zMUD has gone through a lot of changes between version 4.62 and 5.22. Some of these changes might make upgrading to v5.22 a bit more difficult than expected. Of course, if you have kept up with all of the beta versions, 5.22 will seem warm and friendly. But taking the leap from 4.62 directly to 5.22 might be somewhat of a shock and require relearning some of zMUD features. However, be assured that 5.22 is a big of an improvement as 4.62 was over v3.x. Both new users and advanced users will find many important features in 5.22 that make MUDding even better. Also, all of the known bugs in 4.62 were fixed (although there are probably still minor bugs left to be found in 5.22 for the adventureous).
I'm assuming that you are using zMUD for MUDding because it has the best user interface and the most power and speed compared to any other MUD client available. Well, comparing v5.22 to v4.62:
Based upon beta testing feedback, some people might not like the new user interface design. The new design gets rid of the old Multiple-Document Interface (MDI) which made zMUD essentially take over your screen. In v5.22 everything is in its own window, and other application windows can be seen beneath zMUD. There is no longer a "zMUD desktop". This was done because many people wanted to be able to see windows like their email and web browsers and didn't like zMUD taking up the entire screen. Also, Microsoft is phasing out MDI applications, and there are many MDI bugs in Win95 and WinNT that were causing trouble for zMUD.
However, in v5.22 the window interface is much more customizeable than in 4.62. If you don't like the interface, chances are you can change it. There are many more options for tiling windows, deciding if you want seperate command lines for each window, or a common one as in 4.62, whether you want window captions on the top or the left side of the window, whether you want a status bar, etc. In fact, in v5.22, you can configure a zMUD window so that the entire screen height is devoted to MUD output, allowing zMUD to display more lines of text than any other MUD or telnet client. So, take time to play with the new interface and examine all of the new options. You should be able to get it to work the way you want it to.
Finally, the copy protection has been improved in zMUD. v5.22 is much tougher to crack than 4.62 and doing so can get you banned from using zMUD. If you are using an illegal copy of v4.62, you won't be happy when v5.22 blocks you from MUDding. You could keep using 4.62 of course, and miss out on all the new features and future features. Or, you could join the rest of the law-abiding public and register your copy of zMUD. After all, a single fee of $20 gives you access to all current and future versions of zMUD. This is one of the best deals on the net! One word of caution however: if you are using an illegal zMUD registration code, delete your ZMUD.INI file before upgrading to v5.22 or you may be blocked from MUDding. This will allow you to use the new version for the 30-execution trial evaluation while you decide if you want to register or not.
Here is a step-by-step procedure for upgrading from v4.62 to v5.22
Of course, since there have been so many versions of zMUD since 4.62, not all upgrades might go smoothly. The most common problem is corrupted *.MUD settings files (contains your aliases, triggers, etc) or corrupted *.MAP files from the old automapper.
If zMUD hangs or crashes when you try to connect to one of your characters, your *.MUD settings file for that character might be corrupted. It is actually easy for files to get corrupted. Saving your settings after getting an Access Violation error is the most common way for this to happen. However, not all is lost.
If v5.22 doesn't read and import your old maps directly, then go find your *.ZZZ master map file. It should be located in the same folder as your MUD settings file for that character.
There were several bugs in the script and trigger parsers in v4.62 that were fixed in v5.22. If you were using some of these bugs, then some of your scripts may no longer work. You might have to tweak some of your aliases or triggers. Refer to the online help guide or the zMUD Programming Manual on the web. You can also post scripting questions to the Discussion Forum where several zMUD Gurus are prepared to help you.
It has been a long time between the 4.62 and 5.22 releases and I hope you like what you see. Most of the improvements are suggested by zMUD users themselves. If you have ideas for improvements, feel free to send them to me at zugg@zuggsoft.com. Of course, if you find bugs you can report them to me also. Check the Future Plans page on the web site for information on what is planned for the next couple of versions, and keep an eye on the Beta Test page for the latest breaking zMUD version news.
Happy zMUDding!
Zugg (10-Apr-98)