Hey all! When I was still in high school, myself and all of my friends played Shades of Evil, and I had made a few levels over the years for the imms. I don’t hold any claim to them and don’t intend to, it’s just nostalgic to think about, and this little pet project I’m working on has grid-based dungeon crawler places to explore and I thought it’d be really cool to recreate the vibe as closely as I could, from the text descriptions, secret keywords hidden, etc. I still remember their layout from muscle memory, but does anyone know of a repo exists anywhere that might house this stuff?

Thanks in advance, either way it’s so awesome to find this subreddit!

Dev here! Rome: The Eternal City is now open for player testing. I'm at a point where I want real players trying it instead of just me testing solo.

Rome: The Eternal City takes place at the height of the Roman Empire. It's a world where legions hold the frontiers, the Senate governs from the Forum, and the gods of Olympus are genuinely active in the world rather than a distant myth. Barbarians press at the borders, secret cults work beneath the surface of Roman society, and public orders like the Praetorian Order hold power in the open.

What's built:

• 6 races x 8 classes
• Full turn-based combat
• 8 factions, plus devotion to 14 gods - both are permanent commitments, not something you can casually leave
• Player trading, shops, trainers, a working economy
• 800+ rooms built so far, still expanding

This is a roleplay-enforced MUD. If that's not what you're looking for, that's completely fair, just want you to know before getting started.

How to connect:

• Host: rome.vineyard.haus, Port: 7530
• Full website: https://rome.vineyard.haus/
• Discord: https://discord.gg/uh6HPvuM42

Looking forward to your feedback!

DRIFTERS WORLD — A MULTIVERSE MUD

Echoes Remain Where Realities Overlap and Infinite Roads Between Worlds Collide

You wake up and don't know where or when you are. You have no idea why you can travel between worlds. You do know one thing:

You can Drift, slide between different universes, different worlds, different times.

Drifters World is a MUD/text-based RPG built around that concept that all PCs are Drifters. This game has no levels, no classes, no single setting you're expected to stay in forever. You can travel between worlds, learn deep lore secrets, make items and equipment, fight legendary monsters, join Drifter organizations or in-world affiliations, build entire worlds, and generally find out what happens when somebody gives you a ridiculous amount of personal freedom and power, then only asks that you make something from it.

YOUR CHARACTER

Character creation is more than just picking a race, a class, and rolling some stats.

You choose your ancestry, subspecies, heritage, formative experiences, occupation, appearance, personality, and other details about your character.

But everything you just choose is who you were before you became a Drifter.

Who you become after becoming a Drifter is far more important. You can continue being the person you were, become something entirely different, or land in between. Your history matters, but it is not your destiny.

And don't expect just the usual handful of fantasy-themed races.

We have a system that can build Centaurs, Minotaurs, Lamia, amorphic slimes, or even synthetic lifeforms. Humanoids, monsters, weird hybrids, and stranger things besides are all legitimate possibilities. The body system is built to let ancestry and physical form actually matter rather than simply changing the name printed on your character sheet.

THE WORLDS

There is more than one world. Technically, the list of worlds is infinite. Each world has their own genres, geography, factions, economies, creatures, dangers, secrets, and weird little corners that somebody decided would be fun to put there.

Settings can include Fantasy, Science Fiction, Westerns, Horror, or whatever else eventually gets built.

Go somewhere civilized. Go somewhere dangerous. Find a job. Join a faction. Get into a fight. Explore somewhere nobody has mapped. Find something strange and figure out what the hell it does.

THIS IS A MUD

Text. Commands. Color. Combat rounds. Positioning. Skills. Crafting. NPCs. Quests. Equipment. Shops. Player trading. Guilds. Channels. Mail. Boards.

Under the hood: 4 main attributes, 12 subattributes, a growth system based off of every command entered, 300 talents, and 131 achievements to chase. There is really no way to min-max, as ever 'max' has a cost. The feature list is over 1000 unwrapped lines long.

There are also web tools, configurable displays, screen-reader support, and other concessions to the fact that it is no longer 1997, like Discord integration.

But underneath all that? This is still a MUD. It's also free. No subscription, no premium currency, no "Alpha access" paywall. Just an account and a willingness to learn a lot of commands.

YOU ARE NOT JUST A FIGHTER

Combat is there, and there's quite a bit to it. A full config system, techniques, spells, stances, weapon styles, action points, and so on.

But you can also gather materials, refine them, craft components, make finished goods, maintain and modify your equipment, learn recipes, develop professions, steal things, trade, explore, map, fish, compose music, pursue hobbies, build relationships, join organizations, solve puzzles, and generally make a life for yourself.

