From: jwtlai@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Jim W Lai)
Subject: Re: Text based world-building in MUDs, esp. LP-mud (LONG)
Date: Wed, 7 Aug 1991 19:57:18 GMT
Message-ID: <1991Aug7.195718.9088@watcgl.waterloo.edu>
Organization: University of Waterloo



In article <1991Aug7.005157.21184@milton.u.washington.edu> beeman%cats.UCSC.
EDU@ucscc.ucsc.edu (Adam D Beeman) writes:

>        Currently there are several types of "MUD" ..

And several of them have been in existence on the dialup computer services,
such as CompuServe and GEnie.  Naturally the commerical muds are not as
flexible as the internet-based muds.

>        Just because you don't have the high-resolution 3-D stereo headgear
>and fiber-optic suits doesn't mean you can't start making virtual spaces...
>all you have to do is have an internet connection, free time, and an active
>imagination.

>        A mud, from creation, begins as (usually) a small "village", a handful
>of rooms and "monsters", and a language for making more of this.  Different 
>types of mud have different ways of dealing with the data involved...

This startup is a historical anachronism.  There is no reason why a new
mud could not start off with, say, a world of dolphins floating in the sea.
I will admit that the restrictions inherent in an adaptation of a role-playing
game paradigm have not fully explored.  (Many such RPGs could be considered
attempts at modelling worlds, though without a hardware implementation nor a
graphic interface.)

Some of the problems anticipated in VR applications have already cropped up
in mud design.  There is a need for efficient construction tools, libraries
of objects to draw upon, and navigation paradigms.  Aside from the knowledge
one can gain by experimenting with new implementations (server paradigms),
I believe one can learn about the potential reactions of users to VR, since
many of the people who play muds are not intimate with the operation of
computers.

So... where can I get a grant?