Legend of the Red Dragon
Encyclopedia
Legend of the Red Dragon (LORD) is a text-based online role-playing video game
, released in 1989 by Robinson Technologies
. LORD is one of the best known door games
. The player's goal is to improve his or her skills in order to defeat the Red Dragon which has been attacking the village. The software is compatible with DOS
, Microsoft Windows
, and OS/2
.
and is currently maintained by Michael Preslar. Robinson began to write LORD in Pascal
to run on his Bulletin board system
. As he did not have access to other door game
s such as Trade Wars
, he needed something that would occasionally bring people back to the BBS. The first version of LORD only featured the chatting and flirting systems. Over time, Robinson incorporated features that he had seen work well in other games: for example, the restricted number of turns per day, and the concept of random events, came from a futuristic casino game. Eventually LORD became a mixture of action and romance.
Initially only intended to run on his own BBS, Robinson eventually received offers from users who wanted to run it on other systems. After the first sale, word-of-mouth advertising increased its popularity.
LORD was a successful game, and by 1993 many BBSs had active communities of players. Over the next few years, MUDs began to overtake BBS door games as the multiplayer online format of choice, and in 1998 Robinson sold the game and its sequel to Metropolis Gameport
. He went on to write other small games for PC
and mobile platforms. His final release of LORD was version 4.00a.
Metropolis Gameport contracted Michael Preslar on January 8, 2001, to continue the game's development. The most recent version of LORD (4.08) was released in 2009 (via the DOSEMU patch archive). According to Preslar, further updates to the LORD software are planned, including a web application and versions for ELF
-compatible Linux and Unix systems (completed but available only to beta testers).
As a BBS game, LORD uses a text-only interface. Later versions of LORD made use of RIP (Remote Imaging Protocol)
graphics, and required the use of a RIP client to view.
Players select a character class
, choosing from among Death Knight Skills, Mystical Skills, and Thieving Skills. While a player is training in a particular skill, s/he is subject to random events in the woods for that particular skill, which provide opportunities for advancement. Eventually, players may master all three skills.
Players can take a certain number of actions every day. Actions could be to fight monsters in the forest, attack other players or to attempt to slay the Red Dragon itself. In addition, every day a player can send a "flirt" to another player character which may range from a shy wink, to sex, to a marriage proposal. Sex may result in contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and female characters might become pregnant.
There are three non-player character
s located at the Inn: Seth Able the bard
, Violet the barmaid, and the unnamed Bartender. Seth Able the bard will sing a song for a player. Once a day, players can listen to Seth's song and receive a bonus, such as the doubling of one's bank account, or additional forest or player vs. player fight opportunities. The Bartender provides services and information to any warrior who can pay him in gold or gems, but provides nothing for free.
Male players can also flirt with Violet, and female players with Seth Able (named after Robinson), in a fashion similar to flirting with other players. Success is based on the player's charm points. A marriage to Violet or Seth may last one day or two months or more; unlike player-player marriages, the software may terminate these bonds at any time. During marriage, offspring are possible, and these bring sometimes surprising benefits to warriors.
LORD allows many players to play simultaneously, in BBSs that support it. This allows real-time player-versus-player battles.
LORD features several in-game message boards, as well as a limited electronic mail system, which allow players to converse. Players may use the mail system to send flirtations to other players of the opposite sex, propose trysts, or marriage (only marriages lead to the conception of children).
The registration system let all players play right up until level six, then it wouldn't allow players to get past to level 7 until the program was registered. Users often sent in funds for that very purpose.
, and then ported to MS-DOS
. Some IGMs were written to allow a "cheating" style of game play, and others have presented bugs or loopholes to be exploited by players. The current maintainer of the LORD software, has introduced a scripting language called Lady in order to allow smoother development of game extensions.
's essay on the history of computer role-playing video game
s, LORD was considered to be a highly playable and memorable game, with colorful text and humor. The Escapist
magazine highlighted the way LORD handled sexuality, which became more mature as Robinson developed the game over the years.
graphics, in a Roguelike
top-down view. LORD II's final release came in 1998, before its sale to Metropolis Gameport.
The first LORD spin-off, Tournament LORD, was written by Robinson. It was a multiplayer version designed for the MBBS/Worldgroup BBS systems.
The second port was Wildcat Tournament Legend of the Red Dragon (WT-LORD), a multi-player version created for Wildcat! BBS
systems, written by Joe Marcelletti and Allan Benjamin. Robinson was impressed with this port and used some of its features in later releases of LORD. It was maintained by IceRage Technologies but is now freeware and no longer developed or supported.
