Help on: system basics

The three main building blocks of Ishar are ROOMS, MOBILES, and OBJECTS.

Rooms are the spatial components of the virtual world. Rooms always have names and numbers, they usually have exits to other rooms and descriptions to give them some flavor.

Mobiles (mob for short) are computer generated entities. They usually provide a service (eg. janitors), but sometimes they are just there for decoration. Mobiles sometimes have a limited sort of awareness of certain events but they are NOT intelligent.

Objects (obj for short) are just what the name suggests: computer generated objects--armor, weapons, bulletin boards.

You move around the world and interact with mobiles, objects and your fellow users by entering plain English commands. For example, suppose you use the 'who' command and notice your good friend, Bif, is logged in. Here is a possible sequence of events. The text that you supposedly typed is next to the > prompts.

> goto bif
(1541) Secluded Courtyard
   The merry sound of laughing children can occasionally be heard above
the lilting music of an unseen string quartet.  Lush plant-life
surrounds you, filling the air with the earthy perfume of life.
     A bulletin board is mounted here.     (2 unread)
 A weary janitor makes his appointed rounds.
 Bif is standing here.
 Muffy is standing here.
> say Howdy Bif!  Hiya Muffy!
You say, "Howdy Bif!  Hiya Muffy!"
> tickle muffy
You tickle Muffy.
Muffy smiles happily.
Bif smiles at you.
> say I just posted to the board in 1334, go take a look.
You say, "I just posted to the board in 1334, go take a look."
Muffy says, "I'll check it out, be right back."
Muffy disappears in a puff of smoke.

In this example, 'Secluded Courtyard' is the room's name. The room's number is 1541 and the room has a description.

You used the 'goto' command to get there as did Muffy when she left. Since you gave Muffy the room number, she probably did a 'goto 1334' to get there. Users, mobiles, objects and room numbers can all be used with the goto command.

The room contained 2 users (3 counting you), a janitor mob, and a bulletin board with 2 messages you haven't read.

You used the 'say' command to communicate which sends your speech to the other occupants of the room. Muffy also used this command when she agreed to look at your board posting.

You each used a type of command known as a 'social'. You tickled Muffy and Bif and Muffy each used the 'smile' social. Muffy simply typed 'smile' and Bif typed 'smile <your name>' to smile at you. There are LOTS of socials and they really liven up communication.

Let's continue our example just a bit further:

Bif says, "By the way, what's the deal with this door here." > say What door? There was never a door here before... You say, "What door? There was never a door here before..." > exits south: Cobbled Walkway east : The door is closed. out : Cobbled Walkway > look east A heavy, oaken door. The door is closed. > open door It appears to be locked. > unlock door You don't have the proper key. > tell muffy Do you know where this new door goes to? You tell Muffy, "Do you know where this new door goes to?" Muffy tells you, "Nope." > say An entrance to another game, maybe. You say, "An entrance to another game, maybe."

You have used the 'exits' command to display the possible exits. The room names given, along with the direction to go to get there. The east exit is closed. MOST exits are named north, south, east, west, up or down and you can move through them by typing n,s,e,w,u or d. There is the occasional oddly named exit, such as 'out', and you can move through these by typing 'go <exit name>' ('go out' in this case).

You used the 'look' command to see what was to the east. The look command can be used to look at other users, mobiles or objects the same way.

You tried to open, then unlock the door.

You tried to use the 'goto' command with a room number as a target. The message indicates that the target room is not open to users for one reason or another.

You used the 'tell' command to ask Muffy about the door. The 'say' command goes to everyone in the room, but 'tell' is used for private, person-to-person communication across any distance. Even though Bif was in the room with you, he could not hear your tell to Muffy or her tell to you.

That should give you the flavor of the system. Here is a list of some basic commands that you might want to get help on for more information:

      say <something> - says <something> to everyone in room.
      tell <person> <thing> - tells <thing> to <person> privately.
      who [<person>] - tells you who is logged in or who <person> is.
      quit - to leave the system.
      goto <target> - transports you instantly to <target>.
      exits - show the exits in a room.
      n,s,e,w,u,d,go <exit name> - move through an exit.
      look [<thing>] - look at people, objects, directions, rooms.
      get,put,drop,wear,remove - object manipulation.

Here are some topics of interest:

      socials - defines and gives a list of available socials.
      boards - information on Ishar's bulletin boards.
      librarians - information on Cyberverse file transfer.
      world - additional information about the virtual world.
      slang - lists and defines some popular terminology.
      shopkeepers - describes how to buy and sell virtual objects.
      mud basics - information on the best game ever!