Is ZMud the Best MUD Client, or Just Mud?

For anyone who has ever seriously played an online text-based game, ZMud comes to mind immediately. Because online text-only games are unrestricted by visual limitations, text games offer much imagination, along with a good deal of text for a human player to process, and in the midst of heavy 'spamming' much can get lost. ZMud is one of the few programs designed to help users interact with and sometimes automatically reflex responses from the game, and ZMud is considered the standard client for most Multi-User Dimensions.

ZMud is probably the most fully featured, well designed mud client available. Wait... actually, ZMud is the only worthwhile mud client, and with little comparison that statement is inaccurate. ZMud has the tendency to crash when you attempt an action that may be even remotely complex for the program (try saving or loading a large map or script file). But so long as you don't have to update the program and you don't attempt saving backup files, then ZMud works well.

Despite its flaws (which are impossible to remove, considering the program uses old methods from the Windows 98 time period), ZMud still has many features that are vital to being successful in a text-based world. First, ZMud has a complex and detailed scripting system, using a proprietary language. In MUDs, scripts allow players to carry out difficult, complex, or sometimes repetitive actions with ease. With this program they can also track variables (for example the health of a character), control combat defenses, and much more. But because ZMud's standard scripts use a proprietary language, the learning curve is steep. Fortunately the developers at Zuggsoft planned for this problem, and made it possible to use alternate windows compatible scripting languages with ZMud.

Another of ZMud's much needed features is the automatic map maker, which maps a map of the virtual world as you explore it. It works splendidly with some of the most basic Muds, but quickly becomes a nuisance with more complex worlds. First, with some games just recognizing a previously visited room becomes a problem. In other games it takes hours to configure the mapper. And in most games while creating a map you will also frustratingly spend half the time moving around parts of the map to connect correctly, but most game developers don't want their worlds mapped too easily. Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the mapper decides to generate cryptic error messages when using some commands (ie "Cannot perform this operation on a closed dataset"), and you rarely know whether or not a file saved or loaded correctly.

The good news about the mapper is it does have flexibility. Entire sections of the map can be moved around with relative ease, and the map can further be split into distinct zones to keep things organized. And even though it may cause headaches, you can eventually make the program map any game with enough diligence.

Aside from mapping and scripting, ZMud comes with support, which can typically make up for the program's shortfalls. The Zuggsoft forums have employees intermixed with helpful past customers ready to answer questions anytime, usually in 1-2 hours. Questions about scripts, maps, and bugs are often answered quickly and painlessly. Finally, an important consideration in any purchase is cost. ZMud costs roughly $30 (which currently includes their new CMud free, classifiable as a new version of ZMud with many less errors), which is half the price of the newest games released in today's market. ZMud is also usable with hundreds of games, instead of just one, but most of these games can be played for free, making ZMud nothing more than a luxury. Some games even come with their own client featuring scripting and automatic reflexes. Even though ZMud is not entirely necessary to play a MUD game, nearly half of all players of these games use this program. The advantages given by ZMud are numerous and most people enjoy it's price.