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
, released in 1989 by Robinson Technologies
Robinson Technologies
Robinson Technologies is a company founded and run by Seth Robinson in 1989, when he created the BBS door game, Legend of the Red Dragon . He currently operates the company with the help of his wife, Akiko Robinson, in Hiroshima, Japan. Seth's full name is Seth Able Robinson and the character...
. LORD is one of the best known door games
BBS door
A door is a computer program, on a bulletin board system, that runs outside of the main bulletin board program. Sometimes called external programs, doors are the most common way to add games, utilities, and other extensions to BBSes. From the 1990s on, most BBS software had the capability to...
. The player's goal is to improve his or her skills in order to defeat the Red Dragon which has been attacking the village. The software is compatible with DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, and OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
.
History
LORD was created by Seth Robinson of Robinson TechnologiesRobinson Technologies
Robinson Technologies is a company founded and run by Seth Robinson in 1989, when he created the BBS door game, Legend of the Red Dragon . He currently operates the company with the help of his wife, Akiko Robinson, in Hiroshima, Japan. Seth's full name is Seth Able Robinson and the character...
and is currently maintained by Michael Preslar. Robinson began to write LORD in Pascal
Pascal (programming language)
Pascal is an influential imperative and procedural programming language, designed in 1968/9 and published in 1970 by Niklaus Wirth as a small and efficient language intended to encourage good programming practices using structured programming and data structuring.A derivative known as Object Pascal...
to run on his Bulletin board system
Bulletin board system
A Bulletin Board System, or BBS, is a computer system running software that allows users to connect and log in to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, a user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging...
. As he did not have access to other door game
BBS door
A door is a computer program, on a bulletin board system, that runs outside of the main bulletin board program. Sometimes called external programs, doors are the most common way to add games, utilities, and other extensions to BBSes. From the 1990s on, most BBS software had the capability to...
s such as Trade Wars
Trade Wars
Trade Wars is the title, with some variations in spelling and capitalization, of a series of computer games dating back to the early days of personal computing. Based on influences from Star Trek, Star Wars, and early BBS strategy games, Trade Wars was an early example of the appeal of online games...
, he needed something that would occasionally bring people back to the BBS. The first version of LORD only featured the chatting and flirting systems. Over time, Robinson incorporated features that he had seen work well in other games: for example, the restricted number of turns per day, and the concept of random events, came from a futuristic casino game. Eventually LORD became a mixture of action and romance.
Initially only intended to run on his own BBS, Robinson eventually received offers from users who wanted to run it on other systems. After the first sale, word-of-mouth advertising increased its popularity.
LORD was a successful game, and by 1993 many BBSs had active communities of players. Over the next few years, MUDs began to overtake BBS door games as the multiplayer online format of choice, and in 1998 Robinson sold the game and its sequel to Metropolis Gameport
Metropolis Gameport
Metropolis Gameport is the Kansas, USA based company that currently owns the rights to several games, including Legend of the Red Dragon, MajorMUD and Planets: The Exploration of Space, selling the licenses to the games on their website.-External links:**...
. He went on to write other small games for PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
and mobile platforms. His final release of LORD was version 4.00a.
Metropolis Gameport contracted Michael Preslar on January 8, 2001, to continue the game's development. The most recent version of LORD (4.08) was released in 2009 (via the DOSEMU patch archive). According to Preslar, further updates to the LORD software are planned, including a web application and versions for ELF
Executable and Linkable Format
In computing, the Executable and Linkable Format is a common standard file format for executables, object code, shared libraries, and core dumps. First published in the System V Application Binary Interface specification, and later in the Tool Interface Standard, it was quickly accepted among...
-compatible Linux and Unix systems (completed but available only to beta testers).
Gameplay
The premise of LORD is that a Red Dragon is wreaking havoc in a town where the player has recently arrived. Multiple players compete over a period of weeks to advance their skills and to kill the dragon. In order to achieve this goal, players must face combat to gain experience. Once they have gained enough experience, they must face their master at Turgon's Warrior Training and advance in skill level. Advancement presents stronger enemies and masters; a player must reach level 12, the final level, before challenging Turgon himself and attacking the dragon.As a BBS game, LORD uses a text-only interface. Later versions of LORD made use of RIP (Remote Imaging Protocol)
Remote imaging protocol
The Remote Imaging Protocol Scripting Language, more commonly known as the Remote Imaging Protocol or RIPscrip, is a scripting language created by Jeff Reeder, Jim Bergman, and Mark Hayton to enhance bulletin board systems and other applications.RIPscrip was introduced in 1993 and consisted of...
graphics, and required the use of a RIP client to view.
Players select a character class
Character class
In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...
, choosing from among Death Knight Skills, Mystical Skills, and Thieving Skills. While a player is training in a particular skill, s/he is subject to random events in the woods for that particular skill, which provide opportunities for advancement. Eventually, players may master all three skills.
