mob/verb/build()
oview() << "[usr] buils a wall, upon which is a sign that reads, 'How the flying freak do you expect anyone to help you if you don't tell them what you want the verb to do? Do you think we can all look at the phrase 'a build verb' and have any clue what exactly you're talking about? Do you want a verb that builds a house which takes you to another map representing the inside, or is this a strategy game where you have to build giant robots to protect your power crystals? Do you want a verb that creates a wall which blocks movement and sight? Do you want this verb to require certain materials to be in the player's possession? If so, how are you tracking these materials? Are they numerical variables, or are they objects?' It isn't a very useful wall, in the end, and [usr] feels stupid for wasting \his time building it. This game's pretty lame."


Oh, is that not what you wanted the verb to do? Well, you should've been more specific. Like the sign says, saying "a build verb" doesn't really help. What a verb is called means nothing. You can have the same verb, and you can call it "build", "attack", "scramzelkax", or "Cheddar", but none of those things will have any affect on what it does. If you can't describe what you want the verb will do... no one can help you, and more importantly, you'll never be able to code it. Coding is nothing more than describing what you want the computer to do. If you can't do the one, you can never do the other.

No. It's terrible.

Imagine this... imagine you're an architect. Now imagine that a young couple comes to you and tells you, "We want you to design our dream house." You say, "Okay. What do you want it to be like?" and they say, "Oh, put in some walls. Windows are good. Doors, too."

What are the odds that with that information, you can possibly design the house that these people want?

Like I said, coding is the art of describing to the computer what you want it to do. Let me rephrase that and say it's describing EXACTLY what you want it to do. "build walls and floors and stuff" isn't exact. What is a wall? What is a floor? These terms mean nothing in code terms until you define them. Who can build these things? When and where can they build them? What is required to build them?

Think of the game Sims, if you've played it. You can build houses in that game. Now think of the game Warcraft. You can also build buildings in that game. Is building in Sims anything like building in Warcraft? Is building in either of those games anything like the sort of thing you're going for, and if so, is it exactly like it, or only sort of similar?

[EDIT]

I'm going to be nicer than I should be, considering the fact that you're probably never going to understand what's posted above, despite the fact that it's 100 times more helpful than what I'm about to show you, but here's an idea of how you can start. Of course, you'll probably just take it as finished code and slap it into your game.

mob/verb/build_wall(turf/target/t as turf in oview(1))
new/turf/wall(t)

Assuming you've got a turf called wall, this will let you put that turf over any other turf that's 1 square away.

Lesbian...
take a chill pill and give him or her a break
~Verm~

Lesbian Assassin needs to shut up and stop acting so stupid.(oh guess les was born that way,..) Anyway.. i am gonan be normal and just give you the code and not talk s... you know.. there could eb two ways.. making one obj at a time useing a verb or making a building list...

Verb building..

Say like you want them to build a wall.. first draw the wall and add it to the turf list.. then make a verb like..

mob/verb/build_wall()
new/turf/wall(src.loc)

...

-= Shadowsiientx =-

Nadrew you think i care what you say.. No..so Hush it.

ShadowSiientx wrote:

Lesbian Assassin needs to shut up and stop acting so stupid.(oh guess les was born that way,..) Anyway.. i am gonan be normal and just give you the code and not talk s... you know.. there could eb two ways.. making one obj at a time useing a verb or making a building list...

SS, don't be a putz. Lexy was in no way being unreasonable; she wasn't mean, she wasn't stupid, she wasn't even hostile. She did express being a little miffed with Vermolius, who made pretty much the same mistake you did, and with the fact that Aleis whined about her being "mean" when she wasn't.

If all you can do is make ignorant buttinski comments on discussions that don't involve you, do us a favor and shut up.

And to take you to task for your idiotic "gonna be normal and just give you the code and not talk" comment: What's so "normal" about that? "Here, kid, here's some code you probably don't understand, that probably doesn't do what you want. I don't care if you ever tell me what you specifically wanted or not; I'll just keep giving you code that may or may not work." It's not "normal"; it's thoughtless. Lexy was trying to do Aleis a favor by getting him to explain himself more clearly--that would have helped him immensely, and the rest of us as well.

