zMUD triggers, macros, aliases, or best of all, systems.

[FuSoYa]

Not sure where it would be appropriate to post this, was going to put it into the code forum but then I figured that forum was more on the lines of the code used in Armageddon.  Anyway, if this needs to be moved feel more then welcome to do so.

So, for the past 11 or so years of my MUDding career I have always used and shall always use zMUD.  That being said when it comes to making a system (of which I once played a MUD where it was absolutely necessary to have one if you wanted to survive in combat) or making neat little triggers and whatnot that group information, make things more interesting, or just add nice dashes of colour or personalization to the experience, I am downright terrible.

Currently for Armageddon I have a colour code I picked up off this board which is nice but could be improved upon, and I use macros on the keypad for such commands as watching, looking, mounting, and drawing and sheathing my weapons.

I am just putting this note out there to request that anyone who has neat ideas that they have implemented (and this could be ANYTHING really, doesn't have to be something groundbreaking, huge, or even really all that useful) to please share them with the rest of the community in hopes that you might make our Arm experience a little more... aesthetically pleasing perhaps?  

Anyways, hopefully I got my point across.  Thanks to all who take a second to read this, and who have things they'd like to share, to sharing.

Brandon

P.S.  Also, feel free to put requests in for things you would like to see scripted in zMUD if you had the ability and you might give someone who does a great idea and see it one day!

P.P.S.  As a disclaimer I by no means encourage triggers or macros for powergaming or giving a person an incredible advantage in the game mechanics.  These are mainly for fun, or making your zMUD experience more enjoyable, more versatile, or more visually appealing.

[psionic fungus]

As odd as it seems to some, I find that plain text is the best aesthetic for my Armageddon experience.  It is not because Zalanthas is stark, or any such nonsense as that, it is because with plain text I find it easier to read (or skim) everything as it comes, rather than having my eye drawn to certain things (pcs, npcs, objects) or actions (combat, communication).  Not having the room descriptions and other 'non essential' information pushed to the background is ideal, for me.  Reading the descriptions is what provides my optimal Zalanthan aesthetic.

[FuSoYa]

While I get and respect what you're saying PF, I prefer having certain text bold or contrasted in colour because for me it helps for when I'm reading (or skimming as it is) because it provides nice borders... if that makes sense.

Either way, to each their own, the important part is that we are all enjoying ourselves in Zalanthas and hopefully making the community a more realistic, inviting place.

Brandon

[Cutthroat]

Personally when I ran a character who had to spar in his clan I made triggers for the various states of health. If you don't know what I mean, I am talking about the line that says: "The short, hairless dwarf is in excellent condition." or something similar. Well, I made the best possible state of health a bright green, then the next was yellow, then a light orange, dark orange, etc. all the way down to a dark red. Instead of reading the whole line all I would have to do was see the color and if it was orange or red I would disengage.

I've seen and known of people with a macro set up to do l e; l s; l w; l n, and then an emote for flavor, to look around quickly when they are in the desert.

I also color code titles of rooms with triggers that look for

• . All of the titles of rooms have exits so it works out.
  
  I set up a trigger to automatically start logging based on the date and time of logging in.
  
  If you want to see any of the code for this I'll gladly post it when I get access to my computer with zMUD again.

[Lizzie]

I've seen the results of obvious macros, and I would like to add a request for you, FuSoYa, or anyone else who uses them.

Please, for all that is evil in Zalanthas, add pauses between complex macro commands. Things like:

open pack
get sword pack
close pack
wield sword
open pouch
get dagger pouch
close pouch
hold dagger

The screen scroll is crazy, plus it looks incredibly jarring that someone can do all that in a split second. Not only that, but you might some day end up like this:

open pack
get sword pack
The Sergeant says, suddenly, "Aright everyone, we're goin ta shitter duty! Stow yer blades and pick up yer mops! NOW, maggots!"
close pack
wield sword
open pouch
get dagger pouch
close pouch
hold dagger
Giving you a swift kick in the nuts with his spike-toed boots, the Sergeant shouts at you, in sirihish, "What parta NOW don't yer understand, maggot!"

And - going OOC to say "sorry, macro" is probably not a good idea. If you add pauses, at -least- you can break the macro before it's too late. Personally I don't recommend macros for more than one command at a time anyway. It's just too easy to get lazy that way.

[Maso]

I do the look one. l n;l s;l e;l w

That is all. It's the only one I really need.

[Cutthroat]

I agree with Lizzie. If you're doing various commands unnaturally quickly with macros, you might want to tone down on the amount of commands or add pauses.

