[MUD-Dev] Writing a MUD Server in Visual Basic?

[Troy Fisher]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Matt Owen" <MOwen at Channel4.co.uk>
>> From: Travis Casey [mailto:efindel at earthlink.net]
>> Sunday, December 09, 2001, 4:18:19 PM, verb at rpn.port5.com wrote:

>>>> A colleague of mine has recently been talking about writing a
>>>> MUD server in visual basic, as he believes that the speed of
>>>> current machines more than outweighs VBs sluggishness.

>>>> I'm not so sure it's possible to write a server in VB, even for
>>>> a small scale world (~64 players), aren't there threading and
>>>> load balancing issues ?

Not that we've noticed.  We've ran with 100+ test connections and
not noticed any kind of lag (yet!)  We are lacking much of the
functionality of other Mud Bases, but that is because we are taking
a different look at things and taking our time, doing it right.

>>> If i had to write a mud server in VB, i would probably think
>>> about reducing the strain on the server by processing as much as
>>> possible client side.  If the server just had to maintain the
>>> database, and provide a forum for the clients to communicate and
>>> request data, VB should be able to handle it for whatever size
>>> world. (this would also greatly reduce the bandwidth needed.)

If all you are doing is sending plain text, then there is no need
for the client to handle any of the processing.  I've noticed no
different bandwidth drains from running our server and running
SmaugWiz (the windows smaug).

>> I'm not sure that VB's lack of threading and slower performance
>> than "true" compiled code is as big an issue as people might
>> think -- after all, LP muds and some other types also run on
>> single-threaded interpreters.  Such muds were handling tens or
>> hundreds of simultaneous players quite a few years back.

6.0 and .NET support threading, and can be compiled natively (has
since 5.0) which negates this argument entirely.  VB is no longer is
an interepreted code.  (Many still use it as such, not knowing that
you can compile it natively.)

>> The biggest problem I can think of with VB as I knew it is the
>> limits on the size of the data space and code space.  How high
>> are those in the newer versions?  Do they still exist at all, for
>> practical purposes?

We haven't run into any.

> Ok, confession time. The colleague in question is in fact me. As I
> am not a professional programmer (as many of you are), and as I
> also do not have the C++ skills to code anything beyond 'Hello
> World', I embarked on writing a MUD server in VB (originally
> version 5, now version 6) about 18 months ago.  I worked on the
> code on and off in my spare time. At the time of my original post
> however, I was at the stage of scrapping it as a 'silly idea in
> the first place'. So I posted to get the opinions of other more
> qualified MUD coders and developers, to see if it was worth
> carrying on.

I believe so, there are already a few VB muds running.  And they
boast an average player base of 50-60.  By using VB to it's fullest
potential one is able to make a viable server.  You just have to
reach down and find it's potential.

> As it stands now. I have a fully working codebase, that can
> support 60 odd players (64 being the built in upper limit) with no
> noticeable lag on a 500Mhz Pentium 3. Feature wise, it mimics the
> style and depth of Shades.  This was my original design plan and I
> am quite happy with how it turned out. For those who never played
> Shades, it's basically a 'scavenger' type MUD, collect objects and
> put them in special places for points. PvP is also supported. It
> also has in-game object and room creation for players flagged as
> 'builders'. There are no NPCs as yet.

Awesome.  Why'd you have 64 as the built in limit?

If you are looking for some of the more interesting and running vb
servers, check out http://www.wheelmud.org/goodies/links.htm I'm
trying to keep the list current with other vb muds that are running.

-Ashon
http://www.wheelmud.org

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