Dynamic Descriptions

[Klax]

I was recently discussing customised colours on MudBytes, and it brought to mind an old thread on MUDQuest concerning dynamic descriptions (the link gives an explanation, for those not familiar with the term).

My protocol snippet already processes all output for extended colour, MXP, Unicode, and so on - and the MSSP function uses a table with functions for text replacement, so that it can display dynamic information about the mud.  It would be extremely easy (a few minutes work) to combine the two, and you'd end up with a basic dynamic description system.

4 Dimensions has some talented coders, but in my eyes its main selling point has always been the high quality of its game world.  Dynamic descriptions would add another powerful tool to the builders' arsenal, and most of the code for it is already in place.

Would this be something worth adding?

[Molly]

Definitely!
Are you offering to code it for us?

However, on a more serious note; one main problem is that we already have about 200 zones, and I don't really see anyone having the time and energy to convert all those. And the builder activity nowadays is a bit low - including myself. I don't have the time for building that I once had, and the same goes for most of our builders.
So the question is how much the dynamic descs would actually be used.

That doesn't mean that the opportunity for anyone to utilise them would be great, I'm just being overly realistic.

We recently added Day and Night descs. While those would potentially add a lot to the game, as far as I know they are only used in a handful of rooms, connected to a quest in one of my latest zones.

***
On a totally different note, we have a problem with the maps in the client that our coders don't seem to be able to resolve. Since you managed to fix a couple of other issues in the past - is there any chance to lure you by again, and have a look at it?

[Prometheus]

Depends on how complicated it is to do the coding or if there is a base code we might be able to cobble into 4d

Prom

[Klax]

I'm on vacation with limited internet access at the moment, but I can take a look next week.  You'll need to let me know what the problems are though.

[Tocharaeh]

This dynamic desc sounds fun