Producer: Games Workshop
Retail Price: £7.95
Language: BASIC and Machine code
Author: Alan Davis

Runestone was written by Alan Davis and I can't help wondering if it's the same name behind The Journey reviewed here in February. Comparisons between Runestone and Lords of Midnight are inevitable, but just as BBC2 quietly serves up the radical fare while Channel 4 is busy dodging the press flak, so this game stealthily steals up on the heels of Midnight to provide a really good jaunt for your money. This game impresses by expanding on some of the ideas seen in Midnight (in particular the landscaping of the Beyond epics) and blending them with the very best features of mainstream adventuring.

These features are significantly distinctive and their overall effect sufficiently far-reaching to distance Runestone from Midnight. Runestone is original enough to stand on its own merits and its flavour has the essence of Games Workshop, being well-designed and polished to a fine finish.

A game can be a good one whether it be played on a computer, on a playing board, or if scrawled out in the desert sand, and it is Games Workshop's experience in all modes of playing games which makes them adept at spotting and nurturing those ingredients they consider vital to computer games. A thesis might be devoted to what makes a good game but all the facts would point to one overall consideration - does the game work? Well, in this case, the answer is yes it does.

The buzz word in Lords of Midnight was landscaping and, not to be outdone, Runestone presents venturescope which combines real-time action, a full text interpreter, multiple command input, dozens of independent characters and 8,000 views from over 2,000 locations. You control three heroes in their main quest to crush Kordomir the Dark One, hopefully retreiving the long lost Runestone of Zaphir in the process. But in this we meet one of the many strengths of the game, namely its flexibility, and the truth is you can do whatsoever you like in the Lands of Belorn and the Northern Wastes. You can, and on your first journey no doubt will, spend much of your time exploring the countryside or meeting the various creatures who roam the lands. Or if in a vindictive mood, how about leaving all the quests to heroes and spend some time tracking and slaying every orc that ever walked the lands (but be warned, some orcs are as solid as animated tree trunks and will leave you a tired and hopeless prisoner).

I was trying to get through the rest of this review without mentioning that game again but, as in this instance, an analogy is worth a paragraph it is best to say that this adventure really is similar to Lords of Midnight in presentation. If the pictures appear simpler then this should not be taken as a bad point as they are very pleasing in design and those depicting your voyages in the dragonships around the lakes and waterways are truly exceptional. The price you pay for such inspired ingenuity is the loss of the diagonal directions NE, SW etc, but the sense of fun you gain cruising around the waterways is well worth the minimal loss in manoeuvrability. Other departures from Midnight are the full sentence input (as opposed to the overlay option scheme) and the ability not only to approach fortified towers, pavilions and cave-dwellings, but to actually enter and see inside them too.

The comprehensive, full sentence analysis more nearly resembles that of a mainstream adventure so you can pick up swords, open chests and talk to other characters. These features along with the tremendous freedom to wander at will, reminds me of Bug Byte's Twin Kingdom Valley and perhaps it might be better to think of this game as bringing together some of the best features of both Lords of Midnight and the likes of The Hobbit.

It wouldn't be a Games Workshop adventure without some huge plot and intrigue but as usual it falls on the tasteful side of self-indulgence, and, given the nature of the game, contains clues to the whys and wherefores which dictate your fate. So, here are the salient points of the plot...

Long ago, before the coming of the Dark One named Kordomir, the land of Belorn flourished. They were proud but simple folk content to pass their peaceful lives beyond the great mountains. This was in the great age of the wizards who dealt in the mysteries beyond the ken of common man, and the elves, who wandered deep into the forests. To the north lay the inhospitable wastes where few Belorn folk ever cared to venture, so none suspected the great threat imposed by the orcs, trolls and demonic characters from that distant quarter.

When the fleets of dragon ships descended upon the gentlefolk to the south the lands were overrun. Wizards were slain, the elves moved on, and ancient treasures were carried off north by the orcs. Over the generations, the raids continued and the populations of Belorn dwindled. The ultimate victory of Kordomir seemed inevitable. Yet from this state of despair began the epic quest of Greymarel, Morval and Eliador who, with a fearlessness celebrated in countless ballads and tales, struck north into the wastes in a final attempt to destry the Dark One.

