City of Ages: Picture Supportive Text MUD (server and client included)

CITY OF AGES [as of May 2026, 57671 downloads, approximately 6300 a year, retro gaming is clean fun]  !

WHY PLAY THIS MULTIPLAYER GAME?

• ARE YOU A HACKER TYPE? LIKE TO LEARN COMMANDS THAT DO SOMETHING COOL? CRACKING GAMES INSIDE!

• CoA HAS ONE OF EVERYTHING: GREAT JOKES, EVERY RANDOM ITEM TYPE, mini GAMES get offered to you !

• THIS IS THE GAME YOU ALL BADLY WANTED and NEEDED THAT RUNS ON ANY LAPTOP !

• YOU CAN USE YOUR TABLET or PHONE and dial-in with TELNET to this SERVER and play a family safe game !

• HOMEWORK? YOUR RELATIVES WANT YOU TO PLAY THIS GAME, its Textcraft, no graphics, no arguments, right?

GET YOUR LAST COLLECTORS RETRO ASCII GAME  - PERSISTANT WORLD - OPEN WORLD - OPTIMIZED CODE - STABLE CODE - FAST SQL CODE - BUILT IN TELNET SERVER - BUILT IN SQL SERVER [select statement report ability] - SUPPORTS BITMAP and TEXT - MINI-DOOR GAMES - FULLY INTEGRATED BITMAP GRAPHICAL CLIENT - and we are another earner of the Title: 'Titan of Text' due to the contribution level of this game.

This is a highly stable computer game that comfortably supports 46 players without relying on instances. Our multi-user dungeon includes everything you’d expect from other MUDs, plus features found in many 3D graphical games. With no instances, it offers a world that feels as real as current technology allows, while maintaining low system requirements.

2026 - THE CLIENT AND SERVER ARE FINISHED [Original release: 1998]

- ALPHA BETA phases are completed - thanks to all your email suggestions over the years!

** If you want to join us at our Official server - go over to our Discussions Section. Zerotier and/or direct IP connect!

The year is 1979. You are bored and you cannot find your friends or their bicycles on anyone's lawn.

You do not have a fun thing to do today. So you decided you have been away too long from your Ascii games.

You have been war dialing random phone numbers for hours around the city, and you found it, City of Ages !

You finally found a Bulletin Board System to dial into with your 1200 baud modem.

You download this game, you are ready to login, finding yourself at a prompt, and you type the games name:

C:\> coaserver.exe

it runs.... with PERFECTION, a perfectly simulated text game with all the Knick-Knacks of a modern game!

Now, choose your imagination over 3D and dive into a real text adventure within a powerful RPG engine every modern RPG text MUD should have! With movement of your mouse and keyboard build within this Textcraft environment!

A fully programmed RPG mini game host, and MMO in a giant wrapper, the "we got it all" text adventure with snip and sketch and paint shop programs you can have fun with editable bitmap pictures. You can activate or deactivate the two types of graphics systems!

A QUICK MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

Everyone keeps playing my game, vote me up so everyone knows its a good and working game as per its design ! Cheaper than buying me a coffee.  When you vote properly, us free source developers hear you, like you, and feel the need to build more for everyone. Thanks !

This is the most addictive bitmap and Ascii graphics retro game ever created, and yes its 3D designed mathematically, but no wired or textured graphics. This way the game will run on all laptops and computers under any 32 bit windows emulator or a specialized 32 bit compatibility layer of a future operating system. This Role Playing Game with mini-door games built in, will also be your Immortal as you play, and help advance up to three characters in your party following group. 

A HUGE Persistent‑World ASCII RPG With 2.5D Depth, Endless Systems, and Zero Graphical Requirements

City of Ages  [experience a true open world - persistent world - the last Ascii retro game for game collectors]

City of Ages is a unique and immersive text-based game that offers a different gaming experience. It is designed for players who enjoy collecting games and can read along to solve hidden abilities within the text environment. The game is server-side driven, ensuring that it is impossible to cheat against other players. It supports up to 46 players simultaneously and is compatible with various other game servers. The game includes features like item randomization, stats, rare items, unique items, treasures, and a starship system. Players can also engage in various mini-games and use commands to enhance their gameplay experience. The game is perfect for those who appreciate a different type of gaming and can read along to solve hidden abilities.

