[{"TitleName":"Loads of Midnight","Publisher":"CRL Group PLC","Author":"HO, Keith Hughes","YearOfRelease":"1987","ZxDbId":"0006587","Reviews":[{"Issue":{"Name":"Crash Issue 51, Apr 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-03-31","Editor":"Steve Jarratt","TotalPages":124,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Steven Jarratt\r\nSubeditor: Barnaby Page\r\nStaff Writers: Katharina Hamza, Mark Caswell, Nick Roberts, Lloyd Mangram\r\nEditorial Assistant: Frances Mable\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nTechnical Writers: Simon N Goodwin, Jon Bates\r\nStrategy Writer: Philippa Irving\r\nContributors: Matthew Stibbe, Paul Evans, Roger Kean, Paul Sumner, Paul Glancey, Julian Rignall\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nPublishing Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nDesign & Layout: Wayne Allen, Yvonne Priest, Melvyn Fisher\r\nPre-Print Manager: Jonathan Rignall\r\nReprographics/Film Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard, Ian Chubb, Robert Millichamp\r\n\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSales Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris [redacted]\r\nMail Order: Carol Kinsey\r\nSubscriptions: Denise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypesetting by The Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow. Colour origination by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset, [redacted] - member of the BPCC Group. Distribution by COMAG, [redacted]\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced whole or in part without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into CRASH - including written and photographic material, software and hardware - unless it is accompanied by a suitably stamped addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photo material is welcome and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\nTotal: 96,590\r\nUK/EIRE: 90,822\r\n\r\n©CRASH Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Design & Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"LOADS OF MIDNIGHT\r\n\r\nCRL\r\n£9.95\r\n\r\nBeyond the lands of Midnight, the age of technology has caught up with the world of role playing and adventure. The magical crown of the old king Ludwig has become a much-coveted object in the battles for sales and software success. At present Ludo, owner of a small company and Ludwig's son, is in possession of the crown. He must prevent it from falling into the hands of the wicked Gloompork at all costs. Unscrupulous and proud, Gloompork is driven by an overwhelming desire to use the crown's power to become the ultimate software giant. Ludo and any followers he can recruit must gain the cooperation of other inhabitants of the land, before finally taking the crown north to the rower of Doom, and destroying it.\r\n\r\nThe world through which you pass hears all the characteristics of the parodied Beyond game, irreverently recreated. The graphics, with their bleak outlines of peaks and hills against even bleaker skylines, are almost indistinguishable from the originals. On-screen messages appear to inform you of the passage of time, and wolves, more indifferent than hostile, occasionally appear to stare piercingly into your eyes.\r\n\r\nAs a spoof it's very slick, but this slickness ultimately lets the game down. The scene is carefully set at the expense of the puzzles and replay. Travelling through the recognisable landscape is fun at first but interest soon wanes as it becomes clear there's little else to do. The parser is quite flexible and the phrase, 'Tell me about your problems' occasionally gleans interesting replies but could have been developed further. There is a RAMSAVE option and graphics can he switched off for extra speed.\r\n\r\nAll the elements of a competent game are there; unfortunately they don't quite get into a good one.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"43","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Kati Hamza","Score":"55","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"55%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"Sinclair User Issue 73, Apr 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-03-18","Editor":"Graham Taylor","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Graham Taylor\r\nStaff Writer: Jim Douglas\r\nStaff Writer: Tamara Howard\r\nArt Editor: Gareth Jones\r\nDesigner: Andrea Walker\r\nAdventure: The Sorceress\r\nZapchat: Jon 'quite interesting' Riglar\r\nTechnical: Andrew Hewson, Rupert Goodwins\r\nContributors: Tony 'a fiver if my name goes first in the list' Dillon, Chris 'I'm expecting a fiver any day actually' Jenkins\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Katherine Lee\r\nAdvertisement Executive: Alison Morton\r\nAd Production: Emma Ward\r\nPublisher's Assistant: Debbie Pearson\r\nPublisher: Terry 'I would have scored five but then these ten blokes all jumped me...' Pratt\r\nMarketing: Clive Pembridge\r\n\r\nPhone: [redacted]\r\nFax: [redacted]\r\nSubscriptions: [redacted]\r\nBack Issues: [redacted]\r\nEditorial and Advertisement Offices: [redacted]\r\n\r\nThis Month's Cover: Russell Harvey\r\n\r\nPrinted by Nene River Press, [redacted]\r\nDistributed by EMAP Publications Ltd.\r\n\r\n©Copyright 1988 Sinclair User ISSN No 0262-5458"},"MainText":"Label: CRL\r\nAuthor: Keith Hughes (Penna Productions)\r\nPrice: £7.95\r\nMemory: 48K/128K\r\nJoystick: various\r\nReviewer: Tony Dillon\r\n\r\nA spoof on Lords of Midnight sounds like a brilliant idea for an adventure, so where does this one go wrong?