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Nostromo's Doom and 3D Gaming Newsletter - Feb 1997   Issue #4

   -----=====>>>>> ***** HEADLINE ***** <<<<<=====-----
             Annoucing the Official Release of
                    FETALDM7 for DOOM2
                            &
            Con of the North Gaming Convention

Distribution

     Currently, this newletter is being posted on various 3D 
gaming related newsgroups, sent via E-Mail to the folks on the 
Newsletter subscription list and posted on The Nostromo BBS.  
If you received this newsletter via E-Mail and you do not wish
to receive it in the future or you did NOT get this newsletter 
via E-Mail and would like to, drop me a note and I'll add/remove 
your name to/from the list.  Back issues available by request.

Note: People who's gaming projects are featured in this
newletter receive an automatic subscription.

     This newsletter may be distributed freely by any medium
with the following restriction:  This letter may NOT be used,
whole or in part, in any capacity that generates monetary income.
This newsletter is free.

     This newsletter may also be viewed at the following official
locations: 

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/6893/

Subscribers = 83

Note:  Another official site that we *used* to have was

http://quake.lc-dept.depaul.edu/~JAB/news.htm

But JAB has some server problems and that page went down.
However, JAB is working on getting another site together and 
when he does, he'll be bringing you the newsletter in HTML
format so you can click and point your way through it.  Once
that site is up, I'll send the new URL to everyone on the
subscription list.
----------

Staff

Editor - Rich Johnston aka Nostromo
Contributing Writers - Jacob Bielanski aka JAB
                       Bill McClendon aka Crash
                       Robin Davis
Official Site Maintainers - Eric James Roberts aka Ricrob
                            Jacob Bielanski aka JAB
----------
                       
Editorial Diatribe

     I had a little time and a lot of great information to put
together for this issue and I think you'll agree that it's the
best issue yet.  Besides the usual columns, we have a couple of
new surprises for you in this issue.

     Jacob Bielanski has submitted his first of hopefully many
monthly installments.  This month, he gives us an insider's view
of an extensive Quake total conversion project.  It looks like
we're in for some real exciting stuff in the future world of
Quake.  Jacob is a graphics artist with the Quad Productions
Quake development team and makes a good web page, too.

     Bill McClendon will be bringing us his Top Ten Single
Player Quake levels.  Bill is the writer of the Unofficial
Wad Designers Hand Book for Doom and has worked on many other
gaming projects.  I've had the delight of playing some of his
stuff in STRAIN so I think he'd be a pretty good judge on what
makes a good Quake level.

     Robin Davis will also be bringing us some reading material
but....not in this issue.  It seems that he lives in a somewhat
chilly part of the world and he had a case of the "burst
pipe" syndrome, as he called it.  Being as it's a bit hard to
concentrate on writing an article when you're knee deep in
water, we'll look forward to hearing from him next month. Robin
is a self-described Games Maniac so I would imagine that we'll
be seeing a lot of game info from his direction. He's also
heavily into music collectibles and has a great web site for
all of your music needs at

http://www.adept.co.uk/hit-the-deck/

     Something else you'll find it this issue is information on
the Con of the North Gaming Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
You'll also hear about some problems that others seem to
be experiencing in Hexen....maybe you can help out...and a few
new projects have made themselves known in the Things To Come
section, and, of course, the release of FETALDM7 - Sins.  
Now...let me go feed my cats and I'll be right back...
----------

Contents

     1. The Official Release of FETALDM7 - SINS
     2. Con of the North Gaming Convention
     3. Does Hexen Have a Bug?
     4. Quake Aliens Total Conversion by Jacob Bielanski
     5. The Virtual World Tour - my monthly web site visitations
     6. Crash's Top Ten Single Player Quake Levels
           by Bill McClendon
     7. Things To Come - Upcoming 3D gaming projects
----------

