Here's some interesting tidbits for the pirate NES Hellraiser game
which was developed by the very well known Color Dreams but was
eventually canned:

Dan Lawton and Phil Mikkelson had wanted to make a Hellraiser game for
the NES. Phil had started the work with the Hellraiser game, by
obtaining the licensed and drawing the preliminary "screenshots" scene
in the old magazines.

"I contacted Clive Barker and got the ball rolling with the project.
Dan knew what Hellrasier was but I don't think the Chinese guys (Eddy
and his brother where the other owners of the company) really knew
what it was until we signed the deal. I made the screen shots that
were used in the Gamepro magazine article."

Dan had envisioned a Hellraiser game that was physically impossible to
design, by normal means that is. Dan developed the strangest concept
ever: design a special cart. Mr. Lawton had known a man named Ron
Risley. Giving Ron specifications for the cart, Dan watched as Ron
Risley constructed a "super cartridge."

According to Ron Risley, "My recollection is that the original NES
cartridge used two ROMs, one as a character generator and one with the
program code. What I did with the SuperCart was create a complete Z-80
computer with its own ROM and RAM, and then mapped a second access
stream into the Z-80 RAM for the NES console.

The Z-80 could then modify the character generator and the NES's
program code in real time. For some applications (especially
player's-eye view or "3-D" rendering) we would actually replace the
entire character generator during horizontal retrace, so that we had
pixel-by-pixel control of the screen -- something you couldn't do with
straight NES cartridges even if you had the processor power (which you
didn't). So the effect was that we greatly increased the effective
amount of available ROM, we improved graphics control, and we had a
complete Z-80 that could run as a graphics co-processor."

By the time the cartridge design was completed, Color Dreams decided
against the Hellraiser game. Some of the reasons are as follows:

# Dan was not totally satisfied with the color changing speed
# Carts would cost around $100, this would produce lower sales
# Their Hellraiser license was about to expire

A few things remain from the old Hellraiser game. Color Dreams began
to manufacture the labels for the game, I am fortunate enough to own a
few of these. There were also a few mockup pictures seen in adverts
and magazines. Phil Mikkelson once told me that these screens were
grabbed from an Amiga.

Roger Deforest was the graphics artist behind the PC version of
Hellraiser. He drew up a few enemy sprites and a title screen, all of
which he gratefully shared with my site. Below are a few words from
Roger himself.

"I did do some graphics for Hellraiser, which was never released. I
still have the graphics if you're interested in putting them on your
site. I don't think Color Dreams owns them. The title screen came out
kinda cool, but some of the monsters are just okay. It's mostly
nostalgic for me, and good for a laugh!

I worked on Hellraiser which you know never was released. They had the
rights to make the game for several years and just sat on it. I don't
know why. We were gonna use the Wolfenstein 3D engine for the game. I
remember that the progammer on Hellraiser got the graphics in and the
monsters working. It was all very bare bones stuff, but it was getting
there and looked like it'd be fun. And then it was abandoned again for
other titles."

The following was grabbed from an old brochure included with some
copies of King Neptune's Adventures. "Super-16 cartridge delivers 16
bit performance that plugs right into your 8 bit Nintendo System.

Hellraiser is the first game to use our advanced technology that
pushes the NES further than ever before.

Experience the pleasure of 16-bit performance. Experience the pain of
Clive Barker's Hellraiser.

Can you locate the strange cubes that open doorways to the darkrealm?
Can you solve the puzzle of the Lament Configuration? Pinhead,
Cenobites, and all of Hell know the answer. From the darkness far away
laughter echoes."

http://www.planetnintendo.com/thewarpzone/cdreams5.html

Some more links:
http://www.planetnintendo.com/thewarpzone/raiser.html
http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/articles/remember_when/1995/hellrais.html
http://nesworld.parodius.com/kozik.htm

Today I purchased Super 3-D Noah's Ark! Oh happy day!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/28/32407.html

Borland has appointed a mid-1990s first-person perspective
shoot-'em-up hero as its new CTO.

According to the software company, it has appointed Blake Stone to the
position of CTO. In his new role, Stone will "help to further the
Borland vision for Application Lifecycle Management (ALM), helping
organisations to align business needs with software development by
tightly integrating the design, development, testing and deployment
phases of the application lifecycle".

How the mighty have fallen, it seems. Stone's new role is a long way
from his previous career as 22nd Century Space Hero, and aligning
organisations' business and software needs can't offer the same job
satisfaction as ridding the universe of Doctor Pyrus Goldfire and his
evil mutant minions.

Stand-up fights are surely better than bug hunts.

