Help Building
From Heretical Apocalypse
BUILDING BUILD_APP BUILDING_APP "BUILD_APP" "BUILD APPLICATION" BUILDER BUILDER_APP
***Please note that building is a *writing* position. It is not a
"cool-eq-making" position (you do get to make your eq with WOM approval of
the stats, but it is not the main point of building a zone). If you don't
like coming up with creative, fun stories and writing them, you probably
won't like being a builder.***
1.) Are you at least 18 years of age or older?
2.) List your mortal name and levels achieved in Medievia. If you have
more than one include them all.
3.) Have you ever had a Medievia character purged before? If so, what
was the character's name and why was it purged?
4.) How long have you played Medievia?
5.) What is your native language and what country do you currently reside
in? What other languages can you speak fluently? Note that having
English as a second language in no way counts against you on the
application.
6.) Provide a 2+ paragraph story that gives a good idea of your zone's
theme and plot. It is ideal for this to resemble an ANNOUNCEMENT zone
story (type ANNINDEX and read back issues of zone openings for ideas).
Please do not write a story that Vryce or any other god is a key figure
in. Please do not write about other worlds, galaxies, aliens, Satan,
Greek or Roman mythology, or anything else that does not fit in with
the current theme of Medievia. If you wish to write about elves, dwarves,
or other characters everyone is familiar with from Tolkien's stories,
please come up with something original.
7.) Provide a brief walkthrough for your zone. (Some possible questions
to ask yourself and provide information for are: What happens once the
player arrives there? Do they simply kill mobs to get xp? Do they do a
complicated eq run? Do they solve puzzles or complete unusual quests?
What mobs do they interract with?)
8.) List 3-5 of the main "characters" of your zone. These should be
mobs that the player will interact with. What are their names?
What are they like? What have they done, and what do they plan
to do? An example might be "Jiano, the Egunian lyre player." You
could talk about how Jiano is in love with Siezonna, the daughter
of the king, and how they plan to turn themselves into fish before
jumping out of the tower window into the moat. Then describe how
King Lergmoz issues a bounty on Jiano's head, and that the player
can choose to assist either Jiano and Siezonna or King Lergmoz, and
whichever they choose determines what equipment they get from the
zone. Try to make mobs interesting so that the player will feel more
immersed within your zone. Show how your mobs will seem real to
the player, rather than just saying, "A king asks you to find his
daughter because she ran away". The details are what make a zone
interesting.
9.) Create 5 sample room descriptions. These do not need to include
exits, just the description. See the guidelines below for room
descriptions. Anyone not following these guidelines will have their
writing disqualified.
10.) A list of proc ideas (special procedures) if you have any. This is
optional, and you are welcome to provide only one or two as a sample
of your ideas.
11.) Level range (what level of player your zone is for). You can check
past zone opening ANNOUNCEMENTs from the ANNOUNCEMENTINDEX for
examples (the level is usually listed at the bottom of the zone
announcement). *DO NOT* plan for your first zone to be a zone for
heroes please. High level equipment zones are best left to builders
who have some experience, so if you want an equipment zone try and
plan it for lower level players.
12.) Estimated number of rooms. We rarely allow zones above 300 rooms. A
good range is somewhere between 150-250.
13.) Amount of time you plan to spend on your zone per week.
14.) List 5 or so (each) sample mob and object names. You don't have to
write an entire mob or object's stats, just give examples of what
they will be called. (Such as "Lord Agimon of House Shinasu" or
"a decrepit old adventurer".)
15.) Any past experience in building. (Most builders are hired with no
previous experience, so don't feel under-qualified if you have none).
16.) Describe your education to us. This may be high school, college,
or your own personal studies. What subjects interest you the
most?
17.) 1-2 paragraphs explaining why you wish to build a zone for
Medievia.
A sample building application exists under HELP APPLICATION_EXAMPLE. It gives
a better idea of what kind of things we are looking for, although we do not
necessarily want applications exactly like the example.
Room description guidelines:
Each of the 5 room descriptions should be a minimum of 3 lines and/or 3
sentences. We recommend they be around 5 lines long. Descriptions should all
be different, and contain details of the surroundings in that room. We
strongly recommend that you omit the use of the words "you" and "your" for
the sample descriptions. However, if you wish to try using them, the criteria
is as follows:
Do not tell people how they think, how they feel (emotionally), how they
act, or what they say. This means you can say "The hot air from the
lava-drenched chasm stings your eyes." but you cannot say "The bubbling lava
pits fill your heart with fear." The reason for this is that the player
may not be scared. Try to show people what something is like rather than
tell them. Provide details about the room to get the reaction from a
player that you want. A room description that says "You stand here
wondering why these walls were built." may be entirely untrue. The player
could be sitting in the room, not standing, and they may not be thinking
about the walls at all. Describing the area or landscape is usually a much
better approach than trying to narrate a player's adventures for them. Let
the player come to their own conclusions.
