Best posts made by Kumakun

@kumakun said in What RPG SYSTEM do you want to play on a Mu*?:

Reviving this thread again! Mwa!
For my JS powered codebase, I think I'm pretty decided that I want to use FATE as my first 'example' plug and play system. I'm curious what about FATE works well on a MU* and what causes hangups. I've heard that FATE tends to be very staff heavy. What makes it that way?

I can see the FP economy in a scene suffering some without someone being assigned to dole out compels, etc - or having to come up with a system to allow characters to offer each other a compelling from the scene pool.

Finding another small thread for FATE, I see that the Fate Point economy is a hangup in a persistent world setting - and some of the suggestions were to either lessen their impact or customize the refresh rules. I could see a time-based refresh, but the ability to trade back and forth with compels during scenes, which could lead to interesting RP.

Back with another update, you old salty code-dogs! Someone, I can't remember who, asked if there was a CLI. Now there is!

The next step is a diffing algorithm to check for changed commands between renders of the same file. It'll make it /way/ more useful to add into my own mushcode development toolchain and anyone else who might still be interested.

I've also had requests to add prettifier functionality. That should be interesting!

More soon!

@griatch said in Potential Supernatural Game:

@kumakun said in Potential Supernatural Game:

@faraday Nice! Ares is in Ruby right? I've always been curious about language. I'm leaning towards Evennia, because Python! but I'd /really/ like to work with Python 3+

Ruby and Python are pretty similar conceptually; each has their ups and downs, strengths and weaknesses.

Evennia is currently using Python 2. Next version of Evennia (0.8) which is soon coming out will be the last one to use that. Evennia 0.9 will use Python 3. But to be honest - I use Python 3 daily in a professional capacity and it's not like it's a big fundamental difference to switch between the Python versions.
.
Griatch

Very very true, and if it's moving to 3 soon it's even more reason to make the jump - and if you're not working with very many 3rd party packages you should be fine.

Right now I'm using Python to enhance my current MUX project. It'll be nice to not have to interface everything and use the same language from top to bottom.

@arkandel said in What drew you to MU*?:

Let's test this. Let's say all of General Your's friends retired tonight; there are still MUSHes around but they're all ran and played by strangers.

Do you start over? Go and make new friends? Or would it be likely you'd float away from the hobby?

I know that, before I took my break from the hobby I'd become jaded with some of the people I kept running into. I think my experience would have actually been better had there been a fresh crowd around my preferred 'series' of games. Now that I'm having to start making new friends in the community (most of mine have retired or moved on), I'm learning new things about MU*ing general.

What I'm trying to somehow determine - which is a fool's errand of course - is how much of MU*ing is a habit we've built, a social engagement we're in for the community, or if it's the unique combination of factors that many have already pointed out (the persistent world, opportunity to write in collaboration with others, etc) that's primarily responsible for keeping us going.

I, like a bunch of us, suffer from crippling social anxiety. Online is honestly how I really make my friends. So I would say yes, a big part of why I keep coming back is the opportunity to meet people and grow a social network that I couldn't manage, RL. It's always fun meeting new people to potentially build fiction with, especially when your writing styles just click well. I think it's a balance of both, community and persistent world, fiction building. Without one, you wouldn't have the other.

Also... coincidence. So many of our stories that I've read over the years boiled down to that one guy who showed us that one MU* back in the day, and we got stuck... but who knows what would have happened if that guy had been sick that day and we hadn't had that conversation.

I think that time is changing. I know I was introduced by my best friend in early HS to the world of MU*s myself. With the right server/client/advertising-spin combo and take mobile connections/interface/use cases into account? It's easier to find new ways to write and game with others with app stores. No longer is it purely word of mouth.

Oooooooh snap! More updates!

