> Now,alot of people I doubt know how to code rom areas by hand > anymore nor do they know how to code doors, keys, portals, and > other stuff...
I hope you're kidding on this. I taught myself to build areas. By hand. From scratch. Area files are one of the ugliest collections of strings and flags that I've seen in a long time, but they work : ) We can be thankful that most Merc areas are portable between codebases (I had very little trouble porting a SMAUG area to ROM, with the help of a SMAUG Offline Editor to read the mob format which is different) The resets and rooms are organized almost identically to ROM (save for 1s instead of 0s for placeholders). > I even think the rom24.docs is not correct in some of the way it > describes how to code rooms and keys if I remember right. Rom24.doc is littered with horrible and incorrect instructions on the matter. I printed it off, and have scratched out and re-written in hand several pages worth of material. It does not include all of the coded room flags, it incorrectly states doors and keys (as you mentioned), and the explanations of timers and other features should have been much better if the author had access to the source. That's just the beginning. I will be reworking the Rom24.doc with updates for a stock ROM, so look for it in a few months. Personally, I would never release my MUD that I've been working on with 1.8 of OLC, it changes code and doesn't work as it should in some situations. (Of course, I've already been yelled at for speaking bad about OLC 1.8, but I'm entitled to my opinion) After two months, I can do most of the area building without any reference, save for a condensed list of flags for mobs and objs, so I believe a builder should know how to work a simple text file, and not JUST an OLC. If a builder can prove they can build a .ARE, then let them save a little bit of time with an OLC. </Ramble> As for the "drop areas in", you're probably not looking in the right places. http://rae.rom.org is a great resource for ROM areas, once you submit one of your own, you get access to a fair number of ROM areas that aren't bad at all, and although it's a bit sluggish now, it is at least open, a lot better than ROMlama at this point. If you want to see the ROM area I converted, you can download it at http://worldofeternaldreams.tripod.com under "snippets" Clandestine has a couple Areas and lots of good code snippets at http://clandestine.mudnet.net under "snippets" And Mish has some good MobProg tutorials and Areas at http://www.chainsmokingdryad.com/resource.htm under "areas" Those should reinstill some faith in ROM areas. : ) So, final words on this long email: Edit your OLC! It isn't that hard. Make it output char flags, prevent it from bastardizing the credits section, have fun, good luck! ~Tandon
