UNIX systems

• Basic Telnet: This is the most fundamental way to connect to a MUSH. At the prompt, you simply type
  telnet swwfm.net 4201
  Make sure there is a space between "net" and "4201." (4201 is the port number that the telnet program will automatically connect to... using any other port, or no port at all, will not get you into the MUSH). This may be the most fundamental way to connect to a MUSH, but it can be very frustrating. New text can be inserted into the middle of what you see when you are typing. While this text will not appear after you hit the enter key, it still can be confusing, especially if many things are happening at once. We only recommend raw telnet if you have no other choice.

• With Netscape: You can also connect using the same basic telnet program as outlined above, through Netscape. This generally spawns a new window on your machine where basic telnet is run. You can do this by clicking on the link below:

  telnet://swwfm.net:4201

• Clients Specifically designed for MU*s: There are a number of client programs that have been specifically deigned for use with MUSHes and similar programs. Below are some of the more common ones. To download one of these clients, simply click on the highlighted link. Below the link is what you need to type into your client to connect to the MUSH.
  • Tinyfugue
    After following the instructions and installing the program in your home directory, run it using the command tf. Once TinyFugue is running, type
    /connect swwfm.net 4201
    to connect to SW:WFM.
  • TinTin++
    This client is really designed for use with MUDs rather than MUSHes, and although I have never used it, my experience has been that MUD-clients often leave a bit to be desired when used with a MUSH. Again, since I've not tried it, I can't really say anything specific about this one. You can download it from the site listed above, and then install it on your machine. After that, you start the program using the command tintin++. Then type
    #session [session-name] swwfm.net 4201
    to connect to SW:WFM.

Microsoft Windows Systems

• With Netscape or Internet Explorer and MS Telnet:You can connect using basic DOS telnet through Netscape or IE. This generally spawns a new window on your machine where basic telnet is run. You can do this by clicking on the link below:

  telnet://swwfm.net:4201

• With DOS/Windows-based Telnet: Most windows machines now have a basic (and very poor-quality) telnet client built in. At the c:/windows/ prompt, type telnet. This will bring up a window that asks for the IP address and the port number. The address is swwfm.net and the port is 4201. You will probably want to ask for local echo to be on so you can see what you are typing, but this will vary with the specifics of your system. You have to do some playing around to get it right. There are other telnet clients for Windows, such as Ewan, most of which are considerably easier to use than MS Windows telnet.

• Clients specifically designed for MU*s:There are lots of good clients out there. The only one I personally have used much at all is MUSHClient, which happens to be my personal favorite. Most of these clients have extensive help files and are fairly simple to use, so rather than providing instructions, I just provide a list:
  • MUSHClient is a simple, well-written program. This is my program of choice when using Windows 95 or 98. A ton of wonderful features. Requires 32-bit system, so you either need Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows 3.1 with the 32-bit upgrade.
  • Pueblo MUDClient This is an HTML-compatible MU* client that works decently enough... it allows you to view HTML code that is embedded within PennMUSH. For those of you who use it, SW:WFM is Pueblo-compliant (more or less, anyway). The main problem with this client is that it hasn't been actively supported (as far as I can tell) since mid-1996.
  • SimpleMU is another popular program. SimpleMU has lots of great features, just like MUSHclient does, but is merely a different client program. The type of client used all depends on a persons preference. SimpleMu is compatible with Windows 3.1, 95, and 98.
  • MUTT is a MUD client for Windows 3.1, NT, 95, and 98. As I've mentioned above, MUD clients tend not to work so well with MUSHes (many players have had minor problems with them). However, this one seems to have some patches that make it compatible with MUSHes. As I've never really used it, you'll have to check it out an play with it yourself if this is the one you want. It certainly appears to have lots of neat features.
  • ZMUD is another MUD Client. It appears to be one of the more common ones, even among MUSHers, and I know a lot of people who use it. Like any of the clients listed here, it's a far sight better than raw telnet. However, as with most other MUD clients, it's not really perfectly compatible with MUSHes. Still, it has lots of features and seems to be well-liked by a large number of players. It is compatible with Windows NT, 95, 98, and 3.1, and requires a 486 or better machine, 8 MB of Ram, and Winsock 1.1 or compatible network connection.
  • MUSHers Resource Page This is a page maintained by Juliann, and lists all sorts of other Clients for MU*s, if the ones listed above are not to your liking.

OS/2 Systems

• With Telnet: At the OS/2 c: prompt, if your machine has telnet available, you should be able to simply use the command
  telnet swwfm.net 4201
  and you will be able to reach the SW:WFM.

• With Netscape: You can connect using basic telnet through Netscape. This generally spawns a new window on your machine where basic telnet is run. You can do this by clicking on the link below:

  telnet://swwfm.net:4201

• Other Clients:
  • TinyFugue is one of the best clients out there, and lucky you, as an OS/2 user, there is a version available at the FTP site that works on your system. It's not exactly got every single feature of the UNIX version, but it's so close you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference (from what I hear -- I've not used it on OS/2 myself yet). To use it, download and unzip the files, and then follow the instructions in the readme file and in the TinyFugue entry for UNIX above.

Macintosh Systems

• Basic Telnet: You can connect using NCSA Telnet. This is standard telnet fare and doesn't have any of the pretty bells and whistles you're probably used to. Basically it is a straight text interface. If you don't have telnet, you can download it from the TinyMUSH/Mac page.

• With Netscape: You can connect using basic NCSA telnet through Netscape. This generally spawns a new window on your machine where basic telnet is run. You can do this by clicking on the link below:

  telnet://swwfm.net:4201

• Other Clients:
  • Rapscallion is a new Mac-MUD client. Apparently the only way to get hold of a copy is to send email to Andy Lewis, the client's designer. As with all MUD Clients, I would be a little wary... often things don't work just exactly right with a MUD client (though I am sure it's better than using raw telnet). If anyone knows of an FTP site for this client, please email me.
  • MacMUSH 0.98 is specifically a MUSH-client designed for use with MUSHes and MUCKs and similar non-MUD MU*s. Because of this I suspect it's more compatible with output and input for the SW:WFM than a MUD client would be, but since I've never used it I can't say for sure. If anyone has experience with this client, please let me know what you think of it.
  • MacOS MUDding Resources is a page with all kinds of MUD/MUSH resources for the MAC user. Rather than replicate this well-done site, I will simply point you to it. Good luck!

Questions or concerns about this webpage or MUSH can be directed to the site admin at admin@swwfm.net