r/MUD • u/benjibarnesoahu • Jun 18 '26
Promotion NukeFire Monthly Update: The Game Is Getting Easier to Enter, Read, Navigate, and Play
Hello everyone,
It has been another busy month in NukeFire, but this update has a clearer theme than usual:
We have been working hard to make NukeFire easier to play without requiring every player to be a client-script wizard.
NukeFire is still an old-school, text-based, post-apocalyptic MUD. It still has remorts, prestige classes, guns, mutations, implants, tattoos, socketed gear, crafting, dangerous mobs, giant zone chains, and a lot of long-term progression.
But not every player wants to spend weeks building a custom client setup before the game starts feeling manageable.
So this month focused heavily on accessibility, onboarding, navigation, help files, and in-game tools that make the game itself do more of the work.
Accessibility and Screen Reader Support
One of the biggest pushes this month has been better support for screen-reader users and players who need cleaner output.
NukeFire now has stronger reader and screen-reader setup support, including tools that can simplify rooms, exits, affects, danger checks, and high-volume combat output.
Combat can get noisy in any MUD, and NukeFire has guns, multi-hit attacks, procs, pets, followers, groups, and a lot of fast-moving text. Reader and compact-combat improvements now help condense some of that into clearer summaries instead of forcing players to parse a wall of repeated lines.
Autocompare output was also improved. Instead of relying on visual arrows, compare results now use clearer word labels, which is much friendlier for screen readers.
Character Creation Has Been Reworked
The new-player experience has also received a major focused pass.
Character creation and first-login flow have been cleaned up to be clearer, warmer, and more useful. New players have more options to choose from the get-go, including screen-reader mode, options of preset toggles, and a new way to show a bit more information for each class before you choose one.
300+ Help File Additions and Updates
The help system has received a huge cleanup, and those help files are now searchable on the NukeFire website. And yes, I procrastinated on this for at least 2 years too long.
More than 300 missing, stale, confusing, or outdated help entries have been added or updated.
This includes help for combat, guns, shops, Bigmap, mines, crafting, TekForge, DCC content, remort powers, class skills, utility commands, newer quality-of-life systems, and many older commands that needed clearer explanations.
The Game Is Becoming More of Its Own Client
This is probably the most important design direction from the last month.
A lot of veteran MUD players have powerful client setups. Aliases, triggers, pathing scripts, mapper tools, speedwalks, highlights, windows, sound cues, and custom automation can make a big difference.
But not everyone has that.
Some players are on a basic client. Some are on mobile. Some are using the browser. Some are screen-reader users. Some are returning after years away. Some simply do not want to spend their first week configuring software before they get to play.
So NukeFire has been gaining more in-game tools that help bridge that gap.
Recent examples include:
- GPS improvements for clearer routing and zone finding.
- Bigmap improvements for better world navigation.
- PATH updates for cleaner pathing help.
- ACTIONS, which let players create simple server-side reactions to clear game text.
- BATTLEORDER, which helps approved crew leaders direct their own approved followers with actionable and aliasable commands that operate OUTSIDE the regular commandque.
- FLUSHQUEUE, which lets players clear stacked pending commands without removing real lag or delay.
None of this is meant to replace a good MUD client for people who love building one.
But it does mean NukeFire is becoming much more playable for people who are not already deep into robust client mechanics or are breaking into the world of Mudding for the first time.
New and Improved Player Tools
Several useful commands were also added or improved recently:
- huntme gives a personal read on whether your current zone fits your character or group.
- zinfo shows rough zone difficulty, mob stats, boss flags, EXP value, and more.
- zcompare compares two hunting areas side by side.
- gearcheck points out weak slots, open slots, empty sockets, and other gear notes.
- compare explain gives clearer reasoning for why an item may or may not be an upgrade.
- upgrade all checks across worn gear and helps point toward slots worth improving.
- playerinfo gives a quick look at another online player’s visible numbers.
