<!-- MHonArc v2.4.4 --> <!--X-Subject: [MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting --> <!--X-From-R13: Zvat Zb <yvatNsebfg.fyvzl.pbz> --> <!--X-Date: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 10:06:49 -0700 --> <!--X-Message-Id: Pine.LNX.3.96.990920054754.29112A-100000#frost,slimy.com --> <!--X-Content-Type: text/plain --> <!--X-Head-End--> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN"> <html> <head> <title>MUD-Dev message, [MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</title> <!-- meta name="robots" content="noindex,nofollow" --> <link rev="made" href="mailto:ling#frost,slimy.com"> </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="msg00411.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00413.html">Next</a> ] Thread: [ <a href="msg00149.html">Previous</a> | <a href="msg00104.html">Next</a> ] Index: [ <A HREF="author.html#00412">Author</A> | <A HREF="#00412">Date</A> | <A HREF="thread.html#00412">Thread</A> ] <!--X-TopPNI-End--> <!--X-MsgBody--> <!--X-Subject-Header-Begin--> <H1>[MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</H1> <HR> <!--X-Subject-Header-End--> <!--X-Head-of-Message--> <UL> <LI><em>To</em>: Mud-dev <<A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A>></LI> <LI><em>Subject</em>: [MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</LI> <LI><em>From</em>: Ling Lo <<A HREF="mailto:ling#frost,slimy.com">ling#frost,slimy.com</A>></LI> <LI><em>Date</em>: Mon, 20 Sep 1999 05:48:28 -0700 (PDT)</LI> <LI><em>Reply-To</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev#kanga,nu">mud-dev#kanga,nu</A></LI> <LI><em>Sender</em>: <A HREF="mailto:mud-dev-admin#kanga,nu">mud-dev-admin#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> Mud-Dev FAQ Last modified: 20 September 1999 1. Introduction 2. Frequently Asked Questions 3. Previous Topics 4. Scenarios 5. Resources 6. Glossary 7. Changes, To Do & Acknowledgements Please email any corrections, suggestions or constructive criticisms to Ling, ling#frost,slimy.com Recent Changes: 990920 -- Resources: Added Raph Koster's website, gaming section. Glossary: New terms include full world reset, PK, psychological disinhibition, world state and virtual sociopath. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1. Introduction The following may also be found at the list's homepage straddled at <URL:<A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/</A>>. --<cut>-- List charter The MUD Development mailing list is not platform, language or game specific, but concentrates on discussing the design and implementation of any and all MUD servers and systems. Another large related topic is game design. This does not mean that the details of a specific server or game design point can't be discussed in excruciating detail, or even that server or game source can't be bandied about and picked over, just that the list isn't to become a religious stomping ground for your platform, language, server, or hobby horse of choice. The topic definition is not limited to technical areas: social engineering, cultural considerations, applicability of technical addresses to "soft" problems, and other less rigorous avenues of investigation are also fair game. The goal is high signal, low noise. The MUD Development list is NOT an email version of the rec.games.mud.* newsgroups. --<cut>-- Also from the same page is a message for the commercially orientated amongst us: --<cut>-- Note from the list owner The list has a number of members who work professionally in the field. Their presence raises certain concerns for intellectual property, trade secrets, copyrights, etc for the list and for list postings. The below should give an overview of this area, what I expect of list members, commercially affiliated or otherwise, as well as the intended character of the list. As list owner I expect all list members to be responsible for what they post. The rules are obvious: If there is something your company or affiliations does not want publicised, then don't post it to the list. If you see one of your commercial or other partners post something to the list that shouldn't have been, then don't bring it up on the list -- take it to direct email. Raising such issues on the list will be used as an excuse for removing membership. Please do not use this as an alibi to start adding disclaimers to your posts. You are the members on this list, not your companies. If it isn't your opinion don't write it. If you are reporting someone else's opinion, state it as such. If a post is written as a representative of your company or affiliation, then identify it as such. Adding a signature which identifies your affiliation is not enough. That can be too easily automated and is not an explicit statement of representation. A leading paragraph identifying the source or representation placed above all the textual body including the attributions, will do (keep it short). Commercial grandstanding, advertisements, chest puffing, or other forms of promotion are not appreciated on the list and will be rewarded with removal of membership. The list is an expressly non-commercial venue. It is intended as an intelligent and free discussion by peers in the field, both hobbyist and professional. Membership of the list is not a right. You are here as my guests. This is a private list run as a personal contribution to the field. I trust the list's membership to behave accordingly. Posting to the list may be considered analagous to having a conversation in my living room using bull horns while the windows are open and everyone has tape recorders. There is no secrecy, or control of the dissemination of data once it is posted. And on a final note: Attempting to invalidate or discourage a discussion or avenue of investigation on the list because it strays too close to a commercial project's field or other such interest will be deemed an intentional personal insult and due cause for permanent removal from the list along with all associates. Thankyou. J C Lawrence, MUD-Dev list owner. --<cut>-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2. Frequently Asked Questions 1. What should I do now I have joined? If you have not already, please read the rec.games.mud.* FAQs to familiarise yourself with all the different sorts of muds out there, see <URL:<A HREF="http://www.cs.okstate.edu/~jds/mudfaqs.html">http://www.cs.okstate.edu/~jds/mudfaqs.html</A>>. Take some time to browse through the list's webpage. It may be found at <URL:<A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/</A>>. 2. How do I post? Posting on the list is a privilege which may be obtained from the list owner (who resides at mud-dev-owner#kanga,nu). It is suggested you lurk for a while to get a gist of how things work on the list. When you do approach the list owner for posting privileges, attach your intended posting. 