1. The Official Release of FETALDM7 - SINS

     Anthony Czerwonka (aka Adelusion) has released his
multi-level deathmatch wad for Doom2.  I've taken a cruise
through this wad and it's quite remarkable.  All new graphics,
some killer music and some brilliant level designs make this a
"must have" deathmatch collectible.  It was also selected as
"Skywalker's WICKED WAD 'Pick of the Month'"

Where can you get it?  There's only one place and that would be
Adelusion's home page at:

http://members.aol.com/adelusion/adel.html
----------

2. Con of the North Gaming Convention

     I'd like to start this off with an apology.  I didn't catch
wind of this convention until it was too late to write it up as
an upcoming event....in fact, it's going on at the very moment of
this writing....but Richard Carlson, one of the events
organizers, was kind enough to send me some information on what's
going to be happening at the convention.  The following is a
transcript of a letter he sent me:

Con of the North Games Convention
At the Radisson Hotel in beautiful dtn. St. Paul, MN
Fri., Jan. 31 - Sunday, Feb. 2

This year, THE COMPUTER ROOM will be featuring the best selection
of coop & deathmatch games ever! Well over 75 game levels (from
some of the finest level and map authors on the planet) are ready
to play on our BIG net!

To those of you who made our list this year:

  Congratulations! And thanks! You made our job of
  selecting/playtesting levels soooooooo fun.  The DOOMERS are
  gonna love this stuff!

To those who didn't:

  Sorry! Even though your level was the coolest thing since
  UACDEAD, we probably passed on it because of our own obscure
  reasons. Don't take it personally...

So, here's the list:

HERETIC
 Fetals Asylum     Anthony Czerwonka
 Camelot           "Joe"
 Recant11          Dr. Sleep
 Hairy             Pat Smith

DOOM2
 99 Ways to Die         Warren Marshall
 Crossing Acheron &     
  Dante's Gate          Dr. Sleep
 Blackgate              Patrick Martin
 The Dusk               Michal Mesko
 Dystopia 3             Anthony Czerwonka
 Icarus & Grievance     Team TNT
 Dweller II             The Dweller in the Cellar

QUAKE
 "DCDM3"               Dario Casali
 "5DAYS"               Thomas Moeller
 The Wizard's Lair     Craig Redinger
 Dakyne                Mike Burbidge
 KandyBase             Marin Gazzari

Also featured:
 Boothill
 The Unholy Trinity for HERETIC
 Cleimos I & II
 Alien TC cooperative
 Ledges
 Big Red

And, by request:
 DESCENT and HEXEN levels

Hooray! WARCRAFT2 gets a slot!
So many puds, you'll never want to play again! (We hope.)

Check it out!
A Wad authoring clinic, featuring cool tools like Wad Author
and WinTex (and how to use them)!

And yes, we will be running MIDI MAZE again this year.

Con of the North
PO Box 18096
Minneapolis, MN 55418

   THE COMPUTER ROOM is a free event at the con.
   It's administrators are:
     Stephan Jerde, Karen Jerde, Jim Beecher,
     Brian Uhrig and Richard Carlson
   and can be reached via email:
     rcar...@citilink.com

 And to the wad authors out there:
 We decided a while back NOT to distribute your levels on site.
 We do, however, refer people to internet and bbs sites (or
 cdrom.com) where they can easily find the wad themselves, and a
 whole lot more! This year, Richard Carlson will be distributing
 a few levels at his clinic, like Dystopia 3 and his own 
 Mandor11/Chaosian and Black Crypt, 'cause he thinks they're fun
 (and Brian bought the floppies).

Thanx for the info, Rich.  Richard Carlson has also agreed to
send in a report about the events that took place at the
convention for next month's issue of the newsletter.  We'll be
looking forward to seeing it.  Good luck at the convention.
----------

3. Does Hexen Have a Bug?

     I received a note from Dave asking about a peculiar problem
with Hexen.  Please feel free to send any information you may
have in this area to nost...@sonic.net and I may post it in the
next newsletter.

