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                    JOURNAL FOR WEDNESDAY 27TH JULY, 2022
______________________________________________________________________________

SUBJECT: Combat messages and neutral players update
   DATE: Wed 27 Jul 20:18:41 BST 2022

Combat messages for natural/unarmed and weapon attacks are now working. The
changes are out on the public dev branch.

First of all, players can now choose a gender of male, female or neutral. If
you already have a character, an admin should be able to edit your player file
if you would prefer the gender to be neutral. Pronouns used for the neutral
gender are: they, them, their and themself.

Due to comments and feedback the actual implementation of the combat messages
has changed slightly, for the better. Here is an example for a dagger:


        Ref: L13O2
       Name: a dagger
    Aliases: DAGGER
   Location: @M14
     Damage: 1+3
  Wieldable: HAND
    Cleanup: @ITEM
   OnCombat: [%A] stab[/s] out with [%a.their] dagger drawing blood.
           : [%A] slash[/es] at [%d] with [%a.their][r/] dagger.
           : [%A] stab[/s] at [%d].
           : [%A] cut[/s] [%d] with [%a.their][r/] dagger.
           : [%A] slice[/s] [%d] with [%a.their][r/] dagger drawing blood.
           : [%D] receives the pointy end of [%a][r/'s] dagger.
           : [%D] wince[s//s] in pain as [%a] stick[/s] [%d.them] with
             [%a.their][r/] dagger.
           : With a sneaky jab, [%a][r/'s] dagger bites into [%d].
      Reset: @SPAWN


To help with the messages there is a new msgfmt utility available. Using one
of the messages from the dagger as an example:


  >bin/msgfmt -a f -d i [%A] cut[/s] [%d] with [%a.their][r/] dagger.
    Alice, attacker: You cut the imp with your dagger.
   An imp, defender: Alice cuts you with her dagger.
           observer: Alice cuts the imp with her dagger.


Here you can see the messages as the attacker, defender and any observer’s
would see them. This is assuming a female attacker and an ‘it’ defender. The
same example with a neutral attacker and male defender:


  >bin/msgfmt -a n -d m [%A] cut[/s] [%d] with [%a.their][r/] dagger.
  Charlie, attacker: You cut Bob with your dagger.
      Bob, defender: Charlie cuts you with their dagger.
           observer: Charlie cuts Bob with their dagger.


There is a lot of help available in docs/zone-files.txt under the ONCOMBAT
attribute and by using “bin/msgfmt -h”. The msgfmt help text also has some
additional examples, also look to the included zone files for inspiration ;)

PLEASE NOTE: Players will need to trade in any weapons they have and pick up
the new improved versions. Otherwise they will get a boring default message
all the time:


  >bin/msgfmt -a f -d m [%A] hit[/s] [%d] wounding [%d.them].
    Alice, attacker: You hit Bob wounding him.
      Bob, defender: Alice hits you wounding you.
           observer: Alice hits Bob wounding him.


Some of the combat messages can be a little odd, for example you can headbutt,
body slam or knee a small frog :S

To finish, a fight against a giant spider:


  >kill spider
  You attack the giant spider!
  You pound at the giant spider to little effect. The giant spider moves in on
  you knocking you back.
  The giant spider jabs out with a foreleg impaling you.
  The giant spider spits at you temporarily blinding you while she bites at
  you.
  The giant spider rears up battering you with her powerful forelegs.
  The giant spider bites you sinking her fangs deeply into you.
  The giant spider spits at you temporarily blinding you while she bites at
  you.
  The giant spider sinks her fangs into you making you nauseas.
  Swinging wildly, your longsword hits the giant spider.
  You wound the giant spider with a sweep from your longsword.
  The giant spider sprays you covering you with a stinging web.
  With a flourish, your longsword carves into the giant spider.
  The giant spider sprays you covering you with a stinging web.
  You swing a longsword at the giant spider slicing her.
  You kill a giant spider!


At the moment the “special” message format is just used for combat. However,
the format could be used for player commands in general to provide a more
personal experience for players.

--
Diddymus


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