Tutorials

This page contains various tutorial or help posts that were put up on the MUSH at one point or another; some may still be around, others may have timed out by now. Here we go!

Setting Up A VRRoom, by Lain

The Virtual Room parent is something I wrote in order to allow players to extend their objects allowing them to build rooms within them. The commands are similar to the MUSH building commands and there is a help command (vrhelp) once you have the object setup.

Here is how to create and set up the objects, just replace "Bob's House" with whatever you want your object to be named:

@create Bob's House @parent Bob's House=#2609 @set Bob's House=!no_command drop Bob's House enter Bob's House +setup vrhelp

The code is provided free to use and modify, though I ask that you at least give me credit for the original code. Any bugs and questions should go to me (Xiph Theora) either through page or @mail. Pages can get lost in the spam, so if I don't reply, @mail me, and if I still don't reply, try paging my alt (Shemune) as she gets a lot less channel spam.

NOTE: Make sure to enter all the commands. If you do not finish (specifically the +setup command), it will seem like the game is eating any other commands and not doing anything.

Making A Cast Object, by Homura

@create <Name> >> I suggest always adding an acronym as well; for example, Bright City <BC> as the full name of your object. This allows easy entry by going 'enter bc' instead of having to write the whole name.

@lock <name>=me >> This prevents anyone but you from moving the object around.

@set <name>=enter_ok link_ok >> This makes the object enterable and people can set their home there.

@parent <name>=#2613 >> This gives the room the new grid layout (it's optional).

@desc/@idesc <name>=description >> The latter lets you describe the inside of the object (for people in it) and the former lets you describe what people see from the outside. This is ideal for short vs extended descriptions, like 'you see a city' instead of five paragraphes describing the city.

Drop the object in the appropriate grid room (for example, Tokyo might be best dropped in the Asian Plains, but it's up to you).

Enjoy!

Graphical +Stats, by Homura

Some people complained my post was not clear! It kinda wasn't. Not helped in the slightest by the fact I managed to botch very simple code twice.

SHORT ANSWER:

To make the graphical +stats and +scan your default:

@set me=!no_command &CMD_SCANALIAS me=$+scan *:+gscan %0 &CMD_STATSALIAS me=$+stats:+gstats

To reset back to normal:

&CMD_SCANALIAS me &CMD_STATSALIAS me

LONG ANSWER:

This is the only form of "making these things your default" support you should expect because we have had (and may still have) players who use screen readers, which would not work very well with a command that spits out large amounts of colorful lines. Therefore I don't feel comfortable asking staff to do that, and I politely request people not bother staff with that request either. The above solution works just fine, really.

This SHOULD be the last post on the matter (or repost as the case may be) unless someone still thinks these instructions are not clear. In which case I don't know what to tell you, I don't think I can make it easier to read.

Surviving MCM, by Laine

So as I've mentioned before, especially when I retired from staff, I was suffering from some pretty severe burnout before I came to MCM. This really turned around in a big way, obviously, but I do know what it feels like, and I can see it happening a lot here. There's a reason for that, though. Even in the time I've been here(and I'm not an old hat like some), there's been a number of big changes. Most of them are for the better, but the biggest changes have been organic and they can kill someone's desire to play... but not through maliciousness. Through activity.

When I first came here, the MUSH was healthy, don't get me wrong. However, most of the activity was through target battles and random battle scenes, and a few running TPs. TP scenes were usually 2-3 per week, at most, and were often 'fight the big monster' with occasional scenes that changed things up as well. Social was not unknown, of course... in fact, it was more common than you might remember. The point is, you could coast along and attend TP scenes regularly and be pretty involved with most anything.

Those days are gone now. We have TP scenes running every night, just about. It's gotten to the point that people are neglecting the lighter RP of random pickup fights, which is ironically what kept the MUSH alive from the beginning. It's not a bad thing that there are tons of TPs. It IS a bad thing to approach the newer, more player-driven world with the ideal of the old Mush. It will kill your drive, and kill the drive of those around you. How? Well, let's just see how to AVOID that.

ATTENDING TPS: As I said, there are tons of TPs running now. Many of them are long term. Trying to do ALL THE TP STUFF will just burn you out faster than a flash pan. There are two things that you can do to help with this.

First off, attend fewer TP scenes. Yeah, you heard me. A more comprehensive answer, though, is to find out how long the TP is running and how many scenes there are, and how intense it is. If it's particularly long running, spurts of activity are perfectly fine. TP runners can also talk with people and run more scenes, but make them smaller to account for this. Smaller scenes in greater number helps TP runners by reducing their stress, while it simultaneously diversifies play groups because the same people aren't attending every scene. This can be a problem in, say, the Madoka TP where every Puella was in almost every scene, plus the Unionites most attached to them. By the time we added in all the 'essential' players, scenes were 8-9 people and then took in others. This will also let some of the less active people participate and have a little moment to shine, since the 'big shots' of the Mush(as a few people are seen) won't be in the limelight quite as much.