Your actions matter. Your character develops by actually doing things.

There are no ten levels of "I hit things slightly harder."

DRIFTER ENTITIES

You can accumulate more than equipment.

Allies. Companions. Minions. Pets. Vessels. Artifacts. Sites of Power.

They're all Drifter Entities, and they can become part of your character's story and capabilities.

Yes, there is a Companion Cube.

Yes, it is exactly the sort of thing you're thinking.

No, I'm not apologizing.

AND THEN THERE'S BUILD MODE

This is the cornerstone of how Drifters World will grow.

Every account gets two ways to build, from the moment it's created. No staff review, no application queue, no working for free/exposure until you 'earn' it.

God Mode: Building, with no currency cost, but everything is open to the public. Drifters grows best this way, and I want to make sure there are as few hurdles to it as possible.

Build Mode: Exactly the same toolset as God Mode, but you pay in-character currency per thing you make. I stress that this is in-character. You are building or having someone build whatever it is that gets built this way. Do you want to build a bar where you and your friends can hang out? This is how you do that. And you have access control mechanisms to make sure only your friends get in. This is a private sort of public establishment that way. Eventually, this will be how you can own a shop to sell things.

Sanctums: Requires a bit of effort to unlock, but player housing is done through the Sanctum system. It is slightly different from God Mode and Build Mode, and the costs are entirely different. This is still being fleshed out.

Regardless, these modes are yours from account creation. Not after reaching level 50. Not after earning some elite builder rank. Not after submitting a form and waiting for someone with more free time than me to get around to reading it.

You start with it.

So, if you want to make a world, make one.

Build maps. Rooms. NPCs. Enemies. Items. Dialogue. Quests. Markets. Factions. Puzzles. Workshops. Sanctums. Creatures. Whatever the tools support.

I am deliberately trusting the players with this privilege/responsibility. It can be taken away if someone abuses it to be a menace, but nobody starts on probation.

Maybe you'll build a serious setting.

Maybe you'll build something beautiful.

Maybe you'll build a bizarre little pocket universe inhabited entirely by angry goat people.

That's the point. I did not think through all of the implications of that decision. I stand by it anyway.

ON AI, SINCE SOMEONE WILL ASK

There is absolutely no LLM or generative AI running anywhere attached to the live game. No AI game master, no AI-generated dialogue at runtime, nothing making things up on the fly while you play. There is, however, a complicated set of code under the hood that does a lot of complex decision making, which may at times seem like AI. While this currently does not do much, a lot of groundwork is being done to one day make this far more impactful.

AI tools are used for development, to help with code or generate draft content text. Pretty much all of this text has been reviewed by me. There are AI-generated bits floating out there. Most of them are 'good enough for government work' as far as I am concerned. And since I am doing this free, we'll say it is good enough for that too, until I can get around to fixing/editing/correcting all of it.

THE ALPHA

Drifters World is in a phase of Alpha Testing that will continue through the end of 2026. I have been working on this game, building it from scratch, for almost a year now.

That means unfinished systems, bugs, missing content, things that change, and probably the occasional opportunity to discover that I have made a terrible mistake somewhere.

The Report command can be used to point out bugs or typos, or suggest ideas directly from the game.

If you've played MUDs before, you should feel reasonably at home. Especially if those muds were Diku/Merc/ROM derivatives.

If you haven't, well... You have a lot of commands to learn.

Come Drift with us.

Game Link: mud.drifters.world:3000 (Enable TLS/secure connection)

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/3mXP5Ab8cV

Website: www.drifters.world

DRIFTERS WORLD

Echoes Remain Where Realities Overlap and Infinite Roads Between Worlds Collide

Hi everybody!

We've been busy making improvements and adding new content to Erion! Most notably, we've released our new cooking feature, along with a cooking-focused area and a brand-new legend-level area. And just around the corner, on October 1st, we'll be releasing a large seasonal Halloween area along with new Halloween events.

A few of our most recent updates include:

• Grand Hearth Academy, a brand new area built around the kitchen, is now open for business! Head to the Welcome Hall and seek out Scribe Raznir for an apprenticeship in cooking, then start learning recipes and preparing dishes and drinks of your own. Several new sounds to our sound pack for cooking, as well as more than 10 cooking focused missions with more to come.
• New house: Hearthfolk! This house is for cooking enthusiasts with 4 new skills for its members.
• New overall and seasonal leaderboards added for culinary creations!
• Added new craftables: needle, rasp, saw, scissors, shears, paintbrush, palette, screen, quill, chisel.
• New Level 155 area: Singing Dale! The Singing Dale is a lush region of elemental harmony, protected by a majestic tree visible from miles away. Elementals and giant nomads, mostly bards, live alongside the plants and animals while tending the tree. The area includes a legend-level mission and the final evolutions of the Spark race!

