HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: guile@engin.umich.edu (Kenneth K Lee)
Subject: Re: Has anyone actually found a new site by posting?
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 92 01:19:41 EDT
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

In article <NOP.92Aug20212250@theory.Mankato.MSUS.EDU> nop@theory.Mankato.MSUS.EDU (Jay A. Carlson) writes:
>All of the constant requests for a site for `a great mud' make me
>wonder.  I know I'd never set up a mud for someone I didn't already
>know pretty well, and I'd hope that other people felt the same way.
>
>So, here is the question I pose to you:
>
>Do you know of anyone who found a site for a new or old mud on the
>basis of posts to USENET?  If so, what did the message(s) say, and was
>there any other special circumstance?

   As a matter of fact, we did obtain a site by posting on USENET.  Twice
in fact.  The first time we obtained a nice RS/6K, but unfortunately, that
site we couldn't keep.  So now we have our current site which a NeXT.  Of
course, our site is only used for coding, so that could be a reason why we
have had success.  Perhaps that and the fact that our mud (yes, I'm going to
say it) is quite original when weighed against the rest of LPmuds out there.
Although I won't give any specifics out :).

                                             // Guile@engin.umich.edu//
From: Mike.Pflugfelder@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Mike Pflugfelder)
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
Subject: Re: Looking for a site
Date: 20 Aug 92 17:46:53 GMT
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service

In article <1992Aug19.171536.1@acad3.alaska.edu> fsmar@acad3.alaska.edu writes:
>        Lemme guess .. 
>
>     You'd need an account on the machine, lots of space, and I would get
>to be the Co-Imp?  Right?
>
>     Why does your plea sound like all the others?  Another fool who wants
>to run a mud, but not enough to do it him self.  If you want to run it that
>badly, the quit whining for help (unless your one of the bunch who can't even
>write code) and set it up.  Shouldn't cost you more that $500/year...

Hey, did you ever thing that maybe he really knows what he's doing, but doesn't
want to go in it alone.  Maybe he knows how to code better than any of us, but
doesn't like dealing with people.  Especially since some of the people logging
onto a mud have the same attitude towards life as you.  Oh, and another thing,
how do you know that he's got a reasonable connection to an account for only
$500/year???  Maybe he can't get a connection where he is.

Just my $0.02 worth.  :)
Happy mudding.
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
Subject: What MUD's do we admin??
From: rossw@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Ross Williamson)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 03:37:43 GMT
Organization: University of Auckland, New Zealand.

    Just a small question to all you admins out there.  What type of 
muds do you admin.  This is just a curiousity thing but it could also
be nice to put in the FAQ ( being written right now (:  ).  

So what I suggest is that all the admins email me ( or post but emails
easier to collate) and I will get all the info together and add it to 
the FAQ.  And also post the results to the net.  From my point of
view it would be interesting to see what the major type of mud is around.
( yes I know most of them are LP's but what if an admin handles more than
one like myself :)  )

Anyway the choices are......

LPmuds , DikuMUDs , Unters , Ubers , Abers , etc......
But give me the type name rather than the muds name ie not Anchient Anguish
but LPmud  ....

Ross.
Belarion ( Diku & LPmud )
+-----------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Name   : Ross Williamson                |Auckland University | 
| E-Mail : rossw@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz        |    New Zealand     |
| Of course these opinions are my own and thank *!!* for that  |
+--------------------------------------------------------------+
From: scg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Scott Goehring)
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
Subject: Re: A relatively new mud...
Date: 18 Aug 92 13:36:28 GMT
	<36924@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> <Bt5MpH.8K9@wpi.WPI.EDU>
Reply-To: scg@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
Organization: Society for the Prevention of National Mudding Associations

darius@starbird.WPI.EDU (Christopher J Scanlon) writes:

>I think in rec.games.mud.announce he said it was a DikuMUD... it was
>omitted from the other crossovers however.

