<>=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=<> || || || MUD NEWS || || October 10, 2004 || || || <>=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=\=<> Welcome to this MUD! I created this mud in order to preserve the legacy of one of the best and oldest MUDs on the net; Apocalypse V (apocmud.org:4000). I have reverse engineered the entire Apocalypse V mud engine. This monumental task has taken two months of my life, but it is now complete and ready for your enjoyment! In the process, I made the following improvements: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMPROVEMENTS FROM APOCALYPSE V ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <> Added spell 'enlarge' for Magic Users. <> Added spell 'shrink' for Magic Users. <> Added spell 'chain lightning' for Magic Users. <> Added spell 'recharge' for Magic Users and Necromancers. <> Added spell 'conjure undead' for Necromancers. <> Added spell 'searing orb' for Druids. <> Added spell 'wail of the banshee' for Bards. <> Added spell 'second sight' for Monks. <> Added spell 'calm' for Monks. <> Added spell 'summon avenger' for Paladins. <> Added spell 'summon beast' for Rangers. <> Added spell 'asphyxiate' for Anti-Paladins. <> Added skill 'shieldpunch' for Fighters. <> Added skill 'shieldrush' for Fighters. <> Added skill 'estates' for Paladins and Thieves. <> Added skill 'critical hit' for Monks and Samurai. <> Whirlwind attack is now a skill, not a spell. <> Improved 'bash' skill. It can now be used to damage opponents in addition to opening doors. <> Improved 'cannibalize' and 'blood quench' spells. Corpses that contain items now leave their items on the ground once consumed. <> Spell 'vitalize mana' now uses up all but 10 moves so that you can still flee in case you are attacked right after you cast this spell. <> Improved spell 'sleepwalk'. Affected players also gain dreamsight ability and can wander around on their own without having to follow a master. <> Several balance modifications and improvements were made to other spells. (Type help '' to see if your favorite spell has been altered) <> Three new item positions added: 2 x ear, mask <> Items can now be flagged NEUTRAL (makes wearer more neutral aligned each tick) <> Added self charging item capability (gains 1 charge per day if worn) <> Many new item affects added. (CIMM+ type 'oedit' for a list) <> Added damage type 'random' (randomly selects an attack type to use. e.g. slash, cold, fire, bludgeon, etc.) <> Added two-handed weapon type <> Added languages (type 'help' languages. NOTE: everyone knows 'common') <> Added gold/experience gain per tick item capabilities <> Added nw, sw, se, ne directions (not currently used in any existing rooms) <> Added moon phases (affects spell 'moon mote', and will be used with planned lyncanthropy type mobiles/zones) <> Outdoor light intensity now affected by: cloud cover, moon phase <> Players that are affected by bat sonar now see the names of cloaked mobiles when they look in the mobile's room. <> Cloaked mobiles now have a '#' next to their names. (similar to the '*' for invisible mobiles) <> Greatly improved mobile AI especially for spellcasters. <> Your charmies may now be attacked by aggressive mobiles. Beware! Try making your charmies invisible to the enemy. <> You can now order your chamies to cast spells that they know. You won't be able to order a charmie to cast an offensive spell at a player character. <> Charmies may now be recharmed by a different master before they return to their homelands. This is a privilege that will be taken away if there are too many complaints made by players who have their charmies stolen by other players. If you steal another player's charmie, you will be punished by the Gods. <> You can now uncharm any one of your charmies by using the 'uncharm' command. <> You can no longer attack your own charmies. If you want them dead, just 'uncharm' them first. <> The 'dispel magic' spell will no longer uncharm mobiles. <> Formerly charmed mobiles will now return to their homelands after 5 ticks. <> Improved the 'gate' spell. Summoned demons will remain charmed indefinatly like necromancer zombies. There are 5 different types of demons, each is a different character class with unique abilities. <> Mobile spellcasters will now use up their own mana whenever they cast spells. (just like PCs) <> If you cast an offensive spell at a mobile, it will attack now you _even when_ you lose concentration. <> Gold stored at the bank now earns interest at 10% per mud year <> Rentfund removed. Rent is now payed first using money from the bank, then from carried gold. <> Added the Cryogenic Center in the cellar of the Grunting Boar Inn in Midgaard. This is similar to an inn except you can store your items for up to 60 days with just one payment of four days rent. <> Same type items, mobiles, and other objects are now shown in a group. <> Now both wisdom AND intelligence will give you extra mana points. (help wisdom, help intelligence) <> Much improved damage resistance/immunity handling. It is now percentage based! <> Physical resistances for player characters is capped at maximum of 75%. <> Saving throws are now percentage based. (0 = best, 100 = worst) <> Added 'autogold' and 'autoloot' commands <> Removed DIMM, DGOD immortal levels. I just didn't feel they were needed. <> Added 'teachall' GOD command <> Added the Merriam-Webster dictionary and thesaurus for builders to use. Type help 'dictionary' for more info. <> Added 'prereq' command <> Added 'immortalize' command. A Level 40 mortal with enough experience for immortality can use this command anytime to permanently become immortal. <> Added 'resurrect' command. A Level 40 mortal with enough experience for immortality can use this command anytime to become