First, it's always fascinated me that the mazes built into MUDs on the Net
have a random factor - in other words, the same trail in, in reverse, does
not necessarily lead out. The maze may seem to consist of hundreds of
rooms with only four programmed in. If a participant enters, for example,
NEWW (north east west west), the third W may actually go "S" or remain
put. The result is that there isn't even a guarantee of emergence.
It's possible, as well, to alter the descriptions of the rooms using ran-
dom effects; again, the database/perceived space seems much large than it
is. (On an lpmud that I redesigned, I have a room from which there is no
emergence at all, except for disconnect. But that's another story.)
As far as interaction - all of you may or may not know this, but Microsoft
has a free personal Web server for Windows 95, for downloading. This
allows you to run your own page when you're online - it's relatively sim-
ple, for example, to set up a Webcam in this way. All of which takes about
ten minutes.
On Win95 I use this to present Web pages I wouldn't want permanently on
the Net. On linux, I use Apache for the same purpose.
The uncanny effect of all of this occurs when someone is actually looking
at your pages, and your machine seems partly taken over by a ghost; you're
working on something, and your hard drive and modem suddenly go into over-
time...
Alan
URL: http://jefferson.village.virginia.edu/~spoons/internet_txt.html
MIRROR with other pages at: http://www.anu.edu.au/english/internet_txt
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