Hexen DeathKings of the Dark Citadel
(Updated version - get the patch)

During COOP play, a buddy and I continue to get stuck after
completing about 1/4 or 1/3 of the first "HUB." We have about
6 Flame masks BUT!!!! we have no place to put them. If I go
into the SAVED GAME in single mode play (F1 instead of F10 on
DM.EXE) the Flame Mask recepticals are there.

The patch (noted above) fixes some minor bugs, but the problem
between the initial release and the patch are unchanged. I
still think that there is a bug; but, Raven only gives me some
stock answer that does NOT solve the problem.

I've checked out the GTI website ... and there seem to be
others that have experienced the SAME problem. So, okay, all
you Hexen gurus -- (HETH won't edit the hexdd.wad) -- help
me out.
----------

4.                    QUAKE ALIENS TOTAL CONVERSION
                                   by
                            _________________
                           |JAB, Alpha Geek. |
                           |_________________|            

     "The only purpose of a Release Date is not to stick to them
      and disappoint all the people who are waiting for your
      product"
                          -Torben Giesselmann, QATC

     Remember walking down those square hallways, holding your
shotgun at ready, listening to the ominous hiss of your enemies,
who lurked in the dark shadows, or in the air duct, or in the
lab ...or in your mind.

     I remember. I remember quite clearly. I kept hearing so
much hype about this total conversion, that I eventually went
to download it.  Even though it took me roughly the same time to
find, download, and install as it took for the Roman Empire to
fall, I still intently charged at the project.  Finally, when it
was set up, I got a bunch of errors. It still didn't stop me.
Why I didn't stop might puzzle you, but the hype, and the
association to the hit movie. Actually playing it was my big
payoff.

     But this is not some article about how cool the DOOM ATC,
or Aliens Total Conversion, was. It's about what the DOOM ATC
lacked, and about how a group of Quake freaks plans to
accomplish the mighty task that "is" a Total Conversion.

     Once on the web page of this "Dream Team", I looked for an
e-mail address with which to inquire about this project. A
simple "Send Feedback" button stood there which I stupidly missed
for about fifteen minutes. I finally e-mailed some simple
questions. Roughly a week later, I got an e-mail from Torben
Giesslemann, who is the one stuck with the job of doing all the
mail answering, in addition to doing monster modeling, QC,
sounds, little bit of level-making, and maintaining the
JAVA-enhanced web page. Makes me wonder if he has a job! Either
way, he seems to accomplish these tasks considerably well.

     The first thing he went into was the members of the group.

Carsten Schmidt - Their modeller, who appears to merely model the
weapons. I don't know if this is a tough job, but Torben seems to
do it in addition to all his other jobs, so I'd put Carsten to
work on about 900 weapons, or have him make the models using his
teeth!  However, that's just my opinion. Then we move along to...

Tracy Atkins - A fellow graphic artist. Torben tells me that he
has a great ability with video capturing equipment, and makes a
whole bunch of textures. If you ask me, just being able to AFFORD
video capturing equiptment is impressive enough!  We then get to
the man that sounds the coolest...

Carl Wellander - He's also a graphics artist, but he does his
stuff freehand. Thanks Carl, I thought I was alone in a world of
"non-freehand" artists. Anyway, Torben says he does the weapons
texturing, and also adds in that the results are amazing. Then we
finally get to...

Dave DeMonte - Who originally worked on the Predator TC. Good ol'
Dave has the fun job of making levels! He's also does the
tediously long process of VISing all the levels...because he is
ProcessorSpeed Advantaged.  However, there's nothing "advantaged"
about having to vis levels. If you don't know the experience,
try, say, downloading ALL OF WINDOWS 95(c) using a 9600 baud
modem. If you just said something like, "that'd take YEARS!!!
Are you nuts!", then you have the feeling.

