View All Information: Script Id509
Script Name:
MoxQuizz
Version: 0.8.1
Author: Moxon
Script Date: 20/07/2003
Category: Game Scripts
Downloads: 238
File Name:
moxquizz-0.8.1.tar.gz
Short Description:
Advanced trivia script with multi-language support. Can be configured to speak in English, French, German or Greek, and question sets containing thousands of entries for English, German, Malaysian and Norwegian are included.
Extended Description File
README for MoxQuizz
-------------------
* This text corresponds to version 0.8.0 *
- 0.8.x version are dedicated to Lefty -
0. Introduction
1. Quickstart
2. Detailed description
3. User commands
4. Commands to control the script
5. Configuration/Quiz features
6. Supplemental tools
6.1. setup.pl -- set some variables in provided config and moxtools
6.2. allstars.pl -- prettyprint the allstars table for MoxQuizz
7. Future thoughts (road map)
8. Contact
9. Credits
0. Introduction
---------------
This is a (not so) short README for Moxons quiz/trivia script.
MoxQuizz is a multilingual quiz/trivia script for the popular IRC bot
eggdrop, acting as a game master playing a quiz. Normally, a question
is posted to the channel and all chatter is searched for the answer.
If something matches an answer or an optional regular expression, the
user who said it receives a score. The high-score table will be
printed regularly (see rankdelay in TCL file). When a player reaches
a certain score, he wins the quiz and the rankings will be reseted.
A score is recorded in the allstars table, too.
You can use your own question files (they are always welcome to be
included in future distributions). See README.database for a
description of the file format. Currently sets for several languages
are provides as well as language definitions for the messages MoxQuizz
emmits.
MoxQuizz was completely written from scratch. It requires eggdrop
1.6.8 or later together with TCL 8.3.2 or later.
You can find an instance of MoxQuizz running in #quiz and #quiz.de on
DALNet (since November 2000).
The impatient read section 1 for the most important stuff. If you are
not planning to run a script/bot for yourself, you can skip sections 4
to 6. If you want to control the script, read section 4. If you plan
to install a script/bot for you own, read 5 and 6 as well as the
INSTALL file.
All configuration variables mentioned can be changed in the file
moxquizz.rc See section 5 for more information about configuration
and additional features like colors on/off, allstars computed monthly,
etc.
1. Quickstart
-------------
This section briefly tells, what you definitely must know before you
start listed as separate items. You should have installed an eggdrop
and have read INSTALL.
- You need the flags P and Q to be able to control the game.
- To start the game, simply start the eggdrop with the script
loaded and say:
!ask
in your quiz channel.
- Control the quiz from a dcc connection to the script/bot.
- All control commands are prefixed with: .!
- Safely shutdown the quiz (and the let the bot terminate)
with:
.!exit
from within a dcc connection.
- Pause a running game with .!pause and continue with .!cont
2. Detailed descripton
----------------------
This section needs to be written more thoroughly -- maybe this gets
never done, since many things are rather technical and should not
bother you if you are a normal user. Besides that it might be
interessting.
- Channel desert detection
MoxQuizz detects if nobody is talking to the channel for a while and
halts the quiz automatically. The time of silence is
$useractivetime seconds and will be checked in the tip giving
function.
- Regular Expressions -- regexp
MoxQuizz is able to match answers with a regular expression. This
is a very powerful tool allowing you match a wide range of answers
including alternatives, different orders (done with alternatives :),
optional parts, common typos etc etc. Search for regexp with the
search engine you like to get enlightened, you will love it.
- Allstars table
Allstars data is stored with username, so users playing with
different nicks get several entries. The hostmask is stored, so
that the list can be edited by hand. This might be replaced by
something better. You can use allstars.pl to prettyprint the table
as ASCII, HTML or XML.
The formula taken for the allstars computation is:
Points in game 1
Sum over: 10 * ------------------ * ------------------------
log10(your points) your duration in seconds
By default the allstars table is computed for separately for each
month. The script always serves only the current month. This can be
changed (see optional features below). The duration is the time the
player needed to win, i.e. the time between his/her first score and
the end of the game.
