MUD = what it stands for, history
Mark Boltz
The History of (Aber)MUD
by Richard Bartle
Alan Cox
ed. Mark Boltz
It was early spring of 1979. Roy Trubshaw began writing the first
MUD (Multi-User Dungeon; NOT Multiple User Dungeon, or Multi-User
Dimensions) at Essex University in the UK. The original programming
language of the game was MACRO-10 (machine code for the DEC-10s).
The game was originally little more than a series of inter-connected
locations where you could move and chat. Roy rewrote it almost
immediately, and the next version, also in MACRO-10, was much more
sophisticated. The database was defined in a separate file, but it
could also be added to during play. However, the result was that people
added new rooms that were completely out of keeping with the rest of
the environment, and worse, added new commands that removed any spirit
of exploration and adventure that the game may have had.
In those days, memory was at a premium, and on Essex University's
DEC-10, there was only 50K available to use. The game definition took
up too much memory, so Roy decided to ditch it. The program was also
becoming unmanageable, as it was written in assembler. Hence, he
rewrote everything in BCPL, starting in late 1979, and working up to
about Easter of 1980. The finished product was the heart of the system
which many people came to believe was the "original" MUD. In fact, it
was version three.
Richard Bartle had been helping with the game-side of things for some
time, starting with suggestions for version 1. Roy was mainly inter-
ested in the programming side of things, rather than the design of rooms
and puzzles and so on. When he left Essex, Richard took over control.
At that point there was no objective for players, and only primitive
communication. There was no point-scoring system, no mobiles, no
containers, and even some of the infrastructure was missing (eg. two
people in a dark room, one with a torch; the other still couldn't see).
In terms of line code, Roy had left Richard with about 25% of the final
program (the most essential 25%). Richard added the part about becoming
wizard (previously only for debugging).
Roy's reasons for writing MUD were twofold: to make a multi-player
adventure game, and to write an interpreter for a database definition
language. The language he developed was rather crude, and Richard had
a bit of hacking to do to have it do what he wanted. This was partly
because Roy didn't know what would be needed from a game-design
perspective, and partly because the multi-user aspect came to dominate
the project. However, the core of the database definition language
(MUD definition language - MUDDL), was all Roy's.
Although Roy had written the basis of the system, it really wasn't
a game, nor was it completely usable. The greatest portion of the
original *game* was written by Richard Bartle, although Roy is the
true pioneer of MUD.
At this time, there was an experimental packet-switching system
(EPSS) linking Essex to ArpaNet in the US. In spring of 1980, the first
few external players logged in and tried the game out.
MUD only had one database for the first couple of years, then Richard
removed all the generic bits (get/drop/quit, spells, common objects like
doors and keys) and put them in a set of include files. Richard then
wrote another game called Valley, using the MUD interpreter and the
include files, but with another set of rooms and puzzles. About this
point in time some undergraduates at Essex used the files with per-
mission and created their own games (Rock, BLUD, UNI, MIST).
After about three years, MUD was removed by Richard after some
undergrads began to misinterpret the game and misuse it. The game
has recently returned to the DEC-10 and will remain there until the
machine is turned off. Copies of the code were distributed around
1986 to the US, Sweden, Norway and Australia. The game was also
licensed to CompuServe, where it still runs under the name "British
Legends".
AberMUD evolved from the original MUD code in 1987. It was
originally written in B on a Honeywell L66 under GCOS3/TSS, an
operating system with no IPC better than files. THe main reason
for writing it was because the system manager said that it wasn't
possible on the Honeywell. After the original, exceedingly silly
scenario reached the process size limit of the Honeywell, it was
tidied up and a second scenario begun. (The current version also
is based on this scenario, although largely expanded.)
AberMUD was later ported to UNIX (1988) and converted from B to C,
using a set of sed and vi macros. The results of the conversion made
type changing and code reading difficult.
AberMUD 3.7.14 was the first AberMUD to be distributed, and was sent
to various places, including the US. The distributing of AberMUD
continued to version 3.9.8, which is the basis for the illegal 4.9.8
clone of AberMUD running in the US. The current UK version is up to
3.12.5, and runs shared memory. A commercial version, 5, is being/has been
completed. (ed: Ask Alan Cox for more details.) It also features such
additions as autocompletion of item and player name by hitting <escape>.
Since its transfer to the US, AberMUD has undergone several changes
in its code and scenario. While the original scenario is still with
the game, many new sections have been added.
Both versions of MUD (the original and Aber) have spawned many other
offshoots of the game, the most popular current MUD in the US apparently
being Adversary DikuMUD at Temple. There are also TinyMUDs, TinyMUCKs,
LP-MUDs, MUSEs, etc.
And that's it!
Axl
-Axl the 3rd semester freshman :)
Alan Cox
********************************************************************************
AberMUD never had any of the MUD code in it, nor was it derived from the MUD1
code. It certainly borrowed a lot of ideas, including the very definition
of what 'MUD' was, something that never really changed until the social
games like tiny.
Please get your facts accurate
********************************************************************************
Felix S. Gallo
> The History of (Aber)MUD
>[...]
And what the hell does Mark Boltz from PSU have to do with any
of this?
> Both versions of MUD (the original and Aber) have spawned many other
>offshoots of the game, the most popular current MUD in the US apparently
>being Adversary DikuMUD at Temple.
What the fuck is Adversary DikuMUD at Temple? Who says it's popular?
> There are also TinyMUDs, TinyMUCKs,
>LP-MUDs, MUSEs, etc.
Hey man, THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION.
>And that's it!
You know, there is nothing more UTTERLY GODDAMN STUPID THAN SOME WEENIE
FROM PSU RIPPING OFF SOMEONE ELSE'S ARTICLE, ADDING A BUNCH OF MEANINGLESS
TRIPE TO THE END, PADDING THE WHOLE THING WITH AN ARBITRARY NUMBER OF
FOLLOWING SPACES, AND THEN CLAIMING TO BE IN ON THE TEAM.
MR. BORTZ, GET THE HELL OFF THE NET.
Sincerely,
Felix
--
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Felix Sebastian Gallo rhod...@wixer.cactus.org
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Lusty Wench
>I still say it stands for Multi Undergraduate Destroyer. =^)
>
>-Axl the 3rd semester freshman :)
No, no, no, no! That's *Malicious* Undergraduate Destroyer!
Lusty Wench