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Old 08-08-2012, 12:34 PM   #1
Lorei
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MUD Creation/Coding Help

Hello everyone. I'm Lorei, and I'm new to the site. I've been inspired lately to help develop, or even own/create my on MUD-based game. I've been doing my research, looking up how to create one, and I'm in the process of asking the owner of the MUD I play if he needs any help. Yes, I'll be honest, I am new to MUD coding. However, I have been working with codes for at least 6 years - I used to create and run forum-based RP sites, and I'd use codes to make it look nice, give it a certain style, give features to members, etc. I've also looked up and studied PHP, MySQL, HTML, Java, CSS, and even some MUD codes. For the most part, I understand what commands inside of the code do, but I don't exactly understand everything else.

Basically, my biggest questions are - One, what do I need to actually start making a MUD? I don't want to use a pre-made code. How can anything pre-made be unique? How do I make my mud "appear", so that when I edit it, I can see it come to life and work before me? And two, how should I begin coding? As a newbie to actually creating codes, what are my first steps?

Thanks guys, I hope you can help me
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Old 08-08-2012, 01:23 PM   #2
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

If you really want to do this the hard way, the first step would be "get a degree in computer science", but there's a lot of easier ways to do things these days. You probably want to focus your creativity on building up the MUD world, not the mud server code.

To that end, I'd recommend you download the base LP mud codebase and use that as a platform. You can dump all the data files and construct an LP mud from the ground up, even though you're using an existing codebase. That should give you the truly unique mud you're looking for.

-dentin

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Old 08-08-2012, 01:39 PM   #3
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Yes, it's the world I want, but I've been reading that all these codebases give you a really generic map, generic creatures, races, etc. I want to make it myself. For the codebase, do you mean

If so, I looked there, and I downloaded the stable version, but I'm not sure what to do with it. It tells me something like there's no program attached to it? I don't understand what that means. Was I supposed to download something with it?

Edit - I read "LD mud" not LP. What exactly am I looking for? Google search results yielded different muds and other things.

Last edited by Lorei : 08-08-2012 at 01:43 PM. Reason: Read the post wrong.
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Old 08-08-2012, 02:11 PM   #4
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

My suggestions:

1) Get a staff position on an existing mud.

2) Spend a year or so learning, practicing, etc.

3) Download a decent driver/lib/codebase and experiment getting it up and running. Preferably grab one that is open source.

4) Tinker with it.

5) Depending on the license of what you downloaded, keep going! Otherwise, consider creating your own from scratch.

6) No matter what you decide in #5, it would be a good idea to get a few folks to round out your team by taking on various major areas. It can be very lonely working on a mud all by yourself (I am speaking from experience there.)

Good luck!
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Old 08-08-2012, 02:19 PM   #5
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Your suggestions are nice and all, but I've been reading those same words over and over for 12+ hours. xD General advice won't help me. Unfortunately, it's not what I'm looking for. I asked for specific answers. So...

What sort of driver should I use?
What's the most common lib?
Where can I find a codebase? All I've found are actual MUDs.

I know nothing about making a MUD. I'm a complete newbie with a desire to learn. I don't think I'll create an amazing MUD within a week. I don't even expect to release one. But I want to practice and do it for myself.
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Old 08-08-2012, 02:36 PM   #6
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Lorei, the kind of codebase you should start with depends on the kind of game you want to make. Can you briefly describe what you want to do, perhaps naming some existing games you like as examples?
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Old 08-08-2012, 02:53 PM   #7
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Yeah, but the problem is you are trying to run before you walk.

There are gazillions. There is no correct answer to these questions. You will understand this better when you get a staff job on an existing mud with existing staff and players you can learn from.

That's why you need to get a coding staff job on an existing mud first.
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Old 08-08-2012, 05:52 PM   #8
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

You mentioned looking at some web related technologies in the past. If you have javascript experience you may be able to have some fun with . It's a really really bare bones mud library that you can use as a starting point.

I started my in-progress mud () with that but later decided to make it browser based instead of telnet so I switched to writing it from scratch in Ruby on Rails.
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Old 08-08-2012, 05:59 PM   #9
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Well, I currently play a MUD called Lost Souls. What I really enjoy about it is how immersive it is. Most MUDs don't even come close to it. However, it's a hack and slash MUD, and after talking to a few of my friends there, I was really disappointed that the rp aspect of the game is virtually non-existent.

I've been writing my entire life - it's my one true passion. I want to create an RP MUD. I mean, there's going to be fighting and all, but...the focus of the game is going to be whatever the character decides.

I have a very strong pull towards fantasy. I'm great at creating names of unique, magical things - when I used to make my rp sites, I'd have custom lands, races/breeds, all that sort of thing. I'm very creative.

