The role you play
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You, the player, take the role of Luxor the Moonprince,
Lord of the Free. By virtue of the Moon Ring, which lends you the Power of Vision and the
Power of Command, you can control other characters that are loyal to you, move them
through the landscape of Midnight and look through their eyes. Some of these characters
are simply individuals, others are commanders at the head of whole armies: when you move a
commander, his army moves with him. |
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The computer plays the part of Doomdark, the Witchking of Midnight
and controls the characters and armies loyal to him. In addition, the computer also
governs the actions of the independent characters and forces in the land of Midnight |
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A choice of games
There are two distinct ways of winning a victory over
Doomdark. The first is by war, by sending armies north to the Plains of Despair and
seizing the Citadel of Ushgarak from whence Doomdark commands his foul hordes. In such a
strategy, Luxor himself will playa major part as a commander in the field.
The second way of winning is by quest, by guiding Morkin,
Luxors son, to the Tower of Doom to destroy the Ice Crown, the source of
Doomdarks power. Morkin can have no army to help him on his journey, for the Ice
Crown sends forth the ice-fear which withers mens minds. By virtue of his birth,
half-human, half-fey, only Morkin can resist the utter coldness of the Ice Crowns
power.
If you prefer a pure adventure just concentrate on the quest of
Morkin. The armies of Doomdark will still march south to conquer Midnight but the armies
of the Free will defend themselves without your guidance, even though they will not make
any counter-moves.
If you prefer a pure war game, ignore the quest of Morkin and
concentrate on the assault of Ushgarak.
To play the complete epic, however, you should place equal
importance on the war that Luxor directs and the quest that Morkin journeys on. Naturally
enough, the complete epic takes the longest to play. Of the other options, you will find
the quest the quicker game.
There are no keys to press to choose which sort of game you play -
you simply choose, move-by-move, which characters you want to guide. At any stage, you can
alter the balance at will, abandon the quest and take up war, or admit defeat on the
battlefield and try to seek the Ice Crown.
If you want to play the Lords of Midnight with your family or
friends, we suggest that each player is given control over a particular character or group
of characters, and that you play as a team against the evil Doomdark. |
Victory for Doomdark
To win, Doomdark (or the computer, if you prefer) must
achieve two objectives. First, he must eliminate Morkin: as long as Morkin is alive, the
game will continue. Second, he must subdue the armies of the Free. This can be done in two
ways, either by eliminating Luxor the Moonprince who is their commander or by taking the
Citadel of Xajorkith in the land of Corelay, the home of all their hopes.
If Luxor is killed, you, the player, lose all control over the
other characters in the game except for Morkin, his son. If, by any chance, Morkin manages
to find the Moon Ring that Luxor wore and which was the source of Luxors Powers of
Vision and Command, he can put it on and you will regain control over those characters
still loyal to the Free. However, once he does this, Morkin will immediately become known
to Doomdark and his quest to seize the Ice Crown will become almost impossible.
If Xajorkith is taken by Doomdark but Morkin is still alive. Luxor
can continue the armed struggle against the Witchking. For Doomdark to win, Xajorkith must
be Doomdarks and Morkin must be dead, OR both Luxor and Morkin must be dead. |
The Ice-Fear and the Moon Ring
The ice-fear is Doomdarks greatest weapon,
sapping mens courage and reducing armies to rabble. If strong enough, it may even
cause characters once loyal to Luxor and the Free to desert to Doomdarks control. He
can use it either as a general effect, spread equally over the lands of Midnight or
concentrate it in particular places.
The only shield against it is the Moon Ring that Luxor wears: this
radiates the strength and warmth of his mind. The closer a character or Army is to Luxor,
the less will be the demoralising effect of the ice-fear. The same applies if Morkin is
the wearer of the Moon Ring. There is one drawback: the Witchking can sense the warmth of
the Moon Ring and so, at any stage of the game, he knows the precise whereabouts of its
wearer.
The strength of the ice-fear also depends on Doomdarks
confidence. As the Witchking takes citadel after citadel of the Free so does the ice-fear
grow. but where he suffers defeat or doubt the ice-fear dwindles. The Ice Crown has a cold
intelligence of its own and as Morkin comes closer towards it. it will feel the
approaching danger and bend a greater and greater part of its force towards its own
protection. So, as Morkin approaches the Ice Crown, more and more of the ice-fear will be
directed at him alone but it will not affect him. Instead, the burden of its terror will
begin to lift from the armies and commanders of the Free. |
How the game works
The game begins on the day of the Winter Solstice.
