Code Updates - 2007

These are the 2007 notes. For the current ones, see the Code Updates page.

Because I'm doing a ton of softcode on a daily basis, I figured I'd use this to keep a running tally of what I've been working on. People can peruse the +help as desired. I'm going to start with a big dump of "stuff done to date" (July 17th, 2007), and then continue on from there on a daily or near-daily basis. - Helix


Totally new miscellaneous stuff

  • +tempname is used to let you temporarily say/pose with another name by default.
  • OOC command, for speaking OOC.
  • AFK management, for friendlier idle-message return when paging someone idle.
  • Builder system, for delegating building to other people without having to mess with @chown.
  • Clusters, for dynamic places.
  • Tasks system, workflow management for lots of other stuff (including the +bug command).
  • +areas command, for showing where people are gathered by area.
  • +keepalive, sends output periodically to keep broadband connections alive.
  • +look, quick overview of room and its contents using Short-Descs.
  • +public, for showing where people are, grouped by public and non-public rooms.
  • +stats, "graphical" view of login statistics.
  • WHO replacement, colors the WHO list based on where people are, and how idle they are.

Changes to MudCore

The core database is MudCore 1.4, but a lot has been extensively modified.

  • Most of the +bboard has been recoded. You can now use an editor with your posts.
  • The editor has undergone a bunch of changes — regular +ed now does parse its text, +ed/lit is used to enter unparsed text, +ed/wipe clears out all text, and +ed/spell spellchecks your buffer.
  • +knock has been rewritten. It's now much smarter about the situation you're in and attempts to guess the relation between where you are and where the connecting room is, and set the default messages accordingly. There's now a lot more flexibility about how knock messages are formatted, too.
  • +mutter has been rewritten. It now works like the +help claimed it did; you can freely mix people and places (as well as clusters) in your mutters. A bunch of formatting issues have been fixed, too.
  • +shout has been rewritten. The formatting should now be nicer.
  • +where and +who no longer show the same person multiple times if they're logged on multiple times.
  • +3who now shows the same kinds of highlighting and colors that the replaced WHO command shows. Also, there is now a /i switch, which sorts people by idle time.
  • +zoom is much smarter about errors, and should always work reliably.
  • Global @aconnects and @adisconnects are now smart about reconnects and partial disconnects, and do the logical thing.

RPG systems and related stuff

  • Configuration system (+config).
  • Registration.
  • Alt management and +altping.
  • Features management.
  • +pbg (public background).
  • Core of the communication system (the core logic behind Trumps and other forms of interactive powers-based talking).
  • Trump people, trump places, trump joining, trump drawing, deck management.
  • Shadow-walking.
  • Staff piece of the Lore system.
  • Chargen: background/concept commands and workflow.

July 18th, 2007

  • Chargen room
  • Staff commands for bonus creation
  • Staff commands for gift creation

July 19th, 2007

  • +mail vacation messages (set MAIL_VACATION attribute on yourself; will be shown to everyone sending you +mail)
  • +build/view and +build/dview for setting views
  • +build/check for doing the equivalent of a +check (ignores attributes set on the parent, though, unlike +check)
  • Tweaked +look to display room name with the area name
  • New _LOST flag. Show a list of exits with where they go, when you move to a new location or look at a room.
  • Lore-viewing commands for players
  • Gift viewing
  • New hardcode functions private() and uprivate()
  • +sheet
  • Chargen purchase of stats and gifts
  • Chargen workflow

July 20th, 2007

  • +compare
  • Dark blue in WHO and +3who changed to magenta for better readability.
  • +wt for talking to rooms that you are +watching
  • To-Do lists

July 26th, 2007

Back after a couple of days out of town…

  • Items
  • Tokens
  • Props
  • Spying (IC eavesdropping/peeping)

July 27th, 2007

  • Advancement
  • Cameo characters

July 29th, 2007

  • Storybuilding (Conflicts)

July 30th, 2007

  • Ventures

July 31st, 2007

  • IDLE hardcode command

August 1st, 2007

  • +declare

August 2nd, 2007

  • Shadowfinding ventures

August 3rd, 2007

  • War
  • +token/use

August 4th, 2007

  • Various staff chargen things
  • +build/info

August 5th, 2007

  • Powerbits
  • +imbue
  • Training

August 6th, 2007

  • +check/test

August 8th, 2007

  • +ed/edit now automatically shows a proof
  • +ed/proof now shows a word count
  • +ed/toss can no longer be used when the editor is invoked from another command
  • Gossip
  • +ritual
  • +token/power (replaces +imbue and +ritual with a more generic gift-based token creation facility)

