Getting Started

This will help you download, install and start Evennia for the first time.

Note: You don’t need to make anything visible to the ‘net in order to run and test out Evennia. Apart from downloading and updating you don’t even need an internet connection until you feel ready to share your game with the world.

Quick Start

For the impatient. If you have trouble with a step, you should jump on to the more detailed instructions for your platform.

  1. Install Python, GIT and python-virtualenv. Start a Console/Terminal.

  2. cd to some place you want to do your development (like a folder /home/anna/muddev/ on Linux or a folder in your personal user directory on Windows).

  3. git clone https://github.com/evennia/evennia.git

  4. virtualenv evenv

  5. source evenv/bin/activate (Linux, Mac), evenv\Scripts\activate (Windows)

  6. pip install -e evennia

  7. evennia --init mygame

  8. cd mygame

  9. evennia migrate

  10. evennia start (make sure to make a superuser when asked) Evennia should now be running and you can connect to it by pointing a web browser to http://localhost:4001 or a MUD telnet client to localhost:4000 (use 127.0.0.1 if your OS does not recognize localhost).

We also release Docker images based on master and develop branches.

Requirements

Any system that supports Python3.7+ should work. We’ll describe how to install everything in the following sections.

  • Linux/Unix

  • Windows (Vista, Win7, Win8, Win10)

  • Mac OSX (>=10.5 recommended)

  • Python (v3.7, 3.8 or 3.9)

    • virtualenv for making isolated Python environments. Installed with pip install virtualenv.

  • GIT - version control software for getting and updating Evennia itself - Mac users can use the git-osx-installer or the MacPorts version.

  • Twisted (v21.0+)

    • ZopeInterface (v3.0+) - usually included in Twisted packages

    • Linux/Mac users may need the gcc and python-dev packages or equivalent.

    • Windows users need MS Visual C++ and maybe pypiwin32.

  • Django (v3.2.x), be warned that latest dev version is usually untested with Evennia)

Linux Install

If you run into any issues during the installation and first start, please check out Linux Troubleshooting.

For Debian-derived systems (like Ubuntu, Mint etc), start a terminal and install the dependencies:

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-dev python3-setuptools python3-git
python3-virtualenv gcc

# If you are using an Ubuntu version that defaults to Python3, like 18.04+, use this instead:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install python3.7 python3-pip python3.7-dev python3-setuptools virtualenv gcc

Note that, the default Python version for your distribution may still not be Python3.7 after this. This is ok - we’ll specify exactly which Python to use later. You should make sure to not be root after this step, running as root is a security risk. Now create a folder where you want to do all your Evennia development:

mkdir muddev
cd muddev

Next we fetch Evennia itself:

git clone https://github.com/evennia/evennia.git

A new folder evennia will appear containing the Evennia library. This only contains the source code though, it is not installed yet. To isolate the Evennia install and its dependencies from the rest of the system, it is good Python practice to install into a virtualenv. If you are unsure about what a virtualenv is and why it’s useful, see the Glossary entry on virtualenv.

Run python -V to see which version of Python your system defaults to.

# If your Linux defaults to Python3.7+:
virtualenv evenv

# If your Linux defaults to Python2 or an older version
# of Python3, you must instead point to Python3.7+ explicitly:
virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3.7 evenv

A new folder evenv will appear (we could have called it anything). This folder will hold a self-contained setup of Python packages without interfering with default Python packages on your system (or the Linux distro lagging behind on Python package versions). It will also always use the right version of Python. Activate the virtualenv:

source evenv/bin/activate

The text (evenv) should appear next to your prompt to show that the virtual environment is active.

Remember that you need to activate the virtualenv like this every time you start a new terminal to get access to the Python packages (notably the important evennia program) we are about to install.

Next, install Evennia into your active virtualenv. Make sure you are standing at the top of your mud directory tree (so you see the evennia/ and evenv/ folders) and run

pip install -e evennia

For more info about pip, see the Glossary entry on pip. If install failed with any issues, see Linux Troubleshooting.

Next we’ll start our new game, here called “mygame”. This will create yet another new folder where you will be creating your new game:

evennia --init mygame

Your final folder structure should look like this:

./muddev
    evenv/
    evennia/
    mygame/

You can configure Evennia extensively, for example to use a different database. For now we’ll just stick to the defaults though.

cd mygame
evennia migrate      # (this creates the database)
evennia start        # (create a superuser when asked. Email is optional.)

