COMPUTER ACTION GAME SERVES AS RELEASE FOR CONVENTIONEERS.

Byline: P.J. Huffstutter Daily News Staff Writer

Death loomed over the masses at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, the gaunt figure leaning on his scythe and beckoning those who passed below him to join the battle.

``Death matches! We're having Quake death matches here!'' shouted the robed figure in a cheerful voice. ``Come over and kill everyone!''

Behind him, the sound of gunshots and mortar explosions rang across the crowded floor and soon after, the gurgling whimper of a man slowly dying.

``Man, I just can't play this game on any other computer but my own,'' said James Kiltner, 28, a computer programmer from San Diego. ``I've got my keyboard configured just right for Quake. I'm just so slow on these keyboards.''

As Kiltner walked away, another eager Quake player stepped in front of the bank of computers and began to play.

All day, every day at the giant Comdex computer show - which concludes its weeklong run today - a steady stream of would-be Quake commandos ignored their business contacts and vied to kill or be killed.

The virtual combat was a fitting catharsis for some of the 210,000 conventioneers who battled daily over cabs, dinner seats and floor space.

``We're here for work purposes,'' said Derrick Duke, 25, who works for a personal computer rental company in Houston. ``My boss is here and thought this might be fun. Of course, he's never played the game and I have. I'm going to enjoy killing my manager.''

After each five-minute round, winners received a token and continued their carnage. Gather enough tokens and gamers could trade them in for prizes ranging from T-shirts to sound cards.

The event, organized by Creative Labs Inc., was designed to highlight the Milpitas-based company's latest line of personal computer audio products.

``Some of our staff are Quake fanatics,'' said James Carlton, product marketing manager for Creative Labs. ``It's a loud game and we thought it would sound great here on the convention floor. And we knew other Quake fans would be at Comdex and would want to find a place where they could play the game.''

Developed by id Software in Texas, Quake is the sequel to the immensely popular action computer game Doom. The concept is simple: While looking down the barrel of a shotgun (or ax or rocket launcher or power nail driver), walk around a Gothic castle-like environment and shoot everything and everyone in sight.

An estimated 100,000 people regularly meet on the Internet and compete in marathon Quake matches, according to Creative Labs staff.

Some people, like Creative Labs marketing associate Michael Hershewe, join a Quake ``clan'' - or team - and play against other groups from around the world. Hershewe's clan, dubbed Methods of Destruction or MOD, has gone so far as to reconfigure the game software to change the physical look of their game characters.

``We play every night, sometimes until 3 or 4 in the morning,'' Hershewe said. ``Our characters have the word `MOD' on their arms and on their belt buckles. That way, when we go against another clan, we don't accidentally kill each other in the cross fire.''

Comdex attendees rivaled Hershewe's passion for Quake. On Monday, one man spent eight hours in front of the terminals. As the trade show closed its doors and ushered conventioneers out, he reluctantly left the game with his winnings - nearly $500 worth of PC products.

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Photo: (Color) The Sands Expo and Convention Center has been packed with people, taxis and buses during Comdex.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News