[MUD-Dev] MUD client popularity

[Tom]

Tuesday, February 3, 2004, 8:00:30 PM, Emil wrote:
> rayzam wrote:

> Yeah, in fact our company specializes in creating custom java
> based mud clients :) They can be integrated completely with the
> mud. We're working with a lot of projects, some have clients that
> are required, others that work with all clients.  Java is actually
> nice since it makes cross-platform clients and clients that could
> run in browsers as applets.

{disclosure: it's been a LONG time since I wrote a MUD or equivalent
RPG-style game)

>From following this list, and from my own development history, I
wonder whether or not it isn't a simple task to convert a text mud
to a full-blown 3D MMORPG with little or no really hard work. After
all, MUDs are controlled by a known set of commands, and each
location is carefully described for the player - and even if MUDs
rely on a box (or room) style design (even for outdoor locations,
the location is stil effectively a room), there's more than enough
scope to allow for free-form movement within the confines of any 3D
space created for any particular 'room'.

As for interaction, tha's already covered by the MUD anyway, so why
not convert it to a graphical form? I've seen good basic work done
putting a 3D engine on top of Nethack, and I see no reason (except
time and effort) that it couldn;t be done for just about any MUD out
there.

There's even ways to give a visual representation to players of
side-by-side 'rooms', and if you make use of a pathing system for
avatars (like Wish are using) then you can quite easily create a 3D
representation of any location within a MUD, let the players roam
around inside it, and move from 'room' to 'room' - which certainly
don't need to be square.

Some very early RPG development I did was in investigating using the
locational-based design of text adenture games as a basis for
creating (at the time) isometric games, and I've seen some very
successful variations on some early home computers.

Regards,
Tom "cro" Gordon
CEO, AlienPants Ltd
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