Stone rose to fame in 1993 through his exploits defeating the Aliens
of Gold plot. He returned the following year to deal with the Planet
Strike incident. Both adventures were revealed to Earthpeople through
the work of games developer Apogee, now better known as 3D Realms.

In 1997, however, Stone demanded a change of scene, and joined Borland
as a systems architect. Having rid the galaxy of the scum of the
space-lanes, Stone turned his attention to Borland's JBuilder, helping
deliver the product line as a 100 per cent Java implementation (it
says here).

"Blake Stone has made incredible technological contributions to
Borland, helping our customers to maximise the value of software to
their business and reduce the costs of new services," said Dale L
Fuller, president and CEO of Borland, today.

"I'm pleased," said Doctor Goldfire, speaking from his secret lair.
"The boy done good. When the peoples of the universe were in dire
peril, Stone was there for them in their hour of need. And now he's
there for Borland."

"I couldn't be more excited," said Stone of his new role.

What next we wonder? B J Blazkowtiz to spearhead Oracle's
collaboration software development? Linus Torvalds to invade Pluto?
®

No, not really, but pretty freakin' close!

It's the mod you've been waiting for, but didn't know it.

http://pub128.ezboard.com/fpimentogamedevelopment.showMessage?topicID=817.topic

For those who like Wolf 3D, Batman is a new 24 level set by Ian
Skevos-Jones. The levels are well designed and there are many changed
graphics, sounds and code changes etc.

You can get it at my site http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~brlowe/

It's listed in 'latest sets'.

Brian.

Wow, just wow.

It's really cool, I'm a big Batman fan and I really did this mod. Plus
ass the changes are really cool.

Thanks Brian.

While the spokesperson couldn't confirm the capacity in which these
industry stalwarts have been employed, inside sources have informed us
that Hall will assume the role of creative director at Midway and
oversee all the company's internal projects.

Romero, on the other hand, will, according to our source, re-shape the
internal studio and head-up one of Midway's forthcoming games.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.co\
m/news/news_story.php(que)id=97391

Midway is a hop skip away from my house, and Tom Hall's native home is
just a few hours away from that... I wonder if they're going to move
here or start a branch in Texas...

Hello,

This email message is a notification to let you know that
a file has been uploaded to the Files area of the dopefish
group.

   File        : /Click here to find your senior friend!
   Uploaded by : racaparuru2855
   Description : A great dating service for seniors.

You can access this file at the URL

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dopefish/files/Click%20here%20to%20find%20your%20s\
enior%20friend%21

To learn more about file sharing for your group, please visit

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/groups/files

Regards,

racaparuru2855

Dave Sharpless released the source code of Jumpman Lives!

Download it from http://www.classicgaming.com/jlounge/index.html

Now I can finally look what the cheats are for this game.

Gaming site "This Strife" has two interviews with some folks notable
in Apogee history; Scott Miller and Todd Replogle.

Todd is known for having programmed the first three Duke games, as
well as several others for Apogee in the early days of the company.
Here's a bit from Todd's interview:

Q: What are your favourite computer games of all time?

A: My favorite video game of all time has to be the really spooky
ones. The original arcade version of Williams' Sinistar is a game that
stood out among the rest. It had a simple premise with complex
gameplay attributes.

Q: Your past has seen you having heavy involvement with Scott Miller
and George Broussard, 3DRealms head honchos. Have you got any funny
stories about your times with them?

A: There was a funny time when the whole gang flew to a software
awards ceremony in Los Angeles. In no time we were exploring the town,
checkin' out the sights and getting familiar with the territory. One
night we stopped by a strip club to do some "research" when all of a
sudden Chris Farley walks in! We couldn't believe it. For a time we
were more interested in watching him than the strippers.

http://www.thisstrife.com/features/100Strife_interview_Todd.asp

The other interview is with Scott Miller, founder of Apogee Software.
Scott talks about a wide range of topics, from the genesis of the Max
Payne franchise, the foundation of id Software, and Scott's possible
work as a level designer for DNF.. Here's some from Scott's interview:

Q: Even with relatively few Duke Nukem games released, he has become
an established character and brand name. How did you achieve this?

A: It only takes one spectacular game to establish a brand. And
although the original Duke Nukem, a side-scroller, was a giant success
in the shareware market, selling not too far behind Wolfenstein 3-D,
it was Duke Nukem 3D that broke the damn wide open on Duke's
popularity, exposing him to 25 million players via the shareware
version, and 1.5 million via the PC retail version.

Q: One of the things that sets 3D Realms apart from the majority of
games developers is that you're self funded, isolated from publisher
pressuring. Is this something you'd ever want to change and are there
any downsides to this situation?

