How to: MUD

[ThanosShadowsage]

Hey everyone,

Berry suggested that I give you all a lesson in MUDing. That way when I set you all loose in Stormbringer: Rebirth you don't get frustrated and confused (like I was my first time). So that is what this thread is for, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about MUDing in general, post here and I'll help you as swiftly as possible (and I'm almost always here, so that can be pretty fast).

Before you MUD:

Before you MUD at Stormbringer: Rebirth there are some things that you need to know (For instance, the location of the MUD). The link to Stormbringer: Rebirth is www.stormbringer.sytes.net . There are other mirror sites but that is the main one I always go to. This website (custom made for Stormbringer: Rebirth by Donblas) is very useful and has a lot of information. Now, if you’re a lazyass (like me) and don’t want to read everything, I’m going to try to give you as much basic information as is necessary for you to operate in the Stormbringer: Rebirth world. Now, for advanced users the MUD’s actual link is telnet://stormbringer.sytes.net:4500/ but, for you newbies, ignore that. You won’t need it until later and by then you’ll understand what it means.

For other information you may find useful prior to MUDing I suggest you visit the Stormbringer: Rebirth website and view the “Who We Are� section. It answers common questions about what a MUD really is and why it’s free and why Stormbringer: Rebirth is so special (Yeah… basically corporate crap, hehe).

Getting Started:

Ok, Telnet is a funky thing for those of you who have not used it before. Hmm… how do I explain this? Telnet is the Internet’s granddaddy. It could be (and probably has been) described as a glorified chatroom. If you have played an RPG in a chatroom before you’ve probably had to specify what your actions are from your speech (a common way of doing this is to surround an action with :: :: or ** **; i.e. **thinks this is stupid**). Imagine telnet as a chatroom, only you don’t have to do the ** **s. Instead you type your actions. For instance… if you want to pick up a cup, you type “get cup� and your character picks the cup up. Or if you want to say “I like pizza.� you type “say I like pizza.� and your character will say “I like pizza.�

I’m getting ahead of myself now. So I’d like to take a step back and explain how to logon to Stormbringer: Rebirth. There are two ways to do this. The easy but bad way, or the more complicated but good way. Neither are difficult but the difference is, Do you want to download a program or not? There are programs that are used just for telnet, several have free shareware versions available online.

To get onto Stormbringer: Rebirth the easy way, go to the main page on the Stormbringer: Rebirth website and you will see a link. Click on that link and you’ll be set! Note: There is a reason why this way is BAD, if you logon this way you are using your computers telnet software… which SUCKS. On some computers it is black and white and (due to other complications that would take too long to explain) on ALL computers it is just plain difficult to MUD this way. I HIGHLY suggest that you do option #2 if you want to experience Stormbringer: Rebirth the way it should be experienced.

Now, to logon Stormbringer: Rebirth the good way, go to www.mushclient.com and download the shareware program called Mush Client (its free and a small download). It is the client of choice at Stormbringer: Rebirth, but don’t take my word for it. Here is what Donblas has to say about it:

“This is our Mud Client of Choice, recommended for its excellent MXP support and stability. (using this client you will benefit from many of the advanced features of our new codebase). After Installing this client, we suggest setting the following options:-
From Files -> world properties -> Appearance select Pueblo/MXP Options and ensure that Use Custom link color is not checked . You may also wish to set the default font used to something much nicer, Id suggest courier .. also if your screen resolution is high enough 800x600+ Id set wrap lines at about 100 columns.�

Some of that may not make sence to you but this will: Mush Client allows you to CUSTOMIZE much of how you see the MUD. And trust me, that’s a very good thing. The only bad thing about Mush Client is… because the free version (the version 90% of you are going to use) is “shareware� you have to wait a few seconds before you’re allowed to open it each time. You’ll see what I mean when you download it. It’s nothing serious, you just have to be patient.

Ok, now once you have Mush Client open you’ll have to open a “New World.� Click File and then New World and then click “No� when it asks you if you want to “preload defaults from a preexisting world�. Once you’ve opened the New World screen it will ask you for three things: World Name, TCP/IP Address, and the Port Number. Enter this information in as follows:

World Name: Stormbringer: Rebirth
TCP/IP Address: www.stormbringer.sytes.net
Port Number: 4500

Ignore the Proxy Server box, you don’t need it. Now hit Ok, and Stormbringer: Rebirth will load. Toy with the customizable features in Mush Client if you like. For more information about Mush Client see the Mush Client website or the helpfiles in Mush Client.

I have much more to help you with but my fingers are tired and this is only the first half!

Taking a break now,

Thanos Shadowsage

[ThanosShadowsage]

MUD How To: (Continued)

Ok, round two of the How To MUD lessons by Thanos Shadowsage.

Now that you know how to log onto Stormbringer: Rebirth (hereby referred to as SB:R) we can get to the first lesson of actual MUDing: Character Creation.

