Plate VII - the ship's log
Since 1993
Before Estonia had fast links to the MUDs of the world, RalfII at Tallinn Technical University thought: why not make our own? This is how the Cruel and Lost World came to be - and came back.
Stonia is like a synonym of Ancient and Mythological Estonia. I found this name myself and I thought that this name is excellent for the first MUD in Estonia.
At first it was not even a project - "just like a test-site of something new for most of Estonians", in RalfII's words: a way to have fun, learn C on UNIX machines, and play over a fast link. Soon the idea grew: Stonia should look like old mythological Estonia, drawn from Estonian and Nordic myth and stories - and from Tolkien.
Timeline
The voyage so far
Dates as Stonia's own pages and players recorded them.
-
VUMbefore Stonia
Virtual Universe of University
In the beginning there was VUM - a small world for learning the basics. All good things come to an end, and so did VUM. Its name lived on as Stonia's old name.
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199310-20 November
Stonia on MERC code
RalfII (Raul Tölp) starts Stonia at Tallinn Technical University (TTU). The first version runs on MERC code. With Asko Seeba (Joka) he writes the first Estonian introduction to the world.
TTUMERCRalfII -
199426 August
The Cruel and Lost World of Stonia
The second version starts on Diku "Rivers of MUD" - ROM 2.3 - after thousands of recodings. At first it was called Stonia-II; since Stonia-I was never recoded much, it soon became simply Stonia. In time about 80% of the Diku and ROM base was reprogrammed.
It ran 24/7 on a Sun Sparcstation-20 at stonia.ttu.ee 4000. The original world: 94 areas, 6,801 rooms, 80% of the zones new.
ROM 2.3Sparcstation-20stonia.ttu.ee 4000 -
1995the builders
Coordinators and implementors
RalfII becomes coordinator in all subjects - ideas, world building, programming, the web. Joka is the main implementor from 1995 to 1998. Suller, Waim and Aeon build the main areas.
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19971 April
The first gathering: Puka
The first kokkutulek - a sauna in the woods near Puka. About 20 players met face to face, for 150 kroons each.
~20 people150 kroons -
1999open code
From Solaris to Linux
The code is ported from Sun Solaris to Linux, with the promise that Stonia's C code would be free in 2000. Thanks went to the Tartu University Computer Center people who let Stonia run on their server.
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200012 May
The second gathering: Tartu
At "Tartu Maja" in Tartu: about 50 people and 7 immortals - RalfII, Cody, Saruman, Seem, Rincewind, Gloin and Stok.
~50 people7 immortals -
2001– 2003
A new generation of code
The news log fills up: a new ranking system and new character generation (July 2001), a new learning system with gain and unlearn, round-based regeneration, mobs that remember their attackers and hunt them down (January 2002), the special_prog system for mobs, objects and rooms (February 2002), throwing, sheathing, and pattern-matching (April 2003).
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2024still a crew
New names on the crew list
Stonia's own team list gains Detoo (debugging), Fate (main ruler) and Nazir (questmaster), next to Volur, implementor and main contact since 2000.
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TodayStonia
Stonia running again
A ROM 2.4 rebuild of the original Stonia code and world, kept by Sarka: 8,850 rooms, 55 mortal levels and 5 immortal ones, 11 races in four skins, combat rounds every 2 seconds and experience counted as in Stonia. The old monsters are being woken one by one.
smud.sinilumi.ee 4000ROM 2.4Keeper: Sarka
Eesti Esimene MUD
The first Estonian introduction
As it stood on the old site, in its own words and spelling.
Stonia MUD kujutab endast muistset- või muinasjutulist aega, kus elasid inimeste kõrval ka veel paljud teised rassid; nagu näiteks haldjad, päkapikud, kääbikud, mäekollid, deemonid, hiiglased ja veel paljud teised. Stonia maailma valmistamisel on ohtralt kasutatud ka mitmesugust kirjandust; nagu näiteks vanahärra J.R.R.Tolkieni raamatuid jt.
Aga selleks, et te saaksite ise tõelise ettekujutuse sellest maailmast, tuleb teil seal alustada n.ö. uut elu. Selle maailma nimeks on Stonia, vana nimega Virtual Universe of University (VUM) ja elu selles maailmas ei ole mitte nii ohutu, kui on see tänapäeval. Kuid, mis siin ikka pikalt seletada, eks oma silm ole kuningas ja seega ei jää muud üle, kui ise tutvuda selle tundmatu maaga.
In short: Stonia is an ancient, fairy-tale time when many other races lived beside men - elves, dwarves, hobbits, trolls, demons, giants - built with a generous helping of literature such as old Mr Tolkien's books. Its old name was VUM, life there is not as safe as today, and the only way to know it is to see it with your own eyes.
In the beginning, there was Virtual Universe of University (VUM). As you know, all good things must come to end, so did VUM too. But we found new universe, where you can live and have a fun.
Why our area is Cruel? First VUM was only a small chance for you to study the basics of our world. But new VUM is really cruel compared with an old. All races aren't good friends here and you must very carefully take care yourself.
