Inter-MUD Communications
Inter-MUD Communications or IMC as some call it has been around almost as long as MUDs have existed. It is used to speak with other MUDs from the comfort of your own MUD via a connection off your MUD and using another port.
Inter-MUD created in the late 1980's was made for bases of that time and is most popularly knows as an additive to ROM and Circle MUDs. It would basicly be integrated into you MUDs code and use a seperate port to make a connection to other MUDs using the code. You could just add the code and connect to the network.
It had 2 flaws which were not noticed right away. The first was a problem with connection stability or lag. MUDs which would alter thier code and not keep InterMUD updated with its changes would get errors, disconnections and lag thier MUD let alone the other MUDs on the network. The second one was that people who could code and knows how to gain access through firewalls were able to use the port open for InterMUD to gain access to the MUDs code, clear and free.
This opened many windows for myth pertaining to InterMUD Communications version 2. IMC2, which it is better known as, was created loosly based on the InterMUD's idea of connecting to other MUDs. The creator of IMC2, Nemon, set out to make IMC2 safer and alot more independant from a MUDs code to run both effeciently and safe. Also it was made with encryption and impossible to access the port the MUD used for IMC to 'hack' into the code.
IMC2 was coded mainly for the SMAUG codebase, but as time passed people wanted to change thier Circle and ROM MUDs to IMC2 for the security and new features. The idea with IMC2 was that you could alter your MUD massivly and only need to make minor tweaks to IMC2 to keep it running at its optimal settings since it was mostly self contained and seperate from the MUD code, for the exception of startup, shutdown and commands.
Nemon, Wisdom (Head Administrator of the World IMC Network) and a few members of the crew helped adapt most major codebases which existed up to 1997, with the release of IMC2-0.10. SMAUG, Circle, Envy, Merc, ROM and Rot were the first six codebases with the newly adapted IMC code as an option to download and add to the MUD's code. Zenithar added IMC2 to Ack!MUD and Kavir added IMC2 to GodWars after the release of IMC2-0.10.
The difference with this IMC was that you would not connect to other MUDs, you would connect to hubs, routers for traffic, and require connection requests to the hub to connect to the rest of the network. It was a good feature in the fact that who connects can be monitored instead of anyone being able to connect when they felt like it and perhaps corrupting the network. The only issue was that you had to get permission from the IMC network administrator to connect and wait till he sends you back connection info. In the long run it makes the network more secure.
In January of 1999, the World IMC Network exchanged administration. Nemon had stopped producing updates, except for the rare and incomplete IMC2-0.11 and Wisdom had got caught up in other affairs. With the help of Zenithar (Ack!MUD IMC Network Head Administrator) and GreyWolf (Owner of one of the IMC network hubs), Ntanel StormBlade (President of the United Council of Multiple MUDsites Network Organization) took control of the World IMC Network as Head Administrator.
Within a few months of the take-over, two of Ntanel's coders, Shogar and Scion Altera, began designing the newest IMC called IMC2-1.00. The new IMC had a few new features, mostly to provide contact info for the MUD's owners over IMC and alot of proformance enhancements to reduce packet disbursal and prevent IMC network lag. April 4th of 1999, the code known as IMC2-1.03 Gold was released and available to all the original six codebases and Ack!MUD.
During 1999, there were three power struggles for the position of Head Administrator. Ntanel kept the position in all 3 struggles and the reasons for those three struggles were mostly based on ego. Basicly those people felt they could run the network better then Ntanel when in fact Ntanel had helped keep the IMC Network running better then it has ever had and was the person who helped push the release of each major codebase with IMC2-1.03 Gold. Ntanel also had all the support of 99% of the MUD/Hub administrators on the World IMC Network.
Ntanel found people who could code in mostly any situation and asked them to install IMC onto certain codebases and then released them publicly. Garil, Scion, Shogar, Trax, Altrag, Daltorak, Stoker, FearItself and Ntanel did most of the code additions to the codebases.
Thoric (Owner of SMAUG Headquarters) gave Ntanel special permission to use the SMAUG server as a public download site for IMC. Now all recent IMC was stored all in one place instead of scattered.
Early 2000, Shogar, Kratas Tranad and a few others put together IMC2-2.00 Gold. This new IMC featured compression of channels known as ICEd. ICEd was available as part of IMC since IMC2-0.05 as an IMC network wide program for channels and was ultimately unchanged till IMC2-2.00 Gold. ICEd compression meant less lag and packet output which prevented buffer overflows.
IMC2-1.00 thru IMC2-2.00 were released through the World IMC and the United Council of Multiple MUDsites Networks. They made IMC available in a stock form, a ready to add form for most major codebases and a codebase released form, which was IMC added to the MUDs themselves and then released. At this time code was available for SMAUG, Circle, Envy, Merc, ROM, Rot, Ack!MUD, GodWars Deluxe and ResortMUD.
If you or someone you know has a MUD using these codebases and currently have or want to add IMC2 to thier MUD, visit UCMM and click on the World IMC Network banner at www.inetsolve.com/~ucmm/ and get the code, documentation or sign-up to connect to the network.
