codebase
AresMUSH
A modern roleplay server written in Ruby, with a web front end and scene tools built in rather than softcoded.
Games running it
18 listed · 0 archived · measured, not declared
Counted from the catalogue on this request, over the same filter the link above carries — so this number and that listing are one query and cannot drift apart.
offered in their handshakes: MSSP
AresMUSH is the newest server in wide use aimed squarely at collaborative roleplay, and it takes a different position from the TinyMUSH line it succeeds. Where a PennMUSH game builds its scene system, its character sheets and its job queue out of softcode written by whoever was around, Ares ships those as features and expects a game's staff to configure rather than program them.
It comes with a web portal — character wikis, scene logs, forums and the game itself, all reachable from a browser — which for a genre where people read the logs afterwards is a substantial difference in kind rather than in degree.
Configuration is in YAML; extensions are Ruby plugins. There is no in-game programming language for players, which is the trade: less rope, less rope-related injury, and less of the improvisational building culture that the MUSH line is named for.
What it looks like from outside
No MSSP. It answers a pre-login WHO, and the answer is a per-player list rather than a bare
number, which our parser counts by structure. No telnet options were negotiated on the game we
measured.
If you are choosing between this and PennMUSH for a new roleplay game, the question is roughly whether you want a system you configure or a system you write.
See also
- You want collaborative roleplay If what you are after is writing scenes with other people, this is the short path — the codebases to look for, a client that will not fight you, and what to expect on your first night.
- PennMUSH The most widely deployed MUSH server. Softcode, a long release history, and one of only two codebases in our survey that answer both MSSP and a pre-login WHO.
- Evennia A Python framework rather than a finished game. Two Evennia games can have nothing in common but the plumbing.