What Is DynamicMUD?

Back when I was in high school I was an avid reader of PC Gamer. During this time I came across a very interesting advertisement. This full page add was entirely text, and described a game without graphics. A book you could write yourself while playing with other individuals on the internet. Needless to say I tried it out and got hooked on this genre of games.

While I no longer play this afforementioned game, it still invoked in me a desire to create. The feature of this game that stood out the most to me was the wilderness. This ASCII representation of a game world was the perfect set up for a game in my opinion, and had so much potential. Soon after the base concept for a new game was already forming. I would create a game that unlike it's predecessors would rely entirely on this representation to present the game world to it's players. At the time I had no programming skills, I made a few attempts at current codebases, but ultimately none of these would do, I grew bored and my ideas shrunk back to the back of my head.

Over the next few years my ideas expanded. I wanted not only a game where a wilderness was the whole game, I wanted a changeable wilderness. I thought, why not let the player deform the terrain, build their own structures, and blaze their own trails. DynamicMUD was born.

Since then the concept has grown into an even larger plan. During my summer before college I first experienced python and began coding haphazardly the game that I wanted. Much was learned from this experience, including the lesson that planning helps a lot in design. And more importantly, even though python was great for coding quick, it lead to many shortcuts. I realized that I needed to start over, this time with a plan to write a specification first, and dictate every feature I wanted first. Around that time I started this blog to document the journey from concept to specification to code.

I started over in java, planning everything to be modular and maintainable. Coding has been slow going, and I have yet to get to the level of completeness that was available in my python version. Despite this things continue to move, though very slowly, and someday DynamicMUD will be finished.

Dynamic is based on one primary concept, change. Nothing should ever be set in stone in a game. National boundaries wax and wane with wars, the landscape is shaped by these conflicts as well as the weather. Resources can be scarce. This will drive an in game economy and be the source of constant change, creating the history of the DynamicMUD game world.

Unlike most other MMORPGs currently on the market, players will suffer from finality when they die. They wont be resurrected, or brought back to life by any other means. Life spans will be short, and in the course of several years of game play many generations will live and die, adding to the flowing changes that take place in the world.

Players will rise to become great leaders, unite several tribes, and wage war for the land. Players may be betrayed and politics will be an ever present part of life in DynamicMUD. Essentially welcome to another world, where what you do is your choice. Live the life of a farmer, live in a quiet village and help supply your surrounding villages with food. Be a sword smith and become known across the land for producing the strongest cutting blades, outfit your nation's troops, and equip the war machine. Or be the soldier, command armies of troops and do the bidding of your lord. Destroy your enemies and burn their homes to the ground. These lifestyles as well as any others you can think of are yours to play out. The choice is yours.

200th Post!

Heres another milestone for the blog. This is the 200th post here on the blog. It's been a long time coming, about a year and a half to get here. Looking back there has been an incredible amount of changes in terms of my opinions, methods, and skills.

I would like to thank everyone who has been supporting my ideas and eagerly watching for developments. More recently I would like to thank the people who have been putting work in. Sliis has done a tremendous job writing up socials and help files and it has been a big help. And hopefully a website will be available soon as the result of Qyae's efforts.

Thanks for reading, playing, and suggesting.

Dynamic Concept

I decided to copy and paste the general description from my spec almost word for word. I want people who come to the site to know what dynamic is all about. This game is going to rock but we'll need your support. I hope people can use the search bar on this site to replace their direct use of google. I also am hoping people will sign up for our mailing list. Anyone registered for the mailing list will be first in line for our closed and open testing when the time comes. So sign up soon and tell your friends!

http://groups.google.com/group/Dynamic-MUD?lnk=lr

Dynamic Mud is my attempt at a better MUD. I realized that static zones could get quite boring. Game politics in MUDs I have played in the past became a big issue and the worst part was loosing friends and getting in fights. My intention is to create a game where player politics are part of the game. Where people will enjoy interacting with each other both cooperatively and competitively to change the world in their favor. In MUDs and MMORPGs for example it is hard to detach yourself from the game. It becomes a career and players ‘retire’ when they want to stop playing.

Dynamic’s Real Death System will allow players a more fluid connection to the game. It will become easier to come and go, and players will be able to learn not to become overly attached to their characters as they would in a game where characters last forever. This will also give players a chance to fade in and out, and become someone new.

Dynamic will be entirely free, it will pay for itself in various means such as advertisements on it’s game generated website and various merchandise sales online.

Everything in Dynamic will change from day to day, and even hour by hour. If one watches the map they will see the rise and fall of empires, battlefields, villages and other various changing features. The ability of players to change their landscape adds a whole new dimension of fun. Players will also interact with the occasional planned scripted event. Attacks from the underworld and afar as well as various player driven wars and campaigns. Creatures will also help dictate the landscape as players fight to protect their homes from monsters and dragons.

The game will include no levels, all skills and attributes will grow as they are used. The complete lack of visibly scoring of players will make it hard to judge who is stronger then you and who is not.

The mapping system will provide for much more interesting engagements. Many MUDs have maps but none that I know of have player highlighting on the maps. This system will display player locations in your vicinity, even representing battle lines in large engagements.

The combat system will be innovative with its lack of a combat locking mechanism, allowing for larger swirling melee environments. Ranged weapons and heavy weapons will also add an entirely new strategic element. AI driven beings will add to the scale of conflicts and the scale of the world as well.

The ships system will provide a means for players to travel far and wide across oceans and to battle in a completely different environment. Dynamic will also include player grown and harvested foods, player created items and a limited resource model.

Thanks all for the support. Tell your friends and register for the mailing list!

-Toraux

Dynamic Mud News

So I decided to set up a little place to post as I work on the long daunting project of planning, designing, implementing, and eventually running Dynamic Mud. I will be posting my thoughts, changes to designs, and maybe even ask questions... though who knows who will respond.

Dynamic Mud is intended to be a 100% persistant world. No static zones like most other muds, everything changes, including the face of the world itself. Players die for real, creatures populate the world and breed, and everything including boundries and the stories behind them are shaped by our actions.

I currently have an outline for what the game will be. I started 10 days ago on the 16th and I now have about 5 pages of written descriptions and specifications that will one day make up this game. Speaking of which I should get back to writting.

-Toraux