Zero Hour -- MUX information

General MUX Information

What, you may ask, is a MUX? The term may well be new to some people reading this page and, if so, we would like to make it more clear.

A Brief History of MU*

Years ago, in the dawn of the internet, a form of online gaming was developed called the MUD -- Multi-User Dungeons or Multi-User Dimensions. Initially they were based around fantasy RPG settings, and involved slaying dragons and other players and the like. Over the years, they expanded out to include science fiction and tons of other settings.

For some people, however, this wasn't enough. The MUDs were extremely limited in that they didn't allow a lot of dynamic character interaction. They were restricted to simple commands, which basically was more like playing a computer RPG game than real "role" playing.

To solve this problem, gamers developed the MUSH -- Multi-User Shared Hallucination. The purpose of a MUSH is to assume a role and to act it out, moreso than to go around and kill things.

A MUX is a more recent version of a MUX. The code is somewhat more streamlined than previous systems of MUSH.

How does MUX Work?

Well, the best way to learn about MUX is to log onto Zero Hour and read the help files there.
In addition to that, there are a variety of useful online manuals pertaining to MUX.
I recommend looking through the Yahoo MU* Listing for detailed information, if you are interested in it.

Getting to Zero Hour

There are a variety of ways to connect to Zero Hour MUX. Below are some good freeware and shareware programs which can be used to get there.

Ewan Telnet Freeware/Shareware raw telnet program.
SimpleMU* Freeware/Shareware MU* client
MUSHClient Shareware MU* client -- link recently updated
Pueblo Freeware MU* client. Recommended for advanced users.
Allows you to incorporate and utilize HTML-like code.

Once you have an appropriate telnet or MU* client, enter the address for Zero Hour MUX. The address consists of the host site, and then the port number:

beck.mudservices.com 7777

When I get there...?

When you log onto most MUXes -- including Zero Hour -- you initially connect as a "Guest" character. To log on as a guest, you will need to type:

connect guest guest

Once you connect, there will be other commands which will prove useful. They're listed on your login screen, and also below. They can be used to look up information on the MUX, and also to communicate with other online members of the MUX.

"Enables you to speak. For example, type: "Hello.
HELPFor a list of furthur topics. +HELP for Globals.
NEWSGives you info about playing the game.
NEWS NEWBIEGives specific information for new players.
'p' or 'page'Sends a message to a player. Example: p Preacher=Hello.
g Allows you to speak on the Guest channel. Ex: g Hello!
+features/availShows you a list of open features.

Please review the help and news information before contacting staffers with questions.
If you still have questions, then by all means ask them. We were all new once, and there's no reason to feel embarrassed about not completely understanding the MUX system. It's not the easiest thing to do initially.

This web page was last updated on: August 1, 2001.

The webmaster of Zero Hour can be contacted at zerohourmux@hotmail.com. Please contact me with any errors or problems.