MUD
- Before the internet, the popular text-based computer game “Zork”) let single players fight monsters in randomly populated “dungeons”.
- With the advance of computer networking, multi-player variants named “Multi-User Dungeons” were created, or “MUDs”.
- Today the term is used for all kinds of text-based multi-player games, whether their setting might be medieval fantasy, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, horror or something else.
- Other variants of text-based communities are called MUSH, MUX, MOO etc. - but because the lines between these “MU*” can be blurry, and
/notes/mu*
doesn’t make for a good URL, my note here is about all of the mentioned variants.
Resources
Social
Server listings
- GameScry
- Grapevine
- The Mud Connector
- Mudhalla
- MUDStats.Com
- MudVerse
- MUNexus
- Top Mud Sites - not updated since 2022-09-11
Clients
- Mudlet - [Windows](…/Microsoft Windows/), macOS, Linux
- MUSHclient - [Windows](…/Microsoft Windows/)
- TinTin++ - console app for Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, [Windows](…/Microsoft Windows/)
- Mudslinger - web-based
- MudRammer - iOS
- Fado - Android
Games
- 3Kingdoms - cross-genre (fantasy, sci-fi, “chaos”/satire)
- 3Scapes
- Aabahran
- Aardwolf
- Accursed Lands
- After the Plague
- Akanbar - fantasy
- ArcticMud - Dragonlance setting
- Alter Aeon - fantasy
- Ansalon - Dragonlance setting
- Apocalypse MUD
- ArmageddonMUD - closed since 2024
- Arx
- Atharia
- Avendar - RP, PK
- AwakeMUD - Shadowrun
- BatMUD
- Carrion Fields - fantasy, PK
- Celestial Knights - Dragonball Z, established 2023-07
- Chronicles of Krynn - Dragonlance
- The Cleft of Dimensions
- CLOK
- CoffeeMud
- Cosmic Rage - space
- CyberASSAULTMUD - post-apocalyptic
- CyberSphere
- Dark Legacy
- Dark & Shattered Lands
- Dark Risings
- Deeper Trouble - down?
- Discworld Mud
- Disquiet
- Dune MUD
- DurisMUD - PvP
- Elephant
- Ember Online - custom client only
- EmpireMUD
- Erion Mud
- The Eternal City
- EverWar - down?
- Exile
- Federation 2 - space trading
- Forgotten Kingdoms - Forgotten Realms (D&D); RP
- The Gathering
- Geas
- Genesis MUD
- God Wars 2 - down?
- Harshlands
- Haven of The Embraced - gothic horror
- Heroes Assemble MUSH - superheroes
- Iberia MUD
- Infernomoo - post-apocalyptic
- The Inquisition
- By Iron Realms Entertainment
- Islands of Myth
- The Last Outpost
- Legacy of the Sith - Star Wars
- Legends and Legacies - superheroes MUSH
- Legends of Kallisti
- Legends of Terris
- Legends of the Jedi - Star Wars
- Lensmoor
- Liberation MUSH - World of Darkness setting
- Lost Souls - medieval fantasy
- Lost Wishes
- Materia Magica
- Medieval Times
- Medievia
- Midnight, Equestria - ponies, horses, unicorns
- 🇩🇪 MorgenGrauen
- Multi Users of Middle Earth - Lord of the Rings
- Multiverse Crisis MUSH
- Mystic Adventure
- New Moon - down?
- New Worlds Ateraan
- Nightmist
- Nukefire - post-apocalyptic
- Procedural Realms - exploration and survival
- Prometheus Eternal Wars - space
- Realm of Magic
- Realms of Despair - medieval fantasy
- RetroMUD
- Shattered - post-apocalyptic, RP
- Shattered Kingdoms
- Silent Heaven
- By [Simutronics](…/Simutronics Corp./)
- DragonRealms
- [GemStone IV](…/GemStone IV/)
- SlothMUD
- Solar Eclipse
- Song of Avaria - fantasy, closed alpha
- StickMUD
- The UnOfficial SquareSoft MUD - combat-oriented MUD based on Squaresoft games
- Sundering Shadows
- TempusMUD - time travel
- Torchship - post-apocalyptic
- Toril - Forgotten Realms
- Todrael’s Lair - guides and maps
- United Heroes MUSH
- Untold Dawn - post-cyberpunk, RP, established 2024
- Viking MUD
- Waterdeep
- Wheel of Time
- ZombieMUD - medieval fantasy
Protocols / Standards
- RFC 855: Telnet Option Specifications
- Generic Mud Communication Protocol (GMCP)
- Uses Telnet code 201
- Mudlet tutorial - last updated 2013-02
- Mudlet thread
- TinTin++ documentation
- MUSHclient documentation
- Iron Realms documentation
- Map protocol (MMP)
- MUD Client Media Protocol (MCMP)
- Achaea Telnet Client Protocol (ATCP)
- Developed in 2008
- Uses Telnet code 200
- Replaced by GMCP
- Mud Server Data Protocol (MSDP)
- Developed in 2009
- Mud Client Compression Protocol (MCCP)
- Mud Master Chat Protocol (MMCP)
- Aardwolf channel 102
Server software
- AresMUSH - Ruby, EmberJS
- CoffeeMud - Java
- DikuMUD - [C](…/C (programming language)/)
- Evennia - Django (Python)
- FutureMUD - [[C Sharp|C#]]
- PennMUSH - [C](…/C (programming language)/), MUSHCode
- Ranvier - Node.js
- RhostMUSH - [C](…/C (programming language)/)
- TinyMUX - C++
- WrittenRealms - SaaS