Portals

     A.N.G.L.E., Amiga Net Games for Light Entertainment, introduces:

                                  PORTALS

Portals is a Freely Distributable, Internet-based, Fantasy Role Playing
game which recreates the feel of a real RPG (i.e., one played with real
people) because -- wait for it -- you are playing with real people, who
could be anywhere in the world.

   ...THE STORY SO FAR...

In the beginning, there was one land.  The inhabitants were similar to the
humans of our planet.  Suddenly, a massive magical shockwave shattered the
land, and the territories were separated, isolated from one another by a
powerful magical flux.

Over the millennia, the descendants of the original race adapted to their
environment.  The fittest survived and new races were born.  In one
territory, children were born whose bodies were part stone.  In another,
their skin was leathery, reptillian.  In another, the harsh conditions led
to the placing of great emphasis on combat.  In the frozen icelands, beset
by many predators, acute hearing and speed became the norm.  And in the
temparate territory, the comfortable life gave rise to a weaker race, who
had more time to study the magical arts and develop them as their means of
defence.

Now, that magical charge is dying away and the territories are growing
closer together.  Small doorways are appearing in the flux, "portals"
through which a person may move from one territory to another.  In time,
they will grow stable but, for now, they seem to appear and disappear at
random.  As the races begin to mix, their leaders develop their own
agendas.  Some wish to conquer the newly rediscovered territories.  Some to
make peace.  Others, merely to ensure their race survives.

Although a state of total peace does not exist between every Lord, and
travellers should beware of putting themselves on the wrong side, this
could be the perfect time for heroes.  Quests are waiting for those brave
enough to attempt them, chests of gold lie in wait for reward, and
uncharted areas beckon to explorers.  The history book, awaits...


        WHAT DOES PORTALS LOOK LIKE?

If we were into generalizations, we'd describe Portals, as "a Fantasy Role
Playing game that looks a bit like Chaos Engine, borrows some bits from
Zelda, pays a tribute to the best MUDs around, and adds tons of its own
nice touches to top it all." Still, this would make Portals no justice at
all, so let's introduce some of its features:

- Eight different territories to explore.  Providing you're able to
  locate the "portals", you could move from the green and peaceful
  Mantero, through the barren land of Ertanis, to the caves of
  Kranaria. 

- Brand new races to choose from.  Being a dwarf or an elf is all very
  well, but wait until you've played a Seleth or a Golem!

- Cooperative and/or competitive strategies depending either on your
  mood, or on the task at hand -- how's that for opportunism?

- Weapons, armours, scrolls, spells, you name it.  Not every race is
  good at everything but, on the other hand, every race can have a go
  at just about everything.

- Exploring, battling, trading, stealing.  Make friends or, then
  again, probably not.  Do whatever you feel like, but be prepared to
  live by the consequences of your behaviour.

- Shops, inns, buildings, treasures, hazards and traps.  No need to
  rent to keep your valuable equipment -- as long as you're not
  fighting for your life, you're free to save and quit just about
  everywhere. 

- Powerful, yet simple and effective chat system.

- Short-term missions (i.e., tasks) you could even complete on your
  own. Well, with a bit of luck and the right equipment, that is!

- Long-term missions (i.e., quests) devised by the Lords according to
  their own agendas.  To succeed, a team effort -- and a well-assorted
  team at that -- is definitely required.

    WHERE TO GET PORTALS?

Well, "Portals" is not yet available.  We're neither a major, nor a minor
software house or, for that matter, a publishing company.  Not that's
there's something wrong about staying in business, being profitable and all
that, heaven forbid!  It's just that our focus is more on providing games
for an area that has not been explored well on the Amiga, and our intention
is to provide "Portals" as a gift to games players worldwide.

Still, although we're not involved with the game's industry, we're not
absolute beginners, either.  Some of us are full-time programmers with a
strong background in UN*X networking.  However, before you ask, we're
definitely Amiga people and, given the opportunity, we like playing games!

Right now A.N.G.L.E.  spans the globe -- from Australia, through Europe, to
North America -- and it's comprised by eight members.  Everything would be
hunky-dory, but we're either full-time employed, part-time employed or
plain students with even tighter deadlines.  On the one hand, this means
we're working on "Portals" in our spare time, often late at night; on the
other hand, this game is really a labour of love and, this is the best bit,
we plan to make it Freely Distributable.

To sum it up, we're constantly looking for more team members.  Since
"Portals" needs tons of hand-drawn graphics, we especially need more gfx
people, but more programmers and a couple of extra musicians to speed
things up, would be just as great.

   A.N.G.L.E. ON THE WWW

Detailed and up to date info, including some VERY early graphics and a
couple of audio snippets, are available at:

http://www.iper.net/angle

and no, it's not a typo -- it's actually "iper", not "hyper"! :)

    A.N.G.L.E. BY E-MAIL

Good old e-mail can be used as well. Send your comments to:

ANGLE-admin@karunko.nervous.com

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