A
MUD client is an application used to connect to MUDs. It comprises of a
telnet application with extra features built on top to make it
worthwhile.
For instance, many MUD clients allow you the use of triggers to make your gaming easier. Triggers allow you to get the client to automatically issue commands when it gets certain inputs. For instance, many MUDers set up teaching triggers to make the exchange of skills easier, as in this example -
Dave tells you: Teach me 3 fighting
You offer to teach 3 fighting to Dave.
Triggers can also be used to hilight certain parts of text - you could set up your client to hilight the names of friends.
It should be noted that many game administrators look down upon the use of certain types of trigger, and it's always best to check before using them.
Some MUD clients also allow you to define client-side aliases, run tickers which issue a comamnd every xx seconds, and define characters with login scripts. Some even include full scripting languages for your gaming pleasure!
Another feature of some MUD clients is to automatically create maps of areas as you travel through them, and then letting you simply click on an area of the map to go there. This is a big time saver but considered cheating or inappropriate on some MUDs.
Popular MUD clients include Rapscallion for the Mac, zMUD for the PC and TinyFugue for Linux. Many MUDers would rather die than use telnet, and much prefer these applications.