Stop people from using macros

ID:169695
 
May 12 2005, 2:37 am
How would I go about making it so people can't Macro certain things?

Like when someone attacks another person or Enemy Mob, They can't Macro the hell out of them??

If this can't be done, please just say it can't be done. Thanks.
May 12 2005, 2:48 am
This might be better addressed in design philosophy, but meh.

I have come to realize that macroing isn't inherently bad. What is bad is game design that makes macroing more attractive than actually playing.

I think what you actually mean is attack flooding/spamming. To prevent this simply put a delay on actions, so no matter haow many times you click a verb, you can only execute it it so fast. For example:
mob
   var
      next_act_time
   proc
      attack(var/mob/M in oview())
         if(next_act_time < world.time)
            return 0
         // put rest of action here.
         src.next_act_time = world.time + rand(20,40 // 2-4 second delay)



You might also consider a system that doesn't require constant hammering of an attack verb. If you keep track of the mob's target and have a loop that attacks whenever the player is in range and ready, it is much more convenient IMHO. But then again I hate having to repeatedly click an attack verb :-)
May 12 2005, 4:31 am (Edited on Jan 15 2006, 2:14 pm)
First off, I would like to say, in agreement with Jmurph, that you have no need to be concerned about macros if you implement decent design. What Jmurph mentioned, delaying commands, is the best way to go about it. I have written up a post about command delaying at [link coming in a moment](edit: it is now half a year later and I have just stumbled onto this old post of mine. Apparently, I must not have been able to find the post in question to link to and forgot to come back and edit at that time. Sorry, and I hope you didn't hold your breath. ;P /edit), which shows an example for easily delaying even multiple types of actions which you might also want to look over.

As for stopping macroes, however, you can to a certain extent. You need to make a dms file for your project and set every macro to a function that does nothing.
//in the dms file
macro
    a return "nothing"
    b return "nothing"
    c return "nothing"
    d return "nothing"
    //and so on...


//in the dm file
client/verb/nothing()return 0

I suggest you go with the improved design instead of killing macro use.

First off, because many people use macros for good purposes, to give themselves shortcuts to make a game easier. It greatly improves the quality of many games to be able to do so.

Secondly, because I can easily make an external program to enter the commands into the Dream Seeker window for me and still flood the thing with commands very fast. External programs for this purpose can be made in a few minutes using VB. If I can do it, I'm sure others can do it or find a free program on the 'net to do it for them, and that makes your macro disabling useless against them.