The Lords of Midnight

Starting a Game

Press any key on the introductory screen to begin the game.

Gameplay

The Lords of Midnight utilises nearly all of the keyboard keys when playing the game. With this in mind, we have made a Keyboard overlay available for download, which can be printed and placed over the keyboard of The Spectrum.

The player begins in control of Luxor the Moonprince, Lord of the Free, but has the ability to command other characters loyal to him. Some of these characters are powerful individuals, and some manage entire armies. When a commander is moved, his armies move with him.

When moving characters through Midnight,

To overthrow Doomdark and his armies, you must take control of Doomdark’s home citadel, Ushgarak, or destroy the Icecrown in the Tower of Doom to the north-west.

Characters

The player begins with four characters under their control -

• Luxor the Moonprince
• Morkin, son of Luxor
• Corleth the Fey
• Rorthron the Wise

Each of these characters have a corresponding key on the keyboard to swap between them.

Throughout the journey through the lands of Midnight, more characters can be recruited by the player in various ways. To swap to other characters recruited to Luxor’s cause, press the Select key on the keyboard to display a full-screen interface, with keys listed for swapping between each character.

Controlling a Character

Cycle between the four character control modes by pressing their corresponding key on the keyboard. When swapping between characters, Look mode will be entered by default.

Look

Displays the landscape in the direction the selected character is facing. Also displays text at the top of the screen next to the character portrait, giving details of where the character is standing. While in look mode, the character can rotate to look in any compass direction using keys 1-9.

Move

Move the currently controlled character forwards one tile, in the direction they are facing.

Think

The screen displays a text prompt, giving details regarding the character’s current state, armies they control, and the place they are in.

Choose

Depending on the current environment the selected character is in, the choose screen will present different options to the player. The options available in this screen depend on the game’s current state, and will vary between characters.

Interface

For interfaces which present the player with multiple options (the Think and Choose options), a list of options is displayed depending on the game state, with a corresponding keyboard key next to them.

1. Character Symbol
2. Status indicator

Keyboard Controls