Chapter 2

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spheretables.scp

Spheretables.scp is the very first file read by SPHERE after SPHERE.ini, and therefore it is the most important. Almost all of the secondary settings are contained within this file, wich makes this very important. Now, let's talk about this very important file in topics:

== [RESOURCES] ==

The first thing you'll see when you open this file is a list of resources. This is marked by (SURPRISE!) a [RESOURCE] tag. It looks something like this:

[RESOURCES]
scripts/sphere_defs.scp
scripts/sphere_book.scp
scripts/sphere_backward_compatibility.scp
scripts/sphere_events_human.scp
scripts/sphere_events_npcs.scp
scripts/npcs/
...

This tells sphere what files to load and in what order to do so. You must change it carefully sometimes, put scripts with a lot of DEFNAMES, REGIONS, and other global used settings first, to avoid errors when sphere starts (although those errors won't harm your server). For example, we looked at a gold script in Chapter 1 that had a line like this:

TYPE=t_gold

Now, unless SPHERE loads sphere_defs.scp before the script containing the gold, it will have no idea what t_gold means, and will give you an error. This is because t_gold is defined within sphere_defs.scp.

Item files should be loaded before template files, and finally character files. Other files may come after this, but these particular files must load in that order. The loot on monsters is comprised of items and templates, and unless SPHERE has already loaded the file containing these items and templates, you will get hundreds of fun errors to track down and correct. Actually, it isn't very hard to correct, but it's irritating to start up the program and have a thousand errors scroll up your screen.

Note: You can make sphere load a full folder instead of putting each file, that's why we have this scripts/ as the last file on the [RESOURCES] tag, so sphere loads all other scripts that might have been out of the list.

== [OBSCENE] ==

The next section is self-explanatory, [OBSCENE]. This defines "illegal names". If a player creates a character with a name on this list, it will tell him that the name is unavailable and to pick another. If you are a punk who enjoys cussing at others, this list might be a good place to expand your knowledge of obscenities.

== [NOTOTITLES] ==

This defines the title that will be shown related to the player's karma. Do not touch this section. If you remove a line inadvertently, your server WILL NOT RUN. Only change them.

== [PLEVEL X] ==

These sections define the commands available to the various account plevels. Any command not listed is automatically assumed to be in the plevel 4 category. This includes self-defined functions (see Chapter 6). As you can see, there is quite an extensive list of functions and commands.

Note: You don't have to put every function you make in this section as you can have various sections in different scripts, although I recommend that you put them here just for organization purposes.

== [RUNES] ==

This is the list of those words you say when casting a spell (An, Lor, In, etc). You can play with them, but it'll become very confusing. =P

Sphere.ini

Sphere.ini contains all of the internal options for the Sphere emulator. In order to configure your shard, this is the file you will start with. In order to explain this better, I'm just going to add more explanatory comments throughout the file. My comments and additions/changes will be in bold text.

//****************************************************************************
// SPHERE by : Menasoft 1997-2003
// www.sphereserver.com
// All SPHERE script files and formats are copyright Menasoft & Partners.
// This file may be freely edited for personal use, but may not be distributed
// in whole or in part, in any format without express written permission from
// Menasoft & Partners. All donations and contributions
// become the property of Menasoft & Partners.
//****************************************************************************

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// General Information
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

[SPHERE]
// Name of your Sphere shard
ServName=WarAngel's Test Centre
// The IP of your server, this will be 127.0.0.1 almost always
ServIP=127.0.0.1
// The port of your server, this is 2593 by default
ServPort=2593

// Admin's contact email
AdminEmail=warangel999@msn.com
// Web page for this server
URL=www.myshard.com Replace www.myshard.com with your shard's URL'
// GMT offset, from -12 to +12 [London=0, EST=5, etc]
TimeZone=-5 Eastern Time (US & Canada). Change this to fit your timezone

// Official staff language
Lang=English
// Start this as a system service on Win2000, XP, NT
NTService=0 Enabling this removes the ability to use the console.

