THE SPECTRUM GAMES DATABASE



LORDS OF MIDNIGHT



PUBLISHER

Beyond



AUTHOR

Mike Singleton



YEAR

1984



DESCRIPTION

Graphical Adventure Game, with single key stroke controls



CONTROLS

1-8  Look in direction (N-NE-E-SE-S-SW-W-NW)

Q    Move in current direction

E    Look in current direction

R    Think

T    Choose

U    Night

S    Save

D    Load

G    Yes

J    No

Z    Print (crashes most emulators)

C    Select Luxor

V    Select Morkin

B    Select Corleth

N    Select Rorthron

M    Select 



In Select

1    The Lord of Gard

2    The Lord of Marakith

3    The Lord of Xajorkith

4    The Lord of Gloom

5    The Lord of Shimeril

6    The Lord of Kumar

7    The Lord of Ithrorn

8    The Lord of Dawn

9    The Lord of Dreams

0    The Lord of Dregrim

Q    Thrimrath the Fey

W    The Lord of Whispers

E    The Lord of Shadows

R    The Lord of Lothoril

T    Korinel the Fey

Y    The Lord of Thrall

U    Lord Brith

I    Lord Rorath

O    Lord Trorn

P    The Lord of Morning

A    Lord Athoril

S    Lord Blood

D    Lord Herath

F    Lord Mitharg

G    The Utarg of Utarg

H    Fawkrin the Skulkrin

J    Lorgrim the Wise

K    Farflame the Dragonlord

C    Luxor the Moonprince

V    Morkin

N    Corleth the Fey

M    Rorthron the Wise





INSTRUCTIONS

The object of the game is to otherthrow the evil Witchking

Doomdark, who controls the north half of the land of Midnight.

Thus freeing the land of Doomdarks evil spell of cold that

aflicts it.



The game can be completed by completing one of two different

tasks:



1: Take control of Doomdarks Home Citadel of Ushgarak in the

North

2: Destroy the Icecrown the source of Doomdarks Power.  This is

located in the Tower of Doom northwest of the Citadel of Ushgarak



In order to do this you must assume the role of Luxor the

Moonprince, who has the power of vision and command over those

loyal to him by virtue of the moonring which he wears.  This

allows you to control many different allies even though they may

be spread across the land of midnight.  Also the moonring acts

against the Ice fear of Doomdark which saps armies strenth and 

morale.  At the start of the game you control 4 characters, Luxor

the Moonprince, Morkin (Luxor's Son), Corleth the Fey and

Rorthron the Wise.  Using these Characters you must attempt to

defeat Doomdark.  Morkin will be central in ant attempt to destoy

the Ice Crown as only he is immune to the ice fear and can get

close enough to steal it without detection.  In order to conquer

Ushgarak a large army must be ammassed by recuiting the Lord of

the free in the South of Midnight.  The Fey will also help but

must be persuaded by Corleth to join the cause.



The hopes of the free will only be destoyed if Doomdark can

suceed in either killing both Morkin and Luxor, or by killing

Morkin and taking Xajorkith deep in the south of the lands of the

free.  Should Luxor be killed and Morkin still live, you will

loose control of all you other allies save Morkin.  Morkin must

then retreive the Moon Ring from the site were Luxor fell and put

on the moonring in order to gain its powers.  Unfortunatly as the

Moonring radiates warth in order to ease the Icefear Doomdark can

sense its wears location, thus making Morkin's quest for the

icecrown almost impossible.



Features of the Landscape



Army 

A friendly army will offer no hindrance to the traveller but a

hostile army should be avoided or engaged in battle. 



Cavern

Can provide shelter from the weather or enemy, but it may have

already done so for fouler creatures. 



Citadel 

A strongly fortified city which may harbour friendly or enemy

forces.  Storming a citadel is a hard task.



Down

Slow down travellers slighly and may hide unseen dangers ahead. 



Forest

Home of the magical Fey.  Movement through a forest slows down

all but the Fey.



