EVERWHERE YOU TURN, SOMEONE OR SOMETHING IS TRYING TO STOP YOU. TO KILL YOU.
HAVE YOU CONSIDERED WHY THEY BEHAVE THIS WAY? WHAT ARE THEY PROTECTING? WHAT
ARE THEY HIDING? PERHAPS THEY'RE TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING.  MAYBE YOU 
SHOULDN'T BE WANDERING AROUND THEIR FACILITY PUSHING BUTTONS.  MAYBE THEY'RE 
TRYING TO STOP YOU FOR YOUR OWN GOOD...

DOOM "PORTAL"
~~~~~~~~~~~~
DMPRTL.ZIP CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING FILES:

        DMPRTL.TXT (YOU'RE READING IT)
        DMPRTL.WAD (MODIFIED DOOM DATA FILE)

INSTALLATION
~~~~~~~~~~~~
COPY DMPRTL.WAD INTO YOUR DOOM DIRECTORY. WHEN IN YOUR DOOM DIRECTORY TYPE 
"DOOM -DEVPARM -FILE DMPRTL.WAD -WARP 1 2 -SKILL 4 (OR 1 IF YOU WANT TO PLAY 
IT EASY) TO START PLAY. OR USE BLACKFIST'S EXCELLENT WADRUNNER PROGRAM. 
(IN CASE YOU'RE WONDERING WHY I DID NOT MAKE LOADING EASIER BY USING THE 
FIRST LEVEL IN ONE OF THE EPISODES, IT'S BECAUSE THE E1M2 MUSIC BEST SUITS 
THE MOOD OF MY LEVEL, IMHO)

THERE ARE 2 SKILL LEVEL CHOICES - EASY (I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE) AND HARD (ULTRA
VIOLENCE). THE LEVEL WAS DESIGNED TO BE PLAYED ON HARD. EASY WAS KIND OF AN
AFTERTHOUGHT, AND SEEMS WAY TOO EASY FOR ME. BUT THEN I KNOW WHERE EVERTHING
IS TOO.  FOR THOSE WITH SLOWER MACHINES WHO DON'T ENJOY VIEWING THE WORLD
THROUGH A POSTAGE STAMP SIZED WINDOW, EASY MIGHT HELP IMPROVE THE FRAME RATE.
(BECAUSE THERE'S FEWER MONSTERS)

IF YOU DO NOT COMPLETE DOOM "PORTAL" IN ONE SITTING AND SAVE THE GAME, BE SURE 
TO USE THE "-FILE DMPRTL.WAD" COMMAND TO UPDATE THE GAME OR YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO 
ACCESS YOUR SAVEGAME FILE.

ENTRY POINTS FOR COOPERATIVE AND DEATHMATCH GAMES HAVE BEEN PROVIDED BUT NOT 
TESTED. DEATHMATCH START POINTS ARE IN RELATIVILY "QUIET" AREAS.

DOOM "PORTAL" WILL NOT WORK WITH NON-REGISTERED VERSIONS OF DOOM.
 
IMPORTANT GAME PLAY NOTES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SUPPLY MANAGEMENT IS VERY IMPORTANT IN DOOM "PORTAL." 
DO *NOT* PICK UP AMMO, MEDIKITS, ARMOR, ETC JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE THERE. YOU 
MUST DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT YOU REALLY NEED THESE ITEMS AT THIS PARTICULAR 
POINT IN RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR ABILITY TO CARRY THEM AND ESTIMATED FUTURE 
NEEDS.  DOOM PORTAL IS A LEVEL OF EVER-INCREASING VIOLENCE WITH A DECREASING 
AMOUNT OF RESOURCES AVAILABLE.

FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU HAVE A RUCKSACK AND 385 ROUNDS OF AMMO, DON'T PICK UP 
A 50 ROUND BOX OF BULLETS - YOUR LOSING 35 ROUNDS YOU'LL WISH YOU HAD LATER. 
DON'T USE A SOUL SPHERE IF YOUR HEALTH ISN'T BELOW 100%.  DON'T USE A SHOTGUN 
IF YOUR FISTS WILL DO THE JOB.  

AT SOME POINT YOU MIGHT BE ASKING, WHAT'S NEXT?  WELL, AT THAT POINT BEFORE
CONTINUING, BE SURE TO SCROUNGE UP EVERY LAST BIT OF AMMO, ARMOR, ETC.
BE SURE YOUR GAS TANK IS FULL AND YOUR KNUCKLES ARE PRIMED.

ABOUT 1/3 OF THE LEVEL HAS GREAT DEAL OF "RANDOMNESS." IS THIS BY DESIGN AND 
IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY YOUR CHOICE OF TACTICAL METHODS.  TRY VARIOUS
APPROACHES AND SEE THE DIFFERENCE.  THIS FEATURE HAS MADE MY REPETITIOUS
TESTING OF THE LEVEL MUCH MORE "INTERESTING."

ON AVERAGE, DOOM "PORTAL" TAKES 45 MINUTES TO COMPLETE. I USUALLY FINISH WITH
NO AMMO, NO ARMOR, AND 85-127% HEALTH. (THIS IS ON "HARD") I'M SURE YOU CAN 
DO BETTER THAN THIS OLD MAN.

PROBLEMS
~~~~~~~~
FRAME RATE DROPS AT A FEW SWITCH LOCATIONS. THIS CLEARS ITSELF IN A FEW 
SECONDS.  FRAME RATE ALSO DROPS ONCE WHEN A SITUATION GETS "BUSY," BUT ONLY
LASTS A MINUTE OR TWO ONCE CERTAIN OBJECTIVES HAVE BEEN MET.  UNLIKE DOOM 
"PITS" THERE SEEM TO BE NO SAVEGAME PROBLEMS.  

WARNING
~~~~~~~
USE OF THESE FILES IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR 
ANYTHING THAT MIGHT HAPPEN WHEN YOU USE THEM.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THANKS TO THE FOLKS AT ID SOFTWARE FOR CREATING DOOM. IF ONLY ALL GAME
DESIGNERS WERE SO GOOD AT WHAT THEY DO!

A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO BRENDON WYBER AND RAPHAEL QUINET FOR CREATING THE
DOOM EDITING UTILITIES V 5.0 - A REALLY EXCELLENT PROGRAM WHICH MADE THIS 
NEW LEVEL POSSIBLE. I LOOK FORWARD TO DEU v5.1!

THANKS TO COLIN REED FOR HIS BSP UTILITY WHICH MAKES DEU WORK.

AND THANKS TO VOOT ZOMBO FOR TESTING THIS LEVEL AND FOR PROVIDING MANY USEFUL
COMMENTS AND SUGGESTIONS.  I REALLY APPRECIATE THE HELP!

COMMENTS
~~~~~~~~
PLEASE FORWARD ANY COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS, INSULTS<G>, OR REQUESTS FOR 
ASSISTANCE TO ME.  BASED ON MESSAGES I RECEIVED, IT SEEMS THAT MY EARLIER 
DOOM "PITS" WAS UPLOADED TO MANY VARIOUS BBS'S. I HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THIS 
HAPPENING AGAIN AS LONG AS THE DMPRTL.WAD FILE IS NOT MODIFIED AND THIS TXT 
FILE IS INCLUDED. THANKS.

NICHOLAS BELL
CIS 72162,1667


4-30-94
