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LODNEWS1 Volume 1, Issue 1: Premier Issue!
LODNEWS2 Volume 1, Issue 2: LODNews Continues!
LODNEWS3 Volume 1, Issue 3: Yet Another LodNews!
@@LODNEWS1
                   Land Of Devastation News
                      Volume 1 Number 1

                    Editor: Scott M. Baker

Contents
 1) Welcome To the Premier Issue!.......Scott Baker
 2) Planned LOD Updates.................Scott Baker
 3) LOD's Graphics: How it works........Scott Baker
 4) User Submissions....................Scott Baker
 5) LOD Thoughts from Nick..............Nick (David Doyle)
 6) Xenon's Jounral Entry...............Xenon (Jonas Saunders)

Welcome to the Premier Issue!
By Scott M. Baker

    Welcome to the premier issue of the LOD newsletter. A few 
users have requested that we start up a newsletter, so here it 
is! (Now, if those same users would just submit something!)
    First of all, let me talk a little bit about my current 
work on LOD. As I write this issue, I am taking a break from 
the deisgn of LOD 3.00. Origanally, version 3.00 was going to 
be a simple bug fix release, but the demand for new features 
is so strong, I have decided to do what I can while I have the 
time.
    For those of you who have complained that LOD is not 
finished, version 3.00 is getting very close to what I am 
going to consider "completion". The Puritron routines are      
finally installed and fully functional. This means that the 
users can finally win and restart the game. Also, if we we can 
figure out the best way to do it, I'm going to try to throw in 
some player-vs-player games and some player-vs-player combat.
    I've also been working on a set of new weapons for the 
power hungry players out there. Already added are a few exotic 
items such as the Pulse Bazooka and Xenon's Surprise. To power 
these weapons, we have a nice Vortex Cell which can hold an 
immense amount of power.
    Medical lining is also having some addition - there are 
two new classes available which are quite handy out in the 
wasteland. The price for these items? Well, let's just say 
you'd better have played for a while before trying to buy one!
    For those of you who have completed all of the special 
quests, I'm going to throw in a few more that you can work on. 
Perhaps the first person to complete them in each game
will get a special award.

------------

Planned LOD Updates
Scott M. Baker

    Currently, here is a list of what updates I plan on making 
in the future. These aren't listed in any particular order, 
just whats on my mind:

    1) Finish player-vs-player combat! We all know you players 
out there want to kill each other, so let me see if I can get 
an option for it.

    2) Multi-level support. Not similar to the previous 
multilevel support where the landscape was duplicated, but 
actual inner maps for buildings and such. (i.e. You enter 
Xeboc's lair and there is a sub-map for it)

    3) More monsters. We need the 4th, 5th, and 6th levels 
populated. I threw in a few, but I could really use some 
suggestions for a few more. (hint, hint)

    4) Player-vs-Player games. One of the major complaints 
about LOD is that there isn't enough player-vs-player 
interaction. I'd like to throw in some games to use that game 
account and let the users interact a bit.

    That's whats on my mind for the next versions. If anyone 
out there has any suggestions of other important things to be 
added, or any ideas on the above, then let me know!

------------

LOD's graphics: How it works.
By Scott M. Baker

    The most often design question I get asked is about LOD's 
(and GTERM's) graphics - how are they implemented? Well, 
there's quite a long story to the actual process. Let's begin 
by talking about where they came from.
    Shane Chambers has drawn up the bulk of the images. From 
my understanding of the process, they start out on a clean 
white piece of paper. Shane sketches them out freehand with a 
pencil. Then he scans them in with a 2-color (monochrome) 
scanner. The pictures are then converted and edited with Dr. 
Halo and Dr. Halo DPE, colorized, and exported in a .GIF which 
Shane sends to me.
    We chose the GIF format because it was something that is 
somewhat popular and something that both Shane can write to 
and I can read them. When the image arrives to me, I load it 
into a little utility that I wrote which converts it to a 
turbo pascal format.
    For the final step in organizing the images, they are 
packed together into the various RESOURCE.xxx files. Some
people are under the impression that these files are in some 
kind of proprietary format. They really aren't in any actual 
format at all. They are simply all of the images stuck end to 
end one right after the other. Small images (such as inventory 
and map items) get thrown in one file and large images (such 
as monster and town pictures) get thrown in another.
    The way I read these pictures in is really a complex 
matter involving memory buffering and caching, EMS support, 
etc, but the concept is really pretty simple - you "blockread" 
them in to memory, and then display them onto the screen. It's 
as simple as that. If you want to get fancy, you can RLE or 
LZW compress your images to save space; You can buffer the 
images in memory to increase speed, etc.
    The final thing that remains to be discussed is how does 
LOD tell GTERM what pictures to display? This is accomplished 
by a miniature error-correcting protocol that is operating 
mostly in the background. LOD sends "packets" of data to 
GTERM. GTERM interprets the contents of these packets and acts 
accordingly. If you haven't already, then reading a good 
discussion of XMODEM will help you understand the operation of 
error correcting protocols. While xmodem is not very highly 
regarded for it's efficiency or security, it's basic 
foundation is the key to understanding how a door may 
communicate with remote terminal.
    Well, there you have it, a very basic discussion of how 
the graphics routines in LOD and GTERM work.

-------------

User Submissions
by Scott M. Baker

    This newsletter is open to submissions by anyone - if you 
have something to submit, then just upload it to my bbs. If I 
decide it belongs in the newsletter, then it'll show up in the 
next issue.

    Here's a few things that I would like to see submitted if 
some people out there have the time:

- Newuser tips, playing strategies, etc.

    At times, LOD can be a very comlex game. Sometimes,
    these complexities are a bit hard for new users to
    pick up. So, those of you experienced LOD maniacs
    out there, please send in some tips, your winning
    strategies, etc.

