Sections within this document:
1.) Purpose of a MUCK
2.) Quick connect using Windows 95 or Windows 98
3.) Other telnet or dedicated MUCK software to try
4.) Logging in for the first time
What is a MUCK:
A MUCK, quite simply, is a place to go to take on the life of someone else,
and live that life for that person. You accomplish this by roleplaying that
character through poses, and speaking. You create the story of that char,
and build their background to your liking, and abilities.
Why join a MUCK:
Well, many people have different reasons for this. One is just to have a little
fun, maybe improve your writing skills, and your describing skills. Others,
use MUCKs as a way to get away from the real world, and their real lives for
a time. Still others use it to have fun with their friends and nothing else.
They may only chat with their friends or RP solely with their friends, and
never leave a cave, or a house, or whatever.
Have Windows 95 or 98? Well then, you have a built in telnet program, though
it may not be configured in your browser. Well, if that's the case, here's
how to use it manually.
1.) Go to your start menu, click on that, and go down to run. Click on that.
A dialog box should appear. In the text box there, type 'telnet', and click
the 'OK' button.
2.) A new window should open that has the title 'Telnet - (none)'. Go into
the Terminal menu, and click on Preferences.
3.) In the dialog box that appears, there are a few different options. Most
of those you don't really need to worry about, but the one that you do have
to worry about for MUCK use, is the 'local echo' checkbox. What local echo
is, is basically an option to allow you to see what you type before you send
it. Without that being checked, you don't see what you type, so you could
have problems even connecting. So, go ahead and check the local echo checkbox
and click the OK button.
4.) Finally, to actually connect to the muck you need to do this. Go into
the Connect menu, and click on the Remote System submenu. A box should appear
that's called 'Connect'. In that box, here's what you must enter:
| Host Name: | squeeky.cytag.nl |
| Port: | 9000 |
| Term Type: | VT100 |
After you do that, you need only click the 'Connect' button and you should connect. If you do not, it means the muck is down, or the machine is down, and you should try again a little later.
So you don't own Windows 95 or 98, or you want to try something a little better for MUCKing, perhaps even a dedicated client for it. Well, I have a few that I choose above all others, and highly recommend. After 5 some odd years of doing this, I have tried many clients for both Mac and IBM, and here are my top choices for both dedicated MUCKing client, and Telnet client for both platforms:
For Macintosh I recommend the client called Savitar. It's shareware, which means you get to try it for 30 days and then have to pay a fee, but...it has all the features you need for MUCKing, including multiple connections, and predefined connections. Only thing that it is missing from Simple Mu for the IBM is the ability to indent continued text, but you get used to that fairly quickly as I found out when I was without my IBM for a time.
For the Windows machine, I have to recommend SimpleMu above all others. Not only does it have multiple connections, and defined worlds, it also has all the other features you could need in a client, and it supports Ansi very well. Even have little bits of TinyFugue stuck in. I would recommend TinyFugue here, but since it is text based, and rather complex, I will recommend the closest competitor I have found.
For those of you who just want to have an all around Telnet client that's better than the one that comes with Windows 95 or 98, here are the ones I recommend for Mac, and IBM:
For Macintosh I recommend the one called NCSA Telnet. Not only is it completly free, and been around the longest, it's very powerful yet simple to use for beginners. It can even be configured for use as a helper application for your web browser so when you do click a telnet link, it opens right up for you in NCSA Telnet.
For Windows machines, there is none better than CRT or Secure CRT. Both are made by the same company, and both are nearly identical except that Secure CRT can do SSH, or encrypted, communications with a remote machine. If you only intend on using this for MUCKing, you are better to skip the hassle of downloading Secure CRT, and just download CRT. Both very easy to use and powerful.
Okay, big time. You are finally connected to the muck, and you see the title screen. Well, since this is probably your first time connecting, you need to get a character. The way you do that, is type 'connect guest guest' at the title screen, and you will be connected to the muck as a guest. Look around the muck, and go ahead and page a wizard if you need any help. To find a wiz that's one, type 'wizzes' and then when you find one, type 'page <wizards name>=<message>' to page them. Finally, when you decided to get yourself a character, type @request, and fill in the info required.