From the NannyMUD documentation
2005-11-11 by Gabe
NAME
colour - About coloured objects in NannyMUD.DESCRIPTION
The colour property was created to add another dimension to the world of NannyMUD. This was mainly done for the dark guild which needed to know if an object is black or not, but other applications quickly arose from its existance. The colour property can be set to any string that describes the colour of an object, but for this to be useful for anything outside your own area, we must agree on a number of good basic colours to use. If you use these, others can see what colour your items are from their code - if you don't, then your 'bad' colours will only be useful to those who know about them. You should set the colour property on your items, but to be allowed to set the colour property, your item must have a description that states or at least hints the colour of the item. It is illegal to set the colour to something not hinted by its description. Most creators have no problem with this, since one of the first things that comes to mind when describing something is its colour. Some materials automatically hint a colour, because it is public knowledge that it has a certain colour, but it does not hurt to add some flavour to your descriptions either (see extravagant colours below). For example wood and leather are assumed to be brown, a ruby is red, and a sword is steely. The NannyMUD colour property only recognizes the dominant colour of an object. For objects with several colours, where neither of the colours cover more than 50% of the surface area, you have a problem. There have been suggestions about creating a system that allows several colours, but we have decided against it for now. It is hard enough to make creators use other colours than black and white as is. After some deliberation and planning we have come to the conclusion that the colour property does not need any extravagant colours, such as 'jade', 'wine' or 'indigo' when simply 'green', 'red' and 'blue' will do. Please feel free to use these more descriptive words in your descriptions though, as they do give the reader a better view of the nuance of colour they are supposed to imagine. BASIC COLOURS We have compiled a list of the 20 colours that we find are basic. They are: Clear, multi, black, grey, white, red, yellow, green, blue, orange, brown, chartreuse, turquoise, purple, golden, brazen, silvery, steely, pink and beige. EXTRAVAGANT COLOURS The number of extavagant colours is of course endless, but to give you a clue of which basic colour to use instead of them, we have compiled a list of the most commonly used words for colours. We encourage you to use an appropriate basic colour for the colour property instead. 1. Non-colours. "clear" ...... None, Transparent, Translucent, Diamond, Glass. "multi" ...... Several distinct colours where neither is dominant This solves the lack of dominant colour for now. 2. Non-chromatic Colours. "black" ...... Dark, Ebony, Jet, Obsidian, Onyx, Pitch, Raven, Sable, Sooty, Tourmaline. "grey" ....... Ashen, Dull, Gray, Slate, Stone. "white" ...... Alabaster, Ivory, Light, Milky, Pearl. 3. Primary Colours. "red" ........ Blood, Blush, Burgundy, Cardinal, Carmine, Cerise, Cherry, Crimson, Fuchsia, Garnet, Hematite, Puce Rose, Ruby, Sanguine, Scarlet, Wine. "yellow" ..... Amber, Blond, Buff, Cream, Ecru, Ivory, Lemon, Saffron, Sand, Topaz. "green" ...... Aquamarine, Beryl, Emerald, Jade, Malachite, Olive, Verdigris, Vert, Viridian. "blue" ....... Azure, Cerulean, Cobalt, Indigo, Navy, Sapphire, Ultramarine. 4. Secondary Colours - These are mixed primary colours. "orange" ..... (Red+Yellow), Amber, Apricot, Bittersweet, Champagne, Ochre, Peach, Salmon, Saffron, Scarlet, Tangerine, Tawny, Titian, Terra Cotta. "brown" ...... (Red+Green), Amber, Auburn, Bronze, Burnt Sienna, Fawn, Ginger, Hazel, Henna, Mahogany, Maroon, Nut, Russet, Rust, Sepia, Tawny, Terra Cotta, Titian, Umber. "chartreuse" . (Green+Yellow), Lime. "turquoise" .. (Green+Blue), Aquamarine, Cyan, Teal. "purple" ..... (Red+Blue), Amethyst, Cerise, Fuchsia, Heather, Heliotrope, Lavender, Lilac, Magenta, Mauve, Mulberry, Murrey, Orchid, Perse, Plum, Violet. 5. Metal Colours - These are used for objects that have the typical metallic light-reflecting properties. Most people would agree that these colours are different from the regular 'dull' colours. "golden" ..... Gold and other Orange-Yellowish metals. "brazen" ..... Bronze, Copper and other Orange-Red-Brownish metals. "silvery" .... Silver, Mithril, Platinum and other Whitish metals. "steely" ..... Iron, Steel and other Greyish to Bluish metals. 6. Other Colours - There are certain colours that do not quite fit in with the rest. They may be extavagant colours to some, but since they are common, they are considered basic colours on their own. "pink" ....... (Red+White), Blush, Coral, Flesh, Peach, Rose, Salmon. "beige" ...... (Brown+White), Khaki, Tan. It is possible that we have forgotten about some colour that will not fit into any of these basic colour groups. Feel free to suggest any basic colour that you think is missing. You may disagree on how we have classified certain extavagant colours, but that doesn't really matter. You choose the basic colour that you find is the most fitting. We have even placed some of the extavagant colours in several basic groups, because they are in between colours or are very vague in their definition. GEMSTONE COLOURS A gemstone or any transparent tinted object should be given the colour of its tint - rubies are red, emeralds are green, etc. Any transparent non-tinted object should have the colour "clear". Many of the gemstones exist in several colours, but normally the following gemstones have the following colours (Alternatives given as well): Amber ........ Brown (or Orange or Yellow) Amethyst ..... Purple Aquamarine ... Blue (or Turquoise or Green) Diamond ...... Clear (or Pink) Emerald ...... Green Garnet ....... Red (or Brown, Black, Green, Yellow or White) Hematite ..... Red Opal ......... Red (or Orange, Yellow or Green) Pearl ........ White (or Yellow or Black) Ruby ......... Red (or Purple) Sapphire ..... Blue (or anything but Red) Topaz ........ Yellow (or White, Blue, Brown or Pink) Tourmaline ... Black (or White or Green) Since NannyMUD is a fantasy world, you can of course give your gemstones any colour you want! These are just guidelines.NOTE
Only the surface colour matters - The materials underneath do not. "gray" is bad. Use "grey" instead. We had to choos one, and grey won the popular vote. You can use 'gray' in your descriptions though. "dark" is bad. Use the or "black" instead. "light " is bad. Use the or "white" instead. " " is bad. Use the instead. "turquoise" is spelled just like that. Uncoloured glass is "clear". Copper is "brazen". Mithril is "silvery". " and " is bad. In this case you are left with three options: Use the most dominant colour, use the colour that would arise if you mix the colours (secondary colours) or simply use the colour "multi". You can use bad colours if you want to, as long as it matches the item (It is discouraged though). EXAMPLE
add_property("colour", "blue");SEE ALSO
properties in build/properties