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Nostromo's Doom and 3D Gaming Newsletter - Mar 1997   Issue #5

        -----=====>>>>> ***** HEADLINE ***** <<<<<=====-----
                                  THREE NEW RELEASES
                    Castle Heng - Eternal Doom II - Mordeth

Distribution

     Currently, this newletter is being posted on various 3D 
gaming related newsgroups and sent via E-Mail to the folks on the 
Newsletter subscription list.  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.  People who's gaming projects are featured in this
newletter receive an automatic subscription.

This newsletter also has 3 official web sites and can be viewed at:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/3406/  (html)
http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/6893/  (text)
http://quake.upit-sac.depaul.edu/~jab/gamenews.htm  (html)

Note: the "html" pages may not appear for the first few days of
distribution.  HTMLizing them takes some time so please be
patient.
 
Subscribers = 95
---------------------------------------

Staff

Editor - Rich Johnston aka Nostromo
Contributing Writers - Jacob Bielanski aka JAB
                       Bill McClendon aka Crash
                       Robin Davis
                       Glenn Few aka Ice
Official Site Maintainers - Eric James Roberts aka Ricrob
                            Jacob Bielanski aka JAB
                            Epicenter
Usenet Roving Reporter - Eric James Roberts aka Ricrob
---------------------------------------

Editorial Diatribe

     Here we are at issue #5 and things are cookin'!  The newsletter
is
becoming all I hoped it would be and then some.  However,  it could be
even better.  I thought I'd take a moment here to talk about where I'd
like to see this letter go from here.  My intention was not just to
bring
you a letter with information and entertainment but to also be a
central
forum for the 3D Gaming Community.  Almost the entire contents of each
of
these issues have consisted of contributions from the gaming
community.
This has been great! ...and it's exactly what I started it
for...but...

     Although many people in the Doom and Quake communitites have
embraced
the letter and it's purpose, it's really seen very little from the
Duke Nukem
community and hardly a thing from the Descent community....not to
mention
all the other action games out there.  So....SPEAK UP!  To paraphrase
Mr. Kennedy - "Ask not what this newsletter can do for you -- ask what
you
can do for this newsletter."   This is your forum, guys!  Tell us
about
your projects, your clans, your comments, your stories, your web
sites...
tell us anything!  We'll be glad to throw it in.  That's what it's
here for.
Let's have it!!

     Ok....let me put away my soapbox now and catch my breath...phew!

     What we have here is a mighty fine issue.  I'd like to start
telling
you about it by mentioning our newest regular contributor - Glenn Few.
He's bringing us an original Doom story - "Demon Repentant" - with a
new
episode for each issue.  ...and you thought we just brought you the
news.
Looking forward to seeing the monthly installments come in on this
one.

     Robin Davis dropped off an article on Hexen and some of his
all-time
favorite Hexen levels in "Hexen - The Continuing Quest".  JAB sent in
his
personal comments on Quake Clans....like it or not...called "Quake
Clans:
What is this World Coming To".  We've also received a report from
Richard
Carlson telling us all about what took place at the Con of the North
Gaming Convention.  Hey, even I took the time to write an article 
called "Circuitous Loquacity".

     But the big event in this issue is the announcement of not 1, not
2,
but 3 news releases for Doom2!!  So...what are you waiting for.  Grab
that
mouse and click on that little scroll bar on the right hand side of
your
screen to drop it down a page.    .....I'm waiting.
---------------------------------------

Contents

     1. Noises From the Masses - E-mail/Usenet writings
     2. New Releases - Eternal Doom II, Mordeth Pt. 1, Castle Heng
     3. Quake Clans: What is this World Coming To - by JAB
     4. The Virtual World Tour - My monthly web site visitations
     5. Hexen - The Continuing Quest - by Robin Davis
     6. Con of the North: Activities in The Computer Room - report
from
            Richard Carlson
     7. Circuitous Loquacity - Vol. 1 - by nostromo
     8. Demon Repentant Pt. 1 - by Ice
     9. Things to Come - Gaming Project Updates   
---------------------------------------

1. Noises From the Masses
     
     The following are various E-mail and Usenet rantings and ravings.
My thanks goes to Ricrob for hanging out in Usenet and passing along a
few
choice postings that I'd normally miss....I don't get out much.
----------

	The level designer in our group has created 5 levels for
Quake that are simply incredible.  The first 4 are already on the net.
They are Fragtwn1 through Fragtwn4, and can be downloaded from
ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/
The 5th map (and my personal favorite) is I believe Frag Castle
(fragcast.bsp), but he is still not done with it.  These are a little
different than most quake levels, in that you fight in a town,
including
jumping from roof top to roof top, and firing down on your buddies
way down below you!  For those of you that like to lurk in dark
corners, (like me) there are some good sniper positions (though
people generally learn them quickly, and fire a rocket into them just
for safety :-)  If you like Quake Deathmatch, these are THE levels
for you! 
	Kevin Rank
               kr...@rmci.net	
               Idaho Death Squad Clan
----------

Hi,
I saw your newsletter, and I noticed that you mentioned a Quake
level named "Dakyne", cool, I built it, glad to see that everyone is
enjoying it.  thats what I made it for !
                                     mike  mike...@pacbell.net

Nosty Notes:  Looks like it got a mention in this issue also.  It was
apparently a hit at the Con of the North.
----------

Well, I have been playing Quake for a while now... stand-alone, over a
LAN, over the Internet. I made some Quake-levels, attended 'capture
the
flag', fiddled with QuakeC...
 
But still...
 
