Learning to Build
 

This is coming from a person with no experience at all with the exception of maybe some html. Where does one even begin to learn how to code muds? What things does someone need to know and where can I find them?

I see a few games that say no experience required but then when I try to apply it's always the same "There isn't anyone available to teach you"

So if someone is able to help me out with teaching great! Or if I need to do this solo could I get some tips on where to start?

Re: Learning to Build
 

If you're a regular player on another mud, you could always ask the admin there if you can have a shot. That means you'll be building for a place you're already familiar with, plus they're more likely to hire you if they know you've already invested some time into their game.

Other than that, you'll find that many of the newer and smaller muds will hire pretty much anyone and everyone they can get their hands on - but they may not be experienced enough to provide you much help, and such muds have a higher chance of vanishing overnight. You should always keep backups of your work anyway, but it's still annoying when the mud you're working on disappears.

Another possibility would be to try , a mud specifically aimed at teaching people how to build. If you later move on to a different type of mud, you may need to learn a new set of building tools, but the general principles will at least be the same. Plus it'll give you the chance to build up a portfolio, which will greatly increase your chances of finding a good mud to build on.

There are also quite a few online articles about building, some of which are quite good, although most of these concern stylistic issues. I'd suggest learning the basics first.

Also note that 'builders' and 'coders' are generally split into two separate roles. Building deals with world creation, and doesn't usually require coding skills (it may involve some optionally use for scripting and such, but the level of skill required tends to be much lower). Coding involves modifying the game itself, which tends to require a greater degree of programming skill. If you really want to code a mud rather than build for one, I'd suggest you first learn general programming skills (from a book, training course, etc) and then download a codebase and have a play with it. This is likely to require a much larger time investment than building.

Re: Learning to Build
 

Very good pointers from Kavir.

The only thing I would add is that if your ultimate goal is to build your own MUD, you might try also reading this thread:

Re: Learning to Build
 

I found this little guide on a reverse engineering forum, its not complete but its a really good read. Might have to signup to the forums. The mud guide is based on the game called knight online.



Edit: the guide is in c++

Re: Learning to Build
 

I suggest checking out the site I learned how to build with from my very first mud, the head builder there was a progging genius and has fantastic guides online. The mud that alot of the examples are from isn't around anymore but the guides are still solid.