Copyright © 2015-2024 Bill Kochman

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Greetings fellow BBSer. My name is Bill Kochman. Welcome to the official, resurrected home page of the Armageddon BBS website, companion to the PC-ANSI-based Armageddon BBS, or bulletin board service. If you are an old school, retro Macintosh user, and particularly a current or former Hermes II SysOp -- or Systems Operator -- I think you may dig this site and find it very useful. It has been nine long years since I last set up the BBS in 2015. In fact, this is now the third or fourth time that I am bringing the BBS back online. You know us old geezers .... nostalgia and all that!

The Armageddon BBS is a Macintosh-based, telnet-accessible BBS which I first set up in 1993. Except for a short period when I used the Public Address BBS software -- another fine piece of programming craftsmanship -- Armageddon has been consistently running on Hermes II BBS software. As old Macintosh software and old Macintosh OSes became obsolete, It became more difficult to keep running the Armageddon BBS. In fact, by 2015 when I put the BBS back online for about the third time, I had to run it in a virtual Mac Classic environment -- Mac OS 9.0.4 -- which was -- and continues to be -- created by using the SheepShaver emulator. At that time, SheepShaver was running on an early 2009 iMac with a 3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. I had Mac OS X El Capitan installed on that computer, and SheepShaver itself ran under Mac OS X Mountain Lion, which was installed as a VM -- Virtual Machine -- inside of the VirtualBox emulator. In turn, VirtualBox was running directly under Mac OS X El Capitan. In short, this modern technological "miracle" of running an old school Macintosh-based PC-ANSI BBS looked like this in 2015:

iMac --> Mac OS X El Capitan --> VirtualBox --> Mountain Lion --> SheepShaver --> Mac OS 9.0.4 --> BBS

Today however, thanks to the advancement in software technology, I have been able to remove two layers from the previous convoluted setup, and SheepShaver runs directly under macOS Sonoma, as you see here:

iMac --> macOS Sonoma --> SheepShaver --> Mac OS 9.0.4 --> BBS

By running my BBS in this layered fashion, no matter how often Apple chooses to update macOS, and even though they eventually killed 32-bit apps running on macOS years ago, nevertheless, because of the creative minds of certain programmers who created virtualization software such as SheepShaver, Basilisk II, Virtualbox and Qemu, I am STILL able to keep running the Armageddon BBS. By the way, Hermes II is 68k/PPC software. Pretty cool, eh?

In the past I have also successfully set up Hermes II with the Basilisk II emulator. However, I prefer using SheepShaver, being as it can run Mac OS 9.0.4 and use PPC apps. The last time I looked at it -- which was years ago -- Basilisk II was limited to Mac OS 8.1 -- if I recall correctly -- and 68k apps. Perhaps over the years it has been improved. More recently, I learned that there is another popular emulator called Qemu, which I personally know very little about. At any rate, both SheepShaver and Hermes II ran solidly in the past, and they are running quite well today also.

"But exactly what is a BBS?" you may possibly be asking yourself. Well, to explain that, let's go back in time to the early 1990s when I became involved with the FidoNet network and set up my first BBS.


For those of you who may be new to online communications, or who perhaps are still rather young, there is a good possibility that you have never heard of FidoNet. Briefly, back in the late 1980s and early 1990s, FidoNet was arguably as popular as the Internet and the World Wide Web are today. In fact, some people who remain diehard FidoNet members in its waning hours, won't hesitate to inform the "unlearned" that FidoNet was one of the precursors to the modern Internet.

FidoNet was comprised of individual BBSes -- that is, Bulletin Board Services, or Bulletin Board Systems -- which were run on private computers, and which were networked together using terminal software via local, direct telephone dial-up connections. In other words, there was no middle man ISP or the Internet involved in this process. Initially, connecting to a local BBS in your area involved making a simple telephone call to the BBS, using your computer and modem.