Every time I start up good ol' Doom I notice how much more FUN it is.
The
monsters are just right. The graphics and levels are very appealing in
their relative simpleness. As soon as I start up Doom, I get that
feeling
of being haunted... "they're after me!". When I see the sergeants
grouping
up on me, I get that grim feeling of "KILL 'EM ALL".  NONE of this
ever
happens in Quake. 
 
Deathmatching in Quake very much is a matter of "KABOOM KABOOM KABOOM"
all the time. I never had those long hunts or intensive duels like in
Doom. Especially over the Internet everybody appears to just blast
away
with no real tactic whatsoever. Maybe it's due to the latency, which
hinders movement quite a bit. Maybe more than 4 players is not such a
good
idea after all. I don't know really...

So I keep persisting in the opinion that DOOM is still the best
first-person game ever. Is anyone with me in that respect?

Greetz, RS  ric...@highrise.nl
----------

      For a while I'd suffered from an addiction, which I believe is
common among those of us that have bought a computer in the past few
years.  I played Doom way too much. Of course, it did get boring after
a
while, since I have slower computer--a *Packard Bell* 486DX2/50;
"Packard Bell" means that it actually runs slower than a 486DX/50--so
I
was not able to enjoy many of the PWADS or Doom II.

      Anyway, during this time period I had many disturbing
"Doom-dreams"

For example, in some dreams I was "inside" the game, but in others the
creatures from the game were, although still computer graphics,
running/flying around in the "real world."

      I've only had one dream that was really frightening in any way:
I
had found a way to mentally control the game, which somehow involved
the use of a Commodore 64. The game was played as normal but took
place
in the external world. The monsters would fly around the house and I
would
shoot them--I only had to picture, say, the shotgun, for example, in
order
to have it appear in my hands. But the game got a little too real, and
I
had to lock the door of my brother's room to prevent an angry
"cacodemon"
from entering.

      I also had a dream where I sawed off my dog's head with the
chainsaw.

      I have talked to others that have played Doom frequently, and
they 
report having had similar dreams. I can only wonder why this is. A
simple
explanation is that if you do anything for long periods of time you're
bound to have dreams about it, but I've never had dreams in which I
was
simply playing the game. No, I enter a strange dimension, a twisted
combination of video game and reality. I can't help but think that ID
software might be a front for something else, some governmrnt plot to
control our minds, to turn us into zombie, super soldiers. One day
I'll be 
drafted and sent to some foreign land to gain more real estate,
resources
or cheap labor (disguised as some humanitarian mission or other such
bullshit) and I'll be handed something that looks a lot like a BFG or
a
plasma rifle. "I'm *sure* you know how to use one of these, don't you
son.
HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

     Then again, maybe it's just the radiation from the monitor.
  
  		Dave Leichter  dlei...@nimbus.temple.edu
---------------------------------------

2. New Releases

Paul Schmitz...member of the Team Eternal... sent me the following
announcement on the release of Eternal Doom II.

Team Eternal and TeamTNT proudly announce...

ETERNAL DOOM II  "The Way Back"

NOW AVAILABLE!

========= 
FEATURES:                       
========= 
  
- 13 never before seen single-player levels (total of 25)
- Upgrades and fixes to Eternal I levels.
- All difficulty settings, co-op starts everywhere.
- Solution demos for all levels requiring solutions.
- 600+ custom made textures from ED1 and more added.
- New status-bar (same from ED1).
- Many other new and totally new graphics, including signs.

- Over 27 tunes to put you in that Eternal mood.
  (A CD-Soundtrack will be released soon!).
- A few select new sounds (mostly from ED1).

- Final DOOM compatible - single wad configuration
- No boot disk required with EMM386 and low memory
- No changes to DOOM2 or Final DOOM directories

- A easy to use yet powerful install/start-up shell.
    * Play as episode starting at title screen
    * Play any level directly with pistol (warp)
    * Saves and demos only loadable with level they were made
    * Demo playback and recording fully supported
    * Saves and demos deleteable by file, level, episode
    * Full warp options, and general option control
    * Supports future revisions and additions to Eternal
    * Configurable resources (choice of sky, e.g.) 

- Made lovingly by an assortment of crazies dedicated to driving
  wad players mad (and pretty fair at it too <g>).

===============
Where to get it
===============

Drop by the TeamTNT web site at 
http://www.neosoft.com/~teamtnt
and see more information about it, and meet Team Eternal.  

Eternal DOOM files are at ftp.cdrom.com in the TeamTNT directory:

        /pub/idgames/themes/TeamTNT

Look for eternal.zip (8MB) and eternal.txt (20KB) or link to them
from the TeamTNT web pages.

Nosty Notes:  Earlier in the month, Paul mentioned to me that the
newly formed merger between the Eternal Doom team and
Team TNT will be working on a third installment that will make
Eternal Doom a full 32-level set.  There's also rumors of a 32-level
deathmatch project.  Keep us informed, Paul.
----------

     Gaston Lahaut sent me this information on the release of his
Doom2
project - Mordeth

Here's the news everyone has been waited for...:) The first episode of

Mordeth has just been released ! One can download it now from the
Mordeth Home Page at
http://www.warande.ruu.nl/~glahaut/mordeth.htm
and in a few days it will appear in at Walnut's cdrom.com's newstuff
directory.

Mordeth consists of 6 huge levels, with a great gameplay! Battle your
way
through the forts surrounding the city of Babel, and then take the
fight
to the dark streets of Babel itself! Watch yourself being engulfed by
the
swarming fog in the gaslighted streets of this ancient city, with the
growls of hidden monsters drawing nearer! Enter foggy swamps, filled
with
rotting trees and the eerie calls of Wyverns! Watch those lovely 3D
bridges and bullet-proof windows! Solve puzzles and find your way
through
six huge levels, and, in the end, defeat the Swamp Dragons which guard
the 
way out!

