Shogo Community

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This article is part of the Shogo Sub-Section and is not to be confused with the Blood Wiki proper.

Two Shogers, Steven "Smoth" Smith & Jeff "Bunghole" Ploetner

This article outlines the community sites and fan works inspired by Shogo: Mobile Armour Division.

Community Websites[edit]

The history of Shogo websites can be divided into three eras. The "classic" era encompasses the sites of the "old" official Shogo Web Ring as well as the primary site of the era PlanetShogo, and lasted roughly from 1997-2002. The "middle" era can be considered to have began around the launch of the the "new" Web Ring and was situated from ShogoMAD.com, as well as sites like Polish Shogo Centre and Shogo Level, and broadly lasted from 2002-2008. The "modern" era can be seen as having started with the founding of the Blood Wiki: Shogo Sub-Section, and The Expanded Canon, and is now also embodied by the site Shogo Tribute. This era has been around from 2008 to the present day and is also represented by the availability of the game from Good Old Games, Desura and much later Steam.

Major[edit]

The following are large and diverse sites about Shogo.

Haus of Shogo[edit]

Haus of Shogo Logo

A fan website created by A.T. Hun that contained content such as walkthroughs and other Shogo help. It was advertised as the oldest Shogo fan site ever, since December of 1998, and it was also a good resource for GNU/Linux Shogo player's due to the creator's experiences with that operating system and the game. In late 2009 the site appears to have come down.

Link: http://shogo.thehaus.net/ (Wayback Machine)

Planet Shogo[edit]

Planet Shogo Logo
Original Logo

See Also: Planet Blood

A now defunct community website (also called PlanetShogo) that was established at the request of Monolith Productions. It hosted many fan works such as game modifications and fan art, and for years afterwards was still a useful resource for Shogo. It also hosted a community forum, walkthroughs, a mailbag, testimonials, editorials, rants and interviews. The site was taken down in the early summer of 2009, replaced with a redirect to RPG Planet. Its predecessor was the Riot (working title) page on Planet Quake.

Link: http://www.planetshogo.com/

Wayback Machine: January 16, 2008, Last recorded news post: July 7, 2001, Complete archives

File Archives: Dukeworld, Gamers.org, Quaddicted

ShogoMAD.com Logo
Forums Logo

ShogoMAD.com[edit]

A later website that hosted Shogo texts and Shogo fan works. It also archived some hosted material from Planet Shogo. It was hosted by the Xtreme Gaming Network (XGN) and was created in 2002. It also hosted a rather populated community forum. For a time in late 2008 and early 2009 the site was down; this happened again a year later and the site never returned.

Link: http://www.shogomad.com (Wayback Machine: Homepage, Forum)

Note: not to be confused with the official http://www.shogo-mad.com/

Shogo Tribute[edit]

A site launched proper on January 16, 2011 due to the rush of deaths of other Shogo related sites in the few years prior, although it was originally conceived around 2006. It functions as an archive and a new community, including multiplayer server hosting, for Shogo players old and new. It uses text and content from the Shogo Sub-Section as well as text and images from other sites, particularly in its "Shogo FAQ" section, and has started re-posting old "Pic of the Day" images. It is part of the pentacle band website. The site's forums superseded a separate effort towards a Google Group. It has been replaced by a temporary downtime notice since late 2018.

Link: http://shogo.pentacle.nl/ (Wayback Machine: Homepage, Forum)

Polish Shogo Centre[edit]

See Also: Polish Blood Centre

Polish Centre Logo

A website about Shogo in the Polish language, containing information about the game's characters, universe, mecha gameplay, on-foot gameplay and game structure. It also has various files, such as mods, music, video and screenshots, up for viewing and download. Unfortunately these download links go to the now defunct sites PlanetShogo and ShoogMAD.com. Because of an invalid space in the URL, a Google Translate link is unavailable. It was created by MCA in 2002.

Link: http://shogo_mad.w.interia.pl/

Shogo Web Ring[edit]

Shogo Web Ring Logo

A website ring of various Shogo sites that listed and kept track of various fan sites.

Link: http://www.webring.com/t/Shogo-MAD, Mirror link

Alternate Ring Logo

On the official Shogo website, Monolith also hosted a web ring, often called the "old" ring in comparison.

Link: http://www.shogo-mad.com/ring/

In a similar vein, there was an Open Directory Project section for Shogo.

Link: http://www.dmoz.org/Games/Video_Games/Shooter/S/Shogo_Mobile_Armor_Division/

Minor[edit]

The following are smaller websites about the game.

