Building rooms

Rooms are the foundation of every zone. A room has a name, a description, a sector (what kind of place it is), flags (what behaviors it has), and exits to other rooms. You build them with redit.

Open the editor

Stand in the room you want to edit (or create a new vnum that falls in your assigned range):

redit             Edit the room you're standing in
redit 3045        Edit room vnum 3045

New vnums prompt to create. The editor opens on the main menu.

Main menu

-- Room number : [3045] Room zone: [30]
1) Name        : The Temple of Midgaard
2) Description :
3) Room flags  : indoors nomob peaceful
4) Sector type : inside
5) Exit north  : 3046
6) Exit east   : -1
7) Exit south  : 3044
8) Exit west   : -1
…
X) Extra descriptions menu
M) Motion text
S) Script
P) Spec procs
Q) Quit

Name — keep it tight

The room name appears every time a player enters or looks. It’s the headline.

• Good: The Temple of Midgaard, A Narrow Mountain Pass, Inside the Watchtower
• Avoid: Room 5, north of fountain, here

Capitalize like a title. Don’t end with a period.

Description — paint the picture

Hit 2 to open the description in the multi-line editor. Conventions:

• 2-6 lines is typical. Long descriptions don’t get read.
• First sentence sets the scene; later sentences give one or two memorable details.
• Refer to things the player can interact with — look ribbon makes more sense if the description mentioned a ribbon.
• Avoid second-person (“you stand in”). The MUD’s perspective is “you are here” implicitly.
• No color overload — one or two \ty highlights at most. Save bright color for live action.

Inside the multi-line editor: type lines, end with /s to save, /h for help.

Sector types

Sector is one of:

Sector interacts with the zone’s terrain flags for weather purposes — see Building zones.

Room flags

Toggle by typing the flag number (or name) at the flag menu. Common ones:

Exits

Each direction (5-8 for cardinals, B-E for diagonals if enabled, U/D for up/down) opens a sub-menu:

1) Description : You see a narrow corridor leading north.
2) Door keyword: door
3) Key vnum    : 3120
4) Destination : 3046
5) Door flags  : closed locked pickproof

Exit description

Shown when the player types look <direction> from the current room. Optional — leave blank for “You see nothing special.”

Door keyword

The name a player uses to open <kw>, close <kw>, unlock <kw> etc. Required for any door.

Key vnum

The object vnum that unlocks a locked door. -1 for no key (only relevant if locked).

Destination

The target room vnum. -1 means “no exit.” If you set it and clear flags, the exit reappears.

Door flags

Always set ISDOOR if any of the others apply. Same-direction door from both sides needs setting on both rooms (the engine doesn’t auto-mirror).

Extra descriptions

X from main menu — these are keyword-triggered look text bits.

look ribbon            → "A red ribbon flutters from a nail."
look writing           → "The writing reads: 'No mortals beyond this line.'"

Add as many as the room benefits from. Keep keywords short — players type these.

Motion text

M — passive ambient lines that fire on a heartbeat. Useful for “a bird flits across the clearing” type ambiance. Multiple motion entries with weighted probabilities.

Don’t overdo motion text — three quiet lines beats ten spammy ones.

Scripts (DG triggers)

S attaches a DG trigger by vnum. The trigger must already exist (created via trigedit). World-attached triggers (WTRIG_*) fire on enter/leave/command/say etc. See Triggers.

Spec procs

P attaches a C-side spec proc. Rare for rooms — used for special-purpose rooms (heal rooms, restore rooms, train stations). Most rooms don’t have any.

Common patterns

A traveler’s rest stop

• Sector: inside
• Flags: INDOORS PEACEFUL
• Several extra descriptions for furniture, fireplace, sign
• A motion text or two

A wild path

• Sector: forest or hills
• No special flags
• Description references the surrounding terrain

A locked dungeon door

• Set the exit’s destination to the dungeon room
• Add door keyword (e.g. iron door)
• Set ISDOOR + CLOSED + LOCKED
• Set key vnum to the unlocking object
• Mirror the exit on the other side

A death trap

• Add the DEATH flag
• Use the room description to warn the player before they enter
• Often paired with NOMAGIC (to prevent escape)

Saving + testing

Q → y saves to memory immediately. If CONFIG_OLC_SAVE is on for this MUD, it also writes the .wld file for the zone. Walk into the room you edited to verify; redit show re-displays the main menu.

If a room looks broken in-game but right in the editor: that’s a sign the zone hasn’t been reloaded or the file write failed. Ask staff to force <character> reboot or to manually check the lib/world/wld/<zone>.wld file.

See also

• Building zones — bind rooms together with reset commands.
• Building objects — put loot in your rooms.
• Building mobiles — populate them with NPCs.
• Building triggers — scripted reactions to room events.