TinyMUCK or, more broadly, a MUCK, is a type of user-extendable
online text-based role-playing game, designed for
role playing
Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing a ...
and social interaction.
Backronym
A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...
s like "Multi-User Chat/Created/Computer/Character/Carnal Kingdom" and "Multi-User Construction Kit" are sometimes cited, but are not the actual origin of the term; "muck" is simply a play on the term
MUD.
History
*The original TinyMUCK 1.0 server was written by Stephen White from
University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...
in winter of 1990, based on
TinyMUD 1.5.2 codebase. This version improved building capabilities for the users.
*TinyMUCK 2.0 was released in June 1990 by Piaw "Lachesis" Na from
Berkeley, who added the programming language
MUF
muf is a Artist cooperative, collaborative of artists, architects and urban designers based in London, England, specialising in the design of the urban public realm to facilitate appropriation by users.
Projects include Kings Crescent Estate.
...
for in-game server extensions.
*TinyMUCK 2.1 and 2.2 were released in July 1990 and April 1991 by Robert "ChupChup" Earl of
San Diego, California
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
. These were mostly bugfix releases as the code was cleaned up and ported to new operating systems and architectures.
*FuzzBall MUCK server was built on TinyMUCK 2.2 codebase b
Belfry Webworksand, as of version 5, released in 1995, includes the alternative programming language
MPI
MPI or Mpi may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* Magnetic particle imaging, an emerging non-invasive tomographic technique
* Myocardial perfusion imaging, a nuclear medicine procedure that illustrates the function of the hear ...
. version 6, available a
SourceForge project fbmuckalso supports
MCP and
MCP-GUI.
Characteristics
MUCKs are extensible by design, players can create and modify ("build") all internal objects of the game environment, including rooms, exits, and even the system commands, for which the MUCKs use the MUF (Multi-User
Forth
Forth or FORTH may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine
* ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008
* ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw
* Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...
) language. Fuzzball MUCKs also use Message Parsing Interpreter (MPI) which can be used to embed executable code into descriptions of all in-game objects. Unlike many other virtual worlds, however, TinyMUCK and its descendants do not usually have computer-controlled monsters for players to kill.
Usage
TinyMUCKs are popular among members of
furry fandom
The furry fandom is a subculture interested in anthropomorphic animal characters. Examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and wearing clothes. The term ...
;
examples of active, large TinyMUCKs include ''
FurryMUCK'' and ''
Tapestries MUCK'', both of which run the Fuzzball version of MUCK server code.
See also
*
MUD
*
MUSH
*
MOO
*
Online text-based role-playing game
References
External links
MUCK Manual Version 1.0at The MUCK Information Kiosk
FuzzBall Software
{{MUDs
MU* servers
Online chat