Frequently asked questions

This FAQ describes commands in shorthand like menu ‣ i ‣ f

This tells you the commands you need to type and in which order. In this case first menu then i and then f.

Initial woes 

I compiled the driver, what now?

After running the rebuild script under adm/dist/ you should:

Edit config.mud file in same directory to adapt your settings.
Edit the MUD name :
Change the default port to fit your server external_port_1: telnet ____.

That’s it! Run the mud by running ./run or ./run bg to run the MUD in a loop in the background. To stop it later, just do ./run stop.

Does Lima work on Windows?

Yes, if you use Windows Subsystem for Liux (WSL). See the installation for more information.

Does Lima work with other drivers ?

No - it was written specifically for MudOS, now FluffOS. It could be converted for other drivers (eg LDMUD or DGD), but that would involve a lot of work. The driver is the core of the MUD, and changing it would be a huge task.

Does Lima work on OS X? (or other versions of Linux)?

It should do. However we don’t test on all versions. Report any problems compiling the driver on GitHub or LIMA (limamudlib.dev:7878). It would be most interesting to know if it works on OS X, as it is a popular platform for developers.

Why doesn’t the mud work - says it can’t find the mudlib directory?

This usually means faulty filepaths in config.mud in the adm/dist folder. Usual problems are either not getting the correct absolute filepath. The mudlib directory should be the directory where the mudlib is located - check that it is correct and existing folder.

Why don’t my code changes have any effect?

First, update update” the changed file, to make sure it compiles without error. Generally objects already in the mud will still use the “old” code, and only newly created objects will use the “new” code. Using the renew command on an old object should replace the “old” code with the “new” code. You may also need to use update -R on objects which inherit the code that you have changed. If all else fails, try rebooting the mud. However, make sure that you’ve not “broken” any critical files (eg. anything inherited by the user or body), which would stop the mud from booting, or stop you from logging in. Check the driver log should this happen in the log folder.

I’ve broken the mud, and it won’t boot. What do I do?

Restore the mud from the last backup. Use git restore on the file or git diff to see what you changed. Otherwise, restore the broken file from its last backup if you do not use git.

How can I learn LPC?

See the learning path tutorials here on this website. They are split into sveral parts with exercises.

How do I call functions from the command line / shell prompt?

Use the @ command - eg @.me->query_health() Details are available in the shell help (Just type ? from the shell prompt).

Why do ``add_action()``s not work?

The short answer: They have deliberately been disabled, as they are far inferior to verbs, and should not be used.

The longer answer: Lima does not use add_action() at all; it uses verbs instead. Absolutely nothing remotely similar to add_action() exists in the lib. It is completely impossible for a room or object to add new commands to the game.

The reason for this is consistency. With the Lima lib, things work the same everywhere, making things much easier to understand. Of course, many things may not do anything interesting; however they should at least give a reasonable error message. For example, if there is anything in the MUD that can be twisted, it makes more sense for everything to be able to be twisted, and simply do nothing, instead of each object which can be twisted having to completely reimplementing the concept.

The add_action() way of doing things leads to lots of code duplication, and in many cases poor parsing since the person writing the command is more interested in getting it to work for him than doing any sort of general parsing; in many cases the person in question is an area coder with little mudlib experience anyway. As anyone who has worked extensively with add_action() knows, bringing any two such objects into close proximity often results in complete disasters, and rarely even succeeds in generating the correct error message for most commands.

Why is IMUD_D complaining and how to fix it?

IMUD_D requires a valid email set in /include/config.h under:

/* The administrator(s)' email address(es).
 * NOTE: This is required to be changed in order to have a working
 * I3/IMUD_D system. Must be changed for anything to work!
 */
#define ADMIN_EMAIL "billg@microsoft.com"

Once that has been changed, log in to your MUD, and do

update `IMUD_D`

and it should then load. If you are in doubt about setting ADMIN_EMAIL correctly, you can print it from your wizard shell like this:

@ADMIN_EMAIL

And it will print your define.

Why am I getting “Too long evaluation. Execution aborted.”?

This is usually caused by your MUD host being a bit on the slow side, and slowing down the call_out() rate the daemons use can help this. Go to /include/config.h and change this:

/* Delay factor for DAEMON call_outs().
 * Some daemons may be a bit too greedy for your machine causing:
 * "Too long evaluation. Execution aborted."
 * If you are getting these increase this number to 5, or 10.
 * Otherwise, enjoy your powerful machine, and keep it at 1.
 */
#define TOO_GREEDY_DAEMONS 1

Change the 1 here to a higher number that will make the issue go away. You can try 5 or 10, and then possibly reduce it a bit once the errors stop nagging you.

