Room Programs

Room programs (room progs) are scripts attached to rooms that make environments reactive and dynamic. They bring areas to life with traps, puzzles, atmospheric effects, teleporters, and ambushes — all without requiring an NPC to be present.

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What Are Room Programs?

A room program is a block of scripting code attached to a room that runs when a specific event occurs — a player walks in, speaks a keyword, opens a door, drops an object, or any of dozens of other triggers. The script executes commands as if the room itself were performing actions: echoing messages, transferring players, loading mobiles, dealing damage, and more.

Every command in a room prog is prefixed with room — for example, room echo, room transfer, room mload. This tells the engine that the room is performing the action.

When to Use Room Programs

Room programs are ideal for:

  • Environmental effects — Weather narration, ambient sounds, hazardous terrain that damages on entry
  • Puzzles — Speech-activated mechanisms, sequence-based door unlocks, hidden passage reveals
  • Traps — Rooms that damage or debuff players on entry, pressure plates, collapsing floors
  • Teleporters — Portals, magical circles, and one-way transfers triggered by entry or speech
  • Ambushes — Rooms that spawn hostile mobs when a player enters and force combat
  • Area transitions — Atmospheric messages when moving between zones, locked gates that require keys
  • Door and exit control — Programmatic opening, closing, and locking of exits based on events
  • Dungeon mechanics — Checkpoints, floor transitions, instance progression triggers

Room programs are preferred over mob programs when the behavior belongs to the environment itself rather than to a specific NPC. A collapsing bridge, a magical ward, or a room that echoes with whispers should all use room progs.

How Room Programs Work

Every room prog has three parts:

  1. The script — A block of code stored in the area file (identified by vnum)
  2. A trigger — The event that causes the script to run (e.g., greet, speech, entry)
  3. An attachment — The link between the script, the trigger, and the specific room

When the trigger event occurs, the engine runs the script with context about what happened — who triggered it, what direction they came from, what they said, etc. Your script accesses this context through variables and quick codes.

Entity References in Room Programs

In a room prog, $self and $this refer to the room itself. Since the room is also the location, $here is equivalent to $self. Other key variables:

Variable Description
$self / $this The scripted room
$here Current room (same as $self in room context)
$enactor / $n Character who triggered the event
$victim / $t Victim or target of the action
$obj1 / $p Primary object involved
$obj2 Secondary object
$random Random character in the room
$phrase The matched phrase or argument

Creating a Room Program with rpedit

The rpedit editor is used to create, edit, and manage room programs. Here is a typical workflow:

Step 1: Create the Script 

rpedit create

This creates a new room program and opens the editor. You will see the program’s assigned vnum.

Step 2: Name the Script

Give it a descriptive name so you can identify it later:

name Trap room — fire damage on entry

Step 3: Write the Code

Enter the code editor:

code

This opens a line-based text editor. Type your script, then type . on a blank line to finish:

** Fire trap — damage anyone who enters
room echo {RFlames erupt from the floor!{x
room damage $n 50 fire
.

Comments in scripts use the ** prefix, not //. Place comments on their own line:

** This script fires when a player enters the room
room echo The walls hum with energy.

Step 4: Attach a Trigger to the Room

Use redit (the room editor) to attach the script to a room with a trigger:

redit <room vnum>
addprog <script vnum> <trigger type> <phrase>

For example, to make a room react when any player enters:

addprog 12345 greet 100

This attaches script 12345 with a greet trigger and phrase 100 (100% chance of firing).

Step 5: Test

Reset the area, then walk into the room to verify the script fires. Use stat room to confirm the program is attached, and rpstat to see all attached programs and their triggers.

Room vs. Mob Programs

Feature Room Programs Mob Programs
Entity Attached to a room Attached to an NPC
Prefix room mob
Triggers 71 153
Commands 157 167
Best for Environment, traps, puzzles, transitions NPC behavior, quests, dialogue
Persistence Always present (room exists permanently) Only when NPC is loaded
$self The room The NPC
Unique triggers knock, knocking, reset, recall, prerecall, clone_extract bribe, give, hit, animate, mount, etc.

Script Comments

Use ** at the start of a line to write a comment. Comments are ignored when the script runs:

** Check if the player has completed the puzzle
if varexists $n puzzle_solved
  room echo The passage remains open.
else
  room echo {YThe stone wall slides shut behind you!{x
  room alterexit south door closed
endif

Quick Reference

Topic Link
All room triggers (71) Triggers
All room commands (157) Commands
Practical examples Examples
Shared commands reference Shared Commands
Variables and quick codes Variables and Tokens
If-checks and conditions If-Checks Reference
Scripting basics Scripting Basics

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