Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.games
From: jon3@quads.uchicago.edu (Jason Jones)
Subject: Minotaur
Message-ID: <1992Nov13.011859.25215@midway.uchicago.edu>
Keywords: network modem carnage
Sender: news@uchinews.uchicago.edu (News System)
Reply-To: jon3@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
References: <1992Nov6.082746.14082@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu> <1992Nov11.064906.22779@mintaka.lcs.mit.edu> <1992Nov12.205018.9519@Princeton.EDU>
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 01:18:59 GMT
Lines: 48


Several people mailed me asking for a better description of Minotaur after
I appended it to the (latest) list of network/modem games.  So here it goes...

In Minotaur, you and up to six of your friends get thrown into a large,
randomly generated maze and whomp on each other until only one is left
standing (and yes, you can make "friends" with people, but when everybody
is dead except for your friends, and you have the Aegis of Zeus, Durandal,
and megatons of offensive magic, are you going to just QUIT?  No!  Carnage!)

Scattered throughout the maze are various magical and mundane items: spells,
weapons, armor, etc.  There are over eighty different items, in all.  Their
magical effects are diverse: invisibility, gaseous-form, damage, raising
attributes, trapping items, teleporting (all imaginable forms), paralysis,
draining attributes, slowing opponents, magical shields, negate magic,
forcewalls, healing, destroying an opponent's armor, dispelling his magical
shields, etc.  The list is way longer than I have space for here.

The great thing about Minotaur is strategically combining the effects of
the various magic items and spells.  For example, one really evil trap is
to cast a Forcewall spell outside of a dead end, lay a bunch of traps
in that dead end, and then teleport your opponent on top of them.  Not
only does he take damage from the traps, but he's stuck behind the
forcewall until he gets his levitation/teleport magic ready.  Meanwhile,
you can pound him with your bow&arrows (from OUTSIDE the forcewall!), or
perhaps a bunch of damage spells.

There are many different variations on this trap, too.  For example,
you could trap a monster behind the forcewall before you teleport in
the other player.  Or, you could stay behind the forcewall with him,
if you think you have a better weapon than he does.  Or maybe you
want to teleport two, or even three of your opponents into the same
dead end (and with a monster, for good measure!)... of course, you'd
have to find the right spells ...

Every game is different, because the maze and the positions of items
changes each time.  The effects of the various items are very well
balanced, and the game itself was well-planned.  In my opinion, it's
the best multi-player carnage game for the Macintosh.  Minotaur keeps