Alternatively, upgrade your hosting to a bigger potato. 🥔

How do I get the didlog working?

didlog -newversion 0.0.1 I did something

When you first start the MUD, you will get a message like:

No active mudlib version. Set your first version with:

didlog -newversion 0.0.1

didlog -help (for more)

This is the didlog system complaining that you need to set a new version. The didlog is a system where you and your team of wizards can log your changes and make it easier to cooperate. First, create a new version:

didlog -newversion 0.0.1

I created the first didlog for version 0.0.1! Woo!

Yes, “I” is a command, try it out, like above!

This will give you a warning Sorry, but only full wizards may use the didlog.. But you are an admin? What is going on? Simple, LIMA supports guest wizards, and full wizards and guest wizards are separated by having a home directory. So, go create a directory for yourself.

cd /wiz

mkdir bob

If your name is Bob - use the right name here, obviously. Then try didlog again:

I tests the didlog system.

didlog

Now, you can see your didlog entry in the didlog, and you will not see the warning when logging in again. Talk to your wizard team on when to create a new version 0.0.2 or even 1.0 at some point. Happy didlogging!

Tip

You can undo a didlog by doing @DID_D->someone_didnt(), if you regret or one of your fellow developers made a boo-boo.

Administration 

How do I make someone admin?

admtool ‣ 1 ‣ d ‣ a [user] admin

When you first logged in, you were automatically set to be admin. The who command will confirm this.

To make another person admin, add them to the admin domain using the admtool. They need to be a wizard already to become an admin.

Make someone admin. — Example of the making an existing wizard admin.

How do I (de)wiz someone?

admtool ‣ 1 ‣ u ‣ w [name] admtool ‣ 1 ‣ u ‣ d [name]

If you have defined AUTO_WIZ in /include/config.h, everyone logging In will be a “guest wizard”. If you want to make them full wizards, you need to create a home directory under /wiz/ matching their login name.

If you have turned off AUTO_WIZ, you can use the admtool to change players into wizards or vice versa. Open the admtool, go to privilege 1 (that is admin only), go to user, then use the “wiz a user” option to wiz or “dewiz” if needed.

A wizard has issues writing to his folder under /wiz?

admtool ‣ 1 ‣ u ‣ d [name] admtool ‣ 1 ‣ u ‣ w [name]

The wizard will get an error about not being able to write to their folder even when it was created:

Permission denied: /wiz/tsath/exec.c.

The most likely cause is that you have AUTO_WIZ on, and you created the folder manually. The SECURE_D still needs to assign permissions for the wizard to the folder. The simple way of fixing this is to dewiz and wiz them again using the admtool.

Note

This permissions could be added automatically when AUTO_WIZ is on as soon as the wizard joins the MUD. This is not a great idea, since you will likely accumulate a lot of unused security rules for people that just stopped by and left - never to be seen again.

You know who is staying and gets to be a full wizards, and who is just a guest - the system cannot know.

Configuration 

What does USE_INTRODUCTIONS change in config.h?

Enabling this option in config.h hides player names for other players in some very specific situations:

Players passing through rooms (entering and leaving).
Players saying something in rooms with other players.
Players whispering to other players in rooms.

As an example, a player whispering another player in a room will be seen by other players as:

A strong orc whispers something to a tall beautiful elf.

The players can introduce themselves to each other via the introduce verb. Either to one person in the room or the entire room. After being introduced, they will show up normally by name.

LIMA relies heavily on a centralized parsing structure where all messages for receivers are created at once. The parsing allows the messages to be created for the sender, the other person involved, and the rest of people in the room. This system is very effective, and widely used for combat, emotes, verbs and other in-room actions and is not recommended to be changed.

Short version: If players want to keep their identity hidden, do not do emotes or actions.

A lot of options in config.h changed, and now bodies are broken?

Having issues with bodies and limbs not working after changing something in config.h? Then you can likely fix the issue, by renewing limbs and bodies for impacted players and yourself.

The easiest way to do this is by using the fix command. Examples of use:

fix me

fix tsath

This will recreate the body and limbs for the player, and they should be back in business. As LIMA evolves this command will updated to fix more issues, and we rely on the community to report issues in case they are not fixed by the command. Do reach out to the LIMA team if you have issues that are not fixed by the command regarding bodies.

When doing this the player will see something like:

Your body is being diagnosed by Tsath. Leave combat, then stand still.

Your body has been repaired. Feel any better?

It is important to leave combat before doing this, as the body may bug out while in combat.

'fix' cmd output example. — Example of a body in need of fixing using the fix command.

I changed one of the default colours, but it had no effect. Why?

In the colour settings in the admtool, you can set the default colours for the MUD. These colours are not automatically applied to existing characters. If you change the default colours, you need to remove the old colour settings for the characters to get the new default colours.

Your colour settings will have been set to the old default colours. To change to a new one, clear the old one. In the colours command, use the colours remove <whatever> syntax. Any newly created characters will automatically start with the current default colour settings.