Today, the FidoNet BBSes which still remain -- and BBSes in general -- are likewise accessible over the Internet via the telnet protocol. Such BBSes normally utilize port 23, which is the standard telnet port, although other ports are often used for security reasons. This was the case with The Treasure Trove BBS -- which I later renamed as the Armageddon BBS -- until I finally took it offline for the second time in July of 2011, due to low traffic and other technical reasons.

Of course, that didn't last long, because I resurrected it again in 2015 for a few more years, and then took it offline yet again. Hey, but don't worry. As you have no doubt deduced, the Armageddon BBS is back up and running again. I'll give you the details in just a bit so that you can pay me a visit.

As I briefly explained a moment ago, unlike today where the vast majority of us must rely upon an ISP -- or Internet Service Provider -- or at least a LAN -- that is, a Local Area Network -- in order to connect to the Internet, there was no need for such a middle man back then, because the original FidoNet networks were run by SysOps -- or System Operators -- who all generally lived in the same city, town or general area. Connecting to another computer in the network was simply a matter of making a local telephone call -- via modem -- to a particular BBS.

But it doesn't end there, because upon connecting to such a system, one could then obtain a list of other local BBSes -- or nodes -- which formed a part of that particular BBS network. Being as these were usually local telephone calls, there was no charge involved. In fact, in the beginning, most -- if not all -- BBSes were run for free by people who were dedicated to the hobby. How different from today where everything revolves around money and profit.


As the acronym BBS implies, the primary purpose of a BBS was to serve as a community bulletin board, or message board, for the users of the system, as well as for the other members of the entire local network, via the exchange of message packets by the SysOps. File-sharing also became an integral part of the local BBS environment. While files were for the most part free, many SysOps eventually found it necessary to implement upload/download ratios in order to maintain a fresh stock of interesting files for their BBS members. Sadly, even back then, file leeches -- that is, people who download a lot of files, but who rarely upload anything in return -- were a problem.


Of course, another big draw of BBSes was games. In the Windows world, they were referred to as doors; I imagine because they were add-on extensions to the core BBS software. With the Hermes II BBS software, such add-ons and enhancements are referred to as externals. At any rate, games were a huge attraction in the BBS world. Some games could only be played locally by a single individual. Other games were multi-player affairs where members of the same BBS could interactively play in the same game.

However, the most popular games -- and they had huge participation -- were the inter-BBS games which could be played between members of difference BBSes across the FidoNet network, and across other BBS networks as well. One game that I recall was Trade Wars 2000. Once BBSes became accessible via the telnet protocol, Trade Wars 2000 became a global gaming phenomenon in the BBS world.


Originally, FidoNet -- which was but one of such networks -- was confined to the United States of America and Canada. As more local BBS networks joined FidoNet, it became necessary to form various "stars" -- or hubs -- that served as message relay stations between the various BBS networks which formed a part of the overall FidoNet network. As I recall, there were three such stars in the continental USA. If memory serves me correctly, these three stars were located in Texas, Pennsylvania and possibly California or Washington State.

The people who administrated these hubs also worked together to set the various policies which governed overall FidoNet operations. There was a lot of politicking going on, and on occasions there were problems. Some FidoNet message echoes were also dominated by dictatorial, tyrannical types, who at times acted like little "gods", and their word was law. If a BBS visitor dared to challenge an echo moderator's word, or worse yet, argued with them in public -- which was a serious taboo within FidoNet -- it could easily lead to that user's temporary, or even permanent, expulsion from participation in that particular message conference.

Once it became physically possible to exchange message data packets via the Internet -- and thus cut down on the cost of long distance phone calls between FidoNet hubs and adjoining networks -- FidoNet grew even more, and began to expand into other countries. As a result, it became necessary to divide the online world into different zones, each one of which had their coordinators. North America was Zone 1. Back during its heyday, from about the late eighties to the mid nineties, FidoNet was comprised of literally thousands of BBSes around the world.