- Historical Text

    If you like to do SF writing, then a few "background"
    stories about the nuclear history in LOD would be
    nice. In my own discussion of LOD's history have left
    some details out. If for example, you would like to
    document the fall of society to nuclear holocaust in
    2005, then go for it! After all, LOD really is just an
    interactive multiplayer story!

- Monster Designs

    Although they probably won't appear in the newsletter,
    I am always looking for more monsters. Particularly
    ones to populate the outer zones. If you like, write
    me up some and I'll see if I can throw them in. Note:
    Please try to fit them into the existing LOD framework
    and plot. Monsters that have unknown weapons and
    origins sometimes just don't fit.

- Combat description text

    Are combat descriptions sometimes seem a bit limited.
    Sometimes I myself can get real tired of hearing "You
    slash into the Rad Hound with your sword." If you have
    a talent for writing up good descriptions, I wouldn't
    mind seeing some of these either.

    The newsletter will be published as often as enough 
material accumulates to make it a decent size.

-------------

LOD thoughts from Nick...

I never thought I'd become an adventurer:  I'm really not the 
type for blasting mutant creatures, executioner robots and 
such with gizmos I can't even pronounce, much less understand.  
But then again, I never thought the civilized world would come 
to an end either.  You have to do you best with what you have 
to work with though, and so, with the world the way it is, I 
guess I'm real fortunate to have had the sense to enlist.  And 
you know what?   I found out I'm not half bad at it either!

Now most people don't do things quite the way I do -- and 
nobody can tell you what you ought to -- a body's gotta decide 
such things himself and live with it.  But I noticed some 
things I thought might make it easier on those that take up 
where I leave off.  Maybe what I tell might help.  Then again, 
maybe not.

First off:  Money.  Figure out what's worth collecting 
depending on your net worth and level.  At first, a real quick 
trip out to pick up anything you can find will get you that 
extra 100 to buy a razorlance.  Also, suppose you hop out of 
base in your shorts and not so much as a butter knife on you 
(don't waste your money on equipment [more on this in a 
minute])  I wouldn't be afraid to run away from a scavenger or 
insane soldier -- they might shoot at you, but you can just 
heal it.  Later on in the game, don't waste your inventory 
carrying cheap stuff -- some of the armor is worth a lot.  
Also, keep some cash in the bank ... compound interest is the 
8th wonder of the new world!

Second:  Use the technology.   Some say we're better off back 
in the caves wearing skins and fighting with rocks 'cause 
"technology" got us into this mess.  But its what people  did 
with it that caused the devastation and besides, when a death 
warrior comes after you, energy armor and a neutron rifle sure 
keeps you alive better.  Also, its our only hope ... we have 
to get the puritron on-line or we're stuck!

Oh yeah, I was talking about using the devices:  The stealth 
buckles are great!  You can use several at a time to cover 
some dangerous ground, and scavenge some good equipment up.  
Also the computer store has some handy stuff -- the DIET 
program sure saves you hassle and food bill.  (Nobody enjoys 
eating now anyway)

Third:  Pay attention to where you are.  If you find yourself 
in a new area, remember what you did to get there and what it 
looks like.  If you can't close your eyes and still see the 
scenery, you're not concentrating on what's around you enough.  
You should have a sense for how far away from things you are, 
too:  the dist/zone monitor helps you develop a feel for this.

Fourth:  Cooperate.  Use the mail, talk to the others out 
there.  And remember, we're all trying to save the world -- 
there's enough opponents out in the wasteland without us 
killing each other off.

----------
Xenon Journal Entry - Date ????

        Today as I set out from Sacre Base, in search for the 
missing puritron devices, I had an uneasy feeling.  This 
wasn't going to be a easy journey.

                                Xenon

Ok, guys, so you wanna be an adventurer?  Here's some hints 
from the greatest adventurer ever, Xenon (aka Jonas Saunders).

Getting killed by monsters too quickly?  Buy a stealth device. 
Activate the stealth's Quiet Mode.  Go as far as you can, in, 
say zone 3 or 4.  Find some better weapons.  (There's bound to 
be some laying around if the game has been running for a 
while) If you happen to encounter a monster, RUN.  If you get 
hit, use your medkit. Don't attack until you have better 
weapon and armor. When you do find some, go back to Zone 1 and 
start attacking monsters.  ALWAYS surrender if your HP go 
below 10.  Or take risks.

Starving to death?  Buy the laptop and the DIET program.  Get 
the GSRZ/50 rations.  You'll last about 1 month.  (Real-time, 
not game-wise)

Dying and starting over?  Buy the laptop and find the EM-Warp 
ROM. Find some Warper/5's.  You'll save some precious time and 
won't have to start over so much.

Collecting items the monster drop off the wasteland and 
selling them is the BEST way to earn money.  As soon as you 
have about 2 million credits (About 20 minutes worth of 
work/play time) BUY the Neutron Sabre and Neutron Rifle.  
Those weapons will help. Getting a Pylon key will really help 
you later on the game.

Find the EEEE Center and the Clone Center AS EARLY IN THE GAME 
AS YOU can.  The EEEE Center has a nifty weapon, called 
Xenon's Surprise. This weapon will blow the monsters away with 
ease.  Get one of the Vortex Cells also.  You can add 
unlimited amounts of power to it and don't have to worry about 
going back to one of the base to buy more power.  Get Stizli 
Medline and you'll regain 1 HP each 2 move.  This may help out 
in tight situations where you're out of Medkits.

Build a Fortress in each Zone.  (Zone 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) Give 
all fortresses Teleporters.  This will help you teleport back 
to Sacre Base to resupply.  Then you can go back to Zone 1 
base and teleport to whatever zone you were in last.  This 
strategy has helped me greatly.

Use the Pylons to find TASDU - the machine may have some 
useful information.  Use the Pylons to find Xeboc too.  He has 
one Puritron Device.  Use the Pylons to find the Nuclear Silo.  
There is a Puritron Device there.

