[MUD-Dev] Unique items vs. item references

[Vincent Archer]

According to Brian Hook:

> But since I don't have direct experience in this arena, I'd like
> to hear how others have addressed this.  I believe that this was
> apparently one of the defining differences between EQ and UO?

Not just between EQ and UO.

Well, if you count the "major" graphical games, you'll see quickly that:

  - EQ: uses indexed items. So indexed that there's even a plug-in
  to keep track of the index numbers (an integer) and the stats
  whenever your client requires the stats (magelo, see
  www.magelo.com)

  The only property EQ items have is the "size", which is, depending
  on the item, the size of the stack or the amount of charges it
  holds (and an item cannot have both)

  - UO: I'm not sure about it. To me, from my distant perspective,
  it seems it used indexed items with one or two additional
  properties (quality), but I might be wrong

  - AC: Totally unique items. There's a random treasure generator
  that creates items out whole cloth. Quality, price, damage, armor
  levels are all individual (and, since recently, even modifiable
  after the fact by a craft skill). Non-stackable items can even be
  "inscribed" by a player with notes and his signature (usually
  "Call me if found" on your precious equipment in case of loss; I
  know I managed to find a player's leggings like that, and the
  player was overjoyed of recovering them)

  The story is that, during beta (I think), there was a GM event,
  and the designers wanted a special item as a reward. They didn't
  even had an item editor, so they just created a chest that
  respawned its content every 2s, flagged it as the most uber-level
  chest possible in game, and pulled items from it until they found
  one that they liked.

  - DAoC: Similar to AC. There might be a bit more different
  templates to play with, but they look individual. The advent of
  spellcraft (soon, very soon) shows that items can be
  individualised and altered to a very large amount (adding "buffs",
  particle effects, "procs", etc) at the player's convenience.

My own opinion: Storage is cheap. Whether in memory or on disk. It
gets cheaper all the time (with bumps, notably regarding memory, but
still).  Go for the "basic template"+"shitload of properties". Your
basic template defines the unchangeable properties of the item (it's
a blaster. It's a hoverpack. It's a storage chest), and everything
else is individual.

--
	Vincent Archer			Email:	archer at frmug.org

All men are mortal.  Socrates was mortal.  Therefore, all men are Socrates.
							(Woody Allen)

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