Players can take a certain number of actions every day. Actions could be to fight monsters in the forest, attack other players or to attempt to slay the Red Dragon itself. In addition, every day a player can send a "flirt" to another player character which may range from a shy wink, to sex, to a marriage proposal. Sex may result in contracting sexually transmitted diseases, and female characters might become pregnant.
There are three non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s located at the Inn: Seth Able the bard
Bard
In medieval Gaelic and British culture a bard was a professional poet, employed by a patron, such as a monarch or nobleman, to commemorate the patron's ancestors and to praise the patron's own activities.Originally a specific class of poet, contrasting with another class known as fili in Ireland...
, Violet the barmaid, and the unnamed Bartender. Seth Able the bard will sing a song for a player. Once a day, players can listen to Seth's song and receive a bonus, such as the doubling of one's bank account, or additional forest or player vs. player fight opportunities. The Bartender provides services and information to any warrior who can pay him in gold or gems, but provides nothing for free.
Male players can also flirt with Violet, and female players with Seth Able (named after Robinson), in a fashion similar to flirting with other players. Success is based on the player's charm points. A marriage to Violet or Seth may last one day or two months or more; unlike player-player marriages, the software may terminate these bonds at any time. During marriage, offspring are possible, and these bring sometimes surprising benefits to warriors.
LORD allows many players to play simultaneously, in BBSs that support it. This allows real-time player-versus-player battles.
LORD features several in-game message boards, as well as a limited electronic mail system, which allow players to converse. Players may use the mail system to send flirtations to other players of the opposite sex, propose trysts, or marriage (only marriages lead to the conception of children).
The registration system let all players play right up until level six, then it wouldn't allow players to get past to level 7 until the program was registered. Users often sent in funds for that very purpose.
IGMs
In-Game Modules (IGMs) are small software extensions written by third-party developers that add functionality to LORD. A number of these were created and widely distributed. IGM software was first developed on the AmigaAmiga
The Amiga is a family of personal computers that was sold by Commodore in the 1980s and 1990s. The first model was launched in 1985 as a high-end home computer and became popular for its graphical, audio and multi-tasking abilities...
, and then ported to MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
. Some IGMs were written to allow a "cheating" style of game play, and others have presented bugs or loopholes to be exploited by players. The current maintainer of the LORD software, has introduced a scripting language called Lady in order to allow smoother development of game extensions.
Critical reception
In GamasutraGamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
's essay on the history of computer role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
s, LORD was considered to be a highly playable and memorable game, with colorful text and humor. The Escapist
The Escapist (magazine)
The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
magazine highlighted the way LORD handled sexuality, which became more mature as Robinson developed the game over the years.
Ports and sequels
Robinson developed an official sequel, Legend of the Red Dragon II: New World, in 1992. It featured real-time multiplayer gameplay, with ANSI artANSI art
ANSI art is a computer art form that was widely used at one time on BBSes. It is similar to ASCII art, but constructed from a larger set of 256 letters, numbers, and symbols — all codes found in IBM code page 437, often referred to as extended ASCII and used in MS-DOS and Unix environments...
graphics, in a Roguelike
Roguelike
The roguelike is a sub-genre of role-playing video games, characterized by randomization for replayability, permanent death, and turn-based movement. Most roguelikes feature ASCII graphics, with newer ones increasingly offering tile-based graphics. Games are typically dungeon crawls, with many...
top-down view. LORD II
The first LORD spin-off, Tournament LORD, was written by Robinson. It was a multiplayer version designed for the MBBS/Worldgroup BBS systems.
The second port was Wildcat Tournament Legend of the Red Dragon (WT-LORD), a multi-player version created for Wildcat! BBS
Wildcat! BBS
Wildcat! BBS was a bulletin board system server application that Mustang Software developed in 1986 for DOS, and later ported to Microsoft Windows. By the release of Version 4 it was the basis for more than 50,000 bulletin board systems worldwide....
systems, written by Joe Marcelletti and Allan Benjamin. Robinson was impressed with this port and used some of its features in later releases of LORD. It was maintained by IceRage Technologies but is now freeware and no longer developed or supported.
Legend of the Green Dragon
Legend of the Green Dragon is a web based variation. Legend of the Green Dragon (also referred to as LotGD) is an open source game that allows any aspiring web developer to customize and create their own version of the game using the PHP language. .Legend of the Blue Dragon
Legend of the Blue Dragon is an android based variation. It is an advertisement assisted free version available in the Google Android Market. For a $1 donation players can remove the ads or buy 10,000 in gold.External links
- LORD's Official Website
- Robinson Technologies - Seth Able Robinson's game company
- Metroplis Gameport - Owners of LORD and LORD II