What is a Good Free MUD Client?

br00tus writes "With the advent of MMORPG's like EverQuest, old-fashioned text-based, free MUD's may seem kind of antiquated. Nevertheless, I've been looking around for a good, free (e.g. not ZMud etc.) MUD client that I can use on Windows and/or UNIX. Any ideas?" Uh, TinyFugue?

Comments

You are in a dark room.

[Anonymous Coward]

And you have been eaten by a first post.

~~~

Telnet

[Anonymous Coward]

Back in my day we used telnet on 1200 baud modems, and we liked it.

Re:Telnet

[Kedisar]

You mean you didn't use bongo drums?

tintin++?

[SweetAndSourJesus]

All my friends seem to like it.

check it out.

TinyFugue

[noda132]

Tinyfugue.

And if you have trouble at first: It uses Emacs keybindings -- that means Ctrl-P to go to the last line typed, Ctrl-U to clear the current line, etc.

I don't know of any ...

[dzym]

I don't know of any really good free win32 clients. Zmud is the best, in my opinion, and I bought a license for it back in the 4.xx days. I don't even use 5.x or 6.x even though my license is fully upgradable because I detest eLicense.

I really liked mcl on *nix, by Erwin Andreasen, but he stopped maintaining it a while ago and I'm not even able to access his homepage right now. A cursory whois on the domain seems to suggest that he has abandoned his former "life". :(

tintin(++) is the old standby, of course.

Re:I don't know of any ...

[Erwin-42]

Err, I'm not dead yet.

Anyway, prompted by mention of this topic on Slashdot I finally got around in releasing a maintenane release of mcl, 0.53.00. It basically fixes all the ancient C++ code that only compiled with 2.95, and also makes the code work with Perl 5.8.0 etc.

Get it from http://www.andreasen.org/mcl/ as usual.

For a more modern MUD, non-text-only client, check out Papaya.

MudMaster

[sjorgnsn]

MudMaster and it's GUI-oriented counterpart MudMaster 2000 are good MUD clients for Windows.

As for *nix, TinTin++ and TinyFugue are excellent, though the sites for those two escape me at the moment.

Not sure about Multi-User

[dupper]

But for non-graphical RPGs, just stick to the rogue-likes, and you'll be happy.

Re:Not sure about Multi-User

[mercx]

> But for non-graphical RPGs, just stick to the rogue [nethack.org]-likes [adom.de], and you'll be happy.

Er... rogue-a-likes and MUDs are very different styles of games, with MUDs being closer to chatrooms set in a fantasy world. ...as such, they have very different ways of making you "happy", and one might not substitute for the other ;)

MUD clients

[E_elven]

Win: MUSHClient.
-- The only relevant client. XML storage,
full scripting in multiple languages,
triggers, macros, aliases.
www.gammon.com.au

Lin: TinTin++.
-- Only if you're too much of a pansy for
telnet.

Re:MUD clients

[Repton]

E_elven wrote: Only if you're too much of a pansy for telnet.

I've never understood this "Real men use crappy tools" philosophy. It is perfectly possible to MUD with telnet --- I recommend turning "scroll to bottom on TTY output" OFF in your xterm --- but anyone with two brain cells to rub together should be able to realise that MUD clients are better. Even if you just use TinyFugue out of the box, you still get basically the same interface as with telnet, but with a couple of lines separated off for text entry and better scrollback support.

(I get these same emotions whenever I see someone proudly claiming that they make their web pages in notepad... I want to go up to them and beat them with a stick until they realise that notepad is complete crap. Just because Microsoft doesn't give you a good text editor doesn't mean you can't go and find one yourself! Use gvim or emacs or ultraedit or just about _anything_ else...

Ahem.

Sorry.</rant>

)

Pay for zMUD

[useosx]

Damn it man! Just pay for zMUD, it's a great client. In fact, zMUD's built in scripting language is how I learned to script and got me interested in CS (waaaaay back when). Plus, Zugg, the developer is a great and deserves the money.

Re:Pay for zMUD

[pdbogen]

I have to agree with the parent. zMUD has some awesome features, for MUDding. However, if you want to do anything else (MUSH, MUX) zMud is crap (No offense at all! It's just geared towards MUDding, and that's what it's good at.) For MUSHs and MUXs, TinyFugue far and away. Nobody has mentioned this yet, but there are Win32 builds of it!

ask google, not slashdot?

[bn557]

I mean, by the time the poster will have succesfully sorted through all tho flames and useless jokes, they could have just as easily used google, tried 9 or 10 things, and based the solution on their own preferences. No need for this.

P

Trebucket TK

[strredwolf]

Requires Tcl/TK, but has ANSI color, supports MPI, and is well supported. Also has web update.

Main page here.

Why?

[Shadwell]

Why is this even on the front page? Why not try Google, Freshmeat, Tucows or Versiontracker?

Re:Why?

[J23SE]

