Mudding on Android

So you’re trying to mud on Android? There are several clients available, but the most advanced and easiest to use is BlowTorch.

If you’re new to MUDding, there are many features usually tied into the software you use to connect (the client) which help make it easier to perform complex commands. For example, after clicking on the >>>, you gain access to up and down buttons which let you scroll through the commands you typed in the past, making repeating actions easier. From the menu you can create aliases, which will allow you to combine complex commands into one simplified command. For example, I have ‘sup’ aliased to

napalm
spellup
spellup

Which allows me to keep all my spells up to date on myself.

If “Process Semicolons” is selected under the Options->Service menu, you can combine multiple commands on the fly. For example, I can type “get all from corpse ; j corpse” to loot a corpse and sacrifice it without having to wait until I do the first to type the second. In general PC clients will give you a greater range of control and function, but the clients for Android like BlowTorch still make a great tool to have.

If on the other hand you’re an experienced MUDder, it offers a lot of the features you’re used to on PC clients including MCCP for those juicy bonus QP. Even if you’re still going to primarily be a PC player it makes quest sitting easy while busy – once every half hour pull out your phone, hit a couple commands to do the quest, and pocket it again*.

“But wait,” you say, “what about my mapper? What about search and destroy?” Well, with the limitations of Android none of the BlowTorch plugins are able to do quite as much as the PC plugins. If you’ve never been a PC player like me, they’re awesome tools that make the game a lot more intuitive to work with.

Plugins have been written by Shindo. The code is available on github (https://github.com/Shindo-Aardwolf), but you should download it directly from the site where he has it documented:

http://aardwolfshindo.xtgem.com/

For the most part you can just follow the directions he has there. There are a few things to know before you get started. First, you have to have the beta release of BlowTorch 2.1, not the version 2.0 available from the play store by default. Shindo has the download for this available on his site, or you can open the Play Store entry for BlowTorch and find where it lets you opt in as a beta tester. Second, once you open the app after updating you have to go into options and select “SDCard Permissions”. Don’t have an SD card? This is still the option to allow it to create the plugin directory, so don’t be fooled by the name. Once you’ve done all that the easiest thing to do is plug it into a computer, and copy the files you downloaded into phone\BlowTorch\Plugins then follow the directions.

* Please do not get yourself in trouble for playing when you shouldn’t be. This is a tool to help you play when you can, not a suggestion to risk your job etc.