     After that, Torben gives some optimistic news about what's
happening. Unfortunately, the closest thing resembling level
construction is, "...Dave is eagerly waiting to start with some
levels...", however, there's a lot happening with them
artistically. Carsten is working on the flamethrower which, if
he follows my rules, there should be 12-50 versions of it. Carl,
the guy I believe is the coolest, is texturing the shotgun and
pulse rifle, while Tracy is supplying Torben with pictures of
facehuggers. In the programming aspect of this project, Torben
is hacking away happily, and has also just completed a "script"
that will give the player assignments for each level. He's says
the script will also have a level that you must complete in a
certain time. He followed this statement with a wicked laugh.

     All I can say Torben, is that we'll all anticipate that
awesome level and will marvel once released, but what about the
future? You haven't mentioned that you're an actual GROUP, and
QATC seems to be your only project. I do know that QUAD
PRODUCTIONS (I do art for them) has contacted you and offered
to work with your people on one big project.

     However you guys end up (maybe by getting a job!), we hope
the QATC comes by the hopeful release date of "this summer".

If you are totally interested in my mad ramblings about this
awesome collection of insanely good quake editors, or you
just wanna see what the QATC will eventually look like, you may
visit them at:

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/5422/atcq.htm

I'm Jacob Bielanski, going on and on and on and on an-.........
biel...@centuryinter.net
----------

4. The Virtual World Tour - My monthly web site visitations

Ahayweh Gate
An extensive Descent site with a file archive, cheater's page,
links and more....plus a bit of music while you visit.  Check it
out at:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/2009/ahayweh.htm
----------

All That There Is by Brett Russell
A site featuring the extensive work of Brett Russell in regards 
to levels for Duke Nukem, Descent, and Doom.  There's also a pile
of Dukematch levels available.  Don't forget to see the
"Things That Suck" and "Things That Don't Suck" while you're 
there.  Check it out at:

http://www.infowire.net/brett/index.html
----------

Descent Weenie Tactics Site
A nice site providing all the information you need to know to 
play a good game of descent including Combat Maneuvers, how to
use the Smart Mine effectively, etc.  Check it out at:

http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~agiesler/descent.htm

...or if Quake is your game, stop by the Quake Weenie
Deathmatch Tactics Site for advice on fraging your buddies.
Check it out at:

http://www.msn.fullfeed.com/~agiesler/quake/
----------

Duke Nukem 3D Central
If you want anything Duke, this page has got it....the full
history, files, maps, enemies, weapons, you name it.  This site
has also received the Up 2 Day "Best of the Internet" award.
Check it out at:

http://users.alphainfo.com/livewire/duke3d.htm
----------

Enforcer's Page
A personal page discussion the history of Quake and 3D Gaming
in general.  Also an extensive section on the network style of
Capture the Flag for Quake.  Check it out at:

http://home1.inet.tele.dk/santas/
----------

Eternal Doom
Great website featuring the efforts of Team Eternal and all the
available information on their Doom2 project.  Good music, too.
More information on them in the "Things to Come" section.  
Check it out at:

http://www.doomed.co.uk/eternal.htm
----------

The Games Page
A personal page for Doom and Quake including a screen shot of the
final scene in Quake.  Check it out at:

http://www.ddnet.es/personales/moraga/games/indexen.html
----------

Genesis - Duke Nukem Map Help
This page features all you need to know to build your own Duke
Nukem games using BUILD.  Incredibly extensive information on all
aspects of Duke creating. Check it out at:

http://www.msen.com/~psteele/genesis/
----------

The Home Page of Gaston Lahaut
Personal site dedicated to Doom2.  Features tips and tools on 
editing and also has a page on Mordeth, a 6 level Doom2 wad
featuring new stuff including a new monster.  More on Mordeth in
the "Things to Come" section.  Check it out at:

http://www.warande.ruu.nl/~glahaut/
---------- 

Maximum Carnage
An extensive site "Designed to be the one-stop source for 
everything related to the hottest PC games on the market today."
This site has a myriad of information and several hundred megs
of files for several different games including Duke Nukem,
Diablo, Quake, Command & Conquer, and many others.  Check it
out at:

