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What's a MUD? What's a MUSH?
MUDs, also known as multi-user dimensions or dungeons, are text-based online gaming environments that have been around since the 1980s.
They are effectively descendants of the old single-player text adventure games, such as Zork and Adventure, except that they allow many players from around the world to interact in the game world.
Many MUDs are primarily focused on completing quests, solving puzzles, killing monsters or fighting other players. A smaller niche are devoted to roleplaying and interactive storytelling, along the lines of a text-based LARP (Live-Action Roleplaying) game.
The modern MMORPGs - the monster graphical online RPGs like World of Warcraft and Everquest - owe a huge debt to MUDs. If you think about it, they're really nothing more than MUDs that require a subscription fee and a large amount of bandwidth and processing power for graphics.
MUDs come in many flavors, largely dependent on the programming system used to design them. More traditional monster-killing MUDs are created using codebases such as Diku, Circle, and SMAUG. Those focused more on RP are often coded using TinyMUX or PennMUSH.
Games coded in PennMUSH are known as MUSHes.
How Do I Access Them?
Virtually anyone with an Internet connection can reach a MUD, using the Telnet feature of their computer. Raw Telnet isn't recommended, however. Instead, it's best to use software such as SimpleMU, MUSHClient, Savitar or Rapscallion. Some MUDs actually offer their own client software and still others are playable via web browsers.
Once you've connected to a game, you'll need to use a text-based interface to talk to other players. Often, you can type HELP or +HELP to get a run-down on useful commands, depending on the codebase that runs the game.
It's usually helpful also to peruse a game's website, if it has one, before hurling yourself into the thick of things.
What's So Great About Them?
First, MUDs provide online entertainment without requiring a top-end computer to handle graphics.
Second, they allow players to immerse themselves in environments based on everything from familiar themes like Star Wars, Star Trek and Harry Potter to absolutely original worlds developed by game creators.
Most games don't require a great deal of effort to join. Many are free.
Where Do I Find More About Them?
There are quite a few sites dedicated to helping would-be players track down text-based online games.
External Links
- Electric Soup: http://www.electricsoup.net
- Online Gaming Resource: http://www.ogrmux.com
- The MUD Connector: http://www.mudconnect.com
- Top MUD Sites: http://www.topmudsites.com
- MU*Wiki: http://mu.wikia.com