Initially, you control Luxor the Moonprince, Morkin, Corleth the Fey and Rorthron the
Wise. These characters all start the game at the Tower of the Moon in the Forest of
Shadows. The game proceeds by day and by night.
During the day, you can move any or all of the characters you
control and any armies that are with them. The distance a character can move in one day
depends on the difficulty of the terrain and whether he is walking or riding as well as
his state of health. You must learn by experience precisely 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: when you
move north-east, north-west, south-east or south-west you are moving along the diagonal of
a square one league by one league, a distance of approximately 1.4 leagues. Therefore,
this will take you longer and leave less hours of daylight for the rest of your journey.
When a character has exhausted his hours of daylight, night will
fall for him, and. unless there are exceptional circumstances (the THINK screen will tell
you if there are), he will not be able to do any more until the following day. You can
still, however, move other characters under your control.
Once you have moved all the characters you wish to, you must press the NIGHT
icon. This
lets nightfall everywhere and signals the start of activities for the forces of Doomdark.
During the night, Doomdark will move his characters and armies across Midnight and there
will be a pause as he "thinks". Soon, however, a new day will dawn and you can
command your characters afresh.
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DO NOT FORGET TO PRESS THE NIGHT KEY WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED
YOUR DAYS MOVEMENT AND ACTION. IF YOU DO NOT PRESS THE NIGHT KEY NOTHING FURTHER
WILL HAPPEN AT ALL! |
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Engaging
in battle
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Minor skirmishes involving individual characters and
small war-bands are quick affairs and can take place at any stage throughout the day.
Battles between armies, however, that will not be decided until the day is over. |
Because a battle between armies is such a major event, you will
not be able to move an army to the same location as an enemy army by using the simple MOVE
option. Such a move is always one of the special actions you can opt for by
selecting the battle icon. Some of the commanders you control may be so afraid that the choice to move
them into battle does not even appear as a possibility.
During the course of the day, you can move as many armies into
battle as you wish. If you move more than one army into the same battle, the program will
keep track of their times of arrival (which may influence the outcome of the contest).
However, once an army or a character has been moved into a battle, it will not be able to
move again until the following day.
At dawn on the following day, the outcome will be known to your
commanders. If the enemy has lost, his armies will have been destroyed in the night or
have fled, leaving your armies and characters free to move. If the enemy has not lost, you
have the choice of retreating with what is left of your armies or continuing the struggle
for another day, possibly throwing in more forces. If, however, the enemy has won a
decisive victory, when dawn breaks you will find your armies destroyed and your surviving
commanders scattered: the enemy forces may have advanced far beyond the battlefield.
Many things will influence the outcome of a battle: the number of
troops, the type of terrain. the quality of the commanders and, of course, the strength of
the ice-fear. But, as any warrior must, you must learn by experience.
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The free and the foul
On the day of the Solstice, at the start of the game, Doomdarks forces
hold the north whilst the Free hold the South. Few of Doomdarks armies will be found
south of the Mountains of Ithril and the Plains of Valethor. Of the major citadels,
Doomdark holds Ushgarak, Grarg, Vorgath and Kor. The only armies of the Free to be found
north of the Mountains of Ithril and the Plains of Valethor are in Ithrorn and the Plains
of Ithril. Of the major citadels, the Free still hold Ithrorn, Kumar, Marakith, Shimeril,
Grad and Xajorkith. In the east, the barbarian tribes of the Targ remain independent of
both Doomdark and the Moonprince. In the west, save for the Citadel of Gard, the lands lie
mostly empty and under no ones sway.
The Fey are in loose alliance with the Free. They do not seek war
but neither do they relish the thought of Doomdark overrunning Midnight. Their part in the
War of the Solstice will be mostly passive. Their homes are the forests of Midnight and
Doomdarks armies will not willingly be allowed passage through these. Corleth the
Fey, however. should be able to rally enough of his people to his banner to form one army.
The Wise have isolated themselves from the world and live like
hermits in their tall towers. Doomdark will not bother them so long as they remain
withdrawn from the affairs of Men and most certainly, they will not aid him. In the right
circumstances, it may be possible to seek their help and be granted it. Rorthron the Wise
could prove a useful ally in this.
The Utarg of Utarg may be persuaded to bring the Targ into the war
against Doomdark, especially if the armies of the Witchking are tempted or forced to
trespass on his lands. If the ice-fear grows too strong, however, he may lend his loyalty
to Doomdark.