- Game state
There are 5 game states: stop, halt, asked, waittoask and pause.
Asked and waittoask will change mutually while a game is in progress
and can temporary be left to pause (!pause) and then reentered with
!cont. Halt and stop can be reached from everywhere. The
difference among the last both is: from halt a new game can be
started by users with !ask, whereas the stop state must be left
explicit with !init or !halt (both change to state halt).
- Bot exit
The script stores the ranks and all asked userquestions to disc (see
configuration section below for filenames)
- Rehashing
The script tries to survive rehashing. To achieve this, it writes
the ranks to disc and reloads them after the rehash. Lofgiles are
tried to be reopened, too.
- Optional features
The script has some features, which might or might not be enabled in
your bot. Ask the botowner or check .!set from the partyline or
read moxquizz.rc. I'll talk about the defaults here. Check section
Configuration/Quiz Features for a detailed description.
The script can give tips from time to time (every 30th question or
so). Currently it talks about common commands and features af the
script, like how to post userquestions, how to check allstars, etc etc.
This feature proved to be useful, since it learns users the basic
commands.
The script has a command !rules which show the user the channel
rules. If you installed the script/bot for yourself, you probably
want to check moxquizz/quizdata/channelrules.txt.
Some channels have sentinel bots, which +im a channel when danger is
ahead. MoxQuizz detects this and automatically pauses (this feature
is disabled by default). Let the game continue by -m your channel
or .!cont from the partyline.
- moxtools.tcl
This is a set of tool functions not directly associated with the
quiz operation. So far the following is included:
Announce -- let the script announce a single message to each user
joining a channel the script is on. Set the message with
!announce as master.
Antispam -- If there is a file intl/antispam.txt, MoxQuizz will
send it to any user who says !antispam in the
channel. This is meant to provide information about
how to avoid spammers on IRC (which was a big problem
on DALNet end of 2002).
Bad words -- the script recognizes a small set of bad words and kicks
of someone says them. If the person repeats swearing
within a certain time he/she is banned for 30 minutes.
Disabled by default.
Identify -- bot users with flag P can let a MoxQuizz manually
identify itself agains a nickserv by !identify on the
partyline. This is because automatic identify doesn't
always work correctly.
Logfiles -- function which creates a logfile for each channel the
script/bot joins. I did not like the fact, that all
stuff is logged to a singe file not even tagged with
the channel name.
Nickserv -- The script is able to identify itself to nickserv.
Specify hostmask and password.
VHosts -- The script can automatically be set up for use a vhost.
Currently this works for me and probably won't work for
you (since I don't know how you get your vhost, please
tell me!) Disabled by default.
Jump -- Allows users with flag Q to let the bot jump to a
specific server (or to next server in list): !jump or
!jump <server>
- Other channels
The script/bot can join other channels, but the quiz can only take
place in one channel at a time. Note that the fun commands are
aviable in all channels, the script/bot is in (they are now
documented in README.moxfun)
- What MoxQuizz is not/cannot:
. The game cannot run in more than one channel at a time (install
another eggdrop if you want this).
. Teamplay is planned since long, but still far ahead. One can only
play for oneself.
. MoxQuizz will not help your users if they get addicted to quiz.
- Multilingual:
Starting with version 0.8.0 MoxQuizz speaks several languages and
comes with question databases in a wide range. Currently there are:
Language Message set? Question set?
english yes 5437
french yes -
german yes 6524
greek yes -
malaysian - 3444
norwegian - 566
3. User commands
----------------
Several commands can be invoked by the user besides solving a question
by simply saying them on the channel:
!allstars <n> - shows you the first n positions in the current
allstars table. When ommitted, n defaults to 10.
!ask - starts the quiz after is was halted/initialized or
tells the user the actual question by /msg, if a
question is open.
!comment <txt> - comment bugs, typos and any other things you want
to be said. If you refer to a question, make sure
to mention it's number!