3. What is the accepted standard for posting? In short: No more than 80 columns wide, and only use 7bit ASCII. If you are posting from a country/language which uses "special" characters, such as with umlauts or other diacritical marks, then please ensure that your mailer properly MIME wraps them. Most modern mailers will do this properly. MIME, HTML, RichText and similar are discouraged. This encludes "vcard" attachments from NetScape mail and similar. Small MIME attachments, such as a graphic used to illustrate a point discussed in the text of a message are acceptable. The guiding rule is that the brunt of the value of a message must always be in the text. A reply to another posting must have at least the name of the original author if your mailer does not automatically prepend one, eg: [Bubba] >On 4 Jan 98 at 22:20, Boffo wrote: >> Buffy <Buffy#players-r-us,com> wrote: >>> I just found a cool mud at <URL:<A HREF="http://web.mud.com">http://web.mud.com</A>> >> >> Golly Gosh! Cover me in eggs and flour and bake me for 40 minutes! These are commonly referred to on the list as "attributions". Web pages are usually referenced in angled brackets as above. When quoting a log from a game, put at least two spaces at the start of each line so that when it is quoted it does not become confused with other conversation text: --<example>-- I have a maze in my game: > look You are in a maze of twistly little passages, all alike. Isn't it neat? --<example>-- Will be quoted as: --<example>-- >I have a maze in my game: > > > look > You are in a maze of twistly little passages, all alike. > >Isn't it neat? --<example>-- Use a bit of common sense when quoting. Include enough of the original message to make sense; no more or less. Avoid quoting an entire post with a one line reply (btw, one line replies are bad :). Also, don't be afraid to change the subject heading to something more relevant if the topic has strayed somewhat (usually happens to most threads). Oh yeah, and a sensibly sized signature. 4. What is meant by high signal to noise ratio? The noisy postings include messages which essentially say "I agree!" and add no extra value, or those that do not relate to the purpose of the list (like what you had for dinner, how your codebase/driver is clearly superior to all others in existence and why language such and such is better than such and such). Try to keep on topic and you won't go wrong. However, the list is infamous for long postings which start with one topic and end up rambling on about something else completely different towards the end. But so long as it is regarding muds... 5. I just made a post about such and such but no one responded to it! There could be several reasons why no one has answered to your posting. If it was to start a new thread, it could have been that the topic has just recently been discussed. Try waiting a while before bring it back up again. If it was in answer to a current thread, other list members will have read it but just might not have anything to say on that point right then. 6. What's all this Bubba business? Bubba, Boffo, Buffy and friends are all typical mud players bred for test scenarios devised by various list members. Originally procreated by J C Lawrence (how, I don't wish to know), they have since come into widespread use amongst the mud usenet groups (much to J C's amusement). 7. Aaargh! The traffic is too much! Perhaps switching to the daily digest mode would help? Go to <URL:<A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/</A>>, enter your subscribed email address at the bottom, and then edit your subscription options as appropriate. 8. How do I access the archives? List traffic is archived daily and housed at: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/">http://www.kanga.nu/archives/MUD-Dev-L/</A>> 9. How do I turn off the list while I'm on holiday? Go to <URL:<A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/</A>>, enter your subscribed email address at the bottom, and then edit your subscription options as appropriate. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3. Previous Topics Here's a list of practically all the topics discussed since the list's creation up to the end of Dec 98 (early traffic may be missing): Server design: Affects vs. spoofs Security concerns of spoofs Component based bodies vs. aggregate bodies vs. atomic bodies Rooms vs. coordinate spaces vs. mixed forms of the two Methods of handling coordinate spaces: neighborhoods, tree forms R-Trees, R*-Trees, 3d arrays, Quad/Oct trees Automated population containers Event models Internal process models Security models Multi-threaded server design [conflicts resolution?] Database design for a server Use of transactional databases in a MUD server How to avoid resets Parsing systems, and language development tools Design of internal MUD languages Variations on event-driven design Disk vs. memory based designs for MUD servers IO Socket efficiencies. Telnet protocol and terminal emulation Design of Object IDs and Object ID recycling Artificial probability systems Virtual rooms, virtual objects, virtual mobiles Sending mail from within a mud server String handling and memory Verb handling - global vs. local vs. mixed Generic objects Object assemblies Collision detection Client scripting and scripting prevention Graphical interfaces Must have books for programmers Web vs. Telnet Game design: Classes of players and what they want from a game Levels vs. level-less vs. abstracted levels vs. level-comparatives Keeping a goal progression without levels Handling of character inventory and representation of inventory Families and their impacts on clans, multi-charring, and tactics Character senses, representation and extension Re-usable quests or plotlines Generic quest creation systems Rumor systems, handling rumor propagation, and rumor decay Races Placement of characters in the MUD-world predator totem-pole Handling of character death as an in-game event Perma-death vs. resurrection Economic systems (and lessons learnt by prior experiments) Energy-style ecologies and economies Ecologies for MUD worlds Inter-player communication systems Perceived danger levels for characters NPC AI, goal-oriented NPCs, intelligently automating NPCs Player characters as NPCs/monsters Nutrition Wounds and trauma systems Combat systems (round based, no rounds, interactive, etc.) Combat messages Combat scripting and action Dynamic descriptions and perception Views on the "undead" User command interface design All about bows, longbows, crossbows, etc. Festivals and in-game mud games Supporting both RPers and GOPers Virtual chemistry/alchemy In-game political and social structures Implementing mundane professions (or Nation of Shopkeepers) Methods of integrating PK (coexistence with non-PK) Handling poison and disease Inebriation and drugs Dragons - a number of viewpoints Spoken and written languages Food - interesting or irritating Starting characters or creating characters Amalgamud specification document Alignment vs. reputation Character positions and rank point system Automatic name generation Learning and skill progression Classless systems and profession-based systems Physics and the mud universe Hard sci-fi vs. science fantasy Character places of their own Character henchmen and servants Thieves - ideas Allowing players to affect the world Group play and group dynamics Spells and spell-casting systems Characters - heroes, nobodies, or prey species Game balance Hive minds Traps and riddle lists Representing character stats - numeric, descriptive and graphic Settings for mud worlds List members' inspirational