Press F11 to get full screen view, press again to toggle off.

Besides, that format does not allow the sense of sweeping majesty of a landscape unfolding which Mike's 'epic' games did - Doomdark's Revenge (1985), the sequel to Midnight, was probably the most beautiful game ever written - I still go misty eyed when I play it now, and I never even completed it - I just load it up to wander - and wonder.

Make no mistake, I'm no computing whizz, and spectrum emulation is beyond me. I got into Intel 8086 for a while and programmed a version in Debug (pain in the rear end) but Javascript gave me the opportunity to at last create a (passable?) imitation of the original.

Mike's graphics actually proved easier to emulate than his wargame programming. Beyond simple strength values, recruiting weaker armies and object finding, your character can do little more than wander about. I found, to be honest, that my attitude remained much as it always did towards the game part. I'd rather wander around and look at the scenery, and over the four years since I created the first version of this, nearly all the work has been on creating a more believeable landscape, and in applying what Mike couldn't with the Spectrum's infamous 8 x 8 colour block attributes. The obvious thing was to create the 'warmer land south of Midnight' that he planned to build as the final part in the trilogy, and which was (so it seems) never completed. Perhaps it was the colour problems (although in my Spectrum mcode version, I used dark blue and green for all the monochrome graphics, so it could conceivably have been done).

There are still wolves, trolls, dragons and skulkrin, there are still objects to locate, and there are also passwords to allow you into certain locations and into the even warmer southern desert land (under construction). I am still adding caves and other things to it (as in Revenge) but I thought people might like to 'go for a wander' when the stresses of this world prove too much - heads drooping from too much 3D excitement (yuk). I can't physically do that, so I practically live here - and I'm planning to see if I can do a multi user version of this thing eventually, so we can all meet each other!

The story behind the game I have written in five chapters like Mike's own, and this will be shortly available to download. The basic gist: Midnight's long winter is over, and the excitement this causes is soon overtaken by Rorthron's fear that Midnight will lie wide open to new enemies from the south. Morkin, son of the Moonprince Luxor, sets off after a brief honeymoon with Tarithel to win friends and influence people in the new land. In my version, all he has to do (and he can just roam around and take in the local scenery) is collect
(a) enough of an army to attack the great southern citadel of Marmuris;
(b) the five sacred objects that will allow him to discover the secret of the Eye of the Moon, a fabulous jewel that will restore the Moon prince to his rightful position as Midnight's lawful king. Once he has the eye, he must retreat to the northern gate that leads back to Midnight. On completion of that... well, find out!

To enter Tarandjo

Tarandjo, the land south of Midnight

Tarandjo is a land of some twenty small kingdoms, principalities and fiefdoms, all of them independent and each one jealous of its borders. Two great rivers begin in the south and course their way slowly northwards, the Kuuriho and the Fioris, and some of the greatest cities of Tarandjo are built on their banks.

Old roads cross the land in a grid pattern, and mighty citadels mark where the roads cross. The lesser (western) way connects the small westlands together, crossing the Fioris near the borders of Assenjo, the northernmost land. The greater (eastern) way stretches from Assenjo in the uttermost north to Wyameliand in the furthest south, where a gated way leads to the far south.

South of Wyameliand, beyond the rock walls, you will find other lands of the region known as Far Tarandjo. There are kingdoms and fiefdoms here too, but I'll let you discover those for yourself! I am planning to build other lands to the south soon.

May the gods go with you....

A Guide To Tarandjo

Tarandjo is a strange little land. Its principal features are defined below:

