As a mechanism for story-telling AND helping the skill system, books have been introduced to SLUG.
- Books can be picked up, dropped, and given like any other item
- With the command “read,” books can be read a page at a time.
- An extension to this command allows PC's to “read aloud” to the room (e.g. for group quests)
- Books can fall into two (or more) types:
- Journals/Ordinary Books. Books with text you can read. Nothing special.
- Skill books. Books which aren't read verbatim (you don't see what's in the book), but are used to learn basic skills.
- Magic tomes? (Books with special abilities?)
- Implementation:
- An extra “books” directory is in the SLUG distrobution. In this directory are “book files” and the list of these files (a la every other SMAUG directory)
- “Book files” begin with #BOOK
- Title The Name of the Book~
- Author Whoever Wroteit~
- Index unique identifying number (over the space of books only, not a vnum)
- #JOURNAL or #SKILL
- In a JOURNAL:
- Text may flow free after that.
- Pages will be automatically broken up based on player's pager settings
- #CHAPTER <number> is a permitted markup anywhere.
- In a SKILL:
- Skill 'Name Of Skill'
- Max percent to which reading this book can learn the skill
- Files end with End
- Instantiating books:
- Books are a “type” of object.
- Value1 refers to the book index number
- All other attributes are free to set as an ordinary object (description, keywords, etc)
- Libraries:
- Libraries are a storage place for books.
- Libraries have an interface a bit like shops, but are free
- “List” command functions in the library
- “Read” command is used to pick out books in a library
- Libraries may automatically have books that a player can access
- A PC can give a book to the Librarian, which will add that book to the list of books he can access at that library
- Each player's list of accessible books is different. Just because a book is “in” the library for one player does not mean it is there for another.
- One cannot “read aloud” at a library.
- One cannot take books OUT of a library (but perhaps an interlibrary loan system can be setup =P )
Comments:
Are there blank journals that characters can write in and pass around? ~SabreCat
Well, as of right now, the book system is read-only. But that's a possibility for the future. I like the idea of having something to take notes in. --Tarsus