The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I bought the original Dark Conspiracy game when it was published in 1991. I was attracted to the dark atmosphere, and the simple mechanics. Friends and I spent many happy hours hunting dark minions and getting the crap scared out of us. It was glorious!

Then, like too many other game systems on the market today, the support dried up, and what material was available was not being printed anymore. This was quite depressing, as I (and my fellow gamers) thought that the game environment and universe, as presented was deliciously dark and sufficient convoluted to keep nearly any player happy.

I did look, admittedly half heartedly after a while, for any follow-up or other printings of the material, but I found nothing.

Imagine then my surprise upon finding this magaine! Six years after Dark Conspiracy whent ou of print!

And it was FREE...

I hastily logged into the Demonground website, not really knowing what to expect, you hoping against hope that Dark Conspiracy had been reborn.

I was sceptical of the editors blurb, "Just because the magazine is free doesn't mean it can't be of professional quality." as every other similar statement I had read was a desperate plee to read the item and garner some hits or statistics.

With some trepidation, I downloaded the first Demonground magazine, and unzipped it.

I was totally stunned! Initially by the full colour cover, and then by the quality interior. The layout was professionally done, it was easy to read (despite a few minor spelling and punctuation errors) and the artwork, while not usually of professional quality, was evocative of the Dark Conspiracy universe.

The articles covered a wide range of subjects, from NPC's, adventures, new equipment, new dark races (the bad guys), and new weapons.

Most of the articles are fan-written, that is to say they are not (originally) of professional quality, but the editing staff do a good job of polishing the submissions, and producing something that reads well, and flows easily from start to finish.

Of course, being a 'new' magazine, they are still having some teething problems in establishing a standard layout, or regular articles, but with the finished versions I have seen so far (there have been five published to date) this is not to much of a problem.

Given that much of the content is from player or reader submission, this is understandable, and, to a large extent, even forgivable.

It is really quite refreshing to see a magazine written for a game system I had thought long dead, and written largely by players and fans of the game. The editors to a damn good job (especially considering they are unpaid and unsung) of getting each issue out, even if they only manage to do it every two months. They have managed to produce, like their opening statement, a magazine of professional quality, freely available via the Internet at no cost.

All in all, for players of the Dark Conspiracy game, or indeed, any conspiracy or horror themed game, this magaine is a good read, laden with a wealth of ideas and information.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Demonground
Author: various Category: supplement Company/Publisher: Demonground (Internet E-zine) Line: Dark Conspiracy Cost: Free Page count: 30 to 50 Capsule Review by Ashley McKay on 08/01/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Modern_day Horror Espionage Conspiracy Post-apocalypse	I bought the original Dark Conspiracy game when it was published in 1991. I was attracted to the dark atmosphere, and the simple mechanics. Friends and I spent many happy hours hunting dark minions and getting the crap scared out of us. It was glorious! Then, like too many other game systems on the market today, the support dried up, and what material was available was not being printed anymore. This was quite depressing, as I (and my fellow gamers) thought that the game environment and universe, as presented was deliciously dark and sufficient convoluted to keep nearly any player happy. I did look, admittedly half heartedly after a while, for any follow-up or other printings of the material, but I found nothing. Imagine then my surprise upon finding this magaine! Six years after Dark Conspiracy whent ou of print! And it was FREE... I hastily logged into the Demonground website, not really knowing what to expect, you hoping against hope that Dark Conspiracy had been reborn. I was sceptical of the editors blurb, "Just because the magazine is free doesn't mean it can't be of professional quality." as every other similar statement I had read was a desperate plee to read the item and garner some hits or statistics. With some trepidation, I downloaded the first Demonground magazine, and unzipped it. I was totally stunned! Initially by the full colour cover, and then by the quality interior. The layout was professionally done, it was easy to read (despite a few minor spelling and punctuation errors) and the artwork, while not usually of professional quality, was evocative of the Dark Conspiracy universe. The articles covered a wide range of subjects, from NPC's, adventures, new equipment, new dark races (the bad guys), and new weapons. Most of the articles are fan-written, that is to say they are not (originally) of professional quality, but the editing staff do a good job of polishing the submissions, and producing something that reads well, and flows easily from start to finish. Of course, being a 'new' magazine, they are still having some teething problems in establishing a standard layout, or regular articles, but with the finished versions I have seen so far (there have been five published to date) this is not to much of a problem. Given that much of the content is from player or reader submission, this is understandable, and, to a large extent, even forgivable. It is really quite refreshing to see a magazine written for a game system I had thought long dead, and written largely by players and fans of the game. The editors to a damn good job (especially considering they are unpaid and unsung) of getting each issue out, even if they only manage to do it every two months. They have managed to produce, like their opening statement, a magazine of professional quality, freely available via the Internet at no cost. All in all, for players of the Dark Conspiracy game, or indeed, any conspiracy or horror themed game, this magaine is a good read, laden with a wealth of ideas and information. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)