 |
Rorso
Wizard
Joined: 14 Oct 2000
Posts: 1368
|
 Posted: Thu Feb 16, 2006 2:27 pm
Chiara and MUD
|
This is probably an odd thread :), however I doubt I am the only one that's curious. Has Chiara finally entered the world of MUDding? Zugg I think you have a very "unique" chance to observe someone who is new to the genre. It might show such things as how a MUD and your client works together to help the player.
If you look at zMUD it is in many ways a very advanced program in the sense that to use it properly you need to have a rough idea how programming works. If you look at a MUD it is a quite advanced game. You have to get "into the game" to be able to enjoy it which means a large amount of commands needs to be learnt. There's probably a lot of work that could be done in both clients and servers here.
It is amazing how something that can be so difficult to fully master can become so fun to play :). |
|
|
|
|
Chiara
Site Admin
Joined: 29 Sep 2000
Posts: 389
Location: USA
|
Posted: Fri Feb 17, 2006 3:46 pm
|
Yes, I'm starting to MUD. (Using zMUD goes without saying.)
More importantly, yes, Zugg is listening to my comments, discussing the things that are hard for me and how to make them better, and he's getting my feedback on subsequent changes to CMUD. We talk about which features will help me, and how to make them easy for a regular newbie to find.
The goal is to have a beginners tutorial put together as soon as I feel that I know enough to write one!
| Quote: |
| If you look at zMUD it is in many ways a very advanced program in the sense that to use it properly you need to have a rough idea how programming works. |
Not necessarily. I am not a programmer. Believe it or not I'm not a computer geek of any kind. I am a technical writer.
Possibly I won't ever be able to use the full scripting capabilities available in zMUD. That doesn't mean it isn't a very worthwhile tool, and I think with a good tutorial, I can explain the very basics of scripting to someone who knows no programming. Things like the mapper, the simple connection process, the split screen and scroll back buffer, all make zMUD very valuable to the very new player. The trick is just to make them easier to find. That's my job this spring while Zugg puts together CMUD.
And yes, Zugg has already seen something to recommend to the MUD admin to help the newbie players get more out of the experience.
It isn't common knowledge, but for those who are curious, despite most of my friend base having been gamers to a greater or lesser degree since High School, I have never been a gamer myself.
2 years ago, Zugg got me involved in a D&D game with an excellent GM, and it turns out I love the role playing aspect, but not so much the mechanics. So he's tracked down a MUD with a good role playing reputation (not telling yet!) and that's where I'm starting my MUD experience. |
|
|
|
|
Rainchild
Wizard
Joined: 10 Oct 2000
Posts: 1551
Location: Australia
|
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 4:57 am
|
The real question is do you get some super-l337 'diretors cut' version of zMUD, or did Zugg make you buy a plebs version like the rest of us? :)
It's good to see another soul pulled into the dark side that is the MUD community ;) |
|
|
|
|
Chiara
Site Admin
Joined: 29 Sep 2000
Posts: 389
Location: USA
|
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 8:51 pm
|
I use the same version of zMUD as everyone else, but my help file is better. ;)
|
|
|
|
|
MattLofton
GURU
Joined: 23 Dec 2000
Posts: 4834
Location: USA
|
Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2006 10:27 pm
|
You mean he's not even letting you use CMUD yet?!
|
|
_________________
EDIT: I didn't like my old signature |
 |
|
|
Slaem
Apprentice
Joined: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 135
|
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 9:26 am
|
| Rainchild wrote: |
The real question is do you get some super-l337 'diretors cut' version of zMUD, or did Zugg make you buy a plebs version like the rest of us? :)
|
Funny! I almost snorted Dr Pepper out my nose when I read that! |
|
|
|
|
Chiara
Site Admin
Joined: 29 Sep 2000
Posts: 389
Location: USA
|
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:43 pm
|
If CMUD were to a state where I could use it, you guys would already have it!
|
|
|
|
|
slicertool
Magician
Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 459
Location: USA
|
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 3:57 pm
|
| Chiara wrote: |
| 2 years ago, Zugg got me involved in a D&D game with an excellent GM, and it turns out I love the role playing aspect, but not so much the mechanics. So he's tracked down a MUD with a good role playing reputation (not telling yet!) and that's where I'm starting my MUD experience. |
a mud with a very good role playing reputation? well, I can narrow things down for everyone else. She's not on my mud ;) |
|
|
|
|
Zugg
MASTER
Joined: 25 Sep 2000
Posts: 23379
Location: Colorado, USA
|
Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 8:41 pm
|
Chiara's playing experience has helped me with some of the new user interface for CMUD, but most of what CMUD offers is beyond the level that Chiara is currently playing at. She doesn't really care about stuff like shared scripting libraries or compiled scripts at this point. So the stuff she is using is almost identical between CMUD and zMUD.
