Guides

Creating Your First MUD Area: A Step-by-Step Guide

Building your first MUD area requires understanding three core components: rooms (WLD files), NPCs (MOB files), and objects (OBJ files). This guide walks through creating a 5-room tavern area.

45 minutes5 steps
1

Plan Your Area Layout

Sketch a map of your 5-room tavern: entrance, main hall, kitchen, storage, and back room. Assign virtual numbers (vnum) to each: 3000-3004. Write down connections (exits) between rooms.

Tavern Layout:
3000 (Entrance) --north--> 3001 (Main Hall)
3001 (Main Hall) --south--> 3000
3001 (Main Hall) --north--> 3002 (Kitchen)
3001 (Main Hall) --east--> 3003 (Storage)
3002 (Kitchen) --south--> 3001
3003 (Storage) --west--> 3001
3003 (Storage) --up--> 3004 (Back Room)
3004 (Back Room) --down--> 3003
2

Create the Entrance Room (WLD file)

Enter OLC (online area creation) and select 'redit' to edit rooms. Go to vnum 3000. Set title, description, and exit flags.

tavern.wld (excerpt)
#ROOM
3000
The Brass Tavern Entrance~
You stand before a sturdy wooden door bearing a faded brass sign.
The sounds of laughter and clinking mugs drift from within. The door is
open and inviting, revealing warm lamplight.
~
0 0 0
D1
You can see the main bar area inside.~
~
0 -1 3001

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Forgetting the tilde (~) that ends description sections
  • •Using exit direction wrong: 0=north, 1=east, 2=south, 3=west
  • •Setting vnum to -1 makes exit blocked or not-copyable
3

Create the Tavern Keeper NPC (MOB file)

Use 'medit' to create a MOB at vnum 3100. The tavern keeper will greet players and sell drinks.

tavern.mob (excerpt)
#MOBILE
3100
Tavern Keeper
keeper barkeep~
The tavern keeper stands behind the bar, efficiently serving drinks.~
A grizzled human man tends the tavern with practiced efficiency.~
0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
50 0 0
0 0 2
10 10 10 10 10 10 10
0 0 0 0 0 0
M
3000

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Setting level too high makes NPC dangerous to beginners
  • •Forgetting to set hit points (HP) value
  • •Not placing NPC in a starting room with 'M' flag
4

Create a Sellable Object: Ale (OBJ file)

Use 'oedit' to create an object at vnum 3200. This is the ale sold by the tavern keeper.

tavern.obj (excerpt)
#OBJECT
3200
ale draught~
a mug of ale~
A frothy mug of ale sits here, inviting you to drink it.~
~
5 8388608 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0
C 0
Quench your thirst with a crisp ale.~
~
S

⚠ Common Pitfalls

  • •Item type 5 is DRINK_CON; other types don't quench thirst
  • •Weight and value must be positive integers
  • •Forgetting 'C' (copy) flag makes item non-drinkable repeatedly
5

Test and Verify

Use 'aredit' to set area info, then use 'asave' to save. Reboot or reload, then visit the tavern and test: can you see descriptions, talk to the keeper, and buy ale?

# Commands to test:
enter tavern
look
talk keeper
buy ale
drink ale
go north
look
go south

What you built

Congratulations! You've created a functional 5-room tavern with an NPC vendor and sellable item. This foundation scales to larger areas: add more rooms, place multiple NPCs, and create loot tables for dropped items.