TomeNET Tales Of Middle Earth

Brief History TomeNET was based on the old ‘rogue-like’ games such as rogue, hack, moria, angband, and many others. From the era where video games were comprised of only text. The TomeNET project was initiated by Darkgod, a gamer from France, back in 2002. Darkgod gathered a few programmers from around the world to create TomeNET, a multiplayer angband or mangband game. The original team consisted of Darkgod (FRA), Evileye (GBR), Jir (RUS), Zz (USA) Blue (DE) Since TomeNET was created, it has been a free game, with a small community.

Basic Information Game title TomeNET (Tales Of Middle Earth NET) Company & Author Coded by a team of programmers from around the globe. Darkgod, Evileye, Jir, Zz, Blue. Type of game MMO RPG (Small Community) Price FREE Minimum stated hardware requirements Since this isn’t a commercial endeavor none have been stated. Actual hardware required 1MB hard drive space 4MB RAM 33.6k modem Internet Access Pentium 60 Installation Download and run

Game Summary Quick Overview: Story line: You roll a character in the classic D&D style, and get ready face the world of middle earth. You must kill Sauron, the Sorcerer, and then Morgoth, Lord of Darkness. Story line: World based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien You create your own story. World Map -- European Server

Game Summary Player’s Role: The player assumes the role of a hero that must eventually defeat Morgoth. The player’s exact role has many possibilities. Character Creation Screen

Game Summary User Interface: The user only interacts with the main terminal. The keyboard is the only input method. Numpad for direction Letters for special tasks Function keys for macros Starting Town - Bree

Game Summary Game Play: Typical of a 'rogue-like', however in real-time. - Chase down monsters and destroy them. - Run away from things that will kill you. - Shop in town when needed. (Just like most RPGs)

Game Summary Scoring: Ranked players get scored based on how far they have gotten until they died. Time is not a factor, only level advancement is. Leaderboard

Game Summary Artwork: Old School ascii graphics (as you can surely tell)

Game Summary Sound and Music TomeNET doesn’t actually have sound or music. System beeps can be used to notify you, but that’s about it. So you are free to listen to whatever you like. This makes noise.

Game Summary Special Features: Manual: Some effects, such as rain, have been implemented for users’ pleasure. Manual: There is a very large (roughly 170 page) guide which can be found at: http://www.c-blue.de/rogue/TomeNET-Guide.txt

Game Review Good Bad Very challenging. Hunter/gatherer aspect as well as quests to keep one occupied. A very different system allows flexible character control. Reminiscent of older games. Sometimes discouragingly difficult. No graphics. No sound. Steep learning curve.

Game Review TomeNET Diablo 2 Community Difficulty Graphics Sound Small- allows for a tight knit group of friends Difficulty Constant challenge Graphics Leaves more to imagination Sound Alerts user occasionally Community Large- less belonging Difficulty At the beginning, providing a rough start followed by monotony Graphics Easy to start and know what’s going on Sound Keeps user entertained

Game Review Better than similar games Worse than similar games Difficult – Less forgiving than most games, so it’s not too easy. Very lose restrictions – Gives user nearly complete character control. Graphics – Require some getting used to. Combat – Targeting system can be difficult to use.

Game Review Appropriate Audience: The appropriate audience would exist in the intersection of this venn diagram. Enjoy Challenge Like Role Playing Play with others

Game Review Design Mistakes: The design has been refined over a period of 7 years, and is very well done, however there are a few issues such as: Targeting Field of view Level Generation The walls of the room were generated oddly.

Summary Overall strengths and weaknesses: Is TomeNET worth purchasing? User has extensive control. Provides a sufficient challenge Extremely low requirements Weaknesses: No graphics Complex Is TomeNET worth purchasing? Yes, but it’s free anyway! Everyone should give TomeNET a serious go and see if it’s the type of game they like. How could it be improved? An easier game mode could be implemented to attract more users.