[MUD-Dev2] Text based MUD's - State of the art (if any)

[Tiago]

Thank you all for your opinions :)

I have no doubt that it's possible to commercially exploit a text based MUD,
but that would only make sense to me after going through the "hobby ->
friends -> small user base" phases.

In regards to the interface and the limitations of Telnet, there are some
undeniable advantages to it, mainly the ubiquity of a telnet client and the
small "footprint" of the window. (You wouldn't go unnoticed for long playing
WoW during work hours on a full screen window). Also, there are some clients
that build new features on top of telnet, like maps, colors, keyboard
shortcuts, etc... Which ameliorate it's limitations.

On the motivations for creating a MUD from scratch, I couldn't agree more
with Jacob, I also see my self as the target audience and I draw some ideas
from other muds and even from discussions on this list. Perhaps later
someone will find interest in connecting or downloading the code, but I'm
not really counting on it...

Like Nabil said, I try to think of features that may set my code apart from
traditional MUDs. Stuff like good command parsing, proper world persistence,
good object oriented code, rich behaviour in objects, etc, etc... In all,
taking the next step from EnvyMud. I implemented a mechanism for synonyms
and adjectives based on a thread I saw here (that stuff about PICK GOLD,
COIN, SOVEREIGN), for example.

I would also like to comment on Aurel's opinion about code base
fragmentation. Normally I'm all against starting projects from scratch, but
in this case, I didn't like what I saw in terms of multi thread and object
oriented MUD's. It's that thing of the programmer seeing himself as the only
audience of the game, as is the case for hobbies.

I think a programmer interested in starting any kind of project should allow
himself the possibility to start something anew and then later, evaluate if
he should continue development of their project or join an existing one.

tg


On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 3:55 PM, Aurel <aurel.gets.mail at gmail.com> wrote:

> Tiago wrote,
>
> > Thing is, is it worth it? Will anyone still care ? Is it a waste of time?
>
> For what it's worth, you'd probably be better off attaching yourself to
> an established MUD instead of fragmenting an already miniscule
> population of MUD-goers. There are still a few good MUDs and developers
> are always in demand.
>
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