A: I'd guess that most all studios wants to be financially
independent, because it allows for the freedom to make the games YOU
want to make, inventing new properties and being in charge of your
destiny. Having to depend on money from publishers, who more often
than not do not see things as you do, and generally do not think for
the long-term, is not fun at all.

http://www.thisstrife.com/features/100Strife_interview_Scott.asp

Make sure and check out both interviews - and if you want a laugh,
check out the rest of the site.

supposed to be up there, or is that an error?  fnord?

Ever feel that you need a little something more in your life? A small
dopefish following your mouse around maybe? Well, now you can live
that dream.

Introducing Dopefish Ver.1, a new DesktopX object created especially
to follow your mouse aimlessly as you whittle away hours on your
computer! Watch as it turns obediently, watch as it does cartwheels on
your command, watch as it...Ahem...

Requires DesktopX (Object Desktop) to run it. A free public version of
it can be obtained at Stardock.com

http://www.stardock.com/

Here's the file, and happy Dopefishing!
http://home.austarnet.com.au/rileysden/DopefishV1.dxpack

Designer of Castle Wolfenstein passes away February 26, 2004.

Castle Wolfenstein was the first talking video game--that is, a game
that used simulated voice as part of the game's soundscape. It was a
two-dimensional side-scrolling action game with a plot that would be
instantly recognizable to anyone who finds the name Wolfenstein
familiar, since it was also the game that influenced the breakthrough
first-person shooter Wolfenstein 3D. The programmer of the innovative,
influential, and fun game was Silas Warner. Warner passed away on
February 26, 2004, following a long-term fight against kidney disease.

Castle Wolfenstein may be the best remembered of Warner's games, but
it is not the only one. He is credited for the sequel, Beyond Castle
Wolfenstein. He also worked on Gunship for the Amiga, Silent Service
for the Atari ST, and Red Storm Rising for the Commodore 64.

According to his wife, Kari Ann Owen, "Silas created some really
wonderful games. In my own opinion, his best creation was Robotwars.
That had a positive value of the player learning basic programming,
thinking, and analysis concepts. It far preceded the physical robot
wars of today."

Memorial services will be held March 28 in Davis, California. There is
no expectation of any gift; however, Kari Ann Owen has requested that
those wanting to contribute in Warner's memory may send donations to
the nonprofit theater company that they both participated in: Kari Ann
Owen, Artistic Director Theater Engage, 630 West Second Ave. #13,
Chico CA 95926.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/03/18/news_6091777.html

From 3D Realms:

Apogee Software has been around for 17 years now - the first title was
released back in 1987 when Apogee was nothing more than Scott Miller
by himself in his bedroom. The games released back then were quite
different, and over the years, we've released quite a few titles.
Anyway, today we're here to bring you a freeware release of some of
the earliest titles from our past. The two we're releasing are "The
Adventure Fun-Pak" and "The Puzzle Fun-Pak". Each of these packs
consist of four titles on their own. Here's a rundown on what's in them:

Adventure Fun-Pak:

     * Rogue Runner
     * Night Bomber
     * Raiders of the Forbidden Mine
     * The Thing

Puzzle Fun-Pak:

     * Block Five
     * Asteroid Rescue
     * Phrase Master
     * Maze Machine

Most of these are old text based games, and some of them won't run
terribly well on today's faster computers. We do offer two "slow down"
programs on our downloads page (Moslo & CPU Kill) - you might need to
make use of one of these in order to play them. The slowdown programs
are not ours, we're just offering them as a convenience - we can't
help in getting them working for you. We're also told that the DOSBox
emulation program has slowdown routines, too. Furthermore, we offer no
assistance of any kind with these freeware releases - we do not
support them anymore. Please don't ask for help with them, you won't
get any.

Keep in mind these games are being released as freeware. They are NOT
public domain. The difference is that while we will allow you to
download these for free, we still retain copyright on the titles, and
you can't turn around and sell them; you can't do whatever you want
with them, basically. You can grab the zip file with the two packs
here. ( ftp://ftp.3drealms.com/share/packs.zip ) Enjoy these really
early examples of our company's legacy for free! We do have two
previously released early titles available as freeware - old text
adventures Supernova & Beyond the Titanic - you can get them from the
downloads page as well.

If you'd like to learn more about the early days of the company, we
strongly urge you to read the "Apogee FAQ", which is available on the
FAQ page of our website. It has answers and information for just about
anything you could possibly want to know about us.

http://www.3drealms.com/downloads.html
http://dosbox.sourceforge.net/
http://www.3drealms.com/faq/index.html

>Apogee Software has been around for 17 years now
Huh, not bad.

>back in 1987 when Apogee was nothing more than Scott
>Miller by himself in his bedroom.
*sigh* Good old times ... where games really had innovative gameplay
and it wasn't the primary goal of development to melt down CPU & GPU...