More information about the exact features of Mordeth can be found at
the 
Mordeth Home Page (shown above). One day, Mordeth will be a complete
32 level TC.  I'm looking for people who can help me to make that
happen,
so don't hesitate to contact me. "

          Gaston Lahaut     G.La...@stud.warande.ruu.nl
----------

James XIII sent me the following information on the release of
Castle Heng

     There is now a new version of Castle Heng, which includes the
second
episode and has been updated in fitting to music and story.
There is also a new WAD where the player will have to escape from a
prison
(very realistic setting!).

AOL has problems with updating websites at the moment, which means, I
can't send it to my site, but I will send it to anyone who asks. There
is
also a wide beta of Heng World waiting for people who want to play it
(I am Co-Author of Heng World, and I must say it is by far the MOST
impressive WAD I've ever seen!).

          Jame...@aol.com
---------------------------------------

3.  Quake Clans: What is This World Coming to?
                    JAB, Alpha Geek

        Really, what is this world coming to? I am referring, of
course,
to Quake Clans. A lot of you, even if you aren't into quake, have
probably
heard or seen of them. That's because they're literally EVERYWHERE!
Any time I hear about something for quake it is somehow mentions it's
enhancements to clans. I can be greatful for one thing though; they
don't
need funding, so therefore, they don't advertise.

        A lot of games, when given the free ability to do anything
with
anyone, do weird things. Diablo has "battle.net" which has evolved to
have "Townkillers", and "Guilds", and many numerous little things that
have become far too commonplace. I don't mind that (much) but clans
not
only become common place, they've become the only way to do internet
Quake! Maybe it would help if I explained these clans a bit more
thoroughly.

        First off, there's some really goofy names that no adult who
still
retains a decent level of sanity, would ever come up with. Names such
as
Clan Tards, Bunk the Clown, the Revolting Cocks, Team Tidybowl, and
the
Warped Rubber Clan, scare me.  They don't scare me in the way these
clans
want people to be scared; they make me question the sanity of their
creators. Now granted, some of the people involved in these clans are
just
10 year old computer geeks acting like they're 21 year old college
students (I myself am only 14), but even your average 10 year old
won't
take an idea of killing, blasting, hacking, and mutilating, and add a
stupid name to it. I dunno, you be the judge.

        Next, there's the slightly lighter topic of how much time 
these people devote to clans and their web pages! Clan Warez has a
JAVA
enhanced web page and  MIDI version of NineInchNails' "Head Like a
Hole".
They could just be really devoted, or maybe Clan Warez isn't a clan.
Maybe
they're a web page designed to make you fear the maker of the web
page.
Either way, nice page.

        The Children of the Night were another example of devotion.
Not
only an impressive page, but they practically had a constitution
written
on how the clans would be. It read a lot like one, and was very strict
on
how certain things would be handled.

        However, as an artist for Quad Productions, I had to respect
the
quality that was contained in many of the clan logos. No, I didn't go
to
ID and see those tiny little version of the logos, I went to see the
full
blown things on the Clans' web pages. Among the one's I got around to
seeing, and appreciate were The Dragons of Revelation, Impulse 9,
Artists
of Death (?), and Blood Moon. So that you know, my personal opinion on
"the best" logo would have to go to Blood Moon. Very awesome job on
the
background moon and.....well, just check them out if you see them.

        Some of these clans didn't even contain the level of ferocity
and
sheer belligerence that many of the others contained. Clan Mostly
Harmless
and the PreAtorian Order had a very light, cool feeling. Sure, they
made
the usual threats that every clan makes so that they can get into
battle,
but on these pages, even threats were light (not half) hearted.

        However, I want to set a whole paragraph aside for Clan PMS.
They
are a clan entirely of women. Granted, they may seem superior because
many have a T1 connection, but still. It makes all us males rethink
about
what those guy-shaped polygons are really powered by.  I send a
special
salute to this clan, for not only being a clan that can easily melt
into a
seemingly male-dominated game, but to also do good. Kicks some ass
PMS!

        So all in all, it does raise the question, is quake becoming a
virtual world? I mean, these 'clans' are starting to turn more into
'civilizations' with there hierarchys, written rules and laws, and
just
total devotion. To me, this seems to be a logical thought, but the
creator
of Aces of Death seemed to have good reason to beleive that I was
nutty.
I don't blame him; I did send a slightly awkward e-mail. He didn't
beleive
that Quake was becoming a virtual world because "....most schools
don't
even know what a modem is." It may seem that a meaning was lost there,
but I believe one was gained. All these hollywood computer-stereotype
movies talk of a "virtual world", but we ain't even gonna come close
to
that if schools keep censoring every last little thing, and totally
disregarding the internet in some cases!!

        Logic of AoD did have something else to say. He did mention
that
he formed a clan because teamplay was just a group of people fighting,
whereas a "Clan" was a union of people, who's sole purpose is in the
helping and reinforcing of fellow members. However, if this is true of
all
clans, then why does The Dirty Bastards have the philosiphy that they
don't even give mercy to their own members? Is it just a thing they
say
for effect, or does it sort of denounce what the Logic of AoD said.

        To close, I must add a note that I did NOT take the time to
add
the web addresses of these clans, but you can find the exact list I
used
by going to Yahoo, and typing in "Quake Clans" in the search.
Basically
it's the the Category that's something like: 
computers:games:quake:multiplayer:clans.

        Oh, well, I'm too lazy to keep going on and on and on and on
and o-.........

