Swords and Sorcery Online
This is an attempt to write a graphical MUD in Java. I played EverQuest, I tried out Ultima Online, and I got fed up with those commerical ventures. Of the two, Ultima Online would probably keep my attention the longest (though EQ was hands down the most interesting to travel). I was left with a desire to continue exploring, and creating, new worlds.
I considered using a Ultima server emulator, but I would still be tied to using Windows. I don't even own a computer running Windows--there isn't any Windows 95 or 98 or NT installed on any PC at home. So I was left with few options.
I've considered working with WorldForge, but I felt that I needed to accomplish something on my own, first. I've had a long-time ambition to create a MUD server, and the time is right to build this kind of game. I liked some aspects of UO, including the way graphics are handled--you don't need a heavy graphics accelerator to play UO unlike EQ. I like the idea of having the server be built in an object-oriented language because I believe this will speed improvements and decrease overall development time. And I believe that a SQL database backend is essential. To that end, I've designed sso.
Overall Architecture
The architecture of this kind of game really doesn't vary greatly from implementation to implementation:
- Database (typically, SQL, flat file, mmap, or other in memory system)
- Server
- Client
Todo:
- Manage database connections better to increase speed.
- Work through areas that need to be atomic (synchronized).
- Get a graphical client/server demo up (shouldn't be too long until a first version exists).
- Perform more thorough unit testing (mostly, I've been concerned with db/SQL, but I found a lot of pesky logic errors in movement that have me concerned for the rest of the code.
- Finalize the client server protocol (the networking portion is easy...the protocol may be less so, though it will probably end up being event passing).
- Complete the skeleton classes (I've been toying with moving some of the Immobiles around in the heirarchy...I'll have to see how the implementation goes).
Browse SSO
Development on SSO takes place daily. I average 1.25 classes a day. I will be updating this website infrequently.
Browse the Java
Browse the Javadoc
Download the package (sso.tar.gz)
Last updated 27 Dec 1999.