Jupiter's Children : CharSetupCode

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Most people will find the +cset command to be all they need, or want for
that matter. Information on the various +cset commands can be found in
"+help +cset". "+cset/init" is probably the command that people will use
the most often, especially when first setting up a character.

The +cset commands depend on a very important attribute on your Character
Traits Object (CTO)* which is called Traitclasses. The traitclasses
attribute holds a list of all the valid class names, each separated by a |
symbol. No spaces are allowed in the class names since each name is used
in the later stages of the code.

The classes listed in traitclasses can be changed at any time, including
the order. However, if there are traits set with a particular class name
and that class name is removed, those traits will no longer be listed when
the +traits commands are used.


Here's an example of setting up a couple traits. First, let's assume the
player wants the trait classes of "Physical" "Mental" and "Equipment". So
the player would do the following:


Now let's say the player wants to detail the Physical traits "Strong" and
"Tattoos":


Specific traits under the Mental and Equipment classes would be set
similarly. Note the numbers above. They determine the order the traits are
shown in the +traits command.

Keep reading if you want to do it the much more difficult way. :)

Traits can be set without using +cset, though it is not recommended. When
using +cset any ansi, tabs, returns, and substitutions are preserved in
the text when it is later viewed with +traits. Some people will want to
avoid using +cset for their own reasons. The following sections show how
to set the traits without +cset. For those that are okay with using
+cset, you might as well stop reading now. Really. I'm not kidding.

The following is for those crazy people that love to know how code works,
and like to do things the hard way. If you're not one of those people,
you'll probably want to read '%xhnews tutorial traits%xn' instead.

The following information show how to use the instructions in +help traits
to configure the trait system without using +cset. +help traits should be
read as well.

Say you have the following two traits: 'Quirky' and 'Melee Weapons'. The
first is a personality trait, the second is a talent or skill. So, you
would set up &traitclasses with the minimum of:


Now it is time to set each trait. This is where it can be a bit tricky,
but it is easy enough once one is used to a few simple rules. Each
attribute set on a Character Trait Object (the CTO), is made up of 3
parts, and the information for the trait is stored in two different
attributes.

• The first part is the Class Name (and this is why class name cannot have spaces).
• The second part is the Trait Number. The trait number is decided by the player and it can be anything from 01 to 99. (It has to be a two digit number.) So each Trait Class can have up to 99 traits (anyone that claims that is not enough will be ridiculed. :).
• The third part is the Trait Revision. The very first Trait Revision is, by default, zero one (01). The revision number 00 is reserved for the trait name. The Trait Name can be as long as you want it to be, but the +traits code that displays the name will automatically cut it off a about 30 characters.
• Lastly, each part of a trait attribute is separated by an underscore character. This is why you don't want underscores in Class names.

So, using the example above,


The 00 in the first attribute is the revision, as can be seen it is set to
the name of the trait, in this case 'Quirky'. The second attribute that
is set almost matches the first attribute, except instead of 00 it has 01.
It has the trait's /description/. This means that, at minimum, each trait
will have a 00 with the trait name, and a 01 with the trait description.

The class is Personality, so the first part of the attribute is
PERSONALITY. The player decided that Quirky will be the first trait, so
it is given the number 01. The zero is needed since each trait number
must be two digits. Well, it doesn't have to be, but people will make
fun of you if you don't do it.

Continuing the example...


In this example, the player has decided they want Melee Weapons to be the
/third/ trait listed. Perhaps they have Chemistry and Stupid Pickup Lines
as the first two skills. When +traits is used, the output will look
similar to this:

As can be seen, the traits are listed in the order the player wanted. We
won't go into the reasons for why the funky settup of the attributes...
(Well, actually, we do, but not until later.) But it makes for some
wonderfully elegant code that manages to do a lot of work... with a
minimum of effort. Code-wise. The actual coding was lot of effort. It
made our coder eat most of a pan of Apple Crisp and copious amounts of
home-style neopolitan ice cream.

Okay, so now you know the nitty and gritty about setting the traits... and
you might be wondering about the weird numbering system they use. Ie: why
a _00 and _01 instead of a nice _name and _desc?

It has to do with the Revision Trait system. When a player decides to
revise a trait that has been locked and time-stamped, the player sets a
new attribute for the trait. Let's say that through the course of RP,
Cassandra has had a chance to learn enough about using a vibroblade that
she's not likely to put herself in more danger than an enemy. Because of
this, the player decides that the trait saying she is more likely to kill
herself with a melee weapon than manage to scratch another is no longer
accurate. So Cassandra's player writes a new /revision/ for the previous
trait. The trait, if set by hand, would look something like this:


Instead of ending in _01, the trait now ends in _02. If Cassandra learns
even more about melee fighting, the trait can be revised to show this...


The reason why the revision number is used is because the previous
versions of a trait are /still available/. That's right. Using the
proper +trait command, someone can look at the /previous/ versions of that
trait and see how Cassandra has progressed in her melee talent. They will
also see the time-stamp on each trait for when it is locked.

Most +trait commands will automatically show the most recent revision of a
trait.

Note: New revisions only have to be used after a trait is locked. Before
a trait is locked, a player can change it as often as needed. This is why
locking a trait should be done as the last step. Once a trait is looked,
it can only be unlocked by a game wizard.

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NewsCharacters -- CharacterSetup

• [Source]
• [History]
• 2007-12-03 15:45:40
• Owner: JupiterAdmin

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