Hack66.Get Covered in MUDs
Discover massively multiplayer online text adventures .
Over the past several years , the electronic gaming community has been aglow over the advent of graphical Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs). From Ultima Online and Everquest to World of Warcraft, these games have been renowned for their ability to draw their players into playing them for days on end. All of these modern graphical MMORPGs owe a huge debt of gratitude to those little games spawned on a college campus back in 1978, the simple MUDs, the predecessors to every MMORPG on the market today. These MUDs and their immediate progeny are still available even now, appealing to a niche market of enthusiasts .
6.5.1. About MUDs
So what is a MUD? The acronym typically stands for multi- user dungeon , but you may also hear some people refer to the D as meaning dimension, diversion , domain , or even delusion . Regardless, a MUD simply refers to a text-based environment where players create their own characters and interact with others. While there are non-game MUDs out there, we're going to ignore themmost MUDs are games. Many MUDs are done in the fantasy genre and focus on powering up your character via hacking-and-slashing, but those are not defining traits for these games. Science- fiction genre games are also enormously popular, and there are even some games rooted in historical events. One sub- genre of MUDs, MUSHs (Multi-User Shared Hallucinations), focuses more on social interaction rather than on having the highest stats, and its players create their own content.
Though the onset of graphical based MMORPGs have cut into the numbers of MUD players, these games still attract a notable following. A popular claim among MUD players is that the human imagination is the most advanced graphical engine possible, and I've heard many people describe how pure text creates a level of immersion absent from graphical games.
MUDs divide up their areas into smaller sections called rooms, much like most single-player text adventures did. A typical room has a room title, a description of the room and people/objects inside of it, and lists what directions you can move your character in. Note that a room does not need to be an actual room; it can be in the middle of a desert or in the middle of a forest, like in the following example:
- [Woodland Clearing, Altar]
- The sunlight pierces through the blanket of tree leaves above onto
- a simple altar crafted from marble. A gentle breeze rustles the
- foliage every so often.
- You also see Bob the Barbarian and a bag of gold.
- Obvious exits: north, east, up.
Most MUDs are totally free to players, meaning as long as you have a computer with an Internet connection and an appropriate client, you can play them wherever, whenever. These games also have very tiny player basesprobably 50 at most. The larger MUDs will cost you money, but in return, you will get better customer support and additional in-game features, and in general they will be far more polished. The standard for these games is to offer a 30-day free trial.
6.5.2. Before Playing a MUDthe Setup
Before you actually start playing a MUD, you'll have to find one you like, then learn a little more about it.
6.5.2.1. Find a game.
There are by some estimates around 30005000 MUDs running today. The most frequently updated lists are at MudConnect (http://www.mudconnect.com) and Top Mud Sites (http://www.topmudsites.com). If you're looking for a game outside of the fantasy genre, you may have to scavenge a little harder, but it shouldn't take you too long. The topics range from MUDs based on the Lord of the Rings to Star Trek and X-Men and everything in between.
6.5.2.2. Start reading the game's web site.
Your fellow players and the GameMasters (developers/support staff for the game, a.k.a. GMs or Gods) for your chosen MUD will all have myriad assumptions about you as a new player (newbie) to their game, but the one thing they will all share is a presumption that you have the aptitude and desire to do a lot of reading. Otherwise, why on earth would you be playing a MUD instead of the latest installment of Halo or Grand Theft Auto?
See what character classes and races are available. Read how combat works. Get a feel for the game's economic systems and political climate. Most importantly, read the rules on player conduct. Some games allow player killing (PK'ing), some don't, and others allow it only under very specific circumstances. Many games have very strict policies against multiplaying (controlling multiple characters at the same time). Almost all prohibit executing programs where your character does certain actions while you're off doing something else away from your keyboard, commonly referred to as botting or AFK (away-from-keyboard) scripting .
6.5.2.3. Find a client you like.
Most MUDs will offer an applet or tell you the URL/port code that you can use to access their game via Telnet or your own client on their respective web pages. If you can possibly avoid it, do not use Telnet, as the most you can do is type out commands and see a very fixed number of lines back. The specialized applets offered with most games are also usually lacking, though there are some exceptions. However, those applets will typically only work with one game, so if you decide to play another game, you will have to recreate all of your settings again, a lot of which would probably be reuseable your next game.
If you decide to look for your own MUD client, there are some features that you should look for at a bare minimum. First is the ability to create logs of your play sessions for later reference. Second, you need the ability to create your own triggers/macros. This way, you don't have to get carpal tunnel syndrome from typing attack commands repeatedly. Third is the ability to highlight or to filter strings of text. Highlighting is invaluable for calling your attention to certain text strings when you're in areas with high scroll rates, or where text shows up on your screen very quickly. Filtering also helps with this and it also lets you blacklist players that are annoying.