        Contact me, all clans who were particularly offended, or all
people who support me at:   biel...@centuryinter.net
---------------------------------------

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

The Adrenaline Vault & Elite Games.com
Dual pick of the month!! These sites have it all!  More info, file,
updates, etc. that I could possibly hope to list.  Incredibly
extensive
sites.  Elite Games.com, in particular will play a little Mission
Impossible for you while you're there and has pages and info on
Duke Nukem, Prey, and Unreal.  Check it out at:

http://www.avault.com/
http://www.elitegames.com/
----------

Chris Day's Home Page
An extensive personal web site with an area on Duke Nukem featuring
faqs and files....many created by Chris himself.  Lots of other areas
to
explore while you're there...plus a little warning for parents. <grin>
Check it out at:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/3850/
----------

Clanring - Main Site
Obviously still under construction, this site looks like a very
promising
central location for Quake clans.  According to what I could see,
they'll
be member's lists, scheduled duals, tourneys, etc.  Currently the page
has a link to a ramdom clan site...which I think I'll use once a month
for this column...and will shortly have a voting booth for the best
clan
pages.  Check it out at:

http://www.mpog.com/clanring/
----------

Doom II - The Bitchin' Series
Ran across this web site for The Bitchin' Series for Doom II.
Bitchin'10
has been recently released.  You can get that and all the previous
wads in
the series at

http://www.interlog.com/~symcon/levelnet.html
----------

Epicenter's Quake Page
Besides being an official site for this newsletter, this is a nice
Quake
page that's still being put together.  Currently has links, files and
cheats. Check it out at:

http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Arcade/3406/
----------

Idaho DeathSquad Clan
Official site for the Idaho DeathSquad Clan for Quake.  Pretty basic
with
access to a new Quake level made by one of the members and apparently
some voting for a clan uniform.  Check it out at:

http://netnow.micron.net/~bober/IDChome.htm
----------

Quake: Clan Wolfshead
A very well constructed and extensive Quake clan site for the
Wolfshead
Clan.  Reports on match results, listings of the members, files,
links,
news, etc.  Even has a few trivial tidbits on the wolf and a wolf's
howl.
Check it out at:

http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/gary.hilton/
----------

Quake Gamer's Corner
Personal site with a lot of Quake stuff including screen shots using
the
new GLQuake software.  Also a few things on Duke Nukem and a library
of
levels for Descent 2.  Check it out at:

http://cylynk.cyberlynk.com/~scottl/
----------

QuakeMUD
An extensive well-developed site on Quake MUDding.  Clan lists,
screen shots, files, faqs, etc.  Great profiles page on all of the
members
involved with QuakeMUD.  Check it out at:

http://ux2.accesscom.net/~mudman/
----------

Striker's Gaming Connection
An extensive web site obviously controlled by a gaming addict with
pages
on Doom2, Duke Nukem, Quake, Descent and a few other games with a
plenthora of screen shots.  You could spend all day at this one and
have
a little music with your visit.  Check it out at:

http://www.geocities.com/~strikers/
----------

Welcome to Planet Jimbo
A page devoted to "Stupidity and Insanity", it's got all kinds of
things
going on....including some Duke Nukem stuff and a Duke Nukem Player's
List.  Check it out at:

http://www.i2.i-2000.com/~lordjim/
---------------------------------------

HEXEN - The Continuing Quest!!
          Robin Davis

Hi there & Greetings from the U.K.!!

As Rich mentioned in the last issue of the Newsletter, I`m a "bit" of
a
Games Maniac - it`s the usual story, discovered Doom 3 years ago, went
apeshit; got Doom2, went apeshit again..., repeat for Heretic, Hexen,
Duke
Nukem 3D, Descent 1 & 2, & now getting SERIOUSLY Quaked!! Where does
the
time go......??!! I tend to go through Gaming periods when I just get
"stuck" on one particular Game & just play tons of Levels - the last 3
months it`s mainly been Hexen!! 

I`ve now had Hexen about a year or so but have only just recently
played
the complete Game (was mainly playing addons before then - yeah, I
know
it`s all back to front...BUT I just got stuck on the ORIGINAL Game &
basically left it until I downloaded the Walkthrough by H.S.Teoh &
then
made a serious assault on it - have now played it twice through & will
probably hack my way through it again in the next few months - it`s
GREAT,
but am not too sure about tackling it without the walkthrough - it`s
VERY
easy to get lost or "jammed" due to the complexity, in my opinion!!
(Yeah,
I`m a wimp, I admit it!!). Suffice to say, it`s now one of my
favourite
games (along with the above of course!!) - although initially was NOT
impressed with the demo, esp. coming after Heretic, which I still have
a
soft spot for - that Crossbow is FANTASTIC!! Excellent & fast moving
game!! (Article forthcoming in a future issue of the Newsletter!!). 

WAD RECOMMENDATIONS - In no particular Order (so don`t get jealous -
no
ego`s please!!).  (I play Solo (principally, the Fighter!!) - so
obviously
no Deathmatch Levels here, apart from Solo Deathmatch!!)

1.\  ABBEY.wad - abbey.zip - by Ralph Jenkin
Excellent & quite large single level - not too difficult or
complicated,
but a level I`ve now played several times, & still haven`t got fed up
with
- watch out for the Ice at the beginning of the level tho`, plus Lava
Secret!!!

2.\  CHUXEN.wad - chuxen.zip - 6 Level Hub by Chuck Grant
Another Excellent Hub - pretty tough (esp. The Swamp area!!) &
complicated
with some VERY dangerous areas - one I haven`t completely solved yet!!
Some of the larger & more complex levels tend to sometimes take me a
few
months to solve - I like to explore\investigate everywhere - hence,
the
delay in playing the original game!!

