THE LOST (BugMUG II) Documentation

Coding a 21st century multi-player text game from scratch.
The world's first native Web MUD.

Introduction

THE LOST (BugMUG II) is a retro text-based game where players interact with a game-world, and each other, by typing commands and reading responses. Such games were invented in the 1970s and were the forerunners of modern RPGs and MMOGs.

I created BugMUG in 2011 and began BugMUG II in 2020; a nostalgic home-brew built with modern technologies.

Traditionally such games placed an emphasis on role-playing characters, often in a fantasy or sci-fi genre, and solving puzzles scattered throughout the game-world. BugMUG II will eventually have a heavy emphasis on story-telling, but I'm just working on basic functionality for now.

The game is currently under very early construction.

Commands

The game is played by entering text commands into the console. Here's a list of the basic commands, though many haven't been plugged back into the new game yet:

Communication

(Quotation Mark) ' or " something to speak in your current location, eg 'Hello there!

em or /me something to emote eg, em laughs loudly.

shout something to yell to everyone in the game.

tell a_player_name something, a private message, wherever they are in the game.


Environment

l to look, and l something to look at (some) room details, other characters, yourself and objects.


Movement

n to move north, ne to move northeast, up to go up, etc (where possible).

home to teleport back to the starting location.


Game Info

who is currently in the game.

status to see details about your character.


Other Commands

desc something - describe your character for when others look at you.

get or take object. Object must be a highlighted non-static object.

i check your inventory to see what you're carrying.

drop object to drop something from your inventory.


? or help for a full list of valid commands so far. Some commands are just used to test elements of the game.

A 21st-century MUD.
A retro text roleplaying game. Coded from scratch.

Welcome to THE LOST, a game of noir mystery and drama set in a world very much like, and unlike, our own. Roleplay with other players or venture alone to unlock the mysteries of an isolated village -- where nothing may be quite what it seems.

  • Register and login to play. (Or your character will limited and not saved.)
  • For further information about the game, consult the documentation panel.
  • For support or other enquiries get in touch at our Telegram channel, Facebook page, or head over to the Phraxos message forum.
  • Please report game-breaking bugs, eg you can't log in at all.
Progress to Alpha v1.0
Realtime Interface

Commands

Game World (Functions)

Game World (Stories, puzzles and locations...)