Server logs are found in mygame/server/logs/. To easily view server logs live in the terminal, use evennia -l (exit the log-view with Ctrl-C).

Your game should now be running! Open a web browser at http://localhost:4001 or point a telnet client to localhost:4000 and log in with the user you created. Check out where to go next.

Mac Install

The Evennia server is a terminal program. Open the terminal e.g. from Applications->Utilities->Terminal. Here is an introduction to the Mac terminal if you are unsure how it works. If you run into any issues during the installation, please check out Mac Troubleshooting.

  • Python should already be installed but you must make sure it’s a high enough version. (This discusses how you may upgrade it). Remember that you need Python3.7, not Python2.7!

  • GIT can be obtained with git-osx-installer or via MacPorts as described here.

  • If you run into issues with installing Twisted later you may need to install gcc and the Python headers.

After this point you should not need sudo or any higher privileges to install anything.

Now create a folder where you want to do all your Evennia development:

mkdir muddev
cd muddev

Next we fetch Evennia itself:

git clone https://github.com/evennia/evennia.git

A new folder evennia will appear containing the Evennia library. This only contains the source code though, it is not installed yet. To isolate the Evennia install and its dependencies from the rest of the system, it is good Python practice to install into a virtualenv. If you are unsure about what a virtualenv is and why it’s useful, see the Glossary entry on virtualenv.

Run python -V to check which Python your system defaults to.

# If your Mac defaults to Python3:
virtualenv evenv

# If your Mac defaults to Python2 you need to specify the Python3.7 binary explicitly:
virtualenv -p /path/to/your/python3.7 evenv

A new folder evenv will appear (we could have called it anything). This folder will hold a self-contained setup of Python packages without interfering with default Python packages on your system. Activate the virtualenv:

source evenv/bin/activate

The text (evenv) should appear next to your prompt to show the virtual environment is active.

Remember that you need to activate the virtualenv like this every time you start a new terminal to get access to the Python packages (notably the important evennia program) we are about to install.

Next, install Evennia into your active virtualenv. Make sure you are standing at the top of your mud directory tree (so you see the evennia/ and evenv/ folders) and run

pip install --upgrade pip   # Old pip versions may be an issue on Mac.
pip install --upgrade setuptools   # Ditto concerning Mac issues.
pip install -e evennia

For more info about pip, see the Glossary entry on pip. If install failed with any issues, see Mac Troubleshooting.

Next we’ll start our new game. We’ll call it “mygame” here. This creates a new folder where you will be creating your new game:

evennia --init mygame

Your final folder structure should look like this:

./muddev
    evenv/
    evennia/
    mygame/

You can configure Evennia extensively, for example to use a different database. We’ll go with the defaults here.

cd mygame
evennia migrate  # (this creates the database)
evennia start    # (create a superuser when asked. Email is optional.)

Server logs are found in mygame/server/logs/. To easily view server logs live in the terminal, use evennia -l (exit the log-view with Ctrl-C).

Your game should now be running! Open a web browser at http://localhost:4001 or point a telnet client to localhost:4000 and log in with the user you created. Check out where to go next.

Windows Install

If you run into any issues during the installation, please check out Windows Troubleshooting.

If you are running Windows10, consider using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) instead. You should then follow the Linux install instructions above.

The Evennia server itself is a command line program. In the Windows launch menu, start All Programs -> Accessories -> command prompt and you will get the Windows command line interface. Here is one of many tutorials on using the Windows command line if you are unfamiliar with it.

  • Install Python from the Python homepage. You will need to be a Windows Administrator to install packages. You want Python version 3.7.0 (latest verified version), usually the 64-bit version (although it doesn’t matter too much). When installing, make sure to check-mark all install options, especially the one about making Python available on the path (you may have to scroll to see it). This allows you to just write python in any console without first finding where the python program actually sits on your hard drive.

  • You need to also get GIT and install it. You can use the default install options but when you get asked to “Adjust your PATH environment”, you should select the second option “Use Git from the Windows Command Prompt”, which gives you more freedom as to where you can use the program.

