Times of Lore

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Times of Lore
Developer(s)	Origin Systems
Publisher(s)	Origin Systems
Designer(s)	Chris Roberts
Platform(s)	PC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Apple II, Amiga, NES
Release date	1988
Genre(s)	Action/Adventure/Role-playing
Mode(s)	Single player
Media	Cartridge or floppy disk

Times of Lore was an early computer-based roleplaying game with a detailed world. It was released for several platforms, including PC, Commodore 64/128, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad, Atari ST, Apple II, and Amiga.

A version is also being made for the Oric/Oric Atmos by Jonathan Bristow located on the Oric community portal, a near completed demo is available.

[edit] Description

The game takes place in a very complex world, featuring 13,000 screens of map according to the promotional material. There is no loading during the game, which was quite a feat at the time for such a massive environment.

The Commodore 64 version featured high-res overlays for the sprites, a technique that employs two sprites on top of each other one being a low resolution multi-colour sprite the other a high resolution monochrome sprite. Animated water is also used and the game world slowly changes colour between night and day.

The story tells of a kingdom where the monarch has died and the dukes and barons are wrestling for power. Barbarians are threatening to invade, and monsters are pillaging the land. The player must assume the role of one of three heroes and unravel the conspiracy and find three magic items.

It is possible to get to walking dead situations which require restarting the game, such as killing important characters who would otherwise have given you certain quests or objects. Killing random peasants is not as dangerous, as staying the night at the inn will make them forget your trespasses.

There are many objects to be found in the game, among others a teleportation scrolls, a returning axe à la Mjolnir and healing potions. There's the hidden city of Treela, in the middle of the map, behind a forest, if you look for it. It's hard to find as there is no road leading to or from, unlike the other cities. Serfs will speak of a dragon in the north, which can be found sleeping in his cave on the eastern edge of the northern mountains. A catacombs also exists but if you enter it, the ghouls inside are unleashed upon the world making the game much more difficult. There is also a giant lurking in the north west portion of the map.

The musical score for the Commodore 64 version was created by Martin Galway, the different scores are present during the story book and character selection part of the game and there is no actual music in the main game itself. Although there are many different sound effects such as birds (when in the woods) and the sound of the ocean. Music typically require 5%-10% of memory on the Commodore 64.