Thread: 411?
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Old 03-16-2009, 06:23 PM   #2
Parnassus
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Join Date: Apr 2002
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Re: 411?

In my opinion, a MUD is a game using the computer for dice and the screen for the paper and pencil. Builders and coders are various DMs. There's a bit less flexibility, due to everything being rewritten, but that's offset by having the game keep track for you. As you move around the world, you'll have encounters with creatures. Some are random and some are expected. You can decide to fight or ignore. If the creature decides that it wants to eat you anyway, you can decide to fight or flee. Whenever you might expect to roll the dice, the computer does it for you. The programming is full of parts like: flee? your roll is higher than his dex (or however it works) so you flee. If your roll is lower, he gets to take another bite.

I've always found it interesting how the game can work out strength, dexterity, luck, random chance and so on in the time it takes us to watch the screen show hits, misses and kills.

My advice is to try a few different games of a few different types to see what appeals to you. And then, if you really like it, move up to DM-type status by writing an area yourself. Then you get to choose the terrain, atmosphere, monsters and so.

The way I've always explained muds to non-mudders is this: think of a which-way sort of book. You're standing at a crossroads. To the east is a path through a forest. To the north is a gate into a town. To the south is a trail through the foothills, leading towards the mountains. Which way do you go?

If you've ever read the books with have numbers on the pages to replicate the dice, that's even closer. I hope this is the sort of info you were looking for.
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