Of the Free themselves, there are many Lords. Luxor should first set himself the task of
seeking their loyalty, thus gaining control of many armies. Most powerful are the Lord
Marshals of the great Citadels but the Moonprince will find other Lords who will also bow
to his command. He should not, however, waste too much time seeking out allies; there are
others who will make fine ambassadors. |
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The map of Midnight
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Controlling a character
As stated in the introduction, the Lords of Midnight is
not a standard adventure game and controlling the characters does not require you to guess
at the right phrase of command. Instead, you have basic options, each available at
the press of a single icon:
What options are available will depend upon the situation the
character finds himself in but will include such choices as searching, hiding, attacking
an enemy, repairing defenses and so on.
The options will also reflect the personality of the
particular character. All the choices you are presented with are only those the character
would be likely to choose by himself. So, the choices open to a cowardly character will
seldom include brave deeds, the choices open to a greedy character will seldom include
acts of generosity. |
General Commands
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Seek
You can instruct your character to search their current
location. The results of this are then displayed on a new screen. Be
careful as not everything that is hidden wants to be found. |
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Hide
This Icon tells your character to hide. He is then hidden
from the evil that lurks in the night. This option is not always
available, especially if your lord has an army in tow. |
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Un-hide
When you require to move your lord after they have
hidden, you need to first bring them out of their hiding place. |
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Fight
Sometimes your lord will come up against terrors other than doomdark's
armies. You must fight or hide. |
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Approach
While traveling the lands of midnight other lords can be
approached to join your cause. Use this icon to make an approach. |
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Recruit
When at strongholds you may need to refresh your army with new
recruits. However they must be of the same race and type. |
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Post
Some strongholds may be better or defended. This icon allows you
to place more men on guard. |
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Battle
When confronted with the enemy... the only option for a brave
lord is to fight. |
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Think
At any stage you may need to take stock of your current
situation and think about any information that is available to you. |
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Look
The face icon is replaced with the face of your current
character, selecting it will always return you to the look screen. |
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Night
When your days work is done, you must select the night
icon to allow the game to move forward. |
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Map
At any stage you may select the map to view the areas you
have visited. |


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Time
The time icon gives you a quick idea of the current time
of day. Moving the mouse over it will inform you of the exact time.
But it also has three quick indicators. A full sun means dawn,
sun/moon means day and moon means night. Selecting this icon
instructs your character to wait around and take an early night. |
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Availability
In order to constructively choose the order of
controlling characters, the lords of midnight allows you to instruct
them to wait. There are three stages to the wait. No wait, wait
until next morning or wait forever. Waiting characters are
considered to have done there work for the day and can not be
selected by the SELECT AVAILABLE icon. |
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Look
On screen will appear a landscape corresponding to the
view that the character sees in the direction he is looking at the time. There are also a
few lines of text, giving details of where he stands as well as an heraldic shield which
identifies him. During the LOOK option, you can turn the character to look in another
direction by pressing one of the compass points : NORTH. NORTH-EAST, SOUTH-EAST, SOUTH,
SOUTH -WEST, WEST and NORTH-WEST. |

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Selecting a character
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Select all recruited. |
This icon allows you to select any of your recruited
characters. |
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Select here |
This icon is only visible when there are other
characters at your present location. This allows you to select
any of these characters. |
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Select available |
This icon allows you to select any of the available
characters. Available characters are those that are; alive, not
waiting and not camped up for the night. |

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There are a few special faces that are displayed on
the select screen. These are a skull icon which means that this
character is dead, or a faded face which means the character cannot
move because it is night or they are too tired. |
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Movement
Movement is achieved by clicking on the
center of the compass icon. The character will move forward in the same direction
he was last looking. When he reaches his next location, he will continue looking in that
direction and the LOOK option will reappear with a new landscape. |
Think
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Saving and
loading a game
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You can save your progress in the world of Midnight at any
stage during the game. To save a game, you must first press the
save icon. When you have selected save, a screen will appear showing you all
previously saved games. Either select an old save or type the name of a
new game and press the save icon again. |
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The data
from a previous game of the Lords of Midnight can be loaded at any
stage during the game. To load a game you must select the load icon.
When you haved selected load, a screen will appear showing you all available save
games. Just select the save you require and press the load icon again. |
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Abandoning a game
We hope that you will never need to abandon a game of
the Lords of Midnight, but if it should come to pass that your situation is beyond all
hope, you can abandon the game by selecting the quit icon.
Alternatively you can always load in a previously saved game. |

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