release.tex
1 \documentclass[11pt]{article} 2 \usepackage{url} 3 \usepackage{times} 4 \usepackage[T1]{fontenc} 5 % Document typeset from the original document that was typeset by Jeremy Elson. 6 % This document typeset by Alex Fletcher <furry@circlemud.org> on Dec 9/2001 7 8 \addtolength{\topmargin}{-.5in} % repairing LaTeX's huge margins... 9 \addtolength{\textheight}{1in} % more margin hacking 10 \addtolength{\textwidth}{1in} % and here... 11 \addtolength{\oddsidemargin}{-0.5in} 12 \addtolength{\evensidemargin}{-0.5in} 13 \setlength{\parskip}{\baselineskip} 14 \setlength{\parindent}{0pt} 15 16 \title{CircleMUD Release History} 17 \author{Jeremy Elson} 18 \begin{document} 19 20 \maketitle 21 22 \begin{abstract} 23 This document is basically just a a compliation of all the \texttt{README} files which accompanied each release of CircleMUD. At the end is the post to \texttt{rec.games.mud.diku} which originally anounced CircleMUD as a publically available MUD source code. 24 \end{abstract} 25 26 \begin{itemize} 27 \item Version 2.20: November 17, 1993 28 \item Version 2.11: September 19, 1993 29 \item Version 2.10: September 1, 1993 30 \item Version 2.02: Early August 31 \item Version 2.01: July 20, 1993 32 \item Version 2.00: July 16, 1993 33 \end{itemize} 34 35 The latest production version of Circle is 2.20, released on November 17, 1993. Version 2.20 supercedes version 2.11, which was released on September 19, 1993. 36 37 \section{Version 2.20 - November 17, 1993} 38 New features: 39 \begin{itemize} 40 \item A completely new output buffering system which is far more network-efficient, and somewhat more memory- and speed-efficient, than the original Diku system. Definitely a major win for people with slow Net links. (Details available by request, but this was discussed on rgmd recently.) Several other functions (such as do\_where() and do\_who()) have been rewritten to take advantage of the new system. 41 \item Redesigned stat screens with better readability 42 \item Command-line substitution via the ``\^{}'' character (works identically to the csh command) 43 \item Code sent by Jeff Fink (thanks Jeff!): Help now handles ambiguous cases correctly (i.e., ``help color'' will give you help for color and not colorspray) 44 \item vstat command to stat mobiles and object by virtual number 45 \item updated documentation 46 \end{itemize} 47 And, bug fixes of varying degrees of severity: 48 \begin{itemize} 49 \item SunOS Bus errors on stealing 50 \item +hit item bug 51 \item Switched immort re-login bug 52 \item Mob memory bug 53 \item Poison/Stat bug (I think this one is native to Diku Gamma 0.0 -- the function hit\_gain was responsible for subtracting hits when a char is poisoned, so you'd lose hits when someone statted you.) 54 \item Stat room bug under Solaris and IRIX 55 \item Ungroup bug 56 \item ``goto 3.guard'' now works (takes you to the third guard instead of room 3) 57 \item various other minor fixes 58 \end{itemize} 59 60 \section{Version 2.11 - September 19, 1993} 61 Changes in 2.11 (from 2.10):\newline 62 Mostly bug fixes, including: 63 \begin{itemize} 64 \item SET FILE bug 65 \item SIGBUS/unaligned data errors under SunOS and other OS's 66 \item Move limit modifier bug 67 \item wrist-wearing bug 68 \item Compilation problems with utility.c under some operating systems 69 \end{itemize} 70 The only notable change is that the hit\_limit, move\_limit, and mana\_limit functions have been removed (for many reasons). From the players' point of view, this means that a character no longer gains movement points with age. Hit, move, and mana gain speeds are still a function of age, however. 71 72 \section{Version 2.10 - September 1, 1993} 73 Changes in 2.10 (from 2.01): 74 \begin{itemize} 75 \item Rewritten get/put/drop/junk/donate/give/wear/remove, so that ``all'' and ``all.x'' work in a much wider variety of cases. Loosely based on code sent in by Jeff Fink. 76 \item ``Track'' function based on breadth-first search 77 \item Configurable auto-save feature to automatically crash-save players periodically 78 \item More intense error-checking in object saving system to detect problems with file permissions 79 \item Many configuration options added to config.c 80 \item Option to make death traps automatically have dump spec-proc assigned 81 \item ASPELL and ACAST macros added to match the ACMD macros; spells1.c, spells2.c, spell\_parser.c, and magic.c changed to use the macros. 82 \item SKILL macro split into GET\_SKILL and SET\_SKILL macros so that error checking can be done 83 \item Enhanced documentation -- a help entry now exists for every command 84 \item Linux compatibility, and further steps to SVR4 compatibility which will make it into Circle eventually. (Note: you must make a change in one line of the Makefile for Linux compatibility.) 85 \item All functions now prototyped before use 86 \end{itemize} 87 88 Jeremy Elson\newline 89 August 31, 1993 90 91 \section{Version 2.01 - July 20, 1993} 92 Version 2.01 is basically the same as 2.00; most of the changes are for making the MUD more portable, based on mail I've received after the release of version 2.00. 93 \begin{itemize} 94 \item Problems with OPEN\_MAX and SEEK\_x resolved 95 \item Some problems with the Makefile fixed 96 \item Compiles much more cleanly with the -Wall option 97 \item A couple of minor bugs fixed 98 \item A few small fixes to the documentation 99 \end{itemize} 100 July 20, 1993 101 102 \section{Version 2.00 - July 16, 1993} 103 CircleMUD was developed and tested under Ultrix 4.0; your mileage may vary. If I have time, I'll try and port it to other machines. If you port it and want to share your work with others, feel free to drop me a line. 104 \par 105 The CircleMUD `press release' is included below, in case you haven't seen it and want to. 106 \par 107 Good Luck! 108 \par 109 Jeremy Elson aka Rasmussen (Ras)\newline 110 July 16, 1993 111 112 \begin{verbatim} 113 Wake the kids and find the dog, because it's the FTP release of 114 115 116 C I R C L E M U D 2 . 