02 Jan, 2011, plamzi wrote in the 1st comment:
Votes: 0
The Bedlam Facebook app is now live. We'll let the screenshots speak for themselves:





Bedlam on Facebook
02 Jan, 2011, Idealiad wrote in the 2nd comment:
Votes: 0
Looks really good, well done.
02 Jan, 2011, plamzi wrote in the 3rd comment:
Votes: 0
Idealiad said:
Looks really good, well done.


Thanks.

Someone asked if any of this is available for sale. Other than the player art and the frame (which were licensed to Bedlam and which I can't re-license) all the code is free for others to use. I have posted the automapper and the Flash telnet object here, and you can lift the UI code (HTML/CSS/JavaScript) right off the FB page. PM me if you need code snippets of what the server is sending.
02 Jan, 2011, Ssolvarain wrote in the 4th comment:
Votes: 0
What's that bar and template thingy in the bottom right?

And as a small suggestion, wouldn't it be better to have the health bar (and etc.) down near the bottom? It's usually in the prompt so that you'd never need to look far, right?
02 Jan, 2011, plamzi wrote in the 5th comment:
Votes: 0
Ssolvarain said:
What's that bar and template thingy in the bottom right?

And as a small suggestion, wouldn't it be better to have the health bar (and etc.) down near the bottom? It's usually in the prompt so that you'd never need to look far, right?


For starters, the bottom right bar will contain hints and links to help files based on what the character is typing and what is shown in the screen. For instance, if the app sees 'Kick who?', it'll show a link to the "kick" skill help file. In the longer run, this area can contain a sub-menu for app settings/triggers/etc.

Not sure what you mean by template thingy. If you mean the orange landscape background pic, any NPC being currently fought is shown as a vector art shadow in the bottom right window with a health bar above it (see screenshot 1).

Likewise, the player health bar is above the player icon. which I believe is where most people would expect it. I think the app window is small enough (at 740px wide) so that users never have to look too far for anything.
03 Jan, 2011, Runter wrote in the 6th comment:
Votes: 0
Looking good. Kudos.
04 Jan, 2011, Hades_Kane wrote in the 7th comment:
Votes: 0
This is awesome :)
06 Jan, 2011, Igabod wrote in the 8th comment:
Votes: 0
I think this may just revolutionize mudding and bring in a LOT more new blood. That is as long as you're not the only mud running on facebook. If everybody started running muds on FB we'd get a lot more publicity indeed.

[edit to add] I just tried to get on it and immediately found a problem. I'm using windows 7 and internet explorer. I get the greeting screen and I type in my name then hit enter and nothing happens at all. Just thought you should know.
06 Jan, 2011, KaVir wrote in the 9th comment:
Votes: 0
Igabod said:
I think this may just revolutionize mudding and bring in a LOT more new blood. That is as long as you're not the only mud running on facebook. If everybody started running muds on FB we'd get a lot more publicity indeed.

There are at least a few already, although as I mentioned in the Mud minigames as facebook applications thread, I suspect muds may be too complex to appeal to most Facebook users.

Igabod said:
I just tried to get on it and immediately found a problem. I'm using windows 7 and internet explorer. I get the greeting screen and I type in my name then hit enter and nothing happens at all. Just thought you should know.

Same here, but I switched to Chrome and it worked fine.
06 Jan, 2011, plamzi wrote in the 10th comment:
Votes: 0
KaVir said:
Igabod said:
I think this may just revolutionize mudding and bring in a LOT more new blood. That is as long as you're not the only mud running on facebook. If everybody started running muds on FB we'd get a lot more publicity indeed.

There are at least a few already, although as I mentioned in the Mud minigames as facebook applications thread, I suspect muds may be too complex to appeal to most Facebook users.

Igabod said:
I just tried to get on it and immediately found a problem. I'm using windows 7 and internet explorer. I get the greeting screen and I type in my name then hit enter and nothing happens at all. Just thought you should know.

Same here, but I switched to Chrome and it worked fine.


Thanks for the heads-up. Still tinkering with the minimap – IE compatibility is the first to break and difficult to coerce back into a working state… *sigh*. Non-IE browsers all work fine, of course, because they stick to something called "a standard". But don't get me started.

