Making good armours and weapons is probably the best way to ensure that players will visit your area, but beware, too good stuff will invariably cause some sort of inflation in weapons and armours. You'll become inpopular among the older and higher wizards. Your chances of advancing beyond wizardhood may reduce. If you still want to make a bunch of really good weapons then make sure that they are very hard to get and that your area is inpeckable, variated and full of surprises. That way noone can complain and you can motivate your good weapons.
--

#begin 0,0,0
__ __ __ /\ __ __ __
__ __ /\ ++ /\ __ __
__ /\ ++ ++ ++ /\ __
__ /\ ++ ++ ++ /\ __
__ __ /\ ++ /\ __ __
__ __ __ /\ __ __ __
#end

map.dat                                  An example map

__ -- Empty room (Default, cannot be changed)
/\ -- An unclimbable mountain
++ -- A faery forest

#begin 0,0,0
__ __ __ /\ __ __ __
__ __ /\ ++ /\ __ __
__ /\ ++ ++ ++ /\ __
/\ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ /\
__ /\ ++ ++ ++ /\ __
__ __ /\ ++ /\ __ __
__ __ __ /\ __ __ __
#end

Now we will overwrite some of the data...
Te -- A temple
Pa -- A small path, leading from the temple

#begin 3,3,0
Te Pa
#end

__ __ __ /\ __ __ __
__ __ /\ ++ /\ __ __
__ /\ ++ ++ ++ /\ __
/\ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++ /\
__ /\ ++ Te Pa /\ __
__ __ /\ ++ /\ __ __
__ __ __ /\ __ __ __

data.c                             An example mapdatabase file

#include "/players/milamber/local.h" /* Some defines */
inherit DATABASE;                    /* defined in local.h */

reset(arg)
{
  if (!arg) 
  {
    map_title="The title";           /* Seen on top af all maps */
    short_info="A testarea";         /* Seen by wizards doing "minfo" */
#include "map.h"                     /* The map (made with mmake) */

    /* Now, lets define a roomtype, called "++", which is infact a
    /* field covered with grass. */
    set_romtype("++");
    set_long("You are standing on a large field.");
    set_short("on a field");
    add_item("grass","it is green");
    /*
     * This large item can be examined from outside this roomtype,
     * so, when the player sees a text like 'to the west there is a field'
     *  [s]he can examine it, quite automatically. So, there is no need
     *  to add the items to all rooms. 
     */
    add_large_item("field","it is covered with green grass");
    set_seen_from_other("there is a field");
    set_seen_from_same("the field continues");
    set_enterable(1);

    /* Then the /\ mountain roomtype. Note the quoting of \. */
    set_roomtype("/\\");
    add_large_item("mountains","They are blocking your progress");
    add_large_item("mountain","It is blocking your progress");
    set_seen_from_other("there is a mountain");

    /* This one should be set to something more interresting than */
    /* this, but the example would get to long...                 */
    set_roomtype("Te");
    copy_roomtype("++");

    /* This one should be set to something more interresting than */
    /* this, but the example would get to long...                 */
    set_roomtype("Pa");
    copy_roomtype("++");
    
  }
  ::reset(arg);    /* VERY important, will initialize the       
		    * mapsystem and get it all started. 
		    */
  
}

This will include your map, generated with 'mmake' command from your map, as discussed above (will be discussed more later on).

Long -- The long description

This is the long description of the roomtype, much like the long in any room, or object, but, there should not be any '\n' in it, as they will be added by the mapsystem automatically. Set with set_long(string);

Short -- The short description

Similar to the long, but used when in brief mode. Set with set_short(string);

Items -- The items to look at in the mapsystem.

Use add_item("item_name","description"); to add a item. If you want to add more than one items which looks the same, you can do add_item(({"item1", "item2", .. }), "description");

Large items -- Items seen from the room(s) around the roomtype as well

Usable when you want roomtypes that cannot be entered, but examined, like a wall or a very steep mountain. This can also be used for very large items in normal rooms (Like a house, seen through the branches of the forest...)
Use add_large_item("item","description") in a similar way to add_item.

Enterable -- Can the roomtype be entered

This is 0 by default, the most common mistake when making mapsystems must be to forget to make the roomtypes enterable. Only roomtypes that should block progress should be have enterable set to 0.
Use set_enterable(1); to make the roomtype enterable

Seen from other -- What the room looks like seen from other roomtypes

This one is used to produce part of the long description of any given room. Usually set to something like "there is a ...", or "a ... begins".
Set with set_seen_from_other("seens");

Seen from same -- What the room looks like seen from the same roomtype

This one is used to produce part of the long description of any given room. Usually set to something like "the ... continues", or "... goes on".
Set with set_seen_from_same("seens");

Seen from many -- The room looks different from different roomtypes.

This one can infact be quite usable, lets say that you have a road at the edge of a forest. When looking from the forest, you should barely be able to see the road, between the branches, but, when you look at it from the fields it should be clearly visible. It is supposed to be a mapping in this format:

([
  "roomtype1":"seen from roomtype1",
  "roomtype2":"seen from roomtype2",
     ...  
  "roomtypen":"seen from roomtypen",
]);

If no roomtype match, Seen from other or Seen from same is used. Use set("seen",mapping); to set this.

Properties -- Is it no_magic?

See the help for properties in the nannymud help-pages.
Set with add_property("property"[, "data"]);

Realm -- The realm

Set with set_realm("string");

Random string -- Events in the roomtype

The string will be randomly be echoed to players entering the room. Add a string with add_string("the string.\n");

Replace -- What to show to mortals when using a map

Useful if you, as an example, want to make a special room, where you will find a nice item. Obviously, you do not this rom to show up as anything special on the map, so, simply set_replace("token"); to something more convenient.

Actions -- Extra commands in the room

This one is used to add some actions to a room. Lets, as an example, suppose that we want to be able to do the command 'smell' in all rooms. This is easily acomplished by doing add_actions(file_name(this_object()),({"smell"})); to the DEFAULT roomtype. The first argument is the file in which to call the function called 'var_func' (Example further down), and the array is the verbs to search for. Now, here is how var_func works:

var_func(verb,what,roomtype,where)
{
  switch(verb)
  {
   case "smell":
    if(roomtype=="Sm")
      write("It smells awfull in here.\n");
    else
      write("You can't smell anything special.\n");
    return 1:

   default:
    return 0; /* No action here */
  }
}

This piece of code should be placed in the database file. (Or,whatever file you want it to recide in, simply use the filename as the first argument to add_actions();.)

In or out -- Is it inside or outside?

Works like inorout in the standard room. When set to 1, it is inside, and when it is 2, the room is outdoors. (The default is 0, which means undefined.)
Use set("inout",inorout); inorout is 1 or 2.

Add object -- Add an object

Will add a clone of a file to the map.
Use add_object(filename); to add it. Example: add_object("obj/torch"); will add a torch.

Dark -- Is the room dark?

Set this to get a dark room. The higher the value, the darker the room.
Use set("dark",value); to set the darkness level of the roomtype.

Class -- The roomtype class.

Use this to group many romtypes together as the same class, all roomtypes with class set to the same thing will use Seen from same, instead of Seen from other.
Set with set("class",the_class);