D O O M D A R K ' S Revenge Foreword It is many moons now since the Lords of Midnight first appeared out of the soft, wearing gloom. Those of you who took up their challenge and rode with them to battle against the cruel Witchking will need no reminding of that epic struggle. But now a new epic tale unfolds, the story of Doomdark's Revenge. The Lords of Midnight was the first game to use "landscaping", which allows the player to view the world through the eyes of the characters and commanders he controls, to move through it as if he truly were riding across its broad plains, through its deep and silent forests, between its towering mountains. Doomdark's Revenge uses the same technique but paints on an even broader canvas that yields no less than six thousand map locations and forty-eight thousand panoramic views. The game itself involves both quest and warfare, bold exploration and careful strategy. You can play on your own of with friends; there are enough different characters at your command for all the family to join in your struggle against Shareth Heartstealer, Empress of the Frozen Empire! On the Audio cassette, you will find the tale of the Moonprince and his son, Morkin, when peace befell Midnight after the War of the Solstice. And the tale of Shareth's anger which brought a premature halt to the rejoicing. This you must listen to if you are to put on the mantle of the Moonprince and do battle against the Cold Empress in full knowledge of her dread powers. I wish you luck on your quest and hope you enjoy the game as much as I enjoyed writing it! Mike Singleton. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------> D O O M D A R K ' S Revenge GUIDE TO PLAY ------------------------------------------------------------------------------> Loading Instructions Spectrum : Type LOAD"" and press ENTER. CBM 64 : Cassette users press SHIFT and RUN/STOP. Disk users type LOAD"*",8,1 and press RETURN. Amstrad : Cassette users press CTRL and small ENTER. Disk users type RUN"DISC and press ENTER. Atari 8 bit : Cassette users turn on computer with BASIC absent and press RETURN. Disk users boot disk with BASIC absent. Starting off When loading is complete, the title screen will vanish and instead you will find yourself looking through the eyes of Luxor the Moonprince upon the chill land of Icemark. From now on, single key presses will control your actions, something you will find useful as you gather diverse Lords of the Icemark to your banner and come to make decisions for them all. Entering your commands All commands are entered with single key presses. The actual keys used varies according to the computer on which you are playing the game. Spectrum users have a keyboard overlay which shows all the keys used, but for other computer users the keys used are shown in the table below. _______________________________________________________________________ | | | CBM 64 Atari Amstrad | | ------------------------------------------- | | Look <- Esc Esc | | Directions, eg N, NE 1-8 1-8 1-8 | | Dawn 9 9 9 | | Night 0 0 0 | | Check Place + Q Q | | Check Battle - W W | | Check Army £ E E | | Check Person Home R R | | Select Del Select [ | | Choose Restore Option ] | | More Return Return Return | | Move Space Space Space | | Yes (also More) Y Y Y | | No (also No More) N N N | | Save to tape S S S | | Load from tape L L L | | Save to disk Shift S Shift S Shift S | | Load from disk Shift L Shift L Shift L | | Luxor F1 Z Z | | Morkin F3 X X | | Tarithel F5 C C | | Rorthron F7 V V | | Restart Game Stop/ Reset Ctrl/Enter | | Restore | |_______________________________________________________________________| Saving a game in progress The data for Doomdark's Revenge can be saved and verified at any stage of the game. To save a game in progress, you must first press the SAVE key. It should only be pressed at a time when the computer is waiting for you to press an option key: at any other time it will have no effect. When you select SAVE, you must follow the on-screen instructions. If a verify option appears then your computer is ready to check the data just written to tape. If this is the case, rewind the tape and press PLAY and press any key to begin the verification if you computer requires it. Disk users can only have one saved game per disk. To save to disk, insert a blank formatted disk ready to receive the game data. Tape users should use separate cassette tapes per saved game. Loading a saved game First, of course, you must load the Doomdark's Revenge program. Then, at any stage during the game, you can load the data for an old game by pressing the key marked LOAD. Don't try this unless you already have some saved data to load! If loading is successful, you will be returned immediately to the game but you will find yourself in the situation stored on your data tape. If loading is unsuccessful, you must choose between trying to load again or continuing with the current game. Abandoning a game The Spectrum version of Doomdark's Revenge contains so much data that there is no room in RAM to hold a copy of the start-up conditions. Therefore, you can't simply start a fresh game at the press of a