<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds --> <!--X-From-R13: Oaql Qvax <enagubeNrneguyvax.arg> --> <!--X-Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 19:01:17 -0800 --> <!--X-Message-Id: 3.0.5.32.19990215185700.00e89370#earthlink,net --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Reference: 11A17AA2B9EAD111BCEA00A0C9B41793EDCCC6#forest,origin.ea.com --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:ranthor#earthlink,net"> </head> <body background="/backgrounds/paperback.gif" bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000" link="#0000FF" alink="#FF0000" vlink="#006000"> <font size="+4" color="#804040"> <strong><em>MUD-Dev<br>mailing list archive</em></strong> </font> <br> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] <br clear=all><hr> <!--X-Body-Begin--> <!--X-User-Header--> <!--X-User-Header-End--> <!--X-TopPNI--> Date: [ <a href="msg00426.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00428.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00436.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00463.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00427">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00427">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00427">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Andy Cink <<A HREF="mailto:ranthor#earthlink,net">ranthor#earthlink,net</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 18:57:00 -0800</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> </UL> <!--X-Head-of-Message-End--> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-Begin--> <HR> <!--X-Head-Body-Sep-End--> <!--X-Body-of-Message--> <PRE> >So my question is something that sort of overlaps material that is in the >FAQ, but not really. What do you think are the most important and/or >influential muds, and why? What contributions did they make to the state of >the art, or what significant muds owe a lot to them? > >-Raph My favorite muds, and why: First "real" mud, Renegade Outpost, based on sillymud code: I liked it because it had a good number of well balanced classes. (About 8 classes, plus full multiclassing under the AD&D rules) It had lots of interaction, items that could get damaged, spells could also cause equipment damage. It had a big world, with lots of big monsters, and limited equipment. (I think this is a biggie) It basically kept you very busy. You had quite a climb to make 50th, and then you could spent exp on various bonuses (no more hunger, no more thirst, multis could add classes, singles could buy more stat points, hits, mana, moves, etc..) Meanwhile, there was lots of limited equipment, and you spent a LONG time waiting to accumulate a good set. (Either waiting for people to retire or scrap their equip, and figuring out how to kill the monsters that loaded it without dying) Basically it was just a lot of fun, lots to do, lots of replay value, because all of the classes had a lot of differences in play styles. My next mud was Starmud, using mudOS code with the TMI-2 lib: I liked Starmud because it was a very original mud. It had a huge number of areas, and they weren't afraid to just take areas from whatever interested them. They had holodeck bays with simulations of all kinds of universes from books to movies. They also had a video rental store where you could "rent" movies to go into an area based on that movie. Lots of clever things like this. They had something like 7 planets, with various ways to travel between them. There were around 10 professions, most of which were modern takes on the medieval classes. Instead of warriors, there were marines. Instead of clerics, there were doctors. Instead of thieves there were convicts. Instead of mages, there were cybermages. Cavaliers instead of paladins, etc, etc. They also had subprofs, which basically let you specialize within your field. Doctors later had two subprofs, the paramedics and the angels of death. The paramedics could heal players, who would go unconscious instead of dying outright. (A warning would be sent out when a person went unconscious, if they were wearing a bracelet a doctor could give them) The doctors could then find the victim and try and revive them. The angels of death could listen on the same "frequency" and attempt to find and murder the victim before a doctor could save them. It had an active pkill environment, with lots of things like resistance/immunity/susceptibility systems, levelless system, etc. The mud had a lot of races, with a generally well balanced setup. A race might heal quickly, but have a vulnerability that could be exploited by their enemies. Lots of little things that kept things exciting. My next mud was SneezyMUD, also based on sillymud code: Sneezy was(and is) a technological marvel. Extremely well coded, and was for a long time a great deal of fun. Aside from having a staff that isn't very likeable, their mud is probably the most realistic and detailed I've ever played. Featuring a limb based combat system (very well done, lots of detail, with creatures and players having all sorts of different limb setups, with limbs able to have all kinds of afflictions, and the limb problems had direct effects on things like moving, fighting, even carrying or wearing equipment) Detail to the max. Also had a very well balanced race