Shogo Level[edit]

Shogo Level Logo

A website site created by supertanker13, also known as ShogoLevel or ShogoLevel.tripod.com. It hosts a collection of maps and custom levels for the game, most by the author but also contributions by Steven Delrue and Kurt L. (MeG@LoN). It also has the unique feature of "Picture of the Day" collection in the tradition of PlanetShogo or ShogoMAD.com. The site was created due the author and the author's father's love of the game and was last updated on May 14, 2005. The site was up as late as 2019.

Link: http://shogolevel.tripod.com/

Shinji[tEs]'s Shogo Page[edit]

A fan website that contains screenshots, links, a review of Shogo by Shinji[tEs] and the fan fiction The Fall of Gabriel by Ron "eclip5e" Adams. This is also the only site that is linked on the old "Shogo Web Ring" that still existed within the lifespan of the Blood Wiki. Like all of GeoCities, it was taken down on October 27, 2009 but archived by various pro-Geocities groups.

Link: http://www.oocities.org/timessquare/bunker/7735/Shogo.html (Wayback Machine)

Karoshi Shogo Site[edit]

Karoshi Logo

A website by Karoshi, also known as Karoshi Shogo-MAD Web Site, that contains some file downloads, information, links to other relevant sites and a personal testimonial to the greatness of the game. He also posted what he considered to be an enhanced version of Shogo featuring "no riot, new spawn points, better weapon placements." Unfortunately, the file does not seem to exist anymore. It received news updates in 2019, including a files archive, and also in 2021.

Link: http://www.zmax.org/shogo/index.htm (file archive)

Cypres Shogo Page[edit]

A page by Scott "Cypres" that contained a list entitled "TOP TWELVE REASONS WHY SHOGO IS THE BEST SHOOTER", screenshots of the game (with some "refreshingly violent"), and images of a variety of custom levels.

Link: http://www.meowface.com/gaming/shogo/

Sections[edit]

The following are about Shogo-related sections of larger websites.

alt.games.shogo[edit]

"Salutations! Just thought you Monolith fans would like to know about the new alt.games.shogo-mad newsgroup. Its not Blood2, but at least it uses the same engine :)" — Steven L. Cox, alt.game.blood

The Shogo section of Usenet.

Link: https://groups.google.com/g/alt.games.shogo-mad/

Shogo Sub-Section[edit]

Logo

Main Article: Blood Wiki

The Blood Wiki hosts a sub-section to act as a wiki documentation for Shogo: Mobile Armour Division. The game is powered by the original version of LithTech and in that way and others it is the sister game of Blood II: The Chosen. The sub-section was founded on June 8, 2008 after some time in consideration. Its creation was the result of a successful policy motion and vote and it is written and maintained by User:Gideon. Like its mother wiki, the sub-section has this article to document the game's fan community and works, as well as one for mods, and also has a special hosting place for fan artwork. The site was also part of of the New Shogo Web Ring.

Monolith Forums[edit]

Monolith Forums

Main Article: Monolith Forums

The official Monolith Productions forums hosted a section for Shogo: Mobile Armour Division.

Monolith brought down its site in 2009 and later returned in 2010, sans forums.

Link: http://www.lith.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=8 (Internet Archive)

Facebook[edit]

See Also: List of Websites#Blood Facebook

There is a 100+ strong Shogo unofficial fan club on Facebook, moderated by Bonaventura Distratis.

Link: http://ja-jp.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=45682846268

The Gravel Pit[edit]

Gravel Pit Logo

Main Article: The Gravel Pit

The Gravel Pit is a massive in terms of scope, but still somewhat young in terms of posts, forum for gamers with a retro focus. It has sections for various older titles, and the section for Shogo is one of the most prominent. It also, alongside Shogo Tribute, offers some of the last accessible multiplayer hosting for the game.

Link: http://thegravelpit.info/forums/index.php/board,6.0.html

GoG Logo

Good Old Games[edit]

Main Article: Good Old Games

As well as hosting a purchasing page for Shogo, there is also a decently active sub-forum on GOG.com with reviews, help and discussion.

Link: http://www.gog.com/en/forum/shogo_mobile_armor_division/

Deathmatch Clans[edit]

"Shogo: MAD Music Video" (shivasmodaeus) - YouTube

See Also: Bloodbath

Overview[edit]

Despite some criticism directed towards its networking implementation, Shogo quickly managed to attract an active deathmatching scene. These soon amalgamated into a variety of multiplayer clans. Several prominent members of the community involved in other work, such as modding or web administration, tagged themselves by their clan, such as Apocalypse_DFA or the OTAKU group. The popularity of the game's multiplayer quickly revealed a prominent oversight on the part of Monolith, which manifested itself in the ability to use cheats or tweaked REZ files during online matches. This created widespread paranoia about the usage cheats and who were cheaters. Players tagged Do0mzdays were often cited as such, with similar allegations also against Teknoman. Spanked Monkey or SPOA reputably became well known for the, often humourous, use of a rapid fire tweak; once deflecting question by blaming his "fast computer". Sometimes players after players were accused of cheating others tried to defend them as simply skilled, such as the case of female player Nation of Ulyses. The deathmatching community was sometimes surprisingly close and intimate, such as the case of the lovers DrDeathand and LadyZena. A special classification was for players on the Zone, such as TXS, LORD, FEW, SMURF and DFA. This distinction was sometimes a source of friction however.

