See also the Troubleshooting Guide,Tips and the Mordor FAQ.
What is a MUD?
MUD stands for Multi-User Dungeon (or Dimension). It is a class of multi-user virtual reality games accessible via the Internet. There are many different types, and Mordor is a variety all its own. For more general information on MUDs, please see the Mud FAQ.
What is Mordor?
Mordor is a Multi-user Internet Game Server (MUD Server). See above for information on exactly what a MUD is.
Components of Mordor:
Mordor can be divided into two large catagories: The Server and The Database.
The Server: this is the application responsible for the update of the game. It accepts users input, mixes it with the actions programmed by the database, and calculates the results. It then update the user's state, as well as the state of the database.
The Database: the database can be tought of as the 'world' in which everything on the MUD occurs. It includes all the creatures, items, rooms, and players in the game and is constently changing due to the actions of users, as well as with respect to time. The database can be divided into 4 basic parts:
Where can I get Mordor and what is the latest version?
Mordor can be gotten from its home site.
The latest version as of this document is 5.05. Because Mordor has been a strictly volunteer project, large scale version updates occur very infrequently (about once a year).
Mordor Server Basics:
The Mordor MUD Server runs as an application on the host machine, and awaits for connections from clients wishing to join the game. It listens on port 4040 of the host by default. The average client will be using either telnet or some mud client software to connect to the Mordor Server Application.
Once the server detects a connection from a client it begins the login process by requesting a name. If the name entered by the client does not exist already in the player database the character creation process is begun, otherwise the server will prompt for a password corresponding to the character in question. Upon successful login or character creation, the client is connected to the MUD and can begin interacting with the world and the other users already logged in.
For the purposes of this HOWTO, we will only discuss the online creation functions. Use of the offline editor will be discussed in another section unless the functionality needed is only provided by the editor. At this time about 80% of all creation functions can be performed online.
Please note that information on each of the commands listed in this HOWTO may be obtained via the online help functions. If you want to learn more about a specific command, just type help [command]. All commands that you should try will be emphasized in this document and should look like this.
Mordor databases consist of
several files located in the rooms and objmon directories. Each room has
its own file, and the naming convention is r#####, where the room number
follows the 'r' (i.e. room #45's file is named rooms/r00045). To start
your own database from scratch you will need to delete all the room files
in the rooms directory. You can also selectively delete specific rooms by
deleting just the room files you want.
One important note is that you
always need a room 1 and room 50 (files rooms/r00001 and
rooms/r00050) since they are the starting room and the death room. In
order to log in you need a room 1 and at death players are sent to room
50.
Creatures and items are stored in a different manner than rooms. They are
stored in the objmon directory in groups of 100. The items are stored as
o## and creatures as m##. For example, items from 300-399 are stored in
the objmon/o03 file, and creatures from 500-599 are stored in m05. This
makes selective deletion of items and creatures much more difficult than
rooms.
If you wish to start from scratch you only need to delete the
item files (o00-o10) and the creature files (m00-m10). There are no
restrictions requiring you to keep any creature or item files, as long as
you delete the rooms as well. If you have a room that contains a creature
or item that you have deleted it can make for a mess.
- Basics of implementation: Flags and Settings.
- What are the attributes of a room and what do they do?
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