That's because I edited the post to rec.games.mud.announce to include
that little tidbit of information.  Therefore, he didn't say it was a
Diku, *I* did. :)

The original poster apparently hasn't heard of crossposting and posted
to all the groups individually, wasting net bandwidth and annoying
lots of people.
--
If you tell a [gay] child he or she is worthless, and that child commits
suicide--is that not like murder?
	-- Gene Ward Smith (gsmith@concour.cs.concordia.ca)
From: amylaar@mcshh.Hanse.DE (Joern Rennecke)
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
Subject: Re: call-out-checker
Date: 13 Aug 92 01:33:06 GMT
Organization: Point of Presence & MCS Hamburg

K111114@ALIJKU11.BITNET writes:

>this is a simple callout checker.
><--------- Cut here ------------->
>/* mud@mud.edvz.uni-linz.ac.at Herbert Rosmanith */

>/* List call out */
... some source deleted...
here is a function to which a sentence is set up.

>object *ob,u;
>lcout() {
>  if (environment(this_object())!=this_player()) {
>     write("You must get it first, butthead.\n");
>     return 1;
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This is really nasty. I know the vanilla 2.4.5 armour has the same bug with
wear(), but that is still no reason to reproduce the bug.
It is possible that the player carries a working object, while another is
lying on the ground, and with the above code the latter object will block the
former.
You should give your error message with notify_fail, and return 0 .

	amylaar
Organization: Fifth yr. senior, Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 14:26:14 -0400 
From: Moonchilde <jtraub+@cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Has anyone actually found a new site by posting?
	<NOP.92Aug20212250@theory.Mankato.MSUS.EDU>

Actually, believe it not, I once did find a new site for a mud by posting to
Usenet. (I also post on the game/etc and usually that's where the responses
come from).  However, this one time was a luckout.  And the admin from a mud
that was moving to a dedicated machine saw my post and talked to his sysadmin
about letting me put the mud on his old site.

--Moonchilde
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty --Anonymous
Argue for your limitations and sure enough they're yours --Richard Bach

Moonchilde/Amythyst/JT Traub ---           jtraub@cmu.edu
From: nop@theory.Mankato.MSUS.EDU (Jay A. Carlson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
Subject: Has anyone actually found a new site by posting?
Date: 21 Aug 92 02:22:50 GMT
Organization: Mankato State University

All of the constant requests for a site for `a great mud' make me
wonder.  I know I'd never set up a mud for someone I didn't already
know pretty well, and I'd hope that other people felt the same way.

So, here is the question I pose to you:

Do you know of anyone who found a site for a new or old mud on the
basis of posts to USENET?  If so, what did the message(s) say, and was
there any other special circumstance?

My feeling that the best place to look for a new site for an existing
MUD is by talking to the existing user base, and by doing what you do
for new muds:  talk to your contacts.

I'll summarize what I hear.  If I don't get any positive responses, I
think we should maybe start a FAQ that says "don't ask, it's worthless."

Jay Carlson
nop@theory.cs.mankato.msus.edu
From: djohnson@cs.ucsd.edu (Darin Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud.admin
Subject: Re: Has anyone actually found a new site by posting?
Date: 21 Aug 92 03:44:08 GMT
Organization: =CSE Dept., U.C. San Diego

>Do you know of anyone who found a site for a new or old mud on the
>basis of posts to USENET?

Logic seems to indicate (although logic is often wrong) that the
best way to find a match between a site and a mud, is to have the
site administrator be the one to ask for a mud :-)
-- 
Darin Johnson
djohnson@ucsd.edu
    Strange things are afoot at the circle-K...
From: Josh.Adams@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Josh Adams)
Subject: Uhh, a mudder who is confused (Question about clients/servers)
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 19:24:50 GMT

Okay, I've been mudding for awhile, and yet I still do not know what clients
and servers are. I'm just telnetting from the computer at work, UNIX env.

What do clients/servers do? Can I use one? What's going on???
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
From: mlm+@cs.cmu.edu (Michael Mauldin)
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud
Subject: Original TinyMUD running today!
Date: 20 Aug 92 01:27:10 GMT
Organization: School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon


It's Brigadoon Day...the original TinyMUD is running until Thursday,
August 20 after midnight.

