First off, I'll apologize. I have been looking around on this forum for a long time for an answer to this question, and I have found some decent attempts to address it, but nothing is really what I was looking for. To make everything easier, I have decided to make a posting asking the exact questions I want. Also, I am not certain what section of the forums I should be posting this in, so don't get angry if this isn't where it goes. After I find out what I want and finish my project I will try to write a better tutorial so that other people don't have to go digging through the piles of useless threads that I had to. Anyways, here are my questions. 1. Some background information would be very helpful. Just to make sure everybody is on the same page, what is a MUD? What does it stand for? What is an example of a MUD you play or have played? 2. What are the very basic steps/requirements/parts in creating a MUD? As in, you need to have the overall design and concept charted out on paper before you begin any coding, or you need to have a group of people who know certain skills that you will need in creating game. 3. What languages are used for the actual coding? It seems like some sort of mix of HTML, PHP and SQL would work, but is there some language that just fits this type of thing perfectly, and if it is just those three languages I mentioned, how to sew them together for effecient and quick communication between them all. 4. What are the basic parts of a MUD? This sounds similar to my second question, but what I mean this time is in the actual gameplay. For example, there is a way to store all the accounts, store the stats of each account, a message system, a way to train your player, a PVP system, a way to create or join a clan/alliance, etc. 5. How do you go about getting a URL? Are there certain sites that you can buy a URL? What do you do if the URL you want is taken? If anybody is still confused, here is a list of games of the type I am trying to create: http://www.hattrick.com - A soccer game http://www.erepublik.com/ - A game based on society, economics, politics and military www.cybernations.net - A nation simulation game Thank you in advance. Also, this doesn't seem to be exactly the right forum to be asking this question in. If somebody could redirect me to a better forum for asking this question I would be much obliged.

1a Mud Multi user Dungeon
1b http://www.topmudsites.com/


2 Http://www.gamedev.net/reference/programming/features/mudpie1/

3. up to u. what do you programme in

4 each one of them is a question. but look at 2

5. google and you will find, there are free one but they are restrictive

these answers are not hard to find. you have not told you which lang you code in if any. this is not as easy as it sounds and you need to get some basic skills under your belt.

ps also try

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD

1. Read the wikipedia page and Google for it.

2. You need to know how to program. How you as a programmer go about making a MUD is not especially different from making any large game. Now, the question of good ways to approach designing and developing large programs is quite a bit of a debate. A good Google term to get into it is "software development methodologies".

3. Up to you. I don't know of any niche language designed specifically for MUDs. HTML would not be an option though. It is not a programming language. It is a document markup language. PHP would be unlikely. It's niche is web development and does not do well outside the environment of a server. SQL, maybe. Only if you have a database, which you might.

4. There is no one to approach any aspect of what you talked about. You simply think about what you want to do, and come up with ideas on how to make them work. Being able to do so, of course, means that you already have the experience and knowledge to tackle such problems.

5. It's called a domain name. You do have to pay for domain names, from companies known as domain name registrars. If the URL you want is taken, you may be out of luck. If you really want it, you can try and find out who owns the domain name and negotiate purchase. But good luck with that.

Quote:If anybody is still confused, here is a list of games of the type I am trying to create:

I took a look. Those games are not MUDs. They are browser based games. Browser based games, in contrast with what I said previously, would involve HTML (for the webpage design). PHP, maybe. That's up to you. SQL, most probably.

Quote:Thank you in advance. Also, this doesn't seem to be exactly the right forum to be asking this question in. If somebody could redirect me to a better forum for asking this question I would be much obliged.

This question should probably have been posted in the "For Beginners" forum. Probably a moderator will move this thread over.