As most of you know, to the untrained eye Character Creation can be daunting. All these numbers… and things you don’t know. Just makes you want to scream right? Well, I could try to explain everything to you… tell you what every little thing means. But no, I’m going to do something that I think might help you out more. No matter what you do, if you are new at MUDing, your first character WILL suck. I’m not insulting you… that is just the basic truth to things. Your character will suck. But it is a learning experience, through a system of trial and error with your first character you will learn things that will help you make better, more educated, decisions when you go to make your second character. Yes that’s right, I forgot to mention that you can have as many different characters as you like at SB:R. But you can only play as one character at a time – playing as multiple is cheating (for various reasons) and there are simple and easy ways of knowing that you are in control of multiple characters and the staff at SB:R will know you’re cheating and take appropriate actions. Now that all that legal stuff is aside we can get started…

When you load SB:R the first question you will be asked is “By what name do you wish to be known?� You don’t have a character so type “New� and hit enter. It will ask if you want to create a new character (y or n). Follow the prompts, there is a lot of basic stuff that I don’t need to explain (like picking your name etc) and it’s all self explanatory on the site. Simple hint though, pick a name you don’t want for your first character. That way you don’t waste a perfectly good name on a character you’ll probably end up deleting anyway. When it asks if you want to play with ANSI color… type yes. Color is good… color is your friend. Now you’ll be asked what race you want to be. There are help files for all of them. Warning: The Help files don’t tell you straight out “Melniboneans get a bonus to ___ and a penalty to ___.� Doesn’t work that way bub. You might even want to experiment with different races in order to see which one you like best.

Now, for the purpose of keeping your first time simple, I suggest that you make your first character a Menibonean warrior. Why? Thieves and Magi are more complicated than warriors, I want to make this easy on you. Why a Menibonean? Because that is probably one of the few races you recognize on that list. I suggest putting the auto-map on, so after you choose your race type “yes� (or just “y�) for the auto-map. Next is your stats, it’s easy to decipher if you’ve played RPGs before… the higher the numbers the better. But don’t mess with it too much. It’s impossible to get a godly character and it will be a while before you’re good enough to know good stats when you see them. Next 5 classes will come up… pick warrior, it’s the easiest. Next is alignment – that’s self explainitory. Next is your skills… this is where it gets a little complicated. Toy with it if you want but if you say “No� to customization then the MUD will give you a normal set of skills for your class. So I suggest saying No to customization (at least for now). Ta Da! Now you’re in!

The first thing you will encounter (which is a little annoying… but educational) is the Newbie school. You HAVE TO PASS THIS in order to really experience the whole of the MUD. The Immortals (Staff) of SB:R thought it wise to add this school in order to teach people the basics of MUDing in SB:R. Pay attention to the newbie teacher there. You will have to answer questions in order to move on. It isn’t too long, I think it’s only about 10 questions. Not sure, been a while since I was there.

I’ll leave the rest up to you! Ask questions here, over the OOC channel on the MUD, or check the help files on the MUD, there are tons of them (i.e. “Help races� gives you info about the different races available in the MUD).

Good Luck!

Thanos Shadowsage

[ThanosShadowsage]

In addition...

Krean has brought it to my attention that when you are in the newbie school it might be helpful to know that when you answer questions you need to answer them like: "say D)" (without the " " )if the answer is D. Do not type "say d)" or "answer D)".

Special thanks to Krean for pointing out that hint.

Thanos Shadowsage

[Anonymous]

i got stuck in that school. answered the first question but then when it asked for directions to my guild i was unable to finish. i knew what to answer, but it just wasn't taking. been mudding for a dozen years now, and stormbringer was my last home so would like to come back... got so frustrated that night i just attacked the guy so i would pop at morge. then just logged, going to take me a while to get back in the swing of the game.

[Anonymous]

The newbie school is the hardest part. As you found, some of the paths are incorrect even if you copy paste them from the newbie handbook.
I.E. it asks for the speedwalk path to the elementalist guild, and you say /d3s2wn etc... it's wrong.

This has been fixed multiple times but the best bet is to get morgued (didn't know that would work) then bypass the newbie school all together.

Maul

[Goldar]

Mud School Changes

The newbie school is the hardest part. As you found, some of the paths are incorrect even if you copy paste them from the newbie handbook.
I.E. it asks for the speedwalk path to the elementalist guild, and you say /d3s2wn etc... it's wrong.

This has been fixed multiple times but the best bet is to get morgued (didn't know that would work) then bypass the newbie school all together.

Maul

Please see my previous forum topic about the Mud School Changes. You may now recall from the initial room you spawn in at the Academy. This is the *only* point you can recall from. If you enter into the Academy, that's it - you are in!

Thanks,

[ThanosShadowsage]

Goldar!!!

Hey Goldar... things have changed and as it stands you probably understand more of it than I do right now. Would you mind giving a basic explaination of character creation at SB:R? Earlier I gave a basic run through but nothing super useful as far as help for making a GOOD character.

Thanos

[ThanosShadowsage]

Web Help Available!!!

Wow... I didn't know we had this option but you can view all the help files online. Simply go to: http://www.storm-bringer.org:4505/help

Thanos

[Arioch - Duke of Hell]

I downloaded mush client, created character, picked skills, all seemed well. Went to school/university, learned how to move, went outside, saw squirrel tried to forage (picked this skill) no luck, tried to hunt, finally selected "kill Squirrel". Got killed in 1 hit by squirrel. Nice combat.