But honestly speaking, I suppose that an exact number will really never be known, being as BBSes were coming and going all the time, and it was rather difficult to keep the nodelists up-to-date in a realistic manner. I have no idea how many active BBSes continue to exist today, but I am sure that they are not nearly as many as twenty or thirty years ago. If online info is any indication, there may be a few hundred at best.


One thing is for certain. The FidoNet message conferences -- or echoes as they were known -- were dedicated to a wide variety of topics and interests. Thus, they served as a springboard for sharing quite a diversity of viewpoints. Whether it was technocrats discussing the latest developments in computer technology, or people interested in politics who were engaged in debating the latest issues from a variety of political perspectives, or young kids who were thoroughly absorbed in the latest networked RPGs -- or role-playing games -- or religious people who wanted to share their particular beliefs with the world, or scientists and academia exchanging views on the latest speculations and theories, or people talking about their pets and hobbies, within the BBS world, it seems that everyone found representation to one degree or another.


During the mid to late nineties, while the rising star of the Internet offered new growth opportunities for BBSing and networks like FidoNet, it also signaled FidoNet's slow decline from popularity. In fact, the rise of the Internet and the World Wide Web were directly responsible for the eventual demise of FidoNet, due to the simple reason that FidoNet simply could not keep up with the increasingly sophisticated -- and attractive -- technologies which were being developed specifically for the Internet. Whereas true BBSes were limited to message boards, online chat, XYZ modem file transfers, and ASCII art and ANSI graphics -- although we old school BBSers still think that the graphics we used were cool at the time, particularly those which were animated -- the Internet hasn't faced these kinds of limitations.

In addition to providing most of the above, the high-speed Internet today offers us live or pre-recorded streaming audio and video in the form of news, sports, special events, video conferencing, Internet TV and radio, worldwide web-cams, music, movie trailers and many other forms of entertainment. For added special effects and interactivity, webmasters also utilize Shockwave and Flash, Java applets, CGI scripts, HTML5, CSS, as well as a host of other plug-in technologies which further enhance one's Internet experience.

Then, of course, there are or have been huge social networks with millions of users such as Blogger, Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Klout, LinkedIn, Mastodon, MeWe, MySpace, Pinterest, Reddit, Threads, Truth Social, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.

Clearly, the volume of information which the Internet provides -- regardless of whether the information is factual, propaganda or fantasy -- and the speed with which it delivers the data to us, can't possibly be compared to the archaic FidoNet network by any means. Whether we are looking for knowledge, or merely entertainment, the Internet offers each online user instant gratification, and that is a luxury which was not afforded at the same level to BBSers of years past. The Internet is an exotic -- and dangerous -- electronic world full of motion, emotion, sounds and colors which immediately flood our human senses. It is likewise a cyberworld where one can be whoever he wishes to be, regardless of the reality that surrounds him.

Sadly, a lot of Internet content does nothing to contribute to the betterment of society, because it fails to embrace high moral standards. Furthermore, as I noted earlier, a large part of the online world now revolves around making a profit, and nothing more. Once again, capitalism is taking its toll, and the Wild Wild West Internet of the past is being threatened. But we'll save the issue of Net Neutrality for another day.

The main point to consider here is that FidoNet -- and BBSing in general -- simply could not compete with the Internet and the World Wide Web. In my view, that is why the true BBS world has all but disappeared. The online world received a pretty makeover in the form of the World Wide Web, and millions of people went flocking to it, leaving the BBS world and its older technologies in the dust.


If you are wondering why I say "the true BBS world", allow me to explain. Today, there are a number of web-based messageboards, forums, or whatever you wish to call them, who erroneously refer to themselves as BBSes. However, in the truest sense of the word, and based on what a BBS was back in the 1980s and the early 1990s, they are no such thing. True BBSes were run by individuals -- usually at home -- on their own computers. The BBS user interface relied primarily upon PC-ANSI graphics, and in some cases, even just a plain text interface. On the Windows platform, RIP graphics were also later introduced.