>...today we're here to bring you a freeware release of some of
> the earliest titles from our past.
Nice! I'll check 'em out. If it won't be good with native DOS and a
brake I still've got a 486, 386, 286, XT... so somewhere it has to
perform well.

> Keep in mind ... freeware NOT public domain.
If you just care about games being sold (would you really think you
can bring nowadays kids out of their holes by showing them ASCII games
or some similar stuff?!) why don't you just release the source as GPL?
Maybe there'd be even someone porting it to native GNU/L or something
or just doing some port or building in a brake. Whatever.

B.t.w. cool pic on the startup page of the group!
When it's done... I hope it'll ever be done. Anyone an idea what's up
with "Prey" (the one where you're able to blast everything and really
everything physically correct into pieces)?

I think the main reason they don't release the source code is because
they have no idea where it is or if there's even a copy still left!
They got lucky with ROTT, one of their programers backed it up for
himself. But it's doubtful we'll have such luck with other Apogee titles.

> Anyone an idea what's up with "Prey" (the one where you're able to
> blast everything and really everything physically correct into
> pieces)?

Prey has been placed on the back burner indefinetly until DNF is
released. The crew was switched over to Duke, but quite a few of them
have left and the lead engine designer no longer works there. So it
looks pretty grim, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see that kind of
interaction in Forever.

>I think the main reason they don't release the source code is [...]
>lost
Heh, yes. That might be a reason. Sad.

> They got lucky with ROTT, one of their programers backed it up for
> himself. But it's doubtful we'll have such luck with other Apogee
> titles.
Well, I hope not. If I would be a programmer/game developer and
release a game that's basically worth to be released I'd keep all the
development stuff and look each year for the quality of my backups and
do re-backups if needed.


>>"Prey"
> Prey has been placed on the back burner indefinetly until DNF is
> released. The crew was switched over to Duke, but quite a few of
> them have left and the lead engine designer no longer works there.
Uh, well. What a pity. But there might still be hope. When Duke's
released. I wonder what takes so long. There had been trailers and
stuff years ago. And they released a jump 'n run to keep the fans
warm. I hope it's not some kind of juristic shit. I remember
Daggerfall being put on ice for a whole year. (And after that all
those damn scriptkiddies cried that the VGA would be outdated and the
game would be crap.) *sigh* Or do they just wait what DooM 3 and HL2
have to show?
Do you know if DNF is based on open standards (the only standards that
ARE standards) so it will be GNU-Linux/BSD friendly?

>So it looks pretty grim, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see that
> kind of interaction in Forever.
Yeah, that would also explain why it takes so long to release it. But
that would be without a doubt a hit in the game market. I mean -
that's way more innovational to me than just melting the next GPU
generaton by higher resolution and effects. And if they keep all the
funny mess in it...
Well then. "Hail to the king, baby!"

A couple of years ago George Broussard, game designer, said that they
would get DNF out before DOOM 3 because they didn't want to compete.
Well now they're obviously shooting for much later than that. It's
getting pretty silly, they could after released two or three Duke
games by now and be well on their way in development of a fourth and
still keeping high quality standards. I think part of the problem is
they don't know what they want of the project and the other part of
the problem is they're not willing to stand back and accept that they
can't ride each new development wave.

It's impossible for DNF to be worth this wait, it'll be a fine and
dandy game and it'll make money, but it's not worth 8 to 9 years of
development already spent and god knows how much is left.

> Do you know if DNF is based on open standards (the only standards that
> ARE standards) so it will be GNU-Linux/BSD friendly?

It won't be open source, but in true 3D Realms fashion I'm sure
they'll make the game totally editable. Last thing I've read about
Linux from them they're not even going to look at the possibility of
Linux or Apple until after DNF is released on Windows. They will then
outsource to another company for portation if they decide to go for it.

>that they would get DNF out before DOOM 3 because they didn't want
>to compete.
Well. Same like Potter/Lotr. But they wanted to bring it out before?
Uh. I fear they won't be able to do so, since DooM 3 was announced to
go gold yesterday.
But a pal said: "Maybe DooM 3 will be quite lame, just incredible
engine but the game won't. And they made DooM 3 more for engine
licensing than game fun."
Well, I'll wait and see for myself. But many people keep telling that
there won't be the masses of stuff and demons like DooM 1 & 2. *sigh*
But I think DNF would be able to compete. Remember the times of Duke3d
and Quake 1. "I'm afraid of no quake". Well, I loved Quake, but in
fact it missed th gimmicks of Duke and was far more technical. So at
the end I like both games, till today. I still play stuff like doom
(getting new wads every week on doomworld), Rott, Duke, Blood, Quake.
Whatever.
I think both games will be a great hit. So they should just release it
after the fist dust has settled that DooM 3 whirled up.