August 9th, 2007

  • Miscellaneous gifts-in-chargen commands
  • +compare now takes either a gift code, or a Focus-invested token to burn for a bonus

August 10th, 2007

  • Most of the +check commands now allow use by builders who have been delegated the objects.
  • Various staff chargen commands

September 7th, 2007

Returned from a month of work travel craziness.

  • Transit code.

September 8th, 2007

  • Transit code expansion (realm room, forcible assertion of a keyword at origin)
  • Conduit (room-to-room) communication code

September 10th, 2007

  • Refactored transit/conduit in preparation for other communication abilities
  • Feature character list now shows what characters have apps pending

September 11th, 2007

  • Rewrote Trump drawing
  • Commune (player-to-player) communication code
  • Summoning

September 12th, 2007

  • Prop charters
  • Some prop/lore-related staff commands
  • Access abilities (fixed-location travel)
  • Added +powerbit/messages; refactored admin commands for configuration messages associated with gifts

September 13th, 2007

  • Room formats now understand exits named "name <abbrev>" (but abbrev should never be a direction).
  • Various commands, like +inspect, places, ambience, etc. now respect +build privileges.
  • New chargen commands allow listing gift categories, and gifts in a category

September 14th, 2007

  • The "whisper" command can now send a whisper to multiple targets, including places and clusters.
  • +training (though training is not really "live" yet)
  • +lore/spawn staff command

September 15th, 2007

  • Gift descriptions can now embed the descs of other gifts, helping to ensure consistency. Gifts updated to use this.
  • Prevent selling a gift in chargen if you still have a gift for which it is a pre-requisite. Double-check gift pre-requisites automatically when a sheet is submitted for approval.
  • Notify of point calculation errors (normally due to gift repricing changes while player is mid-chargen) and auto-fix, upon attempt to submit sheet approval request.
  • +broadcast code sends messages to entire areas.
  • Sending code (IC wrapper around +mail for sending abilities).

September 16th, 2007

  • Configuration of messages for transit, conduit, etc. abilities now has a cleaner syntax.
  • Contacting code part 1: preparing, placing, and giving away devices; info commands; configuration.

September 17th, 2007

  • Code support for sense active Trumps ability
  • Assignment/registration for feature characters
  • Support for buying stats to above 10
  • +follow

September 18th, 2007

  • +challenge, like +compare but against a static difficulty.
  • Radiate abilities (and supporting the Project Order gift, which reduces randomness in +compare).
  • Contacting code part 2: learning and showing devices, alias management.
  • Contacting code part 3: everything else (the contact and talking itself)

September 19th, 2007

  • Each day, there is a random chance that Bloody Bill's gets renamed, thanks to another murder.
  • +sheet/advance, for buying up stats after chargen.

September 20th, 2007

  • Staff command for searching backgrounds
  • Bulletin board commands can now take board numbers as well as names (+bblist/l shows board numbers)

September 22nd, 2007

  • Extension of radiate abilities (supporting luck abilities that alter the randomness and skew of +compare)

September 24th, 2007

  • +chown, a fast @chown room-and-exits to another player

September 25th, 2007

  • +bg wipe, clears all background sections in chargen

September 26th, 2007

  • Cleaner syntax for gift listing commands for staff; default to listing categories
  • Output of full gift list should no longer truncate
  • +repassword command allows remailing an existing character with a new password
  • Assigning a feature character repasswords and auto-emails
  • +access/return returns a player from a realm to the place from which he accessed it

September 29th, 2007

  • +trump/show, lend, and give

September 30th, 2007

  • +token/power extended to allow for tokens that require multiple gifts, and gifts that use Focus donated by someone else.
  • +token/donate command for donating Focus to token creation for gifts that can use it.

October 2nd, 2007

  • +kidbits, list your children

October 4th, 2007

  • Hardcode feature, @colormap, allows remapping of what you see for each ANSI color

October 5th, 2007

  • Chargen gift commands now parallel to the non-chargen ones — categories shown by default, etc. Cleaner command naming.

