DOOMDARK'S REVENGE (Lords of Midnight 2) (c)1985 Beyond AUTHOR: Mike Singleton ------------------------------------ Preliminary Note: ---------------- The instructions below have been taken from the manual for the Spectrum version with contributions by Chris Owen (Nettverksgruppa, 5/10-94, www@nvg.unit.no) and others incorporated. The description of the controls have been changed to the Commodore 64 version. (These controls were improved in the conversion.) Use of emulators to run the program on the PC has been taken into account in the text. Maps of Icemark are available on the Web, and are very much necessary besides these instructions to play the game. A hacking guide provides addit- ional details making a difficult game somewhat easier... GENERIC DESCRIPTION An adventure and role-playing game in which you control characters as they fight against evil, rescue a prisoner and/or search for magical objects. As you move characters around the Land of Icemark you are presented with views of the landscape which they can see. CONTROLS : Keyboard Character Control Keys: 1-8 'Orientation' keys - Look in direction (N-NE-E-SE-S-SW-W-NW) Space Bar 'Move' key - Move in current direction Displays Choose Menu if you can't move until you choose Restore 'Choose' key +/- 'Check' keys - Check Person-Place/ Battle-Army <- (back arrow) 'Look' key - Back to look in current direction from Check screens Other Keys: 0 (zero) 'Night' key 9 'Dawn' key Y Yes (for "More" in Select or Check mode) N No (for "No more" in Select or Check Mode) S Save Game to tape(*) L Load Game from tape(*) (*) Check your emulator! - you may need a blank tape as saving games is a critical function. A 400 Kb tap file results with CCS64. Run/Stop skips verify of save file. Specific Characters Selection Keys: F1 Luxor the Moonprince F3 Morkin (when enabled) F5 Tarithel the Fey (a female) F7 Rorthron the Wise Character Select Mode Keys: INST/DEL 'Select' key In Select Mode: There are up to 128 characters which can appear in the list (see the hacking guide) - Press 'Yes' key for more if there are more than can be listed on the screen - The initial list in the Select menu is: 1 Luxor the Moonprince 2 Tarithel the Fey 3 Rorthron the Wise ------------------------------------------------ The Background Doomdark has been defeated (see "Lords of Midnight"), but his successor Shareth the Heartstealer, his daughter, has struck back and kidnapped Morkin the Free, son of Luxor the Moonprince. He is being held in the Plains of Anvaril, surrounded by the Frozen Wastes at the North of Icemark (see map). His heart has been turned against Luxor and only Tarithel the Fey can break Shareth's spell and bring him back to the side of good. Shareth, meanwhile, is intent on gathering together an army to defeat Luxor. The Aim You, the player, take the role of Luxor the Moonprince. By virtue of the magical Moonring, you can control friendly char- acters throughout the Land of Icemark, looking through their eyes at the surrounding landscape and guiding them in their many tasks. Some will just be individuals, some will commandeer whole armies; when you move a commander, his army moves with him. All your followers are united in your common purpose: defeat of the evil Shareth the Heartstealer, Empress of the Frozen Empire, who has kidnapped Luxor's son and heir, Morkin, and holds him captive in her dark capital. With her allies in Icemark, Shareth (controlled by the computer) will make your quest to save Morkin both difficult and dangerous. Shareth's goal is the destruction of Luxor the Moonprince, he who slew her father Doomdark, Witchking of Midnight (in LORDS OF MIDNIGHT). If Shareth can cause the death of Luxor, Midnight will soon fall under her sway and you will have lost... The Strategy Your various missions have any one of or all the following goals: - to rescue Morkin, - to defeat Shareth the Heartstealer in battle, and - to search for the Runes of Finorn - an ancient and magical message which may be read by Rorthron the Wise. Apart from the Runes of Finorn there are three magical items scattered around Icemark to help you. They are Luxor's Crown of Varenand, Tarithel's Spell of Thigrorn and Morkin's Crown of Carudrium. Each warrior also has a weapon bearing his name which he may find and pick up for extra strength. The special power of each of these items may be used once, although carrying any weapon will always give an advantage in battle. When any or all the above objectives have been met you must return Luxor and, if they survive, Rorthron, Morkin and Tarithel to the Gate of Varenorn and at nightfall your task will have been completed. If this proves too difficult you may opt for just one or two of the above: if Shareth is defeated or Morkin is free you have gained a partial victory. Should Morkin or Tarithel be killed you can still achieve this but Luxor's overwhelming grief could well be his downfall. If Luxor is slain, however, then Shareth has won. DR has thus three main endings, with several types of victory, some lesser, some greater: 1. Should Luxor simply rescue Morkin and retreat to his starting position, the Gate of Varenorn? 