setup (if somewhat mundane races, it was still well done). Races had size ranges, as did equipment. Depending on your luck, a human might wear some items intended for an ogre, or tall halfling might wear something designed for a short elf. It also had a limited equipment system, with lots of hard to find items with low load rates. (Was item x not loading because it was maxed, or because of dumb luck in the loading rolls?) The classes were also very different, offering different takes and styles of play. Again I have to emphasize the replay value, the fact that playing the game over as a different class was often a lot of fun. (Each class and race had specific sets of equipment you could wear, plus different stat strategies, and also, you couldn't LEARN every skill a class could potentially have, forcing you to make choices and see how things worked out) It was even possible to play as a ogre warrior and a human warrior, and have a different experience of the game. (It also had racial aggro code, so some players could simply waltz in places and be fine, whereas other players would be mobbed by angry mobs) In summary, things I liked: Limited items (artifacts, uniques, etc) Races with significant differences between them Classes with significant differences CHOICES in character development (either subprofs, or skill set choices) NOT being able to do everything (also leads towards replay value) Interesting features, like racial aggro code, special perks for various races and the like Detail and realism with regards to interacting to the world. (All of the muds I played had equipment that could be damaged, broken, repaired, recharged, created, quested for, etc) I'm sure this is just a drop in the bucket, but maybe someone out there will find this somewhat enlightening :P Andy ------------------------------------------------------ Head Coder/Designer of a nameless MUD EARTH FIRST! We'll stripmine the other planets later. Ranthor#earthlink,net </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <UL><LI><STRONG>References</STRONG>: <UL> <LI><STRONG><A NAME="00421" HREF="msg00421.html">[MUD-Dev] Influential muds</A></STRONG> <UL><LI><EM>From:</EM> "Koster, Raph" <rkoster#origin,ea.com></LI></UL></LI> </UL></LI></UL> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00426.html">[MUD-Dev] State of the art?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00428.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: State of the art?</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00436.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00463.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Influential muds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00427"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00427"><STRONG>Thread</STRONG></A></LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> <!--X-BotPNI-End--> <!--X-User-Footer--> <!--X-User-Footer-End--> <ul><li>Thread context: <BLOCKQUOTE><UL> <LI><STRONG>[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00429" HREF="msg00429.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</A></strong>, Juha Lindfors <a href="mailto:jplindfo#cc,helsinki.fi">jplindfo#cc,helsinki.fi</a>, Tue 16 Feb 1999, 13:09 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00433" HREF="msg00433.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</A></strong>, Adam Wiggins <a href="mailto:adam#angel,com">adam#angel,com</a>, Tue 16 Feb 1999, 19:20 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00434" HREF="msg00434.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</A></strong>, Sunny Gulati <a href="mailto:sunnywiz#radiks,net">sunnywiz#radiks,net</a>, Tue 16 Feb 1999, 21:06 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00436" HREF="msg00436.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</A></strong>, diablo <a href="mailto:diablo#best,com">diablo#best,com</a>, Tue 16 Feb 1999, 21:40 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00427" HREF="msg00427.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: Influential muds</A></strong>, Andy Cink <a href="mailto:ranthor#earthlink,net">ranthor#earthlink,net</a>, Tue 16 Feb 1999, 03:01 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00463" HREF="msg00463.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Influential muds</A></strong>, J C Lawrence <a href="mailto:claw#kanga,nu">claw#kanga,nu</a>, Fri 19 Feb 1999, 04:31 GMT </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00591" HREF="msg00591.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Influential muds</A></strong>, Benjamin D. Wiechel <a href="mailto:strycher#toast,net">strycher#toast,net</a>, Mon 15 Mar 1999, 08:10 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00420" HREF="msg00420.html">[MUD-Dev] Website update</A></strong>, Koster, Raph <a href="mailto:rkoster#origin,ea.com">rkoster#origin,ea.com</a>, Mon 15 Feb 1999, 21:08 GMT <LI><strong><A NAME="00418" HREF="msg00418.html">[MUD-Dev] Mathengine</A></strong>, Ling <a href="mailto:K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk">K.L.Lo-94#student,lboro.ac.uk</a>, Mon 15 Feb 1999, 14:22 GMT </LI> </UL></BLOCKQUOTE> </ul> <hr> <center> [ <a href="../">Other Periods</a> | <a href="../../">Other mailing lists</a> | <a href="/search.php3">Search</a> ] </center> <hr> </body> </html>