MUD client

A MUD client is a computer application used to connect to a MUD, a type of multiplayer online game. Generally, a MUD client is a very basic telnet client that lacks VT100 terminal emulation and the capability to perform telnet negotiations. On the other hand, MUD clients are enhanced with various features designed to enhance the gameplay of MUDs.^[1]

Standard features seen in most MUD clients include ANSI color support, aliases, triggers and scripting. The client can often be extended almost indefinitely with its built-in scripting language. Most MUDs restrict the usage of scripts because they give an unfair advantage, as well as the fear that the game will end up being played by fully automated clients instead of human beings.^[2]

History

The first MUD client with a notable number of features was Tinytalk by Anton Rang in January 1990, for Unix-like systems.^[3] In May 1990 TinyWar 1.1.4 was released by Leo Plotkin which was based on TinyTalk 1.0 and added support for event-driven programming.^[4] In September 1990 TinyFugue which was based on TinyWar 1.2.3 and TT 1.1 was released by Greg Hudson and featured more advanced trigger support.^[5] Development of TinyFugue was taken over by Ken Keys in 1991. TinyFugue has continued to evolve and remains a popular client today for Unix-like systems. TinyFugue, or tf, was primarily written for Unix-like operating systems. It is one of the earliest MUD clients in existence.^[6] It is primarily geared toward TinyMUD variants.^[7] TinyFugue is extensible through its own macro language, which also ties to its extensive trigger system.^[7]^[8] The trigger system allows implementation of automatically run commands.^[9]

Another early client was TINTIN by Peter Unold in April 1992.^[10] In October 1992 Peter Unold made his final release, TINTIN III, which was a much more mature and feature rich program.^[11] Development of TINTIN was continued by Bill Reiss who announced the release of TinTin++ 1.0 in July 1993.^[12] The client gained popularity quickly because of its easy to use scripting language and the popularity of DikuMUD for which it was designed. Being open source with originally no license restrictions, many current clients like GGMud, MudMaster, and Pueblo are based on TinTin++.

Following on from TINTIN's success, Mike Potter was keen to produce a Windows port of the client resulting in the release of zMUD 1.0 in December 1995.^[13] zMUD was initially licensed as freeware, but Mike Potter realized that he could make a living from sales of the client and started selling zMUD 4.0 as shareware in September 1996.^[14] zMUD is particularly noted for its automapping capabilities.^[15]^[16]

Comparison of MUD clients

Operating systems

The operating systems the clients can run on.^{[os 1]}

Name	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	Android	iOS	Updated
Atlantis	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	2006
Axmud	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2021
BeipMU	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2020
BioMUD	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2016
Blightmud	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2021
BlowTorch	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	2018
CMUD	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2010
GGMUD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2007
GMUD	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	1998
Gnome-Mud	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	2018
JamochaMUD	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	No	No	2014
KBtin	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2020
KildClient	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2017
KMuddy	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	2009
Lyntin	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	No	No	2008
mcl	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	2003
muby	No	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	No	No	2009
Mud Gangster	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	2020
Mudlet	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2021
MudMagic	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2006
MUDRammer	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	2015
MUSHclient	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2019
Portal	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2013
Potato	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	No	No	2017
Powwow	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2020
Pueblo/UE	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2004
SimpleMU	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2001
Soiled	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	No	No	2012
TinTin++	Cygwin^{[os 2]}	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Termux	iSH	2021
TinyFugue	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	2007
Tortilla	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2018
Trebuchet	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	CPI	No	No	2015
Wintin.Net	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2007
zMUD	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	2008

↑ 'CPI' refers to Cross-platform or Interpreted software
↑ TinTin++ is available as an installer named WinTin++ on Windows systems.

Feature support

Name	Gui	Logging	Mapper	Multiplaying	Scrollback	Spell checker	Tab completion	Telnet triggers	Timers	Triggers	Redirection	Regex
Axmud	Custom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
BeipMU	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	WSH	Yes
Blightmud	VT102	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
CMUD	Custom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	WSH	Yes
Mud Gangster	Custom	Plugin	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Lua patterns
Mudlet	Custom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
MUSHclient	Custom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	WSH	Yes
TinTin++	VT100	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wintin.net	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
zMud	Custom	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	WSH	Yes

Protocol support

Information about what protocols the clients support.