Because it allows people like me, who haven't ever experienced anything MUD related, to get a glimpse of the fun that could be had. For many like me, a large appeal of slashdot is being introduced to a variety of activities/news/interests/sites. I'm willing to wager that most of the people that saw the story and are now going to check out a MUD would not have initiated the search by themselves.

Re:Why?

[br00tus]

Why? Because I did check Google and Freshmeat (do people still use Tucows?). For one thing, as I said in the article, MUDs are somewhat obsolete in the face of MMORPGs like Everquest. I know ZMud is a decent client, but it is not free as in beer or speech, after a 30-day trial it conks out. As far as Google, it recently discontinued archival of the rec.games.mud groups, so that answers that question for one.

Theoretically, I could have downloaded 30 MUD clients, many wanting me to download PERL for Windows, or TCL/TK for Windows, or GNOME for Windows, or whatever, just to look at it, but I figured I would ask here. Have people here rallied around a Windows MUD client that is free as in beer and as in speech, that doesn't need a normal user to download Cygwin, TCL/TK, PERL and so forth for Windows, compile it and so forth, that is still actively updated? If so, I haven't seen it. That confirms my suspicion - that there is no good, free (as in beer and speech) MUD client for Windows, or at least one that you can download that doesn't require you to transmogrify your Windows box into a UNIX - I'm better off just using a UNIX then anyway.

You're assuming that anyone using Google or Freshmeat will find what they're looking for. I didn't. So now I'm asking as a last resort, before I possibly even begin writing one (that is beer and speech free) myself, if I have the spare time to do such a thing.

The only client I'll use

[Kindgott]

I've been on MUDs since around 1997 and experimented with a few different Windows and *nix clients, and the only thing I use anymore is tintin++ on *nix or wintin95 on any wintendo boxes I may be using at the time. They're very low on the "bells and whistles", as the windows port is basically the terminal version with a simple interface added, and the *nix version is meant for use in terminal windows.
They're not low on features, as you can easily add triggers, variables, aliases, and such.

Here's a link for each client:
tintin++
Wintin95

Hope you find them to your liking.

Re:What's a MUD?

[pdbogen]

Technically? Multi-User-Dungeon.. Text-based Everquest. (Don't flame me)

More complete answer? It varies. As someone above pointed out, they range from Role-Play Only (I.e., no code.. glorified (if even that) chat room) to Hack-N'-Slash (Everquest without pretty pictures). Also, a lot of times the word "MUD" includes MUSHs (Multi-User-Shared-Hallucination/-Simulated-Hell), MUXs (Multi-User-eXperience, IIRC), MUSEs (Multi-User-Simulated-Environment), and MAREs (Of which there is precisely one, but I don't remember what it stands for). There are only a handful of MUSEs still around, and I am fairly certain they are all social and/or educational, and sparsely popualted. Of MUSHs there are two predominant varities, Tiny- and PennMUSH. Tiny is more geared towards pen-and-paper-type RPGs converted to electronic form, whereas Penn happens to be slightly more suitable for space-based sci-fi games. Much like the Republican and Democratic parties, there is really very little difference to the two. For TinyMUX, the only one worth using is Brazil's MUX 2.0, and it only stands out if you're using it to play a World of Darkness game (Vampire, Mage, Werewolf, etc.). MUDs vary, and I am not very educated on them. Generally they're a lot more like videogames than their four-letter counterparts. There's also MOOs, which are sort of like the bastard child of a MUD and a MUSH. I don't know much about this last type, either.

Yeah, for about a minute

[geekoid]

Went from 300 to 1200, I remember it like it was yesterday:
Look at this new 1200 baud modem we got.
Cool.
~hooks it up~

Wow its fast
yep
~1 minute later~
I can't wait for one that goes faster.
Me too.

I use VI!

[raehl]

You insensitive clod!

Try Real Life.

[raehl]

Comes in 3D with integrated surround sound and both voice and tactile command recognition.

Re:Try Real Life.

[j3110]

Do you really want geeks showing up on your doorstep in full chainmail, a sword, and the amulet of Yendor? I think you should very much encourage them to keep their fantasies stored as harmless electronic and magnetic charges far, far away from this "Real Life". I mean, have you ever actually been to a LARP (Live-Action Role Playing)? It's definately not pretty. I know a guy who ended up getting stitches in a hospital. I guess he thought he had more hit points than he actually did. That's ok, he eventually did end up back at town center, and all his digits were intact and functional after seeing the healer. I think he gave up adventuring though, and he now works answering other adventurers' questions about these magical devices that help in the creation of scrolls at Lexmark.