Talking to monsters may yield some interesting answers and 
solutions for the Quests.  Some monsters might have the Tetris 
ROM, buy it.  (or destroy the monster and risk the Tetris ROM 
being dissolved)

I think this should be good enough to get you guys started.  
Xenon Out.

----------

You can download copies of this newsletter, upload 
submissions, or whatever from the following bulletin board 
system:

The Not-Yet-Named bbs
Node #1: (602) 577-3650  (V.32)
Node #2: (602) 577-3419  (USR DUAL)
@@LODNEWS2
                 Land Of Devastation News
                    Volume 1 Number 2

                  Editor: Scott M. Baker

Contents
 1) Welcome to Issue Number Two!......Scott Baker
 2) Version 3.30: Team Support........Scott Baker
 3) Some Tips for Advanced Players....Art Rainy
 4) Special Questing..................Gurlock The Almighty
 5) Crippleware/Bonusware/Delayware...Scott Baker
 6) The Death of Nuke Man.............Pit Bull (James Cox)
 7) Salvation of the Puritron I.......Pit Bull (James Cox)
 8) People I wish to thank............Scott Baker
 9) Letters to the Editor.............n/a

Welcome to Issue Number Two!
By Scott M. Baker

    Welcome to the second issue of LODNEWS. If everything 
goes as planned, then this issue will be released on the 
same date as Land of Devastation version 3.30 which has 
some nice new features. (See the section about version 
3.30 below)

    We're still running a bit low on user submissions. I 
know there are many of you out there playing Land Of 
Devastation, so how about sharing your knowledge and 
strategies with the rest of us? Or why not personalize 
your character by sending in a short story describing his 
history?

    We'd really like to hear from you!

------------

Version 3.30: Team Support!
By Scott M. Baker

    I'm very excited about version 3.30 and I hope some of 
you are too. This is the first version of LOD that has 
team support built in! You can now band together with your 
comrades! For you lower players out there, teaming up will 
allow you to make some progress against those higher above 
you.

    So what can a team of lower players do to fight 
someone immensely larger than them? How about laying siege 
to your enemy's fortresses? Although a fortress's defenses 
may be great and powerful, a band of determined players 
can exhaust the fortress's energy supply, effectively 
neutralizing it's defenses. Then you just walk in and take 
inventory of your new home! Or perhaps you sell out it's 
defenses and self destruct the fortress! That ought to get 
your adversary more than just slightly upset.

    A prime advantage for team play is a pooling of 
resources. Sharing fortresses can be a great advantage. 
For example, you may have more Warper/5's then you know 
what to do with, but your friends may be in desperate need 
for a warper. So, leave it in your fortress and your 
teammate [assuming he has your fortress's password] can 
pick it up when he needs it.

    Those are all things that you could previously do on 
your own. So, what does the new built in team support 
grant you?

    First of all, if you buy a smart mine and set it 
somewhere, it is smart enough not only to spare your life 
if you re-enter the area, but your teammates as well. The 
nice thing about mines is that an adventurer never knows 
how many are there. This element of uncertainty can allow 
you to build up a decent defense around an important area 
(such as your favorite fortress!)

    Secondly, your teammates can view the location of your 
fortresses (with the fortlist ROM and with the fortress 
teleporter command) and teleport to/from them for free. 
This allows you to set up a "transportation network". One 
of you could build and maintain a fortress by Sacre Base, 
another by Freedom City, and another by the Death Warrior 
camp. Instantly, you have the capability to travel between 
three of the main cities!

------------

Some Tips for Advanced LOD Players
By Art Rainy

Warpers--The EM-Warp program always uses the highest 
numbered warper in your inventory.  Free up inventory 
slots by always placing your lowest numbered warper 
highest in your inventory.  That should eliminate the 
problem of two or three warpers with only one warp left on 
them.

[Editors note: Making the EM-Warp program a bit smarter 
about which Warper is used is on my list of things to do, 
so the above may or may not be valid at the time you read 
this]

Stealth fields and Inviroblurs--These units operate 
cumulatively.  The use of multiple units can double your 
chances of increasing those valuable experience points or 
of surviving as you sneak away from dangerous territory.

Kill Objects--Most players quickly learn the advantage of 
leaving items where they fall if they need neither its 
cash value or its advantage in conflict. Thus they 
exchange items of value and bypass Sacre Base.  However, 
when most players have advanced into levels two and 
higher, no player is interested in picking up daggers and 
cloth armor.  It is to your advantage to kill those 
useless objects and benefit from the janitorial fee.  
Sysops might consider raising that fee to more than $5 per 
unit to further temp players to clean up the board.

Map the Board--LOD's intrepid designer has included 
editing capabilities that allow sysop's to modify the 
design of the map.  Just because the Clone Center was at a 
certain location in the last game does not imply that it 
will remain there after a reset.  To avoid confusion about 
locations prepare a 125 by 125 grid and map the locations 
of obstructions as well as those of cities and camps.  You 
can eliminate trips into cul-de-sacs and excessive danger 
zones

--------------

Special Questing
By Gurlock The Almighty

[Editors note: The following gives information on solving 
2 of LOD's special quests. Players who don't want the 
secret "given away" may wish to skip this secion]

    Ok now, the best way that a starting player can get 
going quickly is to use the quests.  Land Of Devastation 
has many special quests.  There's hard ones and there's 
easy ones.  I'll describe an easy one or two for you new 
guys out there!

    The first thing that you should do is perform the 
steaks special quest.  Do this when you are like level 2 
or 3 (other wise you might get wasted).  Ok - here's what 
you do: Follow the road that leaves sacre base and keep 
going east.  If you come to any "T" intersections, then 
choose the upper path.  At some point you'll enter zone 
#2, so start running from all of monsters (otherwise 
they'll waste you).  Eventually, you'll come to another 
city. This city is freedom camp.  Now, follow the 
mountains south of Freedom Camp.  You'll first see a pylon 
(ignore it) and the as you continue, you'll run into the 
horticulture center (HS).  Enter the HS, talk to the 
manager, and pick up Troy's Steaks.  Then go back the way 
you came - back to sacre base.  When you will return, you 
will have won the first special quest!!!!!!!!

