Does anyone know of a program that lets me create Text-Based MUDS?
Author
I know a lot of you guys don't like using programs where you don't need to do the coding, like Game Maker and stuff.
However, I'm not too skilled in programming yet. Still learning. I was wondering if there were any Text MUD creators out there that let me easily build a text-based MUD like Achaea or Aardwolf. (Not browser based, just like... Going from room to room by going north, west, south, etc.)
I will use a program like that to map out basic ideas and get the feel for things, while I learn to program. That way, by the time I have enough programming knowledge to make a text MUD, I'll have some ideas.
So, does anyone know a program to help me build a Text MUD? Or even just an offline text adventure would be fine. I just wanna be able to form some ideas while I learn to program, and eventually make my own without a program.
There are lots and lots of such programs...
PennMUSH
TinyMUSH
TinyMUX
Information about a bunch of MUDs in Wikipedia.
For offline text adventures, there's
Inform
TADS
And buckets more in IF archive, here in particular.
PennMUSH
TinyMUSH
TinyMUX
Information about a bunch of MUDs in Wikipedia.
For offline text adventures, there's
Inform
TADS
And buckets more in IF archive, here in particular.
That would have worked better if the forum hadn't decided to log me out for that post alone.
There are lots and lots of such programs...
PennMUSH
TinyMUSH
TinyMUX
Information about a bunch of MUDs in Wikipedia.
For offline text adventures, there's
Inform
TADS
And buckets more in IF archive, here in particular.
There are lots and lots of such programs...
PennMUSH
TinyMUSH
TinyMUX
Information about a bunch of MUDs in Wikipedia.
For offline text adventures, there's
Inform
TADS
And buckets more in IF archive, here in particular.
Author
Heh, that's weird it logged you out.
But thanks a lot. Now I have something to do when I'm not in the mood to be programming.
I couldn't find any of that stuff using Google...
But thanks a lot. Now I have something to do when I'm not in the mood to be programming.
I couldn't find any of that stuff using Google...
For offline interactive fiction, I think you can't do much better than Inform http://www.inform-fiction.org/ theres a good begginer inform developers book as well as a comprehensive manual.
For online muds my favorite code base is DGD, with the mudlib written in LPC. Unlike most code bases, DGD doesn't ship with a complete built in mud for you to modifiy, its more of a base that lets you build from scratch exactly how you want it. There are a few mudlibs out there though such as Phantasmal, which is still under development. Phantasmal and DGD are done in such a way that you should be able to keep your mud online 24/7 if you wanted and still keep developing.
DGD is also compleatly written from scratch and not based on any other mud code bases, this places it in the unique position of making it free for non-commercial use, but also allowing you to purchase a license if you wish to run a commercial mud (although it's expensive :P). Many other muds cannot offer this due to the original license for their base. DGD is also the mud driver of choice for scotos games that run a number of muds commercially. http://www.skotos.net/
Writing a mudlib off of DGD can be very rewarding as your mud will be just what you want it to be and not a clone of all the other muds out there. However, there in lies the problem, you get out of it what you put in.
If you want a more drop in and mod solution, theres a whole range of mud code bases to choose from. Smaug is c++ based I beleive, there are others but off hand I can't remember their names, that allow you to build the mud through LPC.
Have a look on mudconnector for a range of code bases and have a play with several.
Personally I'd say use DGD with phantasmal or any other of its mudlibs to get you started, you can always rebuild based on DGD from scratch exactly how you want it later. OR if you want to be up and running as quickly as possible, then go with something like Smaug, which already ships with everything needed to get a basic mud running.
One last thing worth noting is that there is a "Game mud Programming" by Ron Penton published by premiere press, which takes you through building your own c++ mud from scratch. It's actually a great book to read for people who know the basics of C++ but want to see an example of just how everything can come together to make a sizeable yet extensible program.
For online muds my favorite code base is DGD, with the mudlib written in LPC. Unlike most code bases, DGD doesn't ship with a complete built in mud for you to modifiy, its more of a base that lets you build from scratch exactly how you want it. There are a few mudlibs out there though such as Phantasmal, which is still under development. Phantasmal and DGD are done in such a way that you should be able to keep your mud online 24/7 if you wanted and still keep developing.
