This may be of interest to folks here. The UK newspaper The Guardian ran an in depth story yesterday about the Discworld MUD game. This MUD was created in 1991 and is still going strong, presenting a multi player interactive fiction / text adventure / roleplaying game version of Terry Pratchett’s fictional Discworld.
I found it particularly interesting reading how they extend the world, and some of the creative choices they make. There are a lot of overlaps in coding between MUDs and other forms of interactive fiction. I coded in a LPMUD in the early 1990s, and still have my game code, and have used it for a number of Inform 7 games.
It’s also really interesting to read more about the community aspect of the game.
Enjoy! And if you want to check out Discworld MUD it’s freely available online. A pure text based retro gaming experience.
Despite being a huge Pratchett fan at the time, I don’t think I really spent any (much?) time on the Discworld MUD.
Both of the two main MUDs/MUSHes that I played over SuperJANET back in the 1990s are still online. When I tried them a while ago my account was still there on UglyMUG and I could even visit all my old rooms. Sadly, the other one I spent hours on, EleMUD had been developed so much in the intervening years that it was unrecognisable and I got no hint of nostalgia visiting it.
Me too! However I’m aiming to give it a proper go when I get time. I’ve got my MUD client ready and the address. Just need good time. But will be doing it! I’m currently rereading the Witches books in Discworld, and yesterday got my signed copy of PA Rob’s new biography of Terry. So I’m very much in the Discworld mood!
I was saying on Twitter, the Discworld MUD is so much more densely described than any other MUD I’ve played. It’s not IF, it’s still much more about the mechanics than the story (and like any MUD a lot of it is geared towards the people who have been playing for years or decades). But there’s so much flavor text and random room events: you can spend hours or even days just walking around looking at things.
Listen to the round-earthers ranting on their soapboxes; resist CMOT Dibbler’s sales pitch, observe the uncannily-intelligent cockroaches or the antics of the wizards around the Unseen University; walk warily past the Alchemist’s Guild lest it get blown up yet again by over-eager experimenters; take a stroll on the less-liquid parts of the Ankh river; ride a carriage out to the Ramtops and see if Granny Weatherwax is home; that kind of thing?
I spent way too much time on Discworld mud way back when. It’s fantastic. Sadly my characters will be long gone now as I think they delete them after a while if you don’t log in.