!hi - Lets the script greet known ppl (bot users and ppl in
the allstars table).
!score <nick> - tells you <nick>s current scores. Without <nick>
it will be you own scores.
!rank <n> - shows you the first n positions in the current rank
list. When ommitted, n defaults to 10.
!revolt - can be used to show that a user dislikes a question.
The script accepts revolts after at least one tip was
given & solves automatically, if more than 50 percent
of the people, who said something within the last
'useractivetime' seconds (default 4 minutes),
revolt.
!qhelp <topic> - same as !qhelp per msg. See below for a description
!rules - same as !rules per msg. Lists the channel rules,
if the script is configured with any.
!version - reports version number and amount of known
questions of MoxQuizz similiar to the on-join
message.
Additionally, there are commands which can be sent as a /msg to the
bot to ask user questions and do other things:
!userquest <question>::<answer>::<regexp>
- ask a user question. Specify at least question
and answer. Optional regexp is a TCL regexp to
match. "::" separates the elements. You further
can enclose a region in the answer with #...# to
mark text for tip generation and answer match.
Your nick can then use !usertip, !usersolve
and !usercancel.
Up to five questions will be scheduled, before a
question is rejected.
Example: !userquest Who is my author?::Moxon
!usertip <tip> - immediately places a tip while in your userquest.
Without <tip>, a default tip will be given. The
<tip> will be inserted into the list of generated
tips and stored, too.
!usercancel - cancel a given userquestion or your question ahead
!usersolve - solves your userquestion
!qhelp <topic> - gives an help text on <topic> or an overview.
!rules - same as public !rules. Lists the channel rules,
if the script is configured with any.
4. Commands to control the script
---------------------------------
The script is controlled by sending him commands via /msg and dcc. They
are parted into commands which can be invoked by users known to the
bot as quizmaster (flag P), quizadmin (flag Q) or bot master
(flag m). Note the user commands must be invoked by msg, whereas
those mentioned here must be invoked over a dcc chat session like
this (exceptions are !nuq, !uq and !listnuq):
.!tip
or
. !tip
The "!" is there because of historical reasons and to avoid clashes
with other dcc commands.
Quizmasters can control the quiz like starting and giving tips,
quizadmins can manipulate the rank list and move the quiz to other
channels, the master can set certain system variables and let the bot
join other channels to sit around and friends can let the bot talk on
any channel it is on.
The list following is ordered by function group, where each command is
preceeded with the flag needed. Note, that you only have to send the
command without the flag.
# quiz running status
P !halt - halt the script, and closes an open question
(ranks are kept safe). Users can restart the
quizz with !ask !
P !init - init the script. The game can be started with !ask
P !reset - shortcut for sequence .!stop, .!rankreset, .!init
P !stop - stop the script, and closes an open question
(ranks are kept safe). Quiz can only go
continued with !halt or !init.
P !pause - pauses the actual game. A running game can
be continued with !cont (NOTE: !ask will not
continue here, but questions are kept open.)
P !cont - continues a previously paused game.
P !status - report the current status to you via /msg
m !exit - causes the script to save all its data (rank and
user questions), leave the current channel
and quit.
m !aftergame <act> - Specify what the script shall do after the current
or next (if none open) game. Valid values
are: halt, stop, exit, newgame. Except the
last one all correspond to the !<act>
command. newgame will just start a new game.
Note that aftergame is only considered when
the game is won or the channel is detected
desert. This command is for automatic
shutdown and stuff.
# quiz configuration
m !load - load configuration from $configfile
m !save - save current configuration to $configfile
m !set <key value>+
- set some values from the configuration
file. This replaces !tipdelay, !askdelay,
!tipdelay, !setwinscore and !restrict from
0.6.x and prior. Lists options and their
value if no or a single argument is given,
lists available keys if single argument
matches more than one.
# quiz control stuff like speaking and channel hopping
P !say <txt> - let the bot say something. txt can start with
#<chan> to talk to <chan>. Default is quizchannel.