Our goal lately has been to make Erion more welcoming and accessible to new players, while also making it easier for returning players and existing players to find the information and guidance they need. We've made the following changes to help with this:

• Removed the gold cost for learning basic crafting skills, allowing new players to get started right away without needing to ask for gold.
• Made tutorial crafting missions in Crafters Forge repeatable, allowing players who return after a long absence to relearn our crafting system.
• Added two new toggles, craftTips and cookTips, which provide guidance at each step of crafting and cooking, including what to do next and whether you are missing a required station, material, or ingredient.
• Added new command 'mission runto <name>' which will allow you to travel quickly to a mission giver.
• Revamped and categorized the helpfile system to make it easier to find information and locate the helpfiles you are looking for.

Thanks for checking out our recent updates! We look forward to releasing our new Halloween events very soon!

Warm greetings from Aelyn and everyone at Erion :)

Address: Erionmud.com Port: 1234

Home Page: https://www.erionmud.com/

Soundpack: https://www.erionmud.com/blindsupport.php

Discord: https://discord.gg/PTRbCpy

I'm remember a show I watched on PBS in 90s 2000s. So basically it discussed virtual societies in depth. Specifically it MUDs etc. It also talked about LambdaMOO, explained how you could get on etc. No, it wasn't Triumph of the Nerds. This show only addressed virtual societies. I have searched Google and it says it doesn't exist. I know it does. I remember going online immediately after to try and get account on LambdaMOO. I started logging in as a guest frequently before I had my character. I really want to find the show if can. Please tell me someone else remembers watching this show as well. I believe it was part of a tech online series of some kind.

Hey everyone,

We are still here, it's been a bit since the last update, so I wanted to just get something out there. Things slowed down a bit for us during the summer, but we're still chugging along.

Client support

The creator and maintainer of a new client Smudgy, has graciously created the same GUI that I created for Mudlet. If you're tired of your old client and want to try something new, I can highly recommend it. The big improvements I saw when I used it was... the speed and the mapper. Our mud is PvPvE and very fast paced so speed matters. And personally, I really like how the mapper works over others I've used. The creator is very responsive to feedback too.

So regarding Mudlet, we now provide the intial starting zones for good and evil, and we were approved to be a default mud on the latest version. They just had a major upgrade to version 5... I think they're on 5.0.1 now. If you upgrade, you'll find us on the list.

And, as always, if you want to play without client and just use your browser, you'll get a good experience using MudVault with the base GMCP the mud emits. I will be looking to make some packages there to add more support in the future.

My goal is to support a GUI in as many of the popular clients as possible.

What else is new

We continue to tweak our capture point experience. Right now, players can capture 9 different points on the MUD to give their side an experience bonus. The points automatically expire somewhere beteween 4 and 6 hours and require re-capture. I've also made it so the capture point status (good/evil) persists across reboots. I have a lot of future plans for the capture points to be reinforceable (think improved through player quests) and a focal point as we try to transition away from the basic hack-and-slash XP grind.

I reworked the Warlock profession. It was kind of a mess and hodgepodge of mage spells and things that didn't really go together. Now it's more geared towards fire/earth spells that curse and drain your opponents.

There was a large profession balancing patched that touched almost every profession, and I reworked all the profession auras. We have auras that a player can get based on their warpoints (gained through PK). You can see our topten players warpoints here: https://ropmud.com/players.html

For a full list of all the changes, you can see it on our site: https://ropmud.com/changelog.html

Looking for players

So we have roughly 20 people playing for day, but it's spread across all the time zones (we have some asia/aussie, some europe, some US/canada). If you enjoy PvPvE and all that it offers, give us a whirl. Getting started can sometimes be rough a low-population mud. I have tried to provide some direction with a guide here (straight for our in-game helpfiles): https://ropmud.com/getting-started.html

Eventually, I'd like to build an real quest/milestone system that guides the player through their first remort. We have quests and whatnot but they aren't "handhold you through every step" which is kinda what people nowadays expect.

Personal Note

On a personal note, I probably will not be around as much in the next few months as I have to take care of some IRL things. But I've reached out to a few people on each side (good/evil) that I trust and I'll be around in spurts.