PC & User Accounts

NPC / AI Generation 1

Query Engine and Narrative Engine

Time and Timings Engine

Admin & Maker Controls
Change Log
  • QE2 completed.
  • QE2 progress.
  • QE2 progress.
  • QE2 progress. Reconnect chatter reduced.
  • Minor tweaks preparing character stats and scripting.
  • UI refreshed to modernise and reduce some noise.
  • Started working on the Guise subsystem and AI config files.
  • Fixed a new bug preventing AIs using commands.
  • Updated platform dependencies.
  • Look command fixes for AIs.
  • Look command fixes for self, other PCs.
  • Many fixes for borked character & player IDs.
  • Minor player/AI description updates.
  • Player can now look at AI characters.
  • Game now displays plural items in a location in correct English.
  • Game now assigns random username to new and temporary accounts.
  • Added valid username systems.
  • Created ~2000 valid username database.
  • Fixed new bug preventing AI movement.
  • Added yaml support for faster scripting and development.
  • Fixed new bug in Look.
  • Player Characters can now be gendered.
  • Upgrades to Player Status.
  • Upgrades to Player Characters.
  • Upgrades to Locations.
  • Upgrades to Player Character bodies.
  • Upgrades to Query Engine.
  • Upgraded various game systems to understand "enter" command.
  • Login pathway & screen now less verbose on reconnection/update.
  • New login pathway; user response is now required to enter the world.
  • Upgrades to Query Engine.
  • Fixes for entity location.
  • Entities (like AIs) can now identify who or what is near them.
  • Restricted several commands to logged-in players.
  • Fixed bug where login timestamp was applied to wrong accounts.
  • Milestone! The game has its first working micro puzzle!
  • Fixed bug in status command that could present wrong data set.
  • Fixed bug in home command that caused a system crash.
  • Added some details to gameworld.
  • Upgraded basic object spawner.
  • Added object collector.
  • Upgraded basic object spawner.
  • Upgraded objects.
  • New command: Offer.
  • Added basic object spawner.
  • Various fixes.
  • Interface upgrades
  • Upgrades to user accounts
  • Cleanup of misc minor bugs.
  • Fixed major bug preventing account creation.
  • Upgrades to all AIs.
  • Initiated character bodies and short descriptions.
  • New command: Levels.
  • AI's move range can now be preset.
  • Attribute Manager fixes.
  • Attribute Manager upgrades.
  • Attribute Manager upgrades.
  • Locations now have attributes.
  • PCs now have attributes.
  • Attribute Manager established.
  • New AI: Billy.
  • New command: character or pc will allow you to create or switch your player character.
  • The game is named! It's called THE LOST.
  • Effect Engine setup.
  • Query Engine upgraded.
  • Area scripts restored.
  • Realm scripts restored.
  • String efficiency improvements.
  • Query Engine setup.
  • New AI: Milly.
  • Admin: LocName command.
  • Admin: Admin rename area/level.
  • New realm: The Village.
  • Admin: Admin delete realm, areas, levels and locations.
  • Locations now show realm name.
  • Admin: Admin rename realm.
  • Admin: Admin command restored.
  • Admin: Realm Creator restored.
  • Admin: Location editor restored.
  • Admin: Map Viewer and Navigator restored.
  • Admin: Creator Dashboard v3 Fixes and tweaks.
  • Admin: Creator console initiated.
  • Updated dependencies.
  • Bugfix for issues introduced by platform upgrades.
  • New command restored: drop to drop an object from your inventory. Example: drop apple.
  • New command restored: get or take to take a mobile object and put it in your inventory. Example: get apple.
  • Minor bugfixes.
  • Generation 1 AIs restored to game: Droid and Alfred.
  • System compatibility fixes for AIs.
  • New command restored: summon to teleport another player to your location. Example: summon Eve. Commands like this one will eventually need elevated privileges / XP.
  • New command restored: teleport to teleport directly to a game location. Example: tele Eve. Commands like this one will eventually need elevated privileges / XP.
  • Reduced console chatter when game updates.
  • Minor bugfixes.
  • New command restored: locate to see where another player is located in the game. Example: loc Eve. Commands like this one will eventually need elevated privileges / XP.
  • Changes to account name. (Account name differs to character names, for future use.)
  • Improved email verification.
  • New command restored: tell to send a truly private message to another player currently in the game. tell Eve This game is full of bugs! Usually this is for 'out of character' conversation only.
  • New command restored: whisper to whisper to someone nearby. whisper to Adam This game is full of bugs! It's likely only Adam will hear what you say, but others may see you whispering.
  • Minor fixes.
  • New feature: GUI Compass Controls.
  • New command restored: inventory or i to see what you are carrying.
  • Background work to restore Admin and Location Editor.
  • New command restored: desc. Sets the description of your character that other players see when they look at you.
  • Background work to restore Admin and Map Display.
  • Player characters now accumulate XP (experience points).
  • New command restored: shout. Yell something to everyone currently in the game.
  • Fixes for PC capitalisation issues.
  • New command: nameself to rename your character.
  • Began restoring Admin Console
  • New command function restored: who now shows character levels.
  • Updated styling and eliminated minor text bugs.
  • New command restored: quit. It's used in testing.
  • New command restored: time.
  • Fixed the heartbeat emissions bug.
  • Object scripts starting to work again 1/2.
  • New command function restored: look at Eve (or l Eve), look at other player characters.
  • New command function restored: look at board (or l cube), look at room objects.
  • New command function restored: look at dials (or l portal), look at room nouns.
  • New command function restored: look me, check yourself out.
  • Hunted and fixed weird null echo (?>) bug in location scripting.
  • Fixed home command bug.
  • Location scripts have been restored to the gameworld 1/2.
  • New command restored: log listing recent players.
  • New commands restored: The 15 emote commands have been restored, example; em scratches her head. or lol.
  • Added an example realtime UI graph.
  • Fix for erronous who command noise.
  • Reduced redundant game chatter.
  • Aux Console improvements.
  • Objects have been restored to the gameworld 1/2.
  • Player account and temp player account improvements.
  • Updates to user presence, chatroom framework removed.
  • New command restored: who -- who is currently in the game?
  • Locations now identify which players are present again.
  • Worked on component wiring.
  • New command restored: home will return you to the starting location as if by magic. Useful if you get lost!
  • Login processes updated.
  • Players now communicate only at the location they're in.
  • Players can now see other characters moving around.
  • New commands restored: north or n to move north, southeast or se to go southeast and so on.
  • Players can now move around the game world.
  • Basic look command now works for real and isn't faked.
  • Player locations are now working.
  • Player character account setup systems in place.
  • Game Engine now loads and saves player data.
  • Game Engine can now access player data 2/2.
  • Game Engine can now access player data 1/2.
  • New command restored: status or stats for player character info.
  • Game locations are now loaded from the database again.
  • Uploaded original BugMUG database to server.
  • Console output cleaned up.
  • A 'players online' panel was added, but it's still full of bugs.
  • Raw player inputs are now hidden - be sure to use the ' or " (quotation mark) command to chat.
  • Backend work on accounts and e-mail verification.
  • Added Aux "second screen" panel to test realtime game interface/metadata.
  • Wrapped game in authentication layer.
  • New command restored: ' or " to speak, eg 'Hi everyone!.
  • Added login notification to Discord.
  • Began new authentication system + user accounts.
  • Added a primitive Help panel to the main menu.
  • Inserted command processing framework and added help / ? command.
  • Game World channel.
  • Methodised console outputs X 3.
  • Got game classes working.
  • Started work on rooms and channels.
  • Fixed a strange bug where the console appears to work but messages aren't received by other devices. (Legacy server processes terminated.)
  • Fixed issue with process manager not watching (must include watch flag on manual restarts).
  • Client now always connects via sockets.
  • Made the console viewable on small devices.
  • Fixed an error with cert.pem preventing upgrade to websockets.
  • The server should now be online 24/7.
  • Started over again. Now the socket server interface is in place I'll start to add the game code back into it...
  • Started over again. Working in the background to get a better socket server.
  • Started over. Setup the page and got the sockets working.
  • Setup the server and got the sockets working.
Welcome to THE LOST, a game of noir mystery and drama set in a world very much like, and unlike, our own. Roleplay with other players or venture alone to unlock the mysteries of an isolated village -- where nothing may be quite what it seems.
>
(Your Character)
When you are signed in, your character information will appear here.
30%
Awesomeness

An example of realtime game/player data.

Movement Controls

NW
N
NE
W
UP
DOWN
E
SW
S
SE
N
UP
DOWN
Players Online
Aux Console

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