The following are the most frequently asked questions that players have about Materia Magica and the web site. These questions will be updated as new ones arise.
Frequently Asked Questions : Page One
How do I get started playing the game?
Check out the Getting Started section of the Materia Magica web site.
What's the address to connect to the game?
The host name for Materia Magica is materiamagica.com, and you may connect on ports 4000, 6666, 8000, 9000, or the standard telnet port of 23.
What's a MUD? Isn't Materia Magica just a glorified MUD?
MUD is short for Multi-User Dungeon (or Multi-User Dimension, depending on who you talk to), a cyberspace where users can take on another identity and interact with one another. Originally, MUDs tended to be adventure games played within enormous old castles with hidden rooms, trap-doors, exotic beasts, and magical items.
While Materia Magica has some things in common with MUDs, it is so much more that we prefer to call it Interactive Entertainment Network, which is a more flexible term.
What is Telnet?
Telnet is a terminal emulation program for TCP/IP networks such as the Internet. A Telnet program runs on your computer and connects your PC to a server on the network. You will need a Telnet client to play Materia Magica. For a list of the most popular Telnet clients, please see Client Links.
What is TCP/IP?
TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is the language governing communications between all computers on the Internet. TCP/IP is a set of instructions that dictates how packets of information are sent across multiple networks. Also included is a built-in error-checking capability to ensure that data packets arrive at their final destination in the proper order.
IP, or Internet Protocol, is the specification that determines where packets are routed to, based on their destination address. TCP, or Transmission Control Protocol, makes sure that the packets arrive correctly at their destination address. If TCP determines that a packet was not received, it will try to resend the packet until it is received properly.
I can't seem to connect to Materia Magica. What do I do?
There's many things that can cause connection problems; problems on Materia Magica's server, problems with your Internet Service Provider (ISP), problems with the route that your connection takes from your ISP to ours, and many more. For a listing of common technical problems and solutions, please check out the Technical Support section of the Materia Magica web site.
I'm new to this game, how do I play?
Make sure you have read and comprehended the Adventurer's Guide. Then, log into the game using an appropriate client. For a list of recommended clients for your particular operating system or platform, check out the Client Links page. Once you have created your character, carefully tread through the classrooms at the beginning of the game, and read the room descriptions. Those classrooms are there to help you learn the basics of how to play the game. Other things you can learn by reading the help files (Type 'HELP <topic>" in game), or by asking others/just playing the game. If you are stuck, you may summon a Player Guide by using the PRAY command or by typing GUIDE for a list of Guides, then directing your questions to a specific one.
I hear Materia Magica supports sound effects on some clients. How do I enable those?
Materia Magica does indeed support the MSP and MXP sound protocols in order to play sound effects through your client. To hear sounds you will need an MSP or MXP-compatible client, such as Portal or ZMUD. You will also need to download and uncompress the "sound packs", which contain the sounds that the game will reference during game play. They may be downloaded using the following URLs:
http://www.materiamagica.com/sounds/mm_sound_pack1.zip
http://www.materiamagica.com/sounds/mm_sound_pack2.zip
Once you have downloaded the files, unzip them into the appropriate directory for the client you are using. This information should be in the documentation that came with your client. To disable having sound commands sent to you, use the SET SOUND OFF command from within the game, or turn the sound off from within your client.
If you are having problems getting the sounds in the above referenced sound packs to work, it may be because MP3 support is not fully enabled on your machine. Try downloading the WAV versions of the sound packs and installing those into the appropriate directory:
http://www.materiamagica.com/sounds/mm_sound_pack_wav1a.zip
http://www.materiamagica.com/sounds/mm_sound_pack_wav1b.zip
http://www.materiamagica.com/sounds/mm_sound_pack_wav2a.zip
http://www.materiamagica.com/sounds/mm_sound_pack_wav2b.zip
The WAV versions of the sound files are around 16MB each, whereas the MP3 versions are much smaller, so the MP3 versions are preferred if you can use them.