// MySql configuration.
//MYSQL=0 Set this to =1 to enable MySQL
//MySqlHost=localhost This will almost always be localhost if the MYSQL host is located on the same computer as your shard
//MySqlUser=
//MySqlPassword=
//MySqlDatabase=

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// File Locations
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Directory where spheretables.scp is located, from there we will
// load any additional scripts
ScpFiles=scripts/

// Where your sphereworld.scp and spherechars.scp are located
WorldSave=save/

// Where your sphereaccu.scp and sphereacct.scp is located
AcctFiles=accounts/

// Where your UO installation is located. This need: map0.mul, statics0.mul,
// staidx0.mul, multi.mul, multi.idx, hues.mul, tiledata.mul.
// Optional files: verdata.mul, mapX.mul/staticsX.mul/staidxX.mul for higher
// maps support (Malas, etc).
//
// Note that if not set, sphere will scan windows registry to auto-detect it
//MulFiles=mul/

// Where your log files will be saved by sphere
Log=logs/

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// World Save Information
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// How often for Sphere to save your world (minutes)
SavePeriod=20

// How many backup levels to keep. Each level means 7 backups done for it.
// So, 10*7 = 70 backup saves will be storied.
BackupLevels=10

// On would save in the background quietly over a longer period of time, and not interrupt the game
// Off would notify "World save has been initiated" and save faster, but pause the game momentarily
SaveBackground=0

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Account Management
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//Code for servers account application process
// 0=Closed, // Closed. Not accepting more.
// 2=Free, // Anyone can just log in and create a full account.
// 3=GuestAuto, // You get to be a guest and are automatically sent email with u're new password.
// 4=GuestTrial, // You get to be a guest til u're accepted for full by an Admin.
// 6=Unspecified, // Not specified.
// To enable auto account you must set this to 2
AccApp=0

// Store password hashed with MD5 MD5 is a safer encryption method for saving passwords. More information on it here
Md5Passwords=0

// local ip is assumed to be the admin
LocalIPAdmin=1

// Number of chars allowed per account
MaxCharsPerAccount=5

// Min time for a char to exist before delete allowed (in seconds)
MinCharDeleteTime=3*24*60

// Max number of Guest accounts allowed
GuestsMax=0

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Client Management
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// What client protocol version used
// Comment out the ClientVersion line to allow any client that is supported.
//ClientVersion=2.0.3

// Set this to 0 to block login to encrypted clients Default client uses encryption
UseCrypt=1

// Set this to 1 to allow login to unencrypted clients You can use tools such as UO Rice and UOGateway to remove encryption on a client
UseNoCrypt=0

// Maximum total open connections to server
ClientMax=256

// Maximum open connections to server per IP
ClientMaxIP=16

// Maximum total (not-in-game) connections to server
ConnectingMax=32

// Maximum total simultaneous (not-in-game) connections to server per IP
ConnectingMax=8

// How long logged out clients linger in seconds
ClientLinger=15

// Walk limiting code: buffer size (in tenths of second)
WalkBuffer=75

// Walk limiting code: regen speed (%)
WalkRegen=25

// Only commands issued by this plevel and higher will be logged
CommandLog=0 0 means that all commands will be logged

// Prefix for ingame commands
CommandPrefix=.

// Use the built in http server
UseHttp=1

// Use the built in god port
UseGodPort=0 This is for use with the God client

// Default setting for all accounts specifying default resdisp. Recommended
// specifying at least 1 (T2A) here.
//AutoResDisp=0 0=automatic detect, 1=T2A, 2=LBR, 3=AoS, 4=SE, 5=ML

// Default setting for new accounts specifying default priv level
//AutoPrivFlags=010

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Game Mechanics
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Do not allow entering under roof being on horse?
MountHeight=0

// Archery does not work if too close (0 = not checked)
ArcheryMinDist=2

// Maximum Distance for Archery
ArcheryMaxDist=15

// Speed scale factor for weapons Formula is now DELAY = SPEEDSCALEFACTOR /((DEX + 100) * SPEED)
SpeedScaleFactor=15000

// This is the percent of max weight at which stamina is lost half the time
// (200 = no effect)
StaminaLossAtWeight=150

// Weight penalty for running +N% of max carry weight (0 = no effect)
RunningPenalty=50

// Show people joining/leaving the server
ArriveDepartMsg=1

// Are house and boat keys newbied automatically
AutoNewbieKeys=1

// Maximum number of items allowed in bank
BankMaxItems=1000

// Maximum weight in stones allowed in bank
BankMaxWeight=1000

// If 1 vendors will take gold only from backpack
PayFromPackOnly=0 If set to 0, vendors also take gold from the bank

// Disable weather effects?
NoWeather=1

// Default light level in dungeons
DungeonLight=27 0 is brightest, 30 is darkest

// Day light level 0-30 0 is brightest, 30 is darkest
LightDay=0

// Night light level 0-30
LightNight=25

// Wool Regen Time (in minutes)
WoolGrowthTime=30

// Suppress player speech with 75% of capital letters
SuppressCapitals=0

// Extra combat flags to control the fight (default:0, 0.55i compatible)
// COMBAT_NODIRCHANGE 00001 // not rotate player when fighting (like was in 0.51a)
// COMBAT_FACECOMBAT 00002 // allow faced combat only (recommended)
//CombatFlags=0 If both of these are enabled, it means the player has to keep turning to face his opponent in order to strike

