Zugg Software :: View topic

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 12:48 am

Hiya
I'm trying to use the mapper (built into zmud 6.62) on various MUD's based on Circle 3.0.

In all cases the auto setup seems to work (the map draws as I move). However at various times if I go back to previously visited rooms the mapper draws a new path/route that duplicates the route already mapped rather than re-using/visiting it. This is not in all cases. Also sometimes the rooms draw in a different direction to the direction that I moved, ie if I go E the room draws to the N of the previous room.

Can anyone tell me what stupid mistake I've made?

Many thanks
Nick

Beginner Joined: 15 Oct 2000 Posts: 29 Location: USA

I havent had that exact problem, but I can't seem to drag my links to other rooms with the latest version of zmud, my screen jumps to the corner of my map, and i cant even see the rooms anymore. One other thing you will want to look at for your problem, if your mud has weather you might want to look at #nomap. What was happening to me was I would walk through the room, and the weather would be sunny, then later walk through again and the room description was different becuase now it was raining. Using #nomap I was able to fix that.

Apprentice Joined: 03 Jan 2002 Posts: 152 Location: USA

#NODIR was another one that was suggested to me long ago. You may also want to make triggers for moving into a wall, or a closed door, like so:

#TR {Alas, you cannot go that way.} {#NOMAP; #NODIR}
#TR {The door is closed.} {#NOMAP; #NODIR}

You'll have to change those to whatever your mud actually says of course, but you get the idea.

MASTER Joined: 28 Nov 2000 Posts: 4817 Location: USA

The "stupid mistake" is leaving the mapper in Map mode after it's drawn the map instead of putting it in Follow mode. As long as it's i Map mode, it evaluates every room as a possible new room. If there's any difference between the current room and the one it already mapped (weather, open door, different contents, lighting) it's likely to treat it as a new room, and draw it on top of the existing one.

In some cases, this is correct because they are actually different rooms and you'll have to decide how to change the map to display both of them. In other cases, it's wrong because it's actually the same room and you'll have to determine that and merge them. zMUD can't do it for you, because it's a task which requires human judgment.

I put "stupid mistake" in quotes because this isn't always a mistake. It's frequently necessary to visit the same room more than once in the process of mapping an area. After you finish mapping an area, you need to spend some time going over your map and merging/moving stacked rooms. Once that's done, you should try to remain in Follow mode whenever you're in the mapped area.

Beginner Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 14 Location: USA

I had this problem often. I found it was mostly as LightBulb said, wandering monsters, room inventory, weather really anything that changes the room description and paragraphs. But with the #NOMAP and a few good trigger statements to hide those things that change frequently and often, you should be able to cut down on the number of times you have to merge rooms. I started off with a #CW <color> and the #NOMAP just to see what I was masking. It distracted me too much after awhile and I took the color statements out. But it was helpful to “see” the bits and pieces you are masking long enough to get my triggers straight.

Example triggers:
#TRIGGER {^You are attacked by (%*).$} {#nomap;#cw bold,red}
#TRIGGER {^(%*) {is|are} here.$} {#nomap;#cw yellow}
#TRIGGER {^Warm very light rain.$} {#nomap;#cw yellow}

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 10:04 pm

Thankyou everyone - I'll give the ideas a try.