Build Guide

Submitting a Build Request

The purpose of this guide is to familiarize you, the player, with building information that you will need to set up a home or business on From the Ashes: Detroit by Night. Here are a few things you should put in your +request/build:

• The name of your build.
• How many rooms you will be needing. The number of rooms you can have is determined by your resource level.
• What area on the +map you want to be linked. Take a look at the grid for ideas and to get a feel for the style of the district you wish to build your project in. Check residences for a list of possible apartments that might suit your needs and Resource level. Some of these are already furnished with descs that can be customized, while others will require you to build a room in its entirety.
  • Please be advised that if your build does not suit the location or your Resources, you may be asked to modify your project.

Example:

+request/build Bazooka Lounge=I would like to make a two roomed club linked to #11.

There are some existing businesses available on the grid for PC ownership. If your concept fits one of these, do an 'ex' on the exit. If it's owned by "The D" that means it's open for new management and could be yours if you wanted it to be! Residences, shops, and other building ideas are welcome here and there are existing buildings where shops, cafes and other boutiques can be linked, such as the Guardian Building, and the Fisher Building. Check businesses for currently available enterprises.

Formatting

Because we like the grid to have a certain amount of uniformity, BuildStaff insists on the following:

• Room desc format. Room descs must begin with %r[space(7)], have %r%r[space(7)] between paragraphs, and end with %r.
• Exit descs. The above applies to Exits, too. Every exit needs to have an @desc, even if it's hidden or transparent.
• @osuccs. All exits in a building project will require exit emits. This will be detailed later on.
• @parent. Here at From the Ashes: Detroit by Night, we use only one parent for all rooms. @parent here=#6 This parent automatically formats the headers and footers for your room, as well as the exit format, which will automatically use the first letter of the first word as the Exit name, unless you specify otherwise (which you should). You do not need to add <> to anything.
• Spellchecking can be overlooked. You don't need to be a perfect writer to play here, but we have provided a resource to use should you desire it. You can find lots of spell checkers online - for example, spellcheck.net.

STEP 1: Renaming your exit

Once your building request has been approved, you will be granted a starting room in the Building Nexus. The starting room is the very first room of your building project. Your Exit will be named something like: 'Will's Starterroom <WIL>'. The first thing you will need to do is consider what you are building. An Apartment? A House? A business? A business will need to be given the name of the business. An apartment, an apartment number. A house will require a house number and street name.

• For a business:
  • @name WIL = Bazooka Lounge;bl;bazooka
• Or for an apartment:
  • @name WIL = 104;104
• Or for a house:
  • @name WIL = 1313 Mocking Bird Lane;1313

STEP 2: Rename Your Room, @parent and Descing

You need to rename your starter room. Go inside the room.

• @name here = The Bazooka Lounge - Vestibule

Rooms should begin with the name of the apartment, business or house name, then the name of the specific room. Foyer. Lounge. Living Room. And so on and so forth.

Next, you need to @parent your room as described in the Formatting section above. @parent here=#6

Now you are ready to begin descing your room and exits. Writing @descs is a creative process. It allows you to visually imagine a location, and fill in the details of the location with your words. @descs should be detailed and as descriptive as you like, though any exit that links to a street or outdoor location should receive a bit of extra attention. This exit tells people what the exterior facade of your store front or house looks like to anyone passing by and gives flavor to the location. All descs require a certain format be maintained as outlined above in the Formatting section.

• @desc here=%r[space(7)]This is my desc. Isn't it nice?%r

Or to desc an exit:

• @desc o=%r[space(7)]This is what the door looks like.%r

STEP 3: Exits

Now that you have @desc'd your room, your exits, what's next? Exit @succ's. These are the messages you receive when you move between exits. There are 5 of them that you need. They are:

• @succ
• @osucc
• @odrop
• @fail
• @ofail

The specific information on each can be accessed by typing help @succ, replacing @succ with whichever you're curious about. Specifically, this is what each does.

@succ - Sets the message that is shown to someone who successfully passes through the exit.

@osucc - Sets the message that is shown to others whenever someone successfully passes through the exit (in the room where the exit is).

@odrop - Sets the message that will be shown to others on the OTHER side of the exit you pass through (in the room where the exit goes).

@fail - Sets the message that is shown to someone who fails to pass through the exit.

@ofail - Sets the message that is shown to others whenever someone fails to pass through the exit (in the room where the exit is).

These are the basic requirements of an exit. Examples are as follows:

• @succ o=You walk out the door.
• @osucc o=walks out the door.
• @odrop o=walks out of Apartment 202.
• @fail o=The door appears to be locked.
• @ofail o=tries to walk out the door, but it appears to be locked.

STEP 4: The Next Room

Now that you have finished with your starter room, it is time to make the next one (if there is a next one).

Start in your existing room. There you will need to use the @dig command.

• @dig Kitchen = Kitchen;k;kitchen,Out;o;out

This command creates the new room, an exit into that room, and an exit back out of that room to your starter room.

Make sure you follow all preceding steps on each new room. And that's it! You are done!

Before you resubmit your project for inspection and approval to be linked via +request/build, please make sure you have not overlooked anything. The following are often missed:

• Ensure all descs start with %r[space(7)] and end with a %r
• Ensure your exits have descs. Every exit needs an @desc
• Don't forget to rename the exit INTO your starterroom. See Step 1 for how to do that.
• Don't forget to @parent your room.
• @odrop on every exit. It is often overlooked.
• +inspect here can be used to view all the existing parts of a room in order to ensure they've all be set.

Places

Places code is immensely useful for large scenes. It provides a way to filter messages that helps you concentrate on just the people near your character while still being able to watch everyone else. Any public builds, ones where PCs are encouraged to loiter about and RP, are encouraged to have places code set up.

Places code is also useful when you have a large house, too. Instead of building a kitchen, a sitting room, and a dining room off your living room, why not make those areas places in the living room? Why shouldn't the people in the living room be able to see people going into and coming out of the kitchen or maybe overhear them if they're talking loudly enough? Why bother descing entire rooms that are rarely used? Put them into places.

For installation of places, please see the +help files on From the Ashes: Detroit by Night by typing +help places-config.

• For additional configuration options, type +help places-options.

Miscellaneous Commands

Dark

Setting an exit DARK makes that exit invisible to the room. Anyone will be able to use the exit so long as they know what to type. Very useful for hidden doors to secret rooms. @set <exit>=dark

Unfindable

One room in your build may be set UNFINDABLE, if you have more than one. A safe room, for instance, or sanctum. Setting the room unfindable removes it from the +where list. @set <here>=undfindable.

Transparent

Setting an exit TRANSPARENT allows you to see the next room beyond the exit. Helpful if the door is made of glass, for instance, or is simply an open archway. @set <exit>=transparent

Abode

The ABODE flag lets people @link themselves to a room, which sets the room as their home. Use @set here=abode

Hotspots

Approved and linked to the grid?

• Do you have a public building and want it to be shown on +hotspots? Send a +request/build and ask for it to be added.

Security

Have you considered security?