For sure.  I think you are aiming at mud whilst we are heading down the mush route - more IC RP than code base for us

http://darktides.wikidot.com/

Very much a work in progress, with some text to be removed from it - we want to encourage people to buy the books, so will be only putting up bare bones stuff.

Sort of, yep!  Entirely RP-centric, but with a codebase to provide people with a large assortment of tools to work with if they so choose.

I keep thinking over what sort of tools would make a great toolbox.  Cell phones to call friends in other places (though they'd be wonky for wizards), bank records for law enforcement to investigate questionable activity, spellcrafting for practitioners to employ their talents.  Ultimately, though, a superb set of RP utilities-- the ability to append a temporary descriptions to rooms, your own desc, customization for equipment, layered equipment (wearing socks under boots, etc).

Registered for the forum, though I'm not a techie. My only coding is in html

Techiness not required!   

Ideas, interest, and fun.  That's the goal.  Brainstorming and progress, too!  I realize I might be doing all the code myself - it wouldn't be the first time.  That's alright.  I just want to make sure other folk have fun too.

It's really not that bad. It'd just be a system or room/char flags that affect how much latent energy is available to work with and how effective a spell is. It's not trivial but it's not that bad to code, either.

There wouldn't be much point in it for purely roleplay purposes, though.

But it can accent everything with a bit of flair!  If you do a bit of fiery magic in a room that's laden with fire energies, its potency could be a lot more visible.  This wouldn't be too hard to do, really.  Every room (and zone) can have their own fluctuations, changed by the weather, player interaction, and so on.  Doing fire magic would draw some of that pooled energy.

What I had planned to do (and should be simple enough in theory) is just adapt the introduction code that was already in the codebase I was working from to identify people by scent. That codebase already had a fairly extensive tracking system so it'd mostly just be a matter of tying it together than then deciding how you wanted it displayed on the map (assuming you were using one).

It would be fairly easy to apply a 'scent' description on rooms or objects if the builder wanted to use those for clues about an area.  Making that kinda dynamic would be an interesting problem but you might be able to hack something together with mob/room progs.

I'm mostly done with my introduction code, so it shouldn't be a tremendous task to add scent to it, as well.  How did you imagine it working?  Seeing someone as "a being smelling of sewer", then being able to recognize them as "George" when you later discover the smelly-being's name?  Perhaps something as simple as giving everyone a 'scent appearance', and depending on the viewer, use one or the other. 

Smell could be influenced by where a character spends their time (sewers add to their foul odor, for instance).  Objects/rooms could definitely have scents as well, and a "sniff" code could be similar to some sort of tracking, but instead pulling scents from nearby rooms/people/things.

Ideally this system would just be built from the ground up, and making it dynamic wouldn't be too tough.  I've a few ideas already, just need to detail out all what the purposes would be.

Or - what about one of the rp chat rooms? You/we could get a private room to start and jump directly into rp at http://worldbroadcastingsystem.com/ - Ask for an admin named ruthe, and I can guarantee that you'll get service with a smile without any deals with the fae!

Honestly, part of the reason for this is that I want to make a game!   

What about Tiny Mux? Good, solid code, and it's been around for a long time. Brazil is still doing upgrades.

I'm entirely unfamiliar with MUSH/MUX code, personally, and always felt they were handled a bit rough-around-the-edges.  To make a game especially unique, I found it best to start from the ground up... and if you start with a code base that has much existing, you spend too much time/effort modifying/removing the systems that aren't right, which often results in breaks...

The only hard part is nailing down the specifics - how stat systems should work, magic, and all that.  If it's more roleplay-geared, than the majority of it (like fight code and all that) isn't so essential.  As long as there's good support for dice rolls and folk to resolve disputes, it should give good grounds  to flourish.  I sent a message to Fred asking if it was possible to use the systems found in the DFRPG, and if so, that answers a lot of questions.  If not, it still shouldn't be too troublesome!

I'm more for MUSH-style trappings, myself.  I'm not sure the world lends itself quite so nicely to hacking down mobs and leveling.  Rather, XP through roleplay, weekly/staff awards, accomplished tasks (small XP bump when you successfully make a potion, for instance?).

The learning curve could fairly easily be represented by requiring more chunks of XP to be spent at a time, I think- a mortal could spend 1 point, where a fae might have to spend 5 at a time (and thus have to save it up).

