iPad users are chomping at the bit for an MMO, and the iPad is the perfect opportunity and medium then for capturing some new MUD players. IRE should make a mud client that connects only to the IRE muds (a couple other muds out there have done this already) and sell it as a "free" game. Lots of people who are always on their iPads now (like me!) could make a good customer base.

It couldn't be that hard, just port nexus over or something... <3

iPads don't support Flash. How difficult would it be to rewrite Nexus in Http5?

I'll send Jeremy (president of IRE) a link to this thread!

I think it'd be a great idea, but I'm far from agreeing that MUDs would be a perfect opportunity for a device with no keyboard that is primarily intended to be operated by gestures. That sounds right up the "graphical MMO" alley to me. That said, IRE should still try to jump on the bandwagon if they can.

Jeremy just told me that it's definitely something that is high on the priority list, though not at the top.

You'll notice in the next iteration of Nexus (whenever it will be released) that it definitely tries to address the user interface to make things easier or more familiar to the graphics crowd.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3!

There's a keyboard dock for the iPad though. I'm using it right now in fact! I don't even use my laptop computer anymore (and I don't own a desktop). So it's not like you have to play through the touch-screen keyboard.

I've got a crappy iPhone app for MUDs on my iPad called something like Mudmaster. It does the job, but it's far from ideal. You also have to pay for it...

I've tried that, actually. But there is no iPad version, and they only have 3 font sizes, so it like literally hurts my eyes to try and use it on the iPad

If they'd just do something as simple as make the font sizes more flexible, I could play my Lusternia on here. But there is really a dearth of mud client options for the iPad (all either iphone based or only connect to specific muds), which is sad since MUDs would be great for the iPad due to the general lack of processing power.

I've also tried to talk Vadi into porting mudlet to the iPad, but he just calls me an apple fanboy and talks about how evil Steve is

Oh now, he's not usually that bad. Just don't try to convince him there's a better linux distro than Ubuntu.

Not that I'm saying there is. Or isn't.

Cuz I don't wanna go there.

If the iPad supports QT it might be doable; it's an opensource app, so anyone with the desire and know-how could do it. But I doubt that Heiko would put any cycles into it before the mapper and associated features were fairly well fleshed out. Of course, this is what is being worked on now, but it's going to be an ongoing kind of gig. The whole 3-d map display + stuff to go with it (room search, autowalking, etc) will likely be refined over a few minor releases.

Then again I'm not Heiko, so I can't -really- say what he may or may not do. Just my best guess based on what I know (or think I know).


It's been a long week, forgive the extemporization of potentially philosophic drivel.

Personally, I don't see this as something that would bring in a "ton of money." I mean, how many people actually own an iPad and play an IRE MUD? How feasible is it to type things on an iPad in near realtime? How would macros for walking, hunting, and fighting work, if at all?

Fix't the bold part.

Anyhow, the issue with writing a MUD client for the iPad is pretty complex. It wouldn't be too bad if the iPad supported Qt (if it does or not, I'm not sure, though I think that Apple will only support Objective-C and a small portion of the C/C++ language, though I'm no expert on this so no direct quoting me). One issue that I think would arise is Apple's approval process for the App. I know how they advertise that the process takes about a day, but I don't see a MUD App being pushed through all that quickly. But then again, I'm no expert, so I don't know.

Another issue would be the added hardware requirement to play. MUDs have the special perk of using next to no graphics processing to get the job done, allowing more people with lower-end computers to enjoy the amazing gaming experience. With the iPad, sure, you can always buy the docking keyboard, but that's another, what, $100 fee that you have to pay, on top of the insanely expensive premium that Apple makes you pay already ($499 for the 8GB WiFi version). You CAN technically still type on the on-screen keyboard, but it's torture to type a lot on a touch screen like that, so it wouldn't be an optimal experience for the user, and it may turn people away in the end.

I think it would be a better idea, IMHO, if IRE focused on an Android App for MUDing, simply for the fact that Android is based off of Java, and Nexus is already coded in Java, therefor not requiring too much porting to occur. It could be ported to the mobile phone platform pretty well, and since some Android phones have physical keyboards anyhow, it will may the gaming experience more enjoyable and easier in the long run... At least in my opinion.

Then again, I'm an Android fanboi, so ignore my raving accordingly.

Oh, Havastus. Do you realize how nerdy you are? But I love you for it

I'm all for an android mud app, nexus is better than straight telnet. Though not all android phones have physical keyboards. And really, I'm not sure I see myself mudding on my phone. The one advantage the iPad has in this regard is screen real estate. Not enough of it on a phone.

Now, if they'd hurry up and get a proper sized android tablet device out...

Yeah, Android apps for a tablet PC might make some sense, but for a phone, it's just ridiculous. No way would you be able to read things scrolling by on a screen that size, let alone respond to it.

iPhone mudding is fun(a bit of hassle though).