Hobbyist Text MUD
 

Before EQ I used to play text MUDs via telnet. I also used to maintain my own MUD as a hobby using C(++).

I'd like to combine modern tech with old-school and recreate this nostalgic experience. I bemoaned having to rewrite net code, etc., in C(++) (send() and recv() lolwut) then realized most people who aren't huge nerds don't use telnet to play games -- they use web browsers.

I'm wondering what the best platform for messing around with a MUD/EQish environment would be - with or without graphics. Java, Perl, ASP, even a prefab, building-block environment would be cool. Just wanna mess around.

Recommendations?

MUDS as in ardwolf and abatoir and shit like that?

No he obviously means dirt mixed with water!

If u are asking as to what language to use afaik muds are mostly LPC code.

I used to play Gemstone III (which became Gemstone IV) via play.net back in the late 90s before I played EQ (and even played it here and there after that). It had a fantastic combat and class system (based on death crits, etc - more realistic than "you did 15 points of damage!" although that is a part of the system in GSIV). If you did a free trial of that, it might give you some really good ideas.

If I had more than 1 or 2 friends that played it (and they quit before I did), I probably never would have quit.

Also, I apologize if you meant something far more technical than just basic game mechanics. I'm just an SQL data monkey, i'm not that sophisticated in programming/etc :)

Should be easy enough to just use a javascript / ajax client to get to the Real Thing. Rewriting something text-based to use it in-browser wouldn't really net you much, if that's what you're getting at.

Why not try to write a better client for the MUDs that are still out there? Hell, at least one that I know of (MUME) has a fairly capable XML system that can be used to write reasonable web clients. (Disclosure: I am a (retired) coder on MUME)

TorilMUD



its set in forgotten realms with basically a D&D ruleset.

I'd say Java or Silverlight would be your best bets if you want to go purely web-based. You could make a browser MUD environment in PHP/Python/Perl etc. with AJAX but it would be an even bigger pain in the ass.

Do note: a lot of modern MUDs do the backend servers in C++/Python/etc., then have a Flash telnet client for the browser.

http://www.ironrealms.com/nexus/images/nexus_play.jpg