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// NPC/Item/Player Management
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Distance in tiles before an NPC that's wandered too far from it's home will teleport back
LostNPCTeleport=50

// Wether PCs get a resurrection robe when they get resurrected.
NoResRobe=0

// Time for a NPC corpse to decay mins
CorpseNPCDecay=10

// Time for a playercorpse to decay mins
CorpsePlayerDecay=15

// Base decay time in minutes for items
DecayTimer=30

// Put [NPC] tags over chars or [TAME], if the creature is tamed
CharTags=0

// Flip dropped items
FlipDroppedItems=0

// Monsters run when scared of death
MonsterFear=0

// Monsters may fight each other
MonsterFight=0

// Percent setting of the all NPC move rate, default 100
MoveRate=100

// Do players receive sounds
GenericSounds=1

// Max number of items to sell to one person at once
VendorMaxSell=255

// Max level npc trainers can go
NPCTrainMax=300 300 is 30.0 skill

// Percent of own ability npcs can train to
NPCTrainPercent=30

// Max level of skill trainable on dummies, archery butte ect..
SkillPracticeMax=300 300 is 30.0 skill

// Max skill player's will start with on skills they haven't chosen during char create
MaxBaseSkill=200 Set this to 0 for players to start with no skills other than the selected ones

// Time in seconds for hitpoint regeneration
Regen0=40

// Time in seconds for mana regeneration
Regen1=20

// Time in seconds for stamina regeneration
Regen2=10

// Time in seconds for food degeneration
// 60*60*24 = 1 day of real life time
Regen3=60*60*24

// Speech block associated to players
SpeechSelf=spk_player

// Speech block associated to pets
SpeechPet=spk_pet

// When player skills/stats goes this times more than skillclass allowed, drop
// them to skillclass level. Setting this to 0 disables the action.
OverSkillMultiply=2

// NPC AI settings
// NPC_AI_PATH 0001 NPC pathfinding
// NPC_AI_FOOD 0002 NPC food search (objects + grass) This makes npcs look for food (specified on their FOODTYPE sections) and grass to eat
// NPC_AI_EXTRA 0004 NPC magics, combat, etc
//NPCAI=0

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Crime/Murder/Karma/Fame/Guard Settings
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Karma when player goes from good to neutral (from -10000 to 10000)
PlayerNeutral=-2000

// How many minutes are criminals flagged for
CriminalTimer=3

// Times a player can snoop before becoming a criminal
SnoopCriminal=20

// Seconds time to decay a murder count (default 8*60*60 is 8 hours)
MurderDecayTime=8*60*60

// Amount of murders before we get title
MurderMinCount=1

// Looting or carving a blue player is a crime
LootingIsaCrime=1

// Flag players criminal for helping criminals?
HelpingCriminalsIsaCrime=1

// How long do guards linger about in minutes
GuardLinger=3

// Will guards kill instantly or follow normal combat rules
GuardsInstantKill=1

// Limits the MAXHITS/MAXMANA/MAXSTAM changes
// STAT_FLAG_NORMAL 0x00 // MAX* status allowed (default)
// STAT_FLAG_DENYMAX 0x01 // MAX* denied
// STAT_FLAG_DENYMAXP 0x02 // .. for players
// STAT_FLAG_DENYMAXN 0x04 // .. for npcs
StatsFlags=0

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Server Mechanics
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Experimental flags
// Flags for options that affect server behaviour and which might affect compatibility
// See the revisions.txt file for more details on this
// EF_DiagonalWalkCheck = 00000001
// EF_UNICODE = 00000002 // No on Linux Enables new Unicode fixes
// EF_Scripts_Ret_Strings = 00000004
// EF_New_Triggers = 00000008
// EF_Scripts_Parse_Verbs = 00000010
// EF_Intrinsic_Locals = 00000020 //Allows locals to be referenced differently. For example: <local.X> can be referenced as just <X>
// EF_Item_Strict_Comparison = 00000040 //Disables similars items being compared instead of specific items, such as cloth, leather, hides, log, boards, arrow, bolt being compared when the server tries to find an arrow.
// EF_WalkCheck = 00000100 //Fixes a lot of house looting bugs, and other walkchecking related problems.
// EF_Script_Profiler = 00000400
// EF_Size_Optimise = 00000800
// EF_Minimize_Triggers = 00001000 //Minimize trigger calls (use only 0.51 triggers)
Experimental=00000

