donald.tidmore@usa.net December 31, 1997
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Received: Wed, 31 Dec 1997 10:14:46 MDT
From: Lord Igm Author Newsletter <lordml@usa.net>
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Subject:  Lord Igm Newsletter #7
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Lord IGM Authors Newsletter                Volume 1
December 30 1997                           Issue  7



This Issue contains:

 1) Note from the editor
 2) Bryan Stanbridge  - On Suburbia
 3) Codax Dragon - On his Lord 2 Igm's
 4) The One and Only TAL!
 5) Message from Jim Wilson
 6) Mamoosoft!
 7) Demon Knight's First Letter!
 8) Demon Knight Speaks!
 9) A Great Article by Paul!
10) Closing Notes


*** 1 ***
Note from the Editor

Well in my opinion this has been a good Year. We have had 7 issues
covering every aspect of LORD IGM's, And I am hoping that next year will
be even better.

Things to look forward to next year: An Ending to LORD 2! :)

Seth has stated that there will be a true ending to the Game and that
it is on paper at the time of this. So all you lord 2 fans look for it
soon.


*** 2 ***
Bryan Stanbridge  - On Suburbia

-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Hi all!  I'm still working on LORD Suburbia, don't fret!  I've had to
take a bit of a sobatical due to school and other things tying me up.  I
have much more free time and have since started to work on remembering
what it is I was trying to code..;)  There are several pages of
improvements and bug fixes that I won't put here (don't wanna take up
too much space) but there are big changes planned (and some completed)
for v2.00.  I apologize for not getting the Micropics Newsletter out
during this time (which will be sent out again Dec7th should everything
go all right).  In it will be details about LORD Suburbia and Grizelda's
House and Apothecary and whatnot, including that page of fixes and
improvements I mentioned above.  That's about all from my corner, other
than a new IGM is in the works for both LORD and LORD II (my first for
that game).

Bryan...              sorcerer@geocities.com
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/6062/


*** 3 ***
Codax Dragon - On his Lord 2 Igm's
Date:          Sat, 06 Dec 1997 19:01:10 EST

Hello,

I've been hard at work with several igms recently,  I have a
small problem with making small stuff but I hope to have a great 3
screener before `98. Right now I am working on an IGM called The Battlefield.
In this igm you will enter a 3 kingdom battle royal. There is going to be
SOOOO much stuff in this it's unbelievable.  Not only will you have the
chance to view the war as it plays out but there will also be some
cinematic type scenes.  Right now I'm thinking 4 different endings not
sure right now though.  Also I'll be working on getting a better rating
on my last Igm, Scavenger Hunt!

In Scavenger Hunt you get to help your employer find his items all over
the world, even some new ones!  Meet Trixie the Evil Pixie and even fight
Bashnoser, meet Trashman and his his kid. In the next version I plan to
have more detailed process to get the rare items.  Possibly a town or two.
Any way I'll do that after Battlefield is done.  Right now I'm hoping
around December 27.  Anyway enough about stuff to come.

I think Lord2 is a great game!(I hope most of you do too!)  The
engine is quite strong and can't wait till the @SHELL feature goes
on line....I have this neat little program tha.......ummm......never mind
don't want to spoil the secret!

I love to program any ideas anyone wants to give me would be great(not
that I'm running out).  So far my igms are(fave to least fave and why)

     The Pit--I just die for falling down.  It's just
              so funny!  I jump down the Pit just for fun!

     Greentree Prison- The gambling is great pretty fun too.  The only
              problem is that(i think) if you run a hotspot from
              as soon as you log on it freezes up.  I think HSs
              don't work until you've spent like 20 sec on line
              If you have problems running this igm just Email
              me so I can tell you how to fix it....It's pretty
              simple

     Scavenger Hunt-    It gives my Lord2 world more quests so I never
              run out of things to do!

     Dragon's Den Housing- Stone me!!!!  You know you want to!!!

     The Pond- Kill those Budwieser frogs and get a reward

     The Cave of HOPE and despair-  Take the path to the left and know
              the real meaning of despair!   Help a warrior outta
              cave and get a treasure!   Possible update coming.