DGD is also compleatly written from scratch and not based on any other mud code bases, this places it in the unique position of making it free for non-commercial use, but also allowing you to purchase a license if you wish to run a commercial mud (although it's expensive :P). Many other muds cannot offer this due to the original license for their base. DGD is also the mud driver of choice for scotos games that run a number of muds commercially. http://www.skotos.net/
Writing a mudlib off of DGD can be very rewarding as your mud will be just what you want it to be and not a clone of all the other muds out there. However, there in lies the problem, you get out of it what you put in.
If you want a more drop in and mod solution, theres a whole range of mud code bases to choose from. Smaug is c++ based I beleive, there are others but off hand I can't remember their names, that allow you to build the mud through LPC.
Have a look on mudconnector for a range of code bases and have a play with several.
Personally I'd say use DGD with phantasmal or any other of its mudlibs to get you started, you can always rebuild based on DGD from scratch exactly how you want it later. OR if you want to be up and running as quickly as possible, then go with something like Smaug, which already ships with everything needed to get a basic mud running.
One last thing worth noting is that there is a "Game mud Programming" by Ron Penton published by premiere press, which takes you through building your own c++ mud from scratch. It's actually a great book to read for people who know the basics of C++ but want to see an example of just how everything can come together to make a sizeable yet extensible program.
MUDs are fairly easy to program in any decent programming language. I'm not that hot a programmer and I've written them in C++, Visual Basic, and PHP (though THAT was a nightmare).
Using some GCK to make a game is a waste of your time.
Using some GCK to make a game is a waste of your time.
Quote:Original post by Edward Ropple
Using some GCK to make a game is a waste of your time.
Using some compiler to make machine code is a waste of your time.
In the long run, yes.
However, in this particular case, he wants a MUD. A MUD is a program that's difficult to categorize and thus difficult to make a GCK for; if you're going to try to make a MUD via a GCK (presuming one existed) you're going to run into nothing but walls. Is this magical GCK going to allow you to implement SWR-style flight systems? Awake-style Matrix systems or astral projection? How about new spells and skillsets? I sincerely doubt it.
Writing your own, or adapting one of the many codebases out there for public release, at least teaches you something.
EDIT: And Nathan, he said a MUD, not a MUSH or a MUX.
However, in this particular case, he wants a MUD. A MUD is a program that's difficult to categorize and thus difficult to make a GCK for; if you're going to try to make a MUD via a GCK (presuming one existed) you're going to run into nothing but walls. Is this magical GCK going to allow you to implement SWR-style flight systems? Awake-style Matrix systems or astral projection? How about new spells and skillsets? I sincerely doubt it.
Writing your own, or adapting one of the many codebases out there for public release, at least teaches you something.
EDIT: And Nathan, he said a MUD, not a MUSH or a MUX.
Oh god forbid people do not code every single detail by hand. Network & interface programming is so much fun that it would be a real shame, using a tool built exactly for what you want to do instead of programming it all in plain C. Now I do not have experience with MUD tools, but the text-adventure tools mentioned in the first post leave you free to get as creative as you want, while providing a convenient framework which saves you a lot of time & work. I suspect there are MUD tools that do the same.
Quote:Original post by marijnh
Oh god forbid people do not code every single detail by hand. Network & interface programming is so much fun that it would be a real shame, using a tool built exactly for what you want to do instead of programming it all in plain C. Now I do not have experience with MUD tools, but the text-adventure tools mentioned in the first post leave you free to get as creative as you want, while providing a convenient framework which saves you a lot of time & work. I suspect there are MUD tools that do the same.
Sarcasm generally doesn't travel well over the Internet.
However, when it comes to MU* games, I must strongly disagree. Learning how your network sockets talk to clients is of vital importance, and if you can't write a text parser you've got other problems to worry about.
Yes, there are codebases out there; one MUD I currently work on is based off a derivative of Circle, which is a derivative of Diku, etcetera etcetera. They're fine. But until you code it yourself, you're just black-boxing. There are some things you need to know how to code, and if you're trying to do a MUD, a sockets interface and general player interface rank pretty far up there.
You peripherally touch upon another important point in that all of the major codebases out there are principally C based. Writing your own allows you to modularize code and write it in cleaner C++ or Java or whatnot. As I said, I've written MUDs from scratch in a number of languages (the PHP project being my current one and making me want to tear my hair out, the Visual Basic one being the most ridiculously easy), and the code is usually more readable and usable in another language--even if you decide not to use OOP techniques.
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