So I've tried to use Flash and I must admit, it's horrible.
I'm tutoring a couple of novices and they both use Flash but it's so simple and featureless. Problem is, they refuse to switch to Nexus or Zmud, and if they actually do stick to Flash, they'll be very disappointed later on.

Get rid of Flash maybe? There's no point in it, really.

Mr. Saunders posted about the Flash client here, asking for input. I agree it's not nearly as good as Nexus (and standalone clients are of a whole different caliber altogether), but it would be much more constructive if you explained why the Flash client was so awful so it can be worked on.

is there a way of storing variables in flash?

Yeah, but you have to use javascript. There's no specific area for client variables, the script just creates them and uses them as it needs. 'siphealth = 1500;' for example, then used somewhere else it might be 'if (health <= siphealth) { Send("sip health"); }'

Storing, not creating/using.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why is Nexus so much greater that Flash?

People are used to it.

That. Exactly. People don't like switching systems.

can flash store variables?

I don't know of any way. Post in Jeremy's thread that we need it.

I tried the flash client to check it out. My first impression was that it was bright and vibrant. Then I tried to read news and it lost all formatting, smooshing everything together. At which point I logged out and bookmarked the nexus option for later use for those few times when I need to write a letter myself. I'm a default zmud user, but like the editor in nexus much better.

I'm not a big fan of change. (I know! Surprise!) I couldn't figure out the triggers and decided not to chance it on a new character and some basic antitheft. Just wasn't worth the effort for me.

Teaching newbie monks how to create combo aliases is a nightmare. I feel like doing unpaid work for IRE.
They give up and quit anyway.

Just tell them "click this, paste this in". Only explain if they care.

Thanks.

No, but it's possible to set up variables each session by either hard coding them into an alias/trigger or creating triggers to capture the data that you want. For example if you want to store item numbers you can capture them with a trigger off your inventory, pipes, potions or whatever and run that each time you login, maybe even as a trigger off the login sequence so its all automatic. Separate variable storage would be more flexible, but for now that's the only workaround I think.

I think the biggest problem is probably the lack of documentation as looking at threads about the client people are often requesting features that it already has (eg. logging, copy/paste, scrollback, fullsize window, etc.).

The scripting interface could definitely be made more newbie friendly (it's certainly more like mushclient than zmud with the options and the way its organised) but the functionality is still quite powerful. As well as all the usual scripting stuff you can even draw graphics and make buttons if you're that way inclined.

I just tell newbies to switch to MUSH if they want my help

I find the flash coding better than nexus. But, unfortunately the flash client lacks -unlimited- memory for unlimited triggers and aliases.

Nothing has unlimited memory, but I do agree that it needs much more space.

Disclaimer: Please excuse my ignorance of coding.

2 questions:

1. I am interested in making a simple trigger, in this case a defensive reflex, for the Flash client that will automatically cure my character of paralysis upon/after being inflicted. This goes for any kind of entanglement where I need to WRITHE. My question is, do I need to make an entirely separate trigger for every unique pattern that signifies a state of paralysis (ie specifically tailored to each unique cause of paralysis)? Or can a single trigger be made to recognize multiple and distinct text patterns? Or is it that all kinds of paralysis, for example, regardless of its source share some common underlying pattern that a trigger can be made to recognize?

2. I am curious about a reply I saw that mentioned combo aliases. Let's say I want to make, as an easy-to-describe example, an alias that when entered will cause my character to KICK-then-PUNCH (let's not worry about the target at this point). Obviously, I can't just have 2 separate lines that read 'kick' and 'punch' because the character needs to regain balance before the next command. Is there a way to make the trigger wait until after I've regained balance or recovered equilibrium as a condition of its initiating the next command?

I would really appreciate any suggestions all of you may have, however concise they may be. You'd be helping me out a lot. Thanks!

It's much easier to use a trigger per cause. Each trigger can refer to the same response, but if the match text needs to change somewhere down the road, you'll regret having dumped the paralysis triggers into one monolithic match.


In this case, you'd want your alias to punch, and have another trigger that matches on equilibrium. The first alias would mark something as needing done (say, you store "kick" in a variable), and the eq trigger would run that action (i.e. sending the text of that variable to the server). That's the idea in a nutshell, although it can get very complex.

Combo aliases are for monks. Don't worry about them if you're another class. If you are a monk, just put all three attacks right after another and it'll do them all at once.

Hey, thanks for answer my questions!

So if I want to put multiple but distinct match text lines in the same pattern window (for one specific outgoing sent trigger) do I need to separate each with an 'if' 'and' or 'or' commmand or something like that? Because puting them on separate lines in the pattern window (by pressing return/enter) doesn't seem to work....

Thanks again!

You could use a regular expression to match on one of several possible lines:

Or you could create a separate trigger for each possible line.

Wow! I wanted to let you know that it worked superbly! I appreciate you bringing regex to my attention - I read Trevize's very helpful tutorial.

I wonder if you might be able to help me with one more thing? I'm now trying to execute multiple commands to send to the mud after a given pattern is matched. For example I've tried every variation I could think of

and

(where I of course specify the particular herb) but neither of them work. Can you help me with this one too please?

Also does anyone know what the MULTI column in the TRIGGERS tab does?

Thanks!

Basically what I always did was use the built in 'send()' function.

so just:

send('outr plant')
send('eat plant')

or if you want to use a variable plant name.

send('outr ' + varname)
send('eat ' + varname)

or if don't want to use a variable name and just send multiple lines:

outr ginseng; eat ginseng

Note that you will have to have the "script" option checked in order for the send() to work.
I believe that the multi option refers to whether or not a trigger continues to be evaluated down the line. For instance: if for some reason you had a trigger that was just 'rat' if the multi was not checked then it would evaluate only once for the line:

A large black rat follows a grey rat between your feet.

Oh yeah, if you had another trigger 'follows' it would not evaluate when multi is not checked on rat, because it would only evaluate until the first match. And unless you had multi selected on both of the triggers it would not evaluate the second 'rat' trigger.

It's usually a good idea to have the multi checked, unless you have a good reason not to.

At least I think that's what it means.

If MULTI is checked for a particular trigger the client will keep checking for another matching trigger after that one has fired. It's the same as the "Keep evaluating" property in mushclient.

In theory your system should run faster without MULTI checked so you probably don't want to use it unless you specifically need that functionality.