http://www.maximum-carnage.com/
----------

Mike Breeden's Web Site
Co-pick of the month! An extensive personal site featuring
pages on Mike's Punisher series for Doom2 and a great page on
Duke Nukem.  Plus, more links than you can shake a web browser
at...icluding some very strange links...all presented with
some great music. Check it out at:

http://www.cstone.net/%7Embreeden/
----------

The Official Descent Studio Web Site
The official web site for the program Descent Studio used to edit
many files for Descent and Descent 2. Check it out at:

http://www.toto.com/JeffFerguson/DStudio/
----------

The Power of Pain - Quake Clan
A clan web site that tells us "Opponents have been known to jump
into lava or drown instead of face one of us."  Hmmm...Check it
out at:

Http://members.aol.com/PATWOL/john.html
----------

PTCM Headquarters
The most extensive Descent page I've seen yet.  Stock full of
information.  They also promise to bring you the latest news
direct from Parallax Software and Interplay. Check it out at:

http://www.ladder.org/ptmc/
----------

Quake Shots!
This page is really nothing more than Quake screen shots...and
there are some good ones...including some 800x600 full screen
shots.  Surprisingly enough, they aren't big files, averaging
about 35k so they're easy to see.  Check it out at:

http://www.mindspring.com/~burth/quake.html
----------

Rick's Duke Nukem 3D Links!
A personal home page with some Duke Nukem related links.  Nice
music to listen to while you visit, too.  Like the spider, Rick.
Check it out at:

http://members.visi.net/~rwicker/duke.html
----------

Scary's Quakeholio
A rather interesting and humorous Quake site run by someone with
an obviously warped sense of humor.  Very entertaining...if
you're not easily offended.  Also has pages on maps, links, the
usual stuff.  The Moron Texts are outrageous.  Check it out at:

http://www.quakehole.com/
----------

School of Enlightenment Quake Clan
Co-pick of the month!  A extensive clan page featuring stories,
bio's, news, etc.  Extremely well organized and designed plus
you can listen to a little NIN while you're there.  Love the
logo.  Check it out at:

http://www.glue.umd.edu/~psoriac/
----------

The Source for Duke 3D
Very nice site featuring many resources, information and links
for Duke Nukem.  Includes a page containing downloadable maps
using a 5 star rating system and several pages on other games
such as Warcraft and Command & Conquer.  Check it out at:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/1774/
----------

Welcome to WiederWeb
This is a personal site featuring a page on several Dukematch
levels for Duke Nukem designed by Charlie Wiederhold and a page
of reviews of several Duke Nukem levels.  Check it out at:

http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/wieder/index.html
----------

6. Crash's Top Ten...er Eleven list of Quake Single Player
   Levels

Okay.  here you go:

1.  Village of Dread
2.  Underworld
3.  The Guardhouse
4.  Call a Plumber
5.  Suicide Staccato
6.  Devil's Decree
7.  Liquid Despair 2
8.  The Crucible
9.  Notlob's Residence
10. Armageddon 2
11. Place of Belonging

(I tried, but 11's as low as I could go.  I had 19 when I
started.  :)

All of these have received the TLKA, [that's the "This Level
Kicks Ass" award] so they can all be easily linked through

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/1481/quakelevels.htm

as all of the links are near the top of that page.  If you
want specific URLs for all of the above files, let me know
and I'll mail 'em to you [or visit the above page].
----------

7. Things to Come

     And here is what's new in the game development department.
If you have a current project that isn't being featured in
this newsletter, drop me a note and let me know about it.
Still haven't heard from any Descent groups.
----------

DOOM2 - Castle Heng
     James XIII sent me the beta version of episode 4 of the
Castle Heng series.  Pretty nice stuff from what I've seen so
far.  Here's what James had to say:

This [10-level] WAD has been designed by a friend of mine who
is in my team. I am alpha-tester, co-author and public relation
chief of the project. Anyway, this WAD is meant as the fourth
episode of the Castle Heng series. It is probably the best part
of it.
----------

DOOM2 - Eternal Doom
     Paul Schmitz, head of Team ETERNAL, sent in this information
on their current project...

