Mymud: the interactive novel

Mymud is a multi-player, interactive, speculative novel for web browsers. It has science fiction and fantasy elements; is mostly text-based; and supports many players in an expansive, text-based world.

My first prototype (https://mymud.io/mymud/) came out a year or two ago. It was based off pre-existing software, but it became obvious very quickly that I would spend more time modifying and debugging the prototype than it would take to make Mymud v1.0 from scratch using Clojure and React.

So, I started in my spare time to design and write Mymud v1.0 from scratch. It's slow going, because I'm writing it completely in my spare time. But it's a multi-decade dream of mine, so I keep plugging away.

Mymud reached another milestone this past weekend. The interactive React-based webpage for the next version now allows communication between multiple logged-in players. If I am on my web browser and you on yours, we can see each others' messages.

Yeah, that's sounds a lot like Slack or various chat apps. At its heart it is. However, this is custom built for the interactive novel. It behaves fundamentally different than texting and chating.

It's an exciting step forward, and an important one. Next, I'm looking forward to working on a modern security system for Mymud. Hopefully, I'll have news on that front over the next few weeks.