As with the Armageddon BBS, true BBSes required that the user input commands at his keyboard in order to execute different things on the BBS, such as going to different areas of the board, listing message conferences and file directories, uploading and downloading files, playing games or using other BBS utilities, etc. These keyboard commands were comprised of letters, numbers, symbols, or a combination of the same. If you visit the Armageddon BBS, you will see exactly what I mean. There was no point-and-click graphic interface with pretty buttons, etc., as has become the established norm today.


For the uninitiated, PC-ANSI graphics are what you will find in other areas of this website. There are probably around a dozen of them scattered throughout the site. In addition to being the graphical layer over the actual BBS program's code, they -- along with ASCII art graphics -- were the primary artistic expression which was found on true BBSes. Many Bulletin Board Systems were defined by the elaborate -- and sometimes animated -- ASCII and ANSI artwork which the SysOps displayed on their boards. Some of it was quite amazing; particularly when you consider that it was meticulously drawn, colored and shaded, just using the letters, numbers and symbols which are found on a standard QWERTY keyboard. Some guys -- and a few gals I suppose -- acquired quite a reputation due to their skills at drawing PC-ANSI and ASCII artwork. The key is in knowing which keyboard modifier keys to use, and also in having a lot of patience, as well as a lot of time on your hands.

Of course, many modern computer users who have never known the BBSing world would consider the PC-ANSI graphical interface ugly, archaic and difficult to use. However, for us Old School computer users, it still has its charm. Why else would I put my BBS back online three times?


It was through a job that I held during the late 80s and early 90s, that at the age of thirty-seven I was introduced to my very first computer. After conducting some online research, I have concluded that it must have been a Macintosh SE. By today's standards, the Macintosh SE is considered a very ancient machine. However, back then, having a black and white nine-inch monitor, with a CPU speeding along at eight megahertz, a "huge" forty megabyte internal hard drive, and a floppy disk drive to boot, was something to behold. Now, if you really want your jaw to drop, consider that depending on the specific configuration of the Macintosh SE, these little machines cost $3,000 to $4,000 each. Wow! Just look at what we can purchase today for the same price.

Macintosh LC III

Well, by early 1993, I was finally able to buy my very first computer: a Macintosh LC III. It came with a fourteen inch, 256-color monitor, a 25 MHz CPU, 4 megabytes of RAM, and a 160 megabyte hard drive. I even purchased a black and white laser printer to go along with it. Boy was I moving up in the world. Yes, I know. I can hear some of you chuckling from here, as you work on your 4 GHz machine with a 27" monitor, 64 GB of RAM and a 3 TB hard drive.

It was towards the end of that same year that I first heard about BBSing; and before long, I managed to borrow an Apple modem from a friend of mine, so that I could begin my adventure into the online world. For those of you who complain about the slow speed of today's dial-up connections, imagine if you can, moving along at 300 to 1200 baud with an Apple modem. Of course, at the time it didn't seem slow, because we had nothing faster with which to compare it; and just being online was a wonder in itself.

But as we all know, computer technology does not stand still. And so eventually, I acquired a 2400 baud modem as a trade-off for a desktop Christmas lights program at a local Macintosh Users Group meeting. It didn't even come with a modem cable, but I was happy. Later, I upgraded to a 14.4 modem. This was followed by a 56K modem. As fast as that seemed at the time, it obviously could not compare to the DSL line that I later acquired. Eventually, even the DSL line wasn't fast enough, and I have gradually moved up since then to my current 150 Mbps symmetrical fiber optic connection. Hey, but I am still jealous, because some of you Europeans have faster speeds and much better prices.