3.\  HUB OF PAIN.wad - Colin4.zip - 3 Level Hub by Colin Caird
A CLASSIC I think!! Have now played this numerous times & have yet to
get
fed up with it!! Quite Large but quite logical progression of ideas &
action - download immediately!!

4.\  DEATH.wad - 3fiffy3.zip by Georg Fiffy
Another favourite - Great & tough level, set in an enormous medieval
castle - great intro & music too - just makes you wanna get stuck in
straight away!! Check out the Elevators & other special effects!! Has
also
made numerous other Levels for Doom\Doom2\Hexen & presumably Quake by
now??!! - BUT as far as I know most of his levels are ONLY available
via
his own BBS - the 2 Hexen ones are available on ftp.cdrom.com &
mirrors
- apparently somebody else uploaded `em!!! If anybody has any of these
(or has access to the BBS in the U.S.!! It`s VERY Long Distance for
me!!)
& would be willing to email `em to me...I would be VERY grateful.
Would
be willing to trade other Levels if interested!! Just get in touch via
email - address at the end on this article!! Thanks in advance!!

5.\  DREDNAUGHT.wad - drednaugh8.zip - 5 Level Hub by Scott McNutt

6.\  HEX_BF.wad - hex_bf.zip - 6 Level Hub by Dave Bolin

7.\  HEXCITY.wad - hexcity.zip - by David Meurin
Another favourite of mine - nothing spectacular, I admit, but a very
enjoyable & fun level - the title sums it up really - have fun
exploring
the City itself!!

8.\  MYSTICSW.wad - mysticsw.zip - by Eric Vachon
BRILLIANT Solo Deathmatch with very apt music to suit!!) - SOLID
Action
all the way - just don`t stand still!! 

9.\  SHANNARA.wad - shannara.zip - 5 Level Hub by Terry Durham
I downloaded this over Christmas so consequently spent much of the
festive
period playing this - Great Xmas present to myself!! Very Large &
complex
hub this one - most dangerous part is probably the beginning - watch
out
for the ground collapsing beneath your feet!! Largest area is the
Druid`s
Keep section - quite easy to lose your way in this!! Once again, save
often!!

10.\ STONEGATE.wad - stngat11.zip - 4 Level Hub by Paul A Thureen
Complete version of this now available at last!! Very good but
uncomplicated level this - very much in the style of original Doom
where
you progress from Level to Level in a Linear fashion (i.e. no going
back
to previous "levels"!!). I still feel there is too much Health & Ammo
in
this one as the Fighter - was quite a bit tougher tho` with the Mage &
Cleric!! 

11.\ LYCHGATE.wad - lychgate.zip - by Nick Taylor
Excellent level - toughest section (as Nick mentions in the
accompanying
text file!) is getting across the drawbridge past the Shooting
Stalkers)
- it can be done though, just save often!!

12.\ VAULTS.wad - vaults13.zip -  6 Level Hub by Chet Walters

13.\ HEXQUAKE.wad - hexquak5.zip - 5 Level Hub (Complete version??!!)
by
     Yvon Lariviere
I don`t know whether this has been uploaded to the usual ftp Sites yet
- I got it from a Website a month or 2 back - doesn`t seem to be
accessible at present!! This would appear to be the full version as
previously was available in 3 sections!! I haven`t played all of this
yet
as each Level is pretty enormous - more puzzle oriented rather than
plenty
of action!!! Features include fires that actually burn you !!- makes
you
wonder why id did`nt think of this for the original game!!! 

14.\ OSPREY.wad - osprey.zip - by Scot Seese
Great Fun, but almost impossible to play (by me anyway!!) Solo
Deathmatch
level - if you can last more than 60 seconds I take my hat off to you
(if
I had one!!). You`ll find out why it`s called Osprey when you load it
up...!! Take Care!!!

15.\ CITY OF DESPAIR.wad - hxcod1.zip - by Marc R.Bublitz

16.\ CASTLE OF DEFEAT.wad - hxcod2.zip - by Marc R.Bublitz

17.\ TOWER OF HOPE (My Title!!) - newhub4.zip - 6 Level Hub by
   J.B.Codeman(??)
Yet another CLASSIC - still playing\exploring it - yet to be
completely
solved, but already you can tell it`s GREAT!! Download it
straightaway!!!
For once the "awsome" tag is appropriate. This does also apply to many
of
the other levels in this list - download & explore `em all!!

18.\ HXMORGUE.wad - hxmorgue.zip - by Eric Duprey
I realise there`s not an awful lot to this wad, - Solo Deathmatch!! -
it
does`nt really last much longer than a minute in any case!!, BUT it`s
still great Fun!!

19.\ TEMPLE.wad - temple.zip - 5 Level Hub by P.Hallgren
Absolutely amazing & massive series of levels - VERY tough & complex
with
"tons of tricks & traps" - save OFTEN!! - you have been warned!!
Persevere
with it - it`s worth it!!!

This List is obviously incomplete (I`ll probably think of a whole load
of
other levels shortly after finishing this!!) but will hopefully give
some
of you a few pointers for wads to download - but, by all means try
them
all!! Would always welcome any other recommendations for ANY of the
above
games & indeed ANY levels that DON`T make it to ftp.cdrom.com &
mirrors
- i.e. BBS`s, Websites etc etc - Get in touch!! I want `em!!!