>they could after released two or three Duke games by now and be well
>on their way in development of a fourth and still keeping high
>quality standards.
Hmm, I doubt that. Of course, it's a matter of engine improvement by
themself (time consuming) or licensing ready engines and concentrating
on the game "itself". The problem I see is, that with each month of
delay the expectations rise and maybe some people will be disappointed
by the game if it ever hits the street. Of course, they got the money
for delaying and game quality is a very fine thing (esp. if you look
at all the smaller publisher dependent companies that only produce
buggy stuff) - but they really should go for a release this year,
maybe around Christmas.

>part of the problem is they don't know what they want of the project
>and the other part of the problem is they're not willing to stand
>back and accept that they can't ride each new development wave.
Yeah. But it's impossible to keep up with each development, especially
if they're closed source, non GPL. Maybe they had a fine engine. Now
they see the light stuff in DooM 3... and so they keep working another
year. Crap. Light effects aren't everything in a game. Hey, there a
still guys like me that play EGA games. Shitty 320x200; 16 colours, no
fu*ked up light effects ever. And some of those games are still
enjoyable. Gameplay and fun, a good input support, nice music, these
thing are also part of a game. Of course light effects maybe used for
realistic looks, scaryness (and that's one of D3 principles). But it's
only a part of the whole game. And Duke should have enough good stuff
in it to compete. I saw that trailer once and 'it really kicked ass'!


>but it's not worth 8 to 9 years of development already spent and god
>knows how much is left.
But maybe they're working the Prey features into it.
Well, high ambitions...
The same with GNU/Hurd & GNU/Linux. Linux is monolithic, but it works
fine and it is existant! The ambitious Hurd-Microkernel remained quite
a dream.

>DNF & Tux
>won't be open source
Of course.

>but in true 3D Realms fashion I'm sure they'll make the game totally
>editable.
Well, that was invented by id. And that's a thing that kept DooM alive
for so long. Make your own levels, graphics, stuff. But editable
doesn't mean automatically compatibility with open standards. It
doesn't mean that it will run with Linux, Bsd, MacOS, whatever.

>Last thing I've read about Linux from them they're not even going to
>look at the possibility of Linux or Apple until after DNF is released
>on Windows.
Huh. Not nice. Of course, most people release for the windows
plattform first since it's the most spreaded one (by OEM licensing)
and they expect the biggest market there. But wouldn't it be the best
to serve all markets? If you stick to nonproprietary standards, roalty
free stuff, then it's way easier to make a portation to other systems.

>They will then outsource to another company for portation if they
>decide to go for it.
I hope so. I hope for their sake, or they won't see a cent from me.
Cause: Why should I spend money for a software that doesn't run in the
environment I want? I mean: I won't pay anyone to cut my digital
rights to digital restrictions. Look, there's 2xfree stuff (free in
software and free of cost) that allows me to run it when, where and
how I want. No copyprotection getting on my nerves, no 'you may not
this you may not that'. I've had a look at the big freedom of free
software already. And I accept that developing software is a work like
everyone else does a job, so I'm also willing to pay a programmer. (If
my budget fits it.) But I won't pay someone to put me into (digital)
chains.
Well, enough of ranting, I hope I'll see all these games some day, on
the machine and software environment I prefer.
And to this date I should keep playing ... um... maybe I'd try
Catacomb again. :)

Crap, forgot the subject on last one... well, it's hust the re.

ANother question - since this group is dedicated to the great dumb
blurping dopefish - : Anyone knows if id announced something about
easter eggs? I'm sure in Duke there will be a lot of eastereggs again,
but DooM 3?

Neat to see there's still population 'round here :-P.

I don't actually have anything to comment on in regards to any of the
video game stuff talked about between you two.  Just popping in a "hi
there."  I don't play video games like I once did.  :-P

Okay, I guess I do have two cents to put in.  I think that DNF is
gonna suck in comparison to the development time.  I've been waiting
for it like nearly ever since finishing Duke3D.  (Actually I guess it
was like a year or two after that game that they announced development
of it, wasn't it?)  Once upon a time I would have bought this game the
day it came out.  Now I'll probably buy it a couple years after it
comes out and it's sitting in the bargain bin.  What's a few more,
right?  :-P

