Guidelines for Submitting Areas for TFC Inclusion
The Ultimate Rule - Areas will be written within the TFC spirit from the outset - no huge hoards of cash, no 100-150 damage super weapons, and so on... Writing such things just wastes everyone's time.
Submission Guidelines
All initial proposals and work are sent to the Co-Area Coordinators, Tokugawa and Tamar. They should be mailed to tokugawatfc@gmail.com and should cc Tynian at tynian@tfcmud.com. The submission guidelines are as follows:
a1. Mortals considering writing an area must contact the Area Coordinator and have a level range assigned to them. Mortals must write the area to that level range - they do not have a choice on it.
a2. Mortals considering writing an area must be in good standing on the MUD. If they are not, they must wait.
a3. Mortals are limited to working on ONE area at a time.
a4. Mortals may submit areas under only ONE character name. At the time of writing an area, disclosure of ALL characters in your stable must be made. New characters made in the future must be reported as well. Refusal to do so, or incomplete disclosure, can lead to rejection of any and all areas. (There is no character flag involved so do not let that worry bother you.)
b1. Authors must submit a proposal of the area PRIOR to starting writing it. This proposal MUST include:
- The name of the area
- What level range you are targeting
- What location you are thinking of
- What theme you are thinking of
- Any special objects you want to include
- Any special tricks/traps/sneakiness involved
In short, the proposal should be about a page long and give me a broad overview of what I should expect. If it is omitted, the area will not be considered. Do not work on your proposed area until/unless it is accepted.
Proposals should be mailed to tokugawatfc@gmail.com, and should cc Tynian at tynian@tfcmud.com as mentioned above.
NO NEW CODE will be allowed. In other words, you are limited to the special functions in the approved lists. If there is an exceptional idea, this rule might be overlooked, but consider the fact that in all the first time author situations, only ONE ever received the approval for new code.
NO ILLOGICAL LINKS will be allowed without EXPRESSED prior approval. An illogical link is defined as a link that combines 2 directions (north+west
up+south), one that links an area in a loop (4 norths take you back to the same spot), or one that folds back on itself in some other way. A lot of time was spent laying the map out logically. Portals and things like mazes are fine, but they MUST be approved or the bug hunters will rip the area to shreds.
NO WWP ITEMS WITH AFFECTS are allowed in new areas.
b2. If the proposal is accepted, you will then be assigned a Vnum range to work with, and a base filename. This will be the final filename (e.g. midgaard.are). You will not use this base filename directly, instead, each version you create and send to the Area Coordinator will use the base filename with a letter appended. The first draft would be midgaardA.are, the second would be midgaardB.are, etc. This allows the Area Coordinator to keep an archive of your progress. You are likely to get to around G.
c. You must submit ALL objects in the area for prior review. All changes requested by the Area Coordinator will be governed by rule 6 above.
d. ALL authors will spell check their areas prior to each submission. A makeshift way to do this is to load a copy of the .are file into a program that spellchecks such as Word, allow it to find errors, and then make the changes in the real file in the Muditor. It is generally a bad idea to let the program do the spellchecking automatically, as small changes in the .are file will cause the area not to load (And thus crash the test mud).
e. ALL authors will include a comment block in the Resets, or in a separate email at the time of submission. This comment block will list the following information:
- Where the area connects to the outside world - room numbers AND door directions. Mortals can get the vnum of the connection room from a God+.
- A short statement on the theme of the area. This will be used as what your "intent" was should problems arise later on in the area's lifecycle.
- Any special details you wish to pass on to the Area Coordinator so he doesn't take them out during some wild edit spree.
f. Any authors wanting new code will confer with the Area Coordinator as to what they want, and if it is approved, will work with the Area Coordinator to write it. (Read that as you will write your own 90% of the time.) Remember that for mortals and first time authors, new code is at best a long shot, and continues to be so until someone has written several areas or has reached God+ status.
g. When the area is approved, it will enter testing. Any bugs that are found in initial testing will be the author's responsibility to find and fix unless they bribe the Area Coordinator to do it (Elf maidens, pitiful looks, etc). The author is obliged, in this test phase, to give any and all immortals who care a tour of the area and its high points. During this initial tour and while testing is underway, the bug hunters will scour the area for blown exits, typos, and other problems which the author will fix unless, as stated before, he/she successfully bribes the Area Coordinator.
h. Once the area is out of testing, the Area Coordinator is free to make adjustments as necessary to fix problems that crop up, or upgrade it to new TFC standards. The area belongs to TFC, and you do not retain possession.
i. Installed areas will have your name in the author spot of the area list, and on the boot installing it there is a 90% chance an associated quest will be run for players to find it. Rule 2 governs your actions in this quest and in people later asking directions to it - if you reveal its location, the area will be instantly gone and deleted from TFC.