I second KaVir's skeptical view on revolutionizing mudding. FYI, my iPhone app brought about 20 thousand users to the game last year. Only a handful stayed. The Facebook app will bring far less new users and I don't expect it to attract or retain any even though it's more visual than any other desktop MUD client I know of. What would most likely happen is that those who play the game already will use the FB app on occasion. And it may become a nice community space over time.

There are other MUDs on Facebook (The Two Towers comes to mind), and I don't expect them to revolutionize anything, either. We must not forget that mudding requires such things as thought, imagination, time–all in short supply.
06 Jan, 2011, Dean wrote in the 11th comment:
Votes: 0
For MUDs on facebook to be any sort of revolution, there needs to be some level of the quintessential ingredient - cooperation. It's a rare one that can only be found deep in the Marmalade Forest, inside the Cottage Cheese Cottage, or something.

Looks good though, best of luck.
06 Jan, 2011, RoFAdmin wrote in the 12th comment:
Votes: 0
@plamzi: I was looking at your color scheme there, and i was wondering if that was how you personally configured it for your character, or if thats how it was for all characters by default? and if thats the deafult is there a way to customize it to my own tastes? Cause honestly i would run away as quickly as possible from the color scheme, it would give me a headache after 5 minutes. Just a suggestion, might help to retain a few more people, cause i know that a headache causing (imho) color scheme would make me leave any game before i gave it a chance even.

Ive always found it best to use minimal colors, very minimal colors. Why? cause pretty much every client now days has its own highlight system that people can customize how they want.

just my two cents.
06 Jan, 2011, plamzi wrote in the 13th comment:
Votes: 0
RoFAdmin said:
@plamzi: I was looking at your color scheme there, and i was wondering if that was how you personally configured it for your character, or if thats how it was for all characters by default? and if thats the deafult is there a way to customize it to my own tastes? Cause honestly i would run away as quickly as possible from the color scheme, it would give me a headache after 5 minutes. Just a suggestion, might help to retain a few more people, cause i know that a headache causing (imho) color scheme would make me leave any game before i gave it a chance even.

Ive always found it best to use minimal colors, very minimal colors. Why? cause pretty much every client now days has its own highlight system that people can customize how they want.

just my two cents.


I think you mean ANSI color. Full colors are on by default for any new char, but you can type 'color off' once you enter the game–it works fine within the FB app. Once you've done 'color off' for a given char, you won't have to do it again.

On a somewhat related note, if a client offers its own highlighting options, it should also offer the option to strip any or all ANSI colors coming from the server whether or not the server has a command like 'color off' (it takes anywhere from 2 sec. to 2 min. to add that feature). A feature to remap ANSI colors should also be quite easy to add. I've never used an advanced desktop MUD client but it seems to me that getting rid of colors, or toning them down, or changing them, is not something the server absolutely has to handle (mine does, but I'm saying in general).

When and if I add user preferences to the app, I could add color control settings fairly easily. However, that's very low priority for me, especially given that it's an FB app, and not an alternative to Mudlet or MUSHClient.
06 Jan, 2011, Hades_Kane wrote in the 14th comment:
Votes: 0
I see nothing wrong with his color scheme. While I agree that looking like a bag of skittles puked over a MUD is a bad thing, and color can certainly be over used, I prefer to log into a MUD that has a consistent and customized color theme. With text being the way MUDs are represented, I think color usage definitely adds a much needed "feel" to the game, and different games definitely "feel" different to me based on how they choose to use their colors, how they design their prompts, score sheet, who list, etc. If I logged into a MUD that used almost no color, I would be visually bored by that and probably move on, to be honest.

Just because you don't like much color, doesn't mean he shouldn't put it in there. As quickly as his color scheme might run you off, a lack of color would as quickly run me off. In other words? To each their own. :p
06 Jan, 2011, Hades_Kane wrote in the 15th comment:
Votes: 0
In any case, if your Facebook app seems to have any luck with new player retention, please share :)
06 Jan, 2011, RoFAdmin wrote in the 16th comment:
Votes: 0
I wasn't implying he shouldn't have color. Was just wondering if that was the default color scheme, as i found it offensive to my eyes, and wanted to point out that is something that would make me say bub-bye rather quickly.

I actually love the use of color, and in most games make heavy use of it, but from the client side, and in a much more subtle and pleasing to the eye manner, at least in my opinion.

@plamzi: Yes ideally any client that supports its own highlights should support stripping of color codes, or allow you to remap them. Some do these features, others do not. Was just soemthing i thought i would mention.
0.0/16