Finally, I would just like to say a big THANK YOU to all the
Wad\Utility Designers\Builders who have taken the time & trouble to
create
these Masterpieces for our Pleasure\Fun\Excitement - Thanks very much
indeed!! There`s NO DOUBT now that some of the newer wads are much
more
inventive & imaginative than they were say a year or 2 ago (this in no
way
decries "older" wads - I`m still playing `em in any case, & convert
many
of my favourite levels over to Heretic, Hexen, Doom2 etc etc using the
2
essential Conversion Utilities - DM2CNV32 (Converts Doom\Doom2\Heretic
Levels to one another - this includes Graphics & Music!!) & CONV2HEX
(converts the above Games Levels to Hexen) - this is about the nearest
I`ve got to Wad Design, I must admit I just love playing them too
much!!

Finally #2 - For ALL DUKE NUKEM 3D & QUAKE MANIACS - if you have`nt
already got it (shame on you!!) get the March `97 issue of PCZONE, as
it
includes a CDROM with OVER 1100 Quake\Duke Nukem Levels & Utilities
plus
other Games demos etc etc - And I think they throw a magazine in with
it
somewhere as well!!! ALL for 5 U.K. Pounds\$8 - GO TO IT!!

CONTACT:  email rda...@fastnet.co.uk
---------------------------------------

6. Con of the North: Activities in The Computer Room
A report from one of the Con's organizers Richard Carlson

Well, the Con went off, and is done.

Attendance was down by 25% which is alarming, but since the Con is
basically a non profit organization, it probably won't affect our 
decision whether or not to run the Con next year. (Although, the PR
dept. might deserve a vacation - A looooong vacation, if you know 
what I mean....) Also working against us was the "St. Paul Winter
Carnival". The parade, which wraps up the 2 week long event, was
held downtown on saturday, causing traffic jams and overful ramps
(and the occaisional pile of horse manure) and a few other gripes...
Still, all in all, I'd have to say that it was a better Con than last
year's, content wise, and that the people who showed up/contributed
really had a great time! 

As far as The Computer Room - every event filled up solid - added
additional sessions to accomodate more - no crashes - only one
melt down (a weary, old Apple 2e - part of the Midi Maze daisy chain
of 12 Apples/Ataris) - No windows in the room, but computer heads
are used to that stench anyway...

One bad thing I guess - About 10am on Sunday, the event sign up
sheets (on a clipboard with all the events and winners...)
"mysteriously disappeared".  No trace. So we bashed a last bunch of
events together, swallowed our pride, and apologized to all who had
or were about to participate (Actually, everyone was very under-
standing about the whole thing...). We'll use a big board (and a
little
database) next year... Maybe tickets? Make 'em swear on a stack of
bibles when they sign up? I dunno... 

As far as popularity goes, WARCRAFT2 was BY FAR the most
requested game. I have no comment on this apparent phenomenon,
but there it is. QUAKE was #2 on the totem pole, and the kids were
kicking butt on the old folks, who seemed a bit too DOOMed and
confused to notice.... KANDYBASE was, hands down, the most
popular QUAKE deathmatch, but we also had repeated requests for 
The Wizard's Lair, "5Days" and Dakyne (Dakyne is my favorite.).

What, DOOM? Sure... Still VERY popular. The BOOTHILL death-
match was the BIG ONE. Year after year, with all the cool wads
coming out, this is still the big event. (Are you listening, game
companies  wad builders?) Brian U. coached the ALIEN TC
cooperative game, and that session became one of the most talked
about at the Con. Other favorites: TNT's Grievance kept 'em rivited
and revved for two hours straight (You had to pry these kids off the
darn computer.). The Blackgate and Cleimos I seemed to catch the
fancy of many non-deathmatchers, although, oddly, Icarus kind of
bombed in coop... (and I really like that big wad... Well, there's no
accounting for taste!) 

HERETIC had its day as well, with RECANT and RC's Big Red
capturing the hearts of all of the cool dudes (and gals) who don't
like
to DOOM.  Fetal2 (Fetals Asylum) and Camelot also went over quite
well. And of course, MIDI MAZE was packed, as usual. (If you've
never seen this, it is perhaps the first real multi- player deathmatch
game - up to 16 - it's very old: you run it on Apples, Commodore64's
and/or Ataris, daisy chaining them via their MIDI PORTS!
Veeerrryyy cool.) 

Outside of The Computer Room:
Clue of Cthulhu was back again. Dave Arneson (co-creator of
Dungeons  Dragons) conceived of this bizarre and very funny
variant on the Parker Bros. CLUE boardgame. Dave gm'ed the event
and everyone had a blast. Magic: The Gathering was still the hot
thingy in the vendor area as well as the auction. No surprise there.

Nice to see that Marc Miller (Traveller) has resurfaced after the
demise of GDW. His new company, Imperium Games, has
revamped the old game system and is in the process of rereleasing
their Traveller rpg stuff and board games. You can't keep a good man
down.  The Masked Ball went well, considering there were many
Vulcans lurking ("official" Winter Carnival pranksters). So I have no
hard data for you (the results we're probably tossed into the
Mississippi River, for all I know...) just impressions.  Hope this is
useful. It was all pretty fun, but I do have a life besides QUAKE
HERETIC. I'm kinda glad it's over....Now I get to play all these kewl
wads!!!!  

-RDCarlson
---------------------------------------

7.  Circuitous Loquacity - Vol. 1
               nostromo

     Here we are at issue #5 and, with the exception of my commentary
in
the first issue, I haven't really written an aritcle as such,
so...here it
is.  Now I'm sure that some of you are expecting me to explain what
the
title means but guess what.  Surprise!  Look it up.

     I had three things on my mind that I thought I'd blab about in
this
installment: Awards, Age and Double barrels.