Link: Archived Planet Shogo Forums section

Index[edit]

  • AoD (Angels of Doom)
  • BS (Bone Squadron)
  • DA (Death Angels)
  • DAM MAD (?)
  • DFA (Death From Above)
  • DR (Darkness Rising)
  • DW (Deadly Warriors)
  • ETS (El Toro Slayers - verification needed)
  • Fetish
  • FROM (?)
  • Front_242
  • [hhttps://web.archive.org/web/20050214124150/http://ghostclan.8m.com/ GC] (Ghost Clan)
  • GOD (?)
  • GT-MaD (Genome Toksentai MaD)
  • GTS (Good Times Shooters)
  • gXs (Genosha eXtinction Squadron)
  • HS (Hell Snipers)
  • Inferno - verification needed
  • ITSA (Indestructible Team of Skilled Assassins)
  • LORD
  • MAD Phallus
  • Mercykillers
  • Ninja Clan
  • nSb (New Shogo Bastards)
  • NWA (Niggas With Attitude)
  • Otaku (see also: Shogo Mods#OTAKU)
  • ODF (Otaku Death Force)
  • ODT (Or Die Trying)
  • Orthex MAD
  • OSB (Old Shogo Bastards)
  • RIP (Rest In Peace, the "Old Married Guys" MAD)
  • Scully's Marauders (post, alternate)
  • SKA (Slick Killaz Alliance) (forum)
  • SR (Shogo Raiders)
  • SS (Skull Squadron)
  • SVA (Shogo Veteran Alliance)
  • Team Smurf (Another website)
  • Teknoman - verification needed
  • tEs (The Extermination Squad)
  • The_Few (forum)
  • TKH (The Knights of Heaven)
  • TR (Team Rocket)
  • TXS (The eXecutioner Squadron)
  • Tzf (The Z Force)
  • WMC (War Machine Clan)
  • WOEI (?)

Links: Shogo Tribute thread to derive listing, ShogoMAD.com list

Fan Media[edit]

See Also: Blood Fan Media

Fan Art/Pic of the Day[edit]

Fan Art by Cersnapple

See Also: List of Blood fan art

There was a section on Planet Shogo by DooBall that hosted any submitted fan art. This included fan drawings of characters, MCAs, and even a page from a manga project that was never completed. There are also various Shogo wallpapers. The "Pic[ture] of the Day" section, also by DooBall, was more general by containing everything from fan art to humourous screenshots. There was also short continuation of this on ShogoMAD.com. More fan art has been created since then, with many of it uploaded to deviantART. In March of 2009 Graham Wilson started collecting what images from the Planet Shogo Pic of the Day were still up, plus all of the comments, into an archive for the Shogo Sub-Section. The destruction of Planet Shogo in the early summer of 2009 stopped his efforts from being fully completed, but the collection goes back to at least October 1998. The archive was finally polished off and released on December 18, 2009 and was later used starting in May 2011 as a source of images for Shogo Tribute. The fan art was uploaded as part of the same effort as uploading the Blood fan art.

Fan Art: http://www.planetshogo.com/fanart/

Pic of the Day: http://www.planetshogo.com/pics/ (Page by page)

ShogoMAD.com Pic of the Day: http://www.shogomad.com/potd.php?id-32

Shogo Fan Artwork Hosted on the Shogo Sub-Section of the Blood Wiki

Download the PlanetShogo Pic of the Day Archive, ShogoMAD.com Pic of the Day Archive

The Expanded Canon[edit]

Cartoon fan art by author

A collection of Shogo fan fiction short stories initially written in 2008 and 2009 by Graham L. Wilson and Hamish Paul Wilson, inspired by the Blood fan fiction, following the "Option 2, Selection 1" path. Starting with The Aftermath by Graham, which concludes where Shogo: MAD left off, the collection expanded into two shorts set before the game: Life After Death and Looking For The Next Best Thing, as well as one set in the principal characters' further past entitled Military Academy; all written by Hamish. Graham also released another Shogo prequel short entitled Hidden Life on June 8, 2009, ending the the series' original run. As well as the themes from the game, the stories set after Shogo also explore themes of polyamory/polyfidelity in terms of the relationships between Sanjuro, Kura and Kathryn, an option that received considerable support in this Planet Shogo poll from 1999 (and building on the harem anime tropes seen in the original game).