In conclusion, don't type like SSGX; which is pretty much what I said in the first sentence too.

Lummox JR

Aleis wrote:

geez u dont have to be so mean :P

Good thing she wasn't, huh?
There's a big difference between Lexy's tone and being mean.

basically im asking how to make a verb that will let u put down an icon of any kind.......

First check: We have to stop here and play "Terminology You Should Stop Using".

An icon is a graphical image; an atom is the actual object on the map, which has an icon, but isn't an icon itself. When you say you want to put down an icon, what you really mean is you want to put down an atom--or an obj, turf, mob, etc., all of which are just more specific types of atoms.

If you can be clear on this point, it will help you in your code and it will help a lot more in explaining what you need to others.

its for DWO and the kind of build is u click on a turf type on a list then a white outline appears arround one block of turf..

Inasmuch as you're not SilkWizard, I don't see how you would have any control over inserting code into his game.

that shows where u want to build..... so when u then click the left mouse button it will apear where the white outline was.... DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?!

So if I follow you correctly, what you want is 1) a white box to act as a build cursor for where you put an item, and 2) when a turf in a list is clicked, that turf is applied where the cursor appears? That makes some sense, yes. You need to go into a little more detail, I think, but you're getting there--this is a much better description than "I need a build verb".

Yes, this is doable. The biggest questions you need to address are: 1) How will the cursor be controlled, and is this independent from regular walking? (That is, if you use the arrow keys to control the cursor while you're in build mode, you need to override the client movement procs.) And, 2) where and how will the list of buildable turfs appear? The build system you described is going to be a lot more complicated than a simple verb, but much less complicated than a battle system.

But whatever you do, please learn to punctuate your sentences. So far you're the third person I've seen to pull an SSGX; the first of two so far on this very thread.

Lummox JR

VyseDyne wrote:

If shes not being mean why does she...anger so many people when they ask a simple question and she gets all anal.

The problem is that Aleis made his question too "simple"--that is, "Which way did he go, George?" simple. If you walk up to someone on the street and say "I want to make rabbits," don't expect them to know what you mean. Aleis knew (partly) what he had in mind, but he didn't communicate it. In fact what he's really asking isn't a simple question at all--not when properly phrased. He's asked how to make a system that has a bit of complexity to it--not a lot, but much more than he apparently thought. He didn't think through the details or explain them at all until asked. Now we have a partial idea what he wanted, and he probably has a much better idea himself.

Lexy might anger people for various reasons, just as I anger people for various reasons--but getting angry with her in this thread is ludicrous, because she wasn't saying anything worth getting upset over. She told Aleis to explain himself more clearly; she did it in her usual style, with a little bit of sarcasm and a lot of patient explanation. There was a bit of bite to what she said, but out of frustration at dealing with vague questions like "I need a build verb"; as bites go it was just a nip, nothing to be interpreted as "mean". Aleis was oversensitive to her correction, and a few of the people who commented applied something less than good judgment in doing so.

And if asking for more specific questions is anal, then welcome to the sphincter of the real world. Lexy asked Aleis for more details and told him why it was important to provide them. When he didn't get it, she explained again. This is something more experienced programmers do when they want to be helpful; a newbie who learns how to ask better questions will get much better answers.

Lummox JR

ok lets see... i'll try again.....
if u have ever played DWO chat it makes it so a screen will put up listing all the types of turf that you can create... then when you select the turf it appears below you... as a atom (I think it was). basicallly I want that yto happen but instead of it appearing below you i want a cursor theat will create after you chose the type by clicking on the box so where ever you are standing then you can build it anywhere on your screen.

hopefully this is good enough.... if not tell me and i will try again......

Nadrew, this may very much surprise you, but some of us actually don't like the whole elitist, us-vs.-them thing. It's a bad idea to piss off someone who helps people become better coders. It's a bad idea to piss off someone who hosts interesting games. Being an oldbie or newbie should have nothing to do with it.