My home page gets updated all the time so keep checking back!  Think I
made Site of the day on geocities as I had 2500+ people show up in 3 days
Contribute to the Dragon and Phoenix War, Interactive Story and listen to
music with Cresiendo Online:

 http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Way/9982/index.html

 codax_dragon@juno.com

PLEASE help me get Dragon's Den BBS back up!  There are far to little
BBSs 38-Codax Dragon-8$
May The Dragons Protect Your Soul

*** 4 ***
The One and Only TAL!

 I'm going to be as to-the-point as I can.

= Magi the Teleportationist is now version 7 with a
  total of 40! IGMs, 41 if you include ANGOR, a new,
  not-released-as-of-this-time IGM of mine.

  + I'm considering changing the number selection to a highlight
  "choice" bar. Email your thoughts and opinions.

  + I'm still looking for IGM's entry-screen points for Magi. If
  you're an IGM author, please supply them. =)

= The V Bank is available. Why would vampires run a bank... and
  why aren't they collecting GOLD? There are also "services"
  available for those who accumulate enough in their account.

= ANGOR, a new IGM coming soon(er or later), is under
  development. Its a weird combination of some new
  techniques in IGM writing (which I confess, some of them I
  did not develop). I won't reveal details at this point in
  time, however, here's an outline of the stuff there:

  + Fiend has returned to yet another IGM. This time he provides no
  real advice, but offers to teleport the player to either Greentree or
  Flagcity (the IGM is in the middle of a desert).

  + Your generic bar, with your generic chatwall, however, it uses
  the same chattext as in the V Bank and the Temple of Sharya,
  so players can participate in the same chat, across the map,
  without having to trek back to the same old haunts.

  + Spells!

  + Limited "party" combat

  + A new weapon and armour that AREN'T /another/ *lame* attempt at
  a "biggest" and "best". They're moderately powered [stronger than the
  stuff in Greentree/Porttown]; but slightly cheaper. "UNBALANCING!" you
  may cry, but if you realize it takes a bit to /get/ to the IGM, it sort
  of simulates pricing variation over regions.

  + A Registar. ["Huh, what's that?"; That is the detail I'm not
  going to reveal]

= The Temple of Water is under co-development by me and Monty
  Python. I can't personally recommend this, except as some filler, or
  perhaps in a game where quest points are difficult to come by. It really
  just doesn't "add" that /something/ to the game.

= The Fire Temple was co-developed by me and MP, and is out.

= A NEW LORD2 UTILITY IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT. No working title,
  this will be for items what IGM.EXE is for IGMs. It'll make adding items
  to LORD2 much, much easier and totally automated. No fear of overwriting
  somebody else's items, either!

= THERE IS A NEW VERSION OF BROADCAST SCRYING-GEM COMPANY
  AVAILABLE. It fixes a lot of the ugliness in the actual subgame routine.
  Its just tiny update to the IGM. Unless you have the FIRST version I
  released, which only has 4 questions in it... the latest has 8, If I
  recall.

Addendum: If you wish to contact the same Monty Python that collaborates
on projects with me, its montypython10@juno.com. He mainly provides a
theme and map ANSi. To get a feel for his stuff, check which IGMs are his
and look at the maps -- they're always his.

All my IGMs are available directly from me, latest version, via email
(UUENCODEd file within the message). Just do me a favor and put in your
Subject/Title field "FILE REQUEST". And I'm always willing to talk about
my IGMs, and whatever secrets or workings of them you wanna know about.

And now, I'll spill my beans on little nicknacks on my IGMs that I can
recall.