Awards - Has everybody picked up the latest issue of PC Gamer? (Mar
'97)
Well, this issue is their "Game Awards of the Year" issue where they
rate
the best games.  Being as I edit a newsletter on 3D Action Gaming
(you may have heard about that somewhere) I immediately jumped to the
action awards section to see which game won the best game...fully
expecting it to be either Quake or Duke Nukem.  Surprise!  It was
neither.
In fact, the game they rated as the best has barely made it to the
store
shelves and also a game that heretofore has not even been mentioned
once
within the confines of this newsletter: Tomb Raider

     I first caught wind of this game on one of those TV Computer
shows
and found what little they had to show to be interesting but it didn't
particularly grab my attention.  One thing that did raise an eyebrow,
though was when they mentioned that our main hero....er heroine...yes,
she's female...has been rendered with over 2,000 sprites giving her
incredibly fluid mobility.  Now that it's been rated the highest, it's
certainly something that we'll probably see mentioned much more often.

     Oh....and how did they rate Quake and Duke Nukem?  To paraphrase,
what they had to say was basically they were extremely glad that Tomb
Raiders came along.  If it hadn't, trying to rate Quake over Duke
Nukem
or vice versa would have surely led to bloodshed among the PC Gamer
Team.  So, fans, I guess it was a toss up.

     As a side note, the Computer Gaming Poll published in the Mar '97
issue of Computer Gaming rates Duke Nukem as the #1 action game with
Quake coming in at #5 and Doom2 coming in at #7.  Who said Doom was
dead?

Age - A couple of funny occurances took place this week...both
involving a
couple of folks whom I correspond with on a semi-regular basis.  It
has to
do with our pre-conceived notions of what the other person is like on
the
other end of the cyberlink.  Many psychologists warn that the Internet
is turning us into a bunch anti-social misfits who hide behind the
anonymity of our computer screens for fear of actually having to meet
someone face to face.  That may be true for some but in the past week,
I've noticed a positive side as well.

     One person I correspond with I judged to be in his late teens.
Didn't have anything to do with his use of grammer or spelling...there
was nothing wrong with that....just a general feeling.  I was quite
surprised to find that he was in his early 30's and he was quite
surprised
to find that I was 40  (he he...I bet there's a whole lot more
surprised
people at this moment  "40!? You're kidding!"  No I'm not kidding).  
I also found that another correspondant, whom I judged to be in his
late
20's...maybe even 30...turned out to be 14.

     This made me stop to consider a very positive element of the
Internet.  It tears down all of prejudices about how we're supposed to
act or conduct ourselves around others based on what we know about
them
...and whether we admit it or not, we all have prejudices.  If I
walked
over to a 14 year old at some gaming convention and struck up a 
conversation, I'm quite sure he'd be wondering what the heck I was up
to.
And, conversly, what's the chances of him walking over and striking up
a
conversation with me?

     I think my point to all this is, without knowing anything about a
person's age, sex, race, religion, and/or sexual orientation...or even
their appearance, communication on a common topic flows quite freely
and
I find that to be quite exhilerating...regardless of the yahoos who
feel
that God gave them a modem simply so they can abuse others.  I wonder
what the psychologists have to say about that aspect of the Internet?
Anyway, as Pink Floyd says, "Don't Stop Talking".

Double Barrels - Do you find yourself doing this?  Your playing your
favorite 3D game of (fill in the blank here) and you're peeking around
the
corner to see what's horrors lie ahead and you suddenly realize you're
leaning way over in your chair as if you're going to get a better
look.
You're not, you know, but we all do it.  We all duck, jerk, strain our
necks, etc. as if this is going to give us some kind of better
visibility
or that we can dodge the fireballs better by physically sliding one
way
or another.  I was showing Doom to my Bro-in-law once and he said,
"You know, leaning back and forth like that doesn't help."

     I had an experience a couple of weeks ago that made me stop to
consider this odd phenomena.  I was playtesting STRAIN through Kali
with
a buddy of mine.  Now he's a complete newbie at the game....yes, there
are
still people who are just now playing Doom...and it was somewhat
entertaining watching him run around wondering where I went while
I was standing right there behind him.  Anyway, at one point, we got
separated and  I was quickly rushing to catch up to his current
location.
I found him negotiating a hallway so I lumbered on up behind him.
Apparently, he caught sight of me in the corner of his eye as
suddenly,
he whips around and gives me both barrels right in the face.  Since I
had
well over 100% health at the time, it didn't kill me...athough leaving
me
with 3% health isn't something to be particularly pleased about.  The
thing that I found amazing was that even though I'm sitting here
safely
on the other side of the monitor and all I'm really watching is a
bunch of
electronic bits flying around a circuit grid, I was shocked!  I let
out an
audible "WHOA!" and damn near fell out of my chair.  If fact, it had
the
same effect as getting hit square in the facemask with a
paintball...if
you've ever had that happen to you, it's about as startling an event
as
you can experience.

     So, in light of this experience, I tried the play Doom2 while
sitting
perfectly still and you know what?  I can't do it.  I don't thing
anyone
can.
---------------------------------------

8.  Demon Repentant

     The following is an original story by Glenn Few (Ice) who'll be
presenting us with a new episode each month.  Enjoy.

