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- The Story....! ---->
-
- Well, actually, the story hasn't changed much since last time in
- TALPOIDA. By now, you've seen the mega-huge pulse cannon, and you had
- better find a way to neutralize it if you hope to be rescued anytime
- soon. Unfortunately for you, the hostile forces seem to have caught on
- to your presence. Your passage down the last corridor in TALPOIDA was
- cut off and you were ambushed, though of course, you managed to escape
- down a hidden little crevice to find yourself....in a dark and
- cavernous underworld.
-
- Welcome to DIOPATRA......!
- -----------
-
- Hello, and welcome to the third installment in the UCA storyline!
- Of the 3 thus far, this one is probably the hardest. It is designed
- for single player, though coop mode is supported but not tested.
- Deathmatch, however, is NOT supported, as DIOPATRA is a bit too
- large and too dark to make an enjoyable deathmatch wad. Difficulty
- levels are supported but limited to basically "hurt me plenty" or
- "ultra-violent."
-
- DIOPATRA is an almost completely cavernous wad. As such, it is DARK
- and a bit mazy. It is rather non-linear; you have to determine for
- yourself the best way to go about completing and exploring the
- different sections. This is a fairly dangerous wad - as noted, it
- happens to be rather dark, though I have included several lite-goggles
- to help...if you find them. DIOPATRA looks and works best if you
- don't jack up the gamma correction, so play this one at night or
- in a dark room. Don't blame me if you play in broad daylight
- and can't see much - you've been warned! :)
-
- Oh yeah - I don't feel it's fair in dark wads for numerous imps and
- spectors to be wandering around, so you will only find 1 spector
- and 4 imps in DIOPATRA, and they are all restricted to a very
- bright area. The rest of the wad, though, is pretty top-heavy on
- demons and cacodemons. I find these enemies to be much fairer, as
- the former moves a lot (so you can detect its motion) while the
- latter is a nice, fat target. The cavernous tunnels are also laced with
- flowing lava, so watch how you walk. The radiation suits don't always
- provide adequate protection....
-
- DIOPATRA was designed to be played right after TALPOIDA. If you
- try it as a stand-alone, you will be EXTREMELY hard-pressed to
- complete it. Personally, I can barely solve it as a stand-alone,
- as I'm not exactly an expert Doom player. The choice is yours, but I
- HIGHLY recommend playing UCA and TALPOIDA first to prep your
- soldier for DIOPATRA. DIOPATRA takes me about 35-50 minutes at UV
- to solve. Hmmm, maybe I'm just slow.
-
- Some folks have asked, so...keep in mind that these wads are part of a
- 9-wad series. Thus, you're not going to find every big weapon in
- every wad - that would be silly. If you miss a weapon the first
- time around, you'll just have to wait until it re-appears a couple
- of wads later. Just like in the original Id levels.
-
- A hint on gameplay - You will probably notice a soul sphere fairly
- early into the wad if you're observant. BUT, it really isn't
- obtainable until very close to the end of the wad, despite
- appearances. If you get it too soon, you will probably die. Yes,
- that's right. You've been warned. It's not easy to get the soul
- sphere.
-
- Last point - although DIOPATRA is large at 158k, it plays smoothly
- on my 486sx-25, which has a pitiful 3dbench rating of 16.6. So
- there should not be any problems with slow gameplay. That's about
- all I want to say. I hope you enjoy DIOPATRA. Check out UCA or
- TALPOIDA if you haven't already or if you can't finished DIOPATRA as
- a stand-alone. I really look forward to any comments or
- suggestions, too. I did extensive play-testing, but there's always
- the chance that I missed something. I haven't found any bugs, but
- if you do, PLEASE tell me about it so I can fix it. Thanks! And
- happy hunting!
-
- DIOPATRA was devloped with DEU 5.1 and BSP1.0 and can be found at....
-
- infant2.sphs.indiana.edu
- my account (just email me if you can't do ftp)
-
- Eddie Nguyen
- anguilla@raphael.acpub.duke.edu
-
-