Scrying:        In the O'Bubba studio, his name is up on the wall. My
                handle, "Talaphid", shares but one letter with that name.
                Try stepping THROUGH that letter. Wander around, and you
                can go join the band! Maybe no one will notice you, and
                you are thence hidden.
Divine Comedy:  an oversight. You can smackrod yourself (regardless of
                alignment or having given Peter a Skystaff) straight to
                either God or the Devil, and get either's blessing. And
                there ARE /slight/ differences in the blessings given
                by each -- but nothing significant.
The V Bank:     Nothing /real/ special here. The upper left hand corner's
                dot gives you some plot, but no bonuses or tricks.
Paladin's Oasis:For evil smackrod characters, the Catina WILL NOT give
                you the gem blessing because of your alignment. You /can/
                sneak in the Oasis this way, though, and you /can/ talk to
                the Transmutation and Fiend and Finneg.
ANGOR:          An UNCOMPLETE ALPHA is available, just to see what the
                lay of the land will /probably/ be. The Registar only
                has one quest, and its incomplete (but worth seeing once).
                There's a secret in this, for hiding from the wraith of
                other's swords. I won't reveal any details about it,
                except that what Fiend says is TECHNICALLY, and ONLY
                technically true.
Temple of Sharya: Ghost, Deity, Magical Resonance.
Fire Temple:    Water, Akasha, Endurance.
The Visitors:   Aliens not making sense? Try keeping the doctor away, up
                the only tree near Stonepass Lodge.
Bad Company:    I'm honestly sorry this IGM sucks as much as it does. Anyone
                who wishes to take what I've done and upgrade it, feel
                free. The /only/ hint I'll give is that you need to think as
                if each person is psycho, what would their motivation be?
                Does it make sense? For example, the Carpenter wants to get
                to Sosen village, so he wouldn't have killed anyone -- he
                needs to get somewhere!
Monastry:       It'll sell you a Koshi Snack and Armour if you have sufficient
                alignment [I forget what, but under 100, easily].

                     Yadda, yadda.
                            -Tal
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
          -Talaphid Elsdragon


*** 5 ***
Message from Jim Wilson

Hi, I'm Jim Wilson from Toronto, Canada.  I am an autoworker at Chrysler
Bramalea and play with computers as a hobby.  I enjoy playing Lord 2 and
found that the "pure" game is too easy once you know most of the tricks.

I wrote reset12.zip as a quick fix as a player could start over from
scratch, except that there is no way to get rid of properties without
manual intervention of the sysop.  Still, it is better than waiting 15
days to get deleted!

 -=-=-=-=-=-=-

 I am now working on a fairly large and complex IGM called Mimsic Isle.
 It has 15 visible map screens, a cave and an  entry point.  It will
 be entered from the north shore east of Sosen, by ship.

 The first screen or two will be monsters of the nastiness found around
 the north shore but soon gets much tougher.  I  want to create an IGM
 that very high level players will still have to spend many days or
 even weeks completing.

 The maps are done and about half the refs.  I  expect to complete it
 during Christmas holidays so as this newsletter is sent out I hope
 that mimsic10.zip will be found at Bobby's site,
 http://www.shelby.net/wizards/l2igm

 I am sure that you all are aware of Bobby's ISP troubles and it is
 possible that the site will be down as you read this.

 If you contact me at jfw@ica.net I will have a  web site address
 for you to get reset and mimsic in their newest incarnations.

             -=-=-=-=-=-=-

 When I went to make my maps I found that bin2data, downloaded
 from Bobby's site, would not work for me. Anyone else find that?

 I ended up writing two programs, one to take a one screen dat file
 and make it a .bin file for thedraw, and another to take a .bin
 file and make it a .dat file to load into l2cfg.

             -=-=-=-=-=-=-

 Things I would like other IGM authors to do?

 Avoid using player names as identifiers.  For instance, if you use
 a player's name as part of the filename in which you store data such
 as whether a quest is done, a room owned or whether somewhere was
 visited today and the player changes his name he becomes a new guy
 as far as your IGM is concerned.  Further,  the sysop is stuck with
 dozens or hundreds of little files in his Lord2 directory.

 Use the player number instead for file names,  if you must track each
 player in his own file.  Better yet use an IDF and there will only
 be one file!

              -=-=-=-=-=-=-

 The bug I most create while writing?

