TriadCity Message of the Day
2022-04-22
A very early iteration of Pets is online.
We say "very early" because although quite a lot of infrastructure work was necessary to reach this point, there's not a huge lot you can do with a pet just yet.
First re the infrastructure. The basic issue is that, unlike any ordinary Mobile, Pets have to be persisted to the database in a way similar to Players. This is because unlike ordinary Mobiles they grow, gain Skills, and in many ways act more like Players than Mobiles — except they don't log in or out, nor do they have the kinds of autonomous behaviors most TriadCity NPCs can boast.
Plus, because they'll eventually be bought and sold, they act a little like Items. So we had to get a bit fancy with the code.
Our goal of course is to make TriadCity pets act like they belong in TriadCity. We want them to grow from infancy to maturity, learn Skills like everybody else, and use and respond to commands intelligently. They need to eat, sleep, be Trained in a reasonably realistic way. Plus, we can imagine an entire economy developing around growing, training and selling pets with specialized abilities. Watch this space.
Today, we have just one type of pet — dogs — roaming the game world as strays. You can use the Adopt command to make one yours. If you do, you'll have the responsibility of caring for it. In particular it needs food — dogs eat meat. If you neglect it, it'll die, and that can have consequences, particularly in the NorthWest Third, where as you can imagine there's a very large population of militant animal lovers.
Your pet belongs only to you. It'll take orders from you and no-one else. You can use the Command, Cue, or Order variants; and because pet bonding comes with psychical implications, you can also use Tell to send it commands privately. Right now, the list of commands pets will respond to is limited: for dogs, it's Beg, Commands, Drink, Eat, Follow, Sit, Skills, Speak, Stand, and Stay. In future there will be more, and other animals will have their own — cats, birds, reptiles, larger mammals, maybe others.
Pets remain in the game world when you log out. They stay in the Room where you last placed them, either patiently or forlornly awaiting your return. They need food and drink while you're away: it's your responsibility to plan for that. They will Eat and Drink for themselves when hungry or thirsty — provided there's food or water in the current Room. In future you'll be notified by email if they're in danger from lack of food or drink. Today you'll just have to check on them.
In coming iterations they'll grow from infancy to adulthood, gaining strength, and — up to you — learning Skills. They'll also require the Skills to execute your commands — that's not in yet. Today they don't grow and they execute your commands without failures. That'll change.
Our thinking is that pets will complement their owners' abilities. Pets of magic users will become familiars; pets of Warriors will become battle companions.
Like pets themselves, we've started small and will grow them over time.
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