WHAT'S NEW?

The Realm of Hades was established in September 1997. The Stygian Abyss went online in June 1998.

6 MARCH 1999

A big gap in updates, here. But, to make up for it, lots and lots of new stuff.

• New icons, lifted from www2.target.se, since my own scanned in ones were shoddy at best.
• A new Chronopia Battle Report. Stygian vs Obsidian Serpent. A good, old-fashioned Snake Fight.
• A new review -- The Dwarven Labyrinth. Man, I gotta get me a Devout army. And a Dwarf army. And . . . and so on . . . .
• Re-did my Feedback form, to take into account the growing diversity of wargames, the introduction of new armies in Chronopia, and other such stuff.
• Fixes on some of my New Units and other routine maintenance.

I've also been messing around with a new graphic design for the Abyss (yes, again -- I can't help it, I have an obsessive need to tinker). I might run with it, but then, I do like the current look. Gonna need to think about it, I guess.

30 JANUARY 1999

Well, I've finally gotten around to integrating Eric Graves' Metroplex stuff into my own. A little maintenance stuff here and there in the Rifts section.

Added some new stuff to the Chronopia side, including two new units, the Stygian Hunters and the Sons of Tiamat.

I'm working on a new gallery, because the current one is a joke. The art in it is so old, it's embarassing. I'm finishing off a few new pieces (including a Lord of Blood in full colour) and trying to find a good graphic design for it. Stay tuned.

27 DECEMBER 1998

Whew! Finally, I can relax. Just when I was building up a really good resistance to caffeine and stress.

Some new things here. An idea from a recent game has led to a new House Rule, and a new Rules section for Warzone Second Edition. Which got me thinking, and let to a few more new house rules, including rather extensive rules for forests to make up for their curious absence from Warzone's rulebook.

Also up is another new troop type; this time the Atilla IV has been given the treatment. And there's a new battle report, our First Second Edition Battle Report in the Warzone 2nd Ed section.

Merry Christmas, everybody. It's been one hell of a year. Here's looking forward to 1999 and all the joys and fears to come. Peace on Earth, everywhere but our gaming tables :-)

-Mr.Styx

10 DECEMBER 1998

Though a month and more has passed since last update, I have not forgotten the Abyss. I've just been busier than hell trying not to fail as the semester draws to a close. Just a quick little update here; a new unit in the Chronopian section, a review of Warzone Second Edition in that section along with my first 2nd Edition new troop type.

My Gallery will be re-designed and filled with new artwork as soon as I get some time to write the HTML and scan in the pics I've had sitting around for a while. Probably over the Christmas break, once I have time to slow down and think.

I'm seriously thinking of dropping the Realm of Hades like a bad habit. I don't really play Palladium games anymore and I'm wondering why I'm bothering to maintain those sections. Please, feel free to drop me a line and let me know if you value this resource and don't want it to disappear.

Extremely frazzled and cracking under the pressure,

-Mr.Styx

26 OCTOBER 1998

A quick update. A new battle report. One which I lost. Rather badly. Ahem.

Oh, yeah. We're now officially over 10 MEGS in size!

24 OCTOBER 1998

A bunch of stuff I've meant to put up for a while now finally got done.

GameGuild sent me a bunch of new pics, which I meant to put up right away, but other things I also wanted to get done took more time than I had thought they would, and before you know it it's been a month since my last update. Anyway.

Also I redrew the upper corner icon, because I've put up a skeleton Warzone 2nd Edition section. Various other little changes here and there. Links updated, too, mainly because Dave finished his upgrades to the Judges Corner, the best Chronopia page online, and man, does it ever look great. Go take a look.

26 SEPTEMBER 1998

Almost every single file in the Abyss has been changed or replaced since the last update. Wow.

First off, I was not really happy with the look of the Abyss. The layout worked, the lighting button menues were nice, but it lacked something. So, heedless of the literally hundreds of files that would require modification, I decided to do a complete revamp. Off I went.

Of course, that's not enough to qualify as a "major" update, so I added a new Battle Reports section, fixed up some e-mail addresses, links and bugs, modified the javascript code for the new graphics and design, and then I decided to make the buttons in the top left-hand corner menu light up, too, which required more time playing with graphics and writing code.

Then, just when I thought everything was peachy, GameGuild dropped me a line and sent me a bunch of new pics for the mini gallery. And, damn, I thought the last batch were impressive . . . . these will blow your mind.

So, I added them in. At this point, the Abyss is over 9 megs in size, nearing 600 files, and pushing the limits of my available space. But I'm not about to stop.

Also, since my last update, the announcement has come through that the new edition of Warzone is coming, and I can't wait. Expect to see the content of the Abyss bifurcate at that point; I'm going to maintain all my old 1st Edition info, but I'm going to convert as much as possible to 2nd edition as well.

Damn, things are getting complicated :-)

14 SEPTEMBER 1998

Yikes! A whole month since my last update!?

Classes have started again, I've got freelance work on my plate, and life is generally hectic. Hope to keep the site fresh, though.

Big update in the Abyss. The Warzone side has an addition to the Rules section explaining our VP system. Plus I've posted a re-vamp of the Enslaver rules based on feedback, and it's illustrated this time :-)

I've also, finally, at long last, got a copy of Sons of Kronos. Wrote a review. Updated the Javascript Millennia-Bug-Proof Chronopian Clock to the year 322, since that seems to be where we are.

The big addition to the Chronopia side is the new picture gallery. You asked for it, you've got it. Some of my stuff will be included in the future, once I get the scanner to take decent scans of the pics; for now, check out Stygian Scout's great work and a pile of pics from GameGuild in Medford Or., including an incredible conversion based on our own Enslaver rules. Must be seen to be believed.

On the Warzone side, we've got a new Mishiman troop type by Indigo and the first of a new Battle Reports section. Very nifty.

In the near future: Chronopian battle reports, Warzone minis, maybe a Stygian tactics manual? Who knows.

10 AUGUST 1998

The Stygian Abyss sees more work. Added a few links. I've compiled the statistics from all the Stygian Abyss feedback I've gained so far and it's interesting, let me tell you. I'll be using this info to decide what I should produce.

I've recieved a few kind offers of mini pics for the forthcoming mini gallery, so with a little luck they should be appearing soon along with my own. Also look for scenarios and battle reports.

On the Warzone side, the Rules section has been modified to include our House Rules and the Complete Def Mod Attribute Listings including every single mini in Warzone, even from the boxed sets, even the Dark Eden stuff. Check it out.

Firstborn fans, I know you're out there, check out the Artwork section. The all-time coolest Firstborn character has been given the treatment.

The Rifts section has seen an addition in the form of a new Netbook! Pike Slade has contributed the new section dealing with the NORAD facilities in Colorado and their fate in the year 105 P.A. Check it out.

I'm also working on a complete revision of the Gallery; new artwork and tinkering for Requiem RPG v5.1 goes on. Life is good, or at least, survivable.

Oh, yeah, Pratchett fans should check out the Chronopia New Units section . . . :-)

26 JULY 1998

Took down the Requiem section for re-engineering. It'll be going back up after I've redesigned the section, done some general tinkering and assembled the illustrated version for download.

The Stygian Abyss has seen some work. In the New Units side for Chronopia, readers can now take advantage of a new feature to give me their opinions on what the points values of my units should be, since I seem unable to do it properly myself. I also added a new title and colours to the front end of that section.

The Warzone side of the Stygian Abyss sees a big new section describing Def and Size attributes and new Hiding as a Skill rules for every unit in Warzone. No, I don't know what I was thinking. Yes, you should check it out forthwith.

I also added this 'What's New?' section.