    The next quest is also pretty easy.  First you'll need 
to buy a pylonkey.  Do this at either Sacre Base or 
Freedom City. Remember that pylon you passed in the above 
quest? Well, go back there.  Now, try all the code 
combinations at the pylon.  Write down where you end up 
with one. Important-- if you run into Xeboc, RUN FROM HIM! 
or he'll waste you!!! Eventually, you'll find the 
T.A.D.S.U.  When you find it, you've won another special 
quest!!!!  (Now, you just gots to remember the right pylon 
code [You wrote them down, right?] to get back to where 
you cam from!]

    If I remember, you got like 5,000 experience for each 
of those quests!  Wow!  For a beginner, that's a level or 
two!!!  Plus you also get to talk to the tadsu and learn a 
bunch of information!  And theres more! Once you buy a 
laptop, you can go to the computer store and pickup Troy's 
Rom and get a whole lot of info!!!

------------

Crippleware/Bonusware/Delayware
By Scott M. Baker

    As most of you notice, LOD is distributed in a manner 
similar to shareware. The fully functional working version 
is distributed to everyone. Those who like the program, 
use it a lot, etc are supposed to send in a registration 
fee (aka donation) to support it. Once a donation is 
received, I enter their information into the Reglook door 
on my bbs where they can call and pick up a code. The code 
then enables the message "This copy is registered to xxxx. 
Please thank your sysop for registering."

    I have had several sysops who have told me that this 
is not enough incentive for them to register. They say 
they would only register if they receive something above 
the current version. They want their registered copy to be 
something better than John Doe's unregistered copy across 
town. They want users to appreciate the fact that they 
have registered. Before I continue, let me explain a few 
terms:

    Crippleware: In this method, the game is distributed 
to the public with many of it's features disabled. Limits 
on the number of players are imposed, etc. When the sysop 
sends in the donation, he receives a "key" which enables 
the full features.

    Bonusware: Very similar to crippleware, but the 
philosophy is slightly different. The full version is 
distributed, but sending in a donation will get the sysop 
some sort of "bonus". Something like an external player 
editor. The problem is, there is a fine line between 
bonusware and crippleware. Is removing the editor 
considered "crippling" a program or is the editor a 
"bonus" for registered users?

    Delayware: This is where you put a delay in the 
unregistered version. Something similar to "This copy is 
unregistered. Please wait 10 seconds."

    Annoyware: Here we find other ways to annoy the sysop 
into registering. We could throw up a long message on the 
screen every time a user enters the door. We could put in 
a message attacking the sysop for not registering, etc.

    As I said before, I don't currently use any of the 
above methods. You get the full version whether you 
register or not. Sysops who send in registrations simply 
have the piece of mind of knowing they have paid for the 
software, and of course, a message saying "Please thank 
your sysop for registering."

    As more and more people keep telling me they think I 
should do something more, I am starting to consider it. 
After all, LOD is no small project - it does require a lot 
of my time and I wouldn't mind an increase in donations.

    So what I would like is comments, what would people 
think? Here is what I would do under each of the above 
ideas:

    Crippleware: (Out of the question - I hate crippled 
programs)

    Bonusware:   Only give registered sysops the editor 
package (LODxxxE.ARJ)

    Delayware:   Add in a 5 or 10 second delay after the 
"encourage your sysop to register" message.

    Annoyware:   Make the user read a screen at the end of 
the game (i.e. when the user quits or camps out) about how 
his sysop should register, how important registering 
shareware is, etc.

    My question is, if I was to instate one of the above 
policies, which one would people prefer? Right now, I like 
the delay idea. 5 seconds isn't too long to turn people 
off and it is long enough to make the "please register" 
message stick in peoples' minds. If you have a response, 
you can send it to me at the bbs number listed at the end 
of this document.

------------

The Death of Nuke Man
By Pit Bull

    I woke up to an alarming situation. I was no longer 
within the safe confines of my fortress - I was laying on 
the bare wasteland. It is pure luck that I am alive. A 
single Biomutant could have done me in while I slept 
unprotected.
    But what had happened to my fortress? My protection 
against this hellish land? I could just see it's 
smoldering ruins a few meters to the east. The cause was 
clear: Another warrior, one who should have been my 
companion in this struggle for freedom, had ruthlessly 
desecrated my base. He must pay.
    I bootup up my laptop which had luckily been spared 
from the attack. I typed in the commands to retrieve the 
previous few days log. And I waited.... waited... for the 
name of the one who had done this. The name of the person 
who would suffer my vengeance.
    And then it appeared: Nuke Man. Why had he done this 
to me? Perhaps I shall never know. I had never met Nuke 
Man personally. From the rankings posted in the troop 
quarters, I could tell that he was nearly as good as 
myself. Perhaps he was in need of some quick cash and my 
glorious fortress caught his eye. Or perhaps he wanted the 
glory of capturing the puritron parts himself.
    Something else caught my eye in the log. Those two 
words would burn in my mind for the next two days: 
"Fortress Constructed". After Nuke Man had destroyed my 
own home, he had constructed himself a fortress. This 
would be my vengeance. I will find his fortress and show 
him that what goes around comes around.
    For two days I searched. Across the plains surrounding 
Sacre Base, within the mountains around Freedom City. Even 
as far as the EEEE center and then I found it. Hidden 
around the bend amongst some impassable mountains.
    I leveled my phaser-3 at the base's defense field and 
fired. Electric fire shot up when the two energy fields 
met. By now, Nuke Man would be panicking with the sounds 
of sirens and alarms. I entered the moat surrounding his 
fortress and I saw it - the alligator ... It was 
approaching fast. I tried to swim faster, but it was no 
use - MY right leg was nearly town apart by it's jaws.
    Luckily I managed to reach the bank of the moat with 
my life still intact. I slashed several times with my 
electrolance, burning into Nuke Man's defense fields. I 
took a few slugs from his robopistol. But I was more 
powerful then his measly defense. The fortress's defense 
field fell. Then it was just me and Nuke Man.
    He had an electroblade. He must have thought that he 
would be able to handle me in my weakened condition - but 
he was wrong for my dexterity and agility were much 
greater than his. He lunged forward, hoping to stab me 
with his electroblade. One quick swing with my 
electrolance and the electroblade, along with the majority 
of Nuke Man's hand and lower arm was now lying across the 
room.
    He cried in pain and begged for his life. I was not 
without mercy. I let him live. After all, I had gained a 
new fortress - and I would not self destruct this one as 
the foolish Nuke Man did when he conquered mine. I figured 
that would be the last of Nuke Man - that he had learned 
his lesson. But sadly, it was not so.
    The very next day the log showed an attempted attack 
on my new fortress - by none other than Nuke Man. The log 
simply said that he had perished. But I knew what had 
happened. That alligator in the moat - the one that Nuke 
Man had bought - had a very full belly that day.
    I hope this sad tale will convince those out there 
that I, Pit Bull, am not to be toyed with. I have shown 
mercy and let one evil one live, only to have him attack 
my fortress the very next day. The next time someone 
attacks one of my fortresses I may not show any mercy. 
After all, the alligators do need to eat.