fantasy and sci-fi books Handling and building of large trackless areas Gods and deity systems Mud Administration/Philosophy Lorry's document on wizarding The morality of logging and snooping Problems with socializers Social control and engineering Dealing with "problem" players Is the virtual world real? Gender issues Bartle's mud papers The purpose of mudding Motivating builders and coders Role-play vs. Game-Only Play discussion PK vs. Non-PK discussions The infamous rape discussion Habitat papers and anecdotes Overriding players' control of the character The following is a list of topics that appeared on the MudDev list in 1998... Server Design: Event handling Socket programming Task parsing Byte code Java and Javascript Dynamic module loading DBs and Events Java threading Let's build a compiler Version control Intermud communication Nested coordinate spaces Persistent storage Transport layer UDP vs TCP Atomic functions Algorithms for storing free space Mapping - creating bitmaps Using SQL databases Mapping data into RDBMs DevMUD project Game Design: Mud economy Vast areas in muds Time travel and logging Unique items Gods and worshippers Senses Terrain rendering Simulating future history Ultima Online's reputation system Bad game designs (What we hate about muds) Handling log out There can be only one GRUMPS Character development Teleportation code Avatars Leaving characters in the game Mud school Regulating player created objects In game bulletin boards Level-less muds Describe concept World persistence Random numbers Charm Combat intelligence Darkness visibility Thoughts on languages Recursive look Equipment fitting Implementing god Marian's tailor problem Room descriptions Prescience rules/handling telepathy Map-making programs Stack-based NPC AI Multiple currencies Command parsing Affordances and Social method Fun vs. realism Client Design: Netscape Clients Netscape Gecko CORBA, RMI, DCOM Graphical Mud perspective 3D perspective Net protocols for mudding Client side caching Using HTML in muds Trusting the client/ security DIS - client/server protocol Mud Administration/Philosophy: Administrative Responsibility Impact of the Web on muds PK debate summary The MLI project XShipwars The Darkhole tests Wired on Ultima Online CGDC summary Golgotha Laws of Online worlds Analysis and specification Mud web sites What is a mud? Storytelling vs. Simulation [courtesy of Jon A. Lambert] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 4. Scenarios Standard scenarios used to demonstrate various mechanisms. Dragon's Dinner - Alexander Weidt ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /(o__. _____| \ |OcO| ---------/|-/|-( ,__)-------| | |--------+++++++++/|_| - |_ ----------- /\/ |/ |/ _ \++++++C+O+M+P+L|E+X+I+T+Y+++++O+F+++/f| `-' | |\/ / \/ "++++++D+|+S+T+R+I+B+U+T+E+D+( u| | ___| . .____. /______________| "|++++++S+Y+S+T+E+M+S+\n|_)___(_/----------- _| /| |_ || |_ |____| | "++++++++\| | | | \ /__/LL__,) LL__,) | / (__|__) \ Pretty picture depicting the famous `` Dragon's Dinner'' problem, by Jutta Degener. The Dragon's dinner problem --------------------------- One of the original goals for the DOME project was to provide a parallel/distributed execution envirionment for an LPmud game driver. LPmud is programmed in a langauge called LPC, which is derived from C and enriched with constructs to enable object oriented programming, complex data types such as associative arrays and lambda closures. This is interpreted by the game driver which provides single threaded execution semantics. Items in the game are represented by LPC objects which provide methods specifiying how they interact with other objects in the game. Consider the following problem (dubbed "Dragon's Dinner"). Assume, in an asynchronous distributed system, that there are two room objects (r1, r2) and a door object (d) that connects them. R1 contains a hungry dragon (hd) and r2 contains an adventurer (a). The door is currently open, the adventurer has just fled from r1 and is about to close the door. The dragon, on the other hand, wants to go after the adventurer. Code for the dragon is something like: if (d->is_open()) hd->move_to(r2); And the code for closing the door is something like: d->close(); Now what if the following happens: The thread that executes the dragon's action has checked that the door is indeed open, while the other thread which is concurrently executing on a different processor, closes the door. This succeeds and the adventurer sees the door closing. However, when control returns to the dragon's thread, it still believes that the door is open and steps through it, much to the surprise of the adventurer who sees the dragon walking through a closed door, before being devoured by the dragon. Naturally this is merely a race-condition dictated by the asynchronous execution of two data-dependent threads. The main goal of the DOME project is to provide a system where the component objects can be programmed in a sequential fashion, but have the run-time support resolve such race-conditions (in a deadlock free manner) so that parallel execution can be achieved. Alexander Weidt [June 1995] Uncertainty model - JC Lawrence ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Uncertainty model: A representation model for a MUD world or objects based on the following principles: There are three types of objects in the world: 1) objects which have an uncertain state 2) objects which have a certain state. 3) objects which don't exist but retain a certain state. The state in question about an object can be its exact identity (eg, not just a key but the key to Castle Krak, not just a worn out sword but The Sword of the Great God Goo Goo, etc), or the exact state of that identified object (a gun vs a loaded gun vs a toy gun vs broken gun etc). The terms: -- All objects are indeterminate (unidentified) until identified (see #1). Such objects are referred to as "ur-objects", or occassionally "meta-objects". -- Upon identification ur-objects are "realised" and become "normal-objects". -- Objects that have been lost and are thus candidates for becoming ur-objects again, or otherwise torn down are termed "lost-objects" or "limbo-objects". The underlieing concept is that the resolution of the identity of an object is done at the last possible minute. All ur-objects have the same innate possibilities of being any matching normal-object. The decision on whether any particular ur-object is actually any particular normal-object is done only at the moment of successful identification (eg an ur-key sucessfully opens Castle Krak). The Stamp Collector's Dilemma - Dr. Cat ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lots of people might like stamp collecting in your virtual world. But those who do will never play with those who like other features. Should you have stamp collecting in your world?" We know that there are a wide range of features that people find enjoyable in online worlds. We also know that some of these features are in conflict with one another. Given the above, we don't yet know if it is possible to have a successful world that incorporates all the features, or whether the design must choose to exclude some of them in order to keep the players