MUX 2.9 - Links

Sandbox Globals Project

Sandbox Globals Project has been release for several years now. This package contains parts of a chargen but no virtual time.

It works on PennMUSH, TinyMUSH 2.2.x and U1 as well as TinyMUX 1.x and RhostMUSH. Globals that work everywhere -- an idealistic goal and one almost achieved.

PennMUSH

These guys have been doing it right for a long time and appear to have developed a healthy support community. You should definately check out PennMUSH. Win32 and Unix versions are available.

RhostMUSH

One of the most stable and feature-rich servers out there is RhostMUSH. This server is built like a tank. And, this can be a little intimidating due to the large number of options and functions, but it's worth a good look. If you want security and accountability, you want this.

Unfortunately, while the sources and binaries are free, they are also closed.

HSPACE

HSPACE is a dynamic space add-on currently ported to MUX by Mark. Dynamic space allows for more dynamic relationship between spaces within the environment. It opens up a complex and flexible combat and economic system. Think space ships, treks across a featureless desert, etc.

Battle Tech MUX (BTMUX)

BattletechMUX - A heavily modified and extended version of MUX 1.x that provides a real-time, text-based version of the popular board game "Battletech" by FASA (now owned by WizKids). Although extremely complex and difficult to develop with, BTMUXs are great for the fast-paced, strategic and tactical text gamer. The public distribution is maintained by the staff of Battletech: 3030 on SourceForge.

Nick Gammon's Pages

Nick Gammon has done a series of Windows-related work which can be found on Mud and Mush Programs and Information.

TinyMUSH 3.0 and 3.1

Most of the code in TinyMUSH 3.0 is from the TinyMUX 1.6 branch (which is itself a branch off TinyMUSH 2.0). In cases where TinyMUSH 2.2.5 expressed the same feature in a different way, the TinyMUSH 2.2.5 behavior took precedence. Note, the actual fork from TinyMUX was probably 1.4 or 1.5, but there were some later patches to TinyMUX in parallel with the work on TinyMUSH 3.0.

On top of this, TinyMUSH 3.0 contained a goodly number of bug fixes (fixes to bugs introduced in the TinyMUX 1.x development period) as well as some additional features. David Passmore and Lydia Leong were primarily responsible for TinyMUSH 3.0. Alierak contributed bug reports heavily during the Beta period but only joined the team officially for the TinyMUSH 3.1 push.

TinyMUSH 3.0 seemed to emphasize interoperability with TinyMUSH 2.2.5 and softcode-level features over bug fixes or more fundamental changes. I would estimate that most of the bugs that were fixed, were fixed during the Beta period.

Given the choice between TinyMUX 1.6 and TinyMUSH 3.0, I would pick the latter. Well, the first Beta was essentially TinyMUX 1.6, so if we're talking about the first Beta release, it would be a toss up, but by the end of the Beta period, the scales tip towards the more-recent effort. However, that said, in a line-up of quality against PennMUSH, TinyMUX 2.x, and RhostMUSH, TinyMUSH 3.0 would still appear last.

Much effort in TinyMUSH 3.0 appears to have been made to alter/add/remove the fewest lines of code possible and still call it good. But, then, again the Beta period was an intense period of change. The code probably changed more profoundly during the Beta period than it did in the 2 years prior. At the least, the two periods are comparable in terms of changes to the code.

With Alierak on-board, the TinyMUSH 3.1 project took on a different flavor. In some areas, the quality is markedly better. Also, the code is substantially re-arranged, similiar things have been collapsed. However, there seems to have been a tension between adding lots of new code and improving the quality of the old. I'm not sure which side won. Obviously, a diverse team can have its advantages, but I'm not sure that it was an advantage in this instance.

In the end, I have my own fish to fry. David, Lydia, and Alierak became too busy to continue working on it. Lydia and Alierak still post to the support list periodically. They may become more involved in the future.

Eddy Beaupre was slated to pick up the codebase to press towards TinyMUSH 3.2, but as he has also been very busy, there hasn't been much output.

As of late 2007, Lydia has made a handful of commits, and appears poised to take over from Eddy again.