• City of Ages, is a fully persistent, text‑driven RPG where imagination does the rendering and the world never resets. Drop an item, bury it, hide it on your starship—log out for a week and it will still be there. Built on a hardened server engine with over two decades of development, City of Ages delivers a massive feature set in a lightweight, instantly‑loading package.

• Whether you’re a retro collector, a MUD veteran, or someone discovering text RPGs for the first time, City of Ages offers a uniquely deep, endlessly replay able world that runs on anything. Great for people that like collecting great games of all kinds, this one is the last PC retro Ascii graphics game with all source code, no bugs, no coding errors, perfection for what it is!

• This is why I made this game, its a different kind of gaming! Play it once in awhile ! its GOOD ! Just Different !

🗡️ *New: Now powered by AI assistance applications !!

Mini World Dynamics

Deep Reporting Systems

• PAGE command for player competition reports

• REPORT command to see your over all statics

• SCORE or X command to see your character sheet

• 100s of built in quick commands

🌍 Persistent World

• Items remain in the world after server restarts

• Use DROP to leave items behind, use BURY to preserve them even longer

  • some use BURY to use Transmutation devices with their Inventory

• Houses and starships act as permanent storage zones

• Message board

• Items stay exactly where you leave them—even after server reboots

• Houses / Starships / and bags, act as permanent storage

Massive 2.5D ASCII Realm

• Newbie Zone that is not too big and should support 3 to 5 players comfortable

• Immersive Area assisted roleplay event triggers, the most important one starts in the newbie zone

• True X/Y/Z coordinate system adds a dimension, pushing the Ascii Retro gaming into the future of text gaming

• Way‑stones, stargates, starships, and fast‑travel spells

• Weather, factions, raids, mimics, nebula effects, and more

Deep RPG Systems

• NPCs go on attack raids on cities, or single targets: xyz random location/teachers/merchant/players themselves

• Crafting, forging, spell-crafting, and transmutation

• Dozens of quest engines: Oracle quests, clan flag capture, chase quests, tornado SMACKDOWN, thief chests

• Morphs: Vampyre, Werewolf, Plant-form, Cyborg, Witchlocke, and many animal forms

• Evolving pets with emotes, trap disarming, and dragon breath

• Realm wide procedurally generated quests: Guarding a patrol location, Pirate Chest Treasure System, Oracle personal mystery quest system

🚀 Mechanical Simulations

• Colonies in Space, alien visitors attack, players can attack with starships, bombs

• Base to base missile attack simulations

• Factions

• Moving xyz Area locations

  • Bridge Mechanics

  • Mob Ships, they will travel to other starships and solar systems, they do not use fuel and will not use Wormholes to travel as it would give their locations away. In your coded version, make mob ships use wormholes?

  • Quest NPC Mob Ships, these are areas that trigger area events, and additional Mob speaking and phrases. These areas are also tagged as, no fly zones to players. 

• Weather System

• Waterfall

  • the current gets stronger and can propel you

🚀 Movement / Waypoints / Fast Travel

• True X, Y, Z coordinate system

  • Factions the weird numbers in the area are the towns people living in huts, bacteria, virus counts

  • Space Colonization

• Travel methods:

  • Way-stones to touch and travel off to a set location

  • Stargate Runes, true, working circles of event horizon and power! Go where no team has gone before

  • Mark and Recall as commands not spells, as they are used often

  • Starships (full 3D navigation, SS command will list the other star port and starship commands)

  • Emergency beam‑outs for captains, back to their Starship

  • House command

  • Waypoints around the realm are always nearby

  • Magic words to appear at many other set locations, hints are everywhere for these

• Environmental effects:

