[MUD-Dev] Re: Graphic design, client questions

[Jo Dillon]

Caliban Tiresias Darklock (caliban at darklock.com) spake thusly:
> 
> Not really. HTTP is run over a telnet connection. (Really, it is. So is FTP.
> So is IRC. Damn near every major protocol on the 'net is founded on telnet.
> Telnet *is* the internet.)

  Hmm. a) surely you mean TCP/IP? Telnet is a protocol on top of TCP/IP;
it just so happens that you can use a telnet client to talk to ftp,
http and so forth servers, but that doesn't mean they really speak telnet.
b) What about the bits of the net that talk UDP? NFS, Sun RPC (which
NFS is based on) and so forth?
 
> >Standard telnet sends every character typed to the server. This
> >increases server overhead, especially if you do a lot of backspaces.
> 
> 
> Most clients operate in line mode, or even multiple line mode. Using "raw
> telnet" is considered a rough equivalent to the tortures of hell by most MUD
> players.

  Of course, the Windows 95 Telnet client only does character mode (at least
as far as I can discern)...
> 
> >Win 32 client Cons:
> >Limited to Win 32 platform.

  Why not write a cross-platform client in something like wxWindows?
You get a decent turn of speed and it runs on Unix and Windows (and Mac
as well, I believe, if you use an older version of wxWindows).
> 
> Java is unrealistic for end users. It's a lot harder to set up than an O/S
> specific app, and it doesn't look or act like they want apps to look and
> act.

  Java is /easier/ to set up as an applet. It looks and acts like the
native applications if you're not using Swing. On the minus side it's
dog slow and there are interesting subtleties in getting it to work
on both IE and Netscape. Stick to Java 1.0 and your chances are higher,
though.

--
	Jo