CF: Map login points

["Michael Toennies" <>]

Hi

A very important thing is needed when we work on the maps.Login & start
points.

A start point its simple the point you start a map, but a login point is
where you appear after
a con lost or a server crash. At this point, the program autosave you also
on nosafe points.

This is a big problem in may maps.

Raffle for example is a dead trap for beginners. If something goes wrong in
raffle, you always
are in a dead trap. Rescue beginners from raffle is a high level sport. :)

The more bad example is the artifact room from the titan castle or other
treasure rooms.
Many poeple stores there one or more mule chars after they get the items
there or they run
in after a high level get the treasure and log out.

After map refresh they log in, get the treasures and log out again or
suiccide and give the items
after diying his main char.

Both are bad xploits which breaks the game. And they are bad for playing.

There is simple way to avoid both.
Its a easy command, which extend the "unholy ground" and/or "no magic
zones".
I will tell it "nosave x" yet, but hold in mind that it will extend some
command we always have in map scripts.
You need a second really new command: "savepoint x". Let me explain how they
work.

For example think of a room which a door to outside, a key and a door to a
treasure room which
opens the key (this is a very easy map, indeed:).

If you crash in the treasure room, you login in a room, which has no exit.
Remember that the point is not to design.
We don't want a login in a treasure room, perhaps the player has crashed the
map
itself to get the treasure a few times in a row... or he crash a artifact
treasure room X times, until he has his Xray helm.

But iself to make design the map "crash stable" is not easy. For our example
map you can put a key in the treasure room so
you can open it from inside too (very bad design, if you run through without
crashing you have at the end 1 useless pair of
keys from all treasure rooms... this drives us to more exloits...)

Also a out teleporter is not good, because maps can be conplicated with 10
possible dead points in it... this makes 10
teleporter you must avoid in normal play, because they put you out...

What i will say its, there is no way to avoid the death trap or login bug
with normal map design or items.

Back to savepoints/nosave.

Now we use the "savepoint 1" at the tile, where in our simple map the
original key is. Now we set all tiles of
the treasure chamber to "nosave 1" including the tile where the special door
is (!).
Now, if a char logout at a map point where a "nosave 1" is given, you don't
appear
at this point when you login. You will appear at the "savepoint 1" point of
course.

The parameter of savepoint and nosave is needed because you can have a map
with 2 parts.
There you go from treasure chamber 1 to savepoint 1 and the 2nd treasure
chamber will have
nosave 2 and a 2nd savepoint in a 2nd start area.

For raffle like maps, you must use it in a little different way. Because you
can stuck in level 3 of  X levels. When you login
you will start at a valid point in level 3, but when you go back, you run in
in the reseted map level 2 at the end point of the
labyrith there ... you problems will start again. Here you need a special
place, you start. In simple design you have a
in the start place of the level 3 a starting room. Add a small room to him,
which a special key door. inside this room is
the savepoint, a teleporter out and the key for the door. So you have all
options: open the door and do the level, and/or get
out... and so on... you can also add teleporters to the startpoint room the
level above, so you can work you way in the right
order again.

For simple maps, where you don't want allow a save inside the labyrinth, you
can give the savepoint/nosave as a global map
argument, so you don't must set it for every tile.

This startpoint/nosave is really needed, because you can start with our
actual system in very bad positions. I think about
3 key doors in a row... and the server crashes when you stand where the 2nd
was... at login you stand above a special key
door and you has a special key door in front of you and behind you.... hope
you have a recall...

Btw: i think some server crashes comes, while player login at places, where
the map was reseted.I see often that the last message
you got when the server dies was, that a guy login...

Michael


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