I stopped working on MM9 when I was trying to fix a glitch with the routines that govern targeting -- ie, an object assigning another object as the target of future actions. The fault is in the game engine and I was trying to figure out what had to be done in a script in order to compensate. I made some headway in defining the problem but it took a lot of effort because I didn't have access to the source code. I was fumbling in the dark.

Yes, fans could make new content and even a new game based on the current game engine, but it's a flawed engine built on old technology. There is -- and always has been -- more interest in using the MM6-8 engine to make new content. After all, one might as well use something stable and simple if the goal is an old-school game.

I'm not adverse to helping others out, though. The bare requirement to making new content is a text editor. With that one can edit the dialog and script files. I'll gladly share my notes on the way those files work with anyone who is at least clever enough to figure out how to decompress them. It's not hard, but you will need to install the Lithtech 2 tools. You can get them from:

http://www.bluesnews.com/files/nolf/tools/nolftools001.shtml

These tools will also let you create new 3D levels when you get them configured correctly. You will need to import terrain from a different program. I'll be happy to help with that if anyone gets that far. One can do some minor tinkering with the models using a program that comes with the tools. Talk to me if you need to go further.