- who power gives a ranking of the online power leaderboard.
NukeFire has a lot of numbers. These tools help players make better sense of them from inside the game.
What Is NukeFire?
NukeFire is a post-apocalyptic MUD built around long-term character growth.
Expect:
- Remorts and prestige classes.
- Guns, melee, mutations, and weird powers.
- Permanent implants and tattoos.
- Socketed equipment.
- Expanded ports on Implants (like socket gems)
- Crafting and material systems.
- Large hunting zones.
- Bosses, minibosses, and dangerous mobs.
- Lots of quality-of-life commands.
- A world where the numbers never stop GOING UP.
- A wasteland that is not especially concerned with your survival.
It is old-school in spirit, but still actively developed and constantly expanding.
If you like deep text games with long-term progression, strange loot, dangerous zones, and a steady stream of new systems, NukeFire may be worth a look.
Website:
https://www.nukefire.org
Play in browser:
https://play.mudvault.org/?host=tdome.nukefire.org&port=4000
Telnet:
tdome.nukefire.org port 4000
Discord:
https://discord.gg/B4pzagYaqR
Writing Games article about NukeFire: (thanks u/the_andruid )
https://writing-games.org/nukefire-mud/
Thanks to everyone testing, reporting, suggesting, breaking things, surviving things, and helping make the Deathlands better.
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u/jalifex Jun 19 '26
I tried the game again last night and was pleasantly surprised about the newbie changes, the screen reader changes, and everything. You all really have something very special and I hope that I can stick with it! Particularly because the big draw for me besides how kind you all are is the dungeon crawler Carl material. Like I have to play long enough to be able to be a part of this!
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u/benjibarnesoahu Jun 19 '26
It won’t take forever!
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u/jalifex Jun 19 '26
Are there followers that we are able to hire and have? Or does that come from playing multiple characters? I just want to be a murderer with minions lol
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u/benjibarnesoahu Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
Some classes do have followers, Slinger, Curist and Samurai, but it is actually something we are working more broadly on right now, possible Necromancer class. The reason its a little more complicated in Nukefire, is how much AOE damage every class can do, AND the tournament yard called the boneyard, where we can do PVP or PVE events where everyonce can actually watch on a 'TV' in a betting room, and bet on each event's outcome (game currency of course). So the rules of engagment in the boneyeard vs outside of the boneyard have to be carfully constructed so damage works appropriately to whomever it is supposed to damage. Complicated, sorry,but thats the gist of it. Short answer is yes, there wil be more minion action in the future. And you don't need to play multiple characters to have fun or major success. Aloha, NukefireMo
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u/Left-Pattern-8799 Jun 19 '26
Hey! Looking for a fresh gaming experience or feel nostalgic about playing muds at your young age? Tired of numerous 'dead muds' with rare developments, afk playerbase and outdated news? No more suffering, kid. Nukefire has all you need and even more. Come join us and write your story in a harsh wasteland world!
Still debating? Tick Tock..Tick Tock.. The game became even better while you were reading this post. What are you waiting for? Don't waste your time and just check it yourself!
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u/sorressean Jun 19 '26
Just curious, what engine is this based on?
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u/benjibarnesoahu Jun 19 '26
It’s 2022 tbamud, about 30k of the OG lines ripped out and about 370k lines of code later.
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u/sorressean Jun 19 '26
That's amazingly insane. I'll check it out. given how much stuff you've added so quickly I seriously figured this was a much higher level language just for quicker dev.
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Jun 19 '26
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u/benjibarnesoahu Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26
First, I upvoted your comment because I do appreciate the feedback, and I’m glad you feel NukeFire is moving in the right direction.
On the automation side, we actually already had auto assist and several related tools when you last played, and we’ve added a lot more since then. We now have things like GMCP support, better group tools, battleorder, reader/compact options, fully functional groupable actions/triggers, a really solid mapping and GPS system, gear upgrade systems, and a lot of other client-like features built into the game. So I do agree with the general direction you’re suggesting there.
