FoundryMUSH

From AdamWiki

FoundryMUSH, or "the Foundry"," is an online chat server dedicated to indie gamers. It was founded when Fred mentioned that he couldn't play With Great Power on #indierpgs (an indie gamer IRC channel). I offered to set up a MUSH and write some code to manage the multiple decks of cards for the game.

The Foundry is open to all-comers. We chat about all kinds of things, from life to gaming to game design. Sometimes people pop in and look for people to playtest their latest game. Sometimes people schedule regular games. There's a variety of coded objects to help run games on the MUSH. Things like coded dice and decks of cards can be used for lots of different games. There are specialized code objects for certain games like Dogs in the Vineyard and The Shab-al-Hiri Roach. We're always coding new toys to play with, too.

Contents 1 Event Logs 2 Logging In 3 Communicating 3.1 Talk to People in the Same Room 3.1.1 Examples 3.1.2 Examples 3.2 Talk to People in Different Rooms 3.2.1 Examples 3.3 Learning More

Event Logs

• Foundry Log: Immersion with Kate, part one
• Foundry Log: Meet a Traditional Gamer

Logging In

The quickest way to connect is to open TELNET and connect to the game at address legendary.org 7777. That's port 7777. Telnet sucks though; it doesn't offer you any of the conveniences of a modern mush client.

You should download and install a client, really. Most are freeware or shareware. For Windows, I like SimpleMU but MUSHclient is good, too. For Mac, people like Savitar and Cantrip (and Atlantis, when it's done, will blow those out of the water). For UNIX and Linux, TinyFugue (TF) is good as a text-based client and there are graphical versions of that, too.

Once you get the address plugged into the client, connect to the Foundry. You'll get a welcome screen with some instructions at the bottom.

Create an account for yourself. Pick a name you want to use (generally, without spaces in it) and a password, and type:

 create name password

Substitute your user name and your password, of course. It'll connect you to the game and drop you in the Lounge, the hangout spot for people. Lots of folks "idle" on the game; that is, they always seem to be connected, even if they're not around. Say hello and the people who are awake will greet you.

The next time you come to the Foundry, you can use the connect command instead of create (or just put your name and password into the right boxes in your mush client).

 connect name password

Communicating

All right. So you've logged in. How the hell do you use this damned thing?

Talk to People in the Same Room

The first thing you need to realize is that you're in a room. Rooms are distinct places on the MUSH, sorta like channels on IRC.

A handful of commands let you communicate only with the people in the same room as you. Type look to find out who (and what) is in the room with you. To talk to those people, use the say command. To "emote" (pose random actions other than talking), use the pose command.

The quote mark is a shortcut for say and the colon is a shortcut for pose. Neither has a space between the shortcut and the text (e.g., "Hello! or :waves!). The semicolon is a shortcut that will pose without putting a space between your name and the text that follows.

If you do, for some reason, put a space after the : in your shortcut pose (e.g. : waves!), it will treat it like a semicolon-pose (Bobwaves!). In the same vein, the ; will be treated like a : if you put a space after it.

With the various say and pose commands, everyone in the room will see your conversation. People not in the room won't see your conversation.

Examples

You (Bob) type:	You see:	They see:
say Hello!	You say "Hello!"	Bob says "Hello!"
pose waves.	Bob waves.	Bob waves.
"How are you?	You say "How are you?"	Bob says "How are you?"
:is fine.	Bob is fine.	Bob is fine.
;'s game is starting soon.	Bob's game is starting soon.	Bob's game is starting soon.
: 's tired.	Bob's tired.	Bob's tired.
; goes to sleep.	Bob goes to sleep.	Bob goes to sleep.

If you want to have a private conversation with someone in the same room, use the whisper command. The syntax is whisper 'name' = 'what you want to say'. You can use a : or ; in the what-you-want-to-say part to turn your whisper into a whisper-pose (e.g., whisper Mary = :pssts, "What's up?"). You can abbreviate whisper to 'wh'.

Examples

You (Bob) type:	You see:	Mary sees:
wh Mary = Hi.	You whisper "Hi." to Mary.	Bob whispers "Hi."
wh Mary = :taps you on the shoulder.	You whisper to Mary: Bob taps you on the shoulder.	??verify??

Talk to People in Different Rooms

Sometimes you need to talk to someone who isn't in the same room. You can see a list of everyone logged into the MUSH using the who command.

The page command is like a whisper, but it works no matter where the person is. Also, you can page multiple people (just list them all before the = sign).

Examples

You (Bob) type:	You see:	Mary sees:	Tom sees:
p Mary = Hi.	You page Mary: Hi.	From afar, Bob pages: Hi.	(nothing)
p Mary = :waves.	You page-pose to Mary: Bob waves.	From afar, Bob waves.	(nothing)
p Tom Mary = Hi, you two!	You page Tom, Mary: Hi, you two!	??verify??	??verify??

Learning More

The MUSH has an extensive help system. The best place to start is qhelp (quick help), which contains basic information about the MUSH server, and +help (plus help), which contains information about how Adam and crew have extended the server for gaming purposes. If you want detailed information about commands and the MUSH and its programming language, use help and wizhelp. The famous "Amberyl's MUSH Coding Manual" is available online, too, as mushman.

(This would be a great place to drop some links to other helpful resources, if anyone has any.)