FurryMUCK Help

[Scritcher]

(Babyfurs and nurseries of FurryMUCK)

Upon reading the article posted above, I became, somewhat, interested in FurryMUCK, and playing with other babyfurs.

However, when I open up the portal to go into FurryMUCK, it doesn't load properly. It doesn't say "Welcome To FurryMUCK" when I go onto the window; instead, it says that the connection has been refused, and that it's unable to connect to the host. I also don't know what telnet software is, or how to access it.

If someone could help me, that would be great. Thanks.
Please note that my computer is a MacBook Pro, and was bought at the beginning of the summer, so it isn't very old.

[babibear]

This is sorta old, but it might help. It's been ages since I've been on FM, you were 7 at the time.

First get a proper client: The Mac OS MUD Zone: Clients

You'll have to try a few out.

Then here is an old FAQ

>>>>> What is a MUCK?

MUCKs were derived from MUDs, "multi-user-dungeons" -- the presentation is similar to the classic adventure games, "colossal cave" or "dungeon" -- you explore a "place" with commands like north, south, up, down, in, out (n, s, u, d, etc). The difference is that this "place" is also populated with other players,
and you can interact with them also. In a MUD, there's an adventure to
experience, monsters to fight, puzzles to solve, etc., set up by the game
designer; in a MUCK, the players design their own fun. There is no combat
unless players explicitly agree on it. You can't win anything in the game
sense, but you can win lots of friends, experience and information.
Foxen defines the TinyMUCK 2.2 Fuzzball server software as this:
This server is a UNIX based networked chat program, with multiple
rooms, users, and built in expandability via an interpreted
internal language. For those of you who know what one is, yes this
is a MUD. A social based MUD, and not a hack and slash type MUD.
You won't find weapons or orcs in this game, unless you spend the
time to MAKE it have those things. This game is primarily designed
for those who just want to socialize.
Every player can extend the existing landscape of the MUCK by building
rooms, exits and objects, and agreeing with others on how to combine this
with the existing landscape.
>>>>> How do I connect to a MUCK?

To connect to a MUCK, you must open an Internet connection to the MUCK's
computer by using a program called telnet.
>>> For UNIX systems:

If you have a dial-in shell account, or are using a computer cluster, try
the following from the UNIX command line:
telnet <address> <port>
For example, for FurryMUCK, you would type
telnet 64.124.52.148 8888
or
telnet muck.furry.com 8888
In this example, 64.124.52.148 is called an "IP number", muck.furry.com is a
"domain address", and 8888 is a "port number". You may connect either by the
domain address or the IP number -- it is possible that only one of these
ways works, so try both.
To connect to a MUCK, your service provider must allow you full telnet
access. You must be able to make telnet connections to the server (ie. your
telnet isn't restricted to local connections), and you must be able to use
the port number, otherwise you will get the system's main UNIX login rather
than the MUCK's. On some versions of telnet, the syntax is slightly
different -- such as
telnet muck.furry.com /port=8888
>>> For DOS/Windows, Macintosh and other systems:

Your computer must connect directly to the Internet in some way.
> Dial in to a UNIX shell account:

This is the most basic way. Your computer acts as a terminal to the UNIX
system, which in turn runs the telnet program. But you'll have to learn
enough UNIX to follow the instructions above. If you can run the Lynx web
browser, see below.
> Using a SLIP or PPP connection:

You can run a version of telnet on your system directly, or use a Web
browser such as Netscape, Mosaic or Lynx.
"Open URL" as:
telnet://muck.furry.com:8888
However, you still have to have the telnet helper application installed, and
it must be set up to allow you to use it this way; the Web browser is simply
passing the address and running telnet for you, which is a simpler way to
connect if you find a web page with telnet links... such as the web version
of Part 2 of this FAQ ("Descriptions of Various Furry MU*s"):
<URL:http://www.tigerden.com/~infopage/muck/index.html> or the Official
FurryMUCK Web Pages at <URL:http://www.furry.com>, which also has extensive
information about FurryMUCK itself.

[Xane]

Heya Scritcher,

I've been a MUCKer for about five years now. So, you're gonna have to get yourself what's called a MU* client (MU* being short for Multi User *[insert more abbreviations here] MUCK stands for Multi User Character Kingdom) It's the program you will have to run to understand the code being thrown at you by the game server.

My recommendation for the Mac OS would have to be Atlantis (just google Atlantis MU client in google and it will give you the site.) I've found it to be the easiest and most user-friendly to use with beginning Users.

From there it's quite easy, and most is explained in the FAQ above that babibear posted.

If you have any questions about MUCKing, feel free to ask me or send me a PM.

Hope you like the realm of text-based RPGs. Makes me feel like I'm playing those old Apple II games that were more like a digital choose-your-path novel.