At the time, I had no idea that I could actually operate my own BBS, so I was happy with just posting messages on the local boards of other BBS SysOps. To my recollection, none of those BBSes used Macintosh-based BBS software. They were all Windows-based and Amiga-based systems, so I was like a fish out of water. It was during early 1994, after having gotten my feet wet in the BBS world, that I finally purchased the Hermes II BBS software package and started my own Bulletin Board Service. It would become known as The Treasure Trove BBS -- or simply TTT BBS. I eventually renamed it to the Armageddon BBS.

Before long, I joined a local Christian BBS network, the name of which I can no longer remember. It was through that BBS network that I also became familiar with FidoNet; and eventually, I began my own FidoNet message conference -- or echo -- which I called EDGE Online. This name was in fact borrowed from a small -- 82 members at its height -- private Christian mailing list known as EDGE, which I operated for quite a few years. EDGE was an acronym for Endtime Discussion Group Exchange. A few people from that mailing list are still my friends decades later today.




During the same time that all of these events were occurring in my own life, the Internet was continuing to grow, and was gaining in popularity. As we discussed before, it was just a matter of time before BBSing and FidoNet would be encroached upon and overshadowed by the global behemoth of the World Wide Web.

It was in the late Spring of 1997 when I finally acquired the financial means to set up my first Christian web page. I had finally broken into the still relatively new frontier of Internet Christian evangelism. I didn't own my own domain name yet. Nevertheless, I was thankful to have my own presence on the World Wide Web. By today's standards, the nascent Endtime Prophecy Net website was a rather pitiful endeavor.

Honestly speaking, even I recognize this now that I have acquired a lot more web design skills. I imagine that when I asked a fellow at a local ISP what he thought of my new website, he must have surely quietly laughed to himself, so as to not embarrass me. The truth is that, at that time, I knew just about nothing regarding HTML coding, CSS, Java applets, and other web design technologies. Even today, I am still rather Old School in what I know and can do. Thus, design-wise, the original version of the Endtime Prophecy Net website was not much different from PC-ANSI graphics.

Earlier, I mentioned the Endtime Discussion Group Exchange mailing list. Well, when I first set up my website in May of 1997, it was not called Endtime Prophecy Net. Instead, I borrowed the same name from my mailing list and called the website EDGE Online. It was when I changed the name to Endtime Prophecy Net that I also adopted the online nom de plume of the WordWeaver. From that point forward, I began to publish my articles on the website, whereas before that time, they were only made available on the Armageddon BBS.


During those same years of the late 1990s, I likewise set up a Hotline server called the Armageddon FREE Files Server, which I ran for eight consecutive years. On it, I offered my own writings, as well as Bible software, Scripture study programs, the writings of some of the early Christians, and other study aids and resources. Live chat and newsgroups were also available on the server, and it was accessible to both Macintosh and Windows users, simply by using the free Hotline client.


So there you have it; a brief history of how the Armageddon BBS and the Endtime Prophecy Net website -- later to be renamed Bill's Bible Basics -- came to be. In fact, they have been followed by my Christian Social Network as well. As I mentioned earlier, since the early 90s, I have put the BBS online, only to take it down a number of years later, two or three times now. Recently, however, I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I decided to make my BBS available to the public once again. In fact, that is exactly what I have been doing for the past week or so. Now that the Armageddon BBS website has been rebuilt and is now fully accessible to the public, I am going to concentrate on getting my actual BBS back online as well. It is in fact already up and running. However, as of right now, I am having a few networking issues which still need to be resolved before the BBS can go live.

But let me tell you; accomplishing such a feat has not been easy, and I have endured hours or days of frustration and head-scratching as I endeavor to find a way to overcome the last remaining issues. For those of you who may be interested in the technical details -- I promise to keep it simple -- the problem is that Macintosh Classic applications -- that is, those which require 68k or PPC microprocessors to run, such as the Hermes II BBS software and the Hotline client and server suite -- can no longer be launched on computers which have the latest versions of macOS installed. This is a result of Apple deciding years ago to totally remove the Classic environment from macOS machines. I won't even get into the politics of that decision.

