MUSHclient checklist for MUDs

Ensure MUSHclient is installed in a directory where the user has write access (e.g., C:\MUSHclient) to prevent failures when saving world files or variables, especially on modern Windows versions.

If running on Linux or macOS, verify that the 'mfc42.dll' and 'msvcrt.dll' overrides are correctly configured in Wine to prevent UI crashes.

Confirm that the world's 16 standard ANSI colors are mapped correctly to match the MUD's expected theme to ensure UI readability.

Test the output window font at high DPI settings and ensure fixed-width fonts (like Consolas or Lucida Console) are used to maintain ASCII map alignment.

Enable automatic logging and configure a file naming convention (e.g., %Y-%m-%d.log) to prevent single log files from growing to unmanageable sizes.

Ensure all scripts are compatible with Lua 5.1, as this is the version embedded in MUSHclient, avoiding 5.2+ syntax like 'goto' or changed libraries.

Verify that world-specific logic is stored in an external .lua file rather than embedded in the .mcl file to facilitate version control and external editing.

Implement a custom error handler using 'pcall' or 'xpcall' in critical script blocks to prevent the client from silently failing during combat or automated tasks.

Explicitly set 'package.path' at the start of the global script to include the /scripts or /modules directory for reliable library loading.

Verify that critical script state is stored using 'SetVariable' and 'GetVariable' so data persists across client restarts and world reloads.

Ensure every custom plugin has a unique 24-character hexadecimal ID to prevent internal conflicts within the MUSHclient plugin engine.

Verify that 'OnPluginInstall' correctly initializes miniwindows, variables, and timers when the plugin is first loaded or reloaded.

Document and check for the presence of required plugins using 'IsPluginInstalled' before attempting to call their exported functions.

Confirm that the .xml plugin file is saved with UTF-8 encoding without BOM to prevent parsing errors on load.

Implement 'OnPluginClose' to delete miniwindows and stop timers to prevent memory leaks and orphaned UI elements.

Review all triggers for catastrophic backtracking risks; use anchors (^ and $) where possible to limit the search space per line.

Organize triggers by frequency of occurrence and use 'match_attempted' or 'omit_from_output' flags to reduce processing overhead on high-traffic lines.

Verify that aliases do not call themselves or each other in an infinite loop; set maximum recursion limits if necessary.

Test multi-line triggers against varied network lag scenarios to ensure they correctly capture data across packet fragments.

Apply 'OmitFromLog' to high-frequency triggers (like prompt updates) to keep log files clean and reduce disk I/O.

Ensure miniwindow redraw functions are throttled using a timer or only fire when data changes to prevent UI flickering and high CPU usage.

Assign explicit Z-order values to all miniwindows to ensure critical UI elements (like health bars) are not obscured by background elements.

Verify that 'WindowDeleteHotspot' is called before creating new hotspots to prevent the hotspot table from bloating over time.

Confirm that custom chat windows or status panes correctly handle word-wrapping for long strings to prevent text truncation.

Verify that the plugin checks for the existence of required fonts using 'WindowFontInfo' and falls back to 'Arial' or 'Courier' if missing.

Enable TCP keepalives in the world configuration to prevent firewalls from dropping idle connections during periods of inactivity.

Ensure Mud Client Compression Protocol (MCCP) is enabled to reduce bandwidth usage, especially for users on limited or high-latency connections.

Verify that the world encoding (e.g., UTF-8 or ISO-8859-1) matches the MUD server's output to prevent garbled extended ASCII characters.

Confirm the command stack size and input buffer are large enough to handle complex macros or pasted script blocks without truncation.

Test connectivity through a proxy if required by the deployment environment to ensure the client respects system-level network rules.