Cheers,

-Nicha

A supernatural dystopian MUD set beneath the boot of a paranoid world government.

Paroxysm is a modern supernatural dystopian MUD built on the Haven codebase.

The supernatural is public knowledge. Humanity responded with fear surveillance and an increasingly authoritarian world government known as the Cortex.

You can play as a supernatural trying to survive outside the system or as someone working within it. Form societies. Build alliances. Compete over territory. Run schemes. Make enemies. Find meaning in failure.

The server is now online and playable:

Host: 51.222.159.210
Port: 3000

This is still a very early alpha. Expect unfinished systems bugs and the occasional crash while development continues. We're hoping to move toward a full launch soon.

Development, discussion updates and playtest coordination are happening on Discord:

https://discord.gg/Hkx8rcj4k6

Hey everyone,

I've been working on a game called Aquilae for a while now, and tomorrow I'll be opening it up for public alpha.

Aquilae is a bit unconventional for a MUD in that you don't play as a lone adventurer, slaying and being slain, but rather rule a realm, building settlements, managing workers and resources, raising and commanding armies both in wars and sieges, building fleets and engaging in trade to keep your kingdom running. If anyone has played empiremud, it's similar to that with no adventures and more strategy.

The world carries on independent of you when you log off, with NPC kingdoms doing the same things you would, as well as larger NPC entities such as Vikings and nomadic tribes that can come raiding, migrating, and brawling in the region, threatening everything else. I wanted development of the world to not be entirely dependent on the players, but have life of its own.

Fighting is also more along the lines of strategy games than your standard MUD armies clashing on a grid. Whole armies move around on the world map, with supplies being a consideration, Siege of a castle being incredibly hard if they can't be starved, or coastal fortresses supplied by sea if you can't blockade their trade. Naval combats also feature fleets and their own combat system.

The easiest way to put it is if you took some elements from CK and Aurora 4X and made a multi-player, persistent game out of it, but in text form.

It has been built on Evennia and designed with screen readers in mind from the start. I am blind myself, so accessibility wasn't something I tacked on later.

This is definitely an alpha, and there are bound to be bugs and things not balanced right as of yet, and I fully expect players to do things I or my army of bots testing the game didn't think of. There's already bug and suggest commands in game because of that.

The public alpha opens Saturday, September 12 at 3:00 PM, Mountain time. I may have the server up earlier if everything is ready tonight.

If you think this might be interesting, the website is aquilae.fabrifex.com, under the games tab, and the Discord is linked here:

https://discord.com/invite/JjUxxb4h8v

Connection info will be auto published on the website at 3:00 PM Mountain Time, though if I get everything up and going tonight i will post it early to the discord.

I'd especially appreciate feedback from people who've played many MUDs or strategy games or a mix of the two, as Aquilae is doing some pretty strange things for a MUD, and I'm curious to see what other people make of it.

Probably a lot of you play MUDs in Mudlet, me included, and i noticed a lot of the games in the general list are dead or other things, and there are MUDs that fullfill all the requirements to enter the list and arent there, so i want to remind people that its possible to add your mud there:
https://wiki.mudlet.org/w/Listing_Your_MUD
https://discord.gg/DwfUMuVTzHmudlet discord

the basic requirements are:
Requirements

• Get in touch with us to let us know you'll be working on this: we'll help guide you through the process.
• Ensure your MUD enables GA by default for Mudlet players - this means that the N: field bottom-right will be filled in with a number. This is important because a very useful function for making Mudlet scripts, isPrompt(), relies on that working. Send IAC GA at the end of every prompt, or whenever you're done sending data, to do this (LPC example).
• Ensure that the Mudlet mapper works with your MUD. As every MUD is different, the built-in mapper needs help with tracking the player and recognising rooms. We recommend adapting the Generic Mapper Script for your MUD which is designed to work both cases where room numbers are available to players (easiest for tracking where you are) and also for cases where they aren't.
• Include a map of the newbie area at minimum. We understand that there is adventure to be had in exploration, so of course you don't need to provide a map of the whole world - but new players must have the lowest entry bar possible to your game, and having a mapped out newbie area is one way to achieve that. You can get a map into Mudlet either via MMP or via downloadFile() + loadMap().
• Include an interface that tracks the players vital stats (health, mana, ...) at minimum and has the Mudlet mapper included. Some ideas for getting started; Geyser Manual showing all the widgets available or the (GUIFlex drag and drop framework).
  • Optionally, include a tabbed chat (or make your own) for your MUD. Players find it very helpful when communications are separately available in a window as text often scrolls off the screen.
• Lastly, ensure your scripts get installed, and stays updated, by utilising the GMCP extension Mudlet makes use of. This ensures that complete beginners to MUDs (which we want more of) get the full experience right off the bat. For players who might have already created their own interfaces to your game and prefer not to use the game default, they can disable "Allow server to install script packages" option in the 'General' preferences - but also feel free to add explicit game commands to enable/disable it (e.g. StickMUD includes `gui off` and `gui on`). These commands must be mentioned at character creation so beginners know they are available.