happy. The Tailor Problem - Marian Griffith ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Suppose Marian is (role)playing a tailor and in the game that is a feasible profession. She learns the requisite skills and enjoys her work, designing clothing for other players, and the opportunity it provides to talk with many other players. Along comes Boffo who doesn't like Marian, Tailors in general or is just in a bad mood. He attacks, and kills, Marian, loots her shop and leaves her to pick up the pieces. The question now is: who should protect Marian from this? Marian herself, being a tailor, has neither the skill nor the interest in learning to fight and should arguably not be bothered with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 5. Resources Anything notable and mud related that should be read/investigated. Webpages: A Rape in Cyberspace <URL:<A HREF="http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/vv.html">http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/vv.html</A>> The infamous article by Julian Dibbell. How it really happened... <URL:<A HREF="http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/bartle.txt">http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/bartle.txt</A>> Richard Bartle's early history of MUDs. Imaginary Realities <URL:<A HREF="http://imaginaryrealities.imaginary.com">http://imaginaryrealities.imaginary.com</A>> Online mud orientated magazine. Killers Have More Fun <URL:<A HREF="http://www.wired.com/wired/6.05/ultima.html">http://www.wired.com/wired/6.05/ultima.html</A>> An article by Amy Jo Kim. Lucasfilm's Habitat <URL:<A HREF="http://www.communities.com/company/papers/lessons.html">http://www.communities.com/company/papers/lessons.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://race-server.race.u-tokyo.ac.jp/RACE/TGM/Mud/habitat.html">http://race-server.race.u-tokyo.ac.jp/RACE/TGM/Mud/habitat.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://www.communities.com/people/crock/habitat.html">http://www.communities.com/people/crock/habitat.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://beta.communities.com/">http://beta.communities.com/</A>> Detailed documents about an ambitious graphical mud. [JCL] Lydia Leong's MUD resource collection <URL:<A HREF="http://www.godlike.com/muds/">http://www.godlike.com/muds/</A>> [Raph K] Marian Griffith's !Overlord project <URL:<A HREF="http://www.iaehv.nl/users/gryphon">http://www.iaehv.nl/users/gryphon</A>> Full of information useful to mud designer/admins. MUDDex <URL:<A HREF="http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/">http://www.apocalypse.org/pub/u/lpb/muddex/</A>> A collection of documents including Bartle's, Dibbell's mentioned above. [Raph K] Raph Koster's Website, Gaming Section <URL:<A HREF="http://mud.sig.net/raph/gaming/">http://mud.sig.net/raph/gaming/</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://mud.sig.net/raph/gaming/links.html">http://mud.sig.net/raph/gaming/links.html</A>> Lead designer on Ultima Online, plenty of snippets on muds, particularly those pertaining UO itself. Many of the above sites are index in the links section. Raph's Laws of Online World Design can also be found here. Muds: AlphaWorld: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.cs.cuc.edu/~sopwith/aw/">http://www.cs.cuc.edu/~sopwith/aw/</A>> Anyone care to comment? AmigaMUD: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://mud.myrias.com:23">telnet://mud.myrias.com:23</A>> Chris Gray's custom mud. Moving site. [Jun 1998] Armageddon: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://ginka.armageddon.org:4050">telnet://ginka.armageddon.org:4050</A>> To my knowledge the ONLY truly successful full-bore RP environment based on a Diku-style server with full combat and the like. Often cited as such at any rate. [Raph K] Aturion Dynasty: <URL:<A HREF="http://aturion.com:4444">http://aturion.com:4444</A>> Almost all the muds done by Owen Emlen have interesting design features to them too. [Raph K] [See also EmlenMud II] Avalon: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.avalon-rpg.com">http://www.avalon-rpg.com</A>> Commercial text muds. Avalon has an interesting newbie tutorial mode, and room description generation code that is nifty too. [Raph K] Cold: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://ice.cold.org:1138">telnet://ice.cold.org:1138</A>> A branch off the ColdMUD (below) using the Genesis driver, sometimes referred to as Cold/Genesis or ColdX/Genesis. ColdMUD: <<A HREF="ftp://ftp.kanga.nu/pub/MUD/Servers/ColdMUD/">ftp://ftp.kanga.nu/pub/MUD/Servers/ColdMUD/</A>> ColdMUD is for all intents and purposes dead. Greg Hudson officially stopped development of it back in 1994, and I just 'branched' the ColdX/Genesis from it, rather than making an issue with people and continuing to call my development of it 'ColdMUD'. [Brandon Gillespie] CoolMUD: <URL:<A HREF="http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/u/sfwhite/coolftp">http://csclub.uwaterloo.ca/u/sfwhite/coolftp</A>> Incredibly elegant server design. [JCL] Dark Sun Online: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.ssionline.com">http://www.ssionline.com</A>> Commercial graphical mud with turn-based combat in a real-time environment. [Raph K] DartMUD: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://dartmud.com:2525">telnet://dartmud.com:2525</A>> A very ambitious LP mud with lots of good ideas which never seemed to have gelled together correctly. Plenty of bugs. A sequel is being worked on. DragonRealms (Gemstone): <URL:<A HREF="http://dragonrealms.net">http://dragonrealms.net</A>> Gemstone was and prolly still is the most popular mud in the world, period. It evolved into DragonRealms. [Raph K] Duris: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://duris.org:6666">telnet://duris.org:6666</A>> A pk mud with economy?! [Down? Jul 1998] Eternal City, The: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.bignetwork/hc/ec">http://www.bignetwork/hc/ec</A>> Commercial mud using the Cold server. EmlenMud II: <URL:<A HREF="http://degu.cs.indiana.edu:6669/em2.html">http://degu.cs.indiana.edu:6669/em2.html</A>> Looks like Owen Emlen is in the process of making a new mud. Furcadia: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.realtime.net/furcadia/">http://www.realtime.net/furcadia/</A>> A commercial graphical mud by Dr. Cat. LambdaMOO: <URL:<A HREF="http://vesta.physics.ucla.edu/~smolin/lambda/">http://vesta.physics.ucla.edu/~smolin/lambda/</A>> One of the pages for this MOO. LegendMUD: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://mud.aus.sig.net:9999">telnet://mud.aus.sig.net:9999</A>> The first classless mud, strange diku/LP hybrid. See Raph Koster's bio. Medievia: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://medievia.intersphere.com:4000">telnet://medievia.intersphere.com:4000</A>> The most popular free gaming mud I know of. Pioneered the use of things like in-game spam ads for themselves and lack of due credit given for code (:P) but also has things like ASCII map terrain, large algorithmically generated areas, etc. [Raph K] M59: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.3do/meridian">http://www.3do/meridian</A>> Ask Mike S. Mortal Conquest: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://199.74.98.37:9999">telnet://199.74.98.37:9999</A>> That game I can't remember with the whities and the darkies. [JCL] By Own Emlen. [Down, 1st March] MUD2: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://mud2.com:23">telnet://mud2.com:23</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://www.mud2.com">http://www.mud2.com</A>> A licensed copy run by Bartle. MUQ: <URL:<A HREF="http://www5.biostr.washington.edu/~jsp/muq.html">http://www5.biostr.washington.edu/~jsp/muq.html</A>> Northern Lights: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.ludd.luth.se/mud/aber/northern_lights.html">http://www.ludd.luth.se/mud/aber/northern_lights.