Tales or Troubles of Middle Earth, created by DarkGod in 1998, is a roguelike video game. The settings of the game are in Arda. It has many traits that are relatable to Middle-earth mythology but does not adhere to Tolkien's storyline. In essence, the game brings together various periods in time and storylines together. That is why you may find Gondolin and Bree existing simultaneously. As a new player, you will start the game by navigating the first quest. You will go to Dol Guldur and put a stop to the upheaval in Mirkwood. The main aim of the game is to arrive at Angband and take out Morgoth. The game can be downloaded from T-o-m-e.net, and it has a C source code. There are Windows ports and Mac ports. Another version is 2.3.3 and was released in 2005, December 15th. The game is licensed, restricting commercial gain from it apart from the regular protocol. There is a version of the game that can be played by multi-players. It is called TomeNET. The game has its wiki at Wiki.t-o-m-e.net, where there are bug reports, documentation in editable versions, and there are also spoilers.
Historical Development of ToME
Before the game was called ToME, it was known as the game of Angband. It was also a roguelike game. Its source code was ZAngband 2.2.9a. It went by the name PernAngband. It had the first part of the name resembling Anne McCaffrey's created world of Pern. DarkGod combined this with the story by J.R.R Tolkien about Middle-earth. By version 5.x.x, PernAngband had garnered popularity with the online community. But Anne McCaffery and Ubisoft, who had created several Pern-related games that were licensed, threatened legal action against DarkGod. He eliminated the Pern attributes and named the game ToME. By now, ToME has more traits of Middle-earth compared to the game of Angband. ToME also has adaptations that come from compositions from Roger Zelazny and H.P. Lovecraft, having borrowed them from ZAngband and Cthangband. ToME currently has two engines. A T-Engine and a Lua scripting engine that is embedded. When you replace the Lua scripts, you can create modules that are derivative games. Some of the modules go by Annals of Ea, Gerband, Theme, and FuryMod. The theme is so much into Middle-earth and may add Middle-earth monsters while removing ZAngband things. As for FuryMod, it has created a different game apart from ToME, called FuryBand. The ToME is actively being developed. There is a ToME wiki BugReports page where you can report bugs. ToME 3 is underway and will provide more support for the language of Lua programming and will revolutionize how flags and objects are handled internally.
Classes of Characters
The ToME is a difficult game to embark on. This is due to the long list of classes and races to select from. The collection embodies Dunadan warriors, Gnomes, Elven magi, among others. Your ToME character can be one of the many races. Some of the characters have a more Tolkien-ish feel than others. Some of the races are derived from ZAngband. The races present differently, and some are more difficult to handle than others. There are peculiar Tolkien races like Maiar and Beornings. Beorning descended from Beorn. The Gnome is somewhere between a Hobbit and a Dwarf in size. They do not resemble the Noldor that were once referred to as Gnomes by Tolkien. There are also others with strange elements like Death Molds.
They cannot move unless they use magical spells for teleportation. Humans are also included in the races. In addition to many races, there are Subraces. You may pick a classical character of a particular race, or the undead form that may present as a zombie, skeleton, specter, vampire, or any such-like form, or you may decide on a hermit or a barbarian. If you want to get a difficult game, you may choose the character of a LostSoul. When playing as this character, you do not start where the game starts normally. You will find your character in Mandos.
This is a very challenging and difficult to navigate dungeon, not encountered by low-level characters. The classes are in a style similar to that of Dungeons and Dragons.ToME has many fantasy-game classes. Among the classes are alternatives to others. For instance, the Ranger is an alternative to the Archer. The Archer can exchange some of the expertise to get a new skill that he does not have with other weapons. That may include Archer's unique ability to use an arrow against several monsters. The game's disposal to combine classes, races, and modifiers helps in starting a character who can easily navigate through the first few levels in the dungeon. If one is not tactful, they may create a character who cannot even utilize the weapons he/she has.
They cannot move unless they use magical spells for teleportation. Humans are also included in the races. In addition to many races, there are Subraces. You may pick a classical character of a particular race, or the undead form that may present as a zombie, skeleton, specter, vampire, or any such-like form, or you may decide on a hermit or a barbarian. If you want to get a difficult game, you may choose the character of a LostSoul. When playing as this character, you do not start where the game starts normally. You will find your character in Mandos.