2. Should he seek to limit Shareth's power in Icemark by retriev- ing the magical objects before returning through the Frozen Gates? 3. Or should he seek ultimate victory and, risking all, attempt to destroy her forever? Whatever happens, though, Luxor must return safely to the Gate of Varenorn. The different victories possible for Luxor are: 1. The most basic - as Luxor, rescue Morkin and bring him back to the Gate of Varenorn. The rescue of Morkin is a priority for Luxor; once accomplished the greater victories listed below can also be attempted. Morkin is being held in the Plains of Anvaril, surrounded by the Frozen Wastes at the north of Icemark. His heart has been turned against Luxor and only Tarithel the Fey can break Shareth's spell and bring him back to the side of good. Bring the characters back to the Gate and by nightfall your task will be completed. This quest is basically an adventure where you only have to control Luxor, Tarithel and Rorthron, and raising armies is not necessary. 2. Retrieve the arcane objects on which Shareth's power depends and return them to the Gate: a. Bring to Varenorn any of the Crowns of Icemark - Luxor's Crown of Varenand and Morkin's Crown of Carudium. Use of a crown summons all the Moonprince's forces to the location of the holder. b. Search for the Runes of Finorn, an ancient and magical message which may be read by Rorthron the Wise. Use of the Runes of Finorn gives a very refreshing rest to all the Moonprince's forces. Also, merely carrying the Runes of Finorn will protect the character from being killed in battle. c. There is also Tarithel's Spell of Thigrorn. Use of the Spell of Thigrorn transports the character to Morkin's location. d. Each warrior also has a weapon bearing his name which he may find and pick up for extra strength. Carrying any weapon will always give an advantage in battle. Using any weapon gives the carrying character a refreshing rest. The special power of each of these items may be used once. Also, carrying any of the four magical items above will make the character more persuasive when approaching people for negot- iations. 3a. Destroy Shareth and her power. If Morkin is slain, this is your only remaining option, although it will be even more difficult for a grief-stricken Luxor. How this can be accomplished you must discover during your travels through Icemark, but be warned, it is no easy task at the best of times. 3b. Destroy Shareth and safely return Luxor, Morkin, Tarithel and Rorthron to Varenorn for the greatest victory of all. With this event, the hidden power of the Moonring will awaken, giving Luxor the power to protect the Land for as long as he lives. This third objective (a or b alternative) results in a full strategy game requiring making allies to raise armies as it was done in LOM, but with a larger scale knowing the number of lords and races in Icemark. End of Game If Shareth is killed and all four of the main characters gather at the Gate of Varenorn (objective 3b) then an overwhelming victory will have been won and the watchwords of Midnight will be revealed. Otherwise, to end the game, Luxor must be at the Gate and either Shareth must be killed (objective 3a) or Morkin must be with Luxor (objective 1). A worthy victory can be won if Shareth is still alive (objectives 1 and 2); a noble victory is won if she is dead (objective 3). How worthy or noble the victory is depends on how many of the four main characters are assembled and how many of them are carrying their own magical items. Spells and Creatures Each morning except possibly the first, creatures occupy approximately one in every four land locations, and a spell or creatures occupy every landmark, apart from those occupied by people. More details on spells and creatures locations are given in the hacking guide. Selecting a Character You initially have just three characters under your control, namely Luxor the Moonprince, Tarithel the Fey, and Rorthron the Wise. You can select any one of these independently by pressing the appropriate key. You may not control Morkin until you have freed him from Shareth's spell of enchantment (the Morkin key does not work until he is back on the side of Luxor). When the character is selected, the display will switch immediately to that character's point of view. The four main protagonists above have their own keys. To select other characters which you have rallied to your cause, you must press the 'Select' key and choose the appropriate character. If you control more characters than can be listed on the screen, the message "More?" will appear at the bottom of the display. Press the 'Yes' key to view the rest of the list. Each character has eight hours in which to travel or rest. Any character who still has hours left in the day can be moved at any time. Controlling a Character Unlike ordinary adventures, DR does not use text descriptions and a parser. Instead, you have four basic options, each available at the press of a single key: 1. Look - You will see a view of the landscape which the character is seeing. In the Look mode, you can turn the character to look in another direction by pressing one of the compass keys along the top row of the keyboard. The 'Look' key is used to give a view if one is not currently on the screen (because some information is there instead, being in Check mode). 