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The Cambots
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General Info
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The Reality Fault Cambots
This page describes the cambots used on Reality Fault. We have the cambot code courtesy of Envoy (who wrote the code originally) and Lynx (who shared it with us) from Sinai. Thank you! :-)
What Cambots Are
- The "cambots" are nothing more than some code which automatically logs
and HTML'izes what is typed into the Reality Fault server. This makes
it exceedingly easy for you to keep records of conversations you've had
on line. We mostly use them for game logs to put up on the various web
pages for each realm. However, if you wished to record an OOC (out of
character) meeting, for example, the cambots also make keeping logs of
those discussions very simple as well.
When you have activated a cambot, whether within a game or just for some sort of meeting, everything you type is recorded by it. There is one exception: if the letters OOC are in what you type, the cambot will automatically not record that section of text. Unfortunately we have not yet made it cap sensitive, and therefore you might want to be cautious in your choice of words. The words 'brooch' and 'poochie,' for example, would not be recorded by the cambot, nor would the section of text accompanying those words.
There is a simple way to automatically put OOC into what you type -- simply prepend a
""to what you wish to say, or a::for a pose. This will cause the server to prepend (OOC) to whatever you have typed, and your comment will show up on the screen but not be picked up by the cambot.If Horatio's player types:
""Hello!
::waves.they will see on-screen:
(OOC) Horatio says, "Hello!"
(OOC) Horatio waves.
and the cambot will not record this in its logs.If the player types:
"Hello!
:waves.they will see on-screen:
Horatio says, "Hello!"
Horatio waves.
and the cambot will record this in its logs. What Cambots Are Not
The cambots do not record unless they are activated. They also do not put the logs automatically up on the web. Instead, the cambot's stored logs must be taken by an editor and manually placed there.
Remember, if you are the GM, you'll want to be sure to edit the logs before they go up on line. Alternatively we'd suggest you have a volunteer edit them and put them up on line for your game.
When to Use/Not to Use the Cambots
The cambots should be used at all times in-game, with one exception: intimate scenes. Due to the current unpleasantly litigious turn our society is taking, the management does not want to have to worry about being accused of publishing smut. If an intimate scene is occurring, please turn off the cambot you are using. It is also perfectly acceptable to realize that you needed to turn the cambot off a few lines ago, and to put a note to that effect into the log for your editor -- then turn it off.
As far as when the cambot should be turned off: we ask that our players use common sense. We are here to provide a pleasant place to game, and thus wish to avoid hard and fast rules, since they simply encourage inventive ways of breaking them. We also understand that "intimate" is a situation-specific, game-specific judgment call. Try to do what you think is right! If you're terribly worried, feel free to ask for help from your GM.
Assigned Cambots
There are currently eight cambots on Reality Fault. Any cambot which is not already assigned is available for use. The following cambots are assigned to specific realms and should never be called by any other realm, please:
Cambot Realm Day #1 Burning Man when available #2 unassigned #3 The Whole of the Law Tuesdays #4 unassigned #5 Perlustration & Extirpation alternate Fridays #6 unassigned #7 Waking Dreams Sundays #8 Hunter Thursdays Calling A Cambot
The first thing you want to do when calling a cambot is be quite sure it's not already in use! It is very bad form to steal a cambot-in-use, regardless of whether it is an accident or not.
To call a cambot simply type
callcambotand checking to see if it is already logging. What you see when you typecallcambotshould look like this:callcambot (OOC) Cambot Status: (OOC) Cambot #1: Available (OOC) Cambot #2: In Use (OOC) (OOC) Tue Mar 27 2001 07:43 PM (OOC) by "Keesha" at "Wandering Path - (OOC) Taproom" (OOC) (OOC) Cambot #3: Available (OOC) Cambot #4: Available (OOC) Cambot #5: Available (OOC) Cambot #6: Available (OOC) (OOC) Cambot #1 unsaved logs: default (OOC) Cambot #2 unsaved logs: default (OOC) Cambot #3 unsaved logs: (OOC) Cambot #4 unsaved logs: (OOC) Cambot #5 unsaved logs: default (OOC) Cambot #6 unsaved logs: default (OOC) (OOC) Use 'callcambot
' to call (OOC) one of the cambots to your room. (OOC) Picking up a cambot will prevent (OOC) anyone else from calling it. As you can see in this example, cambot #2 is in use, but cambots 1, and 3 through 6, are available. You'd then check to see which cambot is assigned to your realm, then type
callcambot <number of desired cambot>to bring the cambot you want to you.The next thing you want to do is be sure you're not overloading your cambot. In the above example, cambots 3 and 4 have no log on them, so would be a good choice -- as long as those are the cambots assigned to your realm.