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="telnet://aber.ludd.luth.se:6715">telnet://aber.ludd.luth.se:6715</A>> Realms, The: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.realmserver.com">http://www.realmserver.com</A>> Realms is a commercial graphical mud from Sierra. Shades: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://games.world.co.uk:23">telnet://games.world.co.uk:23</A>> TODO - get Bartle's comment here. Toril: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://torilmud.com:9999">telnet://torilmud.com:9999</A>> One of two offshoots of Sojourn (other being Duris). Trash: <URL:<A HREF="http://games.world.co.uk">http://games.world.co.uk</A>> Somewhere in the webpage with Shades. [Down, Sept 1998] Tron: <URL:<A HREF="telnet://polaris.king.ac.uk:3000">telnet://polaris.king.ac.uk:3000</A>> An out and out pk mud, more of an arcade game using ASCII maps than a mud in the conventional sense. Not one for the faint hearted. Should you want a game but can't find anyone, drop me a bell. Start learning with disc or spider. Be prepared to break your keyboard. [Ling] UOL: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.ultimaonline.com">http://www.ultimaonline.com</A>> Ask Raph K. Worlds of Carnage: <URL:telnet//carnage.labs.emich.edu:4000> The first Diku mud with an internal scripting language, called "easyacts." This code formed the basis of the MobProgs put into Merc 2.2. LegendMUD is a spiritual offshoot of Carnage, and Cythera is a literal offshoot. (Interestingly, Damion Schubert, a designer on M59, was also a Carnage immort alum). Imperium Gothique's scripting was derived from either mobprogs or Carnage, not sure which. Carnage definitely had a lot of influence on the world of Dikudom. [Raph K] Notable muds yet to be found: IOWA Project, The: TODO - dig up references in Bartle's MUD survey, browse LambdaMOO ftp site and MUDDev. Keywords: MirrorWorld, Gods, Pippin ("Pip") Caudry. Island: Did this not die some time back? [Tho Keegan may yet resurrect it] MUD1: Although MUD2 is up above. Sojourn: Died. Will have to hang. Unlikely to find any info. Spawned Toril and Duris, main difference being the way PK is handled. Search Dejanews for references? (thanx Raph K) Not so mud related webpages. ANSI and VT terminal codes in general: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html">http://www.cs.utk.edu/~shuford/terminal_index.html</A>> And in case you wanted to know more about VT-### in particular: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.sdsu.edu/doc/texi/screen_10.html">http://www.sdsu.edu/doc/texi/screen_10.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://www.mhri.edu.au/~pdb/dataformats/vt100.html">http://www.mhri.edu.au/~pdb/dataformats/vt100.html</A>> Or ANSI terminals: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.mhri.edu.au/~pdb/dataformats/ansi.html">http://www.mhri.edu.au/~pdb/dataformats/ansi.html</A>> AI Nodes/ANN: <URL:<A HREF="http://206.107.246.21/packhste/5/">http://206.107.246.21/packhste/5/</A>> Amit's Games Programming Page: <URL:<A HREF="http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html">http://www-cs-students.stanford.edu/~amitp/gameprog.html</A>> Anti-Mac interface: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.acm.org/cacm/AUG96/antimac.htm">http://www.acm.org/cacm/AUG96/antimac.htm</A>> BSP trees: <URL:<A HREF="http://reality.sgi.com/bspfaq/index.shtml">http://reality.sgi.com/bspfaq/index.shtml</A>> Image formats (esp PPM): <URL:<A HREF="http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/~mxr/gfx/2d-lo.html">http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/~mxr/gfx/2d-lo.html</A>> R-Trees: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.cs.cuhk.hk/~drsam/methods.html">http://www.cs.cuhk.hk/~drsam/methods.html</A>> VR programming tutorial: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~rg3h/networkVR/paper.html">http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~rg3h/networkVR/paper.html</A>> Programming references to get the budding scratch mud coder started: BSD Sockets: A Quick And Dirty Primer <URL:<A HREF="http://world.std.com/~jimf/papers/sockets/sockets.html">http://world.std.com/~jimf/papers/sockets/sockets.html</A>> With other relevant papers pointed to by: <URL:<A HREF="http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/%7ebentlema/unix/">http://www-users.cs.umn.edu/%7ebentlema/unix/</A>> Vic Metcalfe's (vic#brutus,tlug.org) unix-socket FAQ can be found at Text version: <URL:<A HREF="http://unlser1.unl.csi.cuny.edu/faqs/sock-faq/usenet/unix-socket-faq.usenet">http://unlser1.unl.csi.cuny.edu/faqs/sock-faq/usenet/unix-socket-faq.usenet</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://www.ibrado.com/sock-faq/usenet/unix-socket-faq.usenet">http://www.ibrado.com/sock-faq/usenet/unix-socket-faq.usenet</A>> HTML version: <URL:<A HREF="http://unlser1.unl.csi.cuny.edu/faqs/sock-faq/html/unix-socket-faq.html">http://unlser1.unl.csi.cuny.edu/faqs/sock-faq/html/unix-socket-faq.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://www.ibrado.com/sock-faq/html/unix-socket-faq.html">http://www.ibrado.com/sock-faq/html/unix-socket-faq.html</A>> There's a nice leader page for the FAQ with other related pointers at: <URL:<A HREF="http://unlser1.unl.csi.cuny.edu/faqs/sock-faq/html/unix-socket-faq-1.html">http://unlser1.unl.csi.cuny.edu/faqs/sock-faq/html/unix-socket-faq-1.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://www.ibrado.com/sock-faq/">http://www.ibrado.com/sock-faq/</A>> The TCP/IP applications FAQ can be found at (of course): <URL:<A HREF="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/internet/tcp-ip/applications-FAQ/index.html">http://www.faqs.org/faqs/internet/tcp-ip/applications-FAQ/index.html</A>> The TCP/IP FAQ from comp.protocols.tcp-ip (probably also on news.answers etc) can be found at: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.dc.net/ilazar/tcpipfaq/default.htm">http://www.dc.net/ilazar/tcpipfaq/default.htm</A>> The raw IP networking FAQ (most interesting to those of use doing custom clients or server inter-connects) can be found at: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.whitefang.com/rin/">http://www.whitefang.com/rin/</A>> The TCP/IP resources list has all sorts of useful pointers: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/internet/tcp-ip/resource-list/index.html">http://www.faqs.org/faqs/internet/tcp-ip/resource-list/index.html</A>> Including the various BSD socket programming tutorials: <URL:<A