Warning! This site being remodeled. Thus, subject to frequent changes &/or unexplained downtime. Mahalo for your paticence!

O.K., I give up, what is SeaMOO?

Alright, I'll bite, why is SeaMOO?

Interested? Check out the SeaMOO Guidelines.

Need some help getting started? Read SeaMOO Pointers!

I'm ready and willing! Telnet me to Something you want to tell us? Email SeaMOO.

Here is a helpful MOO Survival Guide.

For a novice's guide to MOO programming, check out The Cow Ate My Brain!

Excerpts from the MOO Wizard's FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) with *all* the answers!

An interesting paper on how to Gopher from a MOO.

For TinyMUDers, here is a document of TinyMUD vs. MOO commands.

Finally, the LambdaMOO Programmers Manual provides the *official* documentation for MOOs!

Similar to all "generic" MOOs, SeaMOO consists of two components (the "server" and the "database") running on a Unix computer system. Ours is located at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. The original MOO is LambdaMOO, and was developed by Pavel Curtis at PARC Xerox from an initial body of code provided by Stephen White at the University of Waterloo.

The main program working SeaMOO is the "server." The server handles all the nitty-gritty details such as input/output between the Internet and the MOO, parsing (figuring out) the lines you enter, and so on. The source code for LambdaMOO's server is freely available via FTP at ftp.parc.xerox.com.

The other big duty of the server is to compile and run other "little" programs (called verbs) that actually do the work. Written in a language called MOO, a cross between C++ and LISP, programming verbs is a central part of making non-trivial extensions to the database and thus, the virtual reality! The programming language is thoroughly documented, but the LambdaMOO Programmers Manual is *not* really aimed at the novice user (reader beware!).

If the server is the heart of SeaMOO, then our database, called the "core," is the brain. Initially, the core is fairly empty -- it defines basic objects such as $thing (the generic thing) and $prog (the generic programmer, which is a player-character with the power to add more things). As we began to define SeaMOO's World and build new rooms, create new objects, and define new verbs, the core began to grow. SeaMOO's initial core was based on the original LambdaCore which is also available via FTP from ftp.parc.xerox.com.

This MOO has been constructed *primarily* for educational use.

We want to encourage creativity, adventure, and fun -- but please, not at the expense of anyone else's work, peace of mind, lost temper or lost dignity. Enjoy yourselves, but be considerate -- and remember that you won't always know the people with whom you're interacting, so be polite -- at least until you *do* know them better! Also, bear in mind that truly heinous behavior will subject you to keelhauling or plankwalking (or both!) by Nemo!

For fun and games!

Given that most MOOs developed from MUDs which trace their ancestory to the alternate reality of "Dungeons & Dragons," many will want to play. However, Nemo suggests that you check out the guidelines for this below.

Because some want to pursue focussed research agendas

While others will be building class projects on which they will be evaluated, and others will play, while still others will (no doubt) push the boundaries of programming, imagination and interactivity for the seer enjoyment of it, some will be pursuing research and/or holding interactive computer conferences and/or colloquia. Nemo suggests those wishing to do research or hold meeting on SeaMOO also check out the following guidelines.

Class Simulations & Projects:

Any rooms and/or activities built off of Starport should be related to colony building and simulation (underwater, L-5, Lunar, Mars, asteroid, etc.) linked to class activity and/or assignments. These rooms may be locked to any BUT class members while construction is underway, and subsequently open to the public for viewing when building is completed.

Games:

You can't stop people from playing -- and Nemo really doesn't want to try! To honor this "trust" please keep any (read, all) major game-related roll-playing construction linked through SeaMOO contained in the Games Maze, NorthWest of Nemo Plaza, or Alternate Realities, a quick Beam-up from Nemo Plaza. Breach of this convention will result in one (1) warning prior to keelhauling!

Research & Conference Activities:

Center these activities on the grounds of SeaStar House itself -- from the Nautilus and Nemo Plaza on the North through the Pier on the South, and from Marine B in the East to Stellar B in the West. Let's keep these "buildings" set aside for offices, research project activities, research facilities (gopher slates, conference rooms, etc.) and other more "academic" pursuits.

Guidelines for Evaluating Constructions

This applies primarily to class projects, but if any construction gets too gnarly, Nemo will undoubtedly be unable to refrain from offering advice to keep things user friendly. Or at least user-comprehensible. Just as an essay or a research paper may be judged on both the content and the delivery -- that is, the ideas and their supporting facts AND the grammar, punctuation, and spelling -- so may MOO construction. Here are some guidelines Nemo & Crew tried to follow in building the base structure of SeaMOO's World:

New construction should be geographically sensible; connect to rooms via north, south, east, west, northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest, up, down, or out. ONLY ONE EXIT IN A ROOM MAY BE LABELLED "OUT" -- make sure it's an exit that leads BACK to the main areas or common areas of SeaMOO, and not further out into the hinterlands. IF you choose to locate a room in an alternate dimension or use another noun as an exit name -- e.g., "beam" or "shuttle" or "submarine" or "ladder" -- please mention it somewhere in the room's description OR leave a sign mentioning its presence.

Descriptions should lead from the general to the more detailed: for example, the description of the East Path mentions a sign outside the bar. Typing "look sign" gives you a visual description; typing "read sign" actually tells you specifically what it says. The description of the inside of SeaStar House tells you that a tapa and a stickchart hang on the walls; [eventually -- like, by 1/31/95] when you type "look tapa" you get a description of what tapa is, taken from a reputable reference AND THE CITATION FOR THAT REFERENCE -- so other players can go get more information on objects they find interesting. Think of this as a wierd, interactive, multiple-reader and -writer version of hypertext.

Objects in rooms built for class simulations should have references and citations and specific data noted somewhere on them or in the room, whenever possible.

Build things that are internally consistent with whatever scenario you are trying to present, and that at least comply with the logic of that scenario, if not the logic of the real world as we know it.

Make things as interactive as your programming skills permit!

Writing Counts

You *ARE* what you write! Your presentation online is everyone else's impression of who (and what) you are, so make your presentation good. You are creating a "reality" with words, so craft them well. Spelling, punctuation, grammar, all count towards a positive evalation with the qualifier that SeaMOO's built-in editor is a paleolithic line editor, and error correction can be difficult. Please try to have (at least) good intentions!

Writing Counts 2

As mentioned earlier, you are trying to create a "reality" with words -- so use words that engage all five (or six, or seven, or whatever!) senses: be VIVID, but prosaic; also, Nemo suggests that you try and limit yourself to descriptions that fit on one (1) screen (they are easier to read).

TABS or ARROWS will move you to the next field.

They will also work as returns in the comment field.

Enter your message in the areas provided below. Be sure to fill out all of the fields!

[Rev. 1 August 1996]
Copyright © 1996 - Wendy, Michael & Bob   [the SeaMOO Team !]