ColdMUD
Encyclopedia
ColdMUD is a type of MUD
server software, similar in many ways to MOO
and CoolMUD
, from which it is descended. It is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time. Created by Greg Hudson, it has many similarities to both MOO
and CoolMUD
. However, there are many important differences from MOO
in its embedded, domain-specific programming language
, ColdC
, and in its implementation of persistence and network services:
Subsequently, Jordan Baker added some basic task scheduling primitives, and along with other modifications, this became an unofficial 0.12 version.
At this point Brandon Gillespie forked
ColdMUD and it became known as "Genesis". Over the next few years, an active community of contributors made many bug fixes and improvements, but significantly changed the operation of many built-in functions and datatypes. Genesis came to be used by several online communities and games, especially a very large commercial MUD
, "The Eternal City".
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
server software, similar in many ways to MOO
MOO
A MOO is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time.The term MOO is used in two distinct, but related, senses...
and CoolMUD
CoolMUD
CoolMUD is a type of MUD, and a descendant of MOO. It is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time...
, from which it is descended. It is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time. Created by Greg Hudson, it has many similarities to both MOO
MOO
A MOO is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time.The term MOO is used in two distinct, but related, senses...
and CoolMUD
CoolMUD
CoolMUD is a type of MUD, and a descendant of MOO. It is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time...
. However, there are many important differences from MOO
MOO
A MOO is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time.The term MOO is used in two distinct, but related, senses...
in its embedded, domain-specific programming language
Domain-specific programming language
In software development and domain engineering, a domain-specific language is a programming language or specification language dedicated to a particular problem domain, a particular problem representation technique, and/or a particular solution technique...
, ColdC
ColdC
ColdC is a programming language, originally designed for ColdMUD by Greg Hudson in 1993, but with some applications in fields unrelated to MUDs. It is a dynamically typed prototype-based object oriented system, with a syntax derived from the C programming language...
, and in its implementation of persistence and network services:
- Like CoolMUDCoolMUDCoolMUD is a type of MUD, and a descendant of MOO. It is a text-based online virtual reality system to which multiple users are connected at the same time...
, but unlike MOO, ColdMUD's object database is fully disk-based. Whereas MOO's implementation of persistence is based on periodic "checkpoints" during which the complete state of the server's object memory is written to disk, CoolMUD keeps the majority of the object database on disk and keeps a cache of the most frequently used objects in memory, a strategy known as incremental persistence. The ColdMUD implementation of the disk-based object memory is based on Marcus Ranum'sMarcus J. RanumMarcus J. Ranum is a computer and network security researcher and industry leader. He is credited with a number of innovations in firewalls, including building the first Internet email server for the whitehouse.gov domain, and intrusion detection systems...
work from UnterMUD. - Unlike MOO, the embedded programming language (ColdCColdCColdC is a programming language, originally designed for ColdMUD by Greg Hudson in 1993, but with some applications in fields unrelated to MUDs. It is a dynamically typed prototype-based object oriented system, with a syntax derived from the C programming language...
) can be used without using the runtime as a MUD (that is, network accessible) daemonDaemon (computer software)In Unix and other multitasking computer operating systems, a daemon is a computer program that runs as a background process, rather than being under the direct control of an interactive user...
.
History
Versions through 0.11.0 were written by Greg Hudson and released between 1993 and 1994. Version 0.10 was Hudson's last official release, and the last fully documented ColdMUD server. Colin McCormack assisted in the release of version 0.11.0, which eventually stabilized as 0.11.4.Subsequently, Jordan Baker added some basic task scheduling primitives, and along with other modifications, this became an unofficial 0.12 version.
At this point Brandon Gillespie forked
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
ColdMUD and it became known as "Genesis". Over the next few years, an active community of contributors made many bug fixes and improvements, but significantly changed the operation of many built-in functions and datatypes. Genesis came to be used by several online communities and games, especially a very large commercial MUD
MUD
A MUD , pronounced , is a multiplayer real-time virtual world, with the term usually referring to text-based instances of these. MUDs combine elements of role-playing games, hack and slash, player versus player, interactive fiction, and online chat...
, "The Eternal City".