Dark Sceptre
Encyclopedia
Dark Sceptre is a strategy
adventure
video game by Mike Singleton
's design team Maelstrom Games, for Beyond Software
. It was published by Firebird Software for the ZX Spectrum
in 1987
and for the Amstrad CPC
in 1988
.
ous artefact. The player controls a company of warriors by assigning them specific tasks, and is hindered by six other computer-controlled factions. The main display shows a side-view of the currently watched warrior, which scrolls and tracks him as he moves through the game world. Each warrior has a rank, ranging from Thane
, the team leader, to Thrall
, the pawn of the game. Other ranks include Mystics, Heralds, Savages and Assassins.
Play is real-time, with the player pausing to issue commands in Plan mode and then viewing results in Watch mode. Commands are selected from a menu screen and range from character-targeting actions such as KILL, AVOID, BRIBE or STALK, object related actions like SEEK, TAKE, USE, or location based actions like DEFEND or ROAM.
awarded Dark Sceptre 9 out of 10, highlighting "nifty graphics and sound" and the easy-to-play design. Sinclair User
awarded it 10 out of 10, also impressed with the menu system, with the large variety of commands opening up an "almost infinite" number of strategies. The reviewer felt it was fascinating to issue commands and then watch what happens, concluding that it was an original and dramatic game. CRASH
magazine awarded it 88%, highlighting the large, animated sprites that avoided the Spectrum's attribute clash
. The only criticism was with the lack of detailed instructions, with the reviewer spending a lot of time trying to discover the object of the game and working out which characters are best to befriend.
cartridge, whilst Singleton adjudicated the whole game. This version of the software allowed two modes of display: Replay and Simulation. Replay allowed the player to select a character and watch events that occurred since his last turn, whilst Simulation predicts the events in the game based on the player's orders to his warriors.
Strategy game
A strategy game or strategic game is a game in which the players' uncoerced, and often autonomous decision-making skills have a high significance in determining the outcome...
adventure
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
video game by Mike Singleton
Mike Singleton
Mike Singleton is a British author and video game developer who wrote various well-regarded titles for the ZX Spectrum during the 1980s. His titles include The Lords of Midnight, Doomdark's Revenge, Throne of Fire, Dark Sceptre and War In Middle Earth. He also wrote a novel, The Eternal Empire,...
's design team Maelstrom Games, for Beyond Software
Beyond Software
Beyond Software was a video game publisher in the UK in the 1980s. It was set up by the EMAP publishing group in 1983 and published numerous titles on the Commodore 64, Dragon 32, ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, but met with very little success until the release of Mike Singleton's Lords of Midnight...
. It was published by Firebird Software for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
in 1987
1987 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* January 14, Nintendo releases Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in January for the Famicom Disk System in Japan only. The game would go unreleased in America for nearly two years afterwards.* February 20, Konami releases Contra...
and for the Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
in 1988
1988 in video gaming
-Events:*June — Nintendo releases the last issue of "Nintendo fun club news";*July — Nintendo releases the first issue of Nintendo Power magazine.-Notable releases:*January 8, Konami releases Super Contra....
.
Gameplay
The task in Dark Sceptre is to recover the eponymEponym
An eponym is the name of a person or thing, whether real or fictitious, after which a particular place, tribe, era, discovery, or other item is named or thought to be named...
ous artefact. The player controls a company of warriors by assigning them specific tasks, and is hindered by six other computer-controlled factions. The main display shows a side-view of the currently watched warrior, which scrolls and tracks him as he moves through the game world. Each warrior has a rank, ranging from Thane
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
, the team leader, to Thrall
Thrall
Thrall was the term for a serf or unfree servant in Scandinavian culture during the Viking Age.Thralls were the lowest in the social order and usually provided unskilled labor during the Viking era.-Etymology:...
, the pawn of the game. Other ranks include Mystics, Heralds, Savages and Assassins.
Play is real-time, with the player pausing to issue commands in Plan mode and then viewing results in Watch mode. Commands are selected from a menu screen and range from character-targeting actions such as KILL, AVOID, BRIBE or STALK, object related actions like SEEK, TAKE, USE, or location based actions like DEFEND or ROAM.
Critical reaction
Dark Sceptre was well received by critics on its release. Your SinclairYour Sinclair
Your Sinclair or YS as it was commonly abbreviated, was a British computer magazine for the Sinclair range of computers, mainly the ZX Spectrum.-History:...
awarded Dark Sceptre 9 out of 10, highlighting "nifty graphics and sound" and the easy-to-play design. Sinclair User
Sinclair User
Sinclair User, often abbreviated SU, was a magazine dedicated to the Sinclair Research range of home computers, most specifically the ZX Spectrum...
awarded it 10 out of 10, also impressed with the menu system, with the large variety of commands opening up an "almost infinite" number of strategies. The reviewer felt it was fascinating to issue commands and then watch what happens, concluding that it was an original and dramatic game. CRASH
CRASH (magazine)
Crash was a magazine dedicated to the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published from 1984 to 1991 by Newsfield Publications Ltd until their liquidation, and then until 1992 by Europress.-Development:...
magazine awarded it 88%, highlighting the large, animated sprites that avoided the Spectrum's attribute clash
Attribute clash
Attribute clash was a display artifact caused by limits in the graphics circuitry of a number of early color 8-bit home computers, most notably the Sinclair Research ZX Spectrum, where it meant that only two colors could be used in any area of 8×8 pixels...
. The only criticism was with the lack of detailed instructions, with the reviewer spending a lot of time trying to discover the object of the game and working out which characters are best to befriend.
Other versions
Maelstrom Games had also designed a play by mail version of Dark Sceptre. Players sent in their turns via ZX MicrodriveZX Microdrive
The ZX Microdrive is a magnetic tape data storage system launched in July 1983 by Sinclair Research for their ZX Spectrum home computer. The Microdrive technology was later also used in the Sinclair QL and ICL One Per Desk personal computers.-Development:...
cartridge, whilst Singleton adjudicated the whole game. This version of the software allowed two modes of display: Replay and Simulation. Replay allowed the player to select a character and watch events that occurred since his last turn, whilst Simulation predicts the events in the game based on the player's orders to his warriors.