And Chiara is exactly right...as soon as CMUD is really useable, you guys will have a chance to play with it :) I'll post something in the ETA thread with a few more details on where I am with CMUD right now. |
|
|
|
|
Rorso
Wizard
Joined: 14 Oct 2000
Posts: 1368
|
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:22 pm
|
| Zugg wrote: |
Chiara's playing experience has helped me with some of the new user interface for CMUD, but most of what CMUD offers is beyond the level that Chiara is currently playing at. She doesn't really care about stuff like shared scripting libraries or compiled scripts at this point. So the stuff she is using is almost identical between CMUD and zMUD.
And Chiara is exactly right...as soon as CMUD is really useable, you guys will have a chance to play with it :) I'll post something in the ETA thread with a few more details on where I am with CMUD right now. |
It'll be fun to try break CMUD apart and attempt to make it crash/misbehave  .
I find it suspicios that Chiara doesn't care about shared scripting libraries yet as it could help her get started with the MUD. Surely someone has created a library with buttons and context menus to make it easier to learn to play?  |
|
|
|
|
Chiara
Site Admin
Joined: 29 Sep 2000
Posts: 389
Location: USA
|
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 4:46 pm
|
| Quote: |
| I find it suspicios that Chiara doesn't care about shared scripting libraries yet as it could help her get started with the MUD. Surely someone has created a library with buttons and context menus to make it easier to learn to play? |
Actually, just the opposite. I struggle with information overload just paying attention to the feedback from the mud and figuring out the typing commands. Anything else would be too much.
I'm actually a great newbie test subject, because gaming is hard for me. Anything that helps me should be practially intuitive for someone with more aptitude! |
|
|
|
|
Zugg
MASTER
Joined: 25 Sep 2000
Posts: 23379
Location: Colorado, USA
|
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 6:37 pm
|
| Quote: |
| Surely someone has created a library with buttons and context menus to make it easier to learn to play? |
Since nobody can use the script library yet, there isn't anything for Chiara to use. Once CMUD is released, then I expect some people to create such packages to make things easier.
However, Chiara is right...for a brand new user, even knowing that they need to look into a "package library" is pretty complicated, and you can just imagine how overwhelming such a library is going to end up being. Finding a package that works on your specific MUD might also be tricky.
So the package library is still a feature for intermediate users I'm afraid. The only thing that can help a brand new user is if they use one of the pre-defined MUD icons and get some packages loaded by default from those icons. |
|
|
|
|
slicertool
Magician
Joined: 09 Oct 2003
Posts: 459
Location: USA
|
Posted: Thu Mar 16, 2006 7:16 pm
|
possibly an extra field when submitting the packages into the zuggsoft.com library is what host and port number they're using that package on.
If I'm mudding on zuggmud.net port 1234 and sumit a package, then somewhere in the properties of that package online, it would have that info... so J Random User on zuggmud.net port 1234 upgrades to Cmud and has a package lookup where they can check by mud... tada, a match.
The package may be something that would work on any mud anywhere, but that's for a different search lookup. |
|
|
|
|
xenapan
Wanderer
Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 68
|
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 5:17 am
|
Now im wondering.. what does Chiara play? and does zugg still play? (i know he used to play on RoD the the only MUD i play)
|
|
_________________
Player on Realms of Despair. realms.game.org port 4000. Join us today! |
|
|
|
Taz
GURU
Joined: 28 Sep 2000
Posts: 1395
Location: United Kingdom
|
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 12:11 pm
|
| Quote: |
| Surely someone has created a library with buttons and context menus to make it easier to learn to play? |
Perhaps some time into the beta something like that will be created and perhaps it could be included as a default package for a brand new mud session. |
|
_________________
Taz :) |
|
|
|
Zugg
MASTER
Joined: 25 Sep 2000
Posts: 23379
Location: Colorado, USA
|
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2006 7:40 pm
|
The packages already have a space for the name of the MUD. There is a "Category" field and a "MUD Name" field. You can group the list by either of these fields, or filter the list by these fields. I decided to go with the MUD name since ports and hosts can change. For example, the MUD Connector list key field is the name of the MUD, so it already must be unique to be in that list.
You can also assign a blank value to the MUD field and then it will show up when filtering for "any" MUD. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