Name	COLOR	VT100	TLS	NAWS^[17]	EOR^[18]	ECHO^[19]	MCCP^[20]^[21]	MXP^[22]	MSP^[23]	MMCP^[24]	256 colors	Unicode
Atlantis	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Axmud	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
BeipMU	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
BioMUD	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Blightmud	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
BlowTorch	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
CMUD	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
GGMUD	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
GMUD	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Gnome-Mud	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
JamochaMUD	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
KBtin	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
KildClient	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
KMuddy	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Lyntin	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
mcl	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
muby	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Mud Gangster	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Mudlet	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
MudMagic	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
MUDRammer	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
MUSHclient	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin	Yes	Yes
Portal	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Potato	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Powwow	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Pueblo/UE	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
SimpleMU	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No
Soiled	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
TinTin++	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin	Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes
TinyFugue	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Tortilla	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Trebuchet	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
Wintin.Net	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
zMUD	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Plugin	No	No

A locally running MCCP or TLS proxy server can be used by clients that do not support MCCP or TLS natively.
Many MUD clients will be able to display Unicode characters but will have wordwrapping issues without proper support.

Scripting support

Name	C#	Client-Specific	Lua	Perl	Python	Ruby	TINTIN	VB.NET	Tcl	PHP	JScript
Atlantis	No	Minimal	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Axmud	No	Minimal	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BeipMU	No	Minimal	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BioMUD	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Blightmud	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
BlowTorch	No	Minimal	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
CMUD	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
GGMUD	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
GMUD	No	Minimal	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Gnome-Mud	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
JamochaMUD	No	Minimal	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
KBtin	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
KildClient	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
KMuddy	No	Minimal	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No
Lyntin	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
mcl	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
muby	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Mud Gangster	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Mudlet	No	Minimal	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
MudMagic	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No
MUSHclient	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Minimal	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Portal	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Potato	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Powwow	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pueblo/UE	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
SimpleMU	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Soiled	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
TinTin++	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
TinyFugue	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Tortilla	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Trebuchet	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No
Wintin.Net	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
zMUD	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No

Notes

WSH: Windows Script Host allows the execution of various scripting languages.
CLI: command-line interface using redirection, not to be confused with system (C standard library)
Many clients provide their own scripting language, sometimes in addition to another scripting language.
Clients providing a modified version of the original TINTIN scripting language are listed as supporting TINTIN.