Actually, I recall when it was first announced as being a spiffy 3D
FPS (I believe that the title was going to be used for a 2D
sidescroller originally) I wasn't interested because I had a 486 and
Quake only ran at 4fps on my machine, so I knew that the new Duke
game, which would surely be finished in a year or two, wouldn't run at
all on my machine.  Then as time went by and the game still wasn't
released, eventually I upgraded to a spiffy Athlon... with a TNT2
card.  Max Payne runs fine, but I guess I'm on the lowest of low ends
of machines yet again, a "mere" 1.1Ghz.  "Only" 128MB RAM.  My video
card has just 16MB of memory!  Oh dear, I'm gonna go on a rant about
"the old days" ;).  Recalling that my PSX has I think the same amount
of RAM as my video card, with 2 being reserved for video (I wonder how
incorrect I am here, been a while since I reviewed the specs,) and the
games for it still rock... goodness, will the focus ever return to
making games that are enjoyable first, pretty second?  I could play
Jet Moto 2 for hours... if I had new tracks, anyways.  It's high time
I upgrade to Jet Moto 3.  :-P

Is there still even a market for FPSs?  Max Payne was the first one
I've seen in a while with any sort of innovation to it.  Actually I
guess that one's a TPS, never mind...  They're all the same.  I'd be
content with a copy of Duke3D that was designed to work with Windows
so I could play it with sound again.  Just a couple weeks ago
(actually I think it's been like a month and a half now) I was playing
a DukeMatch, but without sound it just isn't nearly as fun.  (Noting
that there was some commenting on free software, I use Linux as my
primary operating system, but keep Windows on here for the rare times
when I want to play video games.  I have no problem with booting to
Windows to play a game, though my sound card actually works better in
Linux than in Windows.  Not that this is relevant to much if
anything.)


-Steven
(A voice from far far in the past.)

Yeah, that's pretty much my system specs too, but I only have a Voodoo
4! I'll be upgrading to match DOOM 3's medium settings within the next
couple of months.

With FPS the focus is returning on gameplay, and away from multiplayer
deathmatch, thanks in part to Half-Life. I think DNF will have a very
strong single player game, no it won't be worth the 8 years of
development since 1996, but it'll stand on its own that's for sure.
There is a new Duke Nukem side scroller called Duke Nukem: Manhattan
Project. I hear it's very good, but I never got around to buying it.
I've gone cold turkey on ANY purchases (save comics) untill I finish
my upgrade BUT it's first on my queue once that's over with. There's
also new FPS Duke3D styled game for the GameBoy Advanced that's has a
very Wolf3D few toit, like a portation.

The Dopefish is assured to be in DOOM 3, that's id Soft's baby and
it's been in all the Quakes. There is a question of if it'll make it
into DNF, George B. has called off all Dopefish references since they
have to pay royalties. I guess it is a bit silly and I think perhaps
id Software should put together a one time dime payment license to
allow serious developers to "Use the fish" as it were.

It's interesting to see Linux fly up on here all of the sudden. I
remember back a few years ago in classic gaming discussion it was
"linuck wha?" I feel the love now, in a world with out fences who
needs Gates? Duke 3D's source code has been released, and there is a
portation to Linux out there. I downloaded it and tried with some
success to get it to work, but that was a year ago so I'm sure there
are vast improvements. I'll try and find the best link. Rise of the
Triad also had a source code release but I've heard of no Linux
portation, but there just HAS to be one.

Be sure and buy Blu-Ray and not HD DVD when that battle comes around,
because Microsoft backs HD DVD. :D

Hi again

Sorry, took me some time to answer, but I was really busy with
university last weeks.


>system specs
B.t.w. some time ago there had been a news on the system requirements
on slashdot with a link to some gaming page.

http://games.slashdot.org/games/04/07/20/141236.shtml?tid=112

Todd Hollenshead, id's chief executive, said Doom 3 will require:
• A 1.5-gigahertz Intel Pentium 4 chip or AMD Athlon 1500.
• 384 megabytes of memory.
• Two gigabytes of hard drive space.
• An nVidia GeForce 3 graphics card or better; or an ATI Technologies
8500 or better.

Well, sounds fair to me. I already match/overmatch 'em with my 3.5
year old box. (Athlon XP 1.8+ (->1533MHz), Gef3 64M, 512 M SD CL2, HDD
fine, W98 for playing (the only Windows I can arrange myself with) and
a SuSE GNU/Linux (v9) distribution when they release the Linux binaries.
Maybe I get a 2.6.x kernel into it for better performance.

Well, I don't know about the Vodoo 4 but I think I heard that they're
good at OpenGL. So don't throw it away that easily. The Vodoo was the
leading 3d card series for a whole game generation.


>With FPS the focus is returning on gameplay, and away from
>multiplayer deathmatch, thanks in part to Half-Life.
I hope so. Not that a deathmatch ain't fine, but with no DSL or
flatrate it's just ugly. Oh, of course, and there are always those
cheaters around and playing against them is no fun.
And I'm an old fashion keyboarder. I always need 2 hours to get into
the feeling of mouse steering.