\r\n\r\nIt comes in three parts and was written using the Quill, Illustrator and Patch. Your quest is to seek out your companions and go to Cigarash to destroy the frozen crown.\r\n\r\nThe graphics are simple, very repetitive and take quite a while to draw. The text descriptions are brief, consisting mainly of available exits. Spelling mistakes start to appear with increasing regularity and the messages are disjointed and badly constructed.\r\n\r\nThe author is obviously an admirer of Fergus McNeil and has used a similar style in writing this adventure but, where this worked for Fergus, it doesn't work for Keith Hughes of Penna Productions.\r\n\r\nThe playing area is quite large but there is hardly anything to do. You can't examine much and the parser is very limited. In one location you find a bench. If you input \"sit on bench\", the response comes up, \"Rudely ignoring the location description, Ludo decided to be seated on the bench.\" Input \"Stand\", response \"Ludo, however did not understand a word of that.\" Try again, input \"Stand\", response, \"Ludo, however did not understand a word of that.\" Try again, input, \"Stand up\", response, \"In this direction Ludo could not travel.\"\r\n\r\nSurely if you're going to allow the player to sit you should also allow him to stand?\r\n\r\nYour travelling companions may as well be cardboard cutouts for the companionship they offer; you can't even examine them.\r\n\r\nAs far as gameplay goes, there isn't any. The puzzles are totally contrived and the humour is very unfunny.\r\n\r\nYou seem to spend the whole game travelling from one side of your map to the other to perform one action then it's about turn and trudge back to the other side of the map.\r\n\r\nThe one thing I thought was OK in this adventure was the use of sound. Used in a very simple way, but very effectively indeed.\r\n\r\nI didn't enjoy playing this adventure at all and can't find anything in its favour that would make me recommend it to anyone.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"A good idea for a text and graphics adventure that just doesn't come off.","Page":"95","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Tony Dillon","Score":"3","ScoreSuffix":"/10"}],"ScreenshotText":[],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Overall","Score":"3/10","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"ACE (Advanced Computer Entertainment) Issue 7, Apr 1988","Price":"£1.5","ReleaseDate":"1988-03-03","Editor":"Peter Connor, Steve Cooke","TotalPages":132,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Advanced Computer Entertainment\r\nFuture Publishing [redacted]\r\nTelephone [redacted], Fax [redacted], Telecom Gold 84:TXT152, Prestel/Micronet [redacted]\r\n\r\nCo-editors: Peter Connor, Steve Cooke\r\nReviews Editor: Andy Wilton\r\nProduction Editor: Rod Lawton\r\nStaff Writer: Andy Smith\r\nArt Editor: Trevor Gilham\r\nArt Team: Angela Neal, Sally Meddings\r\nPublisher: Chris Anderson\r\n\r\nCOVER PHOTOGRAPHY\r\nStuart Baynes Photography [redacted]\r\n\r\nSUBSCRIPTIONS & SPECIAL OFFERS\r\nChristine Stacey [redacted]\r\n\r\nCOLOUR ORIGINATION\r\nWessex Reproduction [redacted]\r\n\r\nDISTRIBUTION\r\nSM Distribution [redacted]\r\n\r\nPRINTING\r\nChase Web Offset [redacted]\r\n\r\nCopyright - FUTURE PUBLISHING LTD 1988 - No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without our permission."},"MainText":"Epic satire from CRL?\r\n\r\nExcellent idea this - to do a take-off of Mike Singleton's epic release. CRLs Quillustrated program features the adventures of Ludo Morbid, Cordless, and Rorthorn as they attempt to destroy the Crown at the Tower of Doom and win the War of the Franchise against the hideous Gloompork.\r\n\r\nSo, great idea. But not much of a game, unfortunately. Loading up the game raises the interest to begin with, especially when you see some subtly familiar graphics and realise that - in the early stages at least - the program manages to be quite clever at imitating its famous predecessor. The map layout is also disturbingly reminiscent of the lands of Midnight and anyone familiar with the various citadels and plains of that domain should have a few laughs.\r\n\r\nNaturally one of the best features of the original Lords of Midnight was the strategy element. It would have been nice to see some attempt to introduce a take-off of this in Loads of Midnight, but it doesn't appear.\r\n\r\nAnd that's about all, really. The humour seems to weaken as you move further into the game and any serious take-off of Mike Singleton's game becomes a more and more remote possibility as you discover a space-station and find that a disturbing number of simple commands are not accepted by the program. Spelling mistakes that are initially amusing (\"horrorifically\", for example) soon become nothing but a symptom of poor game-testing and faulty execution.\r\n\r\nSoftware companies that publish Quilled and GACed games need to remember that many of these games are written by people with little experience. A good company will give the programmer help, advice, and back-up that ensures the absence of simple grammatical errors and sharpens game-design. Then you can end up with some good products. Without it, you get something like this, which very few people will want to add to their collection.\r\n\r\nRELEASE BOX\r\nSpec, £9.99cs, Reviewed\r\nNo other versions planned.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"92","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"The Pilgrim","Score":"490","ScoreSuffix":"/1000"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"Looks like Lords of Midnight, but don't be deceived."