Again, I suppose, this comes back to what makes DF suitable for a MU*.  For me, it's the depth of the world and endless possibilities for roleplay and character development.

And it gives me an excuse to finally make a cell phone code.   

The main things I had on my high priority list were, in no particular order:
a fully functional circle system (to concentrate or isolate energy sources, etc.)

Soem sort of fleshed-out magic system is definitely key.  Anher suggests that the details of the circle might be more than necessary, but it could be worth considering!

a 'mortal' world map with a nevernever analogue that would partially match up with the mortal world, but not tied directly to it, and various ways of crossing between the two. (i also planned for a third out of character realm)

That would be good.  Certain 'hub' locations that connect to the opposite realm.  Like a doorway into the other (uniquely-gridded) plane.

firearms

For sure.  Bang bang.[/quote]

tracking capabilities and a good map - tracking via scent, magic and also a 'mortal' tracking skill based upon environmental clues
burial sites with different age levels of bones for necromancy down the line

Scent is slightly tough because everything (and players) must have scents defined.  Of course, they could just be more generic scents unless otherwise specified...

'focus items', things like harry's power rings and shield bracelet which are imbued with energy and abilities

The ability to build a spell into an item would surely be needed, I agree.  Whether it's defensive or wand/potion-like.

without digging into my notes, those are things things i was most concerned about off the top of my
i think the idea of building a framework directly around the fate system might have definite benefits, although i have no idea how fred and co. would feel about it. once that framework was finished, it could then be fairly easily converted for any particular system based on FATE.

I sent a PM to Fred Hicks to see his thoughts and whether or not it's a feasible plan, we'll see what the response is!

if you set it up with DM and player tools, it'd be different from what i think of as a mud/mush but it'd be great to play in.

I'm thinking more standard MU* style, that way a DM isn't required for folk to play and have fun.  What would make this world come alive would be for people to be able to create magnificent plots on their own.

Yeah, it's not easy to do it yourself but unfortunately if you're not willing and able to do the lion's share of the work yourself, you're gonna have a hard time drumming up enough interest to support it. It stinks but I'd rather be honest than blow smoke. It's (a little) different if you've got a core of people interested and dedicated up front.  However, when you're starting from scratch, you've got to have enough of a framework built to attract interest from people who will actually be of help...and even then, don't hold your breath.

Oh, quite familiar.  It's what I expect, really.  Merely hoping that there is (or will be) interest enough to make it worthwhile.  Although given the popularity of the books, I can't imagine it not existing!

I intend to continue slogging away on mine but it's largely because I want to see if I can code up some of the crazy ideas I've got in my head. It's just gonna have to wait awhile longer before I can get back to it again.

That's at least half the reason I want one to play with again, myself.  My latest I was playing with craft systems, plants that grow over time, and all the like.  I didn't have a concrete theme, though, so it eventually lost aim and direction.

I think the sad fact of the matter is that these sorts of games are dying. Most of the people who still play them already have homes and there's very little new blood coming into the community.

It's definitely tough.  There's no easy way to spread the word to all the fans of the setting, to perchance pique their interest enough into giving it a whirl.  And even those with the potential to be interested, as you say, may have a comfortable home already.

All that gloom and doom aside, this world is nearly perfect for a MU* and it's a shame that it's not happening.

That's another reason the Dresden world appealed to me.  I've been angling towards something more modern - it's easier for people to immerse themselves that way, if they're unfamiliar with the setting - yet with the flair of magic and otherworldliness.

I'm booked through the next week or two, but my rough-cut plan is to start on some of the core concepts and code thereafter.  It seems the DFRPG is based off FATE 3.0, so I'll likely do some research into that to familiarize myself with it all (I found a useful link somewhere here to the HTML version).  I hope to work something out, get a workable framework into place and ideally find some more steam to launch from there.  May start a blog to report progress and all.  I have generic code I wrote before that would port nicely - mail/item delivery, fully functional banks with wire transfers (add USD and other currencies, or stick with just the one...?), and so on.

Someone in this thread (sorry for the lack of credit at the moment!) suggested using a smaller town, as opposed to a big city.  To allow the game grid to be more dense in usefulness and value, instead of an immense spread of largely useless rooms.  I'm fond of this idea and hope to work with it some.

That makes me wonder about some general questions.  What are some DresdenVerse features that one might consider essential to the theme?