Bringing a game back to life from 1984 is a massive challenge. Does The Lords of Midnight have that special magic spark that can bridge the gap? Unequivocally yes, says Chris Wild, the inspiration behind reviving Singleton's ground-breaking game.
Novelist Drew Wagar talks of the impact the game had on him as young man. 'Singleton's genius was to rip up the rule book for fantasy games. No more tedious typing, no top down omniscient view of the action. You saw what your characters could see and nothing more. What's more,' he goes on. 'You saw it all in glorious 3D projection. That was quite a feat for those early 8-bit computers.'
But these innovations are old-hat these days, so what makes The Lords of Midnight special in the 21st century? 'If the game had been nothing more than 1980's technological wizardry,' Wagar tells me. 'There would have been nothing to modernise, but the fact is that it came with a rich lore background. It plays out in a frozen magical land and requires strategic and sophisticated gameplay that can literally take months to resolve.'
It was no surprise to gamers of the time that The Lords of Midnight was a runaway success, and the old adherents as well as a whole new generation are flocking to try out the brand new version. Kingpin in all this is Chris Wild, entrusted by the Singleton estate to nurture the game. Wild has retained Mike Singleton's magic as he has adapted the game for Apple, Android and Windows phones and tablets.
'All the magic and excitement of the original games is retained,' says Wagar. 'But at the same time, the new versions take full advantage of the graphics, storage and touch capabilities of modern devices. It's epic.'
To reintroduce The Lords of Midnight to a new audience, Chris Wild and the Singleton estate wanted to release an epic novel based on Singleton's original lore and innovative ideas. To do full justice to Singleton's memory, they offered the job to best-selling novelist Drew Wagar already widely acclaimed for his Elite: Dangerous tie-in novels, Reclamation and Premonition. As a long-time fan of the game, Wagar accepted the challenge.
The result is an epic fantasy adventure, The Lords of Midnight, released to the world on the 2018 Summer Solstice and officially launched at FantastiCon 2018 in September.
'The book is an absolute belter of a fantasy novel. It will appeal to fantasy fans across the board,' says Dan Grubb, CEO of Fantastic Books Publishing. 'We were delighted that Drew agreed to write another tie-in and were proud to publish it.'
Further information
Drew Wagar: www.drewwagar.com
The Lords of Midnight: www.thelordsofmidnight.com
Fantastic Books Publishing: www.