// Option flags
// Flags for options that affect server behaviour but not compatibility
// See the revisions.txt file for more details on this
// OF_Magic_IgnoreAR = 00000001 //Does magic ignore a players armor statistics?
// OF_Magic_CanHarmSelf = 00000002 //Can a player harm himself with magic? (using Magic Arrow to unparalyze oneself, for example)
// OF_Magic_StackStats = 00000004
// OF_Archery_CanMove = 00000010 //Can a player move and shoot at the same time?
// OF_Magic_PreCast = 00000020 //Allow pre-casting of spells, or freeze a player in place while they cast?
// OF_Items_AutoName = 00000040
// OF_FileCommands = 00000080 //This enables all file commands, such as writefile, etc.
// OF_NoItemNaming = 00000100 //If enabled, prevents Sphere from naming crafted items such as "sword craft by Player
// OF_NoHouseMuteSpeech = 00000200 //Can players inside a house hear players outside, and vice-versa?
// OF_Multithreaded = 00000400 //Do not set while server is running !!! (Make *Nix server unstable) Puts account handling in a second thread
// OF_Advanced_LOS = 00000800
// OF_Flood_Protection = 00001000
OptionFlags=0200

// FeatureT2A, used to control T2A expansion features ( default 03 )
// FEATURE_T2A_UPDATE 01 // Monster and Lost lands
// FEATURE_T2A_CHAT 02 // In game chat
FeatureT2A = 03

// FeatureLBR, used to control LBR expansion features ( default 0 )
// FEATURE_LBR_UPDATE 01 // Lbr Monsters
// FEATURE_LBR_SOUND 02 // MP3 instead of MIDI
FeatureLBR = 0

// FeatureAOS, used to control AOS expansion features ( default 0 )
// Enabling one of them automagically enables AoS basic features
// FEATURE_AOS_UPDATE 01 // Basic AoS feature
// FEATURE_AOS_POPUP 02 // Popup infos
// FEATURE_AOS_DAMAGE 04 // Damage shown on hit
// FEATURE_AOS_PALNECRO 08 // Fightbook and Paladin/Necro on char creation
// FEATURE_AOS_TOOLTIP 010 // Tooltips
FeatureAOS = 0

// FeatureSE, used to control SE expansion features ( default 0 )
// FEATURE_SE_UPDATE 01 // Basic SE features
// FEATURE_SE_NINJASAM 02 // Ninja and Samurai
FeatureSE = 0

// FeatureML, used to control ML expansion features ( default 0 )
// FEATURE_ML_UPDATE 01 // Basic ML features
FeatureML = 0

// In game effects to turn on and off
// Messages echoed to the server console while in debug mode
// DEBUGF_NPC_EMOTE = 0x0001
// DEBUGF_ADVANCE_STATS = 0x0002
// DEBUGF_WALKCODES = 0x0080 // try the new walk code checking stuff
// DEBUGF_NPCAI = 0x0100 // some NPC AI debugging
// DEBUGF_EXP = 0x0200 // experience gain/loss
// DEBUGF_LEVEL = 0x0400 // experience level changes
DebugFlags=0

// Console Hears all that is said on the server
HearAll=1

// Secure mode attempts to ignore errors, protect from accidently shutdowns
Secure=1

// Value from 1 to 32, set sectors inactive when unused to conserve resources
SectorSleep=10

// Disconnect inactive socket in x min
DeadSocketTime=5

// Always force a full garbage collection on save
ForceGarbageCollect=1

// Time before restarting when server appears hung (in seconds)
FreezeRestartTime=60

// Length of the game world minute in real world in seconds
GameMinuteLength=60

// Bit Mask of the subjects you want to log when logging is on
// LOGM_ACCOUNTS 0x00080
// LOGM_SAVE 0x00200 // world save status.
// LOGM_CLIENTS_LOG 0x00400 // all clients as they log in and out.
// LOGM_GM_PAGE 0x00800 // player gm pages.
// LOGM_PLAYER_SPEAK 0x01000 // All that the players say.
// LOGM_GM_CMDS 0x02000 // Log all GM commands.
// LOGM_CHEAT 0x04000 // Probably an exploit !
// LOGM_KILLS 0x08000 // Log player combat results.
// LOGM_HTTP 0x10000
// 01ffff log everything
LogMask=01ec80

// Amount of time to keep map data cached in sec
MapCacheTime=120

// Max NPC chars for a sector to prevent lag
MaxComplexity=32

// Amount of items in one tile so start showing "too many items here"
MaxItemComplexity=25

