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General FAQs |
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Q. |
What does MUD stand for?
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A. |
In the beginning, it stood for Multi User Dungeon. It is now also known
as Multi User Dimension or Multi User Dialog. The following acronymns
are derivates of MUD:
MUCK - Not sure what this one stands for
MUSH - Multi User Shared Hallucination
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Q. |
Why code a MUD in Visual Basic? |
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A. |
A short answer would be, why not?
A more detailed answer would be:
Many
people have only access to computers with windows machines, myself
included (until recently). There was a dearth of mud servers on the
Win32 platform. That's not the case anymore. I have looked several code
bases, those were not too easy to modify and had sparce documentation.
I
realized that Visual Basic was readily available, and for the most part
a programmer with good coding habits can make some fairly
self-describing source code. This is of course also possible with other
languages, but my experience has been that it's more prevalent after
you have had to maintain somebody else's sloppy and undocumented code.
Visual
Basic 6 is advanced enough now to do OO programming. It does not have a
complete implementation yet. It still needs inheritance. I miss having
inheritance, but that is solved with VB.Net. I develop enterprise
middleware, ocx components, and many other objects at my day work. So I
know VB's capabilities.
For those that are already thinking "Why
in the heck would he/they want to code a MUD in VB?" I say that VB is
just a tool, nothing else, nothing more. It is just another tool in my
programming toolbox. Each tool has it's strengths and weaknesses. You
just need to understand where it needs to be used at. For example, I
would never dream of using VB to build device drivers. That's a domain
for C++ and Assambler. Personally, I prefer Delphi to any other tool. I
have run tests on different data structures and found that linked lists
and hashtables vb classes, are faster than collections, dictionaries,
and recordsets (which were all compiled C++ code). Again I will
reiterate, It's how the tool is used and not the tool per se.
VB was chosen because:
1)
This is an open source project, and the type of people that get
attracted to this specific project (MUDs & newbies on Windows) tend
to gravitate towards VB. In the long run, there are more VB programmers
in this sector/space, which translates into possible better longevity
of the project due to the amount of people (economies of scale).
2)
We are not really interested in having the fastest, most tightly
optimized code around, although that would be nice. We just want
something that works, and is easy to maintain.
UPDATE:
WheelMUD is now using Visual Basic.NET instead of Visual Basic 6.
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Q. |
How Long has WheelMUD been around? |
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A. |
We are coming up on the end of our 5th year. June 6th or 7th 1999 is
when the project went live. We have been through many lulls and many
peaks of activity but we keep plugging along.
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Q. |
Why do you guys work so hard to Foster a Community of VB Developers? |
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A. |
The main reason that we love to help other projects and help them
produce an awesome product is quite simple really, when we started this
project, there was no community and we were looked down upon as
crackpots and crazies.. b/c we wanted to make a mud in VB!?!?!? That
and we love the company..... And this is what we love to do...
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Q. |
Would you guys help me? |
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A. |
Yes, Yes we would.
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Q. |
Are you guys ever gonna get a finished product released? |
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A. |
NO!!!!!! WE REFUSE TO EVER FINISH THIS PROJECT!!! NOOOOOOOO!
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WheelMUD FAQs |
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Q. |
How do I join this project? |
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A. |
There's no formal steps to join. Basically, anounce yourself on the
forums and state that you want to do coding/researching/PR or whatever
your favorite thing is.
There is a list of the current issues
under the SDK --> Unassigned Tasks website menu entry. We have an Issue Tracker at
http://issuetracker.wheelmud.net if you want to see the official status
of bug, tasks, etc.
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Q. |
What exactly does WheelMUD do? |
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A. |
WheelMUD is a MUD Engine kit to create public MUDs with. This kit can
also be considered as a Software Factory for MUDs running on Windows..
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Q. |
What are the system requirements? |
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A. |
WheelMUD is a "fat" application, in fact it is a server application. It needs the following software to run:
Production:
.NET Framework 2.0
Windows 2000 and newer
Development:
Visual Studio 2005 Any Edition
Subversion Client - we use TortoiseSVN
Windows 2000 and newer
WheelMUD has been tested on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows 2003 Server.
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Q. |
Who are the people working on Wheelmud? |
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A. |
Well, let's see historically, it's been a Quadrant of guys, Ashon,
Fastalanasa, IRay, and Flux. Sometime in 2002 Flux Disappeared and we
Added Daisuke and a sometimes on and off again DarkMercenary. During 2005 Foxedup came on board. These
people have been and are the foundation of the development team, but
now people are clamoring to get on board with the exciting development
process that Wheelmud has worked out, these people are lovingly
referred to as, Developers!
