TorilMUD

TorilMUD is a MUD, a text-based online role-playing game, and is one of the oldest and largest of its kind.[1]

TorilMUD
Developer(s)Kris Kortright, project community
EngineSequent
Platform(s)Platform independent
Release1996
Genre(s)Dungeons & Dragons MUD
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Game characteristics
A screenshot of the login sequence from TorilMUD

TorilMUD is set in the Forgotten Realms Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting.[1] (Toril is the name of the planet where the continent Faerûn, which "Forgotten Realms" refers to, is located.) Its technical infrastructure is based on the Sequent derivative of the DikuMUD codebase.

History

Kris Kortright, a developer from the MUD Black Knights Realm, founded Sojourn,[2] set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game,[3] in 1993, along with Tim Devlin and John Bashaw. Sojourn was based on the Sequent codebase, the Epic spell system, and areas from Black Knights Realm. The City of Waterdeep was the first zone built entirely for Sojourn. Brad McQuaid was an avid player of Sojourn. Seeing the commercial potential of virtual worlds in the course of his MUD career, he went on to create EverQuest.[4] With Kris’ permission, used it as the model for the city of Freeport in EverQuest.[5] In 1996, due to creative differences between developers, Sojourn was forked into two projects, TorilMUD and Duris: Land of Bloodlust.[3]

The developers had also previously worked on Copper II, Copper III and Black Knights Realm.[2] The oldest zone on TorilMUD, the Lava Tubes, comes from Copper II, and the Underworld and Alterian Wilderness zones are from Black Knights Realm.

Sojourn was based on the Sequent codebase, the Epic spell system, and areas from Black Knights Realm. The City of Waterdeep was the first zone built entirely for Sojourn, and remains TorilMUD's most heavily populated hometown. Brad McQuaid, with Kris’ permission, used it as the model for the city of Freeport in EverQuest.[5]

Sojourn continued until 1996, when a difference in creative vision among the staff led to the project being forked into TorilMUD and Duris: Land of Bloodlust.[6][5] Of the two, TorilMUD is regarded as the more direct inheritor of Sojourn's legacy.[1] Toril continued until 1998, when it became Sojourn 2, and underwent another rebirth in 2001 as Sojourn 3. Kris retired in 2003, and Sojourn 3 was reborn as TorilMUD. (Or, as the old-time players refer to it, Toril 2.) Throughout these rebirths, the areas and code continued to grow: there are currently 300 zones (with several more nearing completion), 16277 types of monsters/mobs, and 13753 different items.

Many TorilMUD staff members were staff on Sojourn 3, Sojourn 2, and some are even from Toril 1, providing a degree of continuity. All Toril staff started as players on the MUD, giving them a great deal of personal experience with the game.

Brad McQuaid was an avid player of Sojourn and, after its demise, TorilMUD. Seeing the commercial potential of virtual worlds in the course of his MUD career, he went on to create EverQuest.[4][5]

Reception and impact

An Engadget article from 2011 noted TorilMUD for its direct influence on the MMO industry.[7]

References
  1. Towers, J. Tarin; Badertscher, Ken; Cunningham, Wayne; Buskirk, Laura (1996). Yahoo! Wild Web Rides. IDG Books Worldwide Inc. p. 158. ISBN 0-7645-7003-X. Here it is — the big one! Sojourn is gone but not forgotten, and Toril is the new king. [...] Still based on TSR's Forgotten Realms world, Toril has kept Waterdeep, Bloodstone, and all its other great areas [...] Toril has over 300 players at peak hours, and closer to 100 at times when you wouldn't expected to see more than five players on another MUD. [...] There's no doubt that Sojourn is alive and well, and living in Toril.
  2. Shah, Rawn; Romine, James (1995). Playing MUDs on the Internet. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 35. ISBN 0-471-11633-5. This code is moving into a new version named Copper III, which should be present on the given Mudlist. When this Mud went down in mid-1993, a different Mud spawned from it into what was known to many as Black Knights Realm [...] The creators of this world would move on later to form a TSR-backed Mud known as Sojourn.
  3. Towers, J. Tarin; Badertscher, Ken; Cunningham, Wayne; Buskirk, Laura (1996). Yahoo! Wild Web Rides. IDG Books Worldwide Inc. p. 145. ISBN 0-7645-7003-X. Once upon a time, boys and girls, there was a gargantuan MUD named Sojourn. It had over 400 players at peak times, and some of the most highly modified code in the land. Following faithfully in the wake of TSR's Forgotten Realms (AD&D), the MUD enjoyed an enormous wealth of areas, characters, and ideas from that role-playing game. But gods are vain and so are coders. Having different opinions on the future direction of Sojourn, they took the code and went their separate ways. The world was split into two main offshoots: Duris and Toril.
  4. Nelson, Mike (2002-07-02). "Interview: Brad McQuaid". The guru of 3D. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2007-03-03.
  5. Olivetti, Justin (2011-04-19). "The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The games". Massively. Archived from the original on 2011-05-07. Retrieved 2011-04-25.
  6. Towers, J. Tarin; Badertscher, Ken; Cunningham, Wayne; Buskirk, Laura (1996). Yahoo! Wild Web Rides. IDG Books Worldwide Inc. p. 145. ISBN 0-7645-7003-X. Once upon a time, boys and girls, there was a gargantuan MUD named Sojourn. It had over 400 players at peak times, and some of the most highly modified code in the land. Following faithfully in the wake of TSR's Forgotten Realms (AD&D), the MUD enjoyed an enormous wealth of areas, characters, and ideas from that role-playing game. But gods are vain and so are coders. Having different opinions on the future direction of Sojourn, they took the code and went their separate ways. The world was split into two main offshoots: Duris and Toril.
  7. The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The games by Justin Olivetti on engadget.com "TorilMUD is one of those games that pop up again and again whenever MUDs are mentioned [...] for its direct influence on the MMO industry." (2011-04-19)
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