[MUD-Dev] shrink wrapped mud development kit (fwd)

[Charles]

On Thursday, 20 Apr 2000 18:45:08 GMT, Doug wrote:

>I am an author of a commercial mud package that
>is currently running on AOL. We are testing the waters
>to see if the general computer public might be interested
>in a "shrink wrapped" mud development kit. It would
>come with: the engine running under Windows 95/98/NT/2000
>and Linux, a set of visual development tools allowing you to
>easily create areas, a set of beginning areas to learn from or
>reuse, a complete manual outlining how to create areas and
>run the mud itself, a license allowing you to run the mud without
>restrictions (you can charge for it, we don't care).
>
>We would create an online community where people could share
>development tips and files etc. and develop updates to the engine
>and the development tools themselves.
>
>We'd put it all together in a box and sell it for the price of
>a normal PC game (40-50 dollars).

Honestly I'm not sure (unless the people buying this product had no idea
about what's available on the internet) why anyone would buy a MUD
developement kit.  With the number of code bases out there currently, and
the features of those code bases, OLC etc, it seems to me that the only
advantage would be better documentation.  Would you include the source
code?  If you did, would you include compilers, or just links to places to
download them?  Surely some people would get the impression that they
didn't need to have any coding knowledge to "add" to the MUD.  If they
wanted to add anything to the engine then they might be disappointed,
unless you include PDF formats of learn how to code in C in 21 days or
something.  ;)  All in all, it could work.  MajorMUD Realm of Legends for
instance, it's a commercial MUD that people can buy and host (and typically
charge for).  It seems to be very popular and has been for some time, even
though you don't get the source code, and you can't even add areas to it
(Technically you can, but you have to buy additional area "modules" from
the company that sells it).  So I guess there is a market for it.  The
thing that I find amazing about MajorMUD is that it costs upwards of $600
last time I checked, and the modules range from about $75 to $125.  Anyhow,
personally I'd just download Circle or ROM..

-- Charles.



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