A group of Compuserve DOOM fanatics banded together and formed 
Team ETERNAL.  Together we have produced a collection of 25 of
the best single-player levels available (IMHO of course ;) ).

Eternal DOOM is available right now.  It consists of 12 levels
and can be found in the DOOM2 levels section on ftp.cdrom.com.  
It's called ETERNAL.ZIP.  It is also available on the 
"official" Eternal DOOM WEB page:
 
http://www.doomed.co.uk/eternal.htm

Coming out [shortly] is Eternal DOOM II: The Way Back. This is
an additional 13 levels bringing the project up to 25 levels.
It will be available soon at ftp.cdrom.com as well as:

http://www.doomed.co.uk/eternal2.htm

I believe the file name is ETERNUPD.ZIP.  You will need both 
ZIPPED files to create the 25 level epiosde.  BTW, the new 
episode will also fix some bugs in the original release of 
Eternal DOOM.

(Later in the month, Paul sent me the following):

[We'll] most likely [make a third set].  Just depends on which 
team members want to stay on. ;) But I am working on a level 
for it right now.  I think we need 7 more to make a complete 
32 level set.  But I'll let you know.  

(Problem with ED2) - The problem is the install routine we chose
for the ED2 upgrade.  It's a self-extracting executable and 
ftp.cdrom.com won't archive those.  The lead programmer is 
reworking the package to conform to the site's rules.

Also, we are still going to do a limited release at first to
make sure all the bugs are fixed.  The entire package is just
shy of 8MB, so we want to make sure it's ready to go before
opening up to everyone.

I'll let you know when it's ready for release.
----------

DOOM2 - The Experiment (update)

     The Experiment is a set of 32 levels for Doom2.  We've
gathered level designers around the globe to unite and make
this WAD.

     We are dedicated to quality, not speed.  We'd rather have
an excellent TE come out in June rather than a really crappy
one come out next week.  All of the levels will be tested for
two-player co-operative, two-player DM, and, of course, single 
player.  Some of the levels will include seperate deathmatch
arenas, or areas that are blocked off specifically for
deathmatch.

     There is no "CEO" or bigshot in this kind of project- each
builder does an equal amount of levels(unless wanting to do
less). So you'll see 4 levels(or less) by each author.  This is
good, since if you loathe the person's designs, you only have
to live with them for 4 levels!  On the other hand,  if you love
the levels, well...

	Here are our members-
	Prower-  Co-ordinater, new tex-patches, levels 1, 17,
             21, 26
	Roger Moraga- Levels 2, 7, 25, 31
	Simon "Simonfeld" Russell-  Levels 5, 22
	Tim Sodergren- Levels 4, 6, 20, 30
	Gaston Lahaut- Levels 8-11
	Matt Olson- Levels 12, 13, 18, 27
	
     P.S- Wad designers, we need your help!  If you are a good
wad designer, mail me at mikep...@geocities.com and send me 4
level numbers besides the above, and a place where I can get
your previous work.  I'm going to be very picky with the last
two designers, so don't take it too personally if I reject you.

Prower
mikep...@geocities.com
----------

DOOM2 - Independence Day [ID4] (update)

     At the very last minute before publication, Andy Stine sent
me the following information on ID4:

I'll start with the obvious.  ID4DOOM has a new webpage at:

http://www.scss.demon.co.uk

Actually, this is a webpage for all of Functional Entropy, which
is the group making ID4DOOM.  We've got info on ID4DOOM, links,
rants, editing tips, etc, etc.  It's pretty cool.  We've got a
guy making some nice GFX for the page, and hopefully for the
actual game too.

