        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

