5 ms·

Flame – BBS and MUD

58 points by shakna 2y ago

01100011 2y ago
This is obviously a MUD and not really the same thing, but I can't help think of Citadel BBSes after reading the description. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_(software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_(software) Funny this is maintained by folks at UW. The PNW had quite a robust BBS scene back in the 80s. Not exactly surprising that tech flourished with such inclement weather.
kaiyuanzg 2y ago
[dead]
- HocusLocus 2y ago
  Hacker News itself looks promising for those needing an easy-to-use cluster management tool. I like its ability to operate on smaller AAA batteries by just putting bits of tinfoil on each end. It seems like a good replacement for Plex. I mangle users and software when necessary, but would like an opensource tool to play with. The orange objects are a nice touch. Curious to see how it evolves and compares to other social edifices like the Catholic Church.
khimaros 2y ago
thinking about MUDs always makes me miss the days when GhostMOO was full of players. any others among this crowd? https://mudstats.com/World/Ghostwheel https://mudstats.com/World/Ghostwheel
- adiabatichottub 2y ago
  I was on Ghostwheel! I'm even still friends with somebody I met there.
upghost 2y ago
Wow what a great idea. I wish this were a more common online social space format!
JKCalhoun 2y ago
Maybe obvious to others, but on MacOS I had to `brew install telnet` since it was not installed by default and then `telnet flame.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au 4242`. In the 90's I thought it would make for a wild scene in a (cyberpunk?) story where the protagonist agrees to meet up with a possible informant in a MUD bar. The two apparently idly chatting possibly state secrets while fights between fighters and magic users break out around them.
- trentlott 2y ago
  It's a shame there's not just an embedded applet. Those were always popular on MU*'s websites in the 2000s. Shame that's not an automatic add.
captaincrunch 2y ago
half the things I am asking........ what? what?
- kmstout 2y ago
  > help command_list
  - captaincrunch 2y ago
    Yes, I typed help after two guesses... but go north? Or whats the point in having it tell you information and exits
    - semanticist 2y ago
      If you're not familiar with MUDs than perhaps a system based on "being a MUD" just isn't aimed at you?
    - egypturnash 2y ago
      Historical reasons. This is a MUD, which stands for "multiple user dungeon"; what's more useful is that it's based on a form of game called a "text adventure". Once upon a time back in the eighties these were some of the biggest sellers of the game industry! They would present a small world to explore, often a mostly-abandoned one because that's easier to do. You'd wander around, map the world (usually on paper, by hand! [1]), and discover creatures, characters, and items sitting around it, waiting for you to interact with them. A lot of them were in the form of exploring some kind of dungeon; D&D was popular among nerds, and "what if the computer did all the record-keeping" was a popular thing to explore. Which explains why this is a "multiple-user dungeon" even if nothing in it is described as dank, underground rooms full of monsters and treasures. Directions are given as compass directions because that's the very first text adventure did ("Colossal Caves"), and nobody ever found anything better - a few games tried forwards/left/right/back but it was very confusing to keep track of which way you were pointing. In practice a lot of muds really ended up more like chat servers with a sense of place; instead of being in a "channel" with other people, you're in a "room", which might have a "bulletin board" on it for less-ephemeral discussions than the general chatter among players. There might be monsters to fight and puzzles to solve somewhere off in the map but nobody engaged with them. Instead they just hang out and chat, and roleplay. 1: something like this: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52c9d908e4b0e87887310693/2553faae-1ea7-49c3-b658-9e8733f99105/Zork-Map-Lebling-1978.jpeg?format=1500w https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52c9d908e4b0e8... - except probably with a lot more erasures and corrections.
curtisszmania 2y ago
[dead]
torpid 2y ago
This isn't new at all - MajorBBS/Worldgroup had a module called Hoteleconference that did this, which if I remember correctly, you could do "world building" to design rooms, descriptions, actions, etc. much like a mud but with a more social context.

58 points by shakna 2y ago

This is obviously a MUD and not really the same thing, but I can't help think of Citadel BBSes after reading the description. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_(software) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citadel_(software) Funny this is maintained by folks at UW. The PNW had quite a robust BBS scene back in the 80s. Not exactly surprising that tech flourished with such inclement weather.

kaiyuanzg 2y ago

[dead]

HocusLocus 2y ago
Hacker News itself looks promising for those needing an easy-to-use cluster management tool. I like its ability to operate on smaller AAA batteries by just putting bits of tinfoil on each end. It seems like a good replacement for Plex. I mangle users and software when necessary, but would like an opensource tool to play with. The orange objects are a nice touch. Curious to see how it evolves and compares to other social edifices like the Catholic Church.

khimaros 2y ago

thinking about MUDs always makes me miss the days when GhostMOO was full of players. any others among this crowd? https://mudstats.com/World/Ghostwheel https://mudstats.com/World/Ghostwheel

adiabatichottub 2y ago
I was on Ghostwheel! I'm even still friends with somebody I met there.

upghost 2y ago

Wow what a great idea. I wish this were a more common online social space format!

JKCalhoun 2y ago

Maybe obvious to others, but on MacOS I had to `brew install telnet` since it was not installed by default and then `telnet flame.ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au 4242`. In the 90's I thought it would make for a wild scene in a (cyberpunk?) story where the protagonist agrees to meet up with a possible informant in a MUD bar. The two apparently idly chatting possibly state secrets while fights between fighters and magic users break out around them.

trentlott 2y ago
It's a shame there's not just an embedded applet. Those were always popular on MU*'s websites in the 2000s. Shame that's not an automatic add.

captaincrunch 2y ago

half the things I am asking........ what? what?

kmstout 2y ago
> help command_list
- captaincrunch 2y ago
  Yes, I typed help after two guesses... but go north? Or whats the point in having it tell you information and exits
  - semanticist 2y ago
    If you're not familiar with MUDs than perhaps a system based on "being a MUD" just isn't aimed at you?
  - egypturnash 2y ago
    Historical reasons. This is a MUD, which stands for "multiple user dungeon"; what's more useful is that it's based on a form of game called a "text adventure". Once upon a time back in the eighties these were some of the biggest sellers of the game industry! They would present a small world to explore, often a mostly-abandoned one because that's easier to do. You'd wander around, map the world (usually on paper, by hand! [1]), and discover creatures, characters, and items sitting around it, waiting for you to interact with them. A lot of them were in the form of exploring some kind of dungeon; D&D was popular among nerds, and "what if the computer did all the record-keeping" was a popular thing to explore. Which explains why this is a "multiple-user dungeon" even if nothing in it is described as dank, underground rooms full of monsters and treasures. Directions are given as compass directions because that's the very first text adventure did ("Colossal Caves"), and nobody ever found anything better - a few games tried forwards/left/right/back but it was very confusing to keep track of which way you were pointing. In practice a lot of muds really ended up more like chat servers with a sense of place; instead of being in a "channel" with other people, you're in a "room", which might have a "bulletin board" on it for less-ephemeral discussions than the general chatter among players. There might be monsters to fight and puzzles to solve somewhere off in the map but nobody engaged with them. Instead they just hang out and chat, and roleplay. 1: something like this: https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52c9d908e4b0e87887310693/2553faae-1ea7-49c3-b658-9e8733f99105/Zork-Map-Lebling-1978.jpeg?format=1500w https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/52c9d908e4b0e8... - except probably with a lot more erasures and corrections.

curtisszmania 2y ago

[dead]

torpid 2y ago

This isn't new at all - MajorBBS/Worldgroup had a module called Hoteleconference that did this, which if I remember correctly, you could do "world building" to design rooms, descriptions, actions, etc. much like a mud but with a more social context.