Lord IGM Newsletter                         Volume   1
March 1st 1997                              Issue    1



This Issue contains:

 1) Note from the editor
 2) A word from Seth Able
 3) Brian Stanbridge - Author of Suburbia, Apothecary & Grizelda's House
 4) Jeff Fanjoy      - Author of Caves of Despair
 5) Jason Brown      - Author of Lord Cavern
 6) Joseph Masters   - Author of LordNet and keeper of the best Igm web

                       page on the net!
 7) Ken Weitzel      - Author of A LOT of IGMS
 8) G.A.C. Computer Services - Latest LORD IGM Information
 9) Closing Comments from the Editor of the Lord IGM Newsletter


*** 1 ***
Note from the editor:

When I first started this I have to be honest with you. I was burned out
on LORD. I know how could that happen? Well I am the Fido Network LORD
echo moderator, as well as the Lord Central File Distribution Network Hub,
and at the time of writing this, an IGM Review Board Member.

So that, and running 7 games on my BBS, you can understand why I was getting
burned out. But with this in the works and getting to talk to Seth as well
as a bunch of great authors at the same time I am getting back into the swing
of things.

The one thing that surprised me was that I wrote to 30 authors on the first
day that this started and out of the 5 that got back to me 3 wrote back to
tell me that they were not writing anymore IGM's or that they got out of it
all together. BTW on a side note the first person to get back to me was Seth
himself.

Authors that stop writing do not surprise me, but when they have really good
products on the market it does. So if you used to be the author of an IGM
and have stopped supporting it Please think about picking it back up and
getting it re released. The game still has a huge following and it looks
like it will for a long time to come. If you are thinking about this I can
help with that as well..  If you send the IGM via File attach to
bat@airmail.net I will get it released for you. Well enough about me
let's get to the authors.



*** 2 ***
A word from Seth Able

When I first wrote to Seth I had no idea what to ask, so I gave him some
very simple and quick questions. This is what I got back:

LINL >Has your life changed since the first release of LORD?

SA> Yeah!  I've been writing software (and goofing off) full time for the
last 7 years!

LINL> Do you ever think about doing another IGM, since your's is one of
the best out there today still?

SA> Hmm..  I don't know why other people aren't making better ones, the
resources are there.  Maybe if I release the source to Barak's House..yeah.

LINL> What is the story on Lord 2? It will most likely be released by
the time of the newsletter, but it I would still like to know from you.

SA> It rocks.  It is the most you can do with ANSI... It's an ANSI style
MUD sort of using the world of LORD - you can see and give items realtime
to other people playing.  It will be ready soon I hope.

LINL> What new projects is RTSOFT undertaking?

SA> The Adventures Of Dink Smallwood has been in the making for about
4 months -  it is a Win95 RPG that looks REALLY great!  Won't be ready
for a while.

LINL> What is your favorite IGM currently running on your BBS?
(If you have one)

SA> I only run one, for TEOS - Hippie Van!!

Thank you Seth for taking the time to answer my questions. I am sure as new
releases are done I will find more info that I will ask of you.


*** 3 ***
Bryan Stanbridge - Author of Suburbia, Apothecary & Grizelda's House

    I'm currently working on v1.7 of Suburbia(though it may be v2.0) which
will include an almost full sysop editor.  On the way for Suburbia are
options that will give users and sysops more flexibility on the types of
houses sold.
    v1.73 of Apothecary and Grizelda's House are both coming out with
sysop editors to change the small options they've got and possibly an
item editor for later versions.
    I'm also working on completing the first version of The Old Man's
Station TEOS IGM but it's mainly back burner because planets isn't' really
that popular.
    I'm also working on a secret IGM which I don't want to discuss quite
yet because I've had another idea 'borrowed' and I don't like it much..;)
It'll be quite revolutionary though.

Thank you for the inside information Bryan. You can get all of his Igm's at
http://www.geocitie.com/SiliconValley/6062 as well as a lot of other useful
programs.



