A sort of text-based interactive game involving a number of players. An ancestor of today's MMORPGs (Massively-Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games).

A MUD generally runs on a central server. Interaction is via text commands, such as GO NORTH, KILL THE DRAGON, SAY "Hello!", etc. When players are in the same "room", they can speak to each other chat-room style. Many MUDs are in fact collections of chat rooms, where the game-playing aspect is not actively used.

MUDs often feature the ability for certain players to create new objects within the game while it is running. This can range from adding new locations (building and decorating a house, for example) to reprogramming the MUD's behavior.

The MUD concept spawned many different variants and implementations, and there are a number of freely available MUD server programs. One of them, LambdaMOO, is the "engine" that runs lily.
to top