// Amount of items in one sector to start showing "x items too complex"
MaxSectorComplexity=1024

// Limit the number of cycles the while/for loop can proceed. Setting this to
// zero disables the limitation
MaxLoopTimes=0

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Magic/Effects Settings
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// Allow casting while equipped
EquippedCast=1

// Words of power for player using magic
WOPPlayer=1

// Words of power for staff using magic
WOPStaff=0

// Reagents lost if magic fails
ReagentLossFail=0

// Magic requires reagents
ReagentsRequired=0

// What % of hitpoints players will resurrect with. Note, that if you set this
// too low, people with little STR will have problems resurrecting.
HitPointPercentOnRez=33

// How many % of hits will the character loose when starving. 0 disables
//HitsHungerLoss=0

// Amount of skill of lock picking needed to unlock a magically locked door
MagicUnlockDoor=900

// Teleport effect for GMs and players. Setting 0 disables the effect
TeleportEffectStaff=03709
TeleportEffectPlayers=0372a

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Experience and Level system
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// Enable experience system
//ExperienceSystem=0

// Experience system settings:
// 0001 gain experience in combat
// 0002 gain experience in crafts
// 0004 allow experience to go down
// 0008 limit experience decrease by a range witheen a current level
// 0010 auto-init EXP/LEVEL for NPCs if not set in @Create
// 0020 allow trigger @ExpChange
// 0040 allow trigger @ExpLevelChange
//ExperienceMode=0

// If combat experience gain is allowed, use these percents for gaining exp in
// Player versus Monster and Player versus Player combats. Value 0 disables gain.
//ExperienceKoefPVM=100
//ExperienceKoefPVP=100

// Enable levels system (as a part of experience system)
//LevelSystem=0

// Level system settings:
// linear = 0 (each NextLevelAt exp will give a level up)
// double = 1 (you need (NextLevelAt * (level+1)) to get a level up)
//LevelMode=1

// Amount of experience to raise to the next level
//LevelNextAt=0

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Webpage Settings
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// Note, that you can catch error codes by creating sphere404.htm and so on
// for all HTTP error codes sphere support.

[WEBPAGE 1]
// Determines what html file is used as base for the status page
WebPageSrc=scripts\web\spherestatusbase.html
// Determines where the status page is saved
WebPageFile=scripts\web\status.html
// In seconds, how often the status file is updated
WebPageUpdate=60
// Required PLevel to view this page (0 = anyone, 6 = admins only)
PLevel=0

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Abuse Control
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

// Block these ips from the server
// 255 is a wildcard, so 255.255.255.255 disables anyone connecting.
[BlockIP]
//123.34.45.56
//123.45.56.78

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//////// Connection Information
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

//First line should be the name of your shard (this is what people see when they connect)
//Second line should be the IP of your shard (this is almost always 127.0.0.1)
//Third line should be the port of your shard (this should be whatever ServPort is set to)

//Uncomment next 3 lines below this if you have a router
//First line should be a name different than your shard name above this
//Second line should be your real/external IP (www.whatismyip.com)
//Third line should be the shard port (this should be whatever ServPort is set to)
[SERVERS]
WarAngel's Test Centre
127.0.0.1
2593

//External
//my.ip.goes.here
//2593

[EOF]

MAPx It isn't present in sphere.ini, but it can be used (just check REVISIONS.txt). You use it like that:

MAPx=max_x,max_y,sector_size,real_map_number.

For example: MAP1=7168,4096,512,-1

will change map 1 size to 7168,4096, the sector sizes of map 1 to 512 tiles and the -1 means it'll call the default mul file for that map.

Another example:

MAP50=7168,4096,64,3

Will activate a map number 50 that has 7168,4096 as size, 64 as sector size and loads map3.mul, statics3.mul and staidx3.mul as it's map file.

sphere_region.scp

This script deals with the caracteristics of the places, like what you can mine or lumber, what happens when you enter that place and that kind of things. It also contains most of the resources sections. Let's start by explaining those:

[REGIONRESOURCE x]

This section contains the the skill needed to gather that resource, what resource it gives to the player and the time for it to regen. Let's take a look at this example (you'll see a commented text "//t_tree" if you have read the previous chapter you'll surelly know what this is, it's a defname)

[REGIONRESOURCE mr_tree]
// lumberjacking default
// t_tree
SKILL=1.0,80.0
AMOUNT=9,30
REAP=i_log
REGEN=60*60*10