 What I do the most is forget to match up @begin and @end statements
 in my code.  Very odd things have happened and I now indent and check
 every chunk of code, like so:

         @if `p24 is 77 then do
         @begin
         @show

 I can't indent this line or others that are formatted for the screen.`/

  @if `p25 > 9 then do
   @begin
     @key nodisplay
     @drawmap
     @update
     @closescript
   @end
     @show

     Do lots more fun things to the poor guy.

     @end

  This makes it fairly easy to see that the @end matches each @begin.

      -=-=-=-=-=-=-

  Hope you all had a great holiday season,

     (((- Jim -)))

*** 6 ***
Mamoosoft!

Mamoosoft currently has two IGMs under development.

First is Turgon's Backdoor.  This IGM will introduce players to
Sauraman, the record keeper at the Training Center.  He will take
donations for the Master's birthday present and he may be able to
help you by altering the records in your favor.  He's not a very
honorable businessman!  The IGM is being written so that it will
check each user's record and reflect whether Barak or Turgon is
actually running the center for that user.  We hope to have v1.0
released by the end of 1997.

Second is The University of Greater Arrisville.  This one was started
several months ago, but has turned out to be a significantly larger
project than we anticipated.  So far:
        the chapel is completed

        the football stadium is designed but not completely
        programmed the physics department is mostly done

        the alchemy and classroom buildings are not started

When this one is finished, I expect it to be one of our greatest
accomplishments, but I keep wanting the program to do things that the REF
language will not support!

We are also interested in releasing some touch-up versions of our IGMs,
so we'd sure appreciate hearing from our users!

As always, you can reach us by emailing robbyd@sprynet.com or hitting
our home page at

        http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/robbyd.

        Happy Holidays from Mamoosoft!

        ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
        +             Robby Dittmann             +
        +          Mamoosoft Programming         +
        +       EMAIL - robbyd@sprynet.com       +
        +            FIDO - 1:133/8003           +
        + http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/robbyd +
        ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


*** 7 ***
Demon Knight's First Letter!

 Devils Island, Version 1.05

 Devils Island:
  From the start of devils island i've been adding and tweaking a few
  things in the igm.and with the next release look to be around christmas.
  The Igm was bases on an accual song. It was just meant to see if i could
  make things move and do a cool job at the art work and controlling. I
  guess I did because the official Lord II Igm page rated it 5/5 in all
  categories. The next version will be the complete since the original
  one was a beta and didn't fully finish it because basically i ran outta
  ideas, and i was all ready working on my other software i write. Btw I'm
  the own of MetaLHeaD Softwares original know as Loco softwarez since
  1990. I also run DarkLandsBBS Use to be Obv/2 then i switch to Iniquity
  due to the fact iniq support TelNet. (215)487-7315 is the number and
  you can also get me on the web at : Http://www.ibbs.com/darkland/

  My email is DemonKnight@Ibbs.com, or Demon-Knight@Juno.com

  So as the time draws near look for Devils Island Version 1.05 (Freeware)


*** 8 ***
Demon Knight Speaks!


    IT'S FINALLY OUT! Devils Island Version 1.50 No-Beta, Final Rel!
    go check it out! (2i5)487-7315 (DarkLandsBBS)
    Http://www.ibbs.com/darkland/ Or check out the official igm page

    What's on it? well the same thing as before but a few new things and
    a few old things   that i fixed up better..

    The Bar's Bathroom is no open, go check it out, it even
    knows if you went to the bathroom or not 2day! Hey need condoms
    don't worry theres a condom dispenser!

    Demons Inn want a soda,snack, ice? well now there are cool little
    soda,snack,ice machines!. remember the door that was locked? well
    anyone who finished the little quest on Devils Island now has access
    to it, (go check it out!)

    Cityhall In this version cityhall has only a BANK, but the
    next version will have a few cool things for ya to check out.