Creation myth
The Story of Ilmarine
by Neonaeon - an excerpt.
It is said, Ilmarine had taken a piece of fine steel, forged a rubber ball of it and, finally, streched it out all over the world. Then, filled with the fire, he took the shining stars and the silvery moon and fastened them to the Great Ball of Rubber. Finally, the Great Light was given to him by Uku and he hanged it on a strange mechanism, which turned whole the thing.
Then the two Angels were born - the almighty Aurora, all dressed in white and silver, and the Angel of darkness - Diablo. And the mighty Diablo was black-heartened and corrupted and he wished death to his brother - Aurora.
But Aurora didn't know anything about the case, because he was busy creating the living things on the earth. He took some clay and forged a creature of it. He called it Elf. Then, blinded by the beauty of his work he decided to make some more beings to comfort the Elf's lonelyness. Man, Dwarf, Halfling and many other beings were then settled on the earth.
… And of the dead bodies the ghosts arised - they were called Banshees because of their evil mind, and Fairies because they had arisen from the bodies of the affable white men.
Wizards and legends
The immortals and builders
Stonia was made by many hands. These are the names its own pages kept.
Main developers, as RalfII listed them
| Years | Known in Stonia as | Work |
|---|---|---|
| 1993–1999 | RalfII | The first implementor from 1993, coordinator from 1995 in everything: ideas, world building, programming, webmaster |
| 1994 | Xalzr | Recoding, debugging and external scripts |
| 1994–1995 | Kaur | External UNIX programs and scripts, consulting |
| 1994–1996 | Tsoome | Solaris support and debugging |
| 1994–1999 | Joka | Main implementor 1995-1998, coordinator from 1998 - everything except areas |
| 1994–1997 | Suller | Main area builder |
| 1994–1995 | Waim | Second main area builder |
| 1994 | Sauron | Area builder, a source of great ideas, consulting |
| 1994 | Krooks | Built the first Stonia web site |
| 1994–1995 | Aeon | Third main area builder |
| 1994 | Fred | Area builder |
| 1995–1996 | Pets | Second implementor |
| 1996–1999 | Segoy | Second implementor after Pets, first implementor after Joka |
| 1999– | Cody | Main area builder (retired) |
| 1999– | Saruman | Main ruler (retired) |
| 2000– | Karzumm | Main ruler (retired) |
| 2000– | Stok | Main ruler (retired) |
| 2000– | Seem | Second area builder (retired) |
| 2000– | Hiiler | New implementor (retired) |
| 2000– | Zarquon | New implementor (retired) |
| 2000–2010 | Finsoft | Builder (retired) |
| 2000– | Volur | New implementor and main contact |
| 2024– | Detoo | Debugging |
| 2024– | Fate | Main ruler |
| 2024– | Nazir | Questmaster |
RalfII's own closing line: "I'm sorry, if I missed some important developer, builder etc." - the same goes for this page.
From the old site
A word from the Surgeon General
Stonia's site always carried this warning. It has not become less true.
WARNING:
The Surgeon General has determined that Mudding can cause Cancer, Liver and Lung Disease, Miscarriages, Unwanted Pregnancies, Low Sperm Counts, Brain Tissue Damage, Muscular Dystrophy, Forgetfulness, Left-Leg Paralysis, Internal Hemorrhaging, Geekiness, Carbohydrates Deficiency, Negligence, Slow Motioness, Bureaucracy, Deforestation, Sexual Atrocities, Lack of Personality, Inflation, Heavy Machinery Malfunction, Anaphora, Plagiarism, Lying-to-Congress Disease, Gerrymandering, Incrimination, Schwa Deletion, Non-Confirmation Syndrome, Defenestration, Illiteracy, Sarcasm, Broccoli Overcooking, Frequent Defecation, Gossiping, Getting-Laid-on-the-First-Date Syndrome, Mass Extinction, Ozone Depletion, Global Warming, Gas Leaks, Hailstorms, Arms Race, Legs Race, Gender Confusion, Transexualism, Misunderstandings, Gibberish, Boredom, Nausea, Vomiting, Hyperbation, Hyperbole, Manuscript Loss, Anarchism, Liposuction, Unsuccessful Barbecuing, Gargling, BONKing, Mavisms, Talking-in-Third-Person Syndrome, Limosine Overcrowding, Elevator Stalling, Messianism, Low Scoring on Standardized Tests, PBS Pledging, PTA Joining, PTL Propaganda, S&L Bailouts, Deficit Spending, BL&T Indigestion, Armpit Enlargement, Proletarianization, Antidisestablismenterianism, Panic, Disillusionment, Asymmetrical Twins, Appointment Cancellation, Foreplay Disruption, Stuttering, Dogmatism, Bath Tub Clogging, Eviction, Infant Mortality, Cryptorchitis, Shistosomaisis, Nepotism, Baldness, Bad Spelling, Maximum Verbosity, and General Failure in Life.
So be careful out there - Profezzorn