                   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) 544-4655  (V.32)
Node #2: (602) xxx-xxxx  (USR DUAL)  (Temp Down)