*** 4 ***

Jeff Fanjoy - Author of Caves of Despair



        In terms of IGM's, my only project is Caves Of Despair at this time,
I've been considering a few other projects, but haven't actually started in
on them.  I'm considering a big change to my communications routines, since
currently they span approximately 6 different units, and that's making it
hard for me to trace through it, so I want to combine them all into one unit
 -- that will take some time.
        I have plans to update Caves Of Despair in the very near future,
adding a new "Cult" subsection to the IGM, as well as potentially some new
monsters.  Beyond that, I think the IGM will probably stand as it is from
that point on.
         I have some ideas of taking Caves Of Despair and making a
"futuristic" counterpart (IE. same style, same basic principle, only a
futuristic overtone).  This is something I've been toying with for awhile
though, so I don't know how long it will be before I do something like that.
         For the most part, I'd say that most everything you can do with LORD
has already been done, I don't see a whole lot of reason for doing these
things over again.  I will probably simply wait until LORD II is released,
and port my IGM's at that time over to it, as well as write some new ones.
         I'm always open to ideas though, so if you've got people who want
to see certain things in an IGM, tell them to drop me a note, I just may
write it! :)

Ok Jeff! If you would like to submit an idea to Jeff you can reach him at
jfanjoy@interlog.com If you would like to get COD you can at :
http://www.interlog.com/~jfanjoy


*** 5 ***

Jason Brown - Author of Lord Cavern

   Right now I am looking to other games, and waiting for LORD 4.0 and
LORD II: New World. I plan to port The L.O.R.D. Cavern to LORD II  (to be
called "The L.O.R.D. Cavern II"!), if possible.  Probably to keep with
the supposed ANSI map style of LORD II, I'll make it ANSI map, too.  Still
with the random element, but a more ridged part, too.
    I am also looking to improve The Outlands Tavern... I'd like people to
try it and give me ideas to improve it.  Especially how to add my RHP system.
Tell authors that if they would like to add RHP to their IGMs, I'd be glad
to give them help. It would be great if there was some sort of a "standard"!
I may make some sort of a patch for The L.O.R.D. Cavern to make an easy way to
write RHPs.
  RHP stands for "Random Happening Program", and its a scripting system for
users to customize an IGM.  I got the idea from the door game Lunatix, which
has a simple story-writing system.  I decided to make something similar, but
add attribute changing codes.  It expanded from there. I could make it so that
an IGM author (writing in Pascal) can just add a couple procedures, customize
them to their own code, and have it work.
   Yes, someone with no programming experience can write the add-ons to your
IGM's.  Its not that complicated (some parts may be), but a little practice
and I think anyone can write an add-on. Its not a full-blown language, like
Pascal or BASIC, but more like BATCH files.  For example:

 `2Hello all!
 @PAUSE@
 @GEMS@ 3
 `2Later!

  Just wrote 'Hello all!' in green, gave a '<MoRE>' prompt, and gave the user
3 gems.
  Programming experience would help to understand my DOCs (I plan to fix
that), but it should be easy to understand (as long as a list of the commands
is handy).

If you are an author and would like to add this into your software you can
contact Jason at jason.brown@commctr.com to get his IGM's you can  FTP to :
ftp://ftp.artibbs.com/DOORS_ALL/ or visit him on the web at
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Ron_Brown/



*** 6 ***
Joseph Masters - Author of LordNet and keeper of the best Igm web
                 page on the net!


   Basically, I'm going to finish LordNet, and get it up to version 1.5.
1.4J should be out this weekend (3/1/97).  It's looking really good now.
   Other than that, no new projects are planned, and I doubt I'll be doing
any new stuff.  That's not stopping me from helping people use any LORD
software or writing or using IGMs, I just don't have the  time to invest

into anything new with BBSs. The Bugs that I am fixing are mainly stuff
with bulletins and mail.
   I can almost guarantee it won't be the final version.

 Thanks Joseph! You can get all of Joseph's software as well as A LOT of
other IGM's and Lord Links from his web page at http://www.trentsoft.com.

*** 7 ***
Ken Weitzel  - Author of A LOT of  IGMS

LINL> Ken, you have been named the best and most bug free IGM author. Other
IGM author's tend to look up to your work. How does this make you feel?

Astonished.  Humble.  Disbelieving.  There are so many who have done good
work.  First to come to mind is naturally Joseph Masters.  Others include
Koromobos, Jeff Fanjoy, Tom Moore, Gregory Campbell, Dirk Manuel, and many
more. I'm flattered and happy to be considered in the same class as these
people.

LINL> Where do you get the ideas that you use in your IGM's? I know TV is
an influence, but that can not be it.

That one's easy.  I just switch on RPG mode before going to sleep, and
have the weirdest of dreams!  :)

Seriously, I honestly don't know.  Some ideas just appear out of thin air,
some are suggested by my users.  For instance, I'm working on one now, which
should be available soon, called Stick, that was suggested by James A Hall,
one of my long time users.

LINL> Other than your own IGM's which do you feel is the best or better
yet who do you look up to?

I couldn't hope to pick out a "best"!  As for my colleagues, I look up to
each and every one of them.  All of us have our strong points, all of us has
our weak points. I think it's important to remember that tomorrow's
programmers will develop from today's beginners.