New feature roll out! #define! #defineallows you to make your own directives and code snippets! Especially handy for those of you who still aren't using Rhost (for some reason)! Say I have a staff check for a handful of commands on my object. Normally, I'd have to repeat @assert orflags(wWZ) = {@pemit %#= Permission denied.} Right? Not a whole lot of code but it adds up! Now, for you dinos who haven't discovered Rhost's @include you can do something like this:

#define @staff_check {
    @assert orflags(%#,wWZ) = {@pemit %#= Permission denied.};
}

Then later ....

&cmd #dbref = $+awesome cmd:
    @staff_check
    
    // .... Continue with your command

But it also accepts variables by way of regular expression like patterns! I say 'like' because their string interpretation of regular expressions, so you have to do things like use actual spaces to represent spaces. Any unescaped slashes will be escaped for you! Just to warn! Wildcard matches are represented by $<match index>. Remember! In a RegExp match and replace in JavaScript, $0 is the entire matched string, followed by the input groups provided starting at $1.

#define [@\+]te[st]+ (.*) {
     This test produces:  $1
}

I struggled with adding this feature to the formatter for the sake of code legibility. However, after spoiling myself on Rhost @include I decided that other flavors of Mushcode needed something similar!

A more practical example:

#define #create (.*)=(.*) {
@create $1
@tag/add $2 = lastcreate(me,t)
@set $2 = safe inherit <etc>
}

#create Room Parent=RP

If you still write mushcode, give it a spin if you'd like!

Thanks for reading!

@auspice said in MU* Server Technology/Features. What do you WANT, what do you SEE?:

This is something that can get people very hot-headed, I admit (and I'm one of them >.>).

I am very much in the camp of liking where we're at because my experiences with forum RP and Storium haven't been very good. Not one single Storium game I've been in has ever gotten past the initial setup / "scene." Any forum RP I've been in has floundered or been very short-term. MU has been the only time I've ever been able to really engage in long-term stories.

It's also the only way to really get things done in a short period of time. If I need to wait days or weeks for people to reply, I'm gonna lose the thread/interest myself. I gdoc with people sometimes (when there's scheduling issues, for backscenes, etc.) and by and far, if more than 2-3 days pass between poses? The scene is considered dead.

The other thing there: accessibility, as you said. You need to think in the other definition. Not 'accessibility to a broader audience,' but accessibility to devices (a lot of forums, 'neat' websites, etc. scale very poorly to mobile phones, but I've known people to run WoD combat from a tablet!) and accessibility to the disabled community. MUs are accessible to blind users. I'm not sure other formats are. The last I used Storium for example, it was very image heavy and had a fairly complex interface. I'd hate to see MUs switch over just to maybe gain new blood, but lose some of our long-time players who are there because it's a form of gaming they can access.

The web-interface built into some of the new codebases like Ares I think is a great meeting of the two. You don't lose what we have and what works while bridging in some of the 'new.' And while you get that great web experience (web CG, being able to interact over the web, etc) on Ares... you can also do everything from within the classic telnet client itself without needing to go on the web portal (which makes it beautifully accessible to people who have to use screen readers!).

I didn't even take that accessibility to the disabled community into consideration, thank you! MU* has to be a dream for screen readers and related technology. As far as web integration that's pretty much what I'm talking about, accessing mail, jobs, character sheets, XP spends, etc - but they're all also activities that you can do on the server if you want as well. The last thing I want is for us to move to a platform like PbP or Storium because I agree. I lose interest if too much time passes between posts, and I've yet to play a Storium game to get much further than introduction and setup.

Followup question/thought! If we are to continue to bring new blood into the hobby, device accessibility is important too! Is it maybe the 'client' that needs improvement or needs improvement as well?

Opposite Grand space mecha adventure - the other game I'll probably never get to is Warhammer Fantasy. Oh wow was that fun to play. I'd love to see how well it translates to persistent, online play. Spoiler: You die or become a chaos beast - but it's the journey there that counts.

Another update! I've added some functionality to the GET request feature!

