What Are the Best MUD Clients?

Choosing a MUD client solely depends on your personal needs and your systems requirements. There are lots of great MUD clients out there, picking which offers the best experience is the tricky part. So, to narrow your search, we’ve put together a list of the best. The good news is, most of them are free while the premium ones have free trials that deliver an amazing experience.

What is a MUD Client?

Before we deep delve into the details, let’s know what a mud client is. A mud client is an application that facilitates gaming on a MUD. It is made of features that offer a number of benefits to MUD players and other role-playing systems. Some of the most important features in a MUD client include; Aliases, sound support, and triggers.

Aliases are more like a macro in a word processor program. For instance, you may decide to create an alias for a particular action in the game, so that when it’s time to perform that action, you only need to type the alias. Let’s say you want to perform an action like cast ‘magic missile’, you might just need to type ‘cmm’ and it’s done.

Triggers, sometimes called ‘event’ in most clients, are aliases that are automatically touched off when a line of text is received from the MUD. Say, for instance, you set a trigger for eating so that when a line like ‘you are hungry’ pops up on the screen, the application sends ‘eat bread’ automatically to the game.

You can hear the effect of spells and other activities going onscreen. But this will only be possible if your client supports MSP.

List of Best MUD Clients

1. Mushclient

Topping our list is Mushclient, one of the most customizable MUD clients out there. Mushclient is a highly feature-packed free software. Its features include aliases, triggers, and timers. The software’s long search buffer enables you to keep track of past games. Mushclient is highly compatible with all Windows Operating Systems from Windows 95 or Windows Vista.

2. zMUD

With over 50,000 registered users, zMUD is indeed one of the most popular MUD clients out there. It is recognized as the fastest and the most versatile MUD client amongst most users. Its features include multiplayer, aliases, triggers, spell checking, equipment database, and a lot more. zMUD is customizable and highly compatible with clients like TinTin++. It supports Windows 98, 95, 2000, ME, and XP.

3. CMUD

CMUD is a paid version of mud client, presently starting at $29.9. It offers a 30-day free trial for anyone who wants to subscribe. Designed basically for scripting, it offers the best user experience if you plan to do lots of scripting. I recommend you go for a free version of MUD client if you are not doing much with it, but if you need one that allows scriptwriting, CMUD is the best fit for you. This software works in both Windows XP and Windows Vista.

4. Atlantis

One of the many MUD clients out there for the older version of Mac OS. Mac users say a lot of good things about Atlantis. However, I don’t recommend this if you are new to this, as Atlantist, just like other MUD clients for old Mac, is not user-friendly. But you can still play around with it, and see how it goes.

5. VMoo

This is one of the most advanced MUD clients out there. VMoo offers a lot of cool features. It is highly programmable and extendable from almost any programming language.

6. KMuddy

KMuddy is one of the best MUD clients for Linux machines. Unlike other MUD clients in this category that is difficult to use, KMuddy is quite easier. Its features include speed walking, aliases, triggers, and a lot more.

7. TinTin++

This is MUD client is free. It works in Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, and iOS. It uses an advanced auto-mapper, VT100 interface, and scripting language.

Though it primarily works as a MUD client, it can also act as a Unix shell command language, multiplexer and demultiplexer, and Automator.

You can launch console programs like bash within this client, allowing you to do things like creating highlights, substitution, diverting text, combining multiple streams into one, triggers, timers, and a lot more. You can also change the appearance and behavior of most console apps.

As a console client, it works with screen readers, its accessible non-graphical command interface makes it possible to be used by virtually impaired people.

8. Mudlet

Mudlet is a lightweight MUD client. It is very customizable, and it works in every operating system including macOS, Windows, Linux, and even Chromebook and Raspberry Pi. You can modify its user interface however you want. It also has a feature that lets you share the profile you created via dropbox.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a mud client?

A mud client is a software application that allows users to connect to and interact with multiplayer text-based online games through commands typed into a terminal or telnet interface.

What are muds?

MUDs, short for Multi-User Dungeons, are real-time online text-based games developed as open-source projects. They usually involve a hack and slash gameplay style, where players engage in combat with monsters and other players.

MUDs allow players to explore virtual worlds, interact with each other within the client, and customize their gaming experience through modifying the source code. Mudding refers to actively playing MUDs.

What is scripting in the context of mud clients?

Scripting in the context of MUD clients refers to the process of creating automated commands or actions within a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) environment. MUDs were the first interactive text-based online games and provided an immersive player versus player experience.

With the advent of free MUD clients like the popular mudclient, players could enhance their gaming experience by scripting repetitive tasks, creating shortcuts, or even implementing interactive fiction elements. The inclusion of features like MXP (MUD eXtension Protocol) and the availability of a Windows port allowed for a more seamless and user-friendly scripting experience.

What is Telnet and how does it relate to mud clients?

Telnet is a network protocol that allows users to establish a remote command-line interface with another computer over a network. It is often used for logging into another computer remotely and executing commands as if you were sitting right in front of it. In the context of mud clients, Telnet is used to connect with mud games, which are usually text-based role-playing games. Mud clients such as MUSHclient, TinTin++, and zMUD provide a user interface (UI) for connecting to mud games via Telnet.

These clients often have features like regular expression support, plugins, and automation to enhance the gaming experience. Users can also see screenshots of the game interface and interact with non-player characters. For more information, users can refer to external links and resources such as Raph Koster’s book on muds and the Diku mud codebase.

What is Mudlet?

Mudlet is a popular mud client software that runs on various operating systems, including Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. It provides a user-friendly interface and advanced features for enhancing the mud gaming experience.

How does a mud client work on Linux?

A mud client on Linux operates within the terminal, utilizing the command-line interface to interact with the game server. It can be configured with various triggers, aliases, and scripts to automate actions and improve gameplay. A mud client is a software application that allows players to typically interact with and also run muds on their Linux systems. It can be used through various methods, such as using a ssh connection or directly from a terminal emulator like xterm.

The client usually provides a user-friendly interface with features like a status bar and built-in scripting capabilities. Muds, short for Multi-User Dungeons, are text-based games that restrict certain actions and commands. Many people using Linux have relied on mud clients for their gameplay experience, which has a brief history dating back to the early days of online gaming.

What is a trigger in the context of mud clients?

A trigger, in the context of mud clients, is a rule-based mechanism that allows the client to execute predefined actions when specific conditions are met. For example, a trigger can be set to perform an action whenever a certain message is received from the game server. In the context of mud clients, a trigger refers to a command or action that is originally written or defined by a player to automate certain tasks.

These triggers can be created in both graphical interface and text-based mud clients, which typically provide a scripting language for this purpose. Triggers are commonly used to help with repetitive actions, such as automatic responses or mapping, and can even be used to gag certain text from being displayed. Triggers have been a playable feature in the early history of mud clients, and they continue to be a popular tool for enhancing gameplay and managing multiple sessions.

What does OS stand for?

OS stands for Operating System. In the context of mud clients, it refers to the underlying system software running on a computer. Common examples are such as Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X.

What is an alias in the context of mud clients?

An alias is a shorthand command or shortcut created by a mud client user to simplify repetitive actions. Instead of typing a long command, the user can define an alias as a replacement that executes the desired action. In the context of MUD clients, an alias refers to a feature that allows players to play multiplayer online games. This is used to create shortcuts for frequently used commands or actions.

It is an enhancement found in popular clients like MOO, which is an open-source, online chat platform. These clients, such as the first MUD and TT, typically run on Windows and offer version 1.0. For more information, see also the IDG books on MUDs as some games may restrict the use of certain aliases.