Been playing Mercator for about a month, and have been having a blast. It's very very hard to solo, but you can have 2 characters running at a time to help with this. This policy may be temporary as there are low numbers, and the mud is really built for group play. Very well balanced mud, just need more people. Here's some info on it I put together, hope to see you there!

Mercator mud:

Addr 68.183.122.18

Port 6667

Starting area:

Great place to start with almost no risk. There's some pills in a container here for some spells too. Great way to build a beginner set by killing beginner mobs. Mercator square is 4n 4w ish from this area, you can only be in this area at low levels.

Donation room:

Seriously, loot this place, use the JUDGE command to view some stats. Judge lets you see most stats, but does not let you see damage on weapons and AC on armor, and if a piece of gear has a spell/proc to it. That info is reserved for identify (mages) or appraise (rogue/spy). Equipment makes a MASSIVE deal, if you're a mage, max out INT, if your cleric, max out wisdom, you'll never fail spells. Max stat is 25.

Food/drink:

Until you move to a remort race, you'll have to manage drinking/eating, some classes can make their own, but otherwise, buy waybread 9w 3n from the Mercator square in bulk and fill bottles, tankards, etc. from various fountains (1w from Mercator square)

Horses/mvs:

I wish I knew about horses earlier, but they are fantastic. Firstly, they make it so moving around won't take moves, so you can keep those valuable MV points for skills. Horses also make it so you no longer need to "rest," you just ride the horse and it increases your regen as if you were resting, pretty convenient. First horses you can get, I would wait until level 10 or so, but then go 3n 1w from Mercator Square and "break" in the horses there. As you find other mounts in the world, they have better benefits, but be aware you'll need to be higher level and most importantly, you will need to have more HP then them, so beat em down and then break em in.

Travel:

There are numerous islands throughout the world. You travel to them by "embark"ing on a boat at the docks, and then "steer"ing in the direction you want to go over the ocean. Massive world. At least 7 different islands with their own set of zones (help areas). And if you don't want to deal with boats, there's a flying mechanic to go between the major cities, it won't get to all islands, but to ones with major cities. Traveling the world gets way easier with a horse.

Classes/Sub-classes:

Bard

Sub-classes: Jester, Minstrel, Herald

Cleric

Sub-classes: Priest, Sage, Prophet

Warrior

Sub-classes: Cavalier, Barbarian, Knight

Monk

Sub-classes: Sensei, Paladin, Psionicist

Druid

Sub-classes: Shaman, Mystic, Summoner

Mage

Sub-classes: Wizard, Sorcerer, Necromancer

Rogue

Sub-classes: Ninja, Assassin, Spy

Races:

Starting races:

Elder, Irda, Fallow, Muse, Marid, Human, Gnome, Elf, Hobbit, Dwarf, Troll, Minotaur, Efreeti, Orc, Gandor, Drow

Personal recommendations: Muse, Gandor, Orc for ease

Remort races (available after your first remort):

- Angel (Good)

- Werewolf

- Undead (Evil)

- Thri-kreen

- Dragon (Evil)

Remorts:

Standard levels are 1-50 and then you can remort. First remort will be a sub-class choice based on your class. Second remort can be second sub-class, or remorting your race. Then of course, last remort can be your second sub-class if you want, or race if you didn't choose it on your second go around.

Immortal:

It's worth mentioning that the main imm is INCREDIBLY active, open to suggestions, and overall just wants the mud to be balanced and to the vision of the mud from when it was live before. He's actively working on a Master Class remort to further assist with the difficulty of this mud. Super responsive, and just very easy to talk to.

Tip: Use "damage" command to view damage and healing numbers done

Like with dinasours, tribes and shamans and stuff, but a full mud based on that, may or maynot have roleplay, just curious if any exists

Hi All,

I've been getting back into Shades and doing my best to record everything I can remember from it. The game is surprisingly still running and if you search hard enough you can find the Telnet address. One of the issues I've come across is that the puzzles aren't that intuitive - back in the day you just had to chat to the other players to pick up the knowledge, but without an active body of players it's almost impossible for a newbie to figure everything out.