October 7th, 2007

  • The bulletin board +bbread command now attempts to accept Myrddin-style +bbread syntax as well.
  • New lores system.
  • New training system and pre-reqs handling.

October 8th, 2007

  • Gossip system modified to use lores (and levels) rather than gossip groups.

October 9th, 2007

  • +token/resource added to support forthcoming token change
  • +gift/prop added to allow linkage of resource gifts to props

October 11th, 2007

  • +token/search staff command to hunt down a token whose holder is unknown

October 12th, 2007

  • Voting system (+help Votes)
  • Skeleton for two different menu frameworks, one driven by command choices, one by interactive prompts
  • +bbedit, edit an existing bb post
  • +gift/unset staff command, removes a gift from a player's sheet

October 15th, 2007

  • +token/counter (counter somebody else's token, for gifts where countering is possible; new command necessitated by arbitrary Focus-invested tokens going away)

October 16th, 2007

  • Token creation now keeps track, for each player, what tokens they've created
  • +tokens/mine lists the token IDs of tokens you've created
  • +map shows an ASCII grid map of Amber City, and highlights where you are

October 17th, 2007

  • +map can now take a destination and display that, too
  • +bbpost and +bbedit syntax extended to intuit what to do with more error cases

October 18th, 2007

  • +altping extended to keep track of multiple altpings.
  • Your recent-altpings list is cleared when you totally log out (when all of your alts are disconnected).
  • When you connect (when none of your other alts are connected), it will tell you about altpings since your last total logout, if any.

October 21st, 2007

  • +zoom extended to be more aggressive in trying to find a way to connect to where someone's located.

October 22nd, 2007

  • Places/Clusters integration

October 23rd, 2007

  • Giving someone a token while they're off-line automatically sends +mail to them.

October 25th, 2007

  • +focus, shows Focus and next Focus date only
  • Authorize() can now take 'gift=gift-code', to lock to people with that gift
  • The token flagpole

October 27th, 2007

  • +gift/staff, for private staff notes attached to gifts

October 31st, 2007

  • +build/info can be used to get delegation info about anything, not just what you own or have delegated to you

November 1st, 2007

  • +tokens/find, for search-listing tokens
  • When using +flag to read a token, amendments are shown
  • Amending a token, if you're not both the author and holder, sends +mail to those people

November 3rd, 2007

  • +gifts/search and +cg search, find gifts with a particular string in their title

November 7th, 2007

  • Token display shows the powerbits of any gift used to create it.

November 8th, 2007

  • +flag/detach lets you remove your own attached tokens from the flagpole
  • +flag shows whether a token is a root token, support, opposition, or color
  • Staff command, +token/consume, to mark a token as consumed

November 13th, 2007

  • Trust system allows you to let other people look at your sheet, background, etc.
  • +flags/check lists new flags.
  • +flag can now read multiple flags at once.

November 14th, 2007

  • Increased gift visibility outside of chargen

November 15th, 2007

  • Exits out of an area now show in magenta

November 16th, 2007

  • Staff +plist complex search functionality

November 18th, 2007

  • +flags commands show root token
  • Authorized() extended for lores
  • +contact/held shows the device aliases, if any
  • +temproom, creates and links temporary rooms
  • +resend letter can take the same message-selection parameters as +review letter
  • People with the default @aconnect now get +flags/check and +gossip/check added to it when they complete chargen

November 19th, 2007

  • +flags/check now just shows a count (+flags/new does what the old +flags/check did)
  • +time command shows MUSH time, including offset from GMT.

November 21st, 2007

  • Display of flag root when you read a +flag

November 22nd, 2007

  • In +gossip, larger title field; removed expiration time field. (A longer title is much more useful.)