A map is provided in the booklet but in the best Tolkien tradition it is schematic (having been constructed from memory and folklore) leaving the detailed discovery of the terrain to the explorer, although the positions of the marked towers and huts are very much as you find them.

Playing the game seems very familiar, with you having control over Morval the Warrior, Eliador the Elf and Greymarel the Wizard. These controllable characters meet and sometimes enlist the support of others such as Brunor the Bold. A character who first attaches himself to Greymarel, and then later becomes a pain in the neck, is Skirmal the Sly, who seems to possess any item just when you are about to make some use of it. Not learning quickly how to deal with the threat this character imposes could leave you laughing at your own predicament as the silliest of orcs proceeds to run rings round you.

If you are not blowing your chances you should have a sword in the hand of Morval and a staff among the possessions of Greymarel the Wizard not so long after the off. I could tell you from where the characters start off but that would spoil the fun of seeing the map before you come to life. What can be said is you'll have to cross the Great Waters which divide the friendly south from the forbidding north sooner or later, and it is here you meet the dragonships. One particularly novel feature concerning the ships is the ability to sail them around with one character on the ship and to view them from the shore through the eyes of another. In this way you can actually influence the views through the actions of the characters - super stuff.

There is no doubting the first assailants to be met from the evil forces from the north. The orcs are brutish bullies who bring off quick raids on the south, then dart back to the safety of a fortified tower in the north. Working out how best to deal with this early threat will be your first major tactical problem. Trying to fathom which character is useful in any given situation will provide many more. Avoiding the orcs may seem the best policy, but in so doing you forfeit the chance of finding rich treasure chests and objects of great veneration.

You may find the constant 'Time Passes' which greets any pause in the action an annoyance at first but after just one game you will begin to realise the significance of this - every beat of the clock brings the marauding orcs closer, so much so, that when you return to continue with a character you may well find him ensconced within an orc-infested tower. Getting out of a well-guarded tower is anything but easy. Weapons are important (as is the hauberk, a long coat of mail) and the LIST command, which lists the possessions of the three main characters, is very useful.

In battle, using the 'repeat last command' key (CAPS SHIFT and 2) can keep up the pressure on a flagging orc. (Incidentally, this command comes up with a 2 when you ask it to repeat something nonsensical.)

Before summing up let me just say that there were one or two features which left me puzzled - like why defeated creatures disappeared along with their armoury, and, just how should you go about trying to get some weapon out of the grasp of an imbecile and into more skilled hands? All in all, most conceivable areas for criticism have been predicted, worked upon and ironed out. I suppose these criticisms are similar to those levelled at The Hobbit - wooden characters with an infuriating lack of control over them - but in this respect perhaps perfection lies some distance beyond 48K.

Runestone is a significant addition to the games playing world. Its strength is its painstaking attention to detail which makes play so smooth and enjoyable. The scale, feel and difficulty of the adventure are pitched just right, always fascinating, always fun. Games Workshop are the masters of games design to the extent that you certainly don't feel you are the first person to have played the game - and with games as good as this you certainly won't be the last. Have fun.

COMMENTS

Difficulty: easy to play, but not so easy to complete
Graphics: good perspective of view in direction you are looking
Input facility: allows full sentences and speech
Response: about 4-5 seconds
Special features: 2,000 locations; perspective graphics; interactive characters

Producer: Firebird
Retail Price: £7.95
Language: Machine code
Author: Alan Davis

Now here's a curiosity. Runestone was Smashed in June and here it is again to remind you all of what a great program it is. Games Workshop were the instigators of the game then, but now Firebird have taken up the challenge and delivered a slightly changed version. The chief differences are an increase in speed, brought about by machine coding all the routines, and a sprucing up of presentation.