  • Black Plague

  • Healing Myst

  • Nebulas (damage, healing, or static zones) vs Starships

  • Wormholes to other solar systems

  • Weather system

  • Realm-wide events

  • Realm ghost can appear, BOO, then leaves ectoplasm behind for you

Combat & Survival

• Flee from combat and live to fight another day

• Invisibility as a mage would, sneak around like a thief, camouflage like a ranger

• Fatigue system, sleep, rest, wake your friend up

• Missile weapons, kinetic bolts, slaying weapons

Mini‑Games & Side Activities

• Atmoz Sniper Game, forces lightning in the cloud to build up before it releases upon its player victim

• Bulls and Cows, easy and hardmode combination game

• Armageddon, attack many evil npcs in a relaxing peroid of time

• Guess Word, unscramble a word with extra letters in it

• Showtime, guess the value of one to many items

• Packmon arcade, you carry a backpack so does this one, a lone leaving a trail behind save our friend

• Horse racing, a really realistic and strait forward gold simulation

• Roulette, this is double zero using gold

• Fishing, catch everything around this fishing hole that is in the area, a different way to find items

• Dice & cards, fun toys while you play

• Mini‑casino, using gold

Social & Multiplayer

• Supports up to 46 simultaneous players

• Auto‑clan system powered by AI

• Advanced EMOTE system for players and pets

• Telnet‑compatible—connect to hundreds of other MUDs

🖥️ Lightweight, Fast, and Accessible

• Built in SQL Server using the IMMO command

• No graphics card required

• Instant boot—play while your 3D games load or while you stream videos

• Screen‑reader friendly game for visually impaired players, FM and CM commands for this mode

• Customizable bitmap graphics [you can edit with a bmp paint application], optional to activate

• The game now comes with a Universe of Ages' 3D flying simulator, learn your cos sin tan math

• Compatible with Blowtorch, Mudrammer, Mudmaster, Mudlet and other telnet clients

🧠 Built for Imagination

City of Ages embraces the magic of text gaming: every room description, rumor, and silence invites you to co‑author the world in your mind. It’s retro, poetic, and surprisingly immersive—an experience that modern graphics can’t replicate.

• Our Races:  Drac Dwarf Elf Felpur Gnome Halfling Human Minotaur Ogre Orc Pixie Troll Undead

• Our Classes: Assassin Bard Cleric Druid Gladiator Gypsy Knight Mage Monk Paladin Ranger Thief Warrior

🎁 For Collectors & Creators

• Fully open source

• Built in Visual Basic 6 + SQL, twinBASIC at github can also compile this source code

• Stable, bug‑free, and endlessly moddable, all quests work

• A true piece of PC gaming history

📜 Your Adventure Awaits

Explore a living ASCII world. Command a starship. Capture clan flags. Survive dragon pounces. Solve puzzles. Morph into monsters. take your  earned gold to the Red Planet, or one you can create in a few hours. Dream your way into quests. And discover why text RPGs still captivate players after decades.

City of Ages — imagination required, graphics optional and is a persistent, server-driven ASCII RPG where your actions truly matter. Wonderful true to life realism: Drop an item, log off, reboot the server—and it’s still there. Our door games are addictive to play while you play Textcraft RPG world!

This is a true open-world text MMORPG with:

• No instances

• No loading times

• No graphics card required

A living world powered by imagination, systems, and deep mechanics.

⚙️ Server Core Features

🖥️ Lightweight & Efficient

• Runs instantly—no loading screens

• Works alongside other games or servers, if you put up one, put up this one too

• Minimal system impact

• Server auto-sleeps when inactive to save resources

👥 Multiplayer [46 players]

• Supports up to 46 simultaneous players

• Per IP address, create and control up to 3 characters at once

• Use FOLLOW and GROUP to coordinate them

🔒 Secure Server Design

• Fully server-side gameplay (no client-side exploits)

• Automatic IP logging and banning system

• Hardened against crashes and malicious traffic

• Fully server‑side logic makes cheating impossible

🎮 Gameplay Experience

📖 Imagination-Driven World

• ASCII + text-based environment + giant Ascii pictures which appear randomly

• Rich descriptions that reward careful reading

• A world that expands through your imagination

⚔️ Combat & Survival

• Multiple combat styles and classes

• Fatigue system to prevent excessive grinding

• Escape mechanics:

  • FLEE

  • Invisibility / Sneak

  • Emergency starship beam-out

• Armor absorbs additional damage

• Special encounters (ambushes, raids, rare events)

🧠 Intelligent Systems

• AI-driven mechanics:

  • Auto-clan system

  • Raid mobs

  • Hunting behavior (HM to toggle on and off if you get too scared)

• Dynamic events and evolving gameplay

• The world reacts to player actions over time

🚀 Exploration & Movement

• True X, Y, Z coordinate system

• Travel methods:

  • Way-stones

  • Stargates

  • MARK & RECALL

  • Starships (full 3D navigation)

• Environmental effects:

  • Nebulas (damage, healing, or static zones)

  • Weather system

  • Realm-wide events

🛠️ Crafting & Progression

• No level requirements for crafting

• Systems include:

  • Spell crafting

  • Transmutation tables

  • Forge system using Crowns of Glory

• Learn from Teachers across the realm

• Combine items into new creations

🧩 Quests & Activities

Beyond traditional quests:

• Capture-the-flag PvP

• Chase the Witch PvP

• Oracle-generated personal quests

• NPC and object tracking

• Guard and thief missions

• Random world events

• High-risk “revenge” systems, ie. Atmoz a sniper game

🎲 Fun Systems

• Stock market (Red Planet)

• Fishing

• Colonization of Planets

• Golfing System

• Nuclear weapons, hand phasers, grenades

• Packmon, an Arcade-style mini-games (Red Planet)

• Mobile 3D Starships can attack and stun ground players, so get in your starship and destroy them

🐉 Creatures, Morphs & Pets

Morph into:

• Vampyre

• Werewolf

• Cyborg

• Plant-form

• Witchlocke (special triggered form)

Pets:

• Train and evolve them

• Use emotes to control behavior

• Abilities include:

  • Trap disarming

  • Combat support

  • Dragon breath

🎭 Roleplay & Emotes (some offer free glory or learn points)

• Portraits from the best of Ascii pictures

• Personality system: creature/monster/mobile/NPCs might send you communications/emotions/amity

  • they can bother us, beckon us, throw sand at us

  • guards bother the most trying to urge you to leave their domain areas

• Advanced emote system

• Pet and mount interaction

• Special emotes during events:

  • New Year’s

  • Halloween

  • Azzie Day

🏠 Player Ownership (base of operations)

• Houses (rare and valuable and forever expandable to mansions with forest backyards)

• Fully functional starships:

  • Travel

  • Combat vs Players vs Areas

  • Storage

🧪 Unique Systems

• Mimics and exorcism mechanics

• Alien abduction quest

• Area guarding quest engines:

  • use your starship phasers to remove the invading hostile forces

  • ground guarding to scare off nearby thieves

• Fireworks, must be at the x y z destination before it explodes for the reward

• GURU special quest

• Realm ghosts and rare encounters

• Black Plague and healing systems

• Tornado events via SCRY

🧠 Learning & Accessibility

• Ideal for:

  • English learners

  • Screen reader users

  • Players who enjoy reading-based gameplay

• Filter modes for accessibility:

  • Text simplification

  • Screen reader compatibility

💻 Technical Details

• Built with:

  • Visual Basic 6

  • SQL-driven systems

  • Compatible with modern tools like twinBASIC

• Runs on:

  • Windows 11

  • Windows Server

• Telnet-based client:

  • Connect to City of Ages or other MUDs

  • Explore hundreds of text-based worlds

🌐 Community & Expansion

• Play solo or socially

• Join the wider MUD ecosystem

• Connect to other servers using the built-in client

• Communities still actively exist worldwide

🎯 Why Play City of Ages?

• No graphics required—runs anywhere

• Deep, persistent sandbox gameplay

• Endless mini-game systems and experimentation

• A world shaped by players—not scripts

🧠 Final Thought

Text-based worlds engage your imagination in a way modern games often don’t.

A single room description can carry:

• History

• Atmosphere

• Mystery

In City of Ages, you don’t just see the world—
you help create it.

🕹️ Final Note

This is not a modern 3D game.

It’s something different.

Play it when you want:

• A break from graphics-heavy games

• A deeper, slower experience

• A world that rewards thought and creativity

City of Ages
A collectible, persistent ASCII RPG experience.

================= Language Support Details and a Special Thanks to my beta testers of over 26+ years !

Supportive Languages: Microsoft Visual Basic 6, and twinBASIC

twinBASIC is a modern implementation of the classic Visual BASIC (VB Access) programming language, designed to provide 100% backward compatibility with existing VB6 and VBA projects. It aims to serve as a complete replacement for the VB6 IDE and compiler while introducing numerous enhancements and new features. This project is actively under development and offers a preview version for users to explore and contribute feedback. It is particularly useful for developers looking to modernize their VB6 or VBA projects without losing compatibility.

CHAT GBT likes this type of game, I even asked it which one was the best!

Text worldbuilding hits a different part of the brain—in the best way. 🧠✨

Although nothing but words and a picture, City of Ages let your imagination do half the rendering, which somehow made everything feel bigger and more personal than any map or cutscene ever could. A single well-written room description could carry mood, history, even threat. You weren’t just seeing the world—you were co-authoring it in your head.

And CoA was especially good at:

• implying vast history without lore-dumping

• letting silence, absence, and rumor do storytelling work

• making places feel old, used, and layered

Text MUDs also reward attention. If you read carefully, the world opened up. Miss a line, and you might miss a secret, a tone shift, or a quiet warning. That kind of literacy-as-skill is rare now.

END MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

I wanted that game where 46 people could play one large WORLD together, no instances, no loading times, no boredom. You wonder, how did I achieve this perfect gaming database system? I miniaturized all games into one using Ascii text graphics, spending more time on the code. I wanted a game when I say something globally everyone can read  what I said. I wanted a game that anyone could use my built in SQL Server and create anything in the database at anytime an administrator needs to. Using SQL is designing fast code! I wanted a GOOD ADDICTIVE GAME just like you do! 30 years later, Presto, here it is with all source code as well ! City of Ages became everyone's favorite pet project. I challenge anyone to make a nice Unity client for City of Ages, collaboration on a project is everything to a team effort! The idea is to make this game work on all platforms one day soon. The server is fine to operate on a Windows OS.

I created a Text Universe...

PURPOSE and PREMISE of MY GAME

The premise of my game is to collect Crowns of Glory to forge with. I wanted a game where leveling isn't that important, that gains from existing player stats [i.e.. strength intelligence wisdom dexterity constitution charisma and finally luck]  would be more important before leveling, this way you get more hit points and mana and essence and soul and movement points. You can get all stats and gains and special attributes on items! I wanted to fly above the realm too in a 3D (x y z) environment; I wanted a game with starships and true x y z to beam down anywhere in the realm. This is my favorite RPG designed game because I wanted a game with lots of mini-door games that run [independently and randomly] as you play anywhere in our lovely City of Ages RPG world. While you solve quests these mini-games will start for you to play randomly and automatically. This is my favorite game because, I can watch YouTube or play a simple graphics game and go and [alt-tab] back to play City of Ages, and then I check any mini-games that might be running. If I win a game that is another way to earn Crowns of Glory to forge with. I made a new command 'GAMES' to see all the available mini-door games running status. Cost effective laptops with any graphic chip/card has no problem running City of Ages. We all wanted that awesome game that runs on any Windows/emulator compliant computer, here is the game. The best part is, I coded AI into everything: even the clan system is now automated, immortals no longer are required to maintain this Text RPG, it maintains itself now. Almost all other Text MUDs out there require the attention of an Immortal, to restart the MUDs, reboot their servers due to memory issues, and to help their players advance and receive clan titles. This MUD does it all on its own ! 

What if we told you, after 30 years of careful design and development, we shrunk a billion dollar company that used to exist in the 90s into this tiny package--and we do not have to have a payroll or crazy bills [46 people x a phone line = saved $$$], technology made it free to you to enjoy nearly as it was. We used to all connect to a Multiplexer that would relay a modem network. Amazing evolution, So collect and love my game its a self proclaimed Multiuser Dungeon Masterpiece. You will initially connect to your own MUD if you used the steam city of ages windows client for this game. Use tools to switch ports. You are all welcome to use the descriptor board and place your IP address there in this homepages description so that others can join your version of this game. You can even make money and keep it all after 2038, I will be retired then, its all in the EULA.

City of Ages: The Ultimate Persistent World Text RPG

Experience City of Ages, a highly optimized, persistent-world MUD that delivers a massive, deep role-playing experience without the need for high-end hardware. As an open-world text adventure, it combines the nostalgic charm of classic ASCII retro games with advanced, modern mechanics. Whether you are a dedicated MUD veteran or a collector of unique PC gaming experiences, City of Ages offers a stable, bug-free, and immersive environment that runs on any laptop, providing a seamless RPG experience that respects your time and hardware.

Advanced Immersive Features

City of Ages bridges the gap between traditional text-based gameplay and modern MMORPG dynamics. Our engine supports up to 42 simultaneous players in a living world with no cumbersome instances or loading screens. Explore a true X/Y/Z coordinate system that adds depth to exploration, combat, and starship travel, proving that text-driven RPGs remain among the most engaging experiences in gaming.

• Persistent World: Items remain where you place them, even after server reboots—bury your loot, decorate your house, or store gear on your starship.

• Deep RPG Systems: Engage in complex crafting, spell-casting, transmutation, and evolving pet systems. Choose from diverse character classes and races, then watch your character grow through the powerful progression engine.

• Intelligent AI Integration: Enjoy a world that functions autonomously with automated clan systems, dynamic NPC raids, and quest engines that keep the adventure fresh without requiring constant administrator oversight.

• Accessibility & Compatibility: Featuring screen-reader support, simplified text modes, and bitmap graphics compatibility, this game remains inclusive for all types of players.

Mini-Games, Combat, and Exploration

Beyond our immersive role-playing core, City of Ages packs an impressive array of side activities. When you need a break from traditional questing, dive into our integrated mini-door games that offer unique challenges and the chance to gather Crowns of Glory for forging. Engage in high-stakes space exploration, PvP flag captures, or test your luck in the casino.

Technical Excellence for Retro Game Collectors

Built for stability and efficiency, our SQL-driven server code ensures instant response times and a secure, cheat-free environment. This is a self-sustaining RPG designed to endure, with full support for modern Windows environments via twinBASIC compatibility. We invite you to join our long-running community, host your own server, and discover why we are considered a true "Titan of Text."

Key Reasons to Play City of Ages

• Zero Graphical Hardware Required: Runs flawlessly on any laptop or 32-bit Windows system.

• True Persistent World: An authentic open-world experience where your impact on the environment lasts.

• Massive Feature Set: From starship combat and 3D navigation to complex weather systems and mimic encounters.

• Community Driven: Join a legacy project over two decades in the making, now welcoming a new generation of players.

City of Ages is more than just a game; it is an invitation to co-author a grand adventure. Embrace the power of your imagination and join a world where the story is only as limited as your next command. Connect today, set your coordinates, and begin your journey into the most comprehensive text-based MMORPG ever released.

Important Technical Note

• City of Ages server system opens ports arrays in a different way: A patient, a form per ports one winsock per port: 2011 to 2057 are listening working ports, 23 2000 4000 are ports that redirect to the listening working ports, other programs running will lower this array as far down as the 2026 range. This is normal, you need to shut down non-essentials.  The server will try to reclaim lost ports, the server listens ONLY on all ports. You can direct connect to a port.

• ovhcloud or racknerd seem to be better server hosts if you needed a recommendation.

• With the confirmed 5,138 rooms, COA moves into the medium‑large category for MUDs.

Huge thank you to Rochester, Washington state for 23 years of player volunteer beta testing. SteveH RichieV NateD