TFlag is "up" (on), then the player in question can hear the
channel in question. The reverse is also true. The commands to begin
listening and stop listening to a given channel remain the same. The
code is simply a lot cleaner, is all. Also, two new channels have been
added.. SeniorWizard (SWiz) and MasterWizard (MWiz). CommStats is being
updated to reflect the changes. CommStats and Invite/Boot have also
been rewritten from scratch. Please see info channels for a breakdown
on the channels as of this time.
LEVELS CHANGE: A new immortal level has been added: SeniorWizard. In
addition, the requirements for each mortal level have been radically
altered. We have noted in recent months that runners in general seem
to be greatly irritated with the proliferation of Quests upon Quests on
a great many MUDs. As of today, ElvenMUD breaks that trend. The first
two immortal levels after Apprentice, regular Wizard and SeniorWizard, do
not require the completion of Quests to attain them. Here is a breakdown
of the new levels system requirements:
Wizard: 400,000 points, regardless of Quest completions
SWizard: 500,000 points, regardless of Quest completions
MWizard: 600,000 points and completion of Required Quests (see qlist)
GWizard: 600,000 points and completion of ALL Quests
Note: All players who reached MasterWizard or GrandWizard prior to
this change have been grandfathered in and retained at their
levels earned in 1997.
A further change that has been made to the overall system rewards all
players for Quest completions. When a player completes a Quest for
the first time (for that player), he/she receives a Quest Completion
Bonus of X points. X is determined by a formula in the code which is
based on the difficulty of the Quest. Similarly, a bonus is awarded
to a player completing a Quest after the first time he/she has completed
said Quest receives a Quest Completion Bonus of X/2. One thing to note:
The Quest Completion Bonus varies according to your level. In fact, in
the end calculation, the QBC decreases as your level rises. This is
partially to encourage runners to complete new Quests, in order to allow
players that have not completed a given Quest to have a go at it. The
other reason for this is two-fold: regarding the halving of the QBC, once
a player has completed a Quest, future completions of said Quest should
be fairly simple; regarding the QBC dropping with level raises, Quests
become easier to complete with experience, which is recorded in both
levels and score.
DEFROB/REFROB UPGRADE: With the new Immortality System came the need to
revamp the defrob/refrob commands. This task was the sole domain of
God, and we are eternally grateful to him for his efforts.
Each player now has a new category in their stats.. AltScore. In a
nutshell, a player's AltScore is their Mortal Score while they're
immortal, and their Immortal Score while they're mortal (via defrob).
Basically what happens is these two scores get swapped whenever defrob
or refrob is initiated. This was done to save the progress as a
mortal of each player, in the event that players may wish to defrob to
run to a higher level of immortality.
There are many, many other changes that have taken place to the MUD and
the way it operates. Most of those that have not been listed here,
however, are either internal (players won't see any change in output) or
consist of many small changes resulting in a cumulative change or
effect. For example, most of the code that displays who has done what
to whom, things like slain messags, have been re-coded under the new
TFlags System. Another good example of this type of change is in the
QPoint values for the various quests. All values have been changed, but
other than satisfying some curiosity, listing of the QPoint values is
unnecessary, given the new Immortality System. You get the idea..
To conclude this already very long file, I would like to extend my
sincere and extreme gratitude to those that have been helping me to
re-train myself in the realm of coding. Particular thanks here first
and foremost to Stress at DreamScape for taking a chance and putting
a little faith in me by taking me on as a Coder/Power there. I dipped
back into coding over on DreamScape, and it made me hungry to have
ElvenMUD back. So I guess that it could be said without Stress' good
faith and integrity, ElvenMUD might not be up again. Secondly, I
would like to thank Sorisor for getting rid of that pesky CPU-rocketing
bug that has been plaguing this MUD for a very long time. (It's gone!)
Lastly, I would like to heap as many thanks on top of God as
I possibly can. In a relatively short time, he has taught me a lot,
either that I had known and had forgotten, or that I never would have
guessed about without his help and patient guidance. Rhad has worked
on this code a great deal in the last week or so, and it shows.
From all of us here at ElvenMUD, we hope that these changes add to your
enjoyment of this MUD! The coders in particularly (God and
myself) would love to hear any feedback you may have on any of the
changes that have been made to the game. Our players are, after all,
the driving forces behind our efforts to make this game as enjoyable
as we can make it.
Legolas
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