Now you can pull from git repositories directly!
format.ursamu.io/api?include=git:lcanady/archive-test

Or! You can drill in even further:

format.ursamu.io/api?include=git:lcanady/archive-test/code/file1.mush

Next, I'll be working on going the other direction - compressed code to pretty code. The GUI is fun, but I have to admit - being able to shortcut right to the output has proven hella useful.

Enjoy!

@faraday said in MU* Server Technology/Features. What do you WANT, what do you SEE?:

I'm not aware of anyone doing a game in node.js. Part of what you need to consider is how people are going to extend your code with their own custom code, and I think a more approachable language like Python/Ruby helps a lot there.

I've been looking into Node more for an electron.js based client than a server because you're right, Python or Ruby is way more readable than JS. Plus I can't think of another language where creating a plugin architecture is as easy as Python. Not that I've used in recent memory anyways.

I think the "live" nature of MUSHing is a key ingredient that sets it apart from those other kinds of communities. I don't see it going full PbP, but I do see it shifting more towards chat clients like Slack and Discord in the way we interact with it. Especially on mobile.

I've noticed a trend in Discord discord since returning. I wonder if it's because the barrier of customization is too high? Or if it's the accessibility of the platform. I can imagine that 'chat server' RP is a bit more shorthand expressive than other mediums.

I discovered MUs early on in life as many of us did - and it's influenced the kind of TTRPGs I've bought for years, thinking this or that might make an interesting MUs experiment or, they were games that my local group didn't have an interest in/time for.

Sadly, I've never touched a good 90% of them, so I thought I'd list my top few and see what others had sitting in their mental/shelf queue/wishlist!

To me, this is more of a SYSTEMS conversation than setting - but both are welcome! Also, chime in if you'd tried a ruleset and its level of success. Please try to be constructive about it, though!

Atomic Highway/V6 System has been sitting on my shelf for a long time, as one of those games that I'd potentially like to see how it worked out. System and setting. I a good Mad Max setting.

Dragon Ball Z RPG/Instant Fuzion. I always thought this system/setting would be amazing for LOLs (and a nice break away from Ansty Games). Plus, I think Online is the only place where you can obtain enough dice for some later powers. Problem: Running out of planets eventually.

Jadeclaw Alas. I don't think I'd ever really been able to handle the crowd it would attract.

Tunnels & Trolls I've always enjoyed how simple MOST of the rules are for this game. Originally made as a solo RPG, I've always thought this would make a good hybrid game or an L&L that needed a quick, GMless combat system.

Mekton Zeta/MTS Because we all need more giant robots in our lives. Though this one, I think is just a matter of time for me. I have a hankering for some Mecha based Space Opera in my life.

Inspired by the MU*s That we Would Love To Make (But Won't)

@tat said in What's out there now and what has been attempted? A codebase discussion.:

Ares CAN be a complete game out of a box, but there's not really any 'just' about it. It can also be highly customized, if you want to code it. Almost everything in Ares exists as a plug-in you can disable and replace with your own system.

See, I like that. It's a complete game if you're not a developer, but it's customizable enough to make it what you want if you are. I think a premade integrations 'gallery' is a great idea!

@thenomain said in Fate Development Thread:

Great, this makes me conflicted. Here are the two conversations going on in my head:

• This is a great idea! People get involved and read the awesome things, and people are more likely to be awesome to get attention! Positive activity between players is always good. Go go go!

• Okay, so what you're saying is that you want to let the bigger cliques dominate the cultural dialogue. Hell, you're saying that if the players decide the game is about a certain thing and upvote that thing enough that this is what you want your game to be known for.

I thought about this too. What if it's the same people that decide the direction of the game. I figured I would have some sorting features like 'all time', 'today' 'this week', 'by sphere' etc - and default to popular this week, just to keep the front page fresh. I've never been a big fan of 'on rails' over-arching plot. You start with one idea, but if your player base decides to focus on a different aspect of your universe? Roll with it! Plus I've had this idea about being able to organize your scenes into chapters, or anthologies or something, and give the players the ability to download or share short stories, or 'books' of fiction in different formats - direct link share for social media (with ability for upvotes and some other sort of reward), or even e-book or Kindle formats for Amazon if they want.