References

↑ More Internet for Dummies. IDG Books. 1997. pp. 199. ISBN 0-7645-0135-6. "A better way to connect to a MUD is by using a MUD client program: a program specifically designed for MUDding. A MUD program is really a telnet program that has had various MUD-related commands added."
↑ Raph Koster (2008). "A brief history of botting". http://www.raphkoster.com/2008/03/25/a-brief-history-of-botting/. "Everyone’s advice to a newbie was “get a client,” followed by the lengthy caveat that a given mud had specific rules about what was permissible. In other words, the third-party tools were seen as something that added invaluable interface enhancements, but that also afforded a bit too much power."
↑ Anton Rang (1990). "TinyTalk 1.0 is now available for anonymous FTP". http://groups.google.com/group/alt.mud/msg/cd7c39ab3fbefbb2. "TinyTalk is an interface to the TinyMUD system. It replaces telnet, and adds many new features."
↑ Jason Downs (1990). "TinyWar does exist! Here it is...". http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud/msg/1dcd26a137a6fe86. "The program you are using now. Tinywar is a modified tinytalk, the later program originally written by Anton Rang. It's a telnet clone, with MUD-specific features."
↑ Greg Hudson (1990). "TinyFugue 1.1.4 released to anonymous FTP". http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud/msg/29ed0f9e9c5b28e8. "TinyFugue is, I believe, the most advanced TinyClient to date, incorporating most of the features of TinyWar 1.2.3, the features of GrimJim's TT 1.1.jwl-2 beta, many of my own enhancements (such as extensive reentrance, trigger priority, and trigger probability), and input/output windows."
↑ Mulligan, Jessica; Patrovsky, Bridgette (2003). Developing Online Games: An Insider's Guide. New Riders. pp. 453. ISBN 1-59273-000-0. "1990 [...] The MUD client tinyFugue is available now in version 1.4 Beta."
↑ ^7.0 ^7.1 Shah, Rawn; Romine, James (1995). Playing MUDs on the Internet. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. pp. 257. ISBN 0-471-11633-5. "TinyFugue [...] Commonly known as tf. Designed primarily for TinyMud-style Muds, although will run on LPMUDs and Dikus. Features include regular expression hilites and gags, auto-login, macros, line editing, screen mode, triggers, cyberportals, logging, file and command uploading, shells, and multiple connects."
↑ Busey, Andrew (1995). Secrets of the MUD Wizards. SAMS Publishing. pp. 200. ISBN 0-672-30723-5. "The TinyFugue system has long been a popular client interface for players of MOO, MUCK, and many TinyMUD-derivative systems. With a robust feature list supporting multiple sessions, macros, triggers and automation, command history and other functions, TinyFugue offers users maximum control over their environment. Although more recent programs such as Tintin++ have gained large followings, many MUD players continue to use TinyFugue because of its power and flexibility in the hands of an experience client programmer."
↑ Cheong, Fah-Chun (1996). Internet Agents: Spiders, Wanderers, Brokers, and Bots. New Riders. pp. 256. ISBN 1-56205-463-5. https://archive.org/details/internetagentssp00cheo/page/256. "There are also front-end client programs, such as TinyTalk, TinyFugue, and Tintin, that provide an easier interface to the MUDs for their human players. They can handle some of the more routine work—for example, automatically greeting anyone who enters the room."
↑ Peter Unold (1992). "TINTIN - a dikumud client". http://groups.google.com/group/alt.sources/msg/b144a14d0d0a9741. "(T)he K(I)cki(N) (T)ick D(I)kumud Clie(N)t (hell I simply wanted it to be called TINTIN....)"
↑ Peter Unold (1992). "TINTIN III released". http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud.diku/msg/1f603d9ddbe251a9. "TINTIN III is a mud client special designed to help dikumudders. It runs under various UNIX implementations."
↑ Bill Reiss (1993). "where to get tintin++". http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud.diku/msg/49964f64eff2b017. "Since berkeley removed its diku base, I have put a copy of tintin++ 1.0 beta on flipper.pvv.unit.no in the pub/mud/diku directory. From here on, I will most likely be putting the updates to tintin++ there."
↑ Mike Potter (1995). "New Winsock MUD Client: zMUD". http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.mud.announce/msg/edf21b9bf336d887. "zMUD is a powerful client, with many features of TinTin++, as well as graphical interface features such as customizeable buttons."
↑ Mike Potter (2006). "About Zugg Software". http://www.zuggsoft.com/zuggsoft/about.htm. "Sep 1996 zMUD v4.0 is released as Shareware -- Zugg Software officially formed"
↑ Dodge, Martin; Kitchin, Rob (2000-09-02). Mapping Cyberspace. Routledge. p. 153. ISBN 0-415-19884-4. "One interesting approach that attempts to achieve this is, is one which automatically records movement through MUD space, using this information to dynamically map the spaces visited. Such an approach has been adopted by the zMUD client, from Zugg Software, which includes the automapping tool shown in figure 8.5. zMUD can be configured to decode the room descriptions, and to record the standard cardinal walking directions, teleports and one-way links."
↑ Designing Virtual Worlds. New Riders. 2003. p. 481. ISBN 0-13-101816-7. "Some clients (zMUD is the best-known) constructed for use with generic textual worlds can automap arbitrary room connections, exploring a virtual world exhaustively to produce an accurate map."
↑ Waitzman, D.. "Telnet window size option" (in en). https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1073.
↑ Postel, J.. "Telnet end of record option" (in en). https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc885.
↑ J., Postel; J., Reynolds. "Telnet Echo Option" (in en). https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc857.
↑ "Mud Client Compression Protocol" (in en). https://mudhalla.net/tintin/protocols/mccp.
↑ "Mud Client Compression Protocol" (in en). https://smaugmuds.afkmods.com/mccp.
↑ "Mud eXtension Protocol" (in en). https://www.zuggsoft.com/zmud/mxp.htm.
↑ "MUD Sound Protocol" (in en). https://www.zuggsoft.com/zmud/msp.htm.
↑ "Mud Master Chat Protocol" (in en). https://tintin.sourceforge.io/protocols/mmcp.

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