  For other Igms/Software check out my web site or bbs:
                Http://www.ibbs.com/darkland/
                (215)487-7315 DarkLandsBBS
                DemonKnight@Ibbs.com
     MetaLHeaD Softwarez (c) 1997, All Rights Reserved



*** 9 ***
A Great Article by Paul!

*Realm of Lore is a new IGM for Legend Of the Red Dragon just released in
 November. While at first glance, it may seem to be just another random
 event IGM But, it certainly has a lot more to it than just an extension
 of LORD. The basic idea of this IGM is of multiple realms for you to go
 to for conquest with each realm including events pertaining lore. Online
 documentation describes the different tales of each realm. It would take
 a whole extra page to detail them in this article alone. There are four
 different realms in the game, Cave, Forest, Mountain, and Dungeon.
 Depending on which realm you choose determines the events and rewards
 you will receive.

*The game begins after you have journeyed from Other Places, to a hilltop.
 You then proceed down into a valley to a cabin occupied by the Wise Old
 Man. There at the cabin, with the aid of the old man, you can trade
 weapons and armors, change class, learn class skills, buy skill usage
 points (Power Pellets), camp in the realm, raid campsites, and of course
 journey to a realm. The game doesn't use LORD's forest fights, but
 instead limits your turns based on Realm Fights. So, you can play RoL
 if you have already used all your turns in LORD, and vice versa. Also,
 by my own preference, I have made it so that when you die in RoL you
 will not die in LORD. This, of course, could easily become a toggled
 option in the game configuration for sysops to choose, in the next version.

*Before you can venture to a realm, the Old Man insists that you purchase
 Healing Potions. This is the manner by which you can regain hitpoints,
 instead of the use of a Healers Hut. You can quaff a healing potion before,
 during, and after battle. The cost of healing potions is 50 gold pieces.
 And each potion will revive you to your maximum hitpoints. Though, during
 battle, after you consume a potion the fight continues immediately. So,
 depending on the situation, you could easily consume one potion right
 after another while virtually, fighting with the other hand. So stock up
 on healing potions for higher levels!

*The Old Man also has an arsenal of weapons and armors. There are fifteen
 weapons and armors, as in LORD, but with different names, prices and
 benefits. Though, unlike LORD's system of buying and selling, the Old
 Man will trade your current weapon, (or armor) and credit you for the
 difference in price. And if you happen to have a better object than the
 one he has he'll give you a refund. Which helps if you are strapped for
 cash. Keep a sharp eye out in his weapons room, and you can easily find a
 cheat.

*You can also buy Power Pellets from the Old Man. What are power pellets?
 Just as in LORD, each class has skill usage points. Depending on your
 class, you can inflict damage on an opponent by use of Power Moves during
 battle. The maximum amount, (limited by LORD), of skill usage is 127. So,
 therefore you can only purchase 127 power pellets at a time. And the cost
 of each power pellet is 1000 gold coins. The price of each power move
 ranges from 2 to 24 power pellets, depending on your class level. RoL
 contains it's own set of power moves for each class, different from those
 in LORD. Which means more moves for Death Knights, more spells for Mystics,
 and a few more tricks for Thieves.

*You can also change your class and learn new class skills. Though, it
 does come at a price, of course. It costs 10 gems multiplied by your
 class level to advance to the next level. And since gems are harder to
 come by than gold it's more of a challenge. And with each advancement in
 level, you gain more advanced power moves.

*Once you have purchased healing potions the Old Man will provide a choice
 of which realm to venture. Within each realm you will encounter a multiple
 amount of monsters to battle. Although you can retreat from a battle if
 the odds are against you, too many retreats will prohibit you from
 finishing the journey through the realm and you will be named a coward.
 While journeying through the realm you can also search for treasures.
 These are random bonuses in the form of minimal experience points, gold,
 gems, power pellets and healing potions. These are small amounts, but
 helpful all the same. Halfway  through a realm you must complete the
 "mid turn" event. This mid turn event is not particularly one of lore
 but does pertain to which realm they are in. I added the mid turn events
 later in the development of the game for more competition and variety.
 Plus at higher levels, it's difficult to finish a realm to fight the ending
 events. So, this way you will at least gain some rewards for your efforts.
 After the mid turn event, you journey further through the realm again
 slaying more enemies, until you reach the end of the realm where you will
 encounter a random event, depending on which realm you are in. There are
 three random events for each realm, with more to come in future versions.
 All of which reward you by way of a battle or a certain task. The rewards
 vary, but include one or more of gold, experience, a child, a horse, a new
 weapon or armor, gems, etc. The higher your level the greater the reward,
 but also the greater the difficulty of the event.