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"System","Score":"500/1000","Text":""},{"Header":"Challenge","Score":"580/1000","Text":""},{"Header":"Encounters","Score":"250/1000","Text":""},{"Header":"Landscape","Score":"600/1000","Text":""},{"Header":"Ace Rating","Score":"490/1000","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]},{"Issue":{"Name":"The Games Machine Issue 6, May 1988","Price":"£1.25","ReleaseDate":"1988-04-21","Editor":"Oliver Frey","TotalPages":116,"HasCoverTape":false,"FlannelPanel":"Editor: Oliver Frey\r\nAssistant Editor: Nik Wild\r\nSoftware Co-ordinator: Richard Eddy\r\nStaff Writer: Robin Hogg, Stewart Wynne\r\nEditorial Assistant: Frances Mable\r\nPhotography: Cameron Pound, Michael Parkinson (Assistant)\r\nContributors: Jon Bates, Robin Evans, John Gilbert, Robin Candy, Mark Caswell, Mel Croucher, Roger Kean, Marshal M Rosenthal (America), Rob Steel, John Woods\r\nEditorial Director: Roger Kean\r\nProduction Controller: David Western\r\nArt Director: Markie Kendrick\r\nDesign/Layout: Wayne Allen, Yvonne Priest, Melvin Fisher\r\nReprographics Supervisor: Jonathan Rignall\r\nProcess/Film Planning: Matthew Uffindell, Nick Orchard, Ian Chubb, Robert Millichamp\r\n\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nAdvertisement Manager: Roger Bennett\r\nSales Executive: Andrew Smales\r\nAssistant: Jackie Morris\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nMail Order\r\nCarol Kinsey\r\n\r\nSubscriptions\r\nDenise Roberts\r\n[redacted]\r\n\r\nTypeset by the Tortoise Shell Press, Ludlow with colour origination taken care of by Scan Studios [redacted]. Printed in England by Carlisle Web Offset [redacted] - a member of the BPCC Group. Distribution effected by COMAG, [redacted].\r\n\r\nCompetition Rules\r\nQThe Editor's decision is final in all matters relating to adjudication and while we offer prizes in good faith, believing them to be available, if something untoward happens (like a game that has been offered as a prize being scrapped) we reserve the right to substitute prizes of comparable value. We'll do our very best to despatch prizes as soon as possible after the published closing date. Winners names will appear in a later issue of THE GAMES MACHINE. No correspondence can be entered into regarding the competitions (unless we've written to you stating that you have won a prize and it doesn't turn up, in which case drop Fran Mable a line at the PO Box 10 address). No person who has any relationship, no matter how remote, to anyone who works for Newsfield or any of the companies offering prizes, may enter one of our competitions.\r\n\r\nNo material may be reproduced in part or in whole without the written consent of the copyright holders. We cannot undertake to return anything sent into THE GAMES MACHINE - including written and photographic material, hardware or software - unless it's accompanied by a suitably stamped, addressed envelope. Unsolicited written or photographic material is welcome, and if used in the magazine is paid for at our current rates.\r\n\r\n©Newsfield Ltd, 1988\r\n\r\nCover Illustration by Oliver Frey"},"MainText":"Spectrum Cassette: £9.95\r\n\r\nAdventures written to be humorous usually fail miserably as all they do is send up the more serious side of genre. Taking a product and mocking it to try to be amusing is easy and shows a lack of imagination on the part of the author. Loads Of Midnight is one such game.\r\n\r\nThe Land of Midnight is the setting, a place where the computer age has recently dawned and sales of software are booming. It transpires that Gloompork the evil one, banished to the Northern wastes some years before, is bent on conquest. He has learned of the mind control properties of a certain black gem to be found embedded in a golden crown, and he wants it. With the gem in his possession people would do his bidding and he could build a software industry all his own - power and recognition would be his. However, many small companies still thrive, one such being owned by Ludo, who just happens presently to be in possession of the golden crown (although being good of mind, he would not use it for personal gain).\r\n\r\nFortunately he hears of Gloompork's avaricious interest and decides he must destroy the crown by casting it away from the top of the Tower of Doom. Only by doing this will the Land of Midnight be safe from Gloompork's dire threat.\r\n\r\nA LOAD OF...\r\n\r\nWritten using the Quill, Illustrator and Patch, Loads Of Midnight lacks atmosphere. The graphics are good and nicely reminiscent of Lords Of Midnight but the text descriptions let them down badly. Most of the writing is taken up with what exits are available, which soon becomes tedious. Admittedly I did not get very far, mostly because I couldn't be bothered. There is nothing in the game to warrant perseverance, and the attempts at humour are childish, often irritating. It would be nice to see some original humour injected into some of these utility-created adventures.","ReviewerComments":[],"OverallSummary":"","Page":"89,90","Denied":false,"Award":"Not Awarded","Reviewers":[{"Name":"Rob Steel","Score":"26","ScoreSuffix":"%"}],"ScreenshotText":[{"Text":"The graphics are a close parody of the original masterpiece."}],"BlurbText":[],"TranscriptBy":"Chris Bourne","ReviewScores":[{"Header":"Atmosphere","Score":"28%","Text":""},{"Header":"Interaction","Score":"22%","Text":""},{"Header":"Overall","Score":"26%","Text":""}],"CompilationReviewScores":[]}]}]