Hi all,
I'm trying to start up a new Sci-Fi based MUD. I'm having a hard time finding a MUD engine / code base that doesn't have fantasy magic hard coded into the engine and mudlib/codebase.
Does anyone know of a good place to start?
Thanks,
Will
Try looking at http://www.mudmagic.com/codes/
If you are looking to explore space or something in your game, you could use SWR.
Unknown regions was a sci-fi based codebase that i removed most of the magic system for...
http://www.kodekoan.com/project/ur
Take a look at BattleTech Mux
http://docs.btmux.com
CoffeeMUD is quite versatile. There is a tech-only setting, as well as a few others. If you chose to mix and match magic and technology, there are options to make rooms/areas no-magic. This engine can power anything from JAMF (Just Another Medieval Fantasy) to Star Wars or Palladium Rifts or whatever else you can think of.
It is written in Java and comes with a plethora of guides to help you get started with coding, setting up the server, and so on.
I would not recommend purchasing a contract to run it on a typical server farm, like other MUDs commonly do. I would instead recommend having your own server, which could be any machine that has 512MB of RAM to run ONLY CoffeeMUD, or you can run it alongside most memory-intensive programs (including an MMO or two) if you have a couple GB of RAM.
On its own, CoffeeMUD is typically stable. Sometimes there are a few issues if you use more than 300 rooms in an area, or if you have more than 10,000 rooms. However, these issues are most apparent when importing areas from other code bases. (It is fairly good at importing! My problem areas are doors and previously hidden things.)
It has a 'fakeDB' pre-packaged with it, where each character is its own file. I set mine up with a java DB myself, since that is faster than the fakeDB.
You can use this package immediately, all you have to configure is a few INI settings and the make file might need a slight edit. After applying a name and DNS to your version (there are quite a few free DNS options out there), all you have to do is run the make file, then run the bat file.
Sign in, pick up the 'Archon Manual' and read it. Voila, instant admin!
There is a web-based area editor that makes it simple even for a non-MUD player to create areas from, so it can also limit your needs for a team of builders.
Hope it helps.