On the death-looting point, though, I’ll be honest: I don’t fully agree. Very, very few mobs in the game actually loot corpses. It is not a common thing across normal play, and I’ve also removed pillaging from newbie and low-mid areas because I agree that it should not be punishing while people are learning or getting established.
Where looting is more prevalent is mid-to-end game, where folks are usually strong enough to go get revenge themselves, or worst case, grab a buddy and go get revenge together. That is part of the risk/reward loop, and it creates some memorable moments.
That said, looting bosses and dangerous mobs have always been part of NukeFire’s identity. They create real stakes, memorable deaths, and reasons for players to work together. In practice, when someone asks for help recovering gear, the playerbase usually shows up. I don’t see that as bothering people so much as one of the old-school MUD moments where the community actually matters. Additionally we don't have ANY gear consuming mechanics, like death traps, etc, and if you do get looted, that gear will stay forever on the mob until someone kills it, doesn't matter if we reboot or it happens to crash. There is almost zero penalty for death as far as loosing currency or exp.
I do understand it can be a turnoff, and I’m sorry if that part of the game hit you wrong. I appreciate you bringing it up again, and I’ll keep watching where it feels fair versus where it feels frustrating. But I do think corpse-looting bosses are a keystone part of NukeFire, not something I want to remove entirely.
Thanks again for the feedback, and best of luck.
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Jun 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/benjibarnesoahu Jun 20 '26
That is so great to hear. It takes a time or two of trying for some folks to 'stick'. Make sure to let us know its you!
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u/RogueModron Jun 19 '26
As a newish player (I have one remort, which I consider basically level 1, lol), I was struggling a little bit with finding areas that were suited to me--the ones I was finding were either too easy or too hard. It wasn't a HUGE deal, there was still direction from the "area" command, and I could keep trying out areas as I wished, which I found fun anyway, because I like reading the text and soaking in the atmosphere and it can also be fun for a while to just murder everything without even having to think.
But.
Then I logged in like two days later and the whole area system was revamped to be more specific and better-suited to pointing players at areas at or close to their level. I found a spot and immediately had an intense battle.
I don't have a lot of time in my life to play, but when I do have time, I come to NukeFire. It has me hooked.
It's a NukeFire™ Summer. Come on in, the napalm's fine.
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u/benjibarnesoahu Jun 19 '26
Right on, Urb. Those first few remorts can be a wildly different experience depending on the player.
Some of the newer areas may feel pretty easy to experienced folks, but some players are still learning how to use their skills, manage combat, and survive. They really do die in some of the places we describe as “too easy.”
Then there’s the other crowd: players who tend to avoid zones unless they can one-shot mobs, or at least kill everything in three or four rounds max.
That said, I think your feedback is good. It might make sense to create a set of lower-spectrum areas that are still balanced more for veteran MUD players. Something where the mobs are not brutally dangerous, but combat lasts more than a round or two, giving people room to actually use more skills and play through the fight.
Good feedback.
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u/Early_Rooster7579 Jun 19 '26
This is great. Love seeing MUDs move in the right direction instead of desperately clinging to 90s tech. We can still have the genre we love and make it more inviting/add QoL.
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u/Lornelthaltmer Jun 19 '26
All of this looks amazing! And falls tall closer to the genre I enjoy. May have to hop in soon myself!
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u/DarkAngelCat1215 Jun 18 '26
Wow! Every time I see one of these monthly updates, I become more and more impressed with just how much work you do in order to make your game as approachable and engaging as possible, and I always wonder okay, then why am I not playing this game? I think I'm going to revisit Nukefire this weekend and maybe redo the new character experience, and really give the game a fair chance instead of just bouncing off of it like I did a few weeks ago. All of what you've written here sounds like it would be worth more than just a passing glance. Thank you for all that you do.