A corruption in the site's original host account lead to the all the stories being brought down in the summer of 2009. During early 2010 it was attempted to be moved to the Blood Wiki, but Graham did not like the lack of its original retro look as a wiki article. On May 7, 2011 it finally found its new home of the Blood Wiki FTP server, thus making it hosted by DeathMask.

Alternative Universe[edit]

The Expanded Canon also has an "Alternate Universe" collection designed for crossovers, as not not mingle them with the primary fiction. Currently there are two entries, both of which are crossovers into the Blood universe from the Tome of Blood by Hamish; building upon the close connection between the two games from their shared development history. The first story is set during Blood II: The Chosen and crosses over to the events directly preceding Shogo: MAD, while the second is set after The Aftermath and How Much Time Has Passed.

Third Parties[edit]

The site currently re-hosts the old 1999 story The Fall of Gabriel by Ron "eclip5e" Adams, of the OTAKU clan, that follows the other possible Shogo path. As well, it also re-hosts a 2003 novelization of the beginning of Shogo: MAD posted by CyHunter on the ShogoMAD.com forums (also including a short novelization of the first level of Shogo by Graham). This was done to preserve the stories for posterity, and is done without the original authors' knowledge, though they would be taken down if requested. Graham also reviewed The Fall of Gabriel for the site, and the website is also keen to help publish other Shogo fan fiction if submitted.

Further Expanded Cannon[edit]

Further fiction continued to be written, even during the site's downtime. One was an action oriented short story called Stragglers by Hamish, which was created between the first and second novellas of his character-oriented trilogy: Sex & Violence and Thanks For The Memory. The final portion of the trilogy, entitled Never Too Late and taking the form of a full novel, was finished on February 4, 2014, finally bringing the writing to a close.

While Hamish worked on this, Graham also wrote his own conclusion to the canon bridging off from Thanks For The Memory. Titled in Japanese as Adauchi, it is intended as an "action oriented Shogo novel and ultimate epilogue." All of the new stories, as well as revised versions of the older works, were finally released on October 7, 2014 after months of editing and preparation.

The proposed Shogo 2 project at Shogo Tribute would be set in the same universe, diverging into a third track from both Never Too Late and Adauchi to allow for selective incorporation of elements from both.

Website: http://blood-wiki.org/Shogo/Expanded-Canon/

Forum Thread: http://shogo.pentacle.nl/e107/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?911.0

SHOGO: LEVIATHAN[edit]

Mods and Fan Games[edit]

Capture the flag
Custom level

Main Article: Shogo Mods

See Also: List of Blood series mods

Like most games of its era, Shogo had a very active modding community. This included mods that added new modes to the game like cooperative play or capture the flag, to mods that tweaked various aspects and projects that experimented with new gameplay options or were just plain creative or humourous; as well as the usual total conversions. Many mods focused on improving or tightening up the somewhat limited networking code of the original release, particularly with regards to stopping cheating during deathmatches. Again, as with most games released post-Doom, there was also a variety of custom maps and levels and new player skins created as well. The cult status of the game has also lead to a few projects that ported Shogo data to other games, most notably to Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament 2004. Sites like Shogo DMZ or the Shogo: Mod/Tech and "Ask a Coder" sections from Planet Shogo (plus editing, coding and LithTech articles) provided lots of in-depth information to modders. Also, though not really mods, there is a Shogo Winamp skin (probably XMMS compatible) and a Windows Shogo theme; Karoshi made a collection (defunct) of Shogo ring tones. Experts modders, like Dan "Wraith" Hetrick, created custom utilities for the game.

Videos[edit]

See Also: Blood Videos and Blood on YouTube

There are various user submitted videos for Shogo on YouTube and other sites, the Shogo Sub-Section moderators recommend these:

YouTube[edit]

Note: please only post collections of videos in play-list form.

Promotions and Reviews

Music and Tribute

Glitches and Tricks

Playthrough

Other[edit]

A thread initiated by the Sub-Section on the Shogo Tribute forums is also starting to round up videos.

 
Shogo-Sub-Section.png
Shogo-Sub-Section.png

Shogo Articles

Shogo: MAD, Development, Characters, On-Foot, MCA (Mech), Factions, Enemies, Elements, Quotations, Guides, Community, Mods, Fan Artwork, Videos

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