On-line Builder's lessons

This page is an index of all lesson topics related to building areas in the Forgotten Kingdoms (FK) game. Please report out of date topics or dead links to the builder administrators via our Bug Reporting forum.

Building Tools

Textpad - An excellent text editing program for builders.

General Area Lessons and Area Design information

Area Submission Process - How do you submit your area to the game?
How to make good quests - External Link - Some good quest design advice.

OLC Sources and lessons

OLC Commands - A guide written by Dalvyn (former FK area administrator) to the basic OLC commands used in most building on FKMud.

Area templates and main headers

Area Template - A listing of all the headers and sections in an area file.
Area Sample - A sample area with sample mobs, objects, rooms and resets.
Area Sample (2) - A sample area designed to help explain quests and QBITs.
Header flags - What do each of the header flags do?
Justice System - What do you need to do to make the justice system work in your area?

#MOBILES section

#OBJECTS section

#ROOMS section

#SHOPS section and #REPAIRS section

#RESETS section

#SPECIALS section

Mobile special functions

#QUESTS section

Quest Log

Mud Programs

Mob Progs A list of all possible mob progs
If checks A list of all possible if checks.
$targets A list of all possible $targets.
MP Commands A list of commands for use in mud programs.

Mpmset Commands Fields settable by mpmset and mpmadd.
Mposet Commands Fields settable by mposet and mpoadd. Coder needs check some of the syntaxes etc in this lesson.

Quest Bits Listing.
Quest Bits Tutorial Lists final quest bits of quests in the game.
Quest Bits on Objects A tutorial on using quest bits on items.
A sample quest. Using mob programs and quest bits.
Sample programs. Some examples of mud programs in the game are below.

Greet Programs
Death Programs
Give Programs
Speech Programs
Bribe Programs
Intercept Programs
Rand Programs
Fight Programs
Time Programs
Entry Programs Coder needs to look into why these dont work.
Drop Programs
Examine Programs
Wear Programs
Buy Programs
Leave Programs Do leave progs work on objects?
Resizing objects

Program Layout - Spacing of programs, and use of tildas and pipes.
Or function - Using the or function in if checks.
Tavern Programs - Programs for the taverns in Waterdeep and other cities.
Yell for Help Programs - Programs to make mobiles yell for help and recieve it.
Shooting mobs - Programs to make mobiles shoot at a PC from a distance.
Gambling Programs - Samples of gambling programs.
Stabling Programs - Programs to make a stable, stable PC mounts.
Restringing Objects - Vendors that rename generic stock.
In File Programs - Use of in_file_prog's in area files.
Logging Events - Events that should be logged for in game.
Marking Objects - How to mark an object invisibly for ownership, and visably for roleplay.
String and Stringprefix - Using the string and stringprefix functions in a prog.
Loading Quest Mobs - Loading a mob for a quest in a specific room.
Alignment Checks - Different methods for checking alignment.
Greed Progams - Shops that will sell a limited number to PCs.
Charged Objects Progams - Magical objects that have a limited amount of charges.
Imbricated Rand Progams - The art of using if rand in your progs.
Simulating Lag Programs - How to simulate lag in your progs.
Connect Command - Adding and removing room connections in a program.
Resizing objects

Other lessons

Guilds - The use of guilds in areas.
Guild and Temple Storerooms - The use of storerooms in guilds and temples.
Quest Rewards - Suitable rewards for quests.
Dwelling mobile notes
Trades - Including a trades quest in an area.
Colourising an area
Prestige Classes
Hometowns - List of all the hometowns and their vnums.
Non key doors - Doors that open with something other than a key.
Months - Game months.
Sector Restrictions - Sector restrictions What did I intend to cover here?

Helpful general building links

Candlekeep - The essential Forgotten Realms resource.
Forgotten Realms Helps - A lesser, but useful Forgotten Realms resource.
Tome of Treasures - A listing for all TSR and WOTC publications - a good place to find out where you should look for information.
Mud Connector Discussion Board - External Link - They have a builders discussion area.
Tavern Name Generator - Stumped for a name for your Tavern? Try here.

Downloads

Off-line Builder's Lessons - An older version of the builder lessons in PDF format courtesy of Arnof. (This is now out-of-date, but still useful.)