0 117 118 119 That's right -- CircleMUD 2.0 is done and is now available for anonymous FTP 120 at ftp.cs.jhu.edu! 121 122 CircleMUD is highly developed from the programming side, but highly UNdeveloped 123 on the game-playing side. So, if you're looking for a huge MUD with billions 124 of spells, skills, classes, races, and areas, Circle will probably disappoint 125 you severely. Circle still has only the 4 original Diku classes, the original 126 spells, the original skills, and about a dozen areas. 127 128 On the other hand, if you're looking for a highly stable, well-developed, 129 well-organized "blank slate" MUD on which you can put your OWN ideas for 130 spells, skills, classes, and areas, then Circle might be just what you're 131 looking for. 132 133 Just take a gander at some of Circle's nifty features: 134 135 -- In-memory mobile and object prototypes and string sharing for 136 decreased memory usage and blazingly fast zone resets 137 138 -- All large realloc()s have been removed and replaced by boot-time 139 record counting and a single malloc() for superior memory efficiency 140 141 -- Split world/obj/mob/zon/shp files for easy addition of areas; plus, 142 all the world files are still in the original Diku format for 143 compatibility with existing areas 144 145 -- Boot-time and run-time error checking of most data files with 146 diagnostic messages a lot more helpful than "segmentation fault"! 147 148 -- Player mail system and bank 149 150 -- Rewritten board system: boards are now stable, robust, more 151 intelligent, and easily expandable -- adding a new board is 152 as easy as adding another line to an array 153 154 -- ANSI color codes with a fully documented programmers' interface 155 156 -- On-line system logs 157 158 -- Optional automatically regenerating wizlist -- a final end 159 to new immortals constantly asking you when they'll be added 160 to the immlist! 161 162 -- "config.c" file allows you to change aspects of the game such 163 as playerkilling/playerthieving legality, max number of objects 164 rentable, and nameserver usage -- WITHOUT recompiling the 165 entire MUD! 166 167 -- All text (help, mortal/immort MOTDs, etc.) is rebootable at 168 run-time with the "reboot" command 169 170 -- All players are given a unique serial number -- no more messy, 171 time consuming str_cmp()s when you're trying to identify people! 172 173 -- Fully integrated and robust rent/crash system -- allows normal 174 renting, cryo-renting, crash protection, and forced rent 175 (at an increased price) after an hour of idling 176 177 -- All the standard wizard stuff you're used to: level-sensitive 178 invisibility, settable poofin/poofouts, wizline 179 180 -- Advanced 'set' command which allows you to set dozens of aspects 181 of players -- even if they aren't logged in! "Stat" also allows 182 you to stat people who aren't logged in! 183 184 -- Intelligent 'autorun' script handles different types of reboots, 185 organizing your system logs, and more! 186 187 -- Circle comes with more than a dozen utilities, all fully 188 documented, to make maintenance a snap! 189 190 -- And much, much more! 191 192 Unfortunately, the original Circle had more than its fair share of Bad People 193 when it was alive, but it DID lead to an impressive list of security and 194 "asshole control" features: 195 196 -- 3 types of sitebanning available: 'all' to refuse all connections, 197 'new' to refuse new players, or 'select' to refuse new players and 198 all registered players who don't have a SITEOK flag. 199 200 -- 'wizlock' allows you to close the game to all new players or all 201 players below a certain level. 202 203 -- Handy 'mute' command squelches a player off of all public 204 communication channels 205 206 -- Handy 'freeze' command freezes a player in his tracks: the MUD 207 totally ignores all commands from that player until he's thawed. 208 209 -- Even handier DELETE flag allows you to delete players on the fly. 210 211 -- 'set' command (mentioned above) allows you to freeze/unfreeze/ 212 delete/siteok/un-siteok players -- even if they aren't logged in! 213 214 -- Bad password attempts are written to the system log and saved; 215 if someone tries to hack your account, you see "4 LOGIN FAILURES 216 SINCE LAST SUCCESSFUL LOGIN" next time you log on. 217 218 -- Passwords don't echo to the screen; allows 3 bad PW attempts 219 before disconnecting you. 220 221 -- Players aren't allowed to choose their character's name as their 222 password -- you'd be surprised how many do! 223 224 -- "xnames" text file specifies a list of invalid name substrings 225 to prevent creation of characters with overly profane names. 226 227 Listen to all the rave reviews of CircleMUD 2.0! 228 229 "How long ago was that deadline you set for yourself?" -- My Friend 230 231 "NO ONE should be denied the power of computation." -- My Professor 232 233 "Multi-user WHAT?" -- My Mom 234 235 Give it a try -- what do you have to lose other than your GPA/job, friends, 236 and life? 237 238 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 239 240 Circle's complete source code and areas are available now for anonymous FTP 241 at ftp.cs.jhu.edu (128.220.13.50) in the directory pub/CircleMUD. 242 243 I welcome comments and constructive criticism about CircleMUD and would be 244 happy to discuss any design decisions I've made, but I'm not particularly 245 receptive to lunatics frothing at the mouth and thus will probably ignore 246 you if you flame me. 247 248 Also, remember the odds here: one person (me) against 29,000 lines of 249 code (Circle), so there are bound to be some mistakes in there somewhere. 250 251 Good luck, and happy Mudding, 252 253 Jeremy Elson aka Ras 254 255 \end{verbatim} 256 257 \end{document} 258 \end