A Guide to Stringing/Coloring

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Philly
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2020 10:15 am

Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:53 am

Hi friends! It’s been some time since we had our last stringing guide. I thought I would provide some of my own tips and tricks.

Part 1 - Writing Strings

In TI moreso than other MUDs, players tend towards using strings exactly 59 characters in length. This was not a coded affair, merely player culture that evolved over the years, so there is no expectation that you follow it, but it has become the norm.

Examples:
a very sparkly grey-blue diamond with a faceted cushion cut
a threadbare woolen coat, haphazardly patched at the elbows
a six-stringed lute carved from bookmatched maple heartwood

Some more tips:

1. Adding a comma or adjusting the length of a word by 1-2 characters is valuable in getting everything to align. Silver can become silvery or silvered. Titled can become entitled.

2. Simple present-tense should usually be avoided, as it messes up targeting in emotes. For example, 'a silk cape flutters to the ground’ will look strange in an emote:
Bob flips a silk cape flutters to the ground over his shoulder.
But 'a silk cape that flutters to the ground’ or ‘a silk cape fluttering to the ground’ will do the trick.

3. It helps to have a pool of adjectives and thematic nouns to pull from when crafting your strings. I use this website often as a reference, which allows you to look up terms by number of letters:

https://bestforpuzzles.com/lists/index.html

For example, you can look for five-letter colors, or six-letter botanical terms, to help fill out your string.

4. For pieces of clothing, it helps to have synonyms or multiple options for certain slots. A men's torso piece could be a doublet, tunic or surcoat. A piece of women’s headwear could be a wimple, snood, circlet, crespine, or Vavardi/gable hood. A piece of outerwear could be a cloak, cape, greatcoat, mantle, wrap, poncho, or a pelisse. Having multiple options assists in adjusting string lengths.

5. If you’re trying to get 59 characters, working with a monospaced font like Courier or Menlo and using a text ‘ruler’ to line strings up against is crucial. I use:

a fantabulous, fifty-nine character line to line up against


6. Imitation is the highest form of flattery. While I would never encourage plagiarism, keeping a notepad of words and phrases you admire can help when your creativity runs dry. When I see a term I find particularly lovely or useful, I’ll write it down. I browse these when searching for inspiration. Some words I’ve learned from others that I love:
chatoyant
ascetic
herringbone
lucent
athenaeum
bookmatched
gabardine
orangery
venerable
rutile
chatelaine
stygian
trellised
peccadils
marqueterie

7. There are a ton of resources out there, many made by community members. For example, Murrmurs’ gradient (help gradient) and monolu’s updated stringing tool:

https://monolu.github.io/ti-string-tool/

8. The biggest thing is to have fun, take risks, and enjoy. It’s a freeform system to use and enjoy, and however you like your strings, they’re valuable just because they’re yours :)

Feel free to share your own tips and tricks! I'll try to post a part two about color codes shortly.

Philly
Posts: 11
Joined: Wed Jul 15, 2020 10:15 am

Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:08 pm

Part II - Color Codes

TI has gone through a bit of a color renaissance in the last few years, transitioning from 16 standard ASCI colors to 41 additional xterm colors, and now to a full 256 color gradient. With the disclaimer that I'm still learning and growing myself, here are a few tips and tricks for navigating this strange new world:

1. Clipboard and stringcheck are your friends. Clipboard allows you to play around with color codes in TI’s setting. Simply ‘clipboard edit’, enter your strings, do @v to see them, and repeat! Similarly, using stringcheck <string> will show you both the color codes AND tell you the length of the string.


2. Use patterns when stringing groups of words with multiple color codes. Perhaps change color codes every 2 characters, or every 3. Perhaps do several short gradations and then fill the rest of the word or phrase with a single color. Symmetry and consistency goes a long way in making something pleasant to read. For some examples:

<cba>XX<dcb>XX<edc>XX<fed>XXXX<edc>XX<dcb>XX<cba>XX{x
@
<bcb>XXXX<cdc>XXXX<ded>XXXX<efe>XXXX{x
<cbb>X<dcc>XX<edd>XXX<fee>XXXX<edd>XXX<dcc>XX<cbb>X{x
<cab>X<dbc>X<ecd>X<fde>XXXXXXXXXX<ecd>X<dbc>X<cab>X{x
<bba>X<ccb>XX<ddc>XXX<eed>XXXX<ddc>XXX<ccb>XX<bba>X{x
<bcc>X<cdd>X<dee>X<eff>X<g21>XXXXXXXX<eff>X<dee>X<cdd>X<bcc>X{x
{HX{KX{OX{9XX<dab>XXXX<dab>XX{9XX{OX{KX{HX{w

Image


3. Strings are easier to read if you place similar colors and/or similar shades adjacent to one another. Gradients from darker -> lighter, one color --> another tend to work better than abrupt transitions. For example:

Image

<eab>th<eaf>is <eaa>is<eae> a t<eab>e<eaf>st<eab>i<eae>ng <eaa>st<eaf>ri<eab>ng!{x
<eaa>t<eab>hi<eac>s i<ead>s a <eae>te<eaf>st<eae>in<ead>g s<eac>tr<eab>in<eaa>g!{x

These two strings use the same color codes and are both symmetrical, but one is much cleaner and easier to read than the other.