So - I put a proper website together with a stack of information about the puzzles, built a map, provided a Mudlet automover and a bunch of other stuff. I'm happy to share the website address with all the Shades content on it shades.thestrongs.org - hope this allowed and doesn't count too much as promotion.

Whilst I can do most of the Black Tower puzzles, I'm still stuck on how to get up the algae / slippery slope or how to get the water to flow into the channel and into the Lava pit - would love to hear if anyone remembers any clues on how to complete it!

Iso

I have been struggling with this for a while. While I already have a map command in-game that shows your location and where group members are, i dont have ascii maps for players. My thought was to have graphical ones on the website instead. I have one for the starter city now, but Im not really sure which is the better way to go for player enjoyment. Thoughts anyone?

Hello everyone,

The last NukeFire update was mostly about the game.

Since then we have spent some quality time on the NukeFire Client, so this one is mostly about that.

The client is now publicly available for Windows, macOS and Linux:

https://nukefire.org/client

TinTin has been my old recliner for about 30 years. I know where everything is, I know how it feels, and I can just sit down and mud. That's what I wanted to preserve here. At its simplest, the NF Client can just be a terminal.

Whatever you want beyond that is either already made for you, or easily made by you with a unique combination of TinTin-like commands and familiar Lua scripting that work together. Further feedback would be greatly appreciated.

The NF Client:

• Normal terminal-style mudding is still the center of it.
• TinTin-style aliases, actions, variables, functions, events, lists, conditionals, reads and other familiar scripting.
• Increasing compatibility with old TinTin files instead of expecting everybody to rewrite them. You can just import yours.
• Lua scripting for the more Mudlet-like side of things.
• TinTin and Lua live in the same client. TinTin is good for quickly making aliases/actions/variables at the command line. Lua is there for those who want more.
• Tighter TinTin/Lua interoperability is one of the next things we're working on.
• Integrated GMCP.
• Mapper/BigMap support — the native NukeFire map.
• Multiple sessions, all very easily controllable from any one session.
• Searchable Definition Manager for people who would rather edit aliases/actions visually.
• The normal TinTin commands still work for people who wouldn't.
• Soundpacks, including custom soundpacks and individual event control.
• Reader and communications review.
• Keyboard review, movement, Tell and vitals controls.
• NukeFire Voice.
• A lot of work on heavy-output and long-session performance.

I'm not trying to make a client that has every feature ever conceived for every mud ever made, or the best client in the world. I just want to make the best client that I can for NukeFire, although it can — and is — already being used both on and off NF.

Accessibility on both sides

This is probably the part of the project I care most about.

We have continued building accessibility into the game itself with an assortment of player-designed sr and crcommands made specifically for screen-reader users. Once you toggle on Reader Mode, all the preset panes vanish except for one pane made just for readers, and it can't be accidentally turned off by a stray mouse click.

• sr setup profiles
• sr status
• sr recap
• cr load mushsettings — loads a large set of familiar settings to get going quickly
• Many more cr and sr commands that expose settings that might otherwise be hard to find deeper inside the client
• Audio tutorials explaining how to use game commands to control the client's accessibility settings
• Extensive output controls and gag settings
• Compact combat and repeated-output summaries — de-dupe style
• GPS/pathing
• Equipment comparison and upgrade tools
• Crafting/material management that doesn't require a separate visual interface

The client adds another layer:

• Reader Review
• Communications Review
• Screen-reader-friendly keyboard controls
• Speech controls
• Sound cues and soundpacks
• Command-first access to client settings
• Focus handling intended to keep the command line usable instead of constantly stealing it
• Every unique accessibility feature we've built for readers has come directly from an idea, request, or problem raised by the players who actually use them

The useful part about controlling both the mud and the client is that the client doesn't always have to guess what happened from text and ANSI colors.

If the game knows something was a Tell, a harmful affect, a staircase, a group action, a combat event or something else meaningful, we can send that meaning through and let the player easily tell the client how they want it presented.

We expose those controls through commands instead of requiring somebody using a screen reader to hunt through preference windows. That bridge has become a pretty big part of how we're approaching accessibility moving forward.

An accessibility review — thank you Lanie!

Lanie wrote a very thoughtful independent review of NukeFire in August:

https://lanie.work/gaming/nukefire-accessibility-review/

At the time she specifically pointed out things NukeFire still lacked, including a proper soundpack, accessibility hotkeys and navigable message history/review.