reborn as a level 1 mortal but with +1 to an attribute of his/her choosing! This is a favorable option among career mortals. Read help 'resurrect' for more information. <> Improved readability of 'scan' command <> Improved 'flee' command. Now displays lost experience and dishonor gained by fleeing. <> Greatly improved 'consider' command. It now shows mobile statistics and accurately predicts your success at defeating a mobile. <> Improved the 'attribute' command by adding new information like average damage per hit/round, resistances, backstab multiplier, gains/tick, and charmie information. <> Improved the 'time' command. Now displays moon phase (if outdoors) and room light intensity. <> Objects on the floor now show up in green to help distinguish them from mobiles. <> Many other commands added (type 'help index' for a list) <> Added a 'grats' channel. Type 'help grats' for more information. <> Barter channel gold limit now increased from 500k to 1 million. <> The damage inflicted by all spells now _increases_ as you gain levels instead of decreasing. <> All skills/spells/languages/weapon proficiencies now use the percentage system (poor = 0%, superb = 100%) instead of the Apocalypse V style (1 prac = poor, 5 pracs = superb) <> Modified the 'proficiency' command so it lists exactly (percentage) how well you know each skill. <> Now whenever you successfuly use a skill, spell, or weapon proficiency there is a 1% chance you will improve the skill by several percentage points. When this happens you will also gain a small amount of experience that scales with your level. <> If you have a spell learned at 100% proficiency, you will only lose concentration 1/100th of the time (much less frequently than on Apocalypse V) <> The armor points of zombies created using 'animate dead' now increases with the corpse level. <> Embalmed zombies now have 2 attacks per round. <> Whenever you 'taste' food or water, you consume 1 unit of it. <> A few skills and spells now have TWO prerequisites. <> Constitution loss and con death have been removed. The new death penalty for for players above level 15 is a 4% chance/level that one randomly picked item (either worn or in inventory) will be destroyed whenever you die. If you have no items when you die, then you will lose up to 500000 gold from your bank or carried gold (whichever is greator). <> Closed door exits are now visible. They appear red, and are contained inside parenthesis. <> Improved bulletin boards. They are now threaded, and an 'X' indicates already read messages. <> Added a donation room east of the altar in the Temple of Midgaard. <> Added HEAL rooms (opposite of PAIN rooms). The Temple of Midgaard has been made a heal room. (help 'heal room') <> Added CURRENT rooms. Players in these rooms will automatically be moved out about every 10 seconds. (e.g. if you're on a river, and its flagged CURRENT, then you would be swept downstream into a nearby room.) <> Added NO_IMM rooms. Immortals and Arch-Immortals cannot enter or look into these rooms. <> Added timed death trap capability. TIMED DT's might go off after you've been in the room for awhile. Better learn to read those room descriptions quickly! (NOTE: no timed DT rooms are currently implemented...) <> Rewrote and optimized mob aggression code. <> Immortals can cast spells regardless of how much mana they have. <> Sector type is now visible to Immortals if they have roomflags enabled. <> Added a MUD mail system. Stamps cost 150 gold. Type help 'mail' Now you can send private mail to any other player! <> If your size changes and your worn equipment no longer fits, it will now fall off into your inventory instead of on the ground. <> The reward for destroying objects has been increased to 1/8 the sale value of the object. Likewise, the reward for for dropping items to the dump has been increased to 1/5th the object's value. <> Shopkeepers can now tell you the stats of any item they sell at no charge. Type help 'describe' for more information. <> The 'tell' command now works while you're sleeping. <> Damage from envenomed weapons is now multiplied by your backstab multiplier. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HELP REQUESTS: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- <> I need help recreating all the Apocalypse V zones on this mud. The MUD engine is in place, now we just need to recreate the zones. If you would like to participate in this effort, please email me at richardballantyne@@gmail.com and explain what you are willing to do and an estimate on how long it will take. Afterwards, you will be promoted to CIMM and given one Apocalypse V zone to recreate. Your help with this is greatly appreciated! <> I desperatly need from Apocalypse V (apocmud.org:4000) the text that is shown whenever the following spells are cast. For each spell I need: * Death Message (damager, damagee, onlookers) * Miss Message (damager, damagee, onlookers) * Hit message (damager, damagee, onlookers) * God message (damager, damagee, onlookers) elemental hands* (need damage messages for each element type) elemental burst* (need damage messages for each element type) elemental blast* (need damage messages for each element type) elemental strike* (need damage messages for each element type) cannibalize roar (need caster message) pacify (need victim message) turn undead sonic blast hail of arrows hornets dart If you have mortals on Apocalypse V and can get these texts, please email them to me at richardballantyne@@gmail.com so I can add them to this MUD. Thanks you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Any problems you experience, we ask that you please email the MUD account at: richardballantyne@@gmail.com. Enjoy the MUD! Thanks, Odin. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------