MadROM Mob Sound Guide

Originally penned by Etaine, this guide explains how to sprinkle flavourful ambient chatter into your areas using the MobSounds system contributed by Zump of Rivers.

Why use MobSounds?

MobSounds are a lightweight area-file feature for random ambient text from mobiles. Use Mud Script for real behavior; use MobSounds when you only need room flavor on a timer.

Messages may be as long as you wish—just watch out for spam.
Sounds are lighter than scripted random behavior when the only goal is ambience.
Perfect for adding atmosphere to stationary shopkeepers or room fixtures.

Syntax

Add one line per message using the format below:

X sound (percent chance) (message) ~

The X indicates a special line inside the mobile definition, sound is the command, the percentage sets the chance the message will fire during each pulse, and the text up to the tilde (~) is the message shown to the room.

Adding MobSounds to an area

Locate the mobile inside the #MOBILES section of your area file.
Append one or more X sound lines immediately before the next mobile entry.

Example:

#MOBILES

#2001
buffalo beastly~
a beastly buffalo~
A beastly water buffalo clomps around here.
~
You see a enormous shaggy beast clomping towards you!
~
beast~
BT N 800 S
35 3 1d1+750 1d1+300 5d4+3 5
-5 -5 -5 0
ABCE 0 AB 0
8 8 2 0
0 0 M 0
X sound 80 A huge shadow clomps towards you!~
X sound 60 $n growls and clomps away.~
#2002
next mobile~

Each X sound line must begin with an uppercase X, include the percentage, and terminate with a tilde. Tokens like $n, $e, and $s expand to the mobile’s short description, pronoun, and possessive pronoun respectively.

Best practices

Keep spam in check by favouring percentages between 30% and 45%.
Percentages between 60% and 100% will feel spammy.
Mix several distinct lines to avoid repetition and maximise ambience.
To make a room itself feel alive, attach a MobSound-enabled mob to that room.

That’s all there is to it—simple ambience without the hassle.