Runestone is basically a cross between the landscaping of Midnight and the text input of The Hobbit. It combines realtime action, a full text interpreter, multiple command input, dozens of independent characters and thousands of views from a great number of locations. You control three heroes in their main quest to crush Kordomir the Dark One, hopefully retrieving the long lost Runestone of Zaphir in the process. But in this we meet one of the many strengths of the game, namely its flexibility, and the truth is you can do whatsoever you like in the Lands of Belorn and the Northern Wastes. If in a vindictive mood, how about leaving all the quests to heroes and spend some time tracking and slaying every orc that ever walked the lands? (but be warned, some orcs are as solid as animated tree trunks and will leave you a tired and hopeless prisoner).

The graphics on this later version are superior but this is not to say that they are necessarily more effective. Comparing the two versions, new and old, I found the first version, reviewed in June, easier to follow. The added shading and detail on the lakes, camps and ships either confuses, or detracts due to the object appearing to change on getting closer. The trees in the forests often appear not to change perspective as you approach. One reason for this, paradoxically, is the greater speed, but more fundamentally, the design of the trees themselves is at fault. Midnight got around this problem by ensuring that the front trees were sufficiently bushy to obscure most of the trees behind. Overall screen presentation has been improved with a picture of one of the three main characters in the top right and the text background is a mercifully darker shade.

Structurally very little has changed from the Games Workshop version. There are no mid compass directions such as SW, NE and so in order to travel SE one must first move east then south. This is a touch awkward when compared to Midnight which allowed eight directions, but Runestone scores with its full sentence input, the ability not only to approach fortified towers, pavilions and cavedwellings but to enter them, and the thrill of guiding the dragonships about the lakes and waterways. One character's cruising can be observed by another on the shore which I think is one of the most remarkable features of the game.

The story that accompanies the program is believable and coherent. Long ago, before the coming of the Dark One named Kordomir, the land of Belorn flourished. They were a proud and simple folk but by the time Firebird arrived they had became a more wise and learned bunch. This was in the great age of the wizards who dealt in the mysteries beyond the ken of common man, and the elves, who wandered deep into the forests. To the north lay the inhospitable wastes where few Belorn folk had ventured and none suspected the great threat imposed by the orcs, trolls and demonic types from that distant quarter.

When the fleets of dragonships descended upon the gentlefolk to the south, the lands were overrun. Wizards were slain, the elves moved on, and ancient treasures were carried off north by the orcs. Over the generations the raids continued and the populations of Belorn dwindled. The ultimate victory of Kordomir seemed inevitable. Yet from this state of despair began the epic quest of Greymarel the Wizard, Morval the Warrior and Eliador the Elf who ventured north to the wastes in a final attempt to destroy the Dark One.

There's no doubting the first assailants to be met from the evil forces from the north. The orcs are brutish bullies who bring off quick raids on the south, then dart back to the safety of a fortified tower in the north. Working out how best to deal with this early threat will be your first major tactical problem. Trying to fathom which character is useful in any given situation will provide many more. Avoiding the orcs may seem the best policy but in so doing you forfeit the chance of finding rich treasure chests and objects of great veneration.

You may find the constant 'Time Passes' which greets any pause in the action an annoyance at first, but after a short while you will begin to realise'the significance of this every beat of the clock brings the marauding orcs closer, so much so, that when you return to continue with a character you may well find him ensconced within an orc-infested tower. Getting out of a well-guarded tower is anything but easy. Because of this real-time element the instructions wisely rule that a player should not dwell too long with the one character but constantly update the movements of each one.

Runestone was CRASH Smashed in June and it remains a very good program. Its chief deficiency then was its slow speed and this has been corrected by removing the slow BASIC routines. When you take a very good program and improve on it you get something that is well worth buying.

COMMENTS

Difficulty: easy to play, not so easy to complete
Graphics: improved perspective graphics
Input facility: allows full sentences and speech
Response: fast - a vast improvement on first version
Special features: interactive characters

Firebird
£7.50

Runestone's a Lords Of Midnight clone - it's got sleepless nights and aching fingers written all over it. In some respects it's better than its predecessor in others it's not.

What about the story? Yes, you guessed it - nasty orcs are marching down from the north (they always come down from the north) and knocking the stuffing out of the friendly, heroic folk they come across. As usual, there's a mega-nasty looming in the background called Kodimir and you've got to get out there and give him what for!