Always try to keep your cambot 'clean' if you can (i.e. remove logs promptly), but don't be surprised if you can't until you get some practice in editing the logs from your realm. Practice means you edit faster and can clear off your cambot more promptly. If you are sharing a cambot with another realm, always clear off your game's log as soon as you have verified successful download onto your own machine.
If your cambot has more than about 1000 lines of log, it would be wise to clear it off before using it again. In order to check, you'd type
look cambot. There's a lot of information there, but the only part you need to worry about is the line at the very end. That's all you need to give you the information you want, as shown below:callcambot 2 You summon the Cambot! (OOC) look cambot (OOC) How to use Cambot: (OOC) callcambot n : This global will call Cambot n (OOC) to your room. (OOC) startlog : Starts cambot logging (Sets (OOC) timestamp) (OOC) stoplog : Stops logging. (OOC) viewlog : Views the entire log. (OOC) viewlog m : Views line m of the log. (OOC) viewlast : Views the last recorded line. (OOC) viewlog m-n : Views lines m through n of (OOC) the log. (OOC) viewlast n : Views the last n lines of the (OOC) log. (OOC) Using # in the arg to viewlog or viewlast lists (OOC) line numbers. (OOC) closeup x : Records the description of (OOC) object/player x. (OOC) closeup : Records the description of (OOC) current room. (OOC) logs : Lists current and stored log (OOC) names. (OOC) setlog n : Sets the current log to n. (OOC) clearlog : Clears the current log. (OOC) Editing Commands: (OOC) setline n=x : Sets line n of the log to (OOC) string x. (OOC) deleteline n : Deletes line n of the log. (OOC) changeline n=x=y : Changes string x to string y in (OOC) line n. (OOC) swap x=y : Swap line x with line y. (OOC) lastline : Shows you the current line number. (OOC) Current Status: (OOC) callcambot : Displays the status of all bots. (OOC) Recording: no (OOC) Current log: (OOC) Tue Mar 27 2001 07:43 PM by "Keesha" at "Wandering Path - Taproom" (OOC) (OOC) Log Length: 632See that last line called
Log Length? It's only about 600 lines, so this cambot would be safe to use for a conversation between two or three folks. If you intend to record the log for five to eight characters for a busy bit of role-playing, however, it would probably be wiser to clear off your cambot first.If you are part of a gaming-by-assertion realm, you will have access to more than one cambot. The above rules apply for such realms as well -- more so, in fact, since it's much easier to accidentally swipe a cambot that's already in use. If you have a cambot and it contains a log that is about 1000 lines or more, you'll want a different cambot. Unfortunately,
sweep cambotdoesn't yet work for non-GMs or -admins, so if you want to try for a new and less full cambot, you'll first want to move the too-full cambot to another room, then go back to the room you wish to game in and try for another cambot.If there are no available cambots, you can try paging your GM to clear the log off of one of the non-assigned cambots for you. If worst comes to worst, page an admin to ask them if you might temporarily borrow one of the assigned ones.
Cambot Commands
As stated above, if you type
look cambotyou can see the directions on how to manipulate the cambots. However, they can be a bit confusing initially, especially in mid-game, and it's far too easy to accidentally really screw a log up. Embarrassing though it is to admit, I have managed to completely erase an entire log due to trying to correct a mistake in it while gaming -- that is not an experience I want anyone else to have to suffer through!Therefore we recommend you keep in mind only the following commands:
startlog: to start the log
stoplog: to stop the log
closeup: to record the desc of the room in the log
closeup [name]: to record the desc of a particular person in the logCorrections In Logs
The logs are lightly edited before they go up on your realm's web pages on Reality Fault. However, if while gaming you make a mistake you want corrected, we ask that you follow this format, so your editor (whomever that may be) can correct quickly and easily:
"*****Editor: [desired correction]Doing this the same way every time means that your editor can simply search for some part of that phrase, and know that every single one of them has been caught. Please, help out your editors -- make your requests for the editor to change things exactly the same as everyone else's!
Simple typos don't need to be mentioned, of course, since ordinary spell-checking will catch them during the editing process. However, we strongly ask that you all review your personal descriptions and/or room descriptions with a spell checker before you put them up on-line! If you have a description on-line already, please take a moment and spell-check it, as a simple courtesy to your editor.
Here's an example of how to use the format mentioned above. What is below is what you would see on the screen:
Dakini says, "Only one of us will walk away from this battle -- and it won't be me!" Dakini says, "*****Editor: argh. Please change that stupid line to the following: "Only one of us will walk away from this battle -- and it won't be you!"
Hope this helps clarify things somewhat re Reality Fault's official cambot usage rules, and thanks for participating in making Reality Fault a nice place for people to game. If something here isn't clear, if I forgot to cover something, or if you have any questions -- please feel free to ask!