Prompts, Eye-Melt Blue and You, by Magick

[Anume]

18 hours ago, Magick said:

 

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Working title: Prompts, Eye-Melt Blue and You.

The prompt help file is self explanatory for the most part and I've alphabetized it by code.  We don't need to worry about the IMM only ones, but I left them in for posterity.  Additionally, as of the writing of this, displaying exits (%e) is currently not in the help file.

HELP PROMPT

Syntax: prompt
Syntax: prompt all
Syntax: prompt <%*>

PROMPT without an argument will turn your prompt on or off.

PROMPT ALL will give you the standard prompt.

PROMPT <%*> where the %* are the various variables you may set yourself.

%a :  Display your Cabal Point total                %A :  Displays your current Roleplay Point total
%c :  Display a carriage return                     %C :  Display carriage return in combat only.
%e :  Display visible exits
%g :  Display your gold held
%h :  Display your current hit points               %H :  Display your maximum hit points
%i :  Shown mount status M D
%l :  Begin color sequence (HELP PROMPT COLOR)      %L :  End color sequence (HELP PROMPT COLOR)
%m :  Display your current mana                     %M :  Display your maximum mana
%n :  Display name of current tank (combat)
%p :  Display health of current tank (%)            %P :  Display health of current tank (bar)
%r :  Display the room you are in (IMM ONLY)        %R :  Display the vnum you are in (IMM ONLY)
%s :  Display current language you are speaking
%t :  Display the current hour
%u :  Display if room is pacified or not (IMM ONLY)
%v :  Display your current moves                    %V :  Display your maximum moves
%x :  Display your current experience               %X :  Display experience to level
%z :  Display the area name you are in (IMM ONLY)

 

Your default prompt is: %n%P%C<%hhp %mm %vmv>
The syntax for this is: PROMPT %n%P%C<%hhp %mm %vmv>

As an example, this will be displayed as:

Out of combat:         In combat:

                       Tank: [===|===|===|===]
<100hp 100m 100mv>     <100hp 100m 100mv>

 

A slight modification to this (highlighted in red), the addition of exits to your prompt (PROMPT %e%n%P%C<%hhp %mm %vmv>), will look similar to this:

Out of combat:                       In combat:

                                     [Exits: N S D]Tank: [===|===|===|===]
[Exits: N S D]<100hp 100m 100mv>     <100hp 100m 100mv>

 

The addition of a carriage return (PROMPT %e%c%n%P%C<%hhp %mm %vmv>) gives us a multi-line prompt that's perhaps a bit easier to read.

Out of combat:         In combat:

                       [Exits: N S D]
[Exits: N S D]         Tank: [===|===|===|===]
<100hp 100m 100mv>     <100hp 100m 100mv>

You can modify this however you fancy and there's many ways to do this.  A number of people have posted theirs here, though many do a poor job of showing you how exactly they appear in game both in and out of combat.
A couple things to keep in mind:

• The name of the current tank, health bar and health percentages (%n, %P, %p) are shown only while in combat.
• Additionally, %C will only provide a carriage return while in combat.  If you're in doubt, I'd say stick with %c.
• %i will show either a D or an M when you are dismounted and mounted respectively.  Having something like [%iounted] will show [Mounted] while mounted, but [Dounted] when dismounted.
• %t is the two digit 24 hour time.  Preceding 0's are left off.  For example: at 6am, noon, 6pm and midnight, [%t] will show [6], [12], [18] and [0] respectively.
• %e will show the room exits, even if you are asleep or without a light and in the dark, so long as you are not blinded.  Traps and closed doors will be indicated here as well, the only exception are hidden doors.  This is the only argument that's automatically enclosed in brackets. For example, [%e] will show [[Exits: +N E (S)]] if in a room with a trap to the north and closed door to the south.

 

Onto colors.

