(Early catalog ad)
"THE LORD OF THE RINGS, JOURNEY TO RIVENDELL is a new adventure game based on the fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien. Relive the adventures of Frodo as he travels from his home in the Shire to Rivendell. You'll face constant choices as you journey through Middle Earth, trying to avoid the Black Riders. Use the unique map to pinpoint your location as you move through more than 2000 exciting screens. 1 player."
Misc game facts:
† There's only one game version. The difficulty switches determine what speed the Nazgul start
at.
† You will die if you sustain 3 wounds. There is no way to heal yourself.
† Viewing the map doesn't stop time, but if you view it from a forest screen, the "wound timer" will be paused.
† The maximum number of days in the game is 7. If you don't reach Rivendell by then, the game ends.
† There are 16 "time units" per day. When on either a forest or town screen, your icon will blink 4 times during 1 unit.
† The screen is 43 "screen units" wide (each unit = one screen, ranging from 3 to 45) and 63 units high (each unit = ~two screens, ranging from 0 to 62). The starting position is at 28/62 (x/y). For scoring, Rivendell is at 20/3 (but the town isn't only at one point, so when you enter it, you might still loose some points). The bridges are at 10 and 35/11(?). Legolas is at 19/12, and Gimli is at 30/49.
† The longer the game lasts, the faster the Nazgul get (up to an upper limit). Their speed is set at either 36 (B) or 66 (A) at the start, with the difficulty switches. The speed is increased massively by night (+64), reduced at the morning (-63), and slightly changed over the day. In total, it is increased by +13 each day. The value is copied into another variable where it is limited to 127.
† Using the ring has a negative effect in the game. Every second you use it, the speed of the Nazgul is increase by 1. In theory (with a lot of ring use and after some days) you might wrap the Nazgul's speed variable at 256, so they may attack by daylight more than at night (this may be a potential bug, but chances are your game will end long before that happens).
† The box artwork was taken from a scene from the original Ralph Bakshi movie version of Lord of the Rings. The 4 characters hiding in the background are Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin.
Scoring:
3,000 points for the red guy
4,000 points for the pink guy
5,000 points for the green or blue guy
9,900 points for the white guy
† If you reach Rivendell, you get an extra bonus of 50,000 points plus 60,000 / 160,000 (Difficulty B / Difficulty A) points if you are together with the red, blue, and white guy
Points are subtracted are:
200 points for each distance unit to Rivendell (67 units at starting point)
100 points for each wound
400 points for each time unit (1 day = 16 time units)
Solution (easy level):
† First go and find Gimli.
† Next, go directly LEFT and you'll run into the town of Bree,
where you'll find Strider..
† Next, go directly UP until you find Legolas.
† Follow the arrow to find Gandalf, and then make your way to Rivendell. You will have to find
Gandalf a few more times along the way.
Links:
http://www.atariage.com/features/lotr/
http://www.atariage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=16&t=002202
http://www.atariage.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=16&t=002264
http://www.lysator.liu.se/tolkien-games/
http://www.classicnote.com/ClassicNotes/Titles/fellowship/
Your task is to journey to Rivendell.
You start your journey in Hobitton.
Along the way, you will find 3 other characters, who are part of the Fellowship
of the Ring. They are:
Frodo Baggins - This is your character. When you enter a town or forest, your character will change into an icon:
Pressing the FIRE button makes you invisible (i.e. put the ring on). While you have it on, a tune will play and your character will turn grey:
Otherwise, it doesn't seem to have any other effect on the game, and it won't keep you from being alerted by the birds, or protect you from the Nazgul.
Sam Gamgee - You start your journey with him. With him, you will not be wounded should a Nazgul attack you. However, if one does, you will lose him, and any future attacks will wound you. To find him again, immediately move straight DOWN about 8 screens.
Strider / Aragorn - He can be found in the town of Bree. Once joining your party, he will help you to locate Gandalf. An arrow will appear in the lower-right corner. Follow it to find him.
Gandalf - While with your party, your character will become white, and the Nazgul won't attack you. However, he won't stay with your party very long, disappearing to a different part of Middle Earth. The first time you find him, he will always be in the same location; after that, his future locations are based on where you are in Middle Earth when he leaves.
Tom Bombadil - Allows your party to move at full speed through forests. To find him, from the starting screen go 2 screens RIGHT, and go UP to the 3rd forest.
Glorfindel - Allows your party to move at full speed across open land. To find him, go to the end of the path (at the river), LEFT 3 screens, and DOWN 1.
Enemies of Middle Earth:
Birds - Sauron uses them as spies. They patrol all the open ground areas, and if you see one fly overhead, you can be sure the Nazgul aren't far behind.
Nazgul / Ring Wraiths / Black Riders - When nearby, the ground will turn dark green, and a tone will sound – the louder it is, the closer they are to you. At nightfall, they are at their most aggressive, and cannot be outrun. They sometimes will hide at the screen borders, or wrap-around the screen (vertically) if you pass them. When attacked (w/o Sam), you will be wounded and set back about 10 screens DOWN.
Keep an eye on the sun, for when it sets, you are at your most vulnerable to the Nazgul.
Sunrise
Day
Sunset
Twilight
Night
The lands of Middle Earth:
This is the map of Middle Earth, which shows the various towns and terrain (see below). The "world" is 43 screens wide, and over 100 tall. The 3 towns are:
Hobbiton is 1 unit high (it's coded as 2, but you can't reach the very bottom of the map). Bree is 4 units high and Rivendell is 2 units high. All towns are 4 units wide.
Towns - To enter any of the 3 towns, go to the "+" symbol on the map.
If you reach the edge of Middle Earth, the ground will turn black.
Forest - Some characters are found here, but be careful – although it will hide you from the Nazgul, spending too much time in the forest can be harmful!
Approximately 4 time units is the maximum amount of time you can spend in a forest before being wounded. When this happens, you will hear thunder and the ground will flash.
Open ground - The brown areas will slow you down, as well as the Nazgul.
The road will allow you to travel faster (when on it), and lead you to the river.
Loudwater river - It can only be crossed at 2 different points.
Bridges - At
the end of the path, go either 12 screens left or 13 right to find them.
On the other side of the river is an area completely devoid of any features.
Rivendell - To find it take the left bridge, go between 10-13 screens to the RIGHT, and go UP, or take the right bridge, go between 12-15 screens to the LEFT, and go UP. Once reached, the screen will flash colors, a tune will play, and your final score will be shown. Congratulations, you've made it!
2001 by Scott Stilphen