HREF="http://ftp.std.com/homepages/jimf/sockets.html">http://ftp.std.com/homepages/jimf/sockets.html</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~mvlioy/stuff/ipc_intro_tut.txt">http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~mvlioy/stuff/ipc_intro_tut.txt</A>> <URL:<A HREF="http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~mvlioy/stuff/ipc_adv_tut.txt">http://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/~mvlioy/stuff/ipc_adv_tut.txt</A> > The Unix Refence desk is another good reference: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.geek-girl.com/unix.html">http://www.geek-girl.com/unix.html</A>> As is Unix Guru Universe: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.ugu.com/">http://www.ugu.com/</A>> And of course, W R Steven's page: <URL:<A HREF="http://www.kohala.com/~rstevens/">http://www.kohala.com/~rstevens/</A>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6. Glossary of Terms The list has managed to come up with its own jargon. Here are some of the current buzzwords: Cooperative role-playing: Refers to a specific kind of RP where each player's personal 'storyline' is paramount. All players are aware of, and sensitive to, the needs of each player for their story, and all actions are completely consentual. This is a type of play often found on MUSHes. Event: A system design alternative to polling loops. Objects generate events, which are processed in their proper order by the event handler. This is frequently clearer and far more efficient, especially with large numbers of objects. Examples are a torch generating an event to burn out in two hours, or a spell generating an event for an earthquake to occur in four seconds. The following is a compilable example of generic event-handling code in C courtesy of Adam Wiggins. ---<begin code>--- #include <stdio.h> typedef float Tick; /* Time counter type */ /* Defines for event types */ #define EVENT_ALPHA 0 #define EVENT_BETA 1 #define EVENT_GAMMA 2 #define NUM_EVENTS (EVENT_GAMMA + 1) /* The event structure itself */ typedef struct SEvent { int Type; /* EVENT_x */ Tick RipenTime; /* time at which event ripens */ void *Data; /* any extra data to be passed to the callback function */ struct SEvent *Next; } Event; /* Defininiton for the callback function type */ typedef void (*EventCallback)(void *); #define EVENT(x) void (x)(void *) /* Event function prototypes - these should be defined somewhere else, like so: EVENT(EventAlpha) { code to execute on event completion; } */ EVENT(EventAlpha); EVENT(EventBeta); EVENT(EventGamma); /* Master list of event callbacks, by type */ EventCallback EventCallBacks[NUM_EVENTS] = { EventAlpha, EventBeta, EventGamma }; Event *EventList = NULL; /* Master event list */ Tick GameTick = 0; /* Current game time */ /* Call this to add an event "time" ticks into the future */ void AddEvent(int type, Tick time, void *data) { Event *newEvent, *e, *prev; /* Sanity checking */ if (time <= 0) return; /* Create the event */ newEvent = (Event *)malloc(sizeof(Event)); newEvent->Type = type; newEvent->RipenTime = GameTick + time; newEvent->Data = data; /* Descend the list until a later event is found */ for (e = EventList; e && e->RipenTime < newEvent->RipenTime; e = e->Next) prev = e; // Insert the new event before that event newEvent->Next = e; if (prev) prev->Next = newEvent; else EventList = newEvent; } /* Call the function below during your update loop */ /* The parameter is how many game ticks have passed since the last update */ void EventUpdate(Tick ticks) { Event *e, *next; int update = 0; GameTick += ticks; /* Execute each event that is due to ripen */ for (e = EventList; e && e->RipenTime <= GameTick; e = e->Next) { (*EventCallBacks[e->Type])(e->Data); update = 1; } /* Second pass, delete all ripened events */ /* This part is done in a seperate pass in case one of the event callbacks adds a new event, to avoid munging up the event linked list */ if (update) { for (e = EventList; e && e->RipenTime <= GameTick; e = next) { next = e->Next; free(e); } EventList = e; } } ---<end code>--- Faucet->Drain economy: A virtual economic system wherein there is an ongoing influx of new items into the game (usually via a reset model) and a hopefully corresponding outflow, usually accomplished through object attrition involving equipment danage, rent fees, etc. It is worth noting that traditionally, designers have been unable to easily come up with a big enough drain to handle all the 'water.' This is as opposed to a "Closed economy" in which an attempt is made to close the loop, creating new objects only when old ones are used up. [Raph K] Fixed random seeding: Using a fixed value (such as a character's unique ID, or the character's position in XYZ space) to seed the random number generator, assuring that the same random number will always be rolled if the circumstances are exactly the same, but requiring no storage. This allows parts of the world or its behaviours to be dynamically generated from the seed value as needed, and yet to have each "new copy" be the same as all the others because the seed calue hasn't changed. Fluidity of Identity: Referring to the difficulty of positively identifying a single person who takes many guises in a game world. Any particular action against one of those guises is fairly ineffective; they choose another and continue. This makes it very difficult to pin down troublemakers. ATtempts at identifying people based on their hostname (site deny/allow), e-mail address (email registration), credit card number (for commercial ventures), or just asking really, really nicely are all easily circumvented, especially when it is easy to create new characters or accounts (that is, the process is short and automated). This frequently makes it difficult to implement 'real world' solutions to in-game problems such as psychotic killing sprees. Once you catch someone and lock them away or put them to death in RL, they are gone. When you do this on most muds, they just log on two seconds later with another character. Full world reset, aka "groundhog day" muds: Muds wherein resets occur globally, simultaneously (sf reset and repop). [RaphK] Functional roleplaying: A kind of gaming, whilst GoP motivated, is heavily tailored to the in-game reality. There's no thee's or thou's, or even pretension of IC/OOC separation, but an awful lot of attention is spent by the player in working his character thru the game realities rules as it controls and affects his character. Examples would include negotiation of reputation and influence systems, votes, political systems, clans and guilds and other similar structures, etc. Appearance is not the key. Function is. [JCL] Global namespace: Referring to the fact that most muds rely on characters (and sometimes other objects) are given a single and unique name. Typing 'who' on most muds gives you a list of these; if you see someone named Bob you know that he is the only Bob in the world, and can't be confused with anyone else. This is as compared to a system of generated descriptions to which players can attach proper names as they please, which may or may not overlap or match up with the names assigned by other players. GoP: Short for 'game-oriented play' or possible 'goal-oriented