------------

Salvation of The Puritron Part I
by Pit Bull

    It was a lonely day in the wastelands. When I awoke, I 
had no special feeling of greatness - no idea of the glory 
that would come later in the afternoon. No idea that I 
would earn my place in the great plaque of the puritron 
room.
    I set out to do my usual exploring. First on my list 
was the pylons. I had already mapped out two of the 
locations and I was going to find the rest. These pylons 
are of a powerful nature. Able to teleport matter all 
around the wasteland. I wondered where the codes I would 
try today would lead me.
    The first one took me out into Zone four somewhere. 
Not a very pleasant place. I was nearly killed by a Black 
Widow before I was able to escape back into the pylon and 
get back to Zone two.
    The next one took me into some computer. The feeling 
of disorientation was incredible. I think that I was 
actually inside of the computer itself. The information 
and insight I gained was incredible. Knowledge that would 
help the fight for peace and the salvation of the 
wasteland was in my grasp. I had also completed one of the 
special quests. This day was shaping up tp be pretty good.
    Then I tried another pylon code. This one brought me 
to a strange room. The walls were made of a metal that I 
had never seen before - something from beyond this world. 
I walked ahead. A lone humanoid stood before me. I yelled 
"I am Pit Bull ... Of Sacre Base ... I come in search of 
the lost Puritron Parts". The response I received was not 
very pleasant.
    "I am Xeboc the almighty... Xeboc the all powerful... 
I will destroy you!". I raised my weapons in preparation 
for a fight. I sighted him in with my Comp Blaster. A 
stream of electric death shot forward from my weapon... 
and right into the wall next to Xeboc. Damn! I had missed.
    We clashed into hand to hand combat. I hit and he hit. 
Then I missed. He missed. I hit and I hit again. Finally 
he fell. I had succeeded! Or at least I thought. I was 
tricked.
    The image before me vanished. I was fighting a 
hologram. Xebocs voice came across the speaker, mocking 
me. I would have to search elsewhere for this villain.
    I prepared to leave. But something caught my eye - it 
was one of the puritron parts. I reached for it. I ran all 
the way back to Sacre Base with my treasure.
    Defs Sacre and Troy Hadley were waiting for me. They 
eagerly installed the part into the puritron room. "Well, 
Pit Bull, you only have four more left to find" Defs Sacre 
grinned.
    And then I rested, knowing that I had accomplished 
something great that day.... and preparing for what would 
lie ahead. I was sure I would have to face Xeboc again. 
And it would not be a pleasant experience.

------------

People I Wish to Thank
Scott M. Baker

    In this section, I'm going to start listing a little 
about the people who help me support LOD, who submit 
information that isn't presented here.

    Anthony Malone: Anthony wrote up the nice history text 
file that is used in the HISTORY ROM / special quest in 
LOD. His story fit nicely into the game and is much 
appreciated.

    Joseph Johnson: Joseph submitted me a very extensive 
listing of combat strings for use in LOD. His board [place 
bbs name here] at 212-893-2318 [Note: This is a correction 
from the original LODNEWS2 where the incorrect area code 
was specified], is running a highly customized copy of 
LOD. I haven't seen it myself, but I hear it's quite a 
thing to see.

    Jonas Saunders: The infamous Xenon in my LOD game here 
on the bbs. He's as skilled a bug-finder and playtested as 
he is a LOD warrior! Jonas also happens to be the very 
first winner of a LOD game!

------------

Letters to the Editor

    Well, every newsletter/magazine has a letters to the 
editor section, right? So here is ours! I've posted a few 
messages out of my comments area on the bbs and a few of 
the national echos to get things started, but in the 
future, anyone who wants to, just mark that you would like 
your letter to appear here and I'll post it up!


Scott,
    Let me start off by saying that I don't usually post 
messages, or write letters.  Today I Installed LOD321 
(from Wildcats(MSI) BBS). I have never been a fan of Role 
playing games at all. But, somehow your is different, you 
dont get sucked into it (although i played for 12 hours, 
thats besides the point), anyway I am thoroughly 
impressed, I have never seen such graphics/details (Pixels 
and or ansi) in a door game, not to mention the plot of 
the game. At any rate keep you the EXCELLENT work. You can 
rest-assured that come pay day you will get whatever it 
takes (I believe $20 or so) to get the game registered.