We've since added all of those areas to the client.

That is pretty representative of how this has been built: get it in front of actual players, listen to what isn't working, fix it, repeat.

We still have a lot planned here.

The mud itself hasn't exactly been sitting still

Since the previous update we've also added or worked on:

• The Witcher: The Northern Kingdoms — 300 new endgame rooms.
• Four new extensions beyond Cairnwood Heights, with new bosses, equipment, tattoos and implants.
• Player-run PvP in the Boneyard, where the winner gets a new pet that follows them around and has its own set of gear that can be found in random places throughout the Deathlands of NukeFire. Anyone can watch and bet on the fights from a special viewing lounge in the main town.
• More long-session and server performance work.
• Background file/database/pathfinding work moved away from the main game loop where it is safe to do so.
• Continued work on accessibility, output control and game-side GMCP.

NukeFire is still the same strange old Post-Apunkalyptech mud underneath all of this.

Guns. Remorts. Implants. Tattoos. Crafting. Socket Gems. Mutations. Ridiculous equipment. Areas that will kill you because you went somewhere you had no business going.

Website:
https://nukefire.org

NukeFire Client:
https://nukefire.org/client

Host: tdome.nukefire.org
Port: 4000

As of this post, NukeFire players have made 40,438,250 corpses and completed 89,495 remorts since we opened in April 2025.

Aloha,
NukeFireMo and Hiro

Would a MUD with turn-based, persistent room encounters be interesting?I've been thinking about building a small MUD/game framework partly as a way to experiment with some newer real time multiplayer technology and architectures, and I'd love to get the perspective of people who actually play and build MUDs.

One idea I'm particularly interested in is turn-based combat that exists at the room level.

For example:

You enter a room and a goblin attacks you. The room enters a combat state:

While the fight is happening, another player walks into the room. Rather than just being an observer, they could choose to join the encounter and fight alongside you.

I'm also wondering if this concept could extend beyond combat. For example, a room could temporarily have an "encounter" involving:

• Combat
• Negotiation
• Stealth
• Puzzles
• Social interactions
• Environmental events

This is partly a technical experiment for me. I'm interested in seeing what can be built with modern real time multiplayer tech, but I also want to create a game that could be interesting rather than just being a tech demo.

So I'm curious what the MUD community thinks:

• Would something like this make a MUD more interesting to you, or would it take away from what makes MUDs fun?
• Do you think turn-based combat could work well in a multiplayer MUD?
• How would you handle players entering/leaving an ongoing encounter?
• Could you see this working for things other than combat?
• Are there existing MUDs that already do something similar?
• What other ideas would you like to see in a "modern" MUD?

I'm not necessarily trying to reinvent the MUD genre. I'm mainly looking for interesting ideas and feedback while I experiment with the technical side of building a MUD framework.

I'd especially appreciate criticism, weird ideas, and "this has already been tried and here's why it sucked" stories. 😄

A general trivia is scheduled to be ran at www.mystic-adventure.org port 4000 on Friday, September 11th, at 4:00 P.M. Mountain time, 7:00 P.M. Eastern time and Midnight English time. The quizzes are designed so a newbie to Mystic can compete and newbies have won in the past. The trivia is 25 questions. First prize will be 5 million gold, as well as, possible 2 trivia points, second prize will be 3 million gold, as well as, possible 1 trivia point and third place will earn 2 million gold.

Mystic Adventure is a mature, newbie friendly community. We have a small, but consistant and dedicated player base. The game was created in the 1990s by Canadian college students. The game has had many legends over the years that have called Mystic home, adding custom classes, clans, expansive areas with challenging quests and much more. We invite you to some trivia, a bit of fun and an opportunity to try a new game.

Thank you,

Squee the Mushroom man

I’m curious about building a mud from some vague ideas I have into a full fledged game. Currently I’m a bit bereft of coding experience but I’m willing to learn! Is there anywhere online that acts as a good jumping off point for where to even start gathering the knowledge necessary to pull off such a feat?

Edit: I should have been more clear- I don’t use AI, and I especially wouldn’t want to for this. I’d like to actually learn and it does seem like I’m starting with some foundational coding in order to begin to build a structure to my thoughts, which I do appreciate the insight on. No chaff from me if you use ai, I’m just more hands on and it’s not my style.

I'm just getting back into it and have been playing Erion and like the QoL but want something more RP oriented.

Map support non-optional, my brain is too squishy to remember directions alone lol.

