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MOO: MUD Object Oriented

A MOO is a kind of MUD. If you don't know anything about MUDs, you should probably read the MUD FAQ before going any further.

What is a MOO?

MOO stands for MUD Object Oriented. A MOO is a kind of MUD that has an object-oriented programming language. Many consider MOOs to be the most advanced MUDs because of the kind of software development that a player can do. There is presently only one MOO server, called MOO, that has become a kind of de facto standard. It works so well that there is little desire to implement a second, potentially incompatible, MOO server.

A MOO programmer almost never needs to rebuild the MOO server. Rather, the MOO server provides a powerful kernel that MOO-code programs run on. The kernel itself is so basic that it is insufficient to use as the basis of a new MOO, so the MOO server is augmented with a core of system-level MOO-code that does things like keep track of players, provide a mail system, and offer commonly used objects that other objects can inherit behavior from. Sometimes a core is called a core database. There are several different MOO cores around. A widely-used core is LambdaCore, the core for LambdaMOO, the oldest MOO. JaysHouse MOO runs an alternative core that you might want to consider using.

The idea is that you take a core of your choice (such as LambdaCore), and build your own customized virtual reality on top of it. Don't worry that the core will affect the look and feel of your MOO too much. Two different MOOs each using the same core can be extremely different from each other in look and feel.

MOO Information

Here are links to lots of MOO-related information, including enough to get your own MOO started (which would make you the archwizard of that MOO, by the way).

MOO Clients

Although you can use a MOO simply by making a TELNET connection to the MOO server, most people use a MOO client, a program that manages the connection and makes the output more presentable. Most MOO clients offer ease-of-use features that makes a simple TELNET connection appear primitive by comparision.

Web Pages for Specific MOOs

This is a list of links to pages operated by the same folks who operate the listed MOO. This is not a list of links to Web interfaces to these MOOs (for that, see the next section). If you know of any links I can add to this list, please send me email.

Links to MOOs

These links will connect you directly to various MOOs. Some of these MOOs have Web-based hypertext interfaces. The rest use telnet. Andrew Wilson's Internet VR Sites provides links to lots of MOOs.

General MUD Info

Here are links to other Web pages with general MUD information. If you don't know what kinds of MUDs there are, check out this overview of the different types of MUDs.

The following USENET newsgroups carry discussions related to MUDs of various types. Please note that most MUDs are not nearly as fun to program as a MOO is. If you are looking for the state of the art in text-based virtual reality, I highly recomment that you try a MOO before any other kind of MUD.

Copyright © Francis Litterio