BUILDING_TIPS "BUILDING TIPS"
How to plan a fantastic zone and get your zone proposal approved.
A lot of people email me asking what kind of features I look for in an
application and zone proposal, so I have written this help file for people
who want to research before they take a shot at building a zone.
There are many elements that make up a high quality zone. This help file
attempts to cover as many helpful details as possible.
1.) Theme
The theme of your zone sets the stage for all the elements throughout
your zone. It also plays a large part in how interesting your zone will
be to players. Try to think of a creative and detailed theme that will
set your zone apart from others. Carbon copy ideas of existing zones, or
lazy attempts at coming up with a theme are easy to spot and will affect
what players (and gods) think of your idea. Here are some examples of
good themes vs. boring themes:
- A forest zone filled with bears. = boring
- A forest zone filled with a species of bears that has evolved so that
it can talk and form social groups, leaders, and culture. = interesting
- A forest zone filled with several different species of evolved animals
that have formed social statuses and cultures and are at war with each
other for ownership of the forest. Players have to choose a side and
fight for them to solve the zone. Not only that but the trees have
evolved into partially mobile wood nymph species and sometimes come to
life and move around, changing the layout of the zone and how you solve
it. There are a few small ground dwellings hidden in the forest where
ground dwarves who protect the forest live and they provide clues about
the zone and have nice eq. In one area there is a pond with a water
spirit that grants wishes if you help bring peace to the forest instead
of fighting the war. = very interesting
or
- A city on the edge of a large lake. = boring
- A city on the edge of a large lake that was recently invaded by a small
species of dragons that travel in herds. = interesting
- A city on the edge of a large lake recently invaded by a horse-sized
dragon species that travels in herds and players may choose to assist
the dragons and be rewarded for their evil deeds with gold, or they may
assist the citizens and be rewarded in equipment and goods from the
city. Their choice affects their alignment. There are multiple
sub-plots throughout the zone of citizens and dragons who need special
things done for them, and many clues you must solve to make your way
throughout the zone. = very interesting
These are only examples of detailed themes. There are endless possibilities.
Please try to be creative and original!
2.) Mobs
Once you have developed a theme you should plan to have mobs to fit
it. The more detailed you make each mob the more interesting your zone
will be. Mobs that have well-thought out names, personalities, and
histories are more interesting than generic creatures to kill. Builders
have choices of making mobs talk, adding clues throughout their zone, and
many other tools in order to round out their zone's characters. Many
builders have a habit of planning 2 or 3 "boss" mobs for a zone, and then
filling the rest of the zone up with generic xp mobs. There is no reason
not to have personalities for many of your mobiles! Here are examples of
boring mobs vs. interesting mobs.
- Boring mob: a bear
- Interesting mob: a shaggy bear with a large scar on its side
The second mob growls and complains of being attacked by an alligator.
- Boring mob: a citizen
- Interesting mob: Jakory, the town fiddler
Jackory will give you the key to a tower in the musician's square if you
return his fiddle to him.
- Boring mob: a small dragon
- Interesting mob: a lithe dragon the size of a horse
The second mob does not take damage from fireshields and has a tendency
to flee during battle.
- Boring mob: a cook
- Interesting mob: Martynor, the King's Chef
Martynor proudly talks about the time he caught a spy trying to poison
the King's food, and how he was given a reward of 15 of the King's finest
chickens for the deed.
Whether it has a proc, story, or simply has an interesting name, mobs do
not have to be boring.
3.) Objects
Objects do not have to be boring, and they don't have to be max stat
equipment either. Many builders make the mistake of not loading smaller
items of equipment to round out their zone. Sure, you can't have every
item you load in your zone have fantastic stats, but it is more fun to an
xper when they can examine the items on corpses to see if they are of
worth to them, or to collect newbie eq for their clannies. Sometimes
objects may just be for looks and have no stats at all.
Objects are more fun when they are creatively named and have look at
descriptions. If players constantly look at your items and "see nothing
special", they begin to think there isn't much special about your
zone. Put clues in your objects! Make visually appealing descriptions of
their features. Add adjectives to their names. Here are some examples of
boring and interesting objects:
- Boring object: a hammer
- Interesting object: a primitive hammer carved from granite
The description of this object lends clues to the primitive nature of the
people who live in the zone's caves.
- Boring object: a flower
- Interesting object: a sweet-scented sprig of oleander
If the player puts oleander in the tea of the evil wizard it poisons him
and frees the citizens of the zone.