Frozen Wastes

These surround the land of Midnight.  They cannot be crossed

by anybody.



Henge

Possess strange powers which may help or hinder an army. 



Keep

The fortress of a minor Lord. They cannot resist a determined

assault from an enemy for very long.



Lake

Often magical, these can have powers to revive and heal those

who oppose Doomdark.



Lith

Ancient standing stones, often with strange magical powers. 



Mountains

Moving across a range of mountains takes many hours and leaves

you exhausted.



Ruin

Abandoned fortresses of long-forgotten wars. May harbour dark

creatures or lost treasures. 



Snowhall

Large structures which offer shelter to hundreds if need be. 



Tower

The refuges of the wise.  Although impregnable, help may be

sought at these - it may not always be granted though.



Village

Can offer warmth and shelter if the people prove friendly. 



CHEATS

This is more a bug than a cheat.  If Luxor is killed you loose

control of everyone other than Morkin.  However, Morkin can begin

to re-recruit Lords without retrieving the Moonring from the site

of Luxor's demise.



As for tips:-



The simplest way always seemed to be to send Morkin north to find

Farflame and send to two of them straight to Ushgarak.  Farflame

could usually manage to wipe out the few armies they would meet

en-route and them could destroy the ice crown when they got

there.



Alternatively, the longer (and far more entertaining way) is to

split your four main characters up at the start, each going in

a different direction and recruiting as many people as possible

then sending them all south to Xajorkith to wait for the enemy

to arrive.  You may want to leave the northern Fey (sorry, can't

remember their names now) at home rather than send them south,

so that you have a large, spare army left for later use.  Don't

bother trying to defend individual citidels, as you'll usually

lose (take as many troops as you can and run before the enemy

arrives).



Try to recruit Lord Blood within the first few moves and leave

him at his keep.  He will delay the oncoming armies giving the

rest of the characters time to get going (you may want to pull

him out before his armies get completely wiped out, as he's a

very useful commander to have around - ie. he doesn't get scared

easily, unlike some).



You'll have to pick the route they each take fairly carefully,

as the main characters have limits on who they can recruit.  Once

Doomdark's troops arrive at Xajorkith you will have a number of

rather large battles, but should win them all (Doomdark's armies

are usually outnumbered).  After the onslaught stops, send your

armies north (reclaiming keeps, etc. as you go) and fight your

way into Ushgarak (meeting up with the northern Fey when you get

there).





SEQUELS/PREQUELS

Followed by Doomdark's Revenge which uses similar control

methods.  Was suposed to be the first part of a trilogy but part

3 (The Eye of the Moon) was never completed (although some work

had reportedly been done on it).  Recently Lords of Midnight: The

Citadel has been released for the PC, this does not have the same

scenario as Eye of the Moon was suposed to have, and uses a

further advanced form of Landscaping (more like that found in

Midwinter).  The story does continue on from Doomdark's Revenge.



SCORES RECEIVED

10/10 (CRASH #7, August 1984) 



BOOKLET TEXT



URLS

ftp.dcc.uchile.cl/pub/OS/sinclair/snapshots/l/lordsmid.zip



GENERAL FACTS

The original game came with a keyboard overlay, designed to fit

on a rubber-key Spectrum, which had all the keyboard commands

written on it.



You may also like to try the Lords of Midnight Web Page, at

http://www.gatewest.net/~cpb/lom.html.



NOTABLE FEATURES

This was the first game to use 'Landscaping' to generate the view

of the world of Midnight from the perspective each of the

characters under your control. 