And now for the conversion itself.  It's going pretty smoothly,
considering that we have around 4 level editors, and no real
GFX guys.  If you know anyone that's any good a textures or new
sprites, SEND THEM TO US!!!  We need the help.

Levels.  We've got 3 in the can (Maps 2, 3 and 30) for sure,
and quite a few more under way.  3 might not sound like very
many, but hey, we're going as fast as we can while still
preserving quality.  We're very optimistic about being able to
complete all levels by the due date -- hey, actually, we don't
have a due date yet.

EXE editing.  This will prove to be the boon of ID4DOOM.  We
have hacked DOOM until it's barely recognizable.  You will see
effects that you have never seen before.  We've got airlocks
that can decompress and turn you into space debris.  We've got
monsters that have the power to blind you.  We've got levels
where you fly.  Oh, and don't forget the giant raging fireball
that chases you down hallways.

This is sure to be one of the last DOOM TCs, and we're doing
everything in our power to make sure that it's one of the best.
It's definitely worth the wait.
----------

DOOM2 - Insertion (update)

     The Insertion team now has a web site for you to get the
latest on their current project.  Check it out at:

http://www.televar.com/~tolwyn/insrt.html
----------

DOOM2 - Mordeth

     While doing my web cruising for the month, I ran across a
Mr. Gaston Lahout who is currently designing a most impressive
6 level Doom2 TC called Mordeth.  Here's some details from his
web page:

At the moment, Mordeth (01/11/97) consists of the first Doom2
episode (six levels) with a lot of new graphics, monsters,
sprites, sounds and events. All levels are tested, RMB
optimized and checked for no save-game buffer overflows. It is
designed primarly for single-player games, but is also a lot
of fun in deathmatch. Optimal deathmatch pleasure with 3-4
players and with -nomonsters set. Some levels even have
"deathmatch only" sections, only passable when playing
deathmatch, and all of them contain extra items (like weapons)
to be picked up. Coop is implemented: starting points and
extra monsters present.

The theme setting is medieval/fortlike at first, but the last
three levels are located within the lost city of Babel. The
last level also features a new Boss monster: The Swamp Dragon!
You will also encounter new environments, like a real-looking
ancient city with gaslights and moving fog swarming over the
place, or a swamp filled with the eerie calls of wyverns fog
and rotting trees. It even contains semi-3D bridges: you can
walk over them and see below them at the same time. More of
these special effects in the levels now in the making.

Mordeth has been made with special attention to detail and
playability. You won't find monster-crammed "rooms", or a
cyberdemon behind the first door you open. You will find good
playability, with difficulty settings not only affecting
monster count, but also, eg different places to look for keys,
or needing extra keys in order to exit. Every level can be
completed without having to find any secret room. Some secrets
aid you by giving you more ammo or weapons, some only give you
more monsters. Mostly, it's a combination of these two. You
won't find rooms consisting of just one simple sector, with the
same texture all over the place. You will see that Mordeth is
made with care for detail. A city looks like a city, a swamp
looks like a swamp. The new monsters are not blocky blokes, but
very beautifull rendered pictures.

     This is just an excerpt of his project from his web page.
Drop by his page for many more details on Mordeth.  Gaston has
told me that he should be releasing Mordeth any day now so 
look for it.  He also mentioned that he's planning on extending
Mordeth into more levels and he may need help in level 
construction so stay tuned for future developments.

     You can stop by Gaston's page at

http://www.warande.ruu.nl/~glahaut/
----------

DOOM2 - Requiem (update)

     This note from Adelusion

Project: REQUIEM
Aporx. Due Date + / - : March 1st.
Status: 4 Levels Yet Undone, Play-Testing, Misc.