button. Instead, you must either load the entire load the entire program back or load the data from a game you have already saved. Loading the entire Doomdark's Revenge back in takes some time but loading saved data is much quicker. Therefore we recommend that you make a copy of the early stages of Doomdark's Revenge by pressing SAVE either at the very start of a game or during your first few moves. At this time it is expected that the other computer formats will hold the start-up information in RAM. If this turns out not to be the case, then follow the above guide for Spectrum users when abandoning a game. Keeping track - Spectrum only Because Doomdark's Revenge presents such a vast canvas for you to make your mark upon, we have provided a facility whereby you can keep a printed record of each game as it progresses. Of course, you will need a printer compatible with the Spectrum and you will doubtless need a lot of paper. Pressing the COPY key at any stage of the game will print-out the screen you are looking at. You and the computer You, the player, take the role of Luxor, the Moonprince of Midnight. By virtue of the Moonring, which lends you the Power of Vision and the Power of Command, you can control those characters in the land if Icemark who are friendly to your cause, looking through their eyes at the surrounding landscape and guiding them in their many tasks. Some will be just individuals, some will be commanders at the head of whole armies; when you move a commander, his army moves with him. The computer plays the part of Shareth the Heartstealer, Empress of the Frozen Empire and controls the characters and armies under her sway. It also guides the fortunes of the many independent characters you will find in the land of icemark, making impartial decisions on their behalf. Independent characters may be persuaded to join your cause, but equally may be persuaded by Shareth to fall in with her. Victory for the Heartstealer Shareth the Heartstealer has one single goal, the destruction of Luxor the Moonprince, he who slew her Father, Doomdark, Witchking of Midnight and who, in her eyes, usurped her rightful inheritance. Her cold powers are, even now, greater than Doomdark's ever were and if Shareth can bring about the death of the Moonprince, Midnight will inevitably fall under her sway eventually. Shareth, therefore, wins the game outright if Luxor is slain. Victory for you, the Moonprince Many choices face Luxor, the Moonprince. Should he simply rescue Morkin and retreat to the Gate of Varenorn and thence to Midnight? Should he seek to limit Shareth's power before returning through the Frozen Gates? Or should he seek ultimate victory and, risking all, attempt to destroy her forever? Accordingly, Doomdark's Revenge allows for different kinds of victory, some lesser, some greater, but before any of these victories can be claimed, Luxor must return safely to the Gate of Varenorn. The most basic victory that can be achieved is the rescue of Morkin, Luxor's son. He must be brought alive and well, Greater victories can be won by bringing other characters safe to the Gate of Varenorn. Tarithel's safe return is important and so is Rorthron's. The spoils of war play their part too. Bring to Varenorn any of the Crowns of Icemark and you victory will be the greater. It will be the greater still if you discover and return with any of the arcane objects upon which Shareth's power depends. Knowledge of these must be found during your struggles. If, by any chance Morkin should be slain, only one victory remains to Luxor - Shareth's complete destruction. How this can be achieved, you must discover during your travels through the icemark but be warned, it is no easy task. If Morkin dies, Luxor, racked with grief, will diminish in power. The greatest victory of all is the destruction of Shareth and the safe return of Luxor, Morkin, Tarithel and Rorthron to Varenorn. Upon this event, glowing letters will flame on the surface of the Moonring, revealing to Luxor the ancient Watchwords of Midnight that when spoken will awaken all the land to whatever peril gathers. With these words at his command, the Moonprince will be sure to protect Midnight for as long as he lives. Victory is acknowledged when you press the NIGHT key. You will then be told of the greatness of your triumph. Defeat, however, will immediately follow upon Luxor's death. After victory or defeat, only the LOAD key will continue to function. Selecting a character At the beginning of the game you have three characters under your control. These are LUXOR the Moonprince, RORTHRON the Wise and TARITHEL the Fey. You can select any of these by pressing the key marked with their name. Morkin also has his own selection key but this will not work until you have released him from Shareth's spell of enchantment. When selected, the display will switch immediately to that charater's point of view. To select other characters (which you must rally to your banner during the course of the game) you must press the SELECT key. When you do this, a list of all the characters you control will appear, together with a list of the keys that will select them. Press one of these selection keys and the display will switch immediately to that character's point of view. 