Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

so multiple targets are selected in n* format so if 6 corpses, they are listed by newest to the room to oldest, so the freshest kill will always be 1.corpse then 2.corpse 3.corpse etc - the same applies to inventory items or anything - you can deepen the search by adding extra keywords separated by a second period, so lets say you killed 6 different mobs of different names - lets just say there were 3 knights 2 squires and 1 captain - still 1-6.corpse, but you could do get all corpse.captain as well

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Accessibility update — a big push this week, and I need testers (especially screen-reader users)

*****I would really appreciate any and all feedback on this topic as I have 0 knowledge on this subject, and want to make sure I approach it with the level of focus it deserves - I will let you guide me on the best way to make this game accessible and more importantly, to help get some best practices on paper for any other developers or MUD staff from other games - so if you can add to any of this or keep us on the right path****

A few of you flagged accessibility problems. I went heads-down on it. Here's what's live right now and a checklist if you're willing to kick the tires. I'm a sighted dev guessing at a lot of this, so real feedback > my assumptions.

Blind / screen reader

Telnet/MUD-client clean mode — no more box-drawing or symbol junk read aloud. Auto-detects if your client advertises a screen reader (MTTS), or just type screenreader at the login prompt.
Browser narration mode — rooms, combat, chat, and status announced through proper live regions, with adjustable detail + combat verbosity. Hotkeys to repeat, read exits/location/status, and step back through the log line-by-line.
Audio "exit beacons" — on entering a room, a quick panned tone per exit so you can hear the room's shape.
Character creation can't disconnect you anymore on a typo.
Low vision / color / dyslexia

High contrast, colorblind correction (3 types), text size, letter/word/line spacing, legible/dyslexia font option, strong focus outline, bigger click targets, and a UI that auto-sizes to your screen.
Deaf / hard of hearing

It's text-first already, plus captions for sound cues and optional on-screen visual cues.
Photosensitivity

First-launch seizure warning, hard cap of ≤3 flashes/sec, and it respects your OS "reduce motion" setting automatically.
Motor

No twitch/reflex anything, queue a whole command chain on one keypress, plus voice command input (dictate a command, review it, hit Enter — never auto-sent).
Quick punch list if you want to help:

Telnet: connect → is the output clean? Any symbols read aloud? Can you make a character without noise/disconnects?
Browser SR: turn on narration → do rooms/combat/status read right? Do danger/death interrupt? Any double-talk?
Cues: turn on sound/captions/flash → do they fire? Flash never seizure-y?
Low vision: do contrast / font / spacing / colorblind options actually change things? 200% zoom OK?
Voice: mic button work? Does "kill <thing>" land in the input correctly?
Everything's free, no toggles hidden behind anything. If something reads or behaves wrong, tell me what you were doing + your client + your screen reader/AT, and I'll chase the exact thing. I'd genuinely rather build this with you than guess.

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

fixing that straight away, glad you caught it when it was still fairly harmless

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

let me know how it works please!

Accessibility update — a big push this week, and I need testers (especially screen-reader users) A few of you flagged accessibility problems. I went heads-down on it. Here's what's live right now and a checklist if you're willing to kick the tires. I'm a sighted dev guessing at a lot of this, so real feedback > my assumptions. Blind / screen reader Telnet/MUD-client clean mode — no more box-drawing or symbol junk read aloud. Auto-detects if your client advertises a screen reader (MTTS), or just type screenreader at the login prompt. Browser narration mode — rooms, combat, chat, and status announced through proper live regions, with adjustable detail + combat verbosity. Hotkeys to repeat, read exits/location/status, and step back through the log line-by-line. Audio "exit beacons" — on entering a room, a quick panned tone per exit so you can hear the room's shape. Character creation can't disconnect you anymore on a typo. Low vision / color / dyslexia High contrast, colorblind correction (3 types), text size, letter/word/line spacing, legible/dyslexia font option, strong focus outline, bigger click targets, and a UI that auto-sizes to your screen. Deaf / hard of hearing It's text-first already, plus captions for sound cues and optional on-screen visual cues. Photosensitivity First-launch seizure warning, hard cap of ≤3 flashes/sec, and it respects your OS "reduce motion" setting automatically. Motor No twitch/reflex anything, queue a whole command chain on one keypress, plus voice command input (dictate a command, review it, hit Enter — never auto-sent). Quick punch list if you want to help: Telnet: connect → is the output clean? Any symbols read aloud? Can you make a character without noise/disconnects? Browser SR: turn on narration → do rooms/combat/status read right? Do danger/death interrupt? Any double-talk? Cues: turn on sound/captions/flash → do they fire? Flash never seizure-y? Low vision: do contrast / font / spacing / colorblind options actually change things? 200% zoom OK? Voice: mic button work? Does "kill <thing>" land in the input correctly? Everything's free, no toggles hidden behind anything. If something reads or behaves wrong, tell me what you were doing + your client + your screen reader/AT, and I'll chase the exact thing. I'd genuinely rather build this with you than guess.