LINL> Can you give us a clue on what will be coming next from the mind of Ken?

Even I don't know what might pop out of my mind next!  I've already mentioned
my latest IGM, Stick, but I've also been working on a little door game that
might interest some.  Here's a teaser: "You've been invited to the sysop's
house for coffee, donuts, and conversation. Unfortunately, when you arrive,
a spot of trouble breaks out over the donuts..."  :)  I hope that some enjoy
it.


LINL> That's it..  Thanks for taking the time to answer.. :)

It's been my pleasure.  Take care.

LINL> I will Ken! If you would like to get Ken's IGM's there is a Special
section on Joseph Masters web page at: http://www.trentsoft.com. Or you can
get them via FTP at FTP://bbs.goldengate.net/lord or if you are a member of
Fido net Ken is a proud supporter of the LORD_FDN for information on the
LORD_FDN please send Netmail to 1:124/7013

*** 8 ***
G.A.C. Computer Services - Latest LORD IGM Information

  Over the past year, we have developed several IGMs for LORD.  These include
The Realm of Vanadia Series (six large IGMs that work together), Inter-LORD
(an Inter-BBS IGM), and Fireside Chat (chat between multiple LORD games).
The Realm of Vanadia Series has received a lot of praise for its quality and
originality since the first one became available in March 1996. It has also
received criticism for it's cost ($10 per IGM), but if you will read on, this
is about to change!

  Over the past few months we have been trying to port the Vanadia series and
Inter-LORD to WildCat 5 (WC5) for all of the SysOps that are now running the
WC5 LORD game.  We have had mixed success with this and have decided to
postpone the project for a while.  (If you are interested in WC5 versions,
let us know.)  Over the past few weeks we have been trying to squash every bug
that has been reported with any of the Vanadia IGMs.  This has proven to be a
difficult task since there is over 300,000 lines of code in this series!
However, we have purchased some professional debugging software that is
helping us to accomplish the task of making these IGMs bug free (or as close
as possible).  We are almost ready to release new versions of the six
Vanadia IGMs.  A new release of Inter-LORD (with some new features) will
follow.

  The IGMs have been out for almost a year now, and we have received excellent
support from SysOps around the world.  Now, we are going to do something

almost unheard of from an IGM author.  We are CUTTING THE PRICES of The Realm
of Vanadia IGMs and Inter-LORD to $5.00 each or $25.00 for the seven IGMs!
These prices will be official when the new releases are sent out, but if you
want to get these prices now, just tell us you saw the pricing in this news
letter.

  At some point this year we do expect to update FireSide chat, but we
simply have too much going on right now to accomplish this task.  In case you
are interested we have several non-LORD products; Inter-BBS Blackjack,
Inter-BBS FreeCell, Inter-BBS WaHoo, Easy Mail and the upcoming Realm of
Vanadia RPG!. To receive the latest news about all of our products, just send
us a message,  and I will place you on our mailing list.

  You may also visit our web site to view detailed descriptions of our
products, obtain copies of the LORD IGMs, obtain copies of our DOS games,
get technical support or place an online order. We have lots of plans for
this year: new DOS and Windows 95/NT door games, new WC5 Graphical games, and
a new web site.  If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, please
send them to us.  We are striving to bring the best to the on-line community
at a price everyone can afford.

Thank you,
Gregory Campbell
G.A.C. Computer Services

Internet: campbel@onramp.net
Web     : http://rampages.onramp.net/~campbel
Fidonet : 1:124/8047  (FREQ CATALOG for a list of our products)
BBS     : (972) 596-0252 (Soon to be a WildCat NetServer Site!)
MasterCard, Visa, and American Express accepted for on-line orders.



*** 9 ***
Closing Comments from the Editor of the Lord IGM Newsletter



Well I hope that you did not get too board reading this. If you did you can
Unsubscribe by replying to this with the word REMOVE in the Subject field.
But you would not want to do that..
:)

In your next issue I am hoping to have more with Seth, as well as some
IGM reviews from 2 of the best reviewers out there, (If they accept) as
well as some more drivel from myself.

If you have an idea for an artical I will do my best to get it in. You can
send all Ideas to bat@airmail.net. I am hoping to have the next one out on
March 31 97'

Please feel free to pass this to your friends, if you would like to join in
the list that I send to please send Email to lordml2@airmail.net with
"subscribe" in the message header.

That's it. Thanks for your time!

Bryan Turner
bat@airmail.net
SysOp RabbitLand II BBS - fido 1:124/7013 - email rabbit@rland.wfbbs.com