However, where there is a will, there is a way. Thanks to other people who likewise have an interest in preserving the old Macintosh Classic environment, as I mentioned at the beginning of this page, several emulators have been written which mimic the Macintosh Classic environment. In other words, through software code, these emulators create virtual environments in which applications such as Hermes II and Hotline are basically fooled into "thinking" that they are running on actual 68k or PPC Macintosh computers. The most popular of these emulators appear to be SheepShaver, Basilisk II and Qemu. As I shared with you earlier, I am happy to report that thanks to the help of some online friends over at the emaculation.com website, I now have SheepShaver properly set up and running on my iMac. As a result, the Hermes II-based Armageddon BBS and the Armageddon Hotline server are at your disposal once again.


I have a little secret. Perhaps some of you have already discovered it. If you click on the image of the Armageddon BBS's welcome screen that is located at the top of this page, and if your computer is already telnet enabled -- that is, if it has an application installed which can handle the telnet protocol -- you will quickly and easily be able to connect to the Armageddon BBS.

macOS Users

If you are using a recent version of macOS, depending on which web browser you are using, something slightly different may happen in each case.

In the case of the Firefox web browser, upon clicking on the aforementioned image, you will be presented with a window similar to the following:



All you have to do is click on the OK button. If you prefer to use a different telnet application instead, you have the option to do that as well. You also have the option to tell Firefox to always launch that app whenever you click on a telnet link.

If you click on the OK button, the Terminal application will then present you with another window which looks similar to this:



All you have to do is click on the Allow button, and you will quickly be taken to the welcome screen of the Armageddon BBS via the telnet protocol.

In the case of the Safari web browser, upon clicking on the Armageddon BBS image at the top of this page, you will be presented with only the second window as shown above. You will not see that first window which Firefox displays.

Again, all you have to do is click on the Allow button, in order to be taken to the welcome screen of the Armageddon BBS via the telnet protocol.

Windows Users

Being as I am not a Windows user, I really don't know how Internet Explorer and other Windows-based web browsers react when they encounter a telnet link in a web page. However, what I discovered through online research is that, contrary to the old days, more recent versions of the Windows operating system may not necessarily have a telnet client installed by default, and you may possibly have to install one yourself. Please refer to the link that is located in the bottom section of this page called Telnet BBS Guide. It will tell you exactly what you need to know regarding built-in telnet, and the various versions of the Windows operating system.

Regardless of which operating system and which web browser you are using, when you are shown the Armageddon BBS welcome screen, it should look similar to what you see here, if your telnet client -- such as the macOS Terminal app -- is configured properly. The only possible difference is that the colors may not display exactly the same on all operating systems and computers. There are a number of variables which affect that.

On the other hand, if you do not clearly see all of the words, shapes and lines as in the image above, it is more than likely because your telnet client is not properly configured to display PC-ANSI graphics.

To assist you in adjusting the settings in the Terminal app, then please click on the link that is located near the very bottom of this same page called OS X Terminal Settings. It is a step-by-step tutorial in which I instruct you regarding exactly what to do in order to get the best out of your Terminal when visiting PC-ANSI-based BBSes, such as my own. Even if you are a Windows user or a Linux user, that link may still be helpful to you.


Of course, for desktop computers, in addition to the built-in terminal, there are many third party terminal emulator applications for Windows, Macintosh, Linux, etc. Some of them are commercial products; others are shareware -- meaning try before you buy -- and yet others are free.

While the macOS Terminal app will suffice for visiting BBSes such as mine, if you really want to go commercial, then the best terminal app that I am familiar with is ZOC Terminal. However, be advised that the last I heard, it runs around $80.00. Considering that steep price, in my view, it is probably better to just remain with the built-in macOS Terminal app. I believe that if you make the adjustments that I suggest in the tutorial which is linked below, you will be quite pleased with it.