The meat of this hobby is about writing fiction together. I want to take it a step further and make it the point of the game, story building. It's why I think Fate would work so well. Now that I'm talking about it I /may/ even go with Accelerated just to add another layer of abstraction to the rules of the game.

@kumakun said in I can't change my profile picture!:

@skew When working on 'live' development sites I go into the networking tab under the developer tools and turn off Cacheing. It'll download all of your assets fresh every time.

I tried clearing my cache, still no luck! Back to Genma Panda with a ball. So weird!

Update! My kid unplugged my computer, and after boot and loading Chrome again? My picture changed! Woot!

@ZombieGenesis said in TTRPG's You've Wanted to MU* (But Probably Won't):

Rifts or TMNT. Both Palladium games which means people have a strong knee-jerk reaction but I've had fun playing both since the 80s/90s.

I entertained a Rifts game for a few minutes - even conferred with someone who'd run one for a while. It was the thought of having to deal with the vastness of the Rifts universe that would kill me. So many classes, so much data.

TMNT or Robotech would be much easier I think since their rules are contained - or maybe even a gateway into a more robust Palladium system. Who knows, haha. My problem is with level-based systems though. I've never been a fan of MU + levels.

Do you think Fate Accelerated is too abstract for new players or just the right amount of rules to get one's feet wet in the Fate universe? When I get to actual system coding, I'm going to give the setup choice between Core and Accelerated depending on what the particular game wants. Coding both versions won't be that hard once the general logic is done.

Right now I'm /really/ leaning towards Accelerated for its extra abstraction of rules, which I feel adds to the importance of story. But then I think 'what about Core with Skill modes?' (https://fate-srd.com/atomic-robo/modes) That might make people's lives easier! Granted, the same thing could be accomplished by setting your 'approaches' to represent career choices, but definitely not as granular which some might find more fulfilling.

By the way, if you haven't found it yet, fate-srd.com for those not in the know. It's THE BEST Fate Site IMHO, and can either just be referenced, or pretty much copied to your wiki (I believe).

What do you guys think? What would be the easiest transition for the FATE newbie?

Development is going well on this! Homepage created and responsive - working on login service now. I'm going serverless on this experiment. - so I have roughly half the development time. No, I'm not using MUSH, but I /did/ start this thread with the term MUSH-like. ^_^

@jinshei A super valid concern. Ultimately you need staff unafraid to say no and have a log submission and approval policy in place before allowing stories to go public and represent the game's fiction I think.

Woot! Login system complete. Today is about getting the wiki formatted up so my content creators can start adding context to the game.

@Kumakun said in WoD Games in the Works:

@skew said in WoD Games in the Works:

Which I just realized I wrote that pretty backwards as the two important pieces of information are above. Crescent Moon Mux and City of Shadows, both WoD 2E games that have stalled(?).

Kind of! We collectively decided to take a break till after the holidays blew over. We all got hit with RL responsibilities it seems like. You know how it goes! We're not far from soft opening, we just need... staff honestly. Pretty much the same problem others are having I'm starting to notice!

That being said, if you're reading this and interested in helping out? Join the discord channel: https://discord.gg/F7ZZT8p I'm Ghede there, and normally online (though slow most times). I'd love to talk! </shamelessPlug>

No official announcements have been made yet, but the wheels of progress are grinding slowly again! More soon on our thread!

@Nessa, I've gotten really bad at logging into this place. Life hit me for a while, but thanks to AI tools, my job is nothing now - so I have loads of free time, haha!

I've recently been reconsidering Cyberpunk Red. I found a game called Neon City Overdrive that's super narrative and fast.

I'm just not sure what people want more/would work better. A rules-light system to promote RP or a crunchy title (Shadowrun 3rd, cyberpunk) I should build around.

Any feedback is amazing!