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Q. |
How many revisions has WheelMUD been through? |
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A. |
First, there was Cevin's version. He launched the vision, the quest. This one was in VB 4.0
Ashon created the Second Version and managed it. This version was ported and maintained in VB 5.0
When VB 6.0 came out, the old code became so hard to work with that Ashon, Iray, Fastalansa, and Flux began working on the third carnation of WM.
And now in it's fourth cycle of Development, WM is being written in VB.NET, and is being maintained by Fastalansa and Foxedup, with help from a multitude of other developers.
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Q. |
What stage of Development is WheelMUD in? |
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A. |
We are currently trying to resolve all the issues in our Alpha Roadmap. We will move on to the next version which according to the roadmap is the completion of the Rulesets, and integration of said system.
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Q. |
How do I get the source code? |
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A. |
There are 2 ways:
First - Register on this website, and the source code will be visible
on the downloads page. One caveat is that this will not always be the
most recent.
Second - You can always get the latest source code from the Subversion
repository. There are step-by-step guides already written to show you
how to do this. Look at the website's menu, and find SDK, then under SDK
look for "TortoiseSVN FAQs".
This is a read-only repository. This means that you will not be
able to upload code changes. To upload code changes, you need to
contact svnrequest@wheelmud.net and ask for a Subversion account. Send
the desired username and password to the email above.
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Q. |
I want to start contributing. Where do I put my additions? |
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A. |
You will need to get a login for WheelMUD's Subversion repository. Please send an email to svnrequest@wheelmud.net
You can also send your code changes with a text file explaining your changes to fastalanasa@wheelmud.net
Please
make sure to ask questions in the forums. We also appreciate
suggestions on what documentation is needed, and what needs to be
clarified.
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Q. |
How or Where do I get a login for the Subversion repository? |
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A. |
Please email the username and password you want to use to svnrequest@wheelmud.net
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Q. |
Do I need Visual Studio 2005 in order to participate? |
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A. |
Yup, but you can use any edition, including the free Express Edition of VB.net
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Q. |
What is this Proximity System that you guys talk about? |
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A. |
Well, first off it's a challenge. It's a mountain, that we want to conqueror, and if we have to march 10,000 men up the hill, and back down again, well we will!
A more honest truth it's a system that helps make the game feel more dynamic. Instead of simply listing items, the code allows for a sense of relationships between items. This allows someone to put a pen in a an inkwell, and actually see: There is a pen in the inkwell or other assorted descriptions like:
A mug sits on the papers scattered around the table.
The Mirror is near the dresser.
The cat is in the hat.
That, is why we want the Proximity System/Chains
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Q. |
Rulesets? I'm confused, what are these rulesets? |
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A. |
There's nothing quite like the discussion of one of the cornerstone elements of WM to get the ball rolling. Let's see if I can keep it simple AND interesting.
If you're familiar with LPMuds, imagine Rulesets as part of the Mudlib. If you're not familiar with LPMuds. Rulesets at the very basis define the game, the rules. One Ruleset can define the attributes of characters, and the combat ruleset can define how damage is dealt. Here's the kicker though: You do it without changing any code!
Rulesets are xml files which define the relationships, properties, and attributes of the game. So any non-coder can make a game that works completely different then any other WheelMUD game! It's an exciting project, and one of the defining awesome ideas of WM.NET
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Q. |
What's WheelMUD's theme? -or- Is WheelMUD based on the Wheel Time series by Robert Jordan? |
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A. |
Let's just say, in the primordial ooze that was the first incarnation of WM, it had a theme, and let's say that it drew it's name from it's inspirational series. But no longer is WM in it's primordial ooze, it has evolved into a microbial lifeform. It has shed it's previous moniker. WheelMUD is a themeless Mud Tool Kit. You can just as easily have lasers, spaceships, and blackholes, as you can have the Gods of Olympus Walking around throwing lightning bolts, with no more work then creating your rulesets and building the world!
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Q. |
Is WM a Class/Level based system, or is it a Skill based system? |
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A. |
That's a great question. Theoretically, it is all done by those mysterious Rulesets that we've talked about, and continue to talk about. Currently internally, WM has three levels of Advancement. These are just administration based roles, Guest, Users, Administrator. There will be a more detailed internal advancment scheme, but that has yet to be determined.
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Q. |
Combat, Combat, Combat! How does combat and spells work in WM? |
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A. |
Well, an honest question. I suppose you want an honest answer, huh? I could tell you that it's all handled by Rulesets. But right now, there's no combat system in the current version. Non! Zip zilch, zero. This same answer goes for Combat, Skills, and Spells. We meekly ask you to forgive us this outstanding sin.
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| Portal engine source code is copyright 2002-2008 by DotNetNuke. All Rights Reserved |
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