 The Project is going nicely, and several of the Authors have
been checking out some of the other levels, and many are just
simply amazed on what Quality we have accomplished over the
last 6 Months. They are in awe of the detailing, and effects
that have put into these levels.... far beyond anything that
they have seen, and\or played. Many Surprizes are contained
within REQUIEM.... More Special Effects that have never been
done before, a Special 'QUAKE"-like Level that you will have
to see for yourself!  This project went beyond, and twisted
the DOOM Engine farther than id could imagine!  Textures, are
outstanding... Levels are unbelievable... and an Original
Music Score that will make you Blast your Speakers...
----------

DOOM2 - S*T*R*A*I*N (update)

     Playtesting continues and the bugs are still being worked
out.  After finishing my 2 levels for the cause, I was finally 
able to get involved with the playtesting process.  It's the
first time I've had a chance to really get a close look.  It's
amazing stuff.  The quality of the work is superb...even in
it's unfinished, unpolished state.  My only regret is that I'm
playtesting it instead of playing it as a finished game.

     Estimated time of arrival - 1 to 2 months - although we've
said that before.  But don't worry....this'll definately be
worth the wait.  I guarantee it!
----------

DUKE NUKEM - (no name...yet)

     Scott Meadows posted this info on a major Duke Nukem 
creation he's working on and is asking for help:

I am making my own version of duke 3D via new graphics, sounds,
gameplay, etc.  I'm looking for new levels a.k.a. maps.
Preferrably good city ones or terrain ones.  My episode
involves human bad guys and realistic weapons that sound and
act like the real thing.  

I'm looking for HIGH QUALITY maps involving as much
interactivity and realism with the level as possible!

(I asked Scott if he'd like to provide some more information
for the newsletter and he sent me this):

     Be aware: you're gonna need a lot of disk space to hold all
the new *.con, *.wav, *.mid, and *.art files.  So far I've made
plenty of modifications in the *.con files for better gameplay,
made new *.wav files, and some new *.art files.  There's still
plenty of work to be done including: new music, new graphics,
some new sounds, and some more work with the *.con files.

When I started to make this patch about 6 mos. ago, I wanted it
to be as accurate as possible.  So, I have spent many hours
researching.  I have also tried to make the weapons sound as
realistic as possible.  Each weapon has different purposes,
ranges, strengths, and magazine capacity.

Here is an idea of weapons I plan to add:

1   Beretta 92F, MAC-10, UZI, TECH-9, or SAF
2   Rhino shotgun
3   HK MP-5, HK 33E, or AUG 
4   Missile Launcher housing SAMs
5   Modified Hand Grenade
6   ???
7   ???
8   Bazooka
9   ???
10  Laser Tripbomb 

    The enemies will be TOUGHER, SMARTER, HUMAN threats.
Right now I don't know what they will look like.  I plan to
make my own cutscenes and new music. I haven't decided what
the storyline will be, or what the game will be called.  I
still have plenty of work to do,  but I expect to have at
least a Beta Version by the latest, May 97.  Its hard to find
time to work on Duke Nukem being 15 and going to school.
----------

QUAKE - The Dark Cathedral (update)

JAB sent me this quickie on his project.

Quad productions has gained a new level designer....Adam
Williamson. He worked on map06 of momento mori for doom][.
That's all the big news on QP.
----------

Other projects currently in development:

     DOOM2 - Beyond Doom: The Apocalypse
     DOOM2 - Night of the Living Dead
     DOOM2 - Nostromo's Run
     DUKE NUKEM - (no name) from Atticus
----------

     That about covers it till next month.  Now go kill
something.  <grin>

nost...@sonic.net

Nost...@sonic.net
-----------------
Member of the Alpha Dog Alliance
Makers of S * T * R * A * I * N
and other fine Doom Wads
Editor of the Doom and 3D Gaming Newsletter
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/6893/
Head of the Nostromo's Run Project
http://people.delphi.com/~ron1701/nostromo.htm
---------------------------------
Give me a ring on Powwow....I might be around.
or call The Nostromo BBS  (707) 838-6833