> There is a new Duke Nukem side scroller called Duke Nukem: Manhattan
> Project.
Yes, I saw it on a friend's PC and it was quite nice. Some fun into
it. It should be available in a cheap re-release box or something like
this now.


>GameBoy Advanced
Huh. Never really got into console and handheld stuff. Don't like the
small screens and consoles... well. They had some nice features years
ago (when PC was 386 mainly). And I liked SuperMario. But today I'm
sometimes looking for emulated stuff, but XWING was the thing that
drove to to my first own PC. And I have been sticking to it. PC ist
just WAY more universal in use, and you can make SAVEGAMES. :)
I always HATED to restart the whole game when my extra lives went 0 in
8-3 when playing Super Mario bros.

> The Dopefish is assured to be in DOOM 3
Good. Maybe someone should do him a favour and make him a real enemy
as in Keen. Not just the joke object everyone only laughs about.

>George B. has called off all Dopefish references since they
>have to pay royalties.
WTF? Royalties? For the fish? For the fu*king fish? Uh, that must be
the capitalistic american way of life. Charge for every shit and make
software patents on OK buttons to kill the other competitors.
Can't believe that!


> It's interesting to see Linux fly up on here all of the sudden.
Anyone here using BSD or the Hurd? (Just as a question.)

I think that's a matter of µ$'s software bugginess and  µ$'s behaviour
towards... everyone (firms, end user). Inventing digital RESTRICTION
management, TCPA and other crap. Nobody I know of likes even the idea
of that. On my own hardware I'm the king. And when I purchase/license
a software it my right do do whatever I want with it. And spying on
users ist just one more point in a long list... (alexa, WMP). And if
you want the functionality of A you always have to install crap B and
C with it.

> I remember back a few years ago in classic gaming discussion it was
> "linuck wha?"
Yeah. I think one major problem is (and was quite a time for me) that
games didn't run with free OSs. "Linux? Oh yes, heard about it. Shall
be far more stable than windows crap. Can I play xyz with it fine? No?
Uh. Sad."
But things are going to change.
Linux has developed incredibly. (And so have I ;-) ) There's DOSBOX,
Wine(X)(Cedega), and multiboot via GRUB (or other). I think Linux
(regardless of this insane patent shit) is going to be a fine
alternative to windows. Ok it is still missing some apps in multimedia
and the games (but that's not Linux' fault) and some things here and
there, but it's ready for desktop. It's just a problem of OEM,
popularity and FUD that's still there.
Well, and I think esp. advanced user have a harder time to switch,
since they're used to key shortcuts and behaviour of the system they
have been using since. But on the other hand Linux is extremely
configurable. I think I'll need some time to work myself in, but then
I should be at the same level of productivity. Just with the
difference that I have a better feeling generally, I'm using free
software, and I have way more options.



> I feel the love now, in a world with out fences who needs Gates?
Yes.

> Rise of the Triad also had a source code release but I've heard of
no Linux
> portation, but there just HAS to be one.
I think it should be somewhere at Icculus.


> Be sure and buy Blu-Ray and not HD DVD when that battle comes around,
> because Microsoft backs HD DVD. :D
Oh yes. I hate all this format change, since there's still DVD+ and -
(and I still don't have any DVD burner). But I'll keep my eyes wide
open and will support the open standards.
But that's a problem: whenever there's a standard, Mickeysoft comes
around, takes it, mangles it and when it is turned top to toe and will
only work in their crap they release it as "the standard" and tell
everyone that it would be the only one. And show noone any specs.
But there's good hope since all the rest of industry is tired of this
behaviour and most of them have realized that open standards are the
better way and offer more operability and flexibility. And allow
everyone to take part in the race.


Well, that's it for now.
have a nice weekend

> Well, I don't know about the Vodoo 4 but I think I heard that they're
> good at OpenGL. So don't throw it away that easily. The Vodoo was the
> leading 3d card series for a whole game generation.

Yeah, I got on the GL bandwagon long ago and picked up the Voodoo 4
because of it's performance in that area. Truth be told, for what I do
with my computer now a days, the Voodoo 4 is more than enough. But I'm
going to have to update soon so I can do video editing anyways so
"everything must go" but the Voodoo 4 will be recycled again for sure,
I may put it in the arcade cabinet I picked up. I plan on making it
into a emulation system, I just have to figure out how to go from VGA
to whatever the hell kind of monitor arcades use. Although I purchased
a Banshee at a flea market just for the old school purpose... But the
Voodoo 4 will live on just as my Voodoo 3 does.