You control three heroes, an elf called Eliador, Rorthron - oops! sorry, I mean Greymarel the wizard and a warrior called Morval. These three must sally forth and discover the Runestone, a mystical gem that'll help you to destroy the evil Kodimir.

Know what I mean when I say it's a Lords Of Midnight clone? But although Runestone only allows you to control three characters it does offer you all the usual text input facilities you'd expect from a rip-roaring adventure.

While you're busy typing in commands like 'Tell Skrimnal to get lost', something you'll want to do pretty often, 'cos he's a right pain in the hauberk, the graphics will depict the landscape in the direction you're facing. You can only move in four directions, though, but at least the movements are smooth.

The piccies aren't as pretty as Mike Singleton's ones but they do the trick, and, if you want to treasure them forever you can always use the COPY command to dump them to your ZX printer. That's if you haven't already donated it to the local museum.

You can even have a quick natter with the characters and better than that you can give 'em a poke in the eye. There are some great combat sequences and you'll have even more fun if you rush on in there without a weapon. I had a great round of fisticuffs with Skrimnal the Sly, who deserved everything he got! All this and you can cast spells! Or rather Greymarel can. One slight problem - he forgets the spells at the start of the game. Maybe a quick box round the lughole will jog his memory!

There ain't no doubt about it, Runestone's a smasher - you'll get to plaster a load of nasties and see the countryside. That can't be bad for only £7.50.

NASTY HOBBITS

Richard Price sets out on the road to Rivendull while Tolkien turns in his grave.

Not long ago, after a long day at the keyboard, I settled down in front of the TV for a few hours of mindstretching intellectual activity - namely Hawk the Slayer, a film which would make Mary Poppins seem like high art.

At the beginning was a short voiceover which summed up the plots of about 75 percent of all adventure programs: "This is a story of heroic deeds and the bitter struggle for the triumph of good over evil and of a wonderous sword wielded by a mighty hero when the legions of darkness stalked the land."

All but one of this month's software fall into this category. Games designers seem to think that this sort of plot is all that most players need. I doubt it and once again make a plea for real storylines and humour. Grumble, grumble...

Never mind though, Delta 4 Software has taken the archetype of all those solemn hero tales and turned out a classic parody.

RUNESTONE
Publisher: Games Workshop
Memory: 48K
Price: £7.95 (includes m/d version)

There is another double feature this month - this time from Games Workshop.

Runestone is, as far as I know, the only game to date which combines the kind of graphic countryside pioneered in Lords of Midnight with a regular text adventure interpreter.

The legions of darkness in this game are commanded by Kordomir the Dark One. To overcome this evil you must find the Runestone but you will have to search the length and breadth of the Northern Wastes to get help from the Mages of Belorn and the secrets of Saromunder. Orcs are everywhere but there are also allies along the way.

You control three characters in turn, each can be sent on their own journeys among the mountains, lakes and meadowlands of Belorn. There are towers, huts, pavilions and caves which can be entered and dragonships for the lake crossings. Other characters live their own lives while you dither over where to go next.

You needn't go all out to crush the nasty Kordomir if you don't feel like it - there are the treasures of Belorn to be found, the bitter joy of battle against the orcs or else you can simply wander around and take in the sights - my favourite, I have to confess. With about 2000 locations and four views to each that's quite a lot of looking.

The graphics are quite like those in Midnight and you move in the direction which takes your fancy. The features advance and recede as you move. The location picture takes up the top half of the screen and the text buffer scrolls up beneath it.

Commands can be strung together with commas and many can be abbreviated, which means you can move through the country very fast if necessary. Up to 63 characters can be entered at any one time so you can type your instructions in with some fluency. The text interpreter only seems to understand the first three letters of each word - this can result in confusion at times.

The three heroes are Morval the Warrior, Eliador the Elf and Greymarel the Wizard. Other folk are generally individuals and I found no armies in the part of Belnor I explored. The game is more traditional adventure than strategy - no bad thing in my book.

You cannot take control of the subsidiary characters and I found them tough to converse with - that is no criticism as interactive characters are a bonus, even in text-only games.

