Alter Aeon FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

FAQ Section 23 - [builder] Mob building

Question 23.1  - Important - overall mob building procedure

Mobs, particularly low level mobs, are very simple to build:

1) Create the mob and load a copy

2) Set the strings, all of them

3) Set the mob type, race, size, and gender

4) Use 'mset overall' to set the mob level.  For example 'mset mob overall 23'
   to give the mob level 23 stats.  Make sure to check 'rack mcheck' for
   appropriate level ranges for your boss, exp, and decoration mobs.

5) Add specps and make minor tweaks if needed.

In short:  don't try to custom tweak the hitpoints, don't try to custom
modify damroll or dieroll or any of that stuff - just set the strings,
set the type/race, and mset overall to fill out everything else.

This allows us to relevel monsters quickly and easily later on, and
is particularly important in new player zones.

One other thing to keep in mind is to keep mob maxload below 3 or 5.
It's a lot better to have six mob vnums at maxload 2 than one vnum
loaded a dozen times.

Question 23.2  - How do I create a new mob?

Use the 'mcreate' command to create it.  This will create the vnum, and
will also load a copy of the mob in the room with you.  You can then use
the 'mset' command to modify it.

When creating a new mob, this is the recommended procedure:
1) create the vnum with mcreate
2) give the mob its name, fight string, ground string, and long description
3) use 'mset <mob name> overall' to set race, type, and general level
5) stat the mob with 'mstat', and make changes as needed
6) add special procedures, programs, and interactives

You should also save the mobs stats from time to time so that new copies of
vnum will load with your updated stats.  The command to do this is
'mset <mob name> save'.
Note that 'mset save' is different from 'mset <mob name> save'!

Before logging out, you should also save all the mob vnums you have modified
with the 'mset save' command.  This command writes all the vnum data to disk.
If the mud crashes before you use 'mset save', some of your changes could be
lost.

Question 23.3  - How do I see what mobs I have created?

Use the 'mshow' command.  The syntax looks like:

mshow                 - show other mobs near the first one in the room
mshow <vnum>          - show a list of 15 mobs starting from the given vnum
mshow <name>          - show a list of mobs with the given name
mshow <name1> <name2> - show a list of mobs with both given names

Examples would be:

mshow 6300
mshow rabbit
mshow demon wolf

There are similar commands for rooms (rshow), doors (dshow), objects
(oshow), and other various things.

Question 23.4  - Why won't my mob follow my orders?  I just created it!

Because mobs don't follow orders from anyone, unless they are charmed.  As
a builder, you don't care - you should be using the 'force' command
instead.

See also 'help force'.

Question 23.5  - My mob won't do anything when I force it.  How do I tell what's happening?

Try using the 'snoop' command to see what exactly is going on.  A lot of
stupid stuff can prevent a mob from completing its actions, including not
being strong enough to wield a weapon, not being able to move because it's
surrounded by nomob rooms, etc.  Just snoop it and try the force again, you
should see why the mob isn't reacting. 

Question 23.6  - How do I check the stats on a mob?

Use the 'mstat' command to see generic stats such as hp, mana, and level.
Use the 'msstat' command to see strings.
Use the 'mspstat' command to see spells and specps.

Optionally, you can also 'snoop' the mob and 'force' it to use the score
command.

(advanced commands)
Use 'msi' to see interactive procedures.
Use 'msr' to see interactive debug data.
Use 'msm' to see raw specp and memory data.

Question 23.7  - Now that I can see my mobs stats, how do I change them?

Use the 'mset' command.  Usually you can use commands like:

mset mob hp 450
mset mob hitroll 13
mset mob die 4d15
mset mob dex 20
mset mob level 17

You can also change the names and strings of the mobs:

mset mob name mob silly tester
mset mob fight A silly tester mob
mset mob ground A silly tester mob waits for you to change its stats.
mset mob long

After changing your mob to what you want, make sure to use the
'mset <mobname> save' command!  This will save the stats on your
current mob, so future copies of it will have the same stats.  You will
also want to use the 'mset save' command from time to time to save ALL
of your mob changes to disk.

Question 23.8  - Why can't I set experience or gold on my mobs?

Gold and experience are automatically calculated from the mobs stats and
how players interact with it.

Question 23.9  - How do I keep my mob from wandering all over the place?

There are many different ways to do this, but keep in mind that your rooms
and mobs have to work in concert - you can set rooms so that certain mobs
can wander into them, while other mobs cannot.

Room flag     Mob flag    Effect
-----------------------------------------------
NOMOB         WANDERLUST  Mobs can't enter nomob rooms unless wanderlust
ANTI_RED      RED         Red mobs can't enter antired rooms
ANTI_GREEN    GREEN       Green mobs can't enter antigreen rooms
ANTI_BLUE     BLUE        Blue mobs can't enter antiblue rooms

Room terrain  Effect
-----------------------------------------------
UNDERWATER    Mob needs WATERBREATHING flag to move/survive
WATER         Mob needs BOAT or FLY flag to enter
AIR           Mob needs FLY flag to enter

Mob flag      Effect
-----------------------------------------------
STAYWATER     Mob will not wander out of water rooms
STAYZONE      Mob will not wander outside the bounds of your area

Note that low level builders can not set the wanderlust flag - wanderlust
mobs can roam outside of area boundaries and this can mess up other areas
pretty easily.

If you need a wanderlust flag, you'll have to talk to a worldbuilder and
let them know why it's necessary.

Question 23.10 - All this typing sucks, how can I set mob stats faster?

Yes.  There are three sets of commands to help reduce typing.  The first
two are the weakest, and you probably dont want to use them:

mset <mobname> level <number>  - sets all four levels on the mob
mset <mobname> stats <number>  - sets all six stats on the mob

The command most commonly used is this:

mset <mobname> overall

This asks you a few questions about the mob, and sets most of the default
stats to something reasonable.  After using the command, you should check
the mob and adjust it as necessary to make it what you want.

If you don't know what you are doing, it is safe to keep most of the
stats set with 'mset <mobname> overall'.