Lock

-- Main.NecAnthrope - 26 May 2004

Sometimes you just don't want people to come in your room. Locks are objects you can install in doors that will control access to a room.

Locks support the following functionality:

<UL> <LI><B>install lock in [door]</B> -- install a lock in a door, making it securable <LI><B>uninstall lock from [door]</B> -- remove a lock from a door, making it non-securable </UL>

You don't engage or disengage a lock until it's installed in a door. For documentation on this, please see ItemDoor.

Notes on installation:

<B>You must own the door or belong to a gang that owns the door</B> to install or uninstall a lock. If not, you wil lnto be able to do so. Also, a door must be <B>open</B> for it to be possible to install or uninstall it. You must be able to get to the lock plate to be able to remove it.

Locks, like doors, face two rooms. When you install a lock, <b>the side of the door you are facing is the side that will have access control. The other side can be locked or unlocked by anyone.</B> This simulates the locks most people have in the doors to thier homes: One side has a keyhole, the other has a lever or twist knob of some sort. This allows anyone on the inside to change the lock state regardless of whether or not they have a key. <B>What this means is you must install the lock from the 'outside' of the door -- the side from which you want to control access.</B> If you install it from the 'inside', anyone on the 'outside' will be able to lock or unlock the door.

For example, if you live in an apartment, install the lock from the outside hallway side of the door. This places the side of the lock that requires a key (or in the case of a biometric lock, checks the identity of the person trying to unlock it) on the outside of the apartment. This also allows anyone on the inside of the apartment to lock or unlock the door.

Notes on lock types:

At at the time of this document being written, there are only two types of locks available to the HellMOO populace: keyed locks and biometric locks.

Keyed locks are similar to the locks we have today: They require a metal key that is inserted into a series of tumblers. Only a key cut to match those tumblers will disengage that lock. When you install a keyed lock, you are given a key to it. If you want copies of that key, you can make them at the lock shop.

Biometric locks are more adavanced. They are electronic devices that read the biological signature of thier owners, remember them, and only disengage when they read that same biological signature. The lock reads the signature by the owner placing the palm of thier hand on an attached pad. If this person matches the person who installed the lock (or in some more expensive locks, the pattern of someone the installer allows), it disengages.