Expanding on MUDs

While Ultima Online, and other graphical MUDs were beginning to take momentum away from the text-based variety, it really wasn't until the early 2000s, I believe when WoW was first introduced, or was WoW later than that?  But, from some records I've been reading about MUDs, is that it was about 2002 or so when they were beginning to die out.  There were still some servers running, and a lot of people playing.  There are in fact still people creating and playing MUDs to keep the traditional alive some might say.

From what I am currently seeing by diving into MUDs, is that the genres and themes tend to stick to similar tropes for these text-based multplayer servers.  There are the hack-n-slash ones, twitch battle ones, the D&D ones, role-playing ones, social ones, and probably a few others.  The general game mechanics tend to stick with what already exists and works.  I also believe that since a lot of MUD servers aren't always easy to modify to implement different game systems, they do tend to have to stick with the constraints of those servers.

Evennia is different from your typical MUD server, in that the entire world is developed in the Python language.  This allows for completely unique game systems to be developed, and that is what this thought is going to be going through.  A few interesting ideas that could be implemented in a python-based MUD server like Evennia.

Farming Simulation

I don't hear many people screaming for a text-based Stardew Valley, but building a whole farming simulation game inside of a MUD game would be really amazing I'd think.  As it can support a lot of players in one server, which can all be farming in their individual farms, or even work for other farmers in the game to make some extra gold.  It can turn into a real life farming simulation game, where the entire economy is player driven.  If stats are created for hunger, then it would naturally give a reason for the players to grow food, keeping an endless cycle going through a social online farming community.  Would this sort of online game in a MUD sound absolutely amazing?

Animal Crossing: Text Version

Similar in some ways to the Farming Simulation one mentioned, but it would be 100% cozy with no stats to monitor, much like Animal Crossing.  It would be a persistent world where multiple players would inhabit, and while there could be villagers, as this sort of AI in a text-based MUD wouldn't be too difficult to program overall, could also be populated with other players.  Unlike with Animal Crossing, each of the players in this world is a permanent resident of the world, and doesn't visit another island.  When it comes to the building and customization aspects of Animal Crossing, each player would have their own set of land in the world where they could build on.  Other aspects of Animal Crossing like festivals, catching bugs, fish, and filling the museum can also add be implemented.  Evennia also has a built-in time system that can also be easily synced with a real-world time-zone, allowing many timed events and festivals to easily occur in-game for everyone to attend and enjoy.

Sims: Bust'n Out: Text Version

A bit similar to the Animal Crossing idea, except there are some survival mechanics, like in The Sims series that the player needs to constantly keep an eye out.  I'm also talking about the Gameboy Advanced version here, not the console version.  These are two very different games, on the Gameboy Advanced, it has a fully fleshed out scenario for your Sim to follow.  I liked the general idea of controlling just a single character, and then free-roaming through this fun town with really quirky characters with just the weirdest things to say sometimes...  Like if you've played this game, the dialogue can be really interesting at times, I love the humour the Sims team has put into all their games, it's what really gives the games their charm.

Anyways, a text-based version of a game like this would be like Animal Crossing meets The Sims Bust'n Out for Gameboy Advance, which I think would fit a MUD server game really well.  It would have an engaging world to explore, with a lot of NPCs to talk to, and take various side-quests from, while monitoring your vitals.  It will feel like a life simulation game a lot, but in a fully explorable text-based world.  I think if such a world had a lot of activities to do, and was driven by a player economy, it could be a lot of fun.

Closing Thoughts

I already have my idea for the Evennia world that I am in the process of designing and writing, so all the ideas expressed here, may or may not be a part of any Evennia game that I may or may not produce.  I am mostly writing these here as to open the discussion about MUDs, and what else we could build with their toolkits.  Reading and writing are essential skills that I believe being introduced to MUDs could help a lot of the population better their skills.  It can also help build a better imagination, and to be more creative.  There are no high fidelity ultra 1,000,000K resolution graphics here.  Instead, the fidelity is entirely priceless.