Machine: FUZINE.MT.CS.CMU.EDU port 4201 (128.2.110.7)

--Fuzzy

Your TinyMUD historian


ps: If you never had a character, or if you forgot your password,
    please create a new one.
From: joe@bcvms.bc.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud
Subject: MUD client programs for a Macintosh
Date: 19 Aug 92 22:47:37 GMT
Organization: Boston College


I posted a question to this Newsgroup back in
MAY looking for the latest version of MUDDweller. 

As of that time, I had the latest version (1.1d7).
I haven't seen any new versions, nor have I found 
any other client programs for the Macintosh.


			Phit
Newsgroups: rec.games.mud
From: t36260k@puukko.hut.fi (Stunt)
Subject: question
Organization: hut
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 07:51:49 GMT


Is there a MUD where it's possible to read Internet news, and send
email?

- thanks
From: tomscud@ruf.rice.edu (Thomas Reid Scudder)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Combat system for frp
Date: 19 Aug 1992 21:44:34 GMT
Organization: Rice University

In article <57215@mentor.cc.purdue.edu> dart@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Dart the Witchling) writes:
>In article <Bt77sA.21o@rice.edu> tomscud@ruf.rice.edu (Thomas Reid Scudder) writes:
><
><	I've been putting in some work on designing a diceless combat system 
><for a frp.  The basic idea of the system is that the two attackers pick their 
>	stuff deleted
><Also, any input on how to define various weapons would be welcome.
><
><Combat system stuff
>
>>>> lots of rules deleted >>>
>
>	How about just using those hands things, rock, paper scissors, maybe 
>with a few added, and giving then more possible attacks depending on their
> experiance.  Or get stage prop swords and make them fight it out.  Both are
>diceless, and the later would show real experiance advancement more 
>realistically.
>
>				D

Well, in the second case at least, I'm not very wel qualified to play the part
of 5 orc (or 1 Giant), and besides, some of my players would hose me every time.
As for the paper scissors rocks, it would get kinda hard to get players to
take something like that seriously.  Otherwise I'd be all for it B-).

Tom Scudder
tomscud@hadron.merit.edu
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: gyugyi@leland.Stanford.EDU (Paul Gyugyi)
Subject: Re: Program to Print Hexagon Maps
Keywords: Hex Map Postscript
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 92 03:25:28 GMT

Announcing HEXMAP 4.1, 
a demo version is available via anonymous ftp to earthsea.stanford.edu
(36.3.0.52).  It's a MICROSOFT WINDOWS 3.x program for IBM PCs that
draws and prints hexagon maps (in a variety of numbering patterns).

The demo version can load, display
and print files.  There's also the capability of changing the fill
pattern and color of each hex, and placing user-defined symbols in
each hex (any polygon outline can be added as a custom symbol).

However, the demo version won't let you save your edits.  To do that, you
need to send $15 to me (gyugyi@earthsea.stanford.edu) to get a valid
registration number.

Microsoft windows can be set up to print to a Postscript file, so if
there is a standard hex sheet you use alot, you can generate the .ps
file with Hexmap and copy it to your UNIX machine to
dump to a printer whenever needed.

In article <6120@ucru2.ucr.edu>, wedge@constitution.ucr.edu (John J. Wegis) writes:
|> 
|> I am looking for a program that will generate a postscript file of hexagon
|> squares for a laser printer.  (i.e. a map of "hex" squares)  Does anyone
|> know where I can find such a program?  (I am using a Sun computer system
|> with Unix and X Windows with a Sparc printer.) 
|> 
|> I want to use the hex map for a game I'm developing.
|> 
|> Thanks.
|> 
|> John J. Wegis       (wedge@constitution.ucr.edu)
|> 
|> 

-- 
Paul J. Gyugyi
Grad student, control systems, Stanford University
(and an avid LEGO collector)
gyugyi@earthsea.Stanford.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: as789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Francisco J. Diaz)
Subject: Re: Adventure Game for a test based on lpmud
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, (USA)
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 92 15:43:43 GMT




      I noticed that this post, offended most of you. I told all
      to the programer (not the author) and he tell me the following:

      He don't want to be rich with such game, only want to give the
      opportunity to other people who hasn't have a 386 or better
      machine and like those games to use it. Also most people haven't
      access to Internet, they logically can not play a real mud.

