ToME (video game)

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Tales of Middle Earth

Developer(s)	DarkGod, many others
Version	2.3.5 (May 5, 2008)
Platform(s)	Cross-platform
Release date	1998
Genre(s)	Roguelike game
Mode(s)	Single player / multiplayer (TomeNET)
Media	Download

ToME, or Tales (or Troubles) of Middle Earth, is a roguelike computer game created in 1998 by someone who self-identifies as DarkGod. ToME is an Angband variant, originally based on the ZAngband 2.2.9a source code, but which now differs greatly from it. ToME was also used as a base for many derivative games known as modules. Popular modules include Bone to be Wild, E-Team, FuryMod, Theme, T-Plus, Dragonball T, Gerband, and Annals of Ea.

The game was originally known as PernAngband, and was essentially a crossover that placed characters from Anne McCaffrey's fictional world of Pern into J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world of Arda.

By the time of version 5.x.x, PernAngband had attracted a substantial online community. However, it came under legal threat from Anne McCaffrey and Ubisoft, a company that had licensed several Pern-related games. Most original elements of Pern had already been removed; after removal of the remaining elements the game was renamed as ToME.

The game is set in J.R.R. Tolkien's Arda. Other influences include H. P. Lovecraft and Roger Zelazny's Amber universe, inherited from Cthangband and ZAngband, respectively.

The player creates a character from an extended list of races and classes, ranging from Dúnedain warriors to Elven magi. The player then explores the world of Middle-earth, destroying monsters, finding items, and gaining power, with the ultimate goal to destroy Morgoth, Lord of Darkness.

There is also a multiplayer version of ToME, called TomeNET.

ToME is under active development. The game, along with its source code, is freely distributed under a license that allows sharing and modification of the game but prohibits commercial use. Currently in alpha release is ToME 3, which will include greater support for the Lua programming language and drastically change the internal handling of objects and flags.

Important features of ToME which are not in Angband include: