Zugg Software :: News

Bidding ends at 8:00pm Eastern time, Friday, Feb 26th. This is your yearly chance to get an icon for your MUD added to the CMUD and zMUD startup screens for 2010.
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For detailed information on what a "CMUD/zMUD startup icon is", go to the Icon Information page. For detailed information on how the bidding process for the zMUD/CMUD icons works, go to the Bidding Information page.

To create an account to bid on an icon or to view your existing bidding account, go to the Main Bidding Page.

Each year we hold an auction to determine which ten MUD icons get displayed in the initial CMUD and zMUD startup screens. This is one of the best ways to advertise a MUD since it puts your MUD icon in the face of brand new MUD players who are looking for a MUD to play. Last year, the startup icons were downloaded over 70,000 times by new MUD players and viewed over 42 MILLION times by existing MUD players.

Last year, usage of zMUD dropped by roughly 10%, but usage of CMUD increased over 50%, showing the plenty of people continue to play MUDs and more players are starting to use modern clients such as CMUD. Don't miss out on this chance to publicize your MUD game!

If you have questions on the bidding process, send email to zugg@zuggsoft.com. Let the bidding for 2010 begin!

The eLicense company that we used over four years ago to issue zMUD licenses is no longer validating zMUD licenses on their server.
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I'm not sure if this is temporary, or they are going out of business, or if they just finally stopped their service for zMUD specifically. But if you have an old version of zMUD and are using an eLicense key of the format VT-xxxxxx, then you will no longer be able to use zMUD. This is exactly why we stopped using their service over four years ago and starting running our own license service.

You need to upgrade to the latest 7.21 version of zMUD. To get your updated license key, go to the Zuggsoft store at https://www.zuggsoft.com/store and log in using the email address that you used to purchase zMUD. If you don't have your login password, click the Recover Password link on the left side of the store page.

Once you are logged in, click on your zMUD order and then click the Retrieve License button. Your updated v7.21 license key will be sent to you.

There is no way to continue using the old eLicense version of zMUD. Also, please do not try to purchase a new zMUD license from eLicense as I will not be able to refund your money for any orders made to eLicense directly.

Finally, keep in mind that zMUD 7.21 is frozen and is no longer being updated. While the method above will allow you to continue using the 7.21 version of zMUD, we recommend that you upgrade to the newer CMUD client instead of using zMUD. zMUD has problems on Vista and Windows 7 and is no longer supported. CMUD was written specifically for WinXP, Vista, and Windows 7 and is still being actively updated and supported. See the Product Comparison Page for details on the differences between CMUD and zMUD.

A look back at 2009 and a roadmap for 2010
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Happy New Year!

It's traditional for me to review the past year at Zugg Software and give you a preview of what's coming for the next year. So, let's first look back on 2009:

Zugg Software in 2009 - Ouch!

Good news: We are still here!

Last year (2009) was a tough year for everyone, and Zugg Software was no exception. I had a lot of plans for last year, but wasn't really able to accomplish any of them as I spent most of my time trying to keep the business alive during the horrible economy. As with most businesses around the nation (and around the world), sales plummeted last year. I started doing some local freelance web-design/programming work to supplement our income. Chiara started teaching classes on Social Media (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc) to local businesses. Between the two of us, we were able to keep our mortgage paid. But that took up most of our time, leaving little time for programming.

I apologize for the lack of progress and the minimal number of updates last year, but we did what we needed to keep Zugg Software alive during the worst part of the year.

Even with all of the distractions of 2009, I was still able to accomplish some goals in CMUD and TeSSH. I was able to fix more bugs and continue to improve the stability of the 3.x version. I was also able to add the SFTP support that TeSSH needed, and the FTP support in CMUDPro. Recently, some new SQL database commands and functions were added. I also added free-floating buttons that can be placed anywhere over your main MUD window, as well as a drag-drop interface to make it easier to move buttons around the screen and on toolbars. More features were added for TeSSH, such as XTerm mouse support and 256-color XTerm modes. So 2009 wasn't a complete loss. ... (Read more)

Improved mapper, improved Lua, improved Telnet, improved MXP, improved floating buttons, SQL scripting.
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I've uploaded the latest BETA version of CMUD with the new mapper. This fixes many of the crashes and problems with the previous version. Please see the Version History for details on new features, changes, and bug fixes.

IMPORTANT: v3.x is still in BETA TESTING phase. This means that v3.x may still contain bugs or other problems that haven't been reported yet. Always be sure to make a backup of your existing files before installing BETA software. Please post any bug reports to the CMUD Beta Forum.