One of the most well-known third-party client programs is zMUD (http://www.zuggsoft.com). It provides advanced script creation support, map creation, multiple windows , multiplaying, and even links to MudConnect so that all you have to do is point and click to access a plethora of MUDding goodness. While it costs $30, you get to try it for free for 30 days, and any upgrades thereafter will be free.
6.5.3. Creating Your First Character
Set aside a couple of hours in the early evening hours for your first login. MUDs are nowhere near as time- intensive as many of the graphical MMORPGs out there, but you ought to set aside time in case you are instantly hooked. You should also have some paper and a pencil for scribbling down notes.
The best time to log into a game for the first time is slightly before the evening hours for whatever time zone most of the game's players live (typically the United States). If you're logging in from within the States at 8PM to an Australian or British MUD, don't be surprised if you don't see anyone there, because the players for that game will be asleep. Peak hours for most of these games is during prime time; logging on beforehand should give you plenty of time to create your character, get adjusted to some of the commands, and then do some solo exploration before people log in en masse after work or school.
When you first log into a MUD, you will be prompted to create your character name and your password. Some MUDs require that you email the administrator to get access; others will let you log in immediately.
Exercise the same common sense you would when creating a password for these games as you would when creating a password for anything else in your life: create a unique password for each character/game you try out and keep it to yourself. Make passwords from combinations of letters and numbers that mean something only to you. I've met too many people who gave out their passwords to their bestest friend ever who later whined to their respective game's Gods or GameMasters that their character was "hacked."
When you're thinking of your character name, remember that first impressions are everything. In the absence of seeing an avatar, the only thing that another player will see when you first walk by is something like:
- >Milnar has just entered the area.
"Ah," that player will think. "There's a newbie who's at least trying. I shall go up to meet him." Okay, they wouldn't think exactly that, but since MUDs are in general small, close-knit communities, they'd do their best to make you feel welcome.
Conversely, if that same player saw:
- >Lorddarthvader has entered the area.
their response would range from ignoring you outright to calling for a GM. They'll definitely inform their friends that a n00b (a new person who's probably going to be a major annoyance) has entered the area. You've committed the sin of naming yourself after a ridiculously famous character from Star Wars, which even in a Star Wars themed MUD would be forbidden, and topped it off with the title "lord". Many games reward titles to their own players after they've accomplished certain tasks .
For those of you who have trouble coming up with names, much less names that would be in-genre for your particular game, there are multiple name generators online. One of the best ones is the Fantasy Name Generator (http://rinkworks.com/namegen/).
Once you've selected your character name, it is time to finish creating your character! Your game should handwalk you through the creation process, giving you prompts in case you ever get stuck. Some games choose to put you through a character generator and then spit your character out into the live game. Others have an integrated tutorial process where you learn the basic commands for movement and interacting with objects as you define your character's appearance/history.
6.5.4. Taking the First Few Steps
Congratulations on finally making it through all that character creation/tutorial stuff! You are now at the bottom of the player totem pole. This should be a temporary state.
The creators for your MUD are well aware that you want to jump right into their game. Resist that temptation and scour the help files for the following information. The 20 additional minutes you spend now reading up on this information will save you a lot of time and frustration later.
If the game features combat, check and see what the penalties are for death. As a beginning player, whatever death penalties your game has will be very light, but those penalties generally will become very harsh as you advance a couple of levels. It's best to know what these are beforehand. See what commands display information about your health if that wasn't covered during the tutorial.
Also, see what commands are used for chat channels. Learn under what circumstances you can use each particular one. Many MUDs feature some sort of newbie channel where newbies can ask questions. Don't be embarrassed about using itthat channel is there for you! Most experienced players on your MUD will be more than happy to tell you where the popular hangouts are, where to do things at your given stage of the game, and anything else you may want to know.
Common MUD CommandsThis is far from an exhaustive list, but it should cover your immediate needs until you meet other people in the game who can tell you about all the various chat channels and attack commands for your particular game.
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A few don'ts when you ask for help. Don't ask for free handouts; you will almost never get them, and will certainly cause yourself to be alienated by other players. Don't type in all caps, as this is considered yelling. Finally, don't repeat the same question over and over in rapid succession. Ask a question onceif someone knows the response, they will answer you fairly quickly. If no one responds and there's chatter on the channel, repeat or rephrase your question politely after a couple of minutes .
Scribble down a list of the commands that you've learned so far and what they do. Yes, you could refer back to the help files for that information, but you learn the commands much faster if you make your own cheat sheet.
Finally, now that you've done all that, go out, explore, and have fun! If it helps you, sketch out your own map as you slowly start exploring. I found that graph paper helped enormously when sketching areas out. See if you can access any in-game maps. Note the locations of stores and other major buildings . Hook up with other novices or find a friendly older player who can show you the ropes . Make lots of friends. What's the point of playing a multiplayer game solo, anyways?
Best of luck playing your first MUD!
Carol Van Epps
EAN: 2147483647
Pages: 150