''Lords of Time'' is an

interactive fiction '' Interactive fiction, often abbreviated IF, is software simulating environments in which players use text commands to control characters and influence the environment. Works in this form can be understood as literary narratives, either in the ...

computer game designed by Sue Gazzard and released by

Level 9 Computing Level 9 was a British developer of computer software, active between 1981 and 1991. Founded by Mike, Nicholas and Pete Austin, the company produced software for the BBC Micro, Nascom, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Oric, Atari, Lynx 48k, RML 380Z, ...

in 1983. Originally purely a textual adventure for

8-bit In computer architecture, 8-bit Integer (computer science), integers or other Data (computing), data units are those that are 8 bits wide (1 octet (computing), octet). Also, 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) and arithmetic logic unit (ALU) arc ...

microcomputers, the game was later released as part of the '' Time and Magik'' compilation where

graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture ...

were added for all floppy disk versions. Like all Level 9 adventures of its time, it was written in the in-house A-code language which was platform-independent.

Gameplay

The anonymous hero of the game (controlled by the player) appears to be a computer programmer in contemporary times. At the start of the game, the hero is contacted by Father Time who sends the hero on a quest to recover nine treasures in order to defeat the machinations of the evil Time Lords. The game is divided into 9 eras of time (not including the starting section in the hero's living room), such as the 20th century,

Ice Age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...

, age of

dinosaur Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

s, Dark Ages, future, the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, Tudor

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

. Due to the meddling of the Time Lords

anachronism An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...

s abound, for example

cavemen The caveman is a stock character representative of primitive humans in the Paleolithic. The popularization of the type dates to the early 20th century, when Neanderthals were influentially described as " simian" or "ape-like" by Marcellin Bo ...

are found living in the same era as

s. Access to the nine different eras is via a

grandfather clock A grandfather clock (also a longcase clock, tall-case clock, grandfather's clock, or floor clock) is a tall, freestanding, weight-driven pendulum clock with the pendulum held inside the tower or waist of the case. Clocks of this style are common ...

that turns out to be a

time machine Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

in disguise. The game was re-released in 1988 as part of the '' Time and Magik'' compilation alongside ''Red Moon'' and ''Price of Magik''. Although positioned within the compilation as the first part of a trilogy it has no real connection to the latter two (as opposed to the sister compilation release ''

Silicon Dreams ''Silicon Dreams'' is a trilogy of interactive fiction games developed by Level 9 Computing during the 1980s. The first game was ''Snowball'', released during 1983, followed a year later by ''Return to Eden'', and then by ''The Worm in Paradise'' ...

'' where all three games did form a trilogy).

Reception

Reception to Lords of Time was positive. ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' reviewing the

Spectrum A spectrum (plural ''spectra'' or ''spectrums'') is a condition that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary, without gaps, across a continuum. The word was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of colors i ...

version declared "I find it impossible to justly describe what a brilliant adventure Lords of Time really is". A ''

Computer and Video Games ''Computer and Video Games'' (also known as ''CVG'', ''Computer & Video Games'', ''C&VG'', ''Computer + Video Games'', or ''C+VG'') was a UK-based video game magazine, published in its original form between 1981 and 2004. Its offshoot website ...

'' magazine multiformat review claimed "..the game is a light-hearted one which is fun to play, not too difficult to progress in, but will, I suspect, take rather a long time to complete. Who could ask for more?" ''

Personal Computer Games ''Personal Computer Games'' was a multi-format UK computer games magazine of the early/mid-1980s published by VNU. History ''Personal Computer Games'' was launched in July 1983. The magazine was part of VNU and had its headquarters in London ...

'' rated it a PCG Hit

References

External links

*
The Level 9 Memorial

Entry for ''Lords of Time'' at World Of Spectrum
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lords Of Time 1980s interactive fiction 1983 video games Adventure games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Amstrad PCW games Atari 8-bit family games Atari ST games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games Commodore 64 games DOS games Level 9 Computing games MSX games Oric games Video games about time travel Video games developed in the United Kingdom ZX Spectrum games Single-player video games