      So he ask me: WHAT IS THE REAL PROBLEM WITH IT????, COPYRIGHTS???

      We don't want to break the law, so we offer to all of you
      our excuse. We thought that this media was for the interchange
      of knowledge and for make friends not enemies.
-- 
|     Francisco J. Diaz Rivera     |                           |
|     University of Puerto Rico    | If the shoe fits, buy it! |
|  "I hate calculus classes!" :-)  |           - Imelda Marcos |
|     STUD137@CUTB.UPR.CLU.EDU     |                           |
From: dart@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Dart the Witchling)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Combat system for frp
Date: 19 Aug 92 07:53:22 GMT
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center

In article <Bt77sA.21o@rice.edu> tomscud@ruf.rice.edu (Thomas Reid Scudder) writes:
<
<	I've been putting in some work on designing a diceless combat system 
<for a frp.  The basic idea of the system is that the two attackers pick their 
	stuff deleted
<Also, any input on how to define various weapons would be welcome.
<
<Combat system stuff

>>> lots of rules deleted >>>

	How about just using those hands things, rock, paper scissors, maybe 
with a few added, and giving then more possible attacks depending on their
 experiance.  Or get stage prop swords and make them fight it out.  Both are
diceless, and the later would show real experiance advancement more 
realistically.

				D
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: tinsel@uiuc.edu (Thomas Aaron Insel)
Subject: Re: Virtual Reality
Originator: tai50080@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Reply-To: tinsel@uiuc.edu
Organization: {not speaking for the} University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: rec
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 17:56:47 GMT

jpg@bnr.co.uk (Jonathan P. Gibbons) writes:

>There is a comp[any in the UK that has started a VR D&D setup.  For those who
>don't know (are there any?) VR involves puting a helmet and gloves on.  The 
>helmet contains two displays - one for each eye - and sensors to detect head
>[..]

Neat.  Why does the uk always seem to be ahead on these nifty gaming things?

>Anyway, the D&D system has three races (elf, human, dwarf) and several classes.
>Each group can have up to four people in it.  Each player sees the others as
>their race.  So a player looking at another who has chosen an elf sees an elf.
>The players voices are also raised or lowered electronically to fit race and
>sex.  So when I speak I hear my voice but microphones pick it up and it is
>changed and broadcast over speakers in the helmets to other players.  
>Each race and class also sees the world differently, a dwarf sees view from a
>lower perspective than an elf etc (no matter how tall the actual player).  An
>elf will see clear english text whereas the others will see meaningless
>elven symbols and so on. 

In addition to what you say, elves probably see hidden doors that other 
players don't, dwarves see shifting stonework, etc.  If it doesn't work 
this way, these would be something to try.

>The system is young, my question would be what other features could be added
>to make it more real for race and class.

With this level of hardware, the easiest and most effective thing to do 
is modify the perceptions of each player.  It might be interesting to 
alter color perception.  Ie, dwarves are adapted for darkness, so they can 
see heat, but as a result, they've lost some of the purple end of the 
spectrum.  This might, however, be too disconcerting for players.  
-- 
Thomas Aaron Insel (tinsel@uiuc.edu)
  I speak for myself, and not for the State or University of Illinois.
  "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty." -- Edward R. Murrow
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: dalamb@qucis.queensu.ca (David Lamb)
Subject: Re: Combat system for frp
Organization: Computing & Information Science, Queen's University at Kingston
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 16:42:31 GMT

In article <Bt77sA.21o@rice.edu> tomscud@ruf.rice.edu (Thomas Reid Scudder) writes:
>
>	I've been putting in some work on designing a diceless combat system 
>for a frp.  The basic idea of the system is that the two attackers pick their 
>attacks and defenses, and then the comparison between the two determines who 
>hits and who doesn't.

A fairly general way to look at compare-manouvers diceless systems is
to view them as big 2-dimensional arrays: attacker manouever A1...AN
and defender manouevers D1...DM, where you read the results off on the
corresponding array element.  The trick comes in finding a nice way to
present said table to the players.  If the number of options is small,
you just show the whole table.  If you want to show pretty pictures,
you do it the way Ace-of-Aces and Lost World did it.