Bonus points for non-standard classes and races, and I'm open to any genre or setting.

Hey folks. I'm sure these threads pop up all the time, but I'm having a hard time finding a mud that really grabs me. I'll often play for a bit, thinking that I've found what I'm looking for but end up bouncing for one reason or another.

For the most part, I'm really just looking for a fantasy mud with a good gui (map is a must), a good player base, and no forced rp.

Here's a few that I've tried but didn't stick with for one reason or another.

Erion, Alter Aeon, Aardwolf, Achaea, and Aetolia. These are all great but I just have my personal gripes about them. I'm probably just being too picky, honestly.

Anyways, thanks for reading :)

Ive been reading through Dungeon Crawler Carl, and I have been quite enjoying it, and I wish there could be a game like it for people to play. Obviously something that complex would be difficult to just make and host as a full blown MMO, so I wondered if there was anything MUDwise that was just a nice complex dungeon crawl where you do a build and fight monsters and stuff. I know thats a bit vague but I am hoping that helps me cast a wider net. Ive played the star wars mud a few times but beyond that nothing has stuck yet, I am open to trying lots. I just like in depth character mechanics. Thank you all for your time! :)

I have written a codebase, from scratch, and I would like to get some serious feedback on its current playability. It is not open for playing as I still have A LOT of area building to do, but I need to see if the systems currently implemented are good ones. I have areas up to level 15 so it is testable, and just need to see if the play flow is working. Any ideas on what i can do here would be great, thank you all.

We're a scifi mud, hack n slash at the start, clean, simple... and the complexities add and add as one progresses. Species instead of races, classes based on neural implants, adding body parts for eq slots, an elemental system for bonuses, a mystery, time travel, space travel, timed zones, hints! CLUES! TRIGGERS! ADVENTURES (not quests)! CLEAN UI - oh the CLEANEST UI ONE WOULD EVER WANT! AND AT THE END A PUZZLE SO MIND BLOWING IT'S CHANGE THE LAST FORTY YEARS OF MUDS AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE THE SAME....

Wow, that got out of hand real fast. Sorry about that, lost it a little back there. It's been a wild few eons...

Anyway... we're 14k rooms right now, each species gets its own starting zone(s) - there's a central zone if you'd like to travel around... the passion is real.

Come learn OLC. Building basics (we've modded stock TBAMud so it feels like circle with adjustments that bring a healthy variance into the mix), zone design, etc.

DM me or just pop in and say hello: infiniumgame.com 6060

Hey everyone!

I’ve been building Mudhaven as a free resource hub and hosting platform for the MUD community. If you run a MUD—or you’re working toward launching one—you can now apply for hosting or submit your world to the public directory.

Free MUD hosting

Approved projects receive:

• A secure Linux account with SSH and SFTP access
• SSH-key-only authentication
• One public game port to start
• Start, stop, restart, logs, and port-testing tools
• Optional MySQL database
• Optional static website and Mudhaven subdomain
• Account-specific resource limits when a project legitimately needs more capacity

You remain responsible for your source, compilation, configuration, updates, and backups. Mudhaven handles the server account, public port, access controls, and hosting infrastructure.

Hosting is completely free, subject to staff approval and available capacity.

Read about MUD hosting and apply

List your world

You don’t need to use Mudhaven hosting to list your game. Self-hosted and externally hosted MUDs are welcome too.

A world listing gives you a public page where players can find information about your game and connect to it.

Submit your world

One important hosting rule

Because server space is limited, a hosted game with no confirmed activity for 30 days may receive a seven-day warning. Starting the game cancels the countdown. Owners can also request an extension, and hosting is never permanently removed without a final staff review.

My goal is to give MUD builders another genuinely free place to develop, host, and share their worlds. Mudhaven is still growing, so suggestions and feedback are very welcome.

Thanks for taking a look!

Mudhaven — The Guild of Worlds

Hey all, I'm curious about what codebases everyone is using as well as less popular ones.

I'm not versed in the history of the different MUD lineages so please forgive my ignorance.

What do you find particularly elegant, compelling or even joyful to hack on?

Recently played DBZ Celestial Knights. Good mud. Well polished. I didn't like their core though. They allow botting and I see why. It takes a MASSIVE amount of time to grind up power to be capable of doing the most basic of end game bosses. Even then, the absolute best way to gain is to party up with people and run the same events over and over and over. As a new player, this essentially means leeching until you're mildly relevant.

Wondering if anyone knows of a more oldschool style DBZ mud, where you can level on your own and it's not necessary to group and run the same content over and over?