This 3.x version contains an improved mapper that integrates properly with the CMUD window docking system, allowing the map and the room properties windows to be properly docked. The new mapper architecture uses SQLite instead of Microsoft ADO/MDAC for the database, to improve compatibility on non-Windows systems, and to improve the mapper speed. The new mapper supports multiple tracked locations in a single map, allowing maps to be shared across sessions. The dockable room properties window has a graphical compass for moving around the MUD by clicking with the mouse. The user interface has been improved and the toolbars in the mapper are now customizable and saved across sessions. Room scripts are also much improved and fit better into the CMUD scripting architecture. For more information on the mapper changes, please see the release notes in the ... (Read more)

Because of the new release of Windows 7, we are getting more and more questions about this. So I wanted to make a sticky topic to make this perfectly clear:

zMUD is not supported on Vista, or Windows 7, or any other future version of Windows. Use CMUD instead.

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zMUD was originally written for Windows 3.1, then Windows 95. zMUD was kludged to run on Windows XP. Some people might be able to force zMUD to run on Vista and Windows 7, but it is not supported. Beyond just installation and running problems, there are other severe memory limits and other problems with zMUD on newer versions of Windows.

The newer CMUD client was written from scratch specifically for Windows XP, Vista, and newer versions of Windows. CMUD is the only client that is fully supported by Zugg Software at this time.

The Affiliate commission rate has been increased from 3.5% to 10%
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Starting on August 17th, 2009, in celebration of the 13th year of Zugg Software, I have increased the sales commission rate to 10%. This means that for every person who buys zMUD or CMUD (or any of our other products) via the affiliate link on your web site, you will earn 10% of the sale.

In addition, all existing Zuggsoft Affiliates have had their commission *retroactively* increased to 10%. Payments to any affiliate with accumulated *new* commission greater than $25 was paid this morning to their registered PayPal account.

For details on the Zugg Software Affiliate program, go to http://www.zuggsoft.com/affiliate . This Affiliate system combines the logins for the yearly zMUD/CMUD Icon Bidding with the Affiliate commission program. You can view the documentation on the Affiliate system on that page, and can also create an account for both systems (or log into your existing icon bidding account if you have one already).

This Affiliate program allows you to place links on your own web site for Buy, Download, or Information about Zuggsoft products. When a customer clicks on one of your links and then buys the product within 40 days, you will receive a commission for the sale. Anyone can become an affiliate, although the more traffic your site receives and the more you promote our products, the more money you will make.

Go to the link above and follow the instructions to become an affiliate today!

To send CMUD or zMUD to someone as a gift, use the Gift Certificates in the Zuggsoft Store.

The fastest and most versatile MUD client available!
Have you tried CMUD lately? This is the fastest and most stable version of CMUD yet.
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Please see the Version History for details on the bugs that were fixed in this version.

Most of the work in this public version was done to fix bugs and improve stability. Some new features include HTML logging, and a re-written settings editor (which is where a large number of previous crashes and bugs occurred). The new settings editor has some new features, such as a Class Panel and saved layout allowing you to set up the editor to work more like the one in zMUD. There are also many performance improvements, and a new and more powerful %subregex function for advanced scripters.

NOTE: If you are using the previous 2.18 version of CMUDPro, there was a bug in the automatic update procedure that would download the regular CMUD instead of the new CMUDPro. So if you are using that version of CMUDPro, you MUST download the latest version using the Downloads link at the top of the page.

CMUDPro is a completely separate download, and also has a separate license. It has it's own 30-day free trial. I am offering a good discount for a limited time for existing CMUD users. If you bought CMUD and want to upgrade to CMUD Pro, log into your store account at https://www.zuggsoft.com/store (If you forgot your password, use the Recover Password l ... (Read more)

Zugg Software has released a new web service called SlightlyMorbid.com as a way to notify your online friends if something bad happens to you.
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Slightly Morbid?

In Western society today, it is considered slightly morbid to think about death, tragedy, disaster, and other major things that can go wrong.

That doesn't stop these things from happening.

In 2008 a very dear friend that I only know online disappeared. No posts on the forum I knew him from. No posts to other places I knew to look for him. No sign of him online anywhere. We feared the worst. This caused a flurry of discussion among several of us who missed him:

"If something happened to me, who would tell my online friends?"

"Who would even know who my online friends are? How would they find them?"

I'm delighted to say our friend returned after a few months safe and sound, but the questions that came up are still very valid.

In the history of the world, this is a fairly new problem. It's only been in the last few years that it has become common to have good friends you've never actually met face to face. Online games and forums give us access to people who share our interests, ideals, and sense of humor who might live across the United States or even in another country. These relationships can be as real as any you have with your next door neighbor or your office mate. Maybe more real because you have more in common than just geographic location or employer.

For more information, check out www.slightlymorbid.com and get a FREE trial account.