The longest macro I have is 2 lines -> sheathe ep;sheathe es

And since anyone with 2 hands should be able to do those things simultaneously I'm okay with that. Really long marcos can get pretty crazy.

[spawnloser]

To everyone in this thread I say, "To each his/her own."

[Cutthroat]

Of course. I think everyone in this thread is just trying to make a suggestion, basing their suggestions on how they do it.

[YouKnowWho]

How do you create the macro with ls, le, ln, lw?

[Maso]

How do you create the macro with ls, le, ln, lw?

I just use an alias 'lookall' that results in 'l n;l s;l w;l e' which works fine for me. I find lookall takes much less time to type and is far less fiddly.

[Cenghiz]

I often have 'change clothes' macros. Most of my rather rich characters wear different suits for different occasions. Like, silks for tavern sitting, linens for crafting, sandcloth for traveling and armor for hunting. So instead of wasting ten mins to remove my clothing and wear the new suit, I simply type two aliases.
Also I have a repeated action that does some unimportant command once a minute. That's because of my stupid connection, it drops me whenever I idle for more than one minute.

[Zalanthan]

I have the usual shortcuts mentioned above: the l n;l e.. alias, mount/dismount keypad macros, etc.  I also have aliases for quickly changing between langauges and for personal "character-quirk" emotes.  I use an event to start logging all text from the game to a file.

I set my game prompt to include the maximum amount of information possible, then I have zMUD (I am actually using the newer version - cMUD) parse it, load the vitals into variables, and gag the line.  Using the variables, I created button gauges and a status bar to display my stance, speed, remaining hp/mv/st values, etc.  Though I haven't explored it yet, you can also create conditionals with these variable (i.e. if roomnum = [citygate1|citygate2|etc] && armed = true then echo CAUTION).

I create triggers to replace familiar characters' short descriptions with their names which greatly reduces spam in conversations and helps me spot friends in crowds.  I have a few triggers to highlight certain lines (like dropping my mount's reins) so I don't skim past them, but otherwise I avoid color altogether.

I consider my most practical addition to the mud client to be my time_of_day gauge.  I've synchroniced the tick timer and created a gauge button to display the time of day; it fills slowly over the course of an in-game hour before advancing to the next hour and resetting to 0.  I find this very useful because I can tell, for instance, how much time I have left before dusk turns to night, or I can wake from my sleep at the very end of "before dawn" just in time to watch the sun rise.

I've spen a decent amount of time with zMUD/cMUD so let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on any of the settings mentioned above.  I can also try to help if you have an idea for a useful feature but aren't sure how to implement it.

[DustMight]

Not exactly the right thread to post this - but my GDB search technique blows.

Someone posted awhile ago about using various colors on their client - and while I've always been a stalwart grey-on-black kinda guy (and before that green/amber on black) recently I've been exploring colorizing various things to good effect:

I now colorize:

• bynner cloaks brown and their sergeants sleeves the same
• green for the milita cloaks/badges
• white for signet rings (this saves a ton of grief)
• yellow for anything held in anyone's primary/secondary hands (also very useful because I often forget I'm holding my bastard sword of doom and shield of bashing)
• the notice that I've actually locked my door (been doing that for a long time)
• glow sticks by the appropriate color (helps with immersion, I think)
• the message "The area is filled with <color> light." with an appropriate color.
• various character-important items: if my friends all wear orange sunslits - color them orange to know if my friends are/aren't wearing them or that I am at an awkward time.
• colorized language and accents
• my prompt for how fast I'm walking if I've been disarmed, etc
• various psi messages so I don't miss them - same with various targeted message (hate missing it when someone speaks directly to my character unless I chose to miss it.

This is a complete 180 from where I used to be - but so useful. Just thought I would share.

[DustMight]

May have to substitute this wav file for the Mantis Head beep.

http://www.wavsource.com/snds_2013-11-17_1534218342679325/tv/simpsons/homer/aw_crap.wav

[maxid]

Why did we open a six year old thread for that?

[DustMight]

Why did we open a six year old thread for that?

Is there some protocol that I don't know?

[Barzalene]

Why did we open a six year old thread for that?

Is there some protocol that I don't know? My position is unassailable. This discussion is over!

I'm sure that is what you meant. If not it should have been.

[Molten Heart]

Why did we open a six year old thread for that?

I think that normally an older thread may not be relevant and/or useful.  In this case, with a thread about clients and how to better utilize them, I think it's both of these things.

[DustMight]

Why did we open a six year old thread for that?

Is there some protocol that I don't know? My position is unassailable. This discussion is over!

I'm sure that is what you meant. If not it should have been.

That's funny!  

Edited because I find it even more funny now.  =)