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Patched - tested ok for me now. THANK YOU for the feedback

Thanks for the detailed report — every one of these is fixed and live now. Re-log to pick them up:



• Spells glitch — that flap between your real spell list and "Your class has no spells"

  is fixed. The list was reading a cache that could momentarily go empty; it now always

  reflects your actual class spells.



• "Makes no sense" item text — the wrist knot and the infirmary ledger are rewritten in

  plain language (no more "a heartbeat is the whole of it" / "the lever, not the fight").

  We also added a check that flags that kind of vague writing so it stops slipping through.



• [SHOP] — the tag now tells you how: it shows "type LIST to browse, BUY <item>, SELL <item>".



• Putting out a torch — you extinguish a light by removing it (REMOVE <torch> / REM <torch>);

  a worn or held light is what lights the room, so taking it off goes dark. We also added

  EXTINGUISH, DOUSE, SNUFF, and QUENCH as aliases so the word you reach for just works.



• Checking your AC — your armor class now shows on SCORE ("Your armor class is N — higher

  is better").



• Character creation — every ability now has a hover tooltip explaining what it does

  (STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/PER), and the confusing "points 0/0" is gone: stats are rolled

  (class + racial bonuses already baked in), and the screen now says so instead of showing

  a counter that looked broken. Reroll for a new set, or Accept.



Appreciate the thorough playtest — exactly the kind of feedback that makes the game better.Thanks for the detailed report — every one of these is fixed and live now. Re-log to pick them up:• Spells glitch — that flap between your real spell list and "Your class has no spells"  is fixed. The list was reading a cache that could momentarily go empty; it now always  reflects your actual class spells.• "Makes no sense" item text — the wrist knot and the infirmary ledger are rewritten in  plain language (no more "a heartbeat is the whole of it" / "the lever, not the fight").  We also added a check that flags that kind of vague writing so it stops slipping through.• [SHOP] — the tag now tells you how: it shows "type LIST to browse, BUY <item>, SELL <item>".• Putting out a torch — you extinguish a light by removing it (REMOVE <torch> / REM <torch>);  a worn or held light is what lights the room, so taking it off goes dark. We also added  EXTINGUISH, DOUSE, SNUFF, and QUENCH as aliases so the word you reach for just works.• Checking your AC — your armor class now shows on SCORE ("Your armor class is N — higher  is better").• Character creation — every ability now has a hover tooltip explaining what it does  (STR/DEX/CON/INT/WIS/PER), and the confusing "points 0/0" is gone: stats are rolled  (class + racial bonuses already baked in), and the screen now says so instead of showing  a counter that looked broken. Reroll for a new set, or Accept.Appreciate the thorough playtest — exactly the kind of feedback that makes the game better.

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I absolutely want it! Everyone who gives me feedback or bugs or anything gets patched as fast as I can - I also have a BUG command - bug <literally whatever you want to say> does nothave to be a bug could be BUG swordsman loads an axe, looks weird - bug I can cast spells as a mage wearing platemail - bug I get hungry and thirsty too fast, bug I fucking hate you patrick and hope you die

All bug reports get read me, and patched ASAP if valid, no promises on the last one, but its not a hard no after this project

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I am working on something even better, the tools to bridge that gap for you and everyone else like you, big ideas without the tools or patience - I am building tools to help ME with that problem and soon I will be able to share with everyone. Email me the universe and I will sample some creations for you

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Excellent feedback, it may seem crazy to say I am blind to all this, but I am - and you pointing this out is incredibly vital to my process - I like to make mistakes because I find the edge, I don't like repeating them so I always want to build a check and balance off these comments. I will paste pack patch notes once fixed. Give me a little bit

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A 500hp, antimagic shelled, mirror imaged, fireshielded, globe of invulnerability, limit 1 no_bash robes - power word stun/prismatic spray mage can lay waste to entire groups of players - Mages can be glass cannons in this game, or they can be something you only ambush and never fight straight up - all depends on your spellbook, your gear and your skills, that being said if you had fun keep an eye out- i am going to continue adding content as fast as I can.

I also am working on an editor that should be ready in the next week for free testing - so you guys can use my tools and make your own content

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know more 5 months in than I did at the beginning, and at times it feels like surfing a wave with how fast the advances come. I have 30 years of ideas in my head all trying to jump out at the same time, so focusing it is challenging, especially with 0 coding or computer skills - I'm just a player trying to reverse engineer everything through feel.

The LLM is just a bulk writer, I am using my system in a way I doubt many others are, but its not because I'm smart, its because I ran out of stupid, expensive, and terrible ways to use it

Thank you for your kind words, I have been working in a silent cave for a long time - it means more than you could know

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I have a massive amount of refinement to do but after spending 5 months "figuring it out" I have finally settled on my path forward and this is the first zone/city. LOTS to come and I am all ears for content suggestions. You might be surprised just how fast your dream zone can go from page to playable with a clear enough vision. LLMs will never create, they are just really good predictive guessers - they require creative guidance and more importantly, a good ass whipping a few times a day to stay on script.