  • Finally you must install the Microsoft Visual C++ compiler for Python. Download and run the linked installer and install the C++ tools. Keep all the defaults. Allow the install of the “Win10 SDK”, even if you are on Win7 (not tested on older Windows versions). If you later have issues with installing Evennia due to a failure to build the “Twisted wheels”, this is where you are missing things.

  • You may need the pypiwin32 Python headers. Install these only if you have issues.

You can install Evennia wherever you want. cd to that location and create a new folder for all your Evennia development (let’s call it muddev).

mkdir muddev
cd muddev

Hint: If cd isn’t working you can use pushd instead to force the directory change.

Next we fetch Evennia itself:

git clone https://github.com/evennia/evennia.git

A new folder evennia will appear containing the Evennia library. This only contains the source code though, it is not installed yet. To isolate the Evennia install and its dependencies from the rest of the system, it is good Python practice to install into a virtualenv. If you are unsure about what a virtualenv is and why it’s useful, see the Glossary entry on virtualenv.

In your console, try python -V to see which version of Python your system defaults to.

pip install virtualenv

# If your setup defaults to Python3.7:
virtualenv evenv

# If your setup defaults to Python2, specify path to python3.exe explicitly:
virtualenv -p C:\Python37\python.exe evenv

# If you get an infinite spooling response, press CTRL + C to interrupt and try using:
python -m venv evenv

A new folder evenv will appear (we could have called it anything). This folder will hold a self-contained setup of Python packages without interfering with default Python packages on your system. Activate the virtualenv:

# If you are using a standard command prompt, you can use the following:
evenv\scripts\activate.bat

# If you are using a PS Shell, Git Bash, or other, you can use the following:
.\evenv\scripts\activate

The text (evenv) should appear next to your prompt to show the virtual environment is active.

Remember that you need to activate the virtualenv like this every time you start a new console window if you want to get access to the Python packages (notably the important evennia program) we are about to install.

Next, install Evennia into your active virtualenv. Make sure you are standing at the top of your mud directory tree (so you see the evennia and evenv folders when you use the dir command) and run

pip install -e evennia

For more info about pip, see the Glossary entry on pip. If the install failed with any issues, see [Windows Troubleshooting](./Getting-Started.md#windows- troubleshooting). Next we’ll start our new game, we’ll call it “mygame” here. This creates a new folder where you will be creating your new game:

evennia --init mygame

Your final folder structure should look like this:

path\to\muddev
    evenv\
    evennia\
    mygame\

You can configure Evennia extensively, for example to use a different database. We’ll go with the defaults here.

cd mygame
evennia migrate    # (this creates the database)
evennia start      # (create a superuser when asked. Email is optional.)

Server logs are found in mygame/server/logs/. To easily view server logs live in the terminal, use evennia -l (exit the log-view with Ctrl-C).

Your game should now be running! Open a web browser at http://localhost:4001 or point a telnet client to localhost:4000 and log in with the user you created. Check out where to go next.

Where to Go Next

Welcome to Evennia! Your new game is fully functioning, but empty. If you just logged in, stand in the Limbo room and run

@batchcommand tutorial_world.build

to build Evennia’s tutorial world - it’s a small solo quest to explore. Only run the instructed @batchcommand once. You’ll get a lot of text scrolling by as the tutorial is built. Once done, the tutorial exit will have appeared out of Limbo - just write tutorial to enter it.

Once you get back to Limbo from the tutorial (if you get stuck in the tutorial quest you can do @tel #2 to jump to Limbo), a good idea is to learn how to [start, stop and reload](Start-Stop- Reload) the Evennia server. You may also want to familiarize yourself with some commonly used terms in our Glossary. After that, why not experiment with creating some new items and build some new rooms out from Limbo.

From here on, you could move on to do one of our introductory tutorials or simply dive headlong into Evennia’s comprehensive manual. While Evennia has no major game systems out of the box, we do supply a range of optional contribs that you can use or borrow from. They range from dice rolling and alternative color schemes to barter and combat systems. You can find the growing list of contribs here.

If you have any questions, you can always ask in the developer chat #evennia on irc.freenode.net or by posting to the Evennia forums. You can also join the Discord Server.