*Once you have conquered a realm, you are done for the day, and can return
 back to Other Places or to the Old Man's cabin. In fact, during the course
 of the game you can go back to the cabin and replenish on supplies numerous
 times, and then re-enter the same or a different realm with regard to the
 number of Realm Fights remaining. From the cabin, you can also set up a
 campsite, where you may remain in the valley overnight outside the realm
 of LORD. Though, others can also raid your campsite by paying the Old Man
 for use of his telescope. Using the telescope you can search the valley for
 others who have pitched a tent and select a campsite to battle. The battle
 of the "camper" is controlled by the computer utilizing the same procedure
 as that of the monsters in the realm with the additional variable of the
 camper's class skill level. So, to benefit one who is camping in the
 valley, the computer will basically fight as fierce a battle as possible.
 Though, when you are attacking, you can also use your own skills via power
 moves. This option may become a toggled selection within the game
 configuration for sysops, if requested enough. The cost to raid a
 campsite is based on gems. Again gems are more difficult to obtain
 than gold, and the price is determined by the difference of the
 marauder's and the camper's level, plus one, multiplied by ten. So,
 a player at level 6 attacking someone at level 2 would cost 50 gems,
 and vice versa. But a player at level 9 attacking a player at level
 10 would only cost 20 gems. This keeps the big guys from picking on
 the little ones too much! The winner will gain a random percentage of
 the losers gold and experience. And possibly the ability to swap weapons,
 in the next version, if deemed so.

*Another feature within the game is a West Wall. This is a wall that you
 can "carve" a message into for other players to read. Much like the
 conversions in the Inn within LORD, but with the exception of each
 message on the wall can contain five lines of text instead of the single
 line of LORD's. The wall also supports LORD's color code sequence with
 the addition of blinking characters. A help list of color codes is
 contained within a menu option in the game.

*Many other technical features of the game have been incorporated. I've
 included a snooze timer, so the game won't get locked up during multinode
 games by inactivity. Online sysop chat is included, of course. Players'
 names that contain LORD's color codes are displayed properly. In fact if
 one changes their name the Old Man will "know".  If you hit the wrong
 key or "stutter" a selection a remark may be displayed. The game will
 take in account of how much time a player has left on the bbs and will
 not allow entrance to a realm if less than 2 minutes remain. You can't
 waste gold by buying too many healing potions. Or if no Realm Fights
 remain, then healing potions can't be bought. Players won't battle the
 same monster consecutively, wondering 'hey didn't I just kill that guy?!'.
 The game also contains several hidden cheats. Some are practically
 given away, others are not. Though, each cheat can only be performed
 once a day. And when a player dies, the Old Man is kind enough to take
 them back to Other Places ;)

*This game has taken some time to make. And although it is in it's
 first release and contain a lot of features, it has room for improvement.
 Many of which are briefly noted in this article. So, when you play this
 new IGM and find something you disagree with or have a new idea please
 share your thoughts with me. I would be more than happy to hear them.
 I hope the game provides as much fun for you, as it was to make- or
 actually, more fun!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you have any questions or comments about REALM oF LORE, you may
contact the author by Email via paulm@kc.net or visit his website at
http://www.kcdata.com/~paulm to download the latest version.

*** 10 ***
Closing Notes

Well there it is. I hope all of you have a Great New Year.  As usual you
can see this at my web site and while you are there you can get my one
LORD 2 IGM. :) My web site is at http://web2.insanitybbs.com/bat

The next article will be on or around April 1st (Not a Joke) And that
will end Volume 1 of the Lord IGM author's Newsletter!

Keep Looking Up cause that is where the Dragon will be!
(Trying out new closing phrases)

Bryan Turner
lordml@usa.net

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