Thoughts on Mac MU* clients

Sindri · Post by **Sindri** » Sat May 12, 2007 9:42 am

I switched from Windows to Mac at the start of this school year, and while it's mostly been an easy transition, there are a few things I still haven't worked out. In particular it's been tricky to find a MUD client that works well with FK, so I was wondering if anyone more Mac-savvy than I am has some advice. I've mostly used (in order of frequency):

Mac Terminal
Pro: It's much nicer than Windows Telnet (I can actually scroll back, for one thing...)
Con: I can't change something I've typed without erasing everything I typed after that; this often lengthens my response time, as I go back to fix typos. Also, black text blends into the background (I can highlight it or play with the window's transparency, but again this makes me take more time to respond).

FANG
Pro: I can easily edit what I've typed, and black text shows up perfectly well, so that takes care of both of the problems I have with Terminal.
Con: It gets laggy once I've played for a while; the text is on the smaller side (is there some way to change the font size)?

MudWalker
Pro: Again, I can edit what I've typed, and black text is readable. I can easily adjust the font size to make it easier to read.
Con: There's really only one problem, but it's a major one: MudWalker can't handle the vt interface. Consequently, while I've used this for other MU*'s in the past, I haven't used it much for FK.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice from the more experienced Mac-users here.

Kregor · Post by **Kregor** » Sat May 12, 2007 4:21 pm

I've ended up trying pretty much every Mac mud client and terminal client out there, and I've come down to one:

iTerm displays the text properly, regardless of color, it's customizable (so you can make the dark yellow look more brown, etc. And it mostly works fine. The drawback is text entry is limited (no expandable text field, backspacing beyond the last line doesn't show, etc) and you can't scroll back. It's a trade off for getting the VT interface.

If Zugg would be industrious enough to make a port of ZMud, I'd be the first on the bandwagon, for now, it's just a dream, and iTerm suffices.

Maybel · Post by **Maybel** » Sat May 12, 2007 7:51 pm

I experience lag (with fang) after about an hour or so of fighting. Only because it logs everything. ONLY think i don't like about fang is that you can't auto log anything. I just open up another fang... and everything is solved.. as far as the text being small... I am on a laptop... so i just move the screen closer

Good luck finding something that works best for you.

Grafghur · Post by **Grafghur** » Sun May 13, 2007 9:40 pm

Install Parallels and then run any PC app you want (ie: Zmud)

You will need a copy of a Windows OS though, but other than that, it's the greatest thing to have on a Mac.

Sindri · Post by **Sindri** » Mon May 14, 2007 10:08 am

Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure if Parallels will be a viable option, but I'll look into it, and I'll definitely give iTerm a try.

Kregor · Post by **Kregor** » Mon May 14, 2007 1:26 pm

Grafghur wrote:Install Parallels and then run any PC app you want (ie: Zmud)

You will need a copy of a Windows OS though, but other than that, it's the greatest thing to have on a Mac.

IF you're fortunate enough to have a newer, Intel-based Mac (ie,les than a year old). Those like me with a Motorola processor mac, are stuck without Parallels.
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Kirkus · Post by **Kirkus** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 6:13 pm

Hey I was wondering if there is a way to get either an update to FANG or someone to tell me how....

Here is what I'm looking for; On Zmud you can use a numeric pad for movement, I am not sure you can do that with FANG yet. I just bought a numeric pad for my laptop and it dosn't seem to work with FANG. Not a big deal just a comfort, so no need to rush. Just thought I would ask.

Tortus · Post by **Tortus** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:52 pm

The numeric pad thing is a built in function in zMUD, but hey, I've got a crazy idea that might just work!

How about if you make these aliases:

Code: Select all

alias 7 flee
alias 8 north
alias 9 up
alias 4 west
alias 5 look
alias 6 east
alias 2 south
alias 3 down

Aaand... Now we just have to figure out how to make them activate automatically, without you having to hit enter. Any takers?