I’m excited to share a project that’s making significant progress! I am calling it “Orion MUCK.” If you are unfamiliar with the world of multi-user experiences (the precursors to MMORPGs), you would probably have no idea what this is.
MUCK is an acronym for: Multi-User Cyber Kingdom
A MUCK is a modified version of a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon), which became all the rage in the mid-1990s. Chat rooms were still somewhat limited, and many internet denizens were a bit too scared to admit they liked Dungeons & Dragons and similar games after the “Satanic Panic,” which targeted the world of tabletop RPGs. But in a MUD, you could create a character and dive into a text-based world of sword and sorcery where you could share your time with like-minded individuals. MUDs became a popular social hangout, prompting many to wonder if they even needed a fighting component to role-play and have fun. Thus began the world of MUCKs.
Back in the early 2000s, my friend and I developed the foundation for a unique concept in the MUCK world – a nautical-themed MUCK where players could sail the world, capture islands, build compounds, and more. We devoted a significant amount of our free time to it, ultimately creating a basic MUCK built on the TinyMUCK framework. However, we ran out of time, moved around frequently, and ultimately abandoned the idea. But the desire never left.
I have been working extensively behind the scenes to create a web-based program that runs on Node/React with a MariaDB backend. The overall basic code is ready, but many of the features are still not quite where I want them to be. However, once I have reached a solid milestone, I will share this neat project with the rest of the world. Stay tuned!