OOC:Indoor Weather

OOC	This article is strictly OOC. Referencing anything in this article in-character is likely to make people look at you funny.

Alright, this is a short outline as to how one can get weather messages indoors. The method allows one to customise pretty much any of the messages the weather system spews out to interact however one wishes with the described parts of one house, be it a thatched roof, tiles, windows to look out of or trees to scrape against the siding.

Topics covered, or inherent in this setup, are how to set up the listening object. Suggestions on how to organize the attribute tree to allow for ease of adding other rooms and such to the setup. At the end will be an example of how the Ocean Lily is/will be set up to allow for weather to be heard and seen in its two differing indoor rooms through the waitress already set up to do food orders on the deck.

The Listening Object

One of the primary parts of the system that allows weather to be seen, felt or heard indoors is the listening object. It is required to listen to the weather and pass or translate the messages it receives into its own messages that it sends to the desired room or rooms.

The object must first be created with @create and if it is to be set on the public grid it will need to be described. Some people make signs or posters that are unobtrusive, some make pretty lanterns or decorations for a room on their porch area and some places have pets or house guests that they use for this. Its really up to preference and the individual's needs and the location available to stash this item.

Speaking of location, a room -is- needed and it -does- need to be set to receive weather. This can be done to ones own room by going to the desired room and entering:

@set here=WEATHER

Or by substituting the 'here' with the dbref of the room in question if one happens to know it.

After that its likely the listening object should be made:

@create Listening Object
@link Listening Object=here
@set Listening Object=MONITOR
@desc Listening Object=<desc>

In the above replacing the 'Listening Object' in every line with the name chosen for the object would work nicely. It should be noted that people who've enabled NOSPOOF will see the name of the object when they see the emits, so perhaps one would wish to name the object accordingly. One may also substitute the 'here' with the dbref of the room one wishes to use as the outdoor weather room. If one is using a public room there may be an issue linking the object to that room! That would suggest before leaving something on the open grid that one asks for permission first.

Style

There are a few reasons one may wish to use this system, one is to simply hear hail or rain in an attic space. Some may want to hear loose roof tiles when the wind gusts, or even to see the seabirds fight the high winds out of one of the windows they've put in their home. Some may even wish to feel a draft from the door or an unseen crack in the window, or even just have the room dim a little as the day changes to night.

All of these things are achievable, but some may require a bit more work than others. Just like one's room descriptions the possibilities are almost endless, and the description is where one must start. It is suggested that after reviewing the description that one then start to pick apart and organize the provided full list of environmental emits into segments that match what one may see or hear within the room. Once these limits are made, much of the list will be pared down and the entire task becomes somewhat more manageable and much less overwhelming.

One of the hardest parts of the entire process is to make the language as flashy and impressive as one wishes, but to also leave a little room for people that may see better in the light or dark, or may hear much better than the average person. Try and keep some of the language somewhat suggestive and less definite as to what is heard or seen, not quite generic and simple, but as unassuming as one can to allow for people not to be looking at a window and not feel impinged on or constrained by this or that message being -totally- inappropriate for the situation. We can't always be perfect and -some- disbelief is always required for the 'presence' desired, but at least a little thinking ahead is appreciated.

Attribute trees

The example provided uses an attribute tree, and it is suggested that anyone attempting to use this system do the same as to help organize ones descriptions in some sort of meaningful manner. It helps even more for if one wishes to use the same listening object for multiple rooms, or even to help a friend add messages to their own homes.

&WEATHER`<room>`<emit_label> 

Is the suggested attribute format. This allows people to organize all of the emits for a described room in one location, and to debug them by viewing only those emits. Without the use of these attributes it can quickly get very unwieldy to implement and maintain the system.

An example is:

&WEATHER`LILY`HAIL_START_HEAVY daera=^A heavy hail begins to fall from the sky.:@remit #7329=You hear hail start to bounce off the roof quite loudly.

Which sets the weather in the room of the Lily. It sets the listener, in this case Daera whom is out on the Deck in a WEATHER defined room to listen for the message when hail starts to happen in a heavy manner and emits to the room #7329 the listed emit.

One -has- to be in the same room as Daera to set her to do this, otherwise they need to use her dbref in that section as well.

Full List of Environmental Emits

This list may not be utterly complete, but seems to be. If anyone finds one that is missing, feel free to add it.