P !act <txt> - let the bot act in some way. txt can start with
#<chan> to act in <chan>. Default is quizchannel.
m !allsay <txt>
m !allact <txt> - say <txt> or act <txt> on all active channels.
Q !join <chan> - join a channel to sit around
Q !part <chan> - part a channel
Q !quizto <chan> - move quiz to <chan> (without leaving the channel)
Q !quizleave - part current channel where the quiz is on.
# question related stuff
P !solve - solve current question
P !tip <tip> - give a generated tip or the optional <tip>. If
it is an optional tip, it will be inserted into
the generated tip list.
P !setscore <n> - sets the score for the current question to
<n>. This will be noticed to the channel.
P !skipuserquest - skip the next (not the current) user question
m !qsave - save all user questions (in fact, they will be
appended to their file, so that nothing gets
lost). The internal list will be cleared, so
that the file contains questions only once.
Only questions already asked are saved, unless
you specify 'all' as parameter.
Q !reload <set> - reload the question files. Shows a list of
avialbe sets without param.
P !nuq <nick> - stops nick!*@* and *!ident@*.subdomain.domain
from adding userquestions for the next 45
minutes
P !uq - reverts this
P !listnuq - lists all !nuq entries
P !clearnuq - clears all !nuq entries
# commands to manage players and rank
P !allstars <n> - shows the first n allstar ranks. n
defaults to 5.
m !allstarssend - sends you the current alltars file by dcc,
if module filesys was loaded
m !allstarsload - reloads the allstars file.
P !rank <n> - show the first n rankings. The rank-show
timer will be reset. n defaults to 5.
Q !rankdelete nick+ - remove all given nicks from the rankings
(and userlist)
m !rankload - replace ranks in memory with the ones saved
to disk
m !ranksave - save current rankings (in fact, it saves
all known users)
Q !rankreset - resets the rankings and clears the userlist
Q !rankset <nick score>+ - sets all given nicks to the
corresponding score, if they are
known to the script. If not, no score
will be set. Score can be one if -n, n
and +n whether tosubsctract, set
absolute or add score.
# miscellaneous commands
- !comment <txt> - same as public !comment command. Records
txt as a comment. If you refer to
questions, please mention it's number.
5. Configuration/Quiz features
------------------------------
Besides that you can tune the script by changing several variables,
there are some features you can choose to enable/disable. There is no
need to change the script itself, all changes you make are done in
moxquizz.rc in the quiz directory.
Files and directories (these are defined in the script itself, but you
won't change them):
quizbasedir moxquizz
datadir $quizbasedir/quizdata
configfile $quizbasedir/moxquizz.rc
rankfile $datadir/rank.data
allstarsfile $datadir/rankallstars.data
userqfile $datadir/questions.user.new
commentsfile $datadir/comments.txt
channeltipfile $datadir/channeltips.txt
channelrulesfile $datadir/channelrules.txt
Configuration variables in moxquizz.rc:
Things you sure wish to change:
-------------------------------
channelrules = yes Print channel rules on !rules. Please
visit the channelrulesfile (defaults to
$datadir/channelrules.txt) and insert
_your_ rules. (yes/no)
questionset = en All files in datadir with this extension
will be considered as question sets and
will be loaded on quiz startup.
quizchannel = #quiz Channel the script will join on server connect
and make the quiz.
language = en Besides having different sets of questions,
the script speaks other languages than
english. It comes with a german language
set, more will be added.
Features you might wish to enable/disable/change:
-------------------------------------------------
channeltips = yes enable/disable channeltips -- small
helptexts postet now and then. See
or edit quizdata/channeltips.txt for the
tips. (yes/no)
colorize = yes shall the script use colors? (yes/no)
monthly_allstars = yes compute allstars table per month (yes/no)
msgwhisper = no If enabled, all information to users is
given as PRIVMSG. If disabled, it is
given by NOTICE. This affects all messages
to users.
pausemoderated = yes automatically pause if channel get
moderated? Some protection scripts
do that. (yes/no)
userquestions = yes allow users to post questions on their own
with /msg <BOT> !userquestion (see above)
prices = yes Whenever a user wins a game, he will
receive a trophy. Check intl/*/prices.txt
for a list of them
stripumlauts = no If you encounter problems with umlauts,
enable this option. All umlauts will be
converted to their transliteration (this
feature might vanish in the future).
