Installing PennMUSH

Unzipping the PennMUSH file

Once you have downloaded the file 1610p5.zip (or whatever its current name is) you can unzip it by using WinZip. I do not recommend using PKUNZIP because it does not correctly handle the long filenames which are inside the .zip file.

Do not download the "GZIP.EXE" file listed above. This is for unzipping Unix GZIP files, it is not applicable for unzipping the executable version of PennMUSH.

If you do not have a copy of WinZip, you can download it from:

www.winzip.com

After unzipping the archive, you should have a directory structure like this (assuming you have called your "top-level" directory "PennMUSH":

Directory structure

The significance of the various folders is as follows:
Folder Contains
PennMUSH (root) List of bugs and recent changes
Game The directory from which the game is executed. Contains:
  • Access.README - details about setting up access.cnf file
  • Names.cnf - a list of (rude) names which cannot be used to create a character
  • PennMUSH.exe - the game executable program
  • Mushcnf.dst - the "distributed" version of the MUSH.CNF file. You should rename this as MUSH.CNF and edit it to set up your personalised game configuration.
Data The game "database" (also the previous database once you have executed the game server.
Text The various text files that are sent to the player when they connect, disconnect and so on.

These should be edited to describe your own MUSH details.
Evt Files that are combined to provide the "event" help.
Hlp Files that are combined to provide the "help" help.
Nws Files that are combined to provide the "news" help.

Unzipping the file: minimal.db.Z

Unless you already have a database file from another source, such as:

you will need to unzip the "minimal" database file. This is in the "Data" sub-folder. You can use WinZip to unzip this. Click on Minimal Database to see what the contents of this file looks like.

The"minimal" database consists of three MUSH objects:

  1. Room Zero - the initial room that players start in
  2. One - the "God" character - you must connect to that to start building your world
  3. Master Room - the "master" room, in which "master" objects are placed

Important!

If you are planning to use the "minimal.db" file you must rename it to: "indb". This is because the PennMUSH server expects to find an "indb" file in the "Data" folder. Also, change the configuration directives in MUSH.CFG (explained in the next Web page) as follows:
Directive New value
mud_name (The name of your MUSH)
input_database data/indb
output_database data/outdb
crash_database data/PANIC.db
compress_program
uncompress_program
compress_suffix
use_dns No - if you are running "offline" and do not have access to a domain name server