Polemics

Designing and Describing MU* Characters 101

Having trouble writing a description for a text-based multi-user environment (MUD, MUSH, MOO, MUCK, etc.) character? Not to worry, this handy guide can help.  It will show you the benefits of using a client and editor, outline a character, and provide easy methods of organizing your description, plus offer some code tips and more. It will also show you some clichés and poor writing to avoid, and hopefully kick-start your imagination if you're having trouble rounding out your character.

Lesson 1, Tools, covers clients and editors you'll need to get set up and ready to go. Lesson 2, Outlining, will help you generate and begin some organization of ideas for your character. Lesson 3, Writing, will present tips on actually writing out your description for the character you make. Lesson 4, MU* Specifics, will mention some tricks you can use in at least some MU* environments to enhance the experience.

 

Lesson one concerns setting up your environment.  It will cover the use of clients and editors.  Most experienced players will already be using these tools, so this lesson is optional for them.

CLIENTS

Most MU* players will have a client installed already, however, for the purposes of this lesson we'll assume this isn't the case. For Windows users, one free client that's fairly decent is MUSHClient. Unix/Lunix users will probably end up using the old standby TinyFugue, however, I haven't used a Unix platform in years.

The choice of client is not as important as its ability to 'play back' text files that we'll be making later.  This can be done in usually one of two ways - by copying and pasting directly into the input window or field, or by using a menu command.  Whichever method(s) your client supports, take the time to become familiar with them.

EDITORS
Now that you're set up with a client, you need a text editor.  The environment of a MU* doesn't typically allow for ease of editing, being that they have either extremely rudimentary or extremely complex methods of putting in data or editing said data, so it's better to have a local text editor. Having an editor also lets you save local copies of your desc in case it's lost for whatever reason. For Windows, PSPad (free), Crimson Editor (free) or UltraEdit ($35) are very good.  In the interest of not sparking yet another "vi vs. emacs" war, I'll just say your options on Unix are out there.  Mac users, I have no idea (BBEdit, perhaps).

The important features for your text editor are the ability to word wrap at 78 characters (without inserting a carriage return - ie, so when you turn off word wrap, a paragraph you typed out on one line will stay on one line), save .txt files in a format appropriate to your system (so UNIX files for a Unix system and Windows/DOS files for a Windows system), and type in a monospaced character set (like this).

Once you have your editor installed and configured, try making a text file that has a few simple commands (such as move to a room, look, and move back to the previous room) and save it. The file might look like this:

north

look

south

 Then, using your client, use whatever "play back" features you have, and use the text file (script) you made to test it out. Once you've successfully done this, you're ready to move on.

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