> Yes, I saw it on a friend's PC and it was quite nice. Some fun into
> it. It should be available in a cheap re-release box or something like
> this now.

I just ordered it from Amazon.com for 13 bucks, plus shipping and
handeling. This is the first PC game I've bought since May Payne!
Yeah, I'm way out of the modern loop.
> Huh. Never really got into console and handheld stuff. Don't like the
> small screens and consoles...

I've really been enjoying my Gamecube, Mario Sunshine is a blast and a
real challenge. And on the plus side you don't have to start over
again when you lose all your lives, you just lose your gold coin
count. Anyways there's so many easy extra lives to earn in Sunshine
there's no reason for that to happen. The Megaman collection was also
released recently and that collects all the espidoes up to X. Great
stuff, me and a friend spent an entire weekend trying to beat all the
games non-stop. It was brutal. :D

> Anyone here using BSD or the Hurd? (Just as a question.)

I'm on Red Hat and I must admit that I hardly touch it, mostly because
I haven't had any luck getting it on my network. I bought a
VGA/keyboard/mouse switch so I can go between Windows and Linux real
smooth, but I can't find much use for Linux if it's not online.

id Software paved the way for gaming on Linux, along with ground floor
companies like Loki who admitedly weren't totally successful but still
they were the first wave and they took alot of bullets for the rest of
the troops.

> (and I still don't have any DVD burner).

You can get DVD Burners now that do +/-/++/-- and RW's for'em all too.
But I wouldn't throw to much money away because Blu-ray is close:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/08/04/news_6104095.html

With "Doom 3" a big success on PC and about to hit other platforms,
GameDaily sat down with id Software CEO, Todd Hollenshead to talk
about the upcoming movie in development:

Q: What is the latest status of the movie?

A: The script is close to final and we're very happy with it.
Universal is in the process of casting and pre-production now. With
every passing day I become more and more confident that we will see
DOOM at movie theaters before the end of next year.

Q: Why has it taken so long for what seems like such an easy
conversion from game to film?

A: Way back there were many false starts and a script that wasn't
particularly compelling. When we started all over with CAA, the first
thing that was done was getting John Wells and Lorenzo DiBonaventura
on the project and they immediately focused on getting a good script
in process. I think that's been the big difference this time around.

Q: What are your hopes and goals in terms of bringing Doom to the big
screen?

A: I want to see the movie be true to what the legacy of the DOOM
games mean to fans. Scary, intense, lots of action, and consistent
with what we've done in the games. However, movies and games are
different media, so some things will and should be different. I'm not
looking for "DOOM 3: The Movie" and that's not what it will be. The
script is not based on the DOOM 3 story, but is based on the DOOM
universe, so fans will see plenty in the movie that they will
recognize from the game.

Q: Since Doom 3 is a retelling of the original, will the script focus
more on the update than the original?

A: We didn't tie the script to the specific story in the game. There
are lots of similarities, but there are many things that are different
in a way that's not inconsistent with what we've done in the games. I
believe that fans will find the story in the movie fresh and exciting,
but still very much DOOM.

Q: Do you have a time frame in terms of when you'd like a script
completed and when the film might hit theaters?

A: The script is very close to final already. I'll be ecstatic if it's
out by the end of next year. But I'm like other fans: the sooner the
better!

The full interview can be found here:
http://gigex.com/general/article/?id=7478&game_id=237&source=00001

Hello

I have re-discovered my old Blake Stone Aliens of Gold game.  I am in
floor 10 but can't seem to get anywhere or find anything of use.  Does
anyone have a screen capture or a URL you can point me to that has a
picture of the whole revealed map for level 10.  For that matter for
all levels.  The powerball command does not seem to be working for me.

Thanks a bunch.

Cool. There's the slashdotted HelloweenSpider up! Nice!

Blakestone:
Look at the files in the group. I made a folder that contains a prog
that'll make you some ASCII maps from the game. I'm not sure about the
license (it's a DOS-binary), I'll see if I can find something about it
on a search engine. I hope it's helful for you.
Hint: Use a good text editor to view the maps. If you haven't an
unzipper, write and I'll see if I can send it via arj, rar, tar.gz or
the plain files.

http://underworld.fortunecity.com/hexen/198/cheats.html

And here's a small info page from a GREAT Wolf3D page:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~brlowe/blake.htm

Great game, level design wasn't as good as Wolf's but the game design
was much better.

This little white guy bears a close resemblance to the dopefish:
http://masamania.com/archives/pic/urban_crow015.jpg

Avork!

Read thee Yon long awaited SEQUEL to the Principia!

Now with creme filling!

http://fruwillsetyoufree.batcave.net