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 key marked MORE to view the rest of the list. Controlling a character Doomdark's Revenge is not an ordinary adventure game and controlling the characters does not require you to guess at the right phrase of command. Instead, you have four basic options, each available at the press of a single key:- 1) Look On screen will appear a landscape corresponding to the view that the character sees in the direction he is looking at the time. During the LOOK option, you can turn the character to look in another direction by pressing one of the compass keys: NORTH, NORTH-EAST, EAST, SOUTH-EAST, SOUTH, SOUTH-WEST, WEST and NORTH-WEST. 2) Move When this key is pressed, 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 that surround the Icemark. Other factors may also restrict movement - exhaustion, cowardice and so on. 3) Choose The CHOOSE screen presents you with a list of special options and the keys you must press to obtain each. What special options are open will depend upon the situation the character finds himself or herself in but they also reflect the particular personality of the character. So, the choices open to a greedy character will seldom include acts of generosity, nor the choices open to a cowardly character include brave deeds. 4) Check There are four CHECK keys. They enable you to access detailed information concerning the character you control and the situation he or she is in. a) CHECK PLACE: Gives you general information about the time of day, the place and what your character may or may not have found there. b) CHECK BATTLE: Gives you details of any battle or skirmish your character has been involved in. c) CHECK ARMY: Gives you details of your own army, any other army in the same location and any army in the location immediatley ahead of your character. d) CHECK PERSON: Gives a run-down on the personality of the character you are controlling. Beware - some personalities may change as the game progresses! You can press LOOK, MOVE, CHOOSE and CHECK keys at any stage during any of the four basic options and the new screen will appear at once. More... Sometimes there may be no room on a screen to print all the relevant information. Whenever this happens, the message "More..." will appear at the bottom of the display. Pressing the key marked MORE will access the remaining text. Night and Dawn The game begins on the day that the Moonprince rides forth from the Gate of Varenorn into the Icemark and proceeds by day and by night. During the day you can move any or all of the characters you control, together with any armies that accompany them. The distance a character can move in one day depends on the difficulty of the terrain and whether he is riding or walking as well as his general vigour. You must learn by experience how far you can travel under given circumstances. However, there is one important thing to remember: when you travel directly north, south, east or west you are moving just one league at a time; moving in any other direction, you are travelling along the diagonal of a square, a distance of approximately 1.4 leagues. This will therefore take you longer and leave less hours of daylight for your journey. Each character has his own, individual "clock" and when he has exhausted his hours of daylight, night will fall for him. He will be unable to make any further movement until the following day. Other characters under your control, however, will still be able to move. Once you have moved all the characters you wish to, you must press the NIGHT key. This lets night fall everywhere and signals the beginning of movement for the forces of the Heartstealer. Independent characters will also move at this time. There will be a pause as the computer "thinks" and rumours of battle and other events may appear on the screen. Soon, however, the night will be over 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 be able to control your characters afresh. IF YOU DO NOT PRESS THE NIGHT KEY OR THE DAWN KEY AT THE APPROPRIATE TIME, NOTHING FURTHER WILL HAPPEN AT ALL! THE WARRING FACTIONS BATTLE Minor skirmishes involving individual characters can take place at any stage during the day and will have an immediate result. Battles between armies, however, are not decided until the day is over. You are NOT able to 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 using the CHOOSE option. Some of the commanders you control may be so afraid that the possibility does not occur in their list of options. Two options can move an army onto unfriendly ground, ATTACK and APPROACH, ATTACK should be used if you want to fight a battle regardless of the other commander's intentions. APPROACH is like going forward under a flag of truce; you may be able to parley with the other commander and perhaps persuade him to join your cause. On the other hand, he may well ignore your flag of truce and fall upon you. The APPROACH option should be used with some caution, for if battle does follow, you will be at a disadvantage compared