This philosophy leads to a lot less of the other thing you should be avoiding, which I have chosen 'butthurt' for the technical name. There's a lot of this because people can't fit into scenes, or can't seem to find the right point to join in. Take a step back, relax, and talk to a TP runner if you really want to be relevant. Realize, too, that your TP runners have lives and may need time, and may not even be able to accomodate what you want. It's okay. There are other things to do on the Mush, every night. There are cool players just about every night poking around on RP for random scenage, and these 'random scenes' will often spawn their own epic storyline without a TP associated, or lead into an interesting TP.

In summary: spread yourselves out a bit. Don't try to jump into what the current fad seems to be, and pace yourselves, TP runners and players both. You'll last a lot longer.

Writing TPs, by Blue Elf

So you've decided to write a TP proposal, huh? A lot of people are intimidated by this, especially at first. Don't be, it's really not as hard as it sounds. Even so there are several pitfalls you should avoid, and this guide is intended to help with them.

WHAT THIS GUIDE IS NOT

This guide is not actually a guide to walk you through making a TP. Each plotline is different, and the format and layout of each can differ radically. By their very nature, the structure of a TP is more fluid and the judging more subjective than a character application, so in many cases it is impossible to give a 'how to write' guide.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

So if we can't help you by providing a guide in how to write it, despite the title of this one, what can we do? There are some tips available.

First off, TALK to people. If you have castmates, discuss with who would be affected by this the most. Make sure they're OOCly okay with this, and solicit opinions from them. TP staff as well are available for ideas and discussion, though we are not here to write your app for you. What we can do is help you past some uncertain blocks, such as how to reveal critical information that needs revealed, or discussing villain PLs if you are using coded combat.

KNOW your audience and their availability. If a critical member of your cast is going on a 3 month world tour in 3 weeks, this probably isn't the time to launch your world-shaking TP.

BE AWARE of other ongoing plots and trends. TP staff pays attention to this, and will nix too many TPs with the same theme in a row, especially a particularly delicate theme like betrayal or mind control.

WHAT NOT TO DO

DON'T use something too obscure and complicated without giving time for explanation. Many themes and plotlines are by their nature a little hard to grasp to those unfamiliar with the source(e.g. Exalted), so care must be taken to present the plot in a manner that others can understand. This may require adding extra time at the start just to run a few scenes familiarizing people with the situation.

DON'T make your character(PC or NPC) the only one who matters. While it is fine having a particular PC or NPC pivotal to the plotline, it is extremely important to let the participating characters feel that their contribution did something. Read your plot summary, and if everything would go exactly the same whether or not the other players are there, then your TP will not be that enjoyable for others.

DON'T write things on rails. Players will do unexpected things, and with very few exceptions, no fights should be unwinnable. The plotline should advance regardless of who wins a fight, though this does not require multiply-branching paths. Simply have some idea of a way to reward an unexpected victory or clever usage of a power, it doesn't have to require derailing the plotline. It is acceptable to have a scene or two on rails to set up the plot, but if more than ~20% of your scenes are immutable and lack participation, you should revisit your plotline.

DON'T be upset if your TP character doesn't get the PL/Bossmode/sigmove you want. A villain doesn't need to be a PL38 unstoppable beast to be a threat. It is up to your plotline to present a viable threat that does not depend on a villain being unstoppable.

WHAT WE DO LIKE

Flexibility. If your plot is reams and reams of text about how each scene will go, that's a black mark. If you need something accomplished by the participants, it is better to put in some suggestions and leave the details up to the players rather than design your plot around a specific item or power, unless your plot is ABOUT a specific item(say, the Triforce).

Accessibility. Limiting certain scenes in participation is okay, but broad plot participation is encouraged.

Multiversal. This is a new one. We've had a lot of plotlines that are specific to a theme and only use that theme's resources. Mixing thematic elements is a good thing here, and we'd like to see more of it. Be careful when doing this, however, as it is better to focus on a single imported element unless you really know what you're doing, rather than mash everything together. Also be extremely careful about assuming one theme's elements have superiority over another's. While that is sometimes the case, it is better to take an element that is completely different from one theme and put it in another to spur the plot.

IN CONCLUSION

We can't write your plot for you, but the above should let you avoid some pitfalls. Even so, TPs are often forced into multiple revision cycles. This is normal, and keep in mind that we are simply trying to make a plot that everyone can enjoy. Good luck!