play'. This is usually a competitive style of play usually oriented around the accumlation of various resources (money, power, combat ability). Levels: For the purpose of keeping discussions generic, this term may be used as an abstract measurement of a character's ability, skill or expertise whether the game system is level-based or skill-based. Eg: "If a low level character tries XXX a high level character..." The precise details are not of interest as opposed to the impact and result of the undefined imbalance. Lockless server or DB: Events request objects from the DB. If the object is not in the cache, the DB loads the object. The DB replies to the event with a read-only shared reference to the object. The event is added to the "interested parties" list for the object. If the event attempts to modify the object, a new local, event-specific copy of the object is made, and the changes are made to that. A copy of the original reference however is still kept. The event (loosely) attempts to keep track of what members of the object it referenced. During the execution of an event. all external IO is buffered and held. Upon the event terminating it compares its copy of the original object (the local reference) with the object that's actually in the DB (may have been changed by events commiting during the current event's execution). Some intelligence is attempted here to only compare those values etc which were referenced by the event. Should the original copy and the current-in-DB copy compare OK, then the event commits, the IO is released, and all its changes in its written-to copies are commited atomically. This is the Compare&Commit, or C&C. If the C&C fails, the event is thrown away, all the copies are released, the IO is discarded, and the event is rescheduled to try again. There is also some background intelligence here where the DB watches the objects that are affected by event's C&C'ing, and will signal the other events that are members of those object's interested party list that they may be invalidated by the other event's C&C and so should kill themselves and reschedule. ref: DEMOS and the DOME project (JCL) Markup language: An internal set of codes used by a server to generate semi-dynamic messages. An example is "%c dives %I %o" which might result in "Bubba dives behind the wall", "A woman dives into the pool", or any number of other strings. mud or MUD: It is not an acronym. It is a collective term for all the types of games discussed on this list, including both RP and GoP. [NB: Another description may be found at the list's homepage <URL:<A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev/</A>> ] Mule: Character created on goal-orientated muds those sole purpose is to supplement a player's primary character by supplying services such as equipment repair. Mules usually have skills that cannot be obtained without creating a new character but are perceived to be undesirable to play. For example, an alchemist class could be considered unenjoyable to play but due to their special ability to repair equipment, the regular players create mule alchemists just to access that ability. Object: Because most of the servers discussed here are object-oriented, the word object is being used in its general programming sense to include characters, locations, inanimate items, and so forth, rather than referring to only inanimate items as is typical in some mud servers. PK, player-killing: The intentional killing of a player character by another player, with or without the first player's prior knowledge, agreement, or consent. [JCL] Psychological disinhibition: The term for when people act less inhibited than normally because of circumstance. All behaviors online tend to become less inhibited, and the greater the absence of identity cues for the people you are interacting with, the less inhibited the behaviors tend to get. [RaphK] Realism: This is not necessarily corespondance to the real world, but rather refers to internal consistency. In many cases using the working of real world systems (physics, for example) is a good example for how to build a consistent system for a game world. To quote: "This is, of course, partially my invention, to suit the gaming world we are working on, and is not intended to mirror Real Life - just to borrow enough bits and pieces from it, so that it is recognized as somewhat structured (rather than totally whimsical) to the player." - Holly Sommer Repop: See Reset. Reset: Usually a function called in a mud at irregular intervals, the purpose of which is to put back the game, or some fragment of the game or game world into a known state. Typically this might mean locking an opened door, or resurrecting an NPC that was killed by a player and putting him back to guard the door, Resets and repops are common on games that promote repetitive actions for advancement. Skill net: A single layered skill web. Skills are directly weighted to each other. See skill web (NY) Skill tree: A skill system where skills have a single parent and several children. A skills at the bottom of the tree being very specialised. Skills higher up the tree will affect the value of skills further down. Skill web: a non-heirarchical two layered skill system wherin each skill is weight-related to an arbitrary number of attributes, and the improvement of skills therefore automatically improves related skills. Examples of skills might be rowing and flycasting, examples of attributes, strength (upper arm) and precision (forearm). [Note: I triple weight my skill web, so that there are direct connections to the condition of the character's body and mind, and so that the resiliance of same are improved by conditioning. Nathan Y] [Note 2: The web is modeled after a simple neural net design I found in Dr. Dobbs' Journal. Nathan Y] Verb binding: Attaching verbs to an object, such as 'fly' to a jetpack. The command essentially does not exist when you don't have the jetpack. Virtual sociopath: a player who acts sociopathically in terms of the mud (eg, shows no empathy towards any other players and therefore is a willing killer of them) but who is perfectly normal in real life--someone whose disassociation from others only occurs in an online setting, because of their lack of empathic connections to other players. See "psychological disinhibition." [RaphK] World state: a mud which saves world state is one in which there is persistence not only of characters but also of objects other than characters. Worlds which do not save world state (such as muds derived from Dikus) only save character data and the world itself (other than its static map) is not persistent over reboots. A snippet from my website: ---> The "middle layer" referred to is the one of the three layers of significance in a virtual world: that which is the static database, that which is the play of data on said static database, and that which is the dataset of players themselves. Depending on the method of state-saving of the mud, they may save one, two, or all three of these things. As an example, a classic Diku saves only the third layer: players. Ultima Online saves both players and the environment. A typical MUSH saves players, the environment, and also the actual map and setting which holds the environment, since MUSHes allow dynamic alteration of the static data. Some early muds did not save any of the three, and thus were not truly "persistent." <--- [RaphK] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 7. Changes, To Do & Acknowledgements 990613 -- Frequently Asked Questions: Brought up to date with current affairs. 