Knight Lore

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Knight Lore
Developer(s)	Ultimate Play The Game
Publisher(s)	Ultimate Play The Game
Engine	Filmation
Release date(s)	1984
Genre(s)	Arcade adventure; Maze
Mode(s)	Single player
Rating(s)	N/A
Platform(s)	ZX Spectrum BBC Micro Amstrad CPC MSX Famicom Disk System
Media	tape
Input	keyboard joystick

Knight Lore is a computer game developed and released by Ultimate Play The Game in 1984. The game is the third in the Sabreman series, following on from his adventures in Sabre Wulf and Underwurlde. Unlike the earlier games in the series it used isometric projection.^[1] In the game Sabreman has to find the ingredients for a magic potion. The game was written by Tim Stamper and Chris Stamper.

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Gameplay 3 Images 4 Trivia 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Introduction

Typical for an Ultimate release, players are given a tantalising and cryptic introduction :

"THE WEREWULF

My journey's end is near; as the last few ebbs of daylight dance fleetingly in the cooling twilight, and then suddenly dart off to chase the red sinking sun.

Behind me I feel night's dark icy fingers slither up long looming shadows, hiding behind large mounds and boulders, watching my every move... silently waiting... For days I have journeyed from the realms of the junglewulf to "KNIGHT LORE" castle to seek the old dying wizard and ask for his help to free me from this deathly curse... For countless nights I have slept chained to trees to keep my deathly curse at bay, but now I am here...

My footsteps echo around the damp mossy walls of the large chamber, as I enter through the open main gateway, colossal doors judder open in an untouched groaning symphony, beckoning me forward on my quest.

I sense the old wizard's gaze playing upon me, encapsulated within the labyrinth of traps and tests, to keep out all but the most persistent of unwanted guests who seek an audience with the great wizard MELKHIOR.

Suddenly a cool blue mist starts to ebb forth from the cracks in the ancient stone-work. As it does so it begins to take form and become a powerful swimming swirling vortex of energy. Over all the noise can be heard the chanting and singing of long forgotten tunes, all sung in a blur of forgetfulness.

THE MIST TUNES

THE WIZARD'S OLDER NOW THAN ALL

HIS HELP YOU SEEK WITHIN THIS WALL

FOR FORTY DAYS YOUR QUEST MAY LAST

LOCATE THE POTION, MAKE IT FAST

THIS HIDEOUS SPELL UPON YOUR SOUL

TO LOSE ITS HOLD MUST BE YOUR GOAL

BEWARE, THE TRAPS FROM HERE BEGIN

THE CAULDRON TELLS WHAT MUST GO IN

TO BREAK THE CURSE AND MAKE THE SPELL

TO SAVE YOURSELF AND MAKE YOU WELL.

The mist suddenly ceases its action and dissipates as quickly as it came.

I drop to the floor and with full knowledge of the old wizard I begin my quest. Dimly lit torches light the massive stone walls, their tired flickering flames never seeming to penetrate the inky darkness for more than a few feet... crystalline Merkyls, hideous Hobgoblins, stand frozen on huge monoliths, glittering in the cool trembling moonlight.

Encapsulated by the old wizard long ago, they await their fate in an un-ending task of defence, silent and stony. This is to be their last everlasting fate as guardians of KNIGHT LORE castle, until the ultimate death of the old sorcerer... The moon has risen quickly and in the fullness of its cool blue light, I become a Werewulf...

My fate is now all too clear, I have but forty days and forty nights to find the old wizard and seek his help and magical instruction, before my tormented soul becomes forever a werewulf."

[edit] Gameplay

Again taking the role of Sabreman, the player must find the wizard Melkhior, then scour Knight Lore castle to retrieve the objects successively requested by his cauldron. Once collected, the objects must be returned to Melkhior, and dropped into the waiting cauldron. Successfully following all of the cauldron's requests within a forty day period frees Sabreman from the curse of lycanthropy cast upon him by the Wulf encountered in Sabre Wulf.

The curse itself plays an important role in gameplay. While beginning the game as Sabreman, the player is periodically transformed into a werewulf as day turns into night (see the sun / moon dial in the bottom right of the screenshots below). At the point of transformation (either to, or from, the werewulf), Sabreman experiences a short, but humorously animated, seizure, and is vulnerable to enemies or hazards. Certain enemies (including Melkhior's cauldron itself) will attack Sabreman when a werewulf, making the timing of certain actions crucial.

In what was revolutionary for its time, the castle is presented as a series of isometric, flip-screen rooms. Negotiating many of these rooms requires good platform skills, especially since some platforms disappear or move when stepped on. In some rooms, objects such as tables or treasure chests (or even the objects collected for the cauldron), need to be used to reach carefully positioned goals (see screenshots below).

Aside from platform-hopping, Sabreman must avoid a series of enemies and hazards. Static beds of spikes and falling spiked metal balls are among the simplest hazards. Malevolent portcullis gates guard many thoroughfares, and are often accompanied by slow-moving, but lethal, guards. Faster moving enemies, such as ghosts and Melkhior's cauldron spirit, provide more dangerous company.

[edit] Images

A guard and an evil portcullis block the way	Using tables and chests to reach a drink
Which side to fall down?	Can Sabreman trap the ghost in the hole?
Crossing a floating block bridge	More guards and portcullises

[edit] Trivia

• Tim Stamper suggested in an interview that Knight Lore was actually completed before its less technically-accomplished prequel Sabre Wulf^[2]. However, they delayed its release because "the market wasn't ready for it" :

“

... we kept the Number One position for quite a while. It didn't make any difference to sales. They were still good products for the time. I think possibly Knight Lore was ahead of its time, and in looking back at the market now, there doesn't seem to have been any vast improvement in the 2 years since we left it. I don't know whether we could have made any more of an improvement.

”

• However, this chronology has been disputed by an independent analysis of the source code routine used by Ultimate's games for reading keypresses. While this routine has been found to be optimised in all of Ultimate's games from Knight Lore onwards, the optimisation is not present in Sabre Wulf. Given Tim Stamper's chronology for Sabre Wulf, one would expect otherwise if it had truly been completed after Knight Lore^[3].

• Although Ultimate Play the Game were primarily associated with European software publication, Knight Lore did reach Japanese players in the form of a conversion on the Famicom Disk System (see cover art to the right). Though details of the port's developer are uncertain, its publisher was Jaleco, and it was released on December 19, 1986.

[edit] References

1. ^ Looking For An Old Angle. Crash Magazine, Issue 51. Newsfield. Retrieved on October 3, 2006.
2. ^ THE BEST OF BRITISH. Crash 51. Newsfield. Retrieved on September 14, 2006.
3. ^ On Filmation - Facts. Retrieved on February 16, 2007.

[edit] External links

• Knight Lore at Ultimate Wurlde
• Knight Lore at World of Spectrum
• Knight Lore at MobyGames
• Knight Lore review at CRASH magazine
• A walkthrough video of Knight Lore on the ZX Spectrum
• Knight Lore at ODP
• Knight Lore port for the PC