THE LORD OF THE RINGS - SOLUTION - TYPED BY VAXALON - 1994

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART 1 (played as Frodo)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Open the drawer, chest, cupboard and door, take one of the canvas backpacks

and put into it the matchbox, bottle and food. Go east, then south to the

main highway, the west until you reach the turn-off for the town hall. Go

north and then east to meet the Mayor. Now go west, south, west and west to

enter the Mathom House (if the guard refuses you entrance, just WEAR RING

and go west). In here take the book and the candle. Then go west until you

are back at the highway outside your cottage, then go east, north-east,

north-east, south-east, south and east (through the yellow door) to find

Merry. EAT MEAL until it's finished and go west and north. If there are no

riders about go east and then south-east into the forest with the trees that

move. If the riders are present then go north, south, east and south-east

into the forest (moves east and west are fatal when the riders are about, 

but others are usually safe until they've gone).

 In the forest you need to remember two locations, the wide glade and the

grassy glade. To pass from the wide to the grassy you need to go east,

so just type WAIT and then EAST until the trees let you pass. In the grassy

glade it's the same, except that you want to go south-east to find the 

hilltop. At the hilltop go south to the riverbank then north-east to the

willow. At this point your companions should fall asleep, so go north-east

to Tom Bombadil and SAY TO TOM "HELP". Now return to the willow and WAIT.

As soon as they are free go north-east to Tom's and EAT MEAL until it's

finished. Thank Tom then go east until you meet the Barrow Wight. Now tell

your companions to take a sword each, then WEAR RING and go east. 

At the gate, TAKE OFF RING and KNOCK. When asked, SAY TO GATEKEEPER "FRODO"

and then SAY TO SAM "GO SOUTH-WEST AND OPEN RED DOOR". Once sam has gone

go south-west and then south into the store. Here take all the food supplies

and then SAY TO SAM "GO NORTH AND KILL A BLACK RIDER". Do the same with

Pippin, and when Sam returns tell him to do it again. WAIT until they both

return and then go north and west and SAY TO STRANGER "HELLO". Now WAIT for

Strider to leave, then FOLLOW STRIDER and continue to do so until you find 

the flat stone. READ STONE and WAIT, then Strider will go off again so

FOLLOW STRIDER once more until you reach the Fortress Of Fornost. Here WAIT

until the Starling talks to Strider and then FOLLOW STRIDER back to the gate.

Now WAIT twice and them go east, WAIT twice more and go east again. Around 

this point the Black Riders should enter, so go north and then east to the

bare hilltop and WAIT five times. Now go south and FOLLOW STRIDER.

At the bridge Strider will stop, so SAY TO STRIDER "GO EAST" (you will have

to do this at least twice). When he agrees to follow you, go east until

you can go no further and Part One is complete.



NOTE REGARDING BLACK RIDERS:

 This solution depends on timing to avoid the Black Riders, but the 'correct'

way to pass time is to use the pale green jewels. The following routine

should enable you to learn the words needed to release their powers:

 Go to the lake, then w, w, s, sw, s, e, ne, sw, w, s, to locate the Monk

who will tell you what to do next. Then go n, w, n, w, s to locate the

Green Knight. Attack and defeat him and make sure you take the Broken

Medallion that he leaves behind. Then back to Monk, then, n, e, se, to

locate the Red Lady, kill her and take her medallion. Return to monk and

you should be allowed to pass through the stone door to the south of him,

where you will find yet another door. Knock and wait until Radagast answers 

and he should give you the scroll with the magic words on. Now whenever you

encounter the Black Riders, make sure that Frodo, Pippin and Sam are

carrying one jewel each and type in magic words to get rid of Riders.

Give any spare jewels to Merry to carry.



GENERAL TIPS

1)Keep up your strength by eating at regular intervals.

2)If the riders enter the same location as yourself, go any direction bar

  east and west.

3)Elfstones can be found in the willow (Pippin will be carrying them when

  he is rescued), at the top of a tree that can be climbed by Hobbits

  and in a plant pot (TAKE THE PLANT and EXAMINE POT).

4)If you ever visit farmer Maggott's farm, just WAIT three times when dogs

  arrive and all will be well.

5)If you must go via the tunnel, then light the candle before you enter it

  (OPEN MATCHBOX, LIGHT MATCH, LIGHT CANDLE WITH MATCH).

6)If you want to use the ferry than take it in turns to wind the handle.