Runestone is an intriguing combination of ideas and formats. The orcs are particularly unpleasant and the combat routines fast and furious. The heroes each have their own cross to bear and their own skills. And watch out for Skrimnal who will rip you off something rotten!

Publisher: Firebird
Price: £7.95
Memory: 48K

Runestone appeared in the middle of last year and was then a Games Workshop production. It was the first text adventure to combine landscaping graphics with full text input.

It also offered the chance to play three characters, Elf, Wizard and Warrior in their fight against the swarming ore-hordes of Kordomir the Dark One. The setting was a Midnightish world of battles and quests, a place where other subsidiary characters could be persuaded to join you in your fight against evil and the dark forces.

Firebird has now snapped the game up, revamped the graphics, smoothed off some of the edges and speeded the proceedings by rewriting some of the slower bits of the program. They've also put it in a striking package with parchment-style maps, fancy instructions and an outer box with lots of hunky heroes and red edging to catch your eye on the shelf - marketing psychology is a wondrous thing.

The scenario and game-play is essentially the same but the overall effect is of a considerable improvement in playability, thanks to the increased speed of the responses and the simple change of colour of the text areas. It's now comfortably dark, instead of the earlier glaring white, and that helps to keep your attention on the game rather than on the pain in your eyeballs.

The graphics have more colour than before and the character you are currently playing is shown as a head to the right of the landscape. These changes are not significant in themselves but do make the game seem more polished than the first release.

The world of Belorn is a complicated place with systems of exchange, combat, magic and thievery. The text interpreter is very competent, so you can attempt most things even if you only get a response like "Morval scratches his head and wonders what to do next".

You can follow the quests, travel or go on orc-bashing safaris if you're in a macho frame of mind.

The new, improved Runestone is now in very good shape, looking and playing a whole lot smoother than before. What's more, it's being sold at the same price as the first version. To my mind that means it deserves an uprating on its previous four stars.

SUPPLIER: Firebird Software
MACHINE: Spectrum 48K
PRICE: £7.95, Cassette

The huge and vastly tiresome debate of originality will no doubt get a good airing when this game is received by the Adventure world. To all intents and purposes it is very, very similar to Lords of Midnight.

For those of you who have somehow managed to avoid the LOM genre, with its panoramic graphics and huge game-map, here is the state of affairs: you take the role of different characters and move about the land collecting other people to aid you in your quest. This usually involves rescuing someone, or retrieving a long lost object, or simply smashing an advancing army of wotchacallits.

Someone has managed to churn out pages and pages of supposedly stirring history. Its well-written stuff, but excruciatingly predictable. The Land of Belorn (yes, it's a funny-names-all-round game!) was inhabited by peaceful folk who were content and understood the futility of war. The obligatory force of evil is made up of orcs, led by arch-baddy Krodormir (sigh!). They are intent on ruling the land, and are having a good deal of fun despatching those who oppose them.

This is where you come in. Greymarel, Morval, and Eliador are the three main characters, and by typing CHANGE TO... you can become each of these. You are presented with a little portrait of whoever you are controlling, his 3D view of the landscape, and text below. The text will usually read: "(name) is standing on (open ground etc.) looking (direction) towards (landmark)".

The graphics are quite small, but this doesn't detract from their value. A strip at the top of the screen shows the view in blue-on-white. Individual items such as huts, tents, towers and fortresses are all drawn in perspective, and are quite effective.

Whenever you need a character (other than an orc, who are a mindless bunch that I gave up trying to bribe in favour of physical persuasion) you can talk to him, though conversations are not really possible. The most sensible course of action seems to be to get all of your characters together, and then tell everyone to follow everyone else. That way you should all stay together, giving you a better chance in battle, and greater carrying ability.

Once your band is assembled, you can set off on your quest, swapping objects, entering tents, firing arrows and saying 'please' and 'thank you' a lot!

It is quite possible to attack yourself, "Morval charges forward and slashes boldly at Morval's ribs". I'm not sure if this is intentional, but ducking your own blows seems a little extreme!