990514 -- Resources: New link to Imaginary Realities, a mud magazine. 990417 -- General correction of Frequently Asked Questions. However, have not been able to get to kanga to verify new addresses. 990321 -- Scenarios: Added two more scenarios, The Stamp Collector's Dilemma by Dr. Cat and The Tailor Problem by Marian Griffith. Glossary: Appended generic event-handling C source code to the term "event" courtesy of Adam Wiggins. Added new definition, "mule". 990112 -- The Members: Whole section removed. Look forward to an HTML version to appear on kanga sometime soon (this weekend hopefully). 981213 -- The Members: Updated Adam Wiggins' bio. Subjectively stripped the bios of members that haven't posted recently, includes: John Bertogio; Reed Copsey, Jr; Marc Eyrignoux; David Love (aka Sauron); Katrina McClelan; and Greg Munt. Expect the whole section to go in favour of an HTML version in the New Year integrating the thread titled "Current Projects". 981110 -- Just found a long lost email for FAQ alterations. FAQ: Changed MUD-Dev links from /index.html to / The Members: Minor alterations to JCL's bio. Resources: Link and brief for original ColdMUD added. More links for Habitat added. Displaced programmming links with those supplied by JCL. 980907 -- Resources: All things ansi and telnet related added. 980811 -- The Members: Matthew R. Sheahan's bio added. Greg Underwood's bio amended. Resources: Amit's Games Programming Page added. Whole bunch of programming references added. Glossary: "Fluidity of Identity" added. 980708 -- Snipped signatures from members' bios suggested by Alex Oren. :( Minor typo and adjustments suggested by JCL. Overdue addition of MUDDex and Lydia Leong's MUD resource collection to Resources. "Faucet->Drain economy" term for Glossary added. Stole list charter from homepage to act as a welcome message of sorts. Small reorganisation of sections 1,2,3. Added Bartle's early MUD history to web link in Resources. The Bungle link in Resources disappeared, added back in, though different site. Quietly dropped Derrick Jones' bio (was empty). 980506 -- Moved the changes list to a section in the back, only the most changes since the last post appear here now. Appended Holly Sommer quote to "realism" glossary term. Added "functional roleplaying" glossary term. Updated Frequently Asked Questions. Added networking tutorial web link to Resources. Added Bungle web link to Resources. 980428 -- New scenarios section,a couple more glossary terms and more member's bios. 980308 -- Mailing list invite. 980301 -- Even more addresses for the resource section. 980201 -- More bios, more addresses for the resource section. 980107 -- Added a few more questions. Previous topics now has its own universe as suggested by Adam Wiggins. Plonked in a resources section. Took out standard technical terms as suggested by Adam Wiggins. 971201 -- FAQ created. To Do: Conventions of example scenarios (Bubba, Boffo, Buffy, etc) List of references for specific scenarios/docs (Habitat/Great God GooGoo, Crystalline Tree, recognising Sting in the weapons shop, etc). Solutions for the scenarios? Obtain addresses for the muds in the resource section. Statement of topic definition (cf welcome message). Update previous topics section. Acknowledgments: Everyone on the list who contributed with a bio, everyone on the list who posts and special thanks to Jon A. Lambert, Adam Wiggins, Nathan Yospe, Raph Koster and lastly but definitely not the least, J C Lawrence. _______________________________________________ MUD-Dev maillist - MUD-Dev#kanga,nu <A HREF="http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev">http://www.kanga.nu/lists/listinfo/mud-dev</A> </PRE> <!--X-Body-of-Message-End--> <!--X-MsgBody-End--> <!--X-Follow-Ups--> <HR> <!--X-Follow-Ups-End--> <!--X-References--> <!--X-References-End--> <!--X-BotPNI--> <UL> <LI>Prev by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00411.html">RE: [MUD-Dev] The Best Guy on the Mud Thing</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by Date: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00413.html">[MUD-Dev] Dynamic muds</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Prev by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00149.html">[MUD-Dev] Balancing issues (renamed)</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Next by thread: <STRONG><A HREF="msg00104.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs</A></STRONG> </LI> <LI>Index(es): <UL> <LI><A HREF="index.html#00412"><STRONG>Date</STRONG></A></LI> <LI><A HREF="thread.html#00412"><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>Re: [MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</STRONG>, <EM>(continued)</EM> <ul compact> <ul compact> <ul compact> <LI><strong><A NAME="00124" HREF="msg00124.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</A></strong>, Greg Miller <a href="mailto:gmiller#classic-games,com">gmiller#classic-games,com</a>, Sat 21 Aug 1999, 00:41 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00127" HREF="msg00127.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Tue 24 Aug 1999, 02:37 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00131" HREF="msg00131.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</A></strong>, Greg Miller <a href="mailto:gmiller#classic-games,com">gmiller#classic-games,com</a>, Wed 25 Aug 1999, 01:29 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00149" HREF="msg00149.html">[MUD-Dev] Balancing issues (renamed)</A></strong>, Marian Griffith <a href="mailto:gryphon#iaehv,nl">gryphon#iaehv,nl</a>, Mon 30 Aug 1999, 23:30 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </ul> </ul> <LI><strong><A NAME="00412" HREF="msg00412.html">[MUD-Dev] Monthly FAQ Posting</A></strong>, Ling Lo <a href="mailto:ling#frost,slimy.com">ling#frost,slimy.com</a>, Mon 20 Sep 1999, 17:06 GMT </LI> </ul> </LI> <LI><strong><A NAME="00104" HREF="msg00104.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs</A></strong>, Dr. Cat <a href="mailto:cat#bga,com">cat#bga,com</a>, Tue 17 Aug 1999, 00:16 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00105" HREF="msg00105.html">[MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs</A></strong>, Par Winzell <a href="mailto:zell#alyx,com">zell#alyx,com</a>, Tue 17 Aug 1999, 02:24 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00106" HREF="msg00106.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs</A></strong>, Matthew Mihaly <a href="mailto:diablo#best,com">diablo#best,com</a>, Tue 17 Aug 1999, 03:28 GMT <UL> <LI><strong><A NAME="00107" HREF="msg00107.html">Re: [MUD-Dev] Re: MUD-Dev digest, Vol 1 #142 - 4 msgs</A></strong>, Wes Connell <a href="mailto:wconnell#adhesive,com">wconnell#adhesive,com</a>, Tue 17 Aug 1999, 17:45 GMT </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </LI> </UL> </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>