	The Mountains of this land are its chief feature and can be found in the temperate lands of the north, and also the deserts of the south as well as the cooler extreme north. A mighty mountain chain divides north from south, and its foothills are clad in numerous forests of pine, spruce and fir. You will be able to see very little of the surrounding landscapes as you pass through forests and woods.
	The forests of the land are found in all regions and are inhabited by the warrior maidens who often ride naked to battle and are said to be fiercer than any man.
	Mountains will tire you out, and after a while you will need sustenance. Passing through cities and fortresses, as well as villages, will restore certain amounts of strength, but beware: wolves, trolls, dragons and skulkrin are waiting to waylay you. If they prove stronger, you will die and be buried with a grave mound to mark your passing - this will be visible next time you enter (provided you do not leave the site). The Cities of Tarandjo are built upon the ruins of even more ancient dwellings of thousands of years ago.
	Secrets may often be learned in the libraries of the cities - particularly with regard to the passwords that must be learned if you are to proceed to the other lands. The towers of the land house the scrolls of Edhe, ancient texts of wisdom. From towers and cities you will get a panoramic view of the countryside. The temples here are dark places where the priests of Legge, not wholly rooted out, still practise foul rites in the bowels of the earth.
	The land is bordered by oceans, and numerous lakes and rivers are strewn across its wide leagues. The old roads are still marked by the Liths. These can be used to navigate by - sometimes.
	Villages will offer you sustenance, though not back to your full strength. There are several types scattered around - a chieftain's hall will also offer you some food, if they have any to spare.
	Caves offer entrances to the subterranean world below. These passages connect up numerous parts of the land, sometimes emerging in cities, towers and other caves.Type 'in' to enter and 'out' to leave.
	Sometimes you will see rock outcrops (these originally were used to border the land but were later replaced by the sea). These are impassable, although if they contain waterfalls then you may pass through!
	Hills will not slow you down much, and may harbour friendly villages.
	If a character has an army, you will see it approaching from a long way off. Armies will not attack you, but unless you attack them you will not win anyone to your cause. Rules are simple - greater force wins, so attack the right ones first (and you won't know how strong they are till you do...)

Notes on moving around

Move the mouse over a direction to look that way, then click to move in that direction.

Netscape Users

This runs In IE and in AOL browsers so I have not bothered to include NN compatible code - in any case it would double the size of the program which is vast enough already thank you very much (for a website).

To be honest, that last sentence was written four years ago - I've no idea if that still applies, in the words of Edward Lear, 'or what to do, or why, or which... or whizzlepops....'

Characters

You may encounter some of the denizens of this land while on your travels. They don't move about I'm afraid but some of them are armed and dangerous!

You'll need to defeat some of the armed ones to get more forces behind you - these are needed in order to storm certain cities which otherwise you cannot enter.

Featured places

Without giving too much away, I can give you some pointers to the main places to visit.
The nearest equivalent to a 'blog' (Weblog, or online diary) can be found at the Weblog Tower. Stroll along to Ed's Kitchen At The Sign of The Golden Thurible, where a current recipe awaits. There are a few webloggy features of the site, I might as well personalise it...

Map

For what it is worth, an ancient map gives you some idea of the layout of Tarandjo proper. Its southern realms, beyond Wyameliand, are little known save for the description given above. click here for map
Actually, I have recently overhauled Tarandjo so much (itself overhauled form the previous Wandonia) that this needs to be redone. At the moment, it's blank ... so please bear with me. Watch this space...

Troubleshooting

I gather a few of you are having problems with getting in or with moving once you are there. A few general points to note:

• The average first page of a website requires between 1 and 15 or so items to load, apart from text. This site requires about 89 files to work, so if you try to move too soon, you may find yourself not moving at all. Give it time - and if necessary, come out and re-enter the site several times. The first time I ran the reconstructed site on my new computer, it stalled and all I got was the 'Welcome' message. If this doesn't disappear when you click the mouse on the direction buttons, then it ain't working!
• The chances are not all the graphics will load instantly, but don't worry - the computer will catch up, and once they're all downloaded, everything will run much faster.
• When reconstructing this site on my new computer, I found Norton wouldn't allow its active content - I had to click 'allow blocked content'. Anything that blocks ActiveX, Javascript or other dynamic HTML components may well stop the next bit working.
• The empty text box and enter button are ONLY to be used for password accessed locations. If you are not standing on a password accessed location and/or your password is not correct, you will receive a polite message telling you so. And don't use the enter key to enter a password, you have to click the enter button.
• BEWARE... if you pass the mouse over the direction buttons as the screen redraws itself after password entry or after starting up, the program may get confused and tell you it has 'performed an illegal operation'. Simply start the site again and be careful. I have tried to rectify this but am not at all sure why it happens.
• rock cliffs and seas are the only features you cannot move through. Everything else, including waterfalls, can be moved through. Any more problems, email me at:

And don't forget Mike - he is still out there somewhere, and he is one of the great unsung heroes of programming, so visit the temple of Maikh Sang-el tun in the desert lands (being built at the moment) and say a benediction! (Take time out to visit the temple of Sain cler as well!)