7)If you really want to live like a Hobbit, then you need to get the pouch

  and a pipe. Now OPEN POUCH, FILL PIPE and LIGHT MATCH (as before).

  Then LIGHT PIPE WITH MATCH and enjoy a good smoke of the pipeweed.



PART 2

~~~~~~

 Go north-east and north and you should encounter a small brown pony, then 

go south-west to meet Glorfindel. Talk to him and he will tell you that he

has been sent to guide you. Go south and then east, then RIDE STALLION and

SAY TO STALLION "GO EAST" as soon as you see the Black Riders approaching.

Continue east until you have crossed the ford, then GET OFF STALLION and

WAIT until your companions appear. Go east to Elrond's courtyard, then 

north and east until you meet Bilbo. EAT MEAL until it's finished, then

FOLLOW BILBO to his bedroom. WAIT for him to speak, then SAY TO BILBO "NO"

and repeat until he gives you the sword. Then WAIT and he will also give 

you the Mithril Shirt. WEAR SHIRT then go west, east, south, west to meet

the council of Elrond. When the meeting is over and you are assembled

outside, WAIT and the pony will be laden with supplies. Proceed south, 

south, south-west, south-east and then WAIT again. Go south-east and WAIT.

 Go south-west and WAIT yet again. Now take Strider's advice and EAT. Then go

south-east and at this point distribute the bundles of cakes amongst the

company (e.g. SAY TO BOROMIR "TAKE CAKES"). Go east until you encounter

the outline of a door upon the rock, EXAMINE DOOR and then SAY TO DOOR 

"FRIEND". At this point you will be grabbed by the tentacle (ouch!), so

ATTACK TENTACLES and when they release you, go east.

 In the mines, go u, e, e, e, d, d, w, w, w, d, and you should be in a

corridor (but see note 2). PUSH HORSE and the slab will open, so now go east,

e, e, u, and east and you should be in a room with a book and a stone block

in it, along with a pile of armour. READ BOOK and EXAMINE BLOCK in order to

hear a noise in the corridor. WAIT and when they enter, ATTACK ORCS. Now go

east and WAIT. When Gandalf talks to you, go east and LIGHT CANDLE WITH

MATCH. Go down, d, s, d, south until you enter the square room. If all the

party are not with you, you can backtrack at this point to round them up.

When all are present, s, d, and then proceed east until you get to the

bridge. WAIT on the bridge and Gandalf will tell you to flee, so go east

until you emerge into Dimrill Dale then WAIT and FOLLOW GIMLI. Now head

south-east until you arrive on the eastern bank of the Nimrodel. When the

elf enters, WAIT, then proceed east to the river. Here the best policy is to

SAY TO ELF "HELP" and then SAY TO GIMLI "GO NORTH-WEST". When he has gone,

you must go north-east over the rope and then WAIT. Now go west and WAIT

again. When the doors have opened, head east to the tree and then go up,

then SAY TO GALADRIEL "HELP". When she has replied, climb down and go west

to the bridge but do not cross it. Now go south until you reach the banks of

the Anduin river and your quest is complete.



NOTE:

1)There are many other incidents and happenings along the way, this is just

  one solution, but it is impossible in a game with so many variables to

  include a comprehensive guide to everything. If you have managed to get 

  through the game once, however, you should then be able to go back and

  explore the complexity of it some more.

2)If the route given above when entering the mines doesn't work, try instead

  going up, e, e, e, d, d, w, d, s, d.

3)If Gimli insists on killing the Tactiturn Elf then you can either send him

  away or else try to take his axe from him.

4)The above solution relies on timing to avoid the black riders, as follows:

  After the Starling has talked to Strider, return to the gate of Bree and

  WAIT twice, then go east and and WAIT twice more. Now go e, n, e, e, and

  WAIT five times before heading south then east over the bridge. In case of

  problems, just try varying the number of times you WAIT in each place until

  you find the correct sequence to enable you to pass over the bridge in 

  safety.

