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MudEngine Part 2: Single-Player REPL

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Try a real MUD: Nightfall

Before we build our own engine, connect to a live MUD to see how one works in practice. Nightfall is a well-maintained dark fantasy MUD that has been running for decades — it is a perfect reference.

Open a terminal and run:

Connect to Nightfall
telnet nightfall.org 4242
🎯 What to try

Once connected, try these commands to get a feel for how a MUD works:

  • look or l — describe the current room
  • north, south, east, west — move around
  • say Hello! — speak to other players (if any are nearby)
  • who — list online players
  • help — show the built-in help system

Pay attention to the structure: every response has a consistent format (room name, description, visible players/objects, exits). Our REPL will follow the same pattern.

💡 No telnet?

On Linux: apt install telnet or yum install telnet. On macOS: telnet is included by default. On Windows: use PowerShell's Test-NetConnection or install Telnet Client via "Turn Windows features on or off". Alternatively, use PuTTY or a MUD client like Mudlet.

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