This little article have previously been posted on seandar.com and wotmod.org/forums
In this post I would like to talk about an idea that could possibly change your game forever. This is really a script, but in the simplest form. To really understand the simplicity of it, I would recommend you get a free trial of Cmud (if you haven’t already). Zmud would also work. By getting cmud and getting to know the scripts there, you can with a little thought transfer it into other clients like mudlet if you prefer that. The important thing in my opinion is to grasp the idea behind it. With the idea grasped, you can easily recreate the most basic scripts for a fluent gameplay experience
1. The target script
First a few words about this nifty little thing. Basically what this does is allow you to set a variable, then make an alias to execute an action towards that variable. And once you understand the idea behind it, you can expand it almost endlessly.
So the first script you specifically want in wotmud is something that allows you to set an enemy variable easy, and then have aliases ready to kill that enemy variable. In its simplest form, it would look something like this:
#class {target}
#var {target} {human}
#alias {ta} {#var target %1;#echo %1 is now set as your target.}
#alias {v} {k @target}
#class 0
Let’s go through each line as it stands:
The first line creates a class called “target”. This isn’t strictly necessary, but it helps keep your scripts tidy when you get too many of them. It is basically like a folder.
The second line creates a variable called human.
The third line creates a way to change that variable into what you want by for example typing ta dark, and provides feedback to you by giving you the message “dark is now set as your target.” The ; you see between the two actions, allow you to execute 2 actions on 1 alias. This can be ok, but I’d recommend not overdoing it.
The fourth line creates the alias you would use to kill the target you set earlier. So now typing v, would issue the command “k dark” to the mud. (if you set your variable to dark first by typing ta dark that is)
The fifth line just saves your folder. Again, this is useful to keep things tidy.
Now that we have the basics down, let’s add some lines. To add a new line to an existing class, you have to start with the class name. So for example:
#class {target}
#alias {b} {bash @target}
#alias {c} {charge @target}
#alias {ba} {backstab @target}
#class 0
Now that we have the basic idea of the target script down, comes the fun part. Let’s experiment!
First let’s find out what we want to do. The most important thing after getting a target script is in my opinion your partner. This is the person you exp with, rely on to save you, smob with and interact with everytime you play the game. So wouldn’t a nice set of aliases that supports that be handy to have? Keep in mind the target script above and let’s see what we can make:
#class {partner}
#var {partner} {tolveor}
#alias {pa} {#var partner %1;#echo %1 is now set as your partner.}
#alias {rp} {rescue @partner}
#alias {a} {assist @partner}
#alias {fp} {follow @partner}
#alias {gr} {group @partner}
#alias {gmp} {give meat @partner}
#class 0
And this script basically works the same as the script above. You create a variable so you can easily set any name as your partner, then you have a set of aliases which allows you to do a set of action to that partner. So if you write pa tolveor in the command line, you will get the message tolveor is set as your partner. And i think the set of aliases are self-explanatory.
Once you understand the idea behind the target script, you can make one for about anything you want. I would recommend starting with mounts, as that is up there in importance with your partner. From there you can make one for doors, containers, lights, weapons, you name it. The first step is to figure out what you want to do, and then just follow the pattern outlined in the first paragraph. Keep things simple, experiment, and most importantly have fun with it. Hopefully you will have gained some understanding of just how adaptable this simple pattern can be.
Let me know if anything is unclear etc, i will try to answer as best i can