Forums Feature Suggestions mIRC -- MUD Client -- /telnet command

You know what. I've suggested this so many years ago, and I really do feel it would be a beneficial feature to mIRC and the Internet as a whole:

Allow mIRC to also support connecting to MUD servers and other Multi-User Dungeons (MUCK,MUSH,MOO,etc) that are based on plain telnet protocol.

Yes, this can be done via a script, though painfully and only with aid of spaces.dll and other hacks. Sometimes you can connect to a MU* server with a hand crafted DCC CHAT ctcp. But honestly, neither of these solutions are ideal.

Amazingly, Multi-User Dungeons, like IRC, have existed and thrived since the earliest incarnations of the Internet. They are in no threat of disappearing, but they could use the aid of a quality Windows client like mIRC. The other MU* clients out there haven't been updated in years or a decade.

I really enjoy IRC, but it lacks a certain flavor. I really love MUDs, but they lack a quality client.

Please consider a simple means of connecting to MUDs with mIRC.

Example: /telnet 216.251.47.10 4000

(that's realmsofdespair.com)

Well, Windows already has telnet, so you could just run the telnet command. But a telnet option can be scripted for those who want it (Invision has support for telnet including graphics that is mostly accurate), but it isn't something most people would want or need. Adding something like that to mIRC really doesn't make a lot of sense to me for that reason. There are a variety of telnet clients out there.

I don't think you read my comment completely. No, there really are no quality or useful telnet clients out there, especially none for playing MUDs. Putty sucks, and Window's telnet client is functionally broken.

mIRC has everything it needs to create a Telnet window that can be used for a playable MUD. And people who use IRC are 98% more likely to play a MUD than people who don't use IRC. It only seems practical and accommodating to add this feature.

And as I expressed, no, it's not feasible to script a telnet client in mIRC. It requires external DLLs and hacks and is very slow this way. Hard convincing someone to join you on a MUD if they have to download extensive crap and hack their client. The major problem here is MUDs love ASCII art and spacing, which a script alone cannot handle.

If given the choice of removing /finger in exchange for /telnet, I'm all over that.

Additionally, mIRC's scripting language would be superb in a Multi-User Dungeon game.

Invision doesn't use any DLL or hack to render graphical telnet sessions. It really isn't necessary. It instead uses picture windows and displays the graphics the same way that a telnet client would - moving the cursor around the screen to create the graphics instead of trying to display a full line at once. Speed is basically equal to a real telnet client unless the graphics get really crazy, which isn't normally the case. Sound isn't included simply because mIRC doesn't have a way to play a specific note for a specific length of time and trying to do it with WAV files would be a pain. The point is that it is definitely possible already. That feature has been part of Invision for about 1.5 years now. As I mentioned before, there are some very minor issues that can be seen in specific games or other places, but if someone wanted to really learn how to correctly view and act upon the telnet codes, those could all be cleaned up. When I made it, I wanted something that worked well, but I wasn't going to try to figure out everything when the interest in a telnet client is so low. Even with Invision, few people actually make use of the client and non-graphical telnet has been part of Invision for a very long time. It may be true that IRC users are more likely to be willing to play a text-based game like a MUD, but that doesn't mean there are many who will. From experience with Invision's users, telnet just isn't really something 99% have any interest in. I just can't see any reason for mIRC to add something that interests so few people, especially when it isn't really that hard to script one.

As far as telnet clients go, I've seen good clients that render everything really well. Telnet hasn't exactly changed much in the last 20 years, so any client that worked well then should work well now as long as it's compatible with the current OS. If there is something specific that is missing unrelated to displaying the MUD, you'd need to be more specific. There are a variety of clients specifically designed for certain games that offer extra features that track information about the game or display popup windows for specific events in the game or whatever else, but those aren't really part of telnet. Those features are just extras and are usually only useful for specific games.

*coff* My mIRC Mudclient Script *coff* Not that I use mIRC or Windows much anymore, but it should still work with the current mIRC. If you update spaces.dll, it will work faster too.