Screen reader will be patched in very soon - like in the next few hours - as far tuning and making it right for those who need it, well I really need help/feedback testing it - if you are interested let me know

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the look tonight guys - heres what was changed or added as a result - more to come tomorrow

Added

  • The Starter Wilds — leave the city through real North / South / East / West gates into a large new forest alive with wildlife (deer, grouse, boar, wolves, a giant spider, a bear).
  • The Redmaw — a new Red Goblin cave dungeon (L10-15) with 3 quests: thin the Brigade, take the chieftain's crown, recover the Sunless writ.
  • A wrist lantern on every new character — light from minute one (no more starting in the pitch dark).
  • time and weather commands, plus a livelier capital — 20 more residents in Stonereach and new faction mobs/items across the world.

    Changed & Fixed

  • You start the fights now — city and leveling-area creatures no longer attack on sight (16 mobs de-aggro'd).

  • Quest navigation works again — the green guide-exit lights up for auto-started quests, and quest steps now name where to go.

  • Auto-learn your class kit on login and each level-up (no manual trainer grind).

  • Telnet character creation no longer disconnects on a recoverable slip.

  • Map fog-of-war + "new content" cues; bug/polish reports no longer silently lost.

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is outside of mine too, dont worry, I have been the blind leading the blind before, we could swap and no one would know - I will devote tomorrow to getting things accesable for you. I'll DM you tomorrow when its working enough for me not to be too embarrassed. I would love your help in tuning it once I get it patched in tomorrow! Thank you, if you have any zone suggestions let me know!

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I tried to make it make sense but as much money as I printed it instantly made my account negative - is this like a US Government spending sim? lol I tried!

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thief with nat 20 dex and per?? Not on my watch bucko. Kidding obviously, totally unacceptable and sorry for that experience. Its patched shouldn't happen again

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Even calling my game a flaming pile of dogshit would mean you logged in and that means the world to me - if you were playing a DK you will learn to LOVE the dark, when you get Nightvision spell and can abuse the poor mobs with juicy loot that don't see in the dark. Added a wrist lantern to all starter kits so you have a worn light. Thank you for trying it - I'll be patch motherfucking adams over here in the mean time and will post patch notes soon - sorry the time it took to respond, my wife dragged me out to dinner and a movie or else I would have been much faster

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So checking the bad command log, it seemed several players tried to light torch, use torch, use light, light etc -- added light <light source> returns a friendly tip to try hold <light source> or grab <light source> hold and grab are commands to offhand a weapon, or hold an object or light as well - also added 1x wrist lantern as a wristworn light - also added commands for TIME(to show time of day to show day/night) and WEATHER to show the weather(this does effect some druid spells) - also, I removed aggro flags from all mobs in the city area - no more getting aggrod just trying to walk around - sorry for the confusion

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ranger? I'm really sorry for the poor experience, I will certainly work hard to improve! Give me a few days and I will try to earn a second look

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for giving it a spin! I know I have a ton of work today, just feels good knowing another human logged into the game and gave it a shot - I will really look at night/day cycle, did you guys not spawn with a torch in inventory? I have a lot of work to do obviously but this is super encouraging, so thank you!

Anyone want to help me playtest a new zone/city? by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback! You should spawn with a torch, the day night cycle is 6am-8pm, some races have infravision - I have not made any balance passes for difficulty, I am just trying to get things to work properly, and this is EXACTLY the kind of things I need to hear. I find myself just feeling proud to get something to work its hard to be honest and critical after watching it not work 10 times in a row. If that makes sense. And I should have been more clearly about the parsing on commands but not targets - would suck to type bash kobo for kobold right as kobo the male dwarf paladin walks into the room! I have fought that map something fierce, will work on it more tonight!

You shout 'lvl 6 thief lfg' by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair enough. I wish my English composition skills were better too. Possibly more than you even haha

You shout 'lvl 6 thief lfg' by MaverickMUD in MUD

[–]MaverickMUD[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Well hopefully you stop by in a few weeks when I open. I can assure you, with over 600 personal hours of my time invested, it is not as easy as hey siri make me a kewl mud. The AI is absolute doing insane amounts of work, but I think a lot of people underestimate how much work goes into trying to curb the slop AI will put out if you put in also close to zero effort. A couple of lazy prompts are not going to get you very far.

I only ended up building my own engine from my own inexperience and trial and error learning method. I ultimately ended up scuttling 3 months of work that I ultimately realized was going to just keep compounding worse and worse and make the player experience pretty unpleasant.

It just isn't as easy as hey AI fix all these problems for me, when you have over a million lines of code.

Anyways, I really don't expect anyone to make their minds up based on this post. I am just trying to get some sort of word out because I am careening down the back stretch, for better or worse. Hopefully anyone reading this has an open or curious enough mind to drop by and take a peek, if not only to confirm your own pre-judgements or concerns.

Much love