Full sentence input is supported, though not strictly necessary except for communication, and characters happily talk amongst themselves. The game is in real time, with the inevitable 'time passes' message appearing every few seconds when nothing is being typed.

Runestone is good value if you haven't got LOM - it has some elements of Valhalla as well! Purist adventurers will be disgusted! If you've got an open mind and enjoy a quick maraud, this is certainly worth a look.

PRICE: £7.95
GAME TYPE: Adventure

Games Workshop kept surprisingly quiet about their graphic adventure, Runestone. Surprisingly quiet in view of the fact that it is an excellent game, a direct successor of such classics as The Hobbit and The Lords of Midnight.

To start with, it contains 2000 locations, from each of which you can look in four different directions. Your view of the countryside is strongly reminiscent of Lords of Midnight. Detailed pictures, on the basis of which you can make your next move, appear quickly and smoothly.

Where the game goes beyond the Lords of Midnight is in its text input. Commands can be input as they would be in a normal adventure, and you are able to converse to a limited extent with the forty other characters in the game.

There are a variety of characters in the game, all of whom have different attributes and personalities. It is possible to change your own personality from that of Morval the warrior to that of Eliador the elf or Graymarel the wizard. Another character who will turn up sooner or later is the unwelcome Skrimnal the Sly. Skrimnal seems very friendly, offers help and advice, but keeps stealing all your possessions. Watch out whenever he looks too happy.

Runestone incorporates a number of different quests. You can aim to collect the stolen treasures of Belorn, defeat the orcs and denizens of the northern wastes or destroy the fearsome Kordomir the dark. Movements are made in real time, so if you wish to embark on a quest it is important to start immediately and not leave your enemies time to assemble their forces while you wander around and chat to your neighbours.

Movement is made more difficult by the great lakes and river which separate different parts of the country from each other. Enthusiastic and heroic though Morval is he is unable to swim, and there are only two ships to be found on his side of the water.

Runestone is an excellent game produced for the 48K Spectrum by Games Workshop, 27/29 Sunbeam Road, London.

Firebird
£7.95

I first saw this last May, when Games Workshop were marketing it. When they pulled out of the software industry, Firebird bought the rights to the game, and at last here it is.

The first thing you notice is its similarity to the classic Lords Of Midnight. This is largely due to a technique called "Venturescope", which produces a similar staggering number of views to the system used in Midnight. But Runestone actually improves on Midnight, which is one of the reasons it's so good.

The once beautiful land of Belorn is being destroyed: hordes of orcs, controlled by Kordomir, the Dark One, have been roaming around and generally being rather nasty. Your quest is to find the Runestone, which will give you the power to destroy Kordomir and return Belorn to its nice old self. You control three different characters: Morval the warrior, Eliador the elf and Greymarel the wizard; there are also various amiable folk of the land to help you. The game has over 2000 locations, 40 different characters and is played in real time. Within the quest are many problems to be solved, plus some wargaming to defeat the orcs, and plenty of treasure to hunt.

The top half of the screen contains the graphics, which are generally very attractive. Since the game was first released, these have been improved with more detail, and like the rest of the game they are slightly faster. There are 8000 different views, all quite similar, made of trees, mountains, various buildings, lakes and so on. They all look rather cold looking, since they are almost entirety in blue.

Where Runestone differs from the Midnight series is in the stylish, lengthy text which appears: location descriptions, battles, conversations and actions. The characters interact with each other, and with you, in slightly random Hobbit style. Plus, your commands are typed. The interpreter is good - a fairly large vocabulary, with fast response and complex sentences allowed.

A few flaws remain. There is the daft character called Skrimnal who will appear from time to time, steal what you are carrying and grin. Getting if back is laborious. Also if the computer does not understand you, it prints '(your character) scratches his head and wonders what to do next', rather than say what it does not understand. But these are minor points. Runestone is simply excellent: a high class, polished piece of software. It comes in a well designed square package, complete with story book, map and other information. It will keep you going for some time, and all for a very reasonable price! Congratulations to Fireird and the author, Alan Davles, for the very first Mindplay Monster Hit!