Multi User Games

It's been quite a while since I last wrote anything about the Multi-User comms scene, but here we go again with a whirlwind round-up of some of the more important news that has happened over the past few months...

Gods

Gods is still up and running, but there seem to have been few major changes of late. Both TinyMUD and Future Life have no guest slot (bad marketing move), thus requiring either beating a friend with an account into letting you use it to see them, spending money before you find out what they are like, or (more likely) forgetting it altogether.

IOWA - Front end

The high speed modems are installed on the (0883) 744044 line, and support 300 - 2400 baud. If you are using 1200/75, please try and call the (0883) 744164 number first, so as not to unnecessarily tie up a high speed line.

IOWA - Chaos

There have been a number of changes in Chaos recently (one of which resulted in the demise of the persona log, whoops), and the system is slowly being developed to provide more interest. Recent additions include a reset system so objects will be sprinkled about the land regularly, and (still being written) a combat system so players can whack each other to their hearts content!

IOWA- Quest

Quest is currently unavailable due to the demise of the machine it was running on. At the moment there seem no plans to bnng it back.

IOWA- Prodigy

Parody has been replaced by Prodigy, an all-new version of the game, running on a faster machine, and in a new language that is much more flexible, and provides many more features than the old Parody system. As well as on-line location and object editing, the new system allows for game code to be written and compiled without shutting the game down, and so puzzles etc. can be added whilst play continues. On the game side, although the basic system remains much the same, there have been many addditions: including a skill system, gold coins, potions, a class-guild structure to encourage a bit of inter-class rivalry, plus more puzzles and locations.

The Void

A couple of new realms have been added to The Void, as well as additional puzzles in some of the existing ones. The front end has been tweaked: including the addition of ctrl-r to redisplay the last game message, and your command line. The sexual trivia machine is in, and you can watch someone else playing it. Players can have two 'examine descriptions', one for when they are dressed, and one for when they are undressed.

Synergy - Front end

Synergy is currently front endless, due to a number of hardware failures, and currently players are routed direct to Avalon on connecting, the front end features therefore not being available. All the modems are now Miracom WS3000's, supporting all baud rates up to 2400 bps. All 8 lines should now be operational.

Synergy - Avalon

Charging has been altered a number of times, but currently stands at a basic rate of SOp an hour to play. Buying credits in bulk leads to a reduction, down to 25p an hour if enough credits are purchased. New players get 3 hours time to play and get to know the system.

All in all, the MUG scene, whilst alive, seems to be fairly quiet at the moment, perhaps because of the "back to university" scene, or because of British Telecom's continual 'war' against realistic phone call prices.

JUST IN:
News has just reached me of the demise of Micronet, could this be the end of MNet Shades?

BLANE BRAMBLE

Richard A. Bartle (richard@mud.co.uk)
21^st January 1999: tmaut91.htm