''ifMUD'' is a

MUD A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

associated with the rec.arts.int-fiction

newsgroup A Usenet newsgroup is a repository usually within the Usenet system, for messages posted from users in different locations using the Internet. They are discussion groups and are not devoted to publishing news. Newsgroups are technically distinct ...

accessible via

telnet Telnet is an application protocol used on the Internet or local area network to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communication facility using a virtual terminal connection. User data is interspersed in-band with Telnet control i ...

or a

MUD client A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, usually text-based or storyboarded. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash ...

. It is central to the

interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

community, frequented by many of the genre's best-known writers. Every year, the XYZZY Awards are hosted on ''ifMUD'' during an online ceremony. ''ifMUD'' was founded in 1997 by Liza Daly. It is written in the Perl

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

programming language making use of an extensive

hack Hack may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Games * ''Hack'' (Unix video game), a 1984 roguelike video game * ''.hack'' (video game series), a series of video games by the multimedia franchise ''.hack'' Music * ''Hack'' (album), a 199 ...

of the earlier PerlMUD, with many additional features.

Game characteristics

''ifMUD'' is organized into areas, with a distinct area usually the work of a particular contributor or group of contributors and having its own interactive fiction plot. For example, ''Save Princeton'' was created by Jacob Weinstein and Karine Schaefer.

Innovations

The tradition of SpeedIF, in which short interactive fiction works, created around story prompts, are developed and shared in a two-hour timeframe, was originated on ''ifMUD'' by David Cornelson.

MUD bots

Two major bots exist on ''ifMUD'', Alex and Floyd. Floyd acts as an interpreter for many different IF writing platforms. It was named after a fictional character from the '' Planetfall'' game by

Infocom Infocom was an American software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that produced numerous works of interactive fiction. They also produced a business application, a relational database called ''Cornerstone (software), Cornerstone''. ...

. Alex, a "parrot" bot named after Alex Pepperberg, keeps track of memos on any topic, editable by anyone, similar to a wiki. It was written by Dan Shiovitz and was inspired by the Perl infobot Purl.

Reception

''ifMUD'' has, at times, simultaneously been praised for its service to the interactive fiction community and criticized for fostering an excessively self-referential, socially impenetrable environment. Its userbase has been described as a "small but friendly multinational tribe".

References

External links

Official web siteifWiki entry
{{MUDs Interactive fiction MUD games 1997 video games Video games developed in the United States