DOOMDARK'S REVENGE (Lords of Midnight 2)
(c) Beyond 1985 
AUTHOR: Mike Singleton
------------------------------------

DESCRIPTION
A sort of 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              Look in direction (N-NE-E-SE-S-SW-W-NW)
Space Bar        Move in Current Direction
<- (back arrow)  Back to Look in current direction
Space Bar        Choose Menu (if you can't move until you choose)
Return           Check Person, Place, Battle, Army 

Other Keys:

0 (zero)         Night  
Y                Yes (as when dawn appears or for "More" select)
N                No (as for "No more" in Select Mode)
S                Save Game to tape
L                Load Game from tape

Specific Characters Selection Keys:

F1               Luxor  
F3               Morkin  (when enabled)
F5               Tarithel  
F7               Rorthron  

INST/DEL         Select Mode
                              
In Select Mode: There are up to 128 characters which can appear in
                the list - Press Yes key for more - The initial 
                list in the Select menu is

C                Luxor  
V                Morkin  (when found)
B                Tarithel  
N                Rorthron  


AIM : You, the player, take the role of Luxor, the Moonprince of 
Midnight. By virtue of the magical Moonring, you can control 
friendly characters 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. 

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. With her allies in Icemark, she will 
make your quest to save Morkin both difficult and dangerous... 

GAMEPLAY : DR has many different solutions, and several types of 
victory, some lesser, some greater, are possible. Should Luxor 
simply rescue Morkin and retreat to his starting position, the 
Gate of Varenorn, and thence back to Midnight? Should he seek to 
limit Shareth's power in Icemark before returning through the 
Frozen Gates? 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.

There are several different victories possible for Luxor:
 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. He 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.
 2. Bring other characters to the Gate, notably Tarithel the Fey 
and Rorthron the Wise, and by nightfall your task will be 
completed.
 3. Bring to Varenorn any of the Crowns of Icemark - Luxor's 
Crown of Varenand and Morkin's Crown of Carudium. 
 4. Retrieve any of the arcane objects on which Shareth's power
depends and return them to the Gate. Search for the Runes of 
Finorn, an ancient and magical message which may be read by 
Rorthron the Wise. Apart from the Runes, there is also 
Tarithel's Spell of Thigrorn. 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.
 5. Completely 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.
 6. 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 Midnight for as long as he lives.

 SELECTING A CHARACTER : You initially have just three characters
under your control, namely Luxor the Moonprince, Rorthron the Wise
and Tarithel the Fey. You can select any of these by pressing the
appropriate key. You may not control Morkin until you have freed 
him from Shareth's spell of enchantment. When selected, the 
display will switch immediately to that character's point of view.

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.

You control each character independently using the person select
keys. The four main protagonists have their own keys (although
the Morkin key does not work until he is back on the side of
Luxor); the others can be selected by pressing the 'select' key. 
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. During the Look option, you can 
          turn the character to look in another direction by 
          pressing one of the compass keys along the top row of 
          the keyboard.
2. Move - 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.
3. Choose - 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 four things you may check. These are:
	  a) check place - gives general information - time of 
          day, the place, any objects discovered, etc. 
          Information about the location (including whether there 
          is an object on the floor and information about any 
          person who might be standing just ahead of you) can be 
          viewed.
	  b) check battle - gives details of the last battle or
	  skirmish your character has been involved in. 
	  c) check army - gives details of your own army, any 
          other army in the same location and any army in the 
          location immediately ahead of your character. 
	  d) check person - gives a run-down on the personality of
	  the current character. Beware - some personalities may
	  change as events unfold! 

You can look around by using the direction keys.  The 'look' key 
is used to give a view if one is not currently on the screen 
(because some information is there instead).  To move forward, 
press the 'move' key.  Moving in the 'diagonal' directions takes 
up to 1.5 times as long as moving North, South, East or West.  
In order to do something other than moving, such as resting for 
the remainder of the day, attacking an enemy or entering an 
underground tunnel, the 'choose' menu tells you what is 
available. 

When you are standing before an enemy - or anyone 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 his.  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 & 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 "Do you seek dawn?" 
will appear on the screen.

To begin the new day you must press the "Yes" key and then you 
will begin your next turn. If you do not press the Night key or 
the Yes key at the appropriate time, nothing further will happen 
at all until you do!

 BATTLE : Minor skirmishes between individuals 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:  
1. Men - the Iceguard - in the Frozen Empire of the North-East, 
ruled by Shareth the Heartbreaker.  
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.

(See the various available maps.)

 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, Luxor must find allies 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 Heartstealer 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:

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.

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 kill 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.

---------------------------------------------------
SEQUELS/PREQUELS
This game is the sequel to Lords of Midnight

INLAY CARD TEXT
----------------------------------------------------- 
COMMENTS : "Excellent, a classic." RATING: 10/10 (CRASH #13, 
             February 1985)

NOW : Although LOM was perhaps the better game, DR still remains a
huge and challenging adventure/strategy game.

-END-