The Magic Realm board game had a very simple table.  There were 3
attacks, something like: thrust, slash (side-to-side), smash
(top-to-bottom).  There were 3 defences: something like duck (avoids
all but smash), sidestep (avoids all but slash), backstep (avoids all
but thrust).  Attacks and defences also had speeds; an attack faster
than the defence always hit.  Weight of weapon increased damage;
armour reduced damage.  You could expend fatigue to attack or defend
faster (essentially; there were tokens that managed this), and if you
were strong enough could increase damage one level (often requiring
fatigue).
Subject:  Re: The ultimate weapon
From:  Scott Duncan <duncan@ctt.bellcore.com>
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Organization: Bellcore - Information Technology, Morristown, NJ
Reply-To:  Scott Duncan <duncan@ctt.bellcore.com>
X-Gateway: ALEX.ims.bellcore.com
Date:  Thu, 20 Aug 92 10:54:40 EDT
To:  news-post@ctt.bellcore.com (NetNews)
Message-ID: <1992Aug20.145446.5232@ALEX.ims.bellcore.com>
In <JPG.92Aug20122415@holly.bnr.co.uk> jpg@bnr.co.uk (Jonathan P. Gibbons) says:

[And I'm not unloading on him by what I'm about to say, just making an observa-
tion that his comment triggered.]

>                                                    the French actually created
>some long bow regiments(?) but dis-banded them because they were to good and
>the aristocrats got scared.

Which just goes to show that what may make sense technically is often not what
happens because of purely non-technical matters.

I mention this since a lot of the "realism" issue in some game design discussion
often hinges on what "really" happened.  It is often clear that what "really"
happened doesn't have to be what could have happened, yet when unexpected things
are allowed to happen there is often the cry that "it didn't happen that way."
So realism becomes synonymous with repetition.

In the cases Jonathan mentions, what would happen is likely to be "boring":
both sides do build the powerful weapon and either duel to a draw (unless
affected by other variables which is likely to be what evolves) or wipe each
other out (in the death star case) unless one "gets there first."  This seems
very "realistic" to me, but can make a boring game, for sure.

Speaking only for myself, of course, I am...
Scott P. Duncan (duncan@ctt.bellcore.com OR ...!bellcore!ctt!duncan)
                (Bellcore, 444 Hoes Lane  RRC 1H-210, Piscataway, NJ  08854)
                (908-699-3910 (w)   609-452-9054 (h))

Newsgroups: rec.games.design
From: dyer@sharebase.com (Scot Dyer)
Subject: "Hnefatafl pieces"
Organization: NCR/ShareBase Corporation
Date: Sun, 23 Aug 92 01:14:13 GMT

This might be the wrong newsgroup to take this question to, but I think this
is the place where I am most likely to find the answer I'm looking for.
Cut to the chase...

Question:
	Where can I buy [preferrably wooden] pieces suitable for use in an
	abstract strategy game?  Two colors would be required, with one piece
	of one color differing in shape/size...

[Context:]
I want to build a game board for an abstract strategy game I've recently become
interested in.  It is a very old [pre-norman invasion saxon] strategy game, so
I can't just go to a game shop and find it.  I have already made one relatively
nice board [wood], but would like to do it again*, but I don't have the time.
If anyone's interested (I don't quite have a feel for what would be appreciated
in this newsgroup) I will post the rules.  Good game.

	-- Scot (dyer@eagle.sharebase.com)

P.S.  Response via email, SVP.

--
* I'm interested in the pieces for two reasons: 1) they're the hardest part of
  making a board (to my experience), and 2) _some_ company _somewhere_ must be
  producing pieces to be used for prototyping games...
From: Bruce_Harper@mindlink.bc.ca (Bruce Harper)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: Mapping to hex sheets
Date: 14 Aug 92 23:47:30 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

There is a way - photocopy a hex sheet onto a clear plastic sheet, using the
shrink-expand feature of the photocopier to get the hexes to just the right
size.  Then you can put the plastic sheet with the hexes over the map and see
exactly where everything falls.  You wind up drawing the map by hand, but since
the game map usually is stylized anyway, this isn't much of a handicap.

I've always found the more difficult problem is finding the right map to gein
with, but that's another story....