Craig Salmond
SYSOP of Craig's DATA Exchange (904) 483-2498 14.4k FREE!

PS, You need to hold a conference on how you got you modem 
to answer flawlessly at 14.4k with a non-usr modem. Most 
people I connect to I get a measly 9600, but not on your 
BBS. keep on BBSing

-=-

    Thanks for the kind words, Craig. I try my best to 
keep LOD at the leading edge of technology and from the 
comments I get, I see that I am being successful! As for 
the modem, I don't know of anything particular that I've 
done, but I'm glad it works!

    Scott Baker

-=====-

  Hey Scott, I really like LOD, and am grateful that you 
got my registration up so quickly... I run a bbs here, and 
want to get Galactic Warzone for it as well. Also I want 
to be a Registered user on your BBS, so if ya could 
validate me, I would Appreciate it. And thanks for the 
great game... Wish I was able to Write games myself...

                             Thanks....
                                  Wayne Gay

-=-

    I'm glad to hear you like LOD, Wayne. With my current 
registration system, I usually get registrations up on the 
bbs either the same day they arrive or shortly later. As 
for Galwars, I have sold the rights to Jim Kiersey who 
will be continuing support for it. Expect a new release 
from him very soon!

    Scott Baker

-=====-

[From Joel Boutros to Jeff Hanson in Area Ooii. Subject: 
L.O.D.]

JH -=>writing a door yourself.

Ah, but is it the next best thing to copying a door?  Or 
Copying 5 or 6 doors?

Let's see...OOII, TW1000, Never got SZModem working and 
when I mailed the wanna-be he never replied, MechWars 
never worked right...  Gee, Jeff, you seem to be a 
brown-noser to this guy...What else did he make that 
wasn't worth 30 seconds to download?

Oh, tell the little bag of toejam that I _still_ can't get 
SZ working after 1 year and a half. --- GEcho/beta *

Origin: Cosmix Station (913) 422-7345  (1:280/2)

-=-

    Joel, I'm sad to see that you feel this way about me 
and my software. Such negative comments are the mark of an 
immature mind and an eyesore to the entire bbs community.
    Let's start at the top. LOD is not a copy of OOII. 
Galactic Warzone was written with Al Davenport's (author 
of TW1000) support and encouragement. I'm sorry you 
couldn't get SZModem to work - you might wish to try the 
latest version which has new Async routines. I don't 
recall ever receiving a letter from you. MechWars is 
written by Shane Chambers, not myself, and it seems to 
work fine on my system and many more across the country.
    In addition to LOD, GW, and SZMODEM, I have written 
NEWGAL (GWII), Door Driver, CMENU, CDRDoor, Locread, and 
the initial Echodor mail reader. (All of which have an 
established registered user base)
    Jeff Hanson is a friend that I had mind the system for 
a week while I was gone. And I must admit, he did a good 
job here, possibly even better than when I'm operating the 
bbs myself.
    You seem to be quite full of criticism. Tell me, where 
is some of the software that YOU have written that I may 
download and evaluate? I'll be sure to send my comments 
your way.
    Scott Baker

------------

You can download copies of this newsletter, upload 
submissions, or whatever from the following bulletin board 
system:

The Not-Yet-Named bbs
Node #1: (602) 577-3650  (v.32)         FIDO: 1:300/9
Node #2: (602) 577-3419  (USR Dual)     FIDO: 1:300/29
@@LODNEWS3
                 Land Of Devastation News
                    Volume 1 Number 3

                  Editor: Scott M. Baker

Contents
 1) Welcome to our third issue!........Scott Baker
 2) The Player Who Has Everything......Steve Lamb
 3) Foxx's Hunters, Law of the.........Steve Lamb
 4) Nuke Mania.........................Pit Bull
 5) Lod Story..........................}{ighlander
 6) Lod Suggestions....................}{ighlander
 7) Delayware..........................Scott Baker
 8) People I wish to thank.............Scott Baker


Welcome to our third issue!
By Scott M. Baker

    The time has come for the third issue of LODNEWS. This 
issue isn't as large as I had hoped for, but I decided to 
rush it out with LOD 3.40 because I had a few users 
submissions that I wanted to take care of. I wish to thank 
those who sent me in submissions - your work has helped to 
make LODNEWS a success!

    Scott Baker

----------

Subject: For the player who has everything A.K.A "The 
SysOp"

    OK, so, you're a SysOp of a BBS running LoD and you 
play that game. However, you find that you dominate the 
game because you are the SysOp or the other players think 
you dominate because you are SysOp.  Here's a suggestion 
on what to do and still play:

    Play "Guardian."  You know, they support guy who never 
does the heroic deeds himself, but helps the hero (in this 
case, the players), indirectly? Like the kindly old man in 
the swords and sorcery genre of movies who tells the hero 
to complete a quest which he, the old man, cannot 
accompany, BUT can give you this to "help you finish your 
quest."

    In other words, since you are SysOp and can dominate 
that if you so choose, dominate the game!  But don't play 
to win, play to help YOUR callers complete the quest for 
the Puritron.  However, in no way do I mean whip out the 
player editor and give yourself god-like powers!

    On my BBS, where a game of LoD just started, I play 
LoD quite a bit, more than the time limits of all my 
callers (what can I say, I like LoD).  I'm currently in 
the process of setting up fortresses in Zones 1,2 & 3.  
These fortresses (which I call holds) offer low cost 
teleportation, low cost medical & power, and weapons at 
reduced price (but above the resell value).  The whole 
purpose of playing the game locally is to keep these 
fortresses well stocked and defended.

    LoD, unlike other "wasteland" doors, is difficult to 
learn and master. Newbie's to the wasteland scenerio as 
well as "pros" at the other wasteland scenerios can easily 
get discouraged.  The idea of the "public" fortresses is 
to give them easy access to the nessecities, but at a 
price...  Not to make a profit, but to let them learn the 
limits of *THIS* game w/o the discouragement of dying.  
Unlike other games, if you die in LoD w/o a clone, it is 
*VERY* difficult to return to combat.  Death does take 
it's toll in LoD.

