NiMUD

Started in 1993, NiMUD lost one of its original authors to a brain tumor in 1995. The source code was re-released shortly after his death and continues to be released to this day. The original 1993 release of NiMUD inspired the ILAB OLC port, which became the basis for all major Diku/Merc online creation software add-ons. This includes EnvyOLC, ROMolc, IvanOLC and others, some of which only credit the port's author, Jason Dinkel.

NiM5 is an advanced multi-user gaming server covering multiple genres, without genre-specific features. It's an out-of-the-box MU that has many advanced features not present in other mud softwares. Due to the surviving author's personal experiences releasing software into the MUD community, he decided to sabotage his own project after years of depression and angst over the way others treated his work.

Now more stable than ever, NiM5 is the successor to The Isles NiMUD (The Isles OLC, The Isles MUD, The Isles v15 and 16 and 1.1). Originally based on Merc 2.2c, NiM5 contains completely re-authored source code. NiM5 comes with NIMScripts, an easy-to-use language for implementing new game features and creating "smart" AI-controlled automations. NIMScripts has a full screen live debugger that can be used in conjunction with the OLC to create and debug new scripted experiences. NIMScripts also has an ASCII graphics engine called NAGE, with commands and functionality similar to Processing PDE (processing.org), but for ASCII art.

It is possible to create full-screen interactive ASCII graphic games through a telnet socket with NiM5's latest update.

NiM5 also has a number of well-crafted grammatic and descriptive features built over the Zork-type adventure game. NiM5 is a more advanced MUD, that uses a "Two-handed inventory" and complex object manipulations designed to create a more realistic and logical experience for the player. Combat descriptions are more descriptive than it's simpler MUD cousins.

An extensive trading system with 150+ unique mud-generated commodities and 100+ bulk reagents (also used by one of the 3 magick systems). "Natural magick" relies on spell reagents purchased from reagent dealers or discovered in the world. Combinations of reagents are consumed in this type of spellcraft. The second magick system is psionics, which utilizes mana in the casting of a spell, much like many other DikuMUDs. The third magick system involves the use of elementally-aligned gems that are generated from a list of over 70 unique real-world gemstones.

The 3 magick systems include the ability to use NIMScripts to program new spells into the MUD while it's running. Everything can be edited in this version of NiMUD, from the races in the login sequence to (everyone's favorite) MUD socials.