Demon Repentant Pt. 1
             Ice
 
Korn sighed in disgust. He saw Marine after Marine fall. 'Why,' he
thought, 'are we fighting them?' He looked at his claws. 'These
claws...no good at a distance, and no Marine is dumb enough to get
close enough for the claws to be any use. And our fireballs...green
streaks of fire that are easy for the Marines to avoid. And the
fireballs
are our only long-range attack. The Marines have such magnificent
weapons. Especially that one, the one that shoots green plasma..the
BFG, I think it is called. I have seen four blasts from that mighty
weapon topple a great Cyberdemon. And it takes a lot to kill a
Cyberdemon....' The Hell Knight looked around. The last Marine in
that room had fallen. Suddenly Korn gave his battle cry and charged
the other demons in the room. 
 
After the fight was over, Korn was battered but triumphant. He
walked over to a switch and flipped it, then stepped onto the teleport
in the room the switch had opened.
 
When he re-materialized, he heard a gun fire and felt a sharp pain in
his back. He turned around and saw a lone, female Marine. He
walked up to her and stood still. The Marine was too surprised to
fire.
"Greetings, Marine."
"What the--"
"You are surprised that I speak to you. You are also surprised that I
do not try to kill you. I will tell you why: I admire you."
The Marine was too stunned to talk.
"Yes, I admire you, your weapons..everything about you. Tell me...
may I become a Marine?"
*THUNK*(the Marine fainted)
 
Korn bore the unconscious Marine to a safe place. When the Marine
awoke, Korn asked, "What is your name?"
The Marine sighed and shook her head. This was almost too much
for her. 
"My name's Janet," she said. "Janet Brown."
"Janet, can you make me a Marine? As I have told you, I admire you."
Janet sighed again. "Well," she said, "let's see what I can do."
 
End part 1

Ice
---------------------------------------

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.
----------

DOOM2 - BEYOND DOOM: The Apocalypse (update)

     Some VERY good things have come up with bd lately.  A few new
monsters will now be added real soon (about 3-4) and 2 new weapons are
on
the way.  We have 2 midi artists and are trying to get in IRC contact
to
discuss the soundtrack, this will not be disappointing.  It is being
done
by two people in bands, one being copywrited (Rich Ciardullo) and the
other who has been making awesome doom music for a while now (James
SML) 

On the top of the news though, the worlds best, and first ever of its
nature, weapon (besides the other two new ones) will be coming to your
computer.  prepare to DESTROY. I have one word for you, NUCLEAR, not
semi-nuclear as I first thought, but nuclear, the best weapon that
will be
ever made for doom, designed by Gaston Lahaut, author of Mordeth,
another
awesome TC, everyone should check this out as well... 
 
                          ...just when you thought it was over... 

I do not have a due date as of now, but most of the levels are done,
some
do still need a few work, and some have not been started.. it should
be
somtime around summer though..

Anthony

Note:  new E-mail address and web site
aga...@ix.netcom.com
http://www2.netcom.com/~agalica
----------

DOOM2 - FetalDM8 (New Listing!)

The NEXT installment of Adelusions' FetalDM series:  FetalDM8:
+gothic+  is
in the worx!  

Release date: Summer - (?)
Maps: 8 or (?)
Music: See Below

 Looking for Midi Authors for the Music, needs to be original work,
please.
Graphics, DONE! I gotta say, Best I've seen in a long time... they
just keep
getting better, and better... Alot of Gothic textures like, Metal's,
Cross's,
Bricks, etc...

For Information, Questions, or etc... contact Adelusion at
adel...@aol.com
----------

DOOM2 - Requiem (update)

I received two notes on the upcoming Requiem.  The first from 
Adam Williamson.

The new textures *will* make you piss your pants. They are
very well done indeed, by Adelusion and Iikka Keranen. The music
score?
Well, um, we haven't *heard* any of it yet, but i'm sure it'll be
great.
:). There are some pretty cool effects, but only one that hasn't been
used in a big project before, which is the over/under bridge effect.
You
can see it in some of Adel's levels, and one of Iikka's (I forget the
name). I think i'm correct in saying that overall Requiem will be
larger
(playing time wise) than anything else. There's quite a lot of v.
large
levels, and two or three of 800+ sectors.

I also received this update from Adelusion

RELEASE: Late March

Two more levels need to be done... and Play-Testing. Plus some minor
Misc.  stuff, that I cannot release the info on, just have to wait! 
Screen Shots avaiable soon.... some exist now, but updated ones, and a
Page for them are being talked about now....
----------

QUAKE - The Dark Cathedral

Quad Productions is faring quite well. We lost 3 level makers, but
gained 3 more permanent members: 1) Adam Wiliamson, level maker, did
some
of Momento Mori 2) Millipeden, is another artist. Works on animation
for
movies, says the mouse is starting to feel like a brush to him
3) EastPunk, yet another level designer who also knows artwork well.
Though his artwork skills are handy, they aren't required.

We also have an interesting twist. Colin Barker and Ben Hopkins want
to
help make levels for us. We have agreed after 2 fine examples were
shown.

The main texture WAD is complete. The beta is available at:
http://quake.upit-sac.depaul.edu/~jab/quad.htm
Tell all they are free to check it out, all new textures and new
skies.
All additions to the WAD now will just be addons or adjustments to the
current textures.

We're all workin on levels now. It will be cool. If not, people will
die.
----------

And here's the rest that are currently in production:

DOOM2 - Castle Heng (continuing - see section 2. New Releases)
DOOM2 - Eternal Doom (continuing - see section 2. New Releases)
DOOM2 - The Experiment
DOOM2 - Independance Day
DOOM2 - Insertion
DOOM2 - Mordeth (continuing - see section 2. New Releases)
DOOM2 - Nostromo's Run
DOOM2 - S*T*R*A*I*N
DUKE NUKEM - (No Name) - BMe...@aol.com
QUAKE - Aliens Total Conversion 
---------------------------------------

    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.

until next month.....

nostromo