Setting

[ LiB ]

When designing your MUD, take time to carefully consider the setting you want. Classically, MUDs are in a medieval, fantasy setting, but this is only a tradition. Realistically, your MUD can be whatever genre you want it to be, whether it be medieval, futuristic, modern, or something else entirely. Keep in mind that the setting you choose is likely to influence game design considerations, so it's best to think of the setting up front. Most modern-day games don't work too well, for example, because guns enable an inexperienced player to kill someone who's been playing the game for months, and that will hardly seem fair to your high-level players, so you probably won't keep players around long that way.

I've always been a fan of medieval genres; call it clich d, I don't care. I just love the idea of a glorified version of history. Face itthere really wasn't anything glorious about wearing 200 pounds of metal and trying to whack someone's head off with a sword that weighed another 50 pounds ! Alas, our ideas about the time period are based on fictional epics. That's part of the allure; modern culture has already imbued medieval stories with glory and chivalry; therefore, the Middle Ages holds a certain draw.

Another asset of medieval settings is that they seem more game-like. I can't imagine anything duller than a shootout between people randomly aiming machineguns or laser cannons at each other; but with old-fashioned combat, you have a sense of physical and competitive skill, and that's alluring. So, a fantasy medieval world will be the setting for the SimpleMUD.

[ LiB ]