Chapter 1: Your first script

This chapter walks you through setting a script on a mob and seeing it run. By the end you will understand the OLC workflow and have a mob that greets people when they enter the room.

Step 1: Pick a mob to edit

Choose a mob vnum in a zone you have access to. For this example we will use vnum 1200. Open it for editing:

olc medit 1200

You should see a message like "Now editing mobile 1200." If the vnum does not exist yet, OLC will create a new mob prototype.

Step 2: Open the script editor

olc mset script

This opens the built-in text editor (TEDII). You will see a ruler line and a line-number prompt. Everything you type from here is script source code.

The editor commands all start with &:

Step 3: Write the script

Type the following script into the editor, one line per prompt:

after enter {
  do "say Welcome, [name $actor]!"
}

That is three lines. After typing the closing }, press enter, then type @ on a new line to save and compile the script.

If the script compiles successfully, you will see a message confirming the save. If there is a compile error, the error message will tell you which line has the problem — fix it with &l and save again.

Step 4: Load the mob

olc mload 1200

This loads a copy of mob 1200 into your current room. The mob now has your script attached.

Step 5: Trigger the event

Walk out of the room and back in. When you enter, you should see the mob say:

A guard says, 'Welcome, Yourname!'

Congratulations — your first script is running.

What just happened?

Let's break down the script:

after enter {
  do "say Welcome, [name $actor]!"
}

• after enter — this is a handler. It runs after someone enters the room. The after is the phase and enter is the event.
• { ... } — the body of the handler, a block of code that runs when the event fires.
• $actor — a variable automatically set to the creature who triggered the event (the person who entered).
• [name $actor] — a command substitution. It calls the name builtin with $actor as its argument, and the result (the creature's name) is spliced into the surrounding string.
• do "say ..." — the do command makes the mob execute a game command. Here the mob says something. The double-quoted string allows substitutions with $ and [...].

Updating a script

To change the script, repeat the process:

1. olc medit 1200
2. olc mset script — the editor opens with the current script.
3. Make your changes.
4. @ to save.

The new script takes effect immediately on all loaded copies of mob 1200 — you do not need to reload the mob.

Saving to disk

Everything so far lives in memory. To persist your changes across reboots:

olc msave

This writes the mob (and its script) to the zone's world files.

Try it yourself

Modify the script to also react when someone leaves:

after enter {
  do "say Welcome, [name $actor]!"
}

before leave {
  do "say Safe travels, [name $actor]!"
}

Walk in and out of the room. The mob should greet you on entry and wish you well when you leave.

Note the before phase on leave — the mob needs to speak while the player is still in the room. An after leave handler would run after the player has already gone.

Key points

• OLC workflow: medit → mset script → write → @ → mload → trigger.
• Handlers bind code to events. The format is phase event { body }.
• $actor is the creature that caused the event.
• do makes the mob execute a game command.
• [name $x] calls a builtin inside a string (command substitution).
• Double-quoted strings ("...") allow $var and [cmd] substitutions.

Next: Chapter 2: Reacting to commands