LabMUD/FutureMUD - it's like Cantr, but telnet
Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2016 11:12 pm
Since people seem to have some interest in games similar to Cantr these days, and lots of people are out there making their own browser games, I thought I'd pop in with a link to LabMUD, the demo MUD for FutureMUD. FutureMUD's a C# MUD engine designed for RP (roleplay) focused MUDs with features like a levelless, classless system, permadeath, crafting, etc. Even in its Alpha stage, it's much meatier than Cantr in a lot of ways (though it does lack some critical features that need to be included for the game/game engine to be considered at a beta/release stage.) LabMUD, the demo MUD, isn't open to players yet, but it has a guest lounge and I'm happy to show people around OOCly and talk about MUDs and stuff while I'm online. I figure if everyone assumes I'm talking to y'all, I may as well actually do it, right?
HOW DO I CONNECT TO LABMUD?
(For those in the know: labmud.com port 4000)
Why bring up FutureMUD/LabMUD if the demo MUD isn't open to players/characters yet, anyway?
Because FutureMUD as an engine will, once it's released, be available and free for anyone to build a game with. And some of the core principles behind FutureMUD are to make the MUD building experience as much of a soft-coded experience as possible, so it minimizes the programming requirements to get these things set up.
I'm looking into getting the engine translated into a few different languages, too, though that's a side project of mine and not something that is necessary for release, or will likely even happen before release. Luke and I were talking about the Google API and how he reckons we could "real time" (with maybe a second or two of lag?) translate inputted text like emotes and says from one language into another and it got me thinking about local translations for commands and prompts.
Off the top of my head, critical systems that are not in the game that will be required for release:
- crafting (all the backend stuff for this is in now, though, and Luke assumes his crafting/project system will be relatively straightforward to program)
- ranged combat
- hitpointless system (all the backend stuff for this is in now, so transitioning to a system of brain destruction/organ damage/blood loss should be *relatively* straightforward)
What might be required for release, or what might go in right after release:
- weather
- farming (requires weather to be in; is personally the system I'm most excited about, and therefore something that absolutely must happen one day for our marriage to continue to be a peaceful one)
What is definitely not required for release, and will not be in for release, but is on my personal wishlist:
- a FutureMUD mud client that makes connecting to MUDs simple and easy, no more fiddling with settings to get everything looking right, or hunting for connection details: all the futuremud worldfiles packaged into one neat client with unicode fonts, MXP/MSP support, etc. For Windows/Mac/Linux systems. Download it, click on the icon to open it, see a list of available MUDs with neat icons/logos, click on one, have the ability to save username/password details... And boom, in the game. Things like graphical mappers, user defined buttons, whatever... all also on the list.
- the FutureMUD engine translated locally (commands, etc.) into multiple languages, with (if possible) real time translation provided by Google Translate using the Google API. Luke thinks there's a 5000 translation limit per day using it freely, but they have plans that may increase that limit, etc. The only things that would require that sort of translation would be emotes and says, and in most cases a slight lag time wouldn't be life or death when using those commands.
- construction (this may be tied into the project system, which is separate from crafting)
- animal husbandry/domestication (might be included in farming? I can dream.)
- sailing (and... mini-forts... right? right guys?)
HOW DO I CONNECT TO LABMUD?
(For those in the know: labmud.com port 4000)
Why bring up FutureMUD/LabMUD if the demo MUD isn't open to players/characters yet, anyway?
Because FutureMUD as an engine will, once it's released, be available and free for anyone to build a game with. And some of the core principles behind FutureMUD are to make the MUD building experience as much of a soft-coded experience as possible, so it minimizes the programming requirements to get these things set up.
I'm looking into getting the engine translated into a few different languages, too, though that's a side project of mine and not something that is necessary for release, or will likely even happen before release. Luke and I were talking about the Google API and how he reckons we could "real time" (with maybe a second or two of lag?) translate inputted text like emotes and says from one language into another and it got me thinking about local translations for commands and prompts.
Off the top of my head, critical systems that are not in the game that will be required for release:
- crafting (all the backend stuff for this is in now, though, and Luke assumes his crafting/project system will be relatively straightforward to program)
- ranged combat
- hitpointless system (all the backend stuff for this is in now, so transitioning to a system of brain destruction/organ damage/blood loss should be *relatively* straightforward)
What might be required for release, or what might go in right after release:
- weather
- farming (requires weather to be in; is personally the system I'm most excited about, and therefore something that absolutely must happen one day for our marriage to continue to be a peaceful one)
What is definitely not required for release, and will not be in for release, but is on my personal wishlist:
- a FutureMUD mud client that makes connecting to MUDs simple and easy, no more fiddling with settings to get everything looking right, or hunting for connection details: all the futuremud worldfiles packaged into one neat client with unicode fonts, MXP/MSP support, etc. For Windows/Mac/Linux systems. Download it, click on the icon to open it, see a list of available MUDs with neat icons/logos, click on one, have the ability to save username/password details... And boom, in the game. Things like graphical mappers, user defined buttons, whatever... all also on the list.
- the FutureMUD engine translated locally (commands, etc.) into multiple languages, with (if possible) real time translation provided by Google Translate using the Google API. Luke thinks there's a 5000 translation limit per day using it freely, but they have plans that may increase that limit, etc. The only things that would require that sort of translation would be emotes and says, and in most cases a slight lag time wouldn't be life or death when using those commands.
- construction (this may be tied into the project system, which is separate from crafting)
- animal husbandry/domestication (might be included in farming? I can dream.)
- sailing (and... mini-forts... right? right guys?)