    On the other hand...  If one of the callers nukes a 
"public" fortress, the owner/keeper does have the right to 
extract payment in the form of one life. :)

----------

[Date]   : Oct 25th, 2022 [Time]   : 00:00:00.00 
[Subject]: Foxx's Hunters, Law of the

    Ever since Defs Sacre, leading the Sacre Hawks, was 
attacked and lost the puritron device there has been a 
need for an elite group of warriors to retrieve the five 
parts of the device.  Let it be known that on October 25th 
of the 2022 year of the old calander makrs the birth of 
the Foxx's Hunters. Following are the x laws of the Foxx's 
Hunters.  Any who wish to apply must follow these laws 
completely.

    01: All information/weapons/armor/misc items are 
property of the Foxx's Hunters.  At the end of the day the 
following procedures must be taken: a: All credits must be 
deposited into FXHold. 01: Major Foxx can and will 
authorize personal funds to be deposited into the Game 
Account for the sole purpose of gaining interest for the 
Foxx's Hunters b: All powerpacks/belts must be discharged 
into FXHold. c: All medical supplies must be discharged 
into FXHold. d: All items minus personal computers must be 
dropped into the FXHold storage facility. e: All Puritron 
device parts must be dropped into the FXHold storage 
facility. 02: The sole purpose of the Foxx's Hunters is to 
retrieve the five lost components of the Puritron device.  
To this end the following procedures must be followed: a: 
NO other recruits/fortresses are to be attacked or harmed 
in any way unless ordered by Major Foxx. 01: Major Foxx 
will order retalitory attacks as described under section 
04. b: NO threats will be made by any member of the Foxx's 
Hunters towards any other recruit or thier property. c: NO 
assistance is to be rendered to any other recruit in the 
form of credits/armor/weapons/information or misc items 
unless otherwise authorized by Major Foxx. 03: Loyalty to 
the Foxx's Hunters must be absolute.  To this end the 
following procedures will be followed: a: NO fighting 
between members of the Foxx's Hunters. b: NO individual, 
unauthorized strikes. c: NO willful destructiong of Foxx's 
Hunter property. d: NO disclosing the existence of the 
Foxx's Hunters to anyone other than fellow Foxx's Hunters 
recruits. e: NO willful inaction on an offensive strike as 
ordered by Major Foxx. 04: Offensive action will be taken, 
as ordered by Major Foxx, under the following offenses: a: 
Attack on or willful distruction of Foxx's Hunters 
property. b: Attack on Foxx's Hunters personell. c: 
Violation of Foxx's Hunters law sections: 01.b, 01.d, 
01.e, 02.a, 02.c, 03.d, 03.e.

    In a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen, you join the 
Foxx's Hunters and you gain something and you loose 
something.  What you gain is a guarenteed safe place to 
sleep other than Sacre Base and Freedom City.  You gain 
all knowledge and information that all other members of 
the Foxx's Hunters have.  You gain the weapons and armor 
collected by the entire group.  You gain the added benefit 
of safety in numbers, in other words, if another Sacre 
base attacks you, you know that the entire Foxx's Hunters 
will not rest until they have paid equal to the injustice 
done to you.

    What you loose is the personal freedom to do what you 
want when you want. The freedom to keep personal weapons, 
to act in an offensive strike on your own, and to gain 
personal wealth.  But it is for the common good.  The 
Earth will be a better place.  For it is easier to 
overcome greater challenges from inside a group.

    Secrecy of the Foxx's Hunters is paramount.  The less 
the other recuits know, the better off we are.  
Information is power, and if they do not know that there 
is a tangable force out there, nor it's name, they are not 
inclined to attack the "all powerful" group.

    If anyone wants out, leave the room now.  However, you 
are hereby warned, anyone disclosing this meetings events 
will face the Foxx's Hunters.  And a dead recruit cannot 
identify it's killer...

------------

Nuke Mania
Pit Bull

    I knew he would be back. I had fought him once before 
and defeated him. And when I let him live without 
punishment, he had double crossed me by attempting to take 
over my fortress.
    When I found his chewed up body floating in my moat
surrounding my fortress the next morning, I assumed I had 
heard the last of the infamous Nuke Man. I carried his 
body back to sacre base with burial.
    But, to my surprise, the sacre base medics managed to 
bring life back to his body. And nuke man lived again. I 
didn't say much. I figured after his failure, he would 
leave me alone. Not to mention that he was not in the best 
of health to be fighting.
    I don't know how he managed to do it, but Nuke Man 
managed to befriend one of the larger player named 
Sneezoid. Sneezoid, who had accumulated quite a bit of 
wealth from scavenging the wasteland, gave Nuke Man a 
pulse bazooka and a neutron sabre.
    Of course, the first thing nuke man did was head for 
my base. It took him ten attacks, but he wasted the 
defenses and ravaged my supplies. When he was finished, he 
self destructed my fortress. I should have know he would 
do it.
    Lucky for me, I had built a second fortress across 
some mountains to the east. And nuke man didn't know about 
it. Thank God, I had relocated there when he destroyed the 
first fortress. At least I was safe in my second "backup".
    I hailed Sneezoid, I explained my plight. Sneezoid 
realized that he had bestowed his money into the hands of 
a dishonerable worrier. And he realized that he should 
compensate me for my trouble with Nuke Man. So he gave me 
a whopping ONE MILLION dollars.
    I equipped my second fortress with enough firepower to 
defend against Nuke Man. Then I challenged Nuke Man to 
come after me again.
    And of course, he took me up on the offer. That night 
Nuke Man returned to my fortress. Not realizing the 
strength of my defenses, he attacked.
    All that remained of Nuke Man was a charred corpse on 
the ground outside my fort. The body was so badly burned 
and decimated that I knew he could not be revived. I took 
his weapons and armed myself with them. Now, nobody would 
fool with me!
    Then next day I would set forth to seek out another 
puritron piece to save the land. When I was leaving 
though, something happened that nearly gave me a heart 
attack. I noticed a discarded receipt laying in the 
vicinity of nuke mans remains. It said "Clone Center, 
Inc."!

