Builder Documentation
Lua MOBprogs
Introduction & Getting Started

DarkWizardry Lua MOBprog System

Version: 2024.1 Author: DarkWizardry Development Team Date: September 2025

Introduction

The DarkWizardry Lua MOBprog system provides a powerful, crash-safe alternative to traditional MOBprogs. Built on LuaJIT for performance, it offers full coroutine-based wait support, comprehensive error handling, and 100% backwards compatibility with existing triggers.

Key Advantages

  • Wait commands work inside if/else/loop statements - The holy grail of MOBprog development!
  • Complete crash prevention - Sandboxed execution with instruction limits
  • Full compatibility - Works with all existing mobprog triggers
  • Modern Lua syntax - Clean, readable code with proper variable scoping
  • Comprehensive API - All traditional mobprog functions plus new conveniences

Getting Started

Basic Script Structure

-- Get context variables (equivalent to $n, $i, $o, $t, $r)
local actor = get_actor()    -- The triggering character ($n)
local mob = get_mob_context() -- The mob itself ($i)
local obj = get_object()     -- Object in context ($o)
local victim = get_victim()  -- Target/victim ($t)
local random = get_random()  -- Random player in room ($r)
 
-- Basic example
if actor and get_level(actor) < 10 then
    say("Welcome, young adventurer!")
    wait(2)
    say("I have something special for you.")
    create_and_give(actor, 1001) -- Give item vnum 1001
end

Mob Setup

  1. Create your mob in the area file
  2. Add the trigger type (e.g., P 100 for greet_prog)
  3. Add the Lua script instead of traditional mobprog syntax
#MOB
Vnum        1001
Keywords    wise sage~
Short       a wise sage~
Long        A wise sage sits here, studying ancient texts.
Description A wise sage with long white robes and knowing eyes. He seems willing to help travelers with advice and perhaps some small gifts.
Race        human~
Level       50
Alignment   0
Hitroll     0
Sex         1
Act         stay_area~
>greet_prog 100~
local actor = get_actor()
if actor and is_pc(actor) then
    wait(1)
    say("Greetings, " .. get_name(actor) .. ".")
    if get_level(actor) < 10 then
        say("You look like you could use some assistance.")
        create_and_give(actor, 1002) -- Newbie potion
    end
end
~

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