TorilMUD

About

[http://www.torilmud.org TorilMUD] is one of the oldest and largest free Multi-User Dungeons (MUDs). [http://www.torilmud.org TorilMUD] is based on the Forgotten Realms AD&D campaign (2nd edition) and the DikuMUD codebase. Over the last decade, TorilMUD has been heavily modified, and gone through several incarnations, culminating in the current feature-rich TorilMUD. Over 250 completely original zones, 14 player races, 18 classes, and a wide variety of additional features, TorilMUD offers nearly unlimited entertainmentPOV-statement|date=January 2008.

History

The mechanics of TorilMUD lie in the DikuMUD code, which was created in 1990 at the University of Copenhagen Department of Computer Science DIKU Fact|date=January 2008.

The DikuMUD codebase has been one of the primary MUD codebases, modified by thousands of coders for hundreds of MUDs. Kris Kortright, the ultimate authority on TorilMUD for many years, first encountered it through the University of Michigan Computer Club MUD (UMCC MUD)Fact|date=January 2008.

Following leadership roles on Copper 2 MUD from 1990–1992, Kris and some friends created Black Knights MUD, based on the Forgotten Realms games of TSR (as it was then known). The oldest zone on TorilMUD, the Lava Tubes, comes from Copper 2, and the Underworld and Alterian Wilderness zones are from Black Knights.

Kris and some friends moved from Black Knights in 1992, and created Sojourn, the true beginning of the MUDWho|date=January 2008. The new Sojourn MUD was based on the Sequent codebase (a heavily modified version of DIKU), the Epic spell system, and areas from Black Knight. Screens from Sojourn MUD were featured in the 1995 book "Playing MUDs on the Internet" by Rawn Shah and James Romine [Shah, Rawn and Romine, James: "Playing MUDs on the Internet", pages 38-49. Wiley Press, 1995] . The City of Waterdeep was the first zone built entirely for Sojourn, and remains its most heavily populated hometown. Brad McQuaid (with Kris’ permission) used it as the model for the city of Waterdeep in the original EverQuest.

Sojourn continued until 1996, when a difference in creative vision among the staff led to a split. This split produced the first versions of TorilMUD and Duris MUD (which also still exists today) [cite web |url=http://www.durismud.com |title=Duris MUD |accessdate=2008-03-29] . Toril continued until 1998, when it became Sojourn 2, and underwent another rebirth in 2001 as Sojourn 3. Kris retired in 2003, and Sojourn 3 was reborn as TorilMUD. (Or, as the old-time players refer to it, Toril 2.) Throughout these rebirths, the areas and code continued to grow: There are currently 300 zones (with several more nearing completion), 16277types of monsters/mobs, and 13753 different items. The heart of TorilMUD lies in the players and the staff. Many TorilMUD staff members were staff on Sojourn 3, Sojourn 2, and some are even from Toril 1, providing a degree of continuity. All Toril staff started as players on the mud, the latest of them starting during Sojourn 2, giving them a great deal of personal experience with the mud.

References