4. Know which patterns in help gridx that provide smooth gradients. Like a tic-tac-toe grid, vertical, horizontal and diagonal lines are your friend.

Image

1. {Rfa<fba>nt{Oa<fda>bu{hlous testin<fda>g s{Ot<fba>ri{Rng{x
2. <cdf>fa<def>nt<eff>ab<fff>ulous testing<eff> st<def>ri<cdf>ng{x
3. {9fa<eac>nt{6ab<eae>ul<eaf>ous testi<eae>ng {6st<eac>ri{9ng{x
4. <cdd>fa<cee>nta<cff>bulous testing s<cee>tri<cdd>ng{x
5. {qfa{pnta<ecd>bul{Pous testi<ecd>ng s{ptri{qng{x
6. {ffa<dbb>nta<ebb>bul<fbb>ous testi<ebb>ng s<dbb>tri{fng{x

Image

When you want to push things to the next level, use more than one!

Image

7. <cdc>fa<ced>nt<cfe>ab<dfe>ul{1ous tes{1ti<dfe>ng <cfe>st<ced>ri<cdc>ng{x
8. <fbe>fa<fce>nt{Pab<fee>ulo{Wus t<ffe>est{Hing {Kst{Fri{Ong{x

Image


5. Don’t be afraid to use greyscale to help with transitions. Strings can easily get busy, especially when using vibrant colors. Sometimes inserting a bit of white, grey or black softens them out, and makes for a cleaner product.

9. {Qf<fbd>a<fcd>nt<fdd>ab<fed>u<ffe>l{Wous testi<ffe>n<fed>g <fdd>st<fcd>ri<fbd>n{Qg{x
10. <g19>f<g15>a<g11>n<g07>t{qa<dab>bulous testing s{qt<g07>r<g11>i<g15>n<g19>g{x
11. <abf>f<acf>a<adf>nt<aef>ab<aff>u<cff>l<eff>ous test<eff>i<cff>n<aff>g <aef>st<adf>ri<acf>n<abf>g{x
12. {Kf{Ha<dff>n{3t{Ta{2b<abc>u<g06>l<g05>o<g04>us test<g05>i<g06>n<abc>g {2s{Tt{3r<dff>i{Hn{Kg{w
13. {lf<cdc>ant<ded>ab{1ulo<g22>us tes<eff>t<def>ing <cde>st<bcd>rin<abc>g{x

Image


6. Start simple and build complexity as your comfort grows. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with the system when you’re starting out! Don’t feel pressure to use the full 256 right away; the 41 shorthand ascii colors are a user-friendly place to start.

One of the easiest ways to construct a lovely outfit is to pick 1-2 colors you like and highlight key words or phrases in the string with them. For example, this outfit’s color highlighting adds a bit of flare while only using two color codes, {K and {s:

Image

a lightly pleated {Kochre silk wimp{Kle{x trimmed with {sshone lace{x
a durable, pocketed satchel lined with {Kochre satin quilti{Kng{x
{Klight sleev{Kes{x with folded cuffs of narrow {ssilver embroidery{x
a {ssilver chain link bracelet{x hung with a tiny {sswallow charm{x
a conservative {Ksix-paneled bodi{Kce{x with {Kpleats of ochre si{Klk{x
a collared {KVandagan greatco{Kat{x with polished, {ssilver buttons{x
a {ssilver cord cincture{x hung with an encrusted {Kswallow cha{Krm{x
a demure, pleated {Kochre velvet ski{Krt{x that brushes the floor
a pair of {sflexible slippers{x decorated with {Kochre satin bo{Kws{x


If you want to elevate the look, a simple two or three color gradient does a lot of good. Instead of using {Fstring here{x, I’m now using {Fst{Kring he{Fre{x.