I know that MUDs aren't the most popular things ever, which is why, instead of having to rely on other players to rp with, maybe the NPC's could have custom scripts and things?

I hope that helps.

Edit - @Shaitan - I was hoping for a C language instead of javascript. The MUD I hope to gain experience with uses C language, so I'd rather not confuse myself and have to learn two different code languages.

Last edited by Lorei : 08-08-2012 at 06:06 PM. Reason: New message.
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Old 08-08-2012, 08:01 PM   #10
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Have you asked the dev(s) of Lost Souls if they will take an apprentice coder? I can't emphasize enough how right Threshold is. Ideas are a dime a dozen--you need to gain a lot of technical skills if you want to be one of the few who are able to turn their ideas into playable reality. There are no shortcuts, just lots of work and lots of passion.
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Old 08-08-2012, 08:09 PM   #11
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Is the mud you're referring to Lost Souls? I'd think for that you'd be learning LPC.

A good learning base for you might be Dead Souls.

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Old 08-08-2012, 08:10 PM   #12
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Yes, I did. He was right in saying that become a dev without any experience isn't user-friendly, and that I should fiddle around making my own MUD.

So, I want to make a RPI MUD. What is the best software for beginners, that still allows advanced coding and such? I want to start simple, but I also want to be able to grow and expand my ideas so that my MUD can be advanced and interesting.

Edit - @Ide, Haha, yeah I just discovered that. Would Dead Souls help me to create a RPI MUD? Also, what exactly is Dead Souls? Is it another MUD? Or is it a MUD builder? I'm confused.

Last edited by Lorei : 08-08-2012 at 08:12 PM. Reason: New message
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Old 08-08-2012, 08:28 PM   #13
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Dead Souls is similar to Lost Souls. It's a LP mud, meaning they share a common ancestry. The important thing about LPs for you at the moment is that the codebase is in two parts, the driver/engine, and the lib. You write most or all of the mud in the lib using LPC. Normally you don't have to do much with the engine, which is written in another language (for LS and DS I believe C).

So to answer your question, Dead Souls is like a starter kit for making your own mud. You certainly can make a RPI with it. If you have more specific questions I recommend you hit up the forums at lpmuds.net.

Now there are other codebases you might be interested in. There are some barebones codebases such as NakedMUD that could work. There's the RPI engine too,

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Old 08-08-2012, 08:31 PM   #14
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Alright, thanks. I download DS and I don't know how to make it work. It keeps saying I can't connect to the port because it's not an executable command. I'll look at this new one.

Edit - Just by glancing at it, I can tell that this isn't what I'm looking for. I don't want to use something that's in another MUD. I want to create my world from scratch, but I want to be able to see it happen. Everything I'm being given are things that already have a world and creatures in them, and all I need to do is edit. That's not what I want.

Last edited by Lorei : 08-08-2012 at 08:36 PM. Reason: N/A
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Old 08-08-2012, 08:34 PM   #15
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

I feel like I have to say something here. You're not going to get very far with that approach. In other words, just downloading something, hitting a roadblock, and trying something different. This journey of creating a mud will be full of roadblocks. No joke. You're going to need a different mindset to succeed.

If you're having trouble getting DS started (which has excellent documentation btw), start from the beginning and take it step by step.
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Old 08-08-2012, 08:39 PM   #16
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

I'd start from the beginning, but no one is telling me how. I keep getting generic answers, and it's so frustrating, because I have a specific question.

All I want to know is how can I create and view my MUD, without using something that's already been created? I don't want generic or stock codesbases. Isn't there some sort of program that I can use to just start building?
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Old 08-08-2012, 10:38 PM   #17
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

No. There used to be a program like that but I think it's long gone. I don't remember the name. It did have a graphical interface for coding the entire mud but I don't think it was complete when the developer stopped working on it. If you search the Mud Connector you may find the old forum threads on it.
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Old 08-08-2012, 11:02 PM   #18
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Well, alright, I'll look it up.
By the way, I managed to get Dead Souls working (I didn't realize I needed to use my MUSHclient) and I fiddled with it for a bit. That was nice and all, but I really want to make my own custom codebase. Is there anywhere I can look online for how to make one?
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Old 08-08-2012, 11:06 PM   #19
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

I found the name of that application, it was Ultimud.

You'll probably have to hunt to find a copy though.

If you really want to write your own mud from scratch maybe this will help,

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Old 08-08-2012, 11:10 PM   #20
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Re: MUD Creation/Coding Help

Is there anything free that I can look at? I really can't buy anything at the moment. What would I have to do to be able to actually log in and edit my MUD?
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