Basically this section defines a resource, something that you can gather from the landscape. It compares skill and amount. This particular one says that you may gather a maximum of 9 logs at 1.0 skill and a maximum of 30 logs at 80.0 skill. Anything after that simply increases your chances of getting 30 logs. See that SKILL line? The syntax is SKILL=lower,high. And the AMOUNT line sets the AMOUNT=min,max. How does it know what to give you? This line: REAP=i_log. This tells the server to create an i_log item if this resource is taken. So you can put anything you want to be gatherable in this REAP setting. The next line, REGEN, defines how long this resource will take to reappear, in seconds. As we can see here, it's 60*60*10 seconds, or 10 hours. As a GM, if you walk around where players have been chopping wood or mining, you'll see little worldgem bits all over the ground. They look like spawnpoints, but are really resource markers. They mark where a specific resource has been gathered, how much has been gathered, and what type of resource it is. They also have a TIMER which counts down from this very high number (36000) and then decay when it reaches zero.

[REGIONTYPE r_default_rock t_rock]
//Random rocks
RESOURCES=100.0 mr_nothing
RESOURCES=500.0 mr_iron
//RESOURCES=6.0 mr_rusty
//RESOURCES=6.0 mr_old_copper
//RESOURCES=6.0 mr_dull_copper
//RESOURCES=4.5 mr_bronze
RESOURCES=5.0 mr_copper
RESOURCES=2.0 mr_gold
RESOURCES=1.0 mr_rose
RESOURCES=2.0 mr_agapite
RESOURCES=1.0 mr_bloodrock
RESOURCES=1.0 mr_silver
RESOURCES=0.5 mr_verite
RESOURCES=0.2 mr_Valorite
RESOURCES=0.1 mr_mytheril
RESOURCES=0.1 mr_blackrock
RESOURCES=0.1 mr_diamond

Wow, you must be saying. What are all these things? mr_iron? mr_agapite? I don't see those anywhere in the file. Now, I bet you'll go to sphere_defs.scp to see if they are DEFNAMEs for something else. And the truth is, they are, but the definitions can be found in sphereitem_ore.scp.

RESOURCES=50.0 mr_iron

This should look slightly familiar. Would it look even more familiar if the whole thing looked like this?

RESOURCES={ mr_iron 50 mr_copper 5 mr_gold 2 mr_rose 2 ...etc... }

I bet it would, if you were paying attention during the earlier lessons in Chapter 1. This is a weighted list of resources, in a slightly different format than you're used to. But it works exactly the same way. It's also one of the ONLY places in SPHERE scripting that you can use fractional numbers like 0.1 or 0.2. Actually you can't use them here either, but SPHERE successfully hides this as long as you use them in ALL of the RESOURCES. (By the way, do not try to script a RESOURCES identifier as a random selector. SPHERE wont like that. Use the format provided to you.)

[REGIONTYPE r_default_rock t_rock] Understanding: That r_dafault_rock defines the defname of that REGIONTYPE, which is how you'll access it in other scripts (wait for next section =P). The t_rock is the defname (see sphere_defs.scp for it) of the type of a rock, which shows sphere where your players can gather that resource (you could change it to t_water so they could mine ores on water, which isn't a good idea actually :P)

Hopefully that clears up the sphere_region.scp file for you. We'll tell you in the next section how to use these REGIONTYPE settings to make resources actually available in game.

sphere_mapX.scp

Welcome to one of the easiest files in all of SPHERE. This is the spheremap.scp file. It's also the only file that's almost completely done for you. It is a very rare occasion that you need to change this file.

Actually, on that note, I might as well say it from the start. If you change this file, you must restart your server for the changes to take effect. If you do a resync, you'll get over 1000 "Conflicting region" errors.

This section will tell you how to make new regions, like that you go with the .go command.

There are currently 5 files in the default scripts pack, one for each map (Fellucca, Trammel, Ilshenar, Malas and Tokuno) being each one enumerated from 0 to 4 (sphere_map0,sphere_map1,and so on).

I'll use the region of Fellucca as an example for this part of the tutorial, and now here's the script:

[AREADEF a_world]
NAME=Felucca
EVENTS=r_default,r_default_rock,r_default_water,r_default_tree,r_default_grass
GROUP=ALLMAP
P=1323,1624,55,0
RECT=0,0,6144,4096,0

Let's understand those lines now:

[AREADEF somedef]: As you have probably noticed a_world is a defname which defines the region for the server so it can be processed.

Name: This line contains the name of the region, which is shown when you do .where inside the region and it also makes you go to that place when doing .go "region name" (do not make 2 regions with the same name, the last that has been loaded will replace the first when you do .go command (which can fuck up a lot of things)).