Now, do you really want us role playing geeks to invade real life? You know these people that role play are usually the ones that right your software. Next time you check your X11 log for the last error to see if it's complaining about the mouse or display modes and all you see is runes, you'll learn to appreciate the fact there is a time and place for these fantasies. I personally don't want to have to describe my problem on the mailing lists using Quenya.

Re:Try Real Life.

[Anonymous Coward]

I like Real Life, but some script kiddie named "Neo" keeps fucking with the server.

And the last LAN party I went to, half the systems were infected with Agent Smith virus.

Real Life 1.0 was actually pretty good, but some of the noobs couldn't handle it, so the Architect nerfed it.

I'm not giving up, though. I heard that the server is going to get upgraded any day now with bitching new features, maybe even tonight or tomorrow!

Google knows not.

[Anm]

To all those recommending google, since when does google have a good-ometer? It gives you hints, and might even come up with a list of all MUD clients available, but usually it is the product/project pages and not reviews.

As for freshmeat and version tracker, yes they have ratings, and for that they are good place to start. But when you get to niche software like this, the best place is to ask the community surrounding the niche.

While slashdot readers do overlap, you best answers will be from more focused mailing list (or, in this case, those you meet in the MUDs). The same could be said of most Ask Slashdot questions. But, then again, if we did that, we'd never ask slashdot dot.

If you're going to reply "ask google" to every "ask slashdot", then please just edit your slashdot profile to ignore the section. We don't need your comments or your moderations.

Anm

MUD is NOT MSN-Chat (tm)!

[newr00tic]

rogue-a-likes and MUDs are very different styles of games, with MUDs being closer to chatrooms set in a fantasy world.

Man.. Don't even dare to similate MUD with chatrooms. To the parent poster (and anyone else, ocourse), I'd rather explain that MUDs are very similar to the Zork/Infocom games.

Yes, I know, it's still not quite the same, but closer than a chatroom..

Note; I had no intent to flame your post, but this is how I see it..

Yeah, but what is the best MUD

[peripatetic_bum]

this isn't as simple to google and I would like to hear your reponses.

Thanks!

TinyFugue, PowWow, PowTTY...

[skaya]

If you use only UNIX, TinyFugue rocks. It has a very powerful scripting language (but very complicated too - complicated enough for me to start my own Python client, but that's another matter).

If you use only Windows, Zmud is (1) not free (2) quite slow compared to other alternatives. You might then go for JMC (which is lightning fast, has built-in simple scripting, and can use VBscript and other nasty things with plugins).

If you want to MUD from UNIX and Windows, you could try PowWow when using UNIX and PowTTY when using Windows (PowTTY is really the PowWow engine combined with PuTTY, the famous SSH client).

Finally, I noticed that the most important things in a client are (from my point of view) :

• multi-command aliases (possibility to send a bunch of commands to the MUD with just one line of input), bindings (possibility to send one or many lines of commands pressing a single key)
• variables (possibility to use things like $target in your aliases, and setting $target with a single keypress, for instance)
• highlights or marking (possibility to make any line containing the word "critical" in bold red ; or marking in bold a given list of names - which could be the names of your online friends, for instance)

Any decent client should support this (IMHO).

I also ask a few more things from my client (and here is why I wrote mine) : be able to handle random socket connections (to connect to an IRC server or to a group communication server), be able to load images and pan them (to view and scroll the maps from the client, with single keypresses - note that you can also be clever and use Eterm backgrounds for that : Eterm has support for escape sequences to load/scroll backgrounds!), and powerful scripting (I use Python).

Last thing : I don't know what people call "powerful scripting", but for me, it's the possibility to do basically anything and without much hassle ;-) for instance looking up name of people you meet in a SQL database, or storing the list of your equipment in internal variables and popup windows, or analyzing your XP rate or the average amount of damage you do with each different weapon versus each different monster, etc.

Mud client review page

[plett]

Why not look at our MUD Client reviews page?
Pick one that has lots of YESs in its line, like Crystal for example.