This is a very challenging and difficult to navigate dungeon, not encountered by low-level characters. The classes are in a style similar to that of Dungeons and Dragons.ToME has many fantasy-game classes. Among the classes are alternatives to others. For instance, the Ranger is an alternative to the Archer. The Archer can exchange some of the expertise to get a new skill that he does not have with other weapons. That may include Archer's unique ability to use an arrow against several monsters. The game's disposal to combine classes, races, and modifiers helps in starting a character who can easily navigate through the first few levels in the dungeon. If one is not tactful, they may create a character who cannot even utilize the weapons he/she has.
Gameplay
Once you have crafted out a character, it will turn out to be one of two characters. It could turn out to be a LostSoul running away from Mandos. If not, whatever other likely characters would end up in Bree. To start the game, the new character gets the first instruction to get on with the quest. You will be required to proceed to Dol Guldur to see what is going on in Mirkwood. At the same time, you will be warned of your unpreparedness to embark on the quest. Every new character will have a parchment at all times. Within it are explanations that inform about the easiest dungeon to navigate. You will be informed that it is the Barrow-downs. The entrance to this dungeon is located on Bree's west side.
A majority of characters like spending time in town buying necessities before getting into the dungeon. The game is similar to the game of Angband, and of Moria, in that whenever you go deeper within a dungeon, a new level randomly appears. Random corridors and rooms come into play as well. This means that as a player, if you go to Barrow-Downs in level 1 at 50 feet, proceeding to level 2 at 100 feet, and going back to level 1 before going back to Bree, then three levels will be randomly generated by the game. The deeper you go in the levels of the game, the more difficult you will find them to be. Despite the similarities with the game of Angband, ToME has its uniqueness. It hosts many dungeons, like many towns, and a connecting point for all these in an overworld. Able players who can navigate and get through the Barrow-Downs, will get out of Bree, move via the overworld, and get to other towns and dungeons.
Other dungeons start at a deeper level than 1 and are harder to pull through than the Barrow-Downs. The expectation is that your character will grow stronger to be able to finally take out Morgoth, something Fingolfin could not be able to do in canon. When your character eliminates monsters, you get points for experience. These points are what increase your character level. Your health points will also get a boost. Here, there is another notable difference. When you go up in your experience level, it will not cause an automatic addition in the character's skills. What the player gets are skill points. The player has to go to the skills menu. There, the player can award each point to the skill they want to acquire or improve. To survive, characters must look for and get immunities, resistances, and other adaptations, by acquiring magic elements that make this possible, or via other methods.
A majority of characters like spending time in town buying necessities before getting into the dungeon. The game is similar to the game of Angband, and of Moria, in that whenever you go deeper within a dungeon, a new level randomly appears. Random corridors and rooms come into play as well. This means that as a player, if you go to Barrow-Downs in level 1 at 50 feet, proceeding to level 2 at 100 feet, and going back to level 1 before going back to Bree, then three levels will be randomly generated by the game. The deeper you go in the levels of the game, the more difficult you will find them to be. Despite the similarities with the game of Angband, ToME has its uniqueness. It hosts many dungeons, like many towns, and a connecting point for all these in an overworld. Able players who can navigate and get through the Barrow-Downs, will get out of Bree, move via the overworld, and get to other towns and dungeons.
Other dungeons start at a deeper level than 1 and are harder to pull through than the Barrow-Downs. The expectation is that your character will grow stronger to be able to finally take out Morgoth, something Fingolfin could not be able to do in canon. When your character eliminates monsters, you get points for experience. These points are what increase your character level. Your health points will also get a boost. Here, there is another notable difference. When you go up in your experience level, it will not cause an automatic addition in the character's skills. What the player gets are skill points. The player has to go to the skills menu. There, the player can award each point to the skill they want to acquire or improve. To survive, characters must look for and get immunities, resistances, and other adaptations, by acquiring magic elements that make this possible, or via other methods.
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