Events: This defines what will happen in that region and what resources are gatherable here (remember the REGIONTYPE section? It can be used as an event here.). Besides the resources gatherable it'll also show sphere what triggers to call from the events (you've probably realized now that the REGIONTYPE section is an event for regions :P), like the @Enter trigger and the others (see Triggers).

Group: This is just an axis setting, this separates the regions in groups (duh) when you go to the Travel Menu.

P: This is the place you go when you do .go "region name". Almost all regions will have a P value and it's usually a convenient location in the region to teleport to, or else it's the center of the region. If you are making your own new region, be sure to pick a place you'd like to teleport to.

RainChance: This defines the chance to rain on that region when a weather is called (RainChance=50 means 50% chance of raining), the others 50% means it'll snow.

Rect: This describes the exact boundaries of this region, by coordinates. The first two numbers are the coordinate of the upper left corner of the region, and the second two are the coordinates of the lower right. In the case of Fellucca it stretches from 0,0 to 6144,4096 (RECT=0,0,6144,4096). Since 56B you also need to add a fith argument, the map this region uses so it's RECT=0,0,6144,4096,0 (if the map is 0 you can leave it empty, otherwise you MUST NOT leave it empty or you'll have conflicting regions.

Flags: The region flags allow you to control what goes on in a particular region. They describe whether or not a region is to be guarded, what types of magic are allowed to be cast there, who can be harmed here, or whether or not it is allowed to rain there. Basically anything you could ever want. Here's how you use them:

Just add this line to a region script:

FLAGS=#

Of course you're going to want to replace that # with an actual number! Where do we get those numbers? They're predefined in the game, but they give us a nice handy list. I just showed it to you.

Say we want to make a region that is guarded and safe from harm. We would simply add the two numbers together:

region_flag_safe (02000)

+

region_flag_guarded (04000)

=

06000

There you go. Your FLAGS would be set to 06000. "But.. but.." you're saying. "Didn't you tell me that DEFNAMEs were supposed to prevent me from working with scary numbers?" (See Chapter 1.) Of course I did! And there's a way to do this without using any scary number at all. Here it is:

FLAGS=region_flag_safe|region_flag_guarded

That's it. Now your region is both safe and guarded.

Which, as you may learn quickly as a new admin, is a big mistake. Making a region safe and guarded at the same time prevents the guards from actually killing anything, so they pile up and call each other, and soon you have a huge laggy mess of guards hacking at something that can't be killed (because it's a safe region). Just take my word for it and don't make a region safe and guarded.

Here's a quick list for the region flags (you should check you sphere_defs.scp for more, cause they may be changed):

[DEFNAME region_flags]
region_antimagic_all 00001 // all magic banned here.
region_antimagic_recall_in 00002 // teleport,recall in to this, and mark
region_antimagic_recall_out 00004 // can't recall out of here.
region_antimagic_gate 00008 // can't open gates from or to this place.
region_antimagic_teleport 00010 // can't teleport into here.
region_antimagic_damage 00020 // just no bad magic here
region_flag_ship 00040 // this is a ship region. ship commands
region_flag_nobuilding 00080 // no building in this area
region_flag_globalname 00100 // make sure the name is avail globally.
region_flag_announce 00200 // announce to all who enter.
region_flag_insta_logout 00400 // instant log out is allowed here. (hotel)
region_flag_underground 00800 // dungeon type area. (no weather)
region_flag_nodecay 01000 // things on the ground don't decay here.
region_flag_safe 02000 // this region is safe from all harm.
region_flag_guarded 04000 // try tag.guardowner
region_flag_no_pvp 08000 // players cannot directly harm each other here.

And that's about it for the sphere_mapX.scp files.

sphere_book.scp

Spherebook.scp is one of the most pointless files you will ever encounter. How many times, when you logged onto a shard, did you actually stop to READ those tips, or to READ the updates screen that comes up every time? I know most of my players refused to. But, in any case, that is what's in this file. And books. Did I mention books? Those impossible-to-write-correctly, rarely-used items that waste RAM in-game?

[SCROLL SCROLL_MOTD]
[SCROLL SCROLL_NEWBIE]
[SCROLL SCROLL_GUEST]

These are the sections that define the messages that pop up when you log in. Anything written after these tags will appear in the appropriate message. You'll have to figure out exactly what spacing is best for those little info boxes. It does take some time, and there's really no way to explain it. Just do it and you'll figure it out. Remember, there is no wordwrap. Or at least there wasn't in the past.