- Boring object: a chainmail shirt
- Interesting object: a chainmail shirt made from links of hyranthium
When you run the zone you find out that hyranthium is a unique metal
found in the mines and the source of the city's economy.
4.) Map
You don't have to have made your map before you apply to become a
builder, but it is a good idea to at least have an idea of what it will
be like. Graph paper is an excellent way to plan out your zone. Use each
square as a room in your zone, and draw each level separately. It's a
good idea to mark rooms that connect for different levels. Once you have
your map, count your rooms. Whereas we don't require you send a map to
apply to build, we do prefer you know approximately how many rooms you
wish to use. Don't go overboard! If your zone is over 250-300 rooms it is
probably too big! Try to scale down to be under this range. Most good
zones are between 80-250 rooms. This is the size of zone that is easiest
to balance, and contains the most interest for players. Remember that big
isn't always better!
5.) Story
When you write the story for your zone, be sure to check out ANNINDEX to
find back issues of zone openings as examples. The type of story we want
to see is a well developed one similar to those you see in the news. Good
stories contain interesting details and are fun to read, kind of like a
short story. It doesn't have to be LONG, but it should be creative and
detailed. Many good stories only need 1 or 2 paragraphs to draw the reader
in, whereas some take a lot more to cover all the details of the zone's
history. Be wary of making your story TOO long since this can bore the
reader.
The best stories:
- Give information about the setting of the zone (forest, lake, castle,
city, mountain, swamp...)
- Provide details about the zone's history (What happened there before
the player heard about it?)
- Give background on at least one of the zone's mobs (evil wizard taking
over, trapped princess, etc.)
- Tell the player why they want to go there (solve a mystery, do a good
deed, etc.)
- Don't give away the zone secrets, tell just enough to get the player
interested but not enough to spoil the surprise. In a zone proposal it
is okay to say "This is what happens once they get to the zone" and
give a run-through of the way the zone is written.
6.) Room Descriptions
Be *sure* to read the help at the bottom of Help BUILD_APP on room
description guidelines. We have high standards for writing and your room
description entries are a major element of your application. If you turn
in something that looks like you just threw it together in a hurry, we
are going to think of you as someone who either can't write, or doesn't
take the time to write well. We don't want bad writers! Also, be sure to
proofread your descriptions and use a spell checker if you are bad with
spelling. If it looks like you cared about your work, it will make us
care about your work.
7.) Procs (also known as Special Procedures)
These are optional, and you don't really need many for your application
if you do decide to include them. However, we highly recommend that you
plan to have them in your final zone. All you have to do is design them,
a programmer will code them for you once your zone nears completion.
Pretty much anything is possible for procs, there is very little we
cannot do, or cannot adapt into something equally as good. The question
is whether or not the rest of your zone is well enough planned and
executed to warrant having a programmer spend their time coding it
for you. So for those of you who want to know "is this possible?" the
answer is "yes, if your zone is worth it". If you follow the guidelines
above for the other elements of a zone, it is very likely that your zone
is worth the extra effort on our part.
What are procs? Procs are deviations from normal game code. You can do
all kinds of things with procs. For example, if you wanted a particular
mob to be a coward, you could have a proc where it would shriek "AHHH
DON'T KILL ME!!!" and run away from the player that attacked it. Ideally
procs have to do with solving the zone, or provide clues for the
zone. Sometimes small procs are added to give extra character or detail
to a zone. You can make procs have to do with opening a door, killing a
mob, finding something secret in a room, etc. Your imagination is the
limit!
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Anybody can be a builder. Often people think they must know how to code
to build a zone, but all you have to be able to do is read instructions
and fill in the blanks. Rooms are created online with an easy to use set
of commands that all have extensive help files. Mobs, objects, and
zonefiles are created offline using an editor and all you have to do is
fill in the blanks to create in it. You also are not required to comply
to a strict schedule, we work with you to make your building schedule
fit the time you have available. If you are creative, step forward and
contribute to Medievia's zones! There is nothing holding you back.
To wrap this up here is an abbreviated list of the elements that make a
great zone proposal. Good luck!
1.) An exciting and detailed theme
2.) Interesting mobiles
3.) Unusual and well-placed objects
4.) A solid idea of how many rooms will be needed
5.) A creative and intriguing story
6.) Well-written room descriptions
7.) Innovative special procedures (procs)
Send zone proposals to builderapp@medievia.com as a text email. Do
not send attached files.
We hire new builders regularly every 1-3 months from the best applications
we have received.
See Also: BUILD_APP APPLICATION BUILDER_FAQ JOBS