------------

Lod Story
}{ighlander aka Cory Doss


     The sun was beating overhead hotter than usual, but 
there was no way it could ever heat me from my cold sweat. 
I had finally seen the phaser cache, and I knew that I had 
to make an attempt to get into it. Only a seemingly 
endless trip across wasteland and radiation hell was 
stopping me from getting to it, and the Black Widow's of 
the area weren't to thrilled about me being there either. 
I was no match for the local monsters, so what was I 
thinking when I headed for the obviously guarded cache? As 
I neared, I noticed signs of life which made me twitch 
with a nervous energy. I finally reached the cache, and 
examined it closer. I made my way inside, and when I did I 
found myself standing face to face with the star of 
pre-holocaust video entertainment, Captain James Kirk of 
the Starship Enterprise. Seeing his reassuring face 
relieved me, but the relief was short lived when the, 
obviously delirious, captain started babbling about how I 
was going to steal his phasers! I was shocked as he 
readied himself for combat. I had a split-second to decide 
which long-range weapon I would use, the sure fire 
grenade, or my newly aqcuired Pulse Rifle. I found myself 
answering my own question as I fired my rifle in his 
direction, it was the first time I had fired that weapon, 
and the results startled me. He was knocked back at least 
ten feet, and was stunned momentarily. His pitiful shot 
was no match for my Energy Vest, and we locked together in 
a fierce battle and hand-to-hand. He wore me down, as my 
fire sabre was having difficulty piercing his armor, but 
finally I broke through his armor, bringing us both down 
to exhaustion. I knew that whoever took the next fall 
would be the victim of the wasteland, but used that 
thought to power me for my last and most powerful swing. I 
thought my life was over until I heard his assuring cry, 
letting me know that victory was mine. After that, 
everything is a blur. All I know now is that I somehow 
brought a piece of the puritron device back, and I am a 
local hero. This all just goes to show that in a world 
like this, heroes aren't born, they just get really lucky 
for their entire lives.

------------

LOD Suggestions
}{ighlander aka Cory Doss

  Ideas for enemy types.... A new military group calling 
themselves the Warheads have sprung up in the southwest 
central desert region. Apparantly an arms dealer back in 
2003 had been stockpiling his arms here, and passed on 
without letting anyone know about them. Now a group of 
radicals have came across the weapons, and are using the 
shelter as their home base. They are led by a deranged 
military leader, who was a pre-war general in the U.S. 
Army. They are also after the puritron device parts, but 
for alternate reasons. They want the pieces because they 
also are needed for a specific biological warhead the 
group is working on building. They feel that if it is 
created, the remaining humanoids would submit to them out 
of fear. The types of soldiers in the army and there 
leader are below..........

Warhead Soldier... Str: 24  Dex: 24  Agl: 24  Health: 34 
Short Range Weapon: RazorLance Long Range Weapon: M-16 * 
New Weapon * (Powerful Uzi,Weak Phas) Armor: Kevlar 
Equipment: Ammo For Gun, Rations (5). Level:2 
Exp:1000-1250 Money:1100-1500

Warhead Lieutenant... Str: 36  Dex: 36  Agl: 36  Health: 
52 Short Range Weapon: ElectroSword Long Range Weapon: 
Phaser-3 Armor: PlasmaVest Equipment: PowerBelt, Rations 
(5), Communicator. Level:3 Exp:5000-7500 Money:3500-6000

Warhead Colonel... Str: 50  Dex: 50  Agl: 50  Health: 75 
Short Range Weapon: GravSword Long Range Weapon: 
GravBlaster Armor: EnergyVest Equipment: GravPack, 
Medkit/50, Grenades(25), AccuraGoggles* Level:4 
Exp:10000-12500 Money:8000-12500

The Leader... Str: ??  Dex: ??  Agl: ??  Health: ?? Short 
Range Weapon: Nuetron Sabre Long Range Weapon: Pulse Rifle 
Armor: Energy Vest Equipment: ?? Level:5? Exp:??? 
Money:???


New Items..... M-16, this would be a little more powerful 
than the Uzi, little less powerful than Phaser-1. 
AccuraGoggles, these help the chance of hitting with a 
long range weapon by 5,10, or 15 percent depending on 
class 1,2,3.


I hope you have enjoyed my submissions and there should be 
more to come......

------------

Delayware
Scott M. Baker

    Well, from the responses I got from the last 
newsletter, I have made a decision. LOD now has a seven 
second delay on loading and exiting of unregistered 
copies.
    I chose the delay of seven second because it is short 
enough not to turn off the users and sysops out there and 
it is long enough to make the unregistered message stick 
in their minds. I've seen doors with rediculous 30 second 
delays and such which sysops have outright refused to run. 
I didn't want LOD to become one of those!
    The delay was necessary for several reasons. The most 
obvious being that I could use a few extra $$ in 
registrations. LOD is a project that takes a lot of time 
to maintain and I need to take some money in from it to 
cover it's expenses and my time.
    Another reason was that registered sysops wanted 
something above and beyond the other unregistered copies 
out there. They wanted users to notice that they had sent 
in money to support the game. I hope this takes care of 
that.

------------

People I Wish to Thank
Scott M. Baker

    Doug Merha: Doug sent me a very nice submission of 
monsters and a nice picture of a cyclops for the game. You 
should notice several new monsters have appeared in the 
outer zones....

    Robby Eckert: Robby also sent in a plentiful amount of 
monsters. Although I don't think you players will be 
thanking him when one of his creations leads to your 
demise!

