Kefka's Discworld MUD ...Stuff


Creator Card Album


Note

A creator card album has been released in game. It is not, to my knowledge, modelled on the one in this report.



Overview

This idea is for a card album to store and display creator cards, similar to the albums available IRL for collectable cards. The album is based on a book (with certain different abilities and modifications), which most people are familiar with using on the MUD.



The Album

While the card albums are similar to books, they are not the same. They have extra commands and features associated to them and some functions of books (such as writing in them and tearing out pages) do not apply. However, since they share some commands with books, some of the basic functionality would the same as a book, making them fairly easy to pick up and use.

The pages of the album open into a 4x2 grid (2x2 on the left and 2x2 on the right) of slots. Technically this is two pages, but the album treats them as one. The album consists of 26 pages - A to Z. The slots of each page are identified by the numbers 1 to 8. This allows room for 208 cards in each album. It would be nice if the album could be opened/turned to a certain page letter instead of just a number.

>look album
This thick book has been bound in brown leather. A shiny brass plaque attached to the front
cover proudly proclaims it to be a card album.  The thickness is due to the fact that each pages
is constructed from several sheets of stiff cardboard, craftily cut to allow cards to be slid
inside and displayed.
It is closed.

>open album to page a
You open the card album to page A.
>look album
+--------------+--------------++--------------+--------------+
|A1            |A2            ||A3            |A4            |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |  Dogbolter   ||     Kake     |    Ceres     |
|              | (  black   ) || ( rainbow! ) | (   gold   ) |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
+--------------+--------------++--------------+--------------+
|A5            |A6            ||A7            |A8            |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|    Arwyn     |              ||              |  Touchstone  |
| (  burnt   ) |              ||              | (  silver  ) |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
|              |              ||              |              |
+--------------+--------------++--------------+--------------+
The album is open to page 1.

>look a2 in album
This is a Creator Collector Card.  It has a plain black border around the edge and a
small picture of Dogbolter on it.
This is Dogbolter, Lord of Underworld.  Hairy and a bit loose at the seams, surrounded
by empty bottles, he appears fairly content.

At 62x23 characters, the above output is safe for standard col/row settings. Cards can be placed anywhere in the album, with the name and border type being displayed when a card is present in a slot. Looking at slots in an album (e.g. 'look a1 in album') produces the description of the card.

Basic commands such as 'open', 'close' and 'turn' work as they do on a book, however albums have a number of other commands.



The 'slide' Command

This command is used to put creator cards into an album. Only creator cards can be put into an album. If considered more user-friendly, I imagine using a special syntax 'put' command could work here. The album must be open to the correct page to slide in a card.

>syntax slide
Forms of syntax available for the command 'slide':
slide <creator card> {in|into} [slot] <slot> of <album>

>slide card into slot a1 of album
You slide the creator collector card into slot A1 of the card album.


The 'retrieve' Command

This command is used to get creator cards from an album. If considered more user-friendly, I imagine using a special syntax 'get' command could work here. The album must be open to the correct page to retrieve a card.

>syntax retrieve
Forms of syntax available for the command 'retrieve':
retrieve [card in slot] <slot> from <album>

>retrieve a1 from album
You slide the creator collector card out of slot A1 of the card album.


The 'find' Command

This command is used to search for a specific creator card in an album. It tells the player which coordinates any matching cards can be found.

>syntax find
Forms of syntax available for the command 'find':
find <name> in <album>

>find reality in album
You flick through the card album, but it does not contain a Reality card.

>find tique in album
You flick through the card album, and find Tique cards at B2 and F6.


The 'check' Command

This command is used to provide a summary of the contents of an album. I'm not sure how to make this command the most effective. It could have multiple syntaxes which allow you to summarise different information, or show things in alphabetical order, etc. I've just written up a basic version of it

>syntax check
Forms of syntax available for the command 'check':
check <album>

>check album
A flick through the card album reveals the following cards are present:
Dogbolter (black), Kake (rainbow), Ceres (gold), Arwyn (burnt), Touchstone (silver), Tique (black),
Woom (silver) and Dasquian (gold).
The card album contains a total of 8 cards.


Notes




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