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Using Zones
Most MUDs group rooms into "areas" or "zones". These zones are then linked together to form the MUD that you play. In fact, some zones were built many years ago and are shared on many different MUDs, sometimes with minor or major modification. For example, the "Old Thalos" area is a common area on many DIKU MUDs.
The CMUD Automapper follows this same structure by splitting your map into zones that are linked together. While you are not forced to split your maps into zones, it makes managing the huge MUD areas easier.
The main reason for creating zones is to clean up and simplify the display of your maps. For example, when walking through town you might enter a mansion. This mansion has several levels, an attic and basement and consists of dozens of rooms. On the map of your town, you'd like the mansion represented by a single room. Then, when you enter that room, you "zoom in" to see all of the rooms in the mansion. By putting the mansion into a new zone, the rooms of the mansion do not get overlayed with the rooms of the town, reducing the clutter in the town map.
To create a new zone, select the room or rooms that you want to make into a zone, and select "Move Rooms to Zone" from the Edit menu. First you will get a list of all current zones in the MUD map. To move the selected rooms to an existing zone, just select the zone from the list and click OK. To move the selected rooms to a new zone, click the New Zone button. You will then be prompted for the name of the Zone. Click OK when done and you will see the selected rooms in a new zone, linked back to the previous zone.
Zone List
By default a list of all zones in the current MUD map is displayed in alphabetical order to the left of the map. The current display zone is stated just above the map window. To display a different zone, just double-click on the name of the zone in this list. You can show and hide this list by clicking the Show/Hide Nearby Panel button in the upper-left corner of the map dialog. You can drag and drop zones into other zone in this list to make a collaspable tree of zones. The display options for the list can be modified by right-clicking and selecting Flat View or Sort By Name in the context menu.
Zone Links
Zone Links are like normal links between rooms except that they span zones. By default, zone links are displayed as broken, labeled links, with the name of the destination zone as the link label. To turn off this label, select the Link properties and turn off the Draw Link option.
Creating a link between two zones is as easy as creating a normal link between two rooms. In Map mode, select the Link tool in the toolbar to the left of the map. Then, click on the edge of the room that you want the link to originate from. Then, move the mouse over to the list of zones on the left of the map (if the zone list is not visible, click the Show Nearby Panel button in the upper left corner of the map window). Double-click on the destination zone to display it in the map window. Then move the mouse back into the map window and click on the edge of the destination room. You will then see the new zone link displayed on the map. Both ends of the zone link are created, so if this is a one-way link, you'll have to manually set it as such.
Favorite Rooms
Many MUDs have important locations that you want to be able to walk to no matter where they are. For example, you always want to be able to get back to the temple, your clan hall, or other starting locations. Locations such as stores, repair shops, or training rooms might also be important. You can add important rooms to the Favorites list by right-clicking the room on the map and selecting the "Add To Favorites" command. This list can also be displayed as a tree to help avoid clutter. A dialog will appear to allow you to enter a name for your favored room. To center the map on one of these important locations, right-click the name of the Favorite and select from the context menu, the zone will be opened and centered on the room you selected. You can also edit the name of these locations by selecting Rename from the context menu.
To speedwalk to an important location, simply double-click the name of the room in the favorites list, or select Walk To Room from the context menu. |
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Using Zones