 

HELP PROMPT COLOR

COLOR CODES:
  In order to tell the MUD what color to insert, the "%l" has to be followed
by a single character representing a type of color.  Each of the characters
has two versions: regular (code), and bright (shift + code).
The folowing color codes can be used along with their uppercase variants:

        Normal          :       1 to 8
        Blinking        :       q to i
        Underlined      :       a to k
        Underlined+Blink:       z to ,

STARTING COLOR:
  To start a color somwhere in the prompt, simply enter %l<code> in the 
spot you wish it to start at. (<code> being one of the characters above).

ENDING COLOR:
  To end the color sequence simpy enter %L where you wish the color to end.
Not that if the MUD sets its owner color somewhere in the prompt, it will
override your settings.

Example: 
"prompt <%l!%h%Lhp %l6%m%Lm %l3%v%Lmv>"
  Will result in a prompt colored as follows:
<1000hp 1000m 1000mv>

 

If this looks confusing, I promise it's not.

To change the color of anything in your prompt, lead with %l (lowercase L).  This will indicate that there is something you wish to be colored.  Follow this with color variable (detailed below).  Add in what you want to be colored. End with %L, which will tell your prompt to stop coloring everything.
Breaking down the example in the help file you have:
<%l!%h%Lhp %l6%m%Lm %l3%v%Lmv>
Highlighted in red is your start/stop color arguments.  Yellow shows the assigned color (shown below).  Green is what will be colored.  Everything else is left alone.  If you wish different colors, change that which is highlight yellow.  If you wish no color at all, remove everything in red and yellow.  You'll be left with the basic: <%hhp %mm %vmv>.  Both perform the same functions, the only difference is being able to reference different numbers at a glace through their different colors.

What the help file doesn't immediately tell you is what the colors are as assigned to each character.

There are eight colors in two flavors for a total of sixteen colors.

Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, Magenta, Cyan, White, Black.

Each of these has a bright and a dark version.  The dark version is your base color while the bright version is "capitalized."  For example, 1 is a dark red while ! is bright red.  Likewise for q and Q, a and A, and so on.

Each argument is repeated and in the color/format they represent for ease of viewing and only need to appear as a singular argument in your prompt:

Normal:                 1111 2222 3333 4444 5555 6666 7777 8888
Normal:                 !!!! @@@@ #### $$$$ %%%% ^^^^ &&&& ****
Blinking:               qqqq wwww eeee rrrr tttt yyyy uuuu iiii
Blinking:               QQQQ WWWW EEEE RRRR TTTT YYYY UUUU IIII
Underline:              aaaa ssss dddd ffff gggg hhhh jjjj kkkk
Underline:              AAAA SSSS DDDD FFFF GGGG HHHH JJJJ KKKK
Underline and Blinking: zzzz xxxx cccc vvvv bbbb nnnn mmmm ,,,,
Underline and Blinking: ZZZZ XXXX CCCC VVVV BBBB NNNN MMMM <<<<

Keep in mind:

• Blinking is at a rate of 2 per second.
• Due to browser formatting, colors shown here may not be exactly what you see through your client but should be a close representation of what is provided in game.
• The underlined colors will also match the color of the value, though not shown here due to formatting.  Example: %lD1000%L should be seen in game as 1000 and not 1000.
• Predefined MUD colors will override these colors.  <%l6%h%L/%l6%H%Lhp> will show for example <1000/1000hp>.  If you're below 20-25% health, it will appear as <10/1000hp>.  Traps and your current health dropping below about 40% (yellow) and below about 20% (red) will be your biggest problem here.
• Don't forget %L, your closing color tag.  Your colors can and will bleed into all other text until the aforementioned colors get overridden by either the MUD or another color you've designated.  Using the example above, if you decide to color the whole thing instead of breaking it up using <%l6%h/%H%Lhp> instead of <%l6%h%L/%l6%H%Lhp> (<1000/1000hp> instead of <1000/1000hp>), when you run into the above scenario, your prompt will look like this: <10/1000hp>.
• Shown exits (%e) are an all or nothing argument.  You cannot color code each direction unless you do it locally (your client through triggers, etc).  Mount status is the same.

 

Personally, I use blinking text sparingly (local triggers) and never in my prompt as I find it too distracting.  With the exception of certain circumstances, prompt color is an all or nothing thing.  If your CPs blink, they will always blink.