November 23rd, 2007

  • +flag now shows the poster as well as the author, as well as token signatures

November 30th, 2007

  • Support for GMs

December 5th, 2007

  • Staff command +lore/mark; players can use +lore/changes to see their lores that have been marked as changed

December 7th, 2007

  • Staff/GM request tracking: +sheet/buy, +submit

December 8th, 2007

  • Psuedo-IC +locate command
  • +watchlist modified to be more informative; room format altered to note if a location is on the Watch system
  • Packets (sealed information packets that can be opened at your own pace)

December 14th, 2007

  • +tokens/lostmine finds your authored tokens. Use this only when you really cannot remember who has them.
  • +lore/reqs shows you the general pre-requisites necessary to buy a lore at each level
  • +sheet/buy now requires you to provide an explanation of how you've learned the gift you're asking for
  • Staff command +focus/stats can now graph Focus for players active within a certain time interval
  • Staff command +active can be used to get statistics on activity and length of sessions for the overall player base

December 21st, 2007

  • Pre-requisite possibilities expanded with the ability to set requirements for stat total, minimum stat across all four stats, and minimum value in a particular stat
  • +lore display for level 0 lores altered to make it clear the pre-req line is not what it takes to buy level 1
  • Added general "admin" category to +submit

December 22nd, 2007

  • Code support for contact sense (similar to Trump sense)
  • Lore cost reduction via mentorship gifts
  • +lore/mine, lists all your lores plus banked learning Focus

December 23rd, 2007

  • +gift display shortened (don't show data lines that aren't used)
  • Track who and when gift descs get edited by
  • +finger display of +mail now notes if a MAIL_VACATION is set
  • Support for the rad-lockdown (transit/conduit block) powerbit
  • Secret doors system
  • Aspected gifts (staff command +gift/aspect, modification to +sheet and +declare)
  • If +trump/draw does not locate a target, it checks for a matching deck alias; if it doesn't find one, it tries to match the target against the names of the artist's previously-drawn subjects
  • RPG-approved players have the Uninspected flag unset on them (i.e., ordinary player code can check for the lack of an Uninspected flag to see that someone is RPG-approved)
  • When you try to buy a gift or lore for which you lack the pre-requisites, the failure message is now much more chatty (spells out the pre-reqs)
  • New stat+any pre-requisite option
  • Staff can delete gifts (+gift/delete)

December 24th, 2007

  • +gifts for a category now shows all gifts in that category that can be bought in chargen, with the ones you currently have the pre-reqs for marked (highlighted gift code, with an asterisk)
  • Purchasing a gift after chargen requires that it is marked as 'trainable'
  • Token numbers extended out in base 36 (0 through Z for each digit)

December 25th, 2007

  • Player and prop name extraction: Backgrounds now hilite/underline them, and a keyword list is auto-generated
  • New pre-req option, "bit:powerbit"
  • Keyword tagging for gifts (replaces the unused pluggable power sources tracking)
  • +mail no longer chokes when you try to send to *mail-alias

December 27th, 2007

  • +declare syntax of someone else's held token changed to player's token (just like all other commands that use tokens)
  • You can now +declare that you possess a lore at a certain level (but this does not display the lore text)
  • Arbitrary data blocks can now be attached to tokens; gossip tokens converted to new format (should be no player-visible changes)
  • New gossip system

December 28, 2007

  • Admin command +gossip/dump, quick overview of all posts
  • Gossip intensities are colored in +gossip listing
  • +sending automatically puts the syntax to view the gift in the subject line of the +mail message

December 29th, 2007

  • The new @function UnComma(list[,conjunction]) can take a list of the form "a b c", "a,b,c", "a, b, c" and make it just "a b c". It also removes a conjunction at the end, i.e., "a, b, and c" becomes "a b c". This essentially makes it a reverse itemize(), and is thus handy for any situation where someone is likely to cut-and-paste a room contents list or other comma-fied list.
  • Various commands changed to accept comma-fied lists.
  • +mutter and all commands that do mutter things (and the Mutter() @function) now always omit a word that is enclosed in |pipes|. (Note that this is word-by-word.)
  • If you do not have permissions to read a gift, but it is generally purchasable, +cg gift / +gift on it will now show you its basics info (name, cost, pre-reqs).
  • Staff +gift/recode command now fixes up a changed gift code on sheets and pre-reqs.
  • Idiocy error in +declare: It had to be player/token rather than player's token because +declare takes a list. Syntax changed back. Lore declaration is now lore+level

December 30th, 2007

  • New pre-req option, "reqs:gift" (inherit the pre-reqs of another gift); useful for ensuring consistency between multiple similar gifts

December 31st, 2007

  • Trivial gossips (public originator, no token cash-out) can be posted via +gossip/trivial
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