Restriction Variables:
----------------------
lastwinner_restriction = 1 Stops answer bots and too elite ppl.
After winning lastwinner_max_games the
user is ignored for the next game. Can
be controlled with !restrict win_rows.
lastwinner_max_games = 2 Max number of games on is allowed to win
in a row.
overrun_protection = yes
don't accept anwers from new players
after overrunlimit points have been
reached by at least one player (yes/no)
Things which affect the gameplay and script behaviour (timers and
such). You normally don't want to change these:
--------------------------------------------------------------
Don't change things here too often, since some affect the allstars
score calculation!
maxranklines = 25 maximum number of rank or allstarslines
which will ever be shown. Don't set this
too high, since it blocks all other output
by msg such as help and stuff.
tipcycle = 5 number of automatic tips generated
winscore = 40 score to win the game
askdelay = 15 Delay in seconds between solution and next
question.
tipdelay = 30 Delay in seconds between tips. After the
tip list is printed completely and another
$tipdelay period, the question will be
solved automatically.
System features which you probably don't want to change:
--------------------------------------------------------
userqbufferlength = 5 Number of user questions scheduled max
quizloglevel = 1 Loglevel the script logs it's stuff to.
useractivetime = 240 Seconds a user must have said something to
be considered active (so he gets counted
in !revolt code)
6. Supplemental tools
---------------------
This section describes the supplemental tools found below the
directory named supplemental.
6.1. setup.pl -- set some variables in provided config and moxtools
----
This perl script sets some variables mentioned in INSTALL for you. It
should work with a modified config file (if you changed values), but
probably will fail if you added a list of servers. Nevertheless, you
can use it with the config files which come with MoxQuizz.
6.2. allstars.pl -- prettyprint the allstars table for MoxQuizz
----
To support your quizchannel, allstars.pl prettyprints your allstars
file as a ASCII table or as a HTML table. Invoke with --help to get a
list of commands and parameters.
7. Future thoughts
------------------
Here is a small roadmap:
- team code
- tipmode to mix generated and given tips
- game styles, like most scores in 30 minutes and such
8. Contact
----------
You like this? You hate it? Tell me about!
Author: Moxon AKA Sascha Lüdecke
IRC: #quiz and #quiz.de on irc.dal.net
EMail: moxon@meta-x.de
WWW: http://www.meta-x.de/moxquizz
8. Credits
----------
Special thanks to (no order):
- Michee <Michee@sonnet.de>, since artwork was done with heavy support
of him, and he edited numerous questions.
- Julika for constructive discussing a lot of issues and editing a
large amount of questions, too.
- Neo for making a lot of constructive critics.
- all people on the quizchannels on (no longer existent) irc.sonnet.de
for being patient when they encountered bugs, as well as all the
people from #quiz and #quiz.de in DALNet.
- Imran Ghory for providing more than 600 english questions.
- ManInBlack for providing the VHost code for moxtools.tcl
- Quake <quake@giga4u.de> for providing another 400 german questions
- |casiotone| for editing _all_ english questions. What a huge amount
of work done, thanks!
- Stanstimer for editing lots of english userquestions and providing
hundreds of own ones
- Magic2000 for providing lots of english questions
- Julia33 for providing an initial set of about 500 norwegian
questions
- BriZen for prodivind more norwegian questions
- ^MaKaM^ <makam@adinet.com.uy> for providing 1048 spanish questions
- "Gun@gnoo.org" <Gunslinger@ifrance.com> for the french translation
- bibib <skaterz@cytanet.com.cy> for the greek translation
- stuff^ for a plethora of new english questions
Lots of others for providing questions, translations, suggestions,
bugs and more. If you are not listed here, please mail me.
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$Id: README,v 1.48 2002/07/05 18:57:27 chat Exp $
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