Image

a lightly pleated {Foc{Khre silk wimp{Fle{x trimmed with {sshone lace{x
a durable, pocketed satchel lined with {Foch{Kre satin quilti{Fng{x
{Fli{Kght sleev{Fes{x with folded cuffs of narrow {ssilver embroidery{x
a {ssilver chain link bracelet{x hung with a tiny {sswallow charm{x
a conservative {Fsi{Kx-paneled bodi{Fce{x with {Fpl{Keats of ochre si{Flk{x
a collared {FVa{Kndagan greatco{Fat{x with polished, {ssilver buttons{x
a {ssilver cord cincture{x hung with an encrusted {Fsw{Kallow cha{Frm{x
a demure, pleated {Foc{Khre velvet ski{Frt{x that brushes the floor
a pair of {sflexible slippers{x decorated with {Foc{Khre satin bo{Fws{x

Similarly, a classic silver-color gradient I see often is {ss{St{wr{Wing h{we{Sr{se{x. I like the way this looks, so I’ll try adding it to my outfit:

Image

a lightly pleated {Foc{Khre silk wimp{Fle{x trimmed with {ss{Sh{wo{Wne l{wa{Sc{se{x
a durable, pocketed satchel lined with {Foc{Khre satin quilti{Fng{x
{Fli{Kght sleev{Fes{x with folded cuffs of narrow {ss{Si{wl{Wver embroid{we{Sr{sy{x
a {ss{Si{wl{Wver chain link brace{wl{Se{st{x hung with a tiny {ss{Sw{wa{Wllow ch{wa{Sr{sm{x
a conservative {Fsi{Kx-paneled bodi{Fce{x with {Fpl{Keats of ochre si{Flk{x
a collared {FVa{Kndagan greatco{Fat{x with polished, {ss{Si{wl{Wver butt{wo{Sn{ss{x
a {ss{Si{wl{Wver cord cinct{wu{Sr{se{x hung with an encrusted {Fsw{Kallow cha{Frm{x
a demure, pleated {Foc{Khre velvet ski{Frt{x that brushes the floor
a pair of {sf{Sl{we{Wxible slipp{we{Sr{ss{x decorated with {Foc{Khre satin bo{Fws{x

If I wanted to dabble further, maybe I decide that the capital {W white is a bit too bright for my taste. I want to replace that with a softer white hue. From the ‘help shades’ helpfile, I think that <g21> will do the trick. Rather than replace each instance of {W manually, I will copy my strings over to a word processor and use the ‘Find and Replace’ function to find all instances of {W and replace with <g21>. Make sure to set it as case specific! My outfit now looks like this:

Image

a lightly pleated {Foc{Khre silk wimp{Fle{x trimmed with {ss{Sh{wo<g21>ne l{wa{Sc{se{x
a durable, pocketed satchel lined with {Foc{Khre satin quilti{Fng{x
{Fli{Kght sleev{Fes{x with folded cuffs of narrow {ss{Si{wl<g21>ver embroid{we{Sr{sy{x
a {ss{Si{wl<g21>ver chain link brace{wl{Se{st{x hung with a tiny {ss{Sw{wa<g21>llow ch{wa{Sr{sm{x
a conservative {Fsi{Kx-paneled bodi{Fce{x with {Fpl{Keats of ochre si{Flk{x
a collared {FVa{Kndagan greatco{Fat{x with polished, {ss{Si{wl<g21>ver butt{wo{Sn{ss{x
a {ss{Si{wl<g21>ver cord cinct{wu{Sr{se{x hung with an encrusted {Fsw{Kallow cha{Frm{x
a demure, pleated {Foc{Khre velvet ski{Frt{x that brushes the floor
a pair of {sf{Sl{we<g21>xible slipp{we{Sr{ss{x decorated with {Foc{Khre satin bo{Fws{x

There's much more that could be done: expansive or two-tone gradients, adding a background color, and even using a consistent pattern across all items in your set. The final product is all up to you:

Image

7. As I said in Part I, keeping a little collection of color codes is valuable. I’ll often screenshot or store a particularly gorgeous color gradient so I can browse for inspiration down the line. Tool <item> show will also give you the raw color codes of an object if you spot a gradient or hue that catches your fancy.

8. Rules are made to be broken and there’s no right answer. Different players have different tastes, and each of us settle into a stringing style all our own. Whatever you create, it’s yours, and that’s awesome.

Happy stringing!

User avatar
Ghed
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2021 12:50 am
Discord Handle: Ghed

Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:33 pm

This is extremely useful, thank you for your selfless addition.
“What good is power when you're too wise to use it?”

User avatar
Lei
Posts: 174
Joined: Sun Jan 09, 2011 1:32 pm
Discord Handle: Lei#3876

Fri Jul 22, 2022 11:41 pm

Excellent. I like the tricks you have up your sleeve; going to copy some of them.
Old As Dirt

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