So in my sparetime I have been writing this open-source game, a mmorpg called a MUD (no graphics in the typical sense, all ncurses based).
Anyway, I never would have thought the most complicated part of writing the game engine would have possibly been the handling of pronouns! The number of variations you have to consider is astounding when you really try to catalog all the different types.
I think I finally got them all covered though.
#Ruby #MMORPG #Game #Games #GameDev #Aethyr #Programming #MUD #MUDs #Development #GameDevelopment
@freemo English is the most worst and complicated programming language there is. We should deprecate it already
@ephyra hahaha you think thats bad, there are languages that have fourth and even fifth person grammatical persons:)
@freemo The 90's called and said that's some serious #scheduleslippage ๐คญ
@freemo this will be inclusive as hell
@louiscouture Thats the idea, not just to support your standard pronouns but also make it possible to add any arbitrary pronoun to the game the player wants to use.
@freemo You could just have a text input box so users can type their pronoun in.
Or would that not work as well.
@zleap Thats not the purpose of it.. There isnt a single pronoun.. for example its not just "he" .. its "He, him, his, Mr. Man" and which you use depends on the context it is used in. This system addresses that.
@freemo An ok, thanks
@zleap its also not just used for people but NPCs and enemeies in the game.. it needs sto address crowds and neuter things too.. stuff like "everyone" and "them".
That's great. It sounds like it will handle my (current) pronouns:
"Pronouns: She/Him/Her/His
(Use "she" for the subject case, "him" for the objective case, "her" for the active possessive case, and "his" for the passive possessive case. Note: This is to avoid non-PC objectification and passivity.)"
@freemo you are taking me back about 25 years to when a few college buddies and I created SPAM MUD, they did the vast majority of coding. I really appreciated the general attention to language and writing that it required.
@ZingerLearns I find doing GUI/graphical apps quite tedious and boring.. the text based nature of a MUD on the otherhand is quite enjoyable.
@freemo MUDs have a deep place in my heart. Some of my first programming and game dev experiences were working through a book on developing MUDs that my uncle had given me.
@freemo "there's nothing wrong with being pronouns, but we should strive to be proverbs." - Confucius, probably