Finally, if you are itching to help out or support Evennia (awesome!) have an issue to report or a feature to request, see here.

Enjoy your stay!

Troubleshooting

If you have issues with installing or starting Evennia for the first time, check the section for your operating system below. If you have an issue not covered here, please report it so it can be fixed or a workaround found!

Remember, the server logs are in mygame/server/logs/. To easily view server logs in the terminal, you can run evennia -l, or (in the future) start the server with evennia start -l.

Linux Troubleshooting

  • If you get an error when installing Evennia (especially with lines mentioning failing to include Python.h) then try sudo apt-get install python3-setuptools python3-dev. Once installed, run pip install -e evennia again.

  • Under some not-updated Linux distributions you may run into errors with a too-old setuptools or missing functools. If so, update your environment with pip install --upgrade pip wheel setuptools. Then try pip install -e evennia again.

  • If you get an setup.py not found error message while trying to pip install, make sure you are in the right directory. You should be at the same level of the evenv directory, and the evennia git repository. Note that there is an evennia directory inside of the repository too.

  • One user reported a rare issue on Ubuntu 16 is an install error on installing Twisted; Command "python setup.py egg_info" failed with error code 1 in /tmp/pip-build-vnIFTg/twisted/ with errors like distutils.errors.DistutilsError: Could not find suitable distribution for Requirement.parse('incremental>=16.10.1'). This appears possible to solve by simply updating Ubuntu with sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade.

  • Users of Fedora (notably Fedora 24) has reported a gcc error saying the directory /usr/lib/rpm/redhat/redhat-hardened-cc1 is missing, despite gcc itself being installed. The confirmed work-around seems to be to install the redhat-rpm-config package with e.g. sudo dnf install redhat-rpm-config.

  • Some users trying to set up a virtualenv on an NTFS filesystem find that it fails due to issues with symlinks not being supported. Answer is to not use NTFS (seriously, why would you do that to yourself?)

Mac Troubleshooting

  • Mac users have reported a critical MemoryError when trying to start Evennia on Mac with a Python version below 2.7.12. If you get this error, update to the latest XCode and Python2 version.

  • Some Mac users have reported not being able to connect to localhost (i.e. your own computer). If so, try to connect to 127.0.0.1 instead, which is the same thing. Use port 4000 from mud clients and port 4001 from the web browser as usual.

Windows Troubleshooting

  • If you installed Python but the python command is not available (even in a new console), then you might have missed installing Python on the path. In the Windows Python installer you get a list of options for what to install. Most or all options are pre-checked except this one, and you may even have to scroll down to see it. Reinstall Python and make sure it’s checked.

  • If your MUD client cannot connect to localhost:4000, try the equivalent 127.0.0.1:4000 instead. Some MUD clients on Windows does not appear to understand the alias localhost.

  • If you run virtualenv evenv and get a 'virtualenv' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. error, you can mkdir evenv, cd evenv and then python -m virtualenv . as a workaround.

  • Some Windows users get an error installing the Twisted ‘wheel’. A wheel is a pre-compiled binary package for Python. A common reason for this error is that you are using a 32-bit version of Python, but Twisted has not yet uploaded the latest 32-bit wheel. Easiest way to fix this is to install a slightly older Twisted version. So if, say, version 18.1 failed, install 18.0 manually with pip install twisted==18.0. Alternatively you could try to get a 64-bit version of Python (uninstall the 32bit one). If so, you must then deactivate the virtualenv, delete the evenv folder and recreate it anew (it will then use the new Python executable).

  • If your server won’t start, with no error messages (and no log files at all when starting from scratch), try to start with evennia ipstart instead. If you then see an error about system cannot find the path specified, it may be that the file evennia/evennia/server/twistd.bat has the wrong path to the twistd executable. This file is auto-generated, so try to delete it and then run evennia start to rebuild it and see if it works. If it still doesn’t work you need to open it in a text editor like Notepad. It’s just one line containing the path to the twistd.exe executable as determined by Evennia. If you installed Twisted in a non-standard location this might be wrong and you should update the line to the real location.

  • Some users have reported issues with Windows WSL and anti-virus software during Evennia development. Timeout errors and the inability to run evennia connections may be due to your anti- virus software interfering. Try disabling or changing your anti-virus software settings.