Regardless of which terminal program you use with your computer system, connecting to the Armageddon BBS is a very simple and easy affair. While I have told you about the link which is embedded in the image at the top of this page, that is not how you will normally choose to connect to my BBS. Rather, you will launch/run the terminal app on your desktop, and use some kind of command line interface. Once you access your terminal, all you have to do is type the following and hit your return key:

telnet ArmageddonBBS.net:7777


That is all there is to it. You may also try typing the following:

telnet armageddonbbs.net:7777

That should work as well. If that doesn't work for you, you can also try this:

telnet bbs.armageddonbbs.net:7777

Don't forget to hit your return key after typing one of the above telnet commands. Within seconds you should see the BBS's Welcome screen in your terminal window. All you need to do then is to type the word new at the very first prompt -- because you are a new user -- and then you will be asked to answer a few simple, basic questions, in order to set up your free account on the Armageddon BBS. If you look at the aforementioned image again, you will see the prompt that I am referring to.


At this point, it is important to mention that unless you are using a regular desktop computer, it is possible that you may not be able to connect to the Armageddon BBS by clicking on the above image, or in any other way either. This is because telnet is an old protocol; and just as occurs with desktop computers, it requires that your mobile device -- such as an iPhone, iPad or Android -- has an application on it which supports the telnet protocol.

I conducted some research some time ago, and it appears that there are some iOS apps in the Mac App Store which do add telnet capabilities to Apple's handheld devices. However, I am not absolutely certain that they support PC-ANSI graphics, which, as we have already discussed, is what real BBSes use. If you are interested in connecting to the Armageddon BBS with your iOS device, then I suggest that you conduct a more thorough search of your own. You may just find what you need. Otherwise, I suggest that you try to use a desktop computer.

How to Connect to the Armageddon Hotline Server



In order to connect to my Hotline server -- now called Armageddon RETRO Server -- the primary requisite is that you download a version of the Hotline client that is compatible with your particular operating system; that is, Macintosh, Windows, Linux, etc. For your convenience, in the Other Tools and Resources links section near the bottom of this page, I have included links for a Mac Classic version of the Hotline client, a macOS Intel version of the Hotline client -- which is Wine-based -- and a Windows version of the Hotline client. After you have downloaded one of them, please do the following:

1. Extract the client from the compressed archive and install it wherever you customarily install applications on your computer.

2. Launch/run the client.

3. In the Hotline client preferences, assign yourself a user name, and select a user icon.

4. Within the client, there are various ways to connect to a Hotline server. The following is based on the Macintosh version of the client:

1. Method #1: Select Connect under the Hotline menu in the menubar. When the Connect window comes up, enter the IP address 202.128.66.10 in the Server field. Do not put anything in either the Login field, or the Password field, as otherwise, you will not be able to connect to my server. You want to connect as a guest. That is why the previous two fields must be left blank. The server will not recognize you if you put anything in those two fields, because you are not yet a member of the server. Furthermore, you really don't even need to become a member, because everything on my server is freely available to you as a guest.
   
   
2. Method #2: Hold down the command key and type the letter k. When the Connect window comes up, do the same thing as I instructed you to do in step "a" above. In other words, only enter my IP address, and nothing more.
   
   
3. Method #3: Click on the green globe -- or whatever icon is used in your client -- to bring up the Trackers window. In the Trackers window, click on the little triangle that is located to the left of the Featured Servers entry, in order to reveal a list of available Hotline servers. Scroll down until you find the Armageddon RETRO Server, and double-click anywhere in that line.

Once you are logged on to my server, have a look around and become familiar with the place, play around with each of the buttons and see what they do, and enjoy yourself. Don't worry. You can't break anything. Oh, and please leave a message in the news so that I know that you were there. It would also be nice if you engaged in the public chat window as well, if anyone else happens to be online at the same time as you. Thanks!

Well, I suppose that brings us to the end of this introduction to the Armageddon BBS and the Armageddon Hotline Server. What more is there to say other than:

Happy BBSing, and happy Hotlining!