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Subject:Re: MOOs and MUDs From:Aahz <aahz -at- NETCOM -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 8 Oct 1994 06:28:55 GMT
In article <9410071820 -dot- AA05871 -at- cnseq1 -dot- ca -dot- oracle -dot- com>,
Gwen Gall <ggall -at- ca -dot- oracle -dot- com> wrote:
><Because you brought it up, I need information about MUD and MOO. Does
><anybody know where I can find information (references)? I need information
><starting with the basics. I don't even know what the acronyms
><represent. Thanks for your help.
>I am interested in this information as well. I thought a MUD was some kind of
>cyberspace game?
Here's a slightly more involved description:
MUDs, MOOs, MUSHes, and MUCKs (all mean basically the same thing) are
descended from the original Adventure game. Like Adventure (or Zork),
you possess a character in a text-based virtual environment that you can
manipulate through simple commands.
Other people also have characters, and you can interact either with the
other characters or "directly" with the people. The more the
environment encourages you to act through your character, the more
game-like that particular MUD is.
MUDs also differ from Adventure by being extensible; most MUDs have a
programming language (often similar to FORTH).
MUDs are attracting a lot of research attention because the existence of
an environment supports a richer kind of communication. For example,
imagine a library set up as a MUD. Each room of the library would be
devoted to a particular subject, and you could look at books much the
same way you would with a gopher.
Futhermore, you'd know that anyone else you "saw" in that room was
interested in the same subject, so you could talk to each other
real-time about which sources were most valuable.
As MUDs start moving toward graphical environments, the possibilities
exponentiate. Imagine the myriad forms of collaborative white-boarding.
--
--- Aahz (@netcom.com)
Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6
Androgynous kinky vanilla queer het
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