[TIP X]

You guessed it. These are the tips that pop up on startup. "War is unhealthy for children and other living things." is one of them. Very appropriate right now, I would say.

[BOOK title]
[BOOK title x]

Creates a book with a DEFNAME of title. Putting a page number x after the DEFNAME will add your text to that particular page. Look at the example books for clues on how to do this. The major difficulty with books is that the game uses a variable-width font, so you don't know an exact number of letters you can have on one line. For example, you can fit more i's on one line than w's or M's, since those letters are bigger. You can start a paragraph by typing a TAB text (clicking yout TAB button :P)

sphere_name.scp

This is an easy file. It's just lists of names under sections with various DEFNAMEs. It's these names that are important, not the contents, since you will almost NEVER write your own list of names. I've been using this emulator for two years now, and I have never modified this file once.

To access this list of names, you write this in a script:

NAME=#NAMES_HUMANMALE

It will automatically replace it with a random name from the NAMES_HUMANMALE list.

To make a list of names, it'll look like that:

[NAMES A_DEFNAME_YOU_WANT]
NUMBER_OF_NAMES
NAMES

for example:

[NAMES NAMES_SPECIAL]
2
Hil
Hol

Difficult file huh? I almost didn't give it a section to itself.

sphere_newb.scp

There! I did it! No vain attempt at humor under the title! :)

In any case, this is another file that a lot of questions are asked about. "How do I make players start with 10000 gold?" people ask. Or, "How do I give all blacksmiths 800 ingots?" Now, I'm not saying I would like to play on a shard where you start with 10000 gold or blacksmiths start with 800 ingots. But this file would be the place to do it.

[NEWBIE MALE_DEFAULT]
// Male Generic Starting Clothes
ITEMNEWBIE=i_shirt_plain
COLOR=colors_all
ITEMNEWBIE=random_pants
COLOR=colors_neutral
ITEMNEWBIE=random_shoes
COLOR=colors_neutral
ITEMNEWBIE=i_dagger
ITEMNEWBIE=i_candle
ITEMNEWBIE=i_book_sm
ITEMNEWBIE=i_gold,100

This is what a typical script looks like. It looks kinda like a template doesn't it? Well there's a good reason for that. It really is a template. It just uses the ITEMNEWBIE tag rather than the ITEM tag. Look at the section in Chapter 1 on Templates for more information on how to structure this file!

The only real item of note is that these sections MUST have specific names that the server looks for. You cannot add a new newbie section, no matter how much you'd like to. Sorry!

sphere_skill.scp (SKILLCLASSES)

Skill classes are what defines how much you can train at each skill/stat and you can also add triggers to it. A SkillClass script would look like this:

[SKILLCLASS 0]
// undeclared class.
// max skills for players of this skill class.
// might want this to be all 50.0 to make people declare a class?
DEFNAME=Class_undeclared
NAME=undeclared
// EVENTS=e_ClassUndeclared
STATSUM=300
SKILLSUM=10000.0
STR=100
INT=100
DEX=100
ALCHEMY=100.0
ANATOMY=100.0
ITEMID=100.0
ARMSLORE=100.0
and so on...

Now let's understand it:

EVENTS: It means everyone with this skillclass will also call the events specified in this field (to add more events just use a ",", for example: EVENTS=e_1,e_2,and so on)

STATSUM: This is how much the som of your players stats can be, for example, if I have 100 str, 100 dex and 100 int, I've reached 300 stats, so I've reached STATSUM and can't have more (except for magic items and such things)

SKILLSUM: The same thing as STATSUM but for skills.

STR/DEX/INT: This is how much can the player have at this specific stat (except for magic items and such)

ALCHEMY: The same thing as the STR, DEX and INT fields, but for skills (in this case alchemy, but of course you can change to any other)

sphere_serv_triggers.scp

This file hold special trigger "functions" that are fired by the server its self at certain times depending on the function, below are a list of the functions found in this file and a breif explain of what the function will do for you.

f_onaccount_login

This function is called after the client has entered the password.

ARGS --> username of the client logging in

ARGO --> the client logging in

RETURN 0 --> normal action (login)

RETURN 1 --> disconnect the client

f_onaccount_delete

This function is called before an account is being deleted.

ARGS --> username of the account being deleted.

RETURN 0 --> normal action (delete)

RETURN 1 --> account not deleted

f_onchar_create

f_onchar_delete

f_onserver_start

f_onserver_save

f_onserver_save_ok

f_onserver_save_fail

f_onserver_save_finished

f_onserver_exit

f_onserver_blockip

Chapter 3