Tir Na Nog (game)
Encyclopedia
Tir Na Nog is a video game published in 1984
by Gargoyle Games
for the ZX Spectrum
and Amstrad CPC
. It was ported to the Commodore 64
in 1985
. It is loosely based on Celtic mythology
.
The game was widely positively received by the gaming media. The game forms part of an unofficial trilogy with the science fiction
title Marsport
and Dun Darach
. Marsport has little to do with Tir Na Nog aside from the similar game styles. Dun Darach, however, is a proper part of the same story as Tir Na Nog.
The game has many features that were groundbreaking in 1984 such as a large central character, animated backgrounds and parallax scrolling
.
In early 1990s, Psygnosis Software planned to release a PC remake of the game, but the project was abandoned. Several promotional screenshots from it remain on the Web today.
, Irish
for "Land of Youth", is the eponymous location for the game. The protagonist, Cuchulainn
, has departed the land of the living and finds himself at an altar in this land, essentially an afterlife. His goal is to reunite the four fragments of the Seal of Calum and place it on the altar, all while avoiding the sídhe
.
.
Because he is in an afterlife, Cuchulainn cannot die and if he is "defeated" by a sídhe he is simply transported elsewhere and loses all his carried objects.
The Land of Tir Na Nog is very large and consists of plain
s, caverns and forests. Cuchulainn can move north, south, east and west with the player "rotating" the view using the keyboard and then having Cuchulainn move left or right on the screen. The player can collect any objects they come across with Cuchulainn being able to carry several at one time. Some of these objects can be used as weapons with the game allowing the player to "thrust" with any item.
1984 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* May 10, King's Quest , the first animated adventure game, the first in the King's Quest series, and the first to use the AGI engine.* June 4, Nintendo releases Donkey Kong 3...
by Gargoyle Games
Gargoyle Games
Gargoyle Games was a British software company founded in 1983 by Roy Carter and Greg Follis in order to publish their first game, Ad Astra. They generally specialized in games for the ZX Spectrum even though the company was originally named with the intention of publishing games for Dragon computers...
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...
and 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,...
. It was ported to the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
in 1985
1985 in video gaming
-Notable releases:* Brøderbund releases Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, the first game of the prolific Carmen Sandiego series* Nintendo releases Super Mario Bros. on September 13, 1985, which eventually sells 40 million copies making it the best-selling video game of all time until 2008.*...
. It is loosely based on Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology
Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and religious structure...
.
The game was widely positively received by the gaming media. The game forms part of an unofficial trilogy with the science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
title Marsport
Marsport
Marsport is a science fiction computer game that was released for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC home computers in 1985. It was published by Gargoyle Games in the United Kingdom and Dro Soft in Spain. Marsport was intended to be the first part of a trilogy called "The Siege of Earth" but parts two...
and Dun Darach
Dun Darach
Dun Darach is an arcade adventure published in 1985 by Gargoyle Games for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC computers.The background history is based on Celtic folklore about the hero Cuchulainn, and his battles against the people of Connachta in ancient Ireland. "Dun Darach" or "Dún na nDarach"...
. Marsport has little to do with Tir Na Nog aside from the similar game styles. Dun Darach, however, is a proper part of the same story as Tir Na Nog.
The game has many features that were groundbreaking in 1984 such as a large central character, animated backgrounds and parallax scrolling
Parallax scrolling
Parallax scrolling is a special scrolling technique in computer graphics, popularized in the 1982 arcade game Moon Patrol. In this pseudo-3D technique, background images move by the camera slower than foreground images, creating an illusion of depth in a 2D video game and adding to the immersion...
.
In early 1990s, Psygnosis Software planned to release a PC remake of the game, but the project was abandoned. Several promotional screenshots from it remain on the Web today.
Plot
Tir Na nÓgTír na nÓg
Tír na nÓg is the most popular of the Otherworlds in Irish mythology. It is perhaps best known from the story of Oisín, one of the few mortals who lived there, who was said to have been brought there by Niamh of the Golden Hair. It was where the Tuatha Dé Danann settled when they left Ireland's...
, Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
for "Land of Youth", is the eponymous location for the game. The protagonist, Cuchulainn
Cúchulainn
Cú Chulainn or Cúchulainn , and sometimes known in English as Cuhullin , is an Irish mythological hero who appears in the stories of the Ulster Cycle, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore...
, has departed the land of the living and finds himself at an altar in this land, essentially an afterlife. His goal is to reunite the four fragments of the Seal of Calum and place it on the altar, all while avoiding the sídhe
Sídhe
The aos sí are a supernatural race in Irish mythology and Scottish mythology are comparable to the fairies or elves. They are said to live underground in the fairy mounds, across the western sea, or in an invisible world that coexists with the world of humans...
.
Gameplay
Gameplay takes the form of an arcade-adventure with the player controlling the hero as he wanders the land of Tir Na Nog collecting objects, solving puzzles and trying to keep out of the way of the sídhe who also wander the land. Many of the puzzles that Cuchulainn is set are cryptic in nature (eg "The backdoor key is me") rather than straightforward and may rely on some lateral thinkingLateral thinking
Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic...
.
Because he is in an afterlife, Cuchulainn cannot die and if he is "defeated" by a sídhe he is simply transported elsewhere and loses all his carried objects.
The Land of Tir Na Nog is very large and consists of plain
Plain
In geography, a plain is land with relatively low relief, that is flat or gently rolling. Prairies and steppes are types of plains, and the archetype for a plain is often thought of as a grassland, but plains in their natural state may also be covered in shrublands, woodland and forest, or...
s, caverns and forests. Cuchulainn can move north, south, east and west with the player "rotating" the view using the keyboard and then having Cuchulainn move left or right on the screen. The player can collect any objects they come across with Cuchulainn being able to carry several at one time. Some of these objects can be used as weapons with the game allowing the player to "thrust" with any item.
External links
- Tir Na Nog walkthrough recording - for compatible ZX Spectrum emulators.
- Review of the game from 1984 - from CRASHCRASH (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. - Further details plus the solution to the game - from LunySoft.
- Assembly code and other internal details of the ZX Spectrum program by Zoltán Kovács (mostly in Hungarian)