The Art of Building

The purpose of this document is to help teach people who are new to building for muds the art of building. Learning the technical part of building is necessary, but it is only a small part of becoming a good builder. A good builder can convince players that the miniature world he/she built is real while they are in it.

What it Takes

Imagination

I don't think I need to expand on that one.

Curiosity

Ask questions lots of them! How do I do this? Can I do this? The more questions you ask, the more you will learn. Admins, generally, like new builders who ask lots of questions, and don't mind answering them. Some actually enjoy it because it shows a genuine interest.

Patience

Patience is actually required in several ways, especially if you are just learning to build. The chances are good that your first area will not be the "Area to End all Areas." Very few people submit an excellent first area. It is a learning process. If you stick to it, you will master it. The aforementioned admins who love answering questions can sometimes be quite busy. When your work is at a stand still, even if it is hard to wait. Be patient, they usually get back to you as soon as they can. Building a good area is a long sometime tedious process. Parts of it aren't that much fun, but are very necessary. If you take the time to do it right, other people will notice the difference.

Common sense, and pride

Use what you disliked in areas to build guidelines for yourself. (I.e., don't you hate when you are walking west in a hallway that assumes you are going east? My personal pet peeve is copied room descriptions, changing one line at the end doesn't make a difference in my book. There are players who look at everything in the description or try to. Flush everything out with as much detail as you can. Take pride in your work. One new builder pointed out to me that most people don't pay attention to such things. I told him I do not build my areas for them, I build them for the people who do true exploration. Just because "most people" ignore the extra work does not mean it should remain undone. Take pride in your work, be thorough, and you will be a good builder.

Getting Started

Start by making one room, one object, and one mob. That way you will find out what you have to work with. You should not start before you have at least a basic familiarity with the editors. If you do not completely understand something, ask about it. No one will think any question you ask is silly. The more you ask, the more you learn.

Building an Area

Plan your area

Design the general layout. What will its name be? What levels will it be for? What terrain will it be in? What are some key mobs you want in it? You can play with this part at the same time you are playing with the editors. Refine your layout, and map it out on graph paper. Once you have done that, you can start putting the rooms in.

Personally I do some sort of research either on-line, in books, or both. It is not necessary, but it can give you a cool idea for a mob or room. Sometimes it can trigger an idea that adds more depth to your zone. By no means is it an iron clad script saying you must do it this way. I could not build like that myself. I would certainly not expect it of others.

Determine your mud's standards

Each mud has different standards on rooms, mobs, and objects. It will save you at lot of time if you check the standards before you start building the related area. It would be a pain to put all of that work into an area, submit it thinking you are done, and then have to completely redo one or more aspects of the area. It is much easier if you build according to your mud's standards, than if you have to revise your area to fit them. On mob and object balance, you can ask your administration for example areas on your mud that they consider well balanced for the level group you wish to work in.

Invest in a Thesaurus

Synonyms are the key to having rooms that could be repetitive look slightly different. It also helps if you are searching for the perfect word. Sometimes if I can not find the word I am looking for using the thesaurus, I start looking up synonyms of the words I have found. The results are slightly different.

Begin making your area

After you have mapped out your area, go through and do a skeleton or backbone of the zone. Just make one room with the most common sector type, and copy it to all of the rooms you will need. I do not name it nor do a description at this point. The reason for this is that you can not make an exit to a room that does not exist. It is easier to be able to make the exits when you make the room.

Once you have the backbone, there are two ways you can go about it. Some people go through and make the rooms first, then the mobs, the objects, then the shops. Personally, I go through and make each room completely before moving onto the next. That includes the mobs and objects that go there, and shops etc.

Whichever way you decide to use, I suggest that you finish a room completely the first time you do it (i.e., add all of the exit descriptions and extra descriptions). It is much easier to add them then than at the end. You should take the same approach with mobs and objects. Do a thorough job the first time through. You will have fewer errors in your finished product that way.

Assume everyone who enters your areas has a vivid imagination, and curiosity. Cater to them. Although it is not true, there are enough mudders out there who do appreciate a job well done.

Do not get discouraged!

Yes, there is a lot to learn.
Take it at whatever pace you can.
Nobody expects a new builder to instantly whip out the perfect zone on his or her first try.

Advanced issues

"Feelings, you, smells, and sounds"

I would have to say one of the harder things about building is getting players to feel a certain way without coming out and saying something like, "A feeling of fear overcomes you." The player sitting at their computer very well may not be afraid. A couple of alternatives could be:

"The acrid smell of fear lingers in the air"
"An eerie wind rustles softly through the leaves."

Some good rules of thumb for using 'you': never use it to start a room description, never use it more than once in a room, and use it in as few rooms as possible.

"Finding the balance of using 'you' is tricky. Some muds disallow the personal pronoun 'you' at all, although I think that's a bit extreme."

Arachne of Oddville

Some muds have a guideline that states you should not use smells or sounds either, on the basis of a "scry" skill, where players can see where other players or mobs are. I do not agree with this. Smells and sounds are a good way to add depth to the game.

Walking, and standing

Another problem that is generally, but not always, associated with the use of you is walking and standing. Not all characters walk. Some fly. It is better to write descriptions that could fit either walking or flying creatures unless there is something about the room that forces one or the other.

Challenge versus frustration

I do not know if you have seen immortals that brag about how many mortals that their area has killed. Setting out to kill players is not a good goal for building; challenging players is. Death is a part of mudding. It is how you learn. If an area is set up with killing players as the sole goal, death is not as much of a learning tool as it should be. Players walk away from that frustrated. Finding a balance between pointless slaughter, and challenge is something you should be able to develop a feel for with time.

My last tip

Take the information you have found here and use it as a basis to develop your own writing style. To a degree it is something you have do to over and over until you get the feel for it. Hopefully this page will have given you a good starting point.

Credits

Most of this Document can be found at: The Art of Building Web page at:

http://www.artofbuilding.eqsdesigns.com/index.html

Their email is artofbuilding@eqsdesigns.com

Special thanks go out to Carletta Brown/Zylara (zylara@iamerica.net) of Zylara’s Castle (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Castle/7732/)

Without whom I never would have found this information.

Arachne (Kaltes@axion.net) of Oddville (http://welcome.to/Oddville) contributed the statements on 'you' usage in a discussion regarding building.

These are samples and tips provided by myself, and other members of the mudding community. If you have any samples or tips you would like to contribute, please send them to minex@tdod.org . If you would like credit please state the name you want credited, a link to a webpage , email, a mud where you build, and/or its telnet address. You may use any combination you desire. Samples and tips without this information will be listed as anonymous.