MUD FAQ part 2 Hat

2.10. What different servers are available?

There are probably as many MUD server types as there are MUDs. Since everyone has their own opinions as to what MUDs should be like, and since the server source can be edited, most MUDs have site-specific fixtures in them. However, there are a few main protoMUDs (also called 'vanilla versions' because they haven't been 'flavored' yet). Note that this list is not complete, and that it may contain errors in fact or judgement, but is deemed pretty much right as of this writing. Corrections/additions to jds@math.okstate.edu are welcomed.

There are essentially three groups of muds:

  • Combat-oriented MUDs (LP/Diku/etc, originally)
  • Social-oriented MUDs (TinyMUD & its descendants, etc)
  • Miscellaneous (mixture of the above, or hard to classify)

The majority of the muds in the miscellaneous category are not combat-oriented muds at all, and indeed many take after TinyMUD in most things. However, as these muds are not a direct derivative of the original TinyMUD code, I've stuck them in their own category. The authors listed for each server are very probably not the people currently working on that code. To find out who's currently in charge of the code, either ftp the latest version and look for a README file, or ask around.

A note on the term combat-oriented: this generally means that combat is an inherent part of the culture of the mud. A flight-simulator could be called a combat-oriented game, just as truely as your typical shoot-em-up game could be. A social-oriented mud has a different focus, one dependent either on roleplaying social interactions (which MAY include combat!), or on not roleplaying at all, but merely talking with friends or other such benign things. It should be emphasized that simply because a given server is listed in the combat-oriented area, it does not necessarily follow that it must be a combat-oriented MUD. Most servers are fairly flexible, and can be used for social and combat uses alike, as well as for business and education. These categories are getting rather dated, and may be changed at some point in the future for ones that make more sense.

Detailed listings of the following servers are below. Directions for how to ftp and unarchive servers can be found at the end of this FAQ.

Combat-Oriented MUDs
MUD, AberMUD, LPMUD, DGD, DikuMUD, YAMA, UriMUD, Ogham, CircleMUD, AmigaMUD, Realms

Social-Oriented MUDs
TinyMUD, TinyMUCK v1.*, TinyMUSH, PennMUSH, AlloyMUSH, TinyMUCK v2.*, TinyMUSE, TinyMAGE, MUG, TeenyMUD, TinyMUX

Misc MUDs
UberMUD, MOO, LambdaMOO, SMUG, UnterMUD, Mordor, COOLMUD


Combat-Oriented MUDs

MUD
The original, by Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw, written back in 1978. An advanced version of MUD1 is now running on CompuServe under the name of "British Legends". The only MUD2 still running is at Iplay Online at iplay.interplay.com. Source generally not available.

This posting has been generated as a public service, but is still copyrighted 1996 by Jennifer Smith. If you have any suggestions, questions, additions, comments or criticisms concerning this posting, contact Jennifer Smith, aka Moira (jds@math.okstate.edu). Other Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) postings contain information on MUDs, MUDding, and RWHO. While these items aren't necessary, they are quite useful. I'd also like to thank cthonics (felixg@coop.com) for his help in writing these FAQs, IronThoughts and Tarrant for their help, and everyone else for helpful comments and suggestions. Last but not least, a special thanks goes out to Richard Bartle, for getting MUDs started in the first place.

The most recent versions of these FAQs are archived on ftp.math.okstate.edu in pub/muds/misc/mud-faq, plus on rtfm.mit.edu in the news.answers archives. HTML-ized versions are available at URL http://www.math.okstate.edu/~jds/mudfaqs.html. Have fun! -
Moira

Richard A. Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk)
21st January 1999: mudfaq2.htm