A blazing breeze begins to waft by.
A chilly breeze begins to waft by.
A cold breeze begins to waft by.
A cool breeze begins to waft by.
A few clouds drift in, creating patterns against the afternoon sky.
A few clouds drift in, creating patterns against the evening sky.
A few clouds drift in, creating patterns against the morning sky.
A few clouds drift in, creating patterns against the night sky.
A few clouds drift in, creating patterns against the sunrise sky.
A few clouds drift in, creating patterns against the sunset sky.
A freezing breeze begins to waft by.
A heavy hail begins to fall from the sky.
A heavy rain begins to fall from the sky.
A heavy sleet begins to fall from the sky.
A heavy snow begins to fall from the sky.
A hot breeze begins to waft by.
A light hail begins to fall from the sky.
A light rain begins to fall from the sky.
A light sleet begins to fall from the sky.
A light snow begins to fall from the sky.
A mild breeze begins to waft by.
A moderate hail begins to fall from the sky.
A moderate rain begins to fall from the sky.
A moderate sleet begins to fall from the sky.
A moderate snow begins to fall from the sky.
A very light hail begins to fall from the sky.
A very light rain begins to fall from the sky.
A very light sleet begins to fall from the sky.
A very light snow begins to fall from the sky.
A warm breeze begins to waft by.
In the east you see the sun slowly rising as dawn breaks.
It begins to hail more heavily.
It begins to rain more heavily.
It begins to sleet more heavily.
It begins to snow more heavily.
It has now grown so dark that it is hard to see unaided.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a few wispy streaks behind in the afternoon sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a few wispy streaks behind in the dawn sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a few wispy streaks behind in the dusk sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a few wispy streaks behind in the evening sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a few wispy streaks behind in the morning sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a few wispy streaks behind in the night sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the afternoon sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the dawn sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the dusk sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the evening sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the morning sky.
The clouds begin to clear a bit, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the night sky.
The clouds begin to thicken, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the afternoon sky.
The clouds begin to thicken, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the evening sky.
The clouds begin to thicken, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the morning sky.
The clouds begin to thicken, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the night sky.
The clouds begin to thicken, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the sunrise sky.
The clouds begin to thicken, leaving a thick patchy cottony blanket behind in the sunset sky.
The clouds break away, revealing the afternoon sky.
The clouds break away, revealing the evening sky.
The clouds break away, revealing the morning sky.
The clouds break away, revealing the night sky.
The clouds break away, revealing the sunrise sky.
The clouds break away, revealing the sunset sky.
The day grows bright, the sun rising higher into the sky.
The hail changes over to rain.
The hail changes over to sleet.
The hail eases up a bit.
The hail stops falling from the sky.
The high winds die down somewhat, leaving a steady wind that continues to blow through.
The moon slowly sinks below the horizon.
The moon slowly sinks slowly below the horizon.
The night grows dark.
The rain changes over to hail.
The rain changes over to sleet.
The rain changes over to snow.
The rain eases up a bit.
The rain stops falling from the sky.
The sky fades to black, lit slightly by the light of the moon.
The sky grows dark, even as the full moon illuminates the night.
The sleet changes over to hail.
The sleet changes over to rain.
The sleet changes over to snow.
The sleet eases up a bit.
The sleet stops falling from the sky.
The snow changes over to hail.
The snow changes over to rain.
The snow changes over to sleet.
The snow eases up a bit.
The snow stops falling from the sky.
The sun begins to set in the west, creating a beautiful scene of light and color that stretches across the sky.
The wind dies down, and the air becomes calm.
The wind picks up and whistles through at dangerous speeds.
The wind picks up considerably, making it quite windy.
The winds calm until only a breeze is left.
The winds die down a bit, but remain gusty.
The winds steadily pick up, making it quite windy.
You notice that it is getting darker as the evening approaches.
You notice that the sky is getting lighter through the clouds as morning breaks.
You notice the crescent waning moon beginning to set.
You notice the crescent waning moon coming into view from behind cloudcover.
You notice the crescent waning moon disappearing from view behind a cloud.
You notice the crescent waning moon has moved higher into the sky.
You notice the crescent waning moon has moved into the lower part of the sky.
You notice the crescent waxing moon beginning to set.
You notice the crescent waxing moon coming into view from behind cloudcover.
You notice the crescent waxing moon disappearing from view behind a cloud.
You notice the crescent waxing moon has moved higher into the sky.
You notice the crescent waxing moon has moved into the lower part of the sky.
You notice the first quarter moon beginning to set.
You notice the first quarter moon coming into view from behind cloudcover.
You notice the first quarter moon disappearing from view behind a cloud.
You notice the first quarter moon has moved higher into the sky.
You notice the first quarter moon has moved into the lower part of the sky.
You notice the full moon beginning to set.
You notice the full moon coming into view from behind cloudcover.
You notice the full moon disappearing from view behind a cloud.
You notice the full moon has moved higher into the sky.
You notice the full moon has moved into the lower part of the sky.
You notice the gibbous waning moon beginning to set.
You notice the gibbous waning moon coming into view from behind cloudcover.
You notice the gibbous waning moon disappearing from view behind a cloud.
You notice the gibbous waning moon has moved higher into the sky.
You notice the gibbous waning moon has moved into the lower part of the sky.
You notice the gibbous waxing moon beginning to set.
You notice the gibbous waxing moon coming into view from behind cloudcover.
You notice the gibbous waxing moon disappearing from view behind a cloud.
You notice the gibbous waxing moon has moved higher into the sky.
You notice the gibbous waxing moon has moved into the lower part of the sky.
You notice the last quarter moon beginning to set.
You notice the last quarter moon coming into view from behind cloudcover.
You notice the last quarter moon disappearing from view behind a cloud.
You notice the last quarter moon has moved higher into the sky.
You notice the last quarter moon has moved into the lower part of the sky.
You notice the sun has passed overhead, and is starting to slowly sink towards the western horizon.
You see the crescent waning moon slowly rising above the horizon.
You see the crescent waxing moon slowly rising above the horizon.
You see the first quarter moon slowly rising above the horizon.
You see the full moon slowly rising above the horizon.
You see the gibbous waning moon slowly rising above the horizon.
You see the gibbous waxing moon slowly rising above the horizon.
You see the last quarter moon slowly rising above the horizon.

Omake

Some possibly-helpful commands for handling the attributes and so on are:

examine <listening object>/WEATHER`*

Produces a list of the stuff stored in the weather attribute tree.

examine <listening object>/WEATHER`<room_label`*

Produces a list of the stuff stored in the weather attribute tree for a specific room.

&WEATHER`<room_label>`<environ> <listening object>

Clears the emit/code for the room listen and the environment type shown on the listening object. Again, the listening object can be the name of the object if its with you, or the dbref of the object.