Aardwolf MUD – Grouping Rewrite

This article contains the details of a new grouping system being added to Aardwolf MUD. While the older simple version of grouping does still exist, this new version allows groups to be named and (optionally) visible to everyone, track experience and kills, will support group information being added to GMCP and adds a lot of base functionality for adding to grouping code later on.

Basic Grouping:

The basic version of grouping simply requires you to follow someone. If they ‘group’ you, you will be added to their group. If they don’t already have a group, one will be created. Once this has been done, all of the options available below are available.

Enhanced Grouping

The ‘group’ command has multiple options based on whether or not you are already in a group, and your status within the group:

Global Group Commands:

• Group Create [Groupname]: Allows you to create a new group that you can then invite other players to join.
• Group List: List all publicly visible groups and their level range.
• Group Accept [Leader]: Accept a group invite.
• Group Decline [Leader]: Decline a group invite.
• Group Invites: See any outstanding group invitations you have.

Group Member Commands:

• Group Leave: Leave the group. If the person leaving is a group leader, a new leader will be automatically assigned. If the person leaving is the last player in the group, the group will be disbanded.
• Group Stats: Show the kills and total experience for each group member.
• Group Stats Resetme: Reset your stats in this group.

Group Leader Commands:

• Group Invite [Player]: Invite other players into the group.
• Group Invited: View outstanding invitations for this group.
• Group Cancel [Player]: Cancel an invitation previously made to a player.
• Group Kick [Player]: Kick a person out of the group.
• Group Disband: Disband the group completely.
• Group Stats Reset: Reset the group stats (group header stats only).
• Group Rename: Rename the group to something else.
• Group Flag [Public/Private]: Flag the group public or private. The default setting is private. Public groups can be seen by anyone in ‘group list’. Private groups can only be seen by members and people who have been invited to join the group.

Having a group as its own entity rather than a loose collection of players following each other also opens up the possibility of tracking things like ‘biggest exp group ever/since reboot’ etc. Will be interesting to see where this leads once the initial version is live and settled in.