to ATTACK. Once battle has been joined, the character will not be able to move until the following day. You can, however, move other characters into the same battle if you wish. At the morrow's dawn, the outcome of the battle will be known to your commanders. If the enemy has lost, his armies will have been destroyed or have fled, leaving the battlefield in your possession. If the enemy has won a decisive victory, you will find your characters (if they still live) scattered and bereft of troops. If, however, the battle continues, you can move your commanders away that dawn or leave them there to fight on through the next night. Many things influence the outcome of a battle but you must learn by hard-won experience which are crucial. THE KINGDOMS OF ICEMARK The land of Icemark is ruled by five major races and the map that Luxor carries with him, though lamentably lacking in detail, shows their Kingdoms. To the North-east, the Men of the Frozen Empire are governed by Shareth the Heartstealer. To the North-west lies the Kingdom of the Giants, to the East the Kingdom of the Dwarves whilst to the South are the Outlands of the Barbarians and the Realm of the Fey. All these are intermittently at war with each other, involved in petty feuds and border raids but of them all the Frozen Empire is the strongest and the most feared. To defeat Shareth, Luxor must find allies in these foreign domains. The Lords Of Fey should be counted most friendly, the Lords of the Iceguard least so, but a cunning Moonprince will exploit their differences to his own purpose. There is only one in the whole of the Icemark who will never rally to his banner - Shareth Heartstealer, his mortal enemy. The Landscape During your travels through the Icemark, you will see many different scenes. This is a traveller's guide to some of the things you will see. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOUNTAIN CITY Moving across a mountain range will A strongly fortified township which take many hours of travel and leave may harbour enemy forces or offer you exhausted at the end of your shelter to a friendly army. Storming journey. a city will be a hard task. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FOREST TOWER Movement through a forest will not The Watchtowers of the Icemark may be swift, save for the Fey whose hold dark secrets; approach with homes lie there. care! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PIT HALL Through the dark mouth of the abyss, A war-chief's hall can offer warmth you may find access to subterranean and shelter to the lonely traveller, passages, but foul creatures may if its people prove friendly. issue forth from the bowels of the earth. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ARMY ahead of you. You do not, however, A friendly army offers no hindrance see all that lies ahead. If, to the traveller but an attempt to perchance, you find yourself in an go through the midst of an enemy underground tunnel, tall pillars army offers the gravest of peril. As crowned with fire mark the way you look around during your travels, forward. If there is no way ahead, large figures may appear in the you will see naught but darkness. foreground of each panorama you see. Tunnels only lead north, south, east These are the warriors, characters or west. and creatures that lie immediately ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HUT HILLS Brief respite can be found here from Hills slow a traveller, but not the cold mists and winds of the severely. Unseen dangers may lie Icemark. beyond. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORTRESS PALACE The stronghold of minor Lords of the Though not designed to withstand Icemark, a fortress will offer some armed assault, a palace is still a protection. centre of power. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TEMPLE GATE A temple is apt to harbour dark and Set at the entrances of subterranean mysterious forces. Some give access roads, the Gates of the Icemark to benighted ways beneath the earth. stand at the threshold of the dark world below. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STONES FOUNTAIN Stones mark the route of ancient, Little in the bleak landscape of the forgotten roads beneath the icy Icemark offers succour to the carpet that covers the land. Strange traveller but from a sparkling powers of oft gather about them. fountain, he may drink his fill and be refreshed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ICY WASTES MIST The barrier ice of the Northern Cold mists block the landscape from glaciers allows no traveller to pass view as they roll across the through. The Icy Wastes are Icemark. All save Shareth's Iceguard impenetrable to all. find their courage and strength sapped if caught in their grip. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------> D O O M D A R K ' S Revenge - THE STORY. Written by Mike Singleton. Narrated by Marc Peirson. The Players - Mandy Baber, Francis Lee, Marc Peirson. Doomdark's March - written and performed by Dominic Kersey. Incidental Music - written and performed by Francis Lee. Engineered by Steve Murrell. Recorded at RAM Studios.