2. Move - To move forward, press the 'Move' key. The character will move forward in the direction he was last looking. When he reaches his new location, he will continue looking in that direction and a new panorama will appear. Characters cannot move during night, nor can they move into the Icy Wastes surrounding Icemark. Other factors, such as exhaustion or cowardice, may also restrict movement. Moving in the 'diagonal' directions takes up to 1.5 times as long as moving North, South, East or West. If you cannot move until you choose an action, the 'Move' key sends you to the Choose menu. 3. Choose - In order to do something other than moving, such as resting for the remainder of the day (and thus bring night for that character), attacking an enemy or entering an underground tunnel, press the 'Choose' key. You will be presented with a list of options and the keys you must press to obtain each. The options available will depend upon the situation the character finds himself in but they also reflect the particular personality of the character - so a greedy character will not become generous, for example, nor a coward do brave deeds. 4. Check - There are two types of things you may check separ- ately: a) Check person and place - gives a run-down on the personality of the current character. Beware - some personalities may change as events unfold! Gives also general information about the location - time of day, the place, any objects at the location and information about any person or being who might be standing just ahead of or near the current character, can be viewed. b) Check battle and army - gives details of the previous night's battles or battles or skirmish your character has been involved in relevant to the present situation. Gives also details of the character's own army, any other army in the same location and any army in the location immediately ahead of the current character. When you are standing before an enemy - or anyone or any being that is not your friend - you have two choices: to approach them for negotiations or to attack them. Either choice may be made in the 'Choose' menu (as long as it is still daytime). If you approach them and fail, then they will attack you. If this happens, or if you attack, then the rest of the day will be used up in fighting; the result of the battle will be decided during the night. If enemy characters are still alive and occupying the same locations by the time dawn breaks then you have the choice of moving away or continuing the fight by remaining in the same place. In order to approach a character he must be standing by himself. If you approach him and succeed then you will be given control of that character and be able to move for the rest of the day. You are more likely to succeed in recruiting a character if you choose someone to approach whose personality is similar to the character you are controlling. However, it goes without saying that you will never manage to turn Shareth the Heartstealer away from evil, and only Tarithel will successfully be able to approach Morkin. Night and Dawn The game begins on the day that the Moonprince rides forth from the Gate of Varenorn and proceeds by day and by night. Your characters can move during the day. The distance they can move in one day depends upon the difficulty of the terrain and whether they are riding or walking, as well as upon their general vigor. A move north, east, west or south will be one league (3 miles / 5 km) at a time. However, a diagonal move (northeast or wherever) will be about 1.4 leagues (4.5 miles / 7 km). This will therefore take you longer and leave less hours of daylight for your journey. Each character has, for convenience, his own individual "clock" and when he has exhausted his daylight hours, night will fall for him and he will be unable to move again until dawn. Other characters, however, will still be able to move until they have exhausted their hours. Once you have moved all the characters you wish to, you must press the 'Night' key. This ends your turn and signals the beginning of computer controlled characters' movement - in other words, the forces of the Heartstealer and also independent characters. There will be a delay while the computer moves all of Shareth's forces and the independent characters, calculates the results of battles, and refreshes the spells and wild creatures which may be found at various locations in Icemark. There will be a pause while the computer does this, and rumours of battles and other events may appear on the screen. Soon, however, night will end and the message "Dawn breaks" will appear on the screen. To begin the new day you must press the 'Dawn' key and then you will begin your next turn. If you do not press the Night key or the Dawn key at the appropriate time, nothing further will happen at all until you do! Battle Minor skirmishes between individuals and with wild creatures can take place at any time and are immediately resolved. Major battles between armies, however, are not decided until the following dawn. You cannot move an army into the same location as an unfriendly army by using the Move key - such a decision is always a special option that you must select from the Choose menu. Some commanders may be so afraid that the option will not appear. Two options can be used to move an army onto unfriendly soil: 1. Attack - go straight into battle. 2. Approach - go forward under a flag of truce. Using this you may be able to rally the other commander to your cause. However, if he ignores your flag of truce and attacks you anyway, you will be at a disadvantage in the battle. Once battle has been joined, you cannot move until the following day. You can, however, move other characters into the battle area to join in the fighting. At dawn you will discover the battle's outcome. If the enemy has lost, his armies will have been destroyed or scattered, leaving you in possession of the field of battle. If he wins, your characters (if they are still alive) will themselves be scattered, bereft of troops. If the battle continues, you can move your commanders away that dawn or leave them there to continue the struggle. Icemark The land of Icemark is ruled by five major races (see map): 1. Men, including the Iceguard in the Frozen Empire of the North-East, ruled by Shareth the Heartstealer. 2. Giants in their North-Western kingdom. 3. Dwarves in their Eastern kingdom. 4. Barbarians in the Outlands of the South. 5. Fey in their Southern Realm. All of these are intermittently at war with each other, involved in feuds and border raids, but the Frozen Empire is the strongest and most feared. To defeat Shareth (objective 3), Luxor must find allies to raise armies in these domains. The Fey will be the most friendly, the Iceguard the least so and the most treacherous. A cunning Moonprince will, however, find ways to exploit their differences to further his own cause. Only Shareth the Heart- stealer will never rally to his banner. The Landscape The land of Icemark contains several kinds of terrain: plains, forests, hills and mountains, as well as the frozen wastes which are impossible to cross. The features and structures of Icemark are: [Images of these can be found on the Web.] 1. Mountain - The hardest and most exhausting type of terrain to traverse, also obscuring anything lying beyond them. 2. City - Provides a fortified dwelling place for recuperation for commanders and armies friendly to those who own it. A fortified city may house friend or foe; storming a city is a hard task accomplished only with enough force. A commander may recruit men from the city guards or post men from his army to guard the city. The population of a city slowly grows as time progresses. 3. Forest - Movement through a forest will not be swift, save for the Fey who inhabit the woods. 4. Tower - Being dwelling places of the Wise, the Watchtowers of Icemark may hold dark secrets. You will receive a word of guidance upon arriving at a tower. 5. Pit - By entering pits you may find access to underground tunnels, but foul creatures may live there. Spells may be found there. If you are lucky you will receive the Spring of Life. 6. Army - A friendly army offers no hindrance but an enemy army is a very different matter. As you look around during your travels, large figures may appear in the foreground. These are the warriors, characters and creatures that lie immediately ahead of you. 7. Hall - Provides a home for the night. You could find shelter or new courage staying there, but sometimes you will find that trolls have taken up residence. 8. Hut - Similar to a hall, but smaller. Brief respite can be found there from the cold winds. Skulkrin or wolves may live there. 9. Hills - Hills slow a traveller and block the view of what lies beyond. 10. Fortress - Similar to a city, but slightly less fortified. The stronghold of minor Lords of Icemark, a fortress will offer some protection. 11. Palace - Though not designed to withstand armed assault, a palace is still a center of power. It provides an entrance to underground tunnels. You may find a spell there, or if you are lucky, some horses. If you are unlucky you will find dragons. 12. Temple - The pyramid-shaped temples are apt to harbour dark and mystical forces, and contain a spell for good or evil. Some give access to underground tunnels. 13. Gate - Set at the entrance of a subterranean road, a Gate of Icemark gives access to an underground tunnel. Dragons can sometimes reside there, or you may find a magic spell. 14. Stones - These mark the route of ancient, forgotten roads. Strange mystical powers - some beneficial, some not - gather about them. Spells for good or evil or occasionally some dragons may be found there. 15. Fountain - Provides respite. From a sparkling fountain, the traveler may drink his fill and be refreshed. But some fountains are inhabited by skulkrins. 16. Mist - Cold mists block the landscape from view as they roll across the Icemark, summoned by Shareth. All save her Iceguard find their courage and strength sapped if caught in their grip. 17. Frozen Wastes - The barrier ice of the Northern glaciers allows no traveller to pass through on the surface. The Frozen Wastes are impenetrable to all. The speed at which a character can travel depends on the terrain; for instance, traveling through mountains takes longer and is more tiring than traveling through plains. Each race of people has a favorite kind of terrain which they find easier to travel through; for instance the Fey people can travel faster through forests than other people. (See hacking guide for more details.) Traveling can be made also more difficult by dragons, skulkrin, trolls and wild creatures found across the land. Should your trusty steed be killed you can sometimes find stray horses to replace it. Losing your horse of course makes you slower and more quickly tired. To fight wild creatures or to change horses you just walk through them. Beneath the land of Icemark is an extensive set of underground tunnels. You can enter and exit from the tunnels at certain places as described above. If you find yourself in a tunnel, tall pillars crowned with fire mark the way forward; if there is no way ahead you will only see darkness. Tunnels only lead north, south, east or west. The underground system is the only way to reach Morkin who is surrounded by the Frozen Wastes. In a tunnel you are safe from attackers but there will be dragons, skulkrin and trolls to delay your journey. -------------------------------------------------- NOTE When you are playing Doomdark on an emulator it helps if you set it to a high speed setting to speed up the drawing of landscapes and especially to make the nights shorter (in CCS64 for example, set the speed to 500%). -------------------------------------------------- TIPS Selection of Creatures and spells Which creatures or spells the character find is indicated by the following table: Place | code 0 | code 1 | code 2 | code 3 ---------+--------+--------+--------+-------- Plains |dragons |skulkrin|wolves |horses Mountains|dragons |dragons |trolls |wolves Forest |dragons |skulkrin|wolves |wolves Hills |dragons |trolls |wolves |wolves flames=Flames of Dawn Gate |dragons |claws |flames |blood claws =Claws of Night Temple |flames |thorns |blood |languor blood=Blood ofCourage Pit |trolls |wolves |thorns|springs thorns=ThornsofDespair Palace |dragons |horses |claws |blood springs=SpringsofLife Fortress |dragons |wolves |shelter|shelter languor=LanguorofDeath Hall |trolls |shelter |shelter |blood Hut |skulkrin|wolves |shelter |shelter Tower |guidance|guidance|guidance|guidance City |dragons |shelter |shelter |springs Fountain |skulkrin|springs |springs |springs Stones |dragons |flames |flames |languor Tunnel |dragons |skulkrin|trolls |trolls The code number can be obtained either from the location on the map (x by y coordinates) by the formula [444(x+64y) MOD 6151] MOD 4 or from the last part of the name of the landmark using the following table: code 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 ----+-----+-----+----- orn | il | iel | im uk | ium | ia | eon ay | ak | arg | and ane | esh | ad | un If the character has no "guidance" the computer chooses a random character. If he gets "guidance" then the program selects one of the following: - If the character is not loyal to the Moonprince and is alive then the "guidance" is the location of this character. - If he does not have his own weapon or magical item then the "guidance" is the location of this object. - Otherwise the "guidance" is the location of Shareth the Heartstealer. Travelling time The time taken in hours for a person to advance one position is the sum of T1, T2 and various adjustments defined as follows. T1 is a constant depending on the terrain type of the destination location, taken from the following table. Plains 1/4 Mountains 2 Forest 1 Hills 3/4 Any other 1/2 T1 is instead [in theory] set to zero if the terrain is the person's favorite, as listed in this table: Luxor city Morkin plains Rorthron tower Tarithel forest Shareth plains Feys forest Barbarians hills Iceguards plains Giants mountains Dwarves tunnels T2 is a constant depending on the speed of the individual, as follows: riding walking ----------------------------- Luxor 3/4 1 1/2 Morkin 3/4 1 1/2 Rorthron 1/2 1 Tarithel 1/2 Shareth 1/2 Feys 3/4 1 1/2 Barbarians 1 1/4 2 Iceguards 3/4 1 1/4 Giants 1 1/4 Dwarves 1 1/4 The adjustments are half an hour each for: - walking into mist (except Shareth and the Iceguards) - diagonal moves - killing creatures, and also 1/4 hour if the person is not swift or 1/2 hour if he is slow. Each person has 7 3/4 hours initially, and can move until the last quarter is used up. Tiredness A character gets more tired every time he makes a move. The amount by which the tiredness is increased is one unit (described below) except when: - he encounters wild creatures (2 units) - he walks through mist and is not Shareth or an icelord (2 units) - he walks into mountains and is a giant (2 units) - he walks into mountains and is not a giant (3 units). A unit is the sum of two numbers, the first being 2, 4 or 3 according to whether the character is strong, weak or neither, and the second being from the following table. riding walking -------------------------- Luxor 1 2 Morkin 2 4 Rorthron 0 1 Tarithel 2 3 Shareth 2 4 Feys 1 2 Barbarians 1 Iceguards 2 Giants 0 Dwarves 3 A character becomes more despondent by 6 every time he makes a move in mist and is not Shareth or an icelord, and by 32 every time he is kicked out of a battle (see battles below). Approaching When character A approaches character B, a count is made of the number of attributes (such as 'good' or 'loyal') which A and B have in common, excluding 'swift' and 'slow'. This number is then adjusted as follows. - add 1 if the B is not loyal - double the number if B is treacherous - add 3 if A is the liege of B - add 2 if A is carrying any of the magical items. If the total is 4 or more then the approach succeeds. Battles When a group of people who are not all friends are gathered together in one place, each of those people in turn becomes person A against a person B who is chosen at random from A's foes at that location. If a city (or fortress) contains a person or people who are unfriendly with its owners then the city's army becomes "person" A against a random person B from A's foes at that location. The results of a battle between A and B are calculated as follows. - If A is a person, let K = (2*reckless+despondent+tired)/4. If RND<=K (where RND is a random number between 0 and 255) or if A is carrying any weapon, then A will attack B personally: * if B is carrying the Runes of Finorn then B is unharmed. * with 25% probability, B will lose his horses (unless B has no horses or is Shareth or Tarithel). * if the RND calculated earlier is both odd and more than the recklessness of B then B will be killed, unless B has a weapon, in which case he has 69% chance of surviving. - The army of A then attacks the army of B, followed by the army of B attacking the army of A. Each battle between army 1 and army 2 is calculated as follows: * A value C for each army is calculated from (tiredness+constant)/2, where the constant is taken from the following table depending on the type of army: riders warriors ---------------------------- Moonguard 220 Fey 200 150 Barbarian 180 140 Iceguard 220 180 Giant 180 Dwarf 160 This constant is divided by 2 if the army belongs to a city (or fortress). Then the number of warriors lost by army 2 in the battle is ((N1*C1)/C2)*(RND/256) where N1 is the size of army 1. If this number is more than half of the size of army 2 then army 2 and its commander will be 'kicked out' and placed in a nearby location (the commander of army 2 will then be said to have won a victory). If a city loses its whole army then it will change ownership. If a commander loses his whole army then as well as being kicked out he will be attacked by 'the sword'; the rules of this battle follow those for people described above. Enemy Strategy Bits 4-7 of each element of Table 13 given in the Program Design text describe the movement of a character with a number from 0-3, as follows: 0: Move towards the character's liege (if this person is dead then find his liege, and so on. If all the lieges are dead then move towards Luxor instead). 1: Move towards the character's foe (if this person is dead then find his liege, and so on as per (0)). 2: Move towards the character's weapon or magical item, if it is on the ground, otherwise move towards the character's fortress or city. 3: Move towards the character's fortress or city, except Shareth, who moves towards the City of Glireon. During the night all forces not loyal to the Moonprince are moved according to this pattern, but first the number is changed as follows. - if a character has a liege who is moving with code 0 or 1 then he will move with code 0. - otherwise, if a random number from 0-15 is less than 4 then the character's code is changed to this number. If it equals 4 then the character is not moved. A character will walk in the direction specified, picking up any item that he sees on the ground, until nightfall or until he gets very tired or meets a foe, at which point he stops. The character will always attempt to approach the foe if they are the only two people in the location. If when dawn arrives the character is still in the same location as a foe then he will move on with 50% probability. --------------------------------------------------- SEQUELS/PREQUELS This game is the sequel to Lords of Midnight COMMENTS : "Excellent, a classic." RATING: 10/10 (CRASH #13, February 1985) NOW : Although LOM was perhaps the better game, DR still remains a huge (larger than LOM) and challenging adventure/strategy game. -END-