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Welcome
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Thank you for downloading Karl von Laudermann's Lode Runner Levels Pack. This
package conatins 2 different Lode Runner level files.

"Loads O' Lodes" is a 42 level scenario that I created for the original Macintosh
Lode Runner game that came out in 1984. Some levels are easy, some are creative,
and some are downright evil.

The other file, "Karl's Evil Levels", is for the more recent game, Lode Runner:
The Legend Returns. What I did was basically take the 13 most EVIL levels from
"Loads O' Lodes" and adapt them to the new format. If these levels have you
jumping up and down, pulling your hair out, and cursing my name, then I've done
my job :-)

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About "Karl's Evil Levels"
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My original goal was to create a brand-spanking-new 150 level scenario for Lode
Runner: The Legend Returns. At first, I decided to convert all of the levels I
did for the old Lode Runner game to the new format, and continue from there.
However, this presented some difficulties. There are a few subtle differences in
gameplay between the two versions, rendering some of my more evil tricks and
traps useless. For example, in the original game, your character did not stop
moving unless you pressed a key to make him do so. So I could do something like
place a rope high above another rope, which was high above a pit from which you
could not escape. So you would have to push down to fall from the first rope, but
if you didn't remember to push up before landing on the second rope, you would
fall down from the second rope as soon as you landed on it. Also, in the original
game, bad guys that you had killed would always reappear in some random location
in the top row. In the new game, killed bad guys only reappear in designated
locations, unless you don't specify any, in which case they can reappear in ANY
empty spot. Also, in the original game, the exit in every level was the entire
top row, whereas in the new game the exit(s) have to be specified, and can be
anywhere.

Another problem was that many of the levels I had designed seemed too easy.
That's why I only converted the really EVIL ones; to make it satisfyingly
challenging. So I figured I'd take the 15 most difficult levels and make them the
first 15 levels of the new game. I planned to do the new level file similar to
the one that came with the game; every 15 levels the scenery would change, and a
new item would be introduced.

Unfortunately, I only found 13 levels in the original file that were evil enough,
and even then a couple of them are just barely acceptable. And by the time I was
done converting those, I was starting to get bored with the game, and didn't
really have the motivation to create an entire 150 level scenario. So, a few
months later, realizing that I would never finish, I decided to just release what
I had so far, along with my old scenario in case there's anyone out there who
still has the old version of Lode Runner.

So this is the result. I hope you like 'em.

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Contact Info
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Karl von Laudermann can be reached at penfold@ccs.neu.edu. Please let me know
what you think. Bye!