First of all, I would like to thank everyone that has contributed to Shades of Evil,
or the Ack!Mud code base.  Without all of the help and encouragement from everyone,
especially (most :P) of the players of SoE, I would have never gotten to this point.
In addition, I would like to extend a special thanks to Ancient Adventures, run by
Aztlan with Titania as the Head Coder, for their patience with my spotty support
when they served as the first off-site test mud for Ack!Mud 2.1--4.0.  Thanks, Michlo
and Paula :)

Happy Mudding!

Now, on to the disclaimer:  First of all, all the normal diku/merc licenses apply..
while I don't agree with some of it, I abide by it, as should you.  Please note
the help ackmud message, and abide by it. Stephen and Thalen, while having moved on
as well as I with other projects, have put a lot of blood, sweat, and electrons into
this code, and deserve credit :)

A little background of Ack!Mud: First, of all, for the best background, check out
the soe web page, at www.nuc.net/~shadeweb/ .  To summarize...

  1) Cyberlich wants to start a mud, finds Stimpy, gets Ack!Mud 2.0, throws it in
    my lap.
  2) After barely even knowing how to PLAY muds, I'm the Head Coder of one..ouch!
  3) 14 months later, with mucho, mucho crashes, pfile wipes, and tons of help from
     many, SoE is up and running steady.
  4) Having learned from my experiences, I decide to start work on a revolutionary
     code base...look forward to seeing Lords of the Shadow opening at a theatre near
     you!.

Now, the bad news:

   Ack!Mud 4.1, while certainly runnable as is, with very minimal modifications, is NOT
a complete code base.  There are several weak points to the code, several inconsistencies,
and several areas that could use improvement.

  One major problem: help files are incomplete, and in some cases non-existent.  I apologize.
    The main reason for this is that the help system for the code sucks...they don't always save,
    and I've never gotten around to fixing it.

  Werewolves are totally not finished..they need silvered weapons, and a lot more skills.
  Vampyres could use some fleshing out.
  Adepts need spells BAD :)
  the Ruler code concept is really cool, but unfinished..the idea is that players can bribe, 
  and gain influence over npc areas, eventually setting the aggression levels of the mobs there.
  Triggers could be greatly enhanced.

  Other than the above, the code is pretty stable ( 6+ average days uptime, with 50+ average players),
and VERY enjoyable..time and again I've had players say that SoE was the best mud ever..we all
know that there is no such thing, but they're pretty loyal, and I'm sure your players will enjoy
all the little twists in the code :)


Various docs will be posted in this ftp site from time to time, so stop by and see what's new. Please
experiement about with things before running to me with questions..I am very, very busy with LotS, 
and really don't have time to hold hands, though I will certainly address any actual bugs that you
may find..

Finally, I know that there aren't many docs, but for the most part, Ack runs like regular merc, and
docs are on the way :)  Anyone with SoE experience that would like to contribute in that manner, 
PLEASE do so..


You have an Imp char named Creator, with a blank password..please leave the Zenithar char, so that
I can login if need be to check things out with you...good luck, and Enjoy :)