Source MUD Copyright (C) 2002,2003 Sean Middleditch Sean Middleditch <elanthis@awesomeplay.com> Basic Source MUD Information ------------------------------------------------------ 1. Introduction ============ Source MUD is a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon) game server. Players connect to the server using telnet, or a MUD client application, to play in a fantasy world with other players. Source MUD is a new codebase; it is not derived from any older codebases like many other popular MUDs. One consequence of this is that many terms and systems found in most other MUDs are different in Source MUD. The Scriptix scripting language is used to extending and modifying the engine core features. 2. Documentation ============= The files in the doc/ directory contain lots of useful information. If you received Source MUD in a pre-packaged form, there should be both plain text and HTML versions of all the documents. If those files are not present, and you have tools for DocBook XML processing installed, the files will be built when you run 'make'. Please note that the coders tend to get out of sync with the document writers (even when they are usually the same person), and the documents often lag behind the code. 3. Support ======= If the documentation doesn't provide an answer, or just confused you more, you can find support in several place. The Source MUD website (http://www.sourcemud.org) has both user forums and a bug tracking system. The website also has information on the Source MUD mailing lists. 4. Upgrading ========= If you are upgrading from a previous Source MUD release, please keep these points in mind: * Be warned that 'make install' will overwrite several key files in the target directory, including sourcemud.conf, and all the files in data/*. You should back up your modified copies, or manually install the Source MUD files you wish to upgrade. * Read the ChangeLog and script documentation before running the new Source * MUD with your old scripts. Pre-1.0 Source MUD releases are very likely to change the API exposed the scripts. * Data files may very likely need to be modified, converted, or flat out rewritten. While we try to stay compatible between pre-1.0 release, it doesn't make sense to limit development of features for compatibility reasons in alpha software. 5. Legal ===== Source MUD comes with no warranty. If something bad happens to you because of your use of Source MUD, we (the authors, distributors, builders, and testers) are not responsible for your misfortune and/or mistakes. See the disclaimer section below. Source MUD is licensed under the BSD license. See the COPYING file for more details. As a summary, the BSD license gives you rights to do whatever you want with the code. Note: you can NOT change the license of our code, or modify copyrights. Our code is our code, and it is released under the BSD license - end of story. You can, however, add new code or modify existing code. Any code you write is yours, and licensed under whichever license you choose - end of story. The BSD license grants you the right to distribute binaries; the license does NOT guarantee receivers of the binaries rights to the source code, original or modified. The BSD license is ideal if you wish to release a modified codebase in a commercial setting. We do appreciate being given credit if you distribute binaries, but it is not legally required. 6. Disclaimer ========== THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE REGENTS OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.