LPMuds.net

So our hosting provider just updated us from a 2.4 kernel to a 2.6 (without asking), and now time does not proceed in our mud. It's MudOS v22.2b14, but I tried with fluffos 2.21 and it has the same problem.

I tracked it down to the unix time() function which is used to get the current time in mudos and, I presume, fluffos (have not checked fluffos source code yet). You can "man 2 time" in linux to get the man page on this C function.

MudOS port.c, lines 69-72:
int get_current_time()
{
    return (int) time(0l);      /* Just use the old time() for now */
}

Seems simple enough, right??

Anyone have any clue why this is not working anymore??

Hello everyone,

I am one of the admins on Primal Darkness, a dark fantasy MUD that has been around since 2000. We have a medium-sized world and a small but steady player base, and we're looking to increase both of those!

Currently there are only a few active coders and we'd like to add another. Our mudlib was originally Nightmare 3, but it has been (and continues to be) heavily modified. The driver is a recent, stable build of MudOS. We only need one more coder for the time being, and s/he would be working under the two admins with a healthy mix of specific projects and doing your own thing. I'm more than willing to teach LPC techniques, but you should know some LPC already and, preferably, good programming practices in general. This is a live MUD so it's important to keep bugs, slowdowns, and crashes to a bare minimum! This position would work on almost anything, potentially - new backend systems, cleaning up existing code, new and useful commands, running events, etc.

To expand the world, we are looking for a full time builder. Creativity and drive are the most important things to have here - we can teach you how to build and take care of any complicated stuff. We do not currently have any OLC system setup, though it's planned to have one eventually. This person would usually just have to clear his/her areas with the admins - there will be few assigned projects. Also important for this position are good grammar and spelling.

Lastly, we're always looking for more players, so anyone who wants to drop by and try us out can do so at mud.primaldarkness.com port 5000. We have over 20 races, over 20 classes, and a world ready for you to get lost in.

Anyone looking to apply for a position should contact myself or Stormbringer on the mud. You can also email me at the address listed in my profile.

In a piece of code I'm writing, I'm using an anonymous function like so:

// first populate the object array "allitems"
// bag is an object
allitems = filter(all_inventory(bag), (:
  (!($1->query_property("no steal")) && $1->get())
:) );

// I calculate the value of tmp here, shouldn't be important

allitems = sort_array(allitems,
  function (object a, object b, tmp) {
    int aw = a->query_weight();
    int bw = b->query_weight();
    mapping acv = a->query_curr_value();
    mapping bcv = b->query_curr_value();
    int agv = (acv && acv["gold"] ? acv["gold"] : 0);
    int bgv = (bcv && bcv["gold"] ? bcv["gold"] : 0);
    aw -= agv;
    bw -= bgv;
 
    aw -= bw;
    aw = aw + random(tmp) - random(tmp);

    if (aw < 0) return -1;
    else if (aw > 0) return 1;
    else return 0;
  },
tmp);

When I try to update this file, the mud segfaults. MudOS v22.2b14. Odd things: It doesn't matter whether the file successfully updates or not. It segfaulted both with syntax errors and without. Also, it sometimes takes a few heart_beats before it crashes.

I have gotten it to work by taking the anonymous function and making it a separate function, then calling it, like so:
int sortitems(object, object, int);



allitems = sort_array(allitems, (: "sortitems" :), tmp);


int sortitems(object a, object b, int tmp) {
  // exact same contents as the anonymous function posted above
}

Has anyone else had this sort of thing happen?? I use anonymous functions fairly often, does anyone have any tips on how to avoid this thing in the future??

I'm thinking of coding a name generator in LPC that people can use when connecting. After finding and reading the history of http://www.rinkworks.com/namegen/, I think I have a good idea of where to start: syllables and rules for putting them together.

Perhaps like this:

string *vowels = ({
  "a", "e", "i", "o", "u", "y",
});

string *consonants = ({
  "b", "c", "d", "f", "g", "h", "j", "k", "l", "m",
  "n", "p", "q", "r", "s", "t", "v", "w", "x", "z",
  "ya", "ye", "yi", "yo", "yu",
});

mapping syllable_rules = ([
  "bla" : ([
    "before" : ({ "C", "i", "u" }),
    "after" : ({ "V", "b", "l", "r" })
  ]),
  "hor" : ([
    "before" : ({ "a", "d", "k", "n" }),
    "after" : ({ "V", "s", "t", "c" }),
  ]),
]);

int is_vowel(string c) { return member_array(c, consonants) == -1; }

Basically, grab a random syllable, then grab another random one to add to the end, check if the new one fits the "after" rule of the first one, and if the first one fits the "before" rule of the new one, and if so, put them together. Random name length, biased toward medium, with a maximum. C stands for any consonant and V for any vowel.

What I'm looking for is anyone who's done this sort of thing before and any advice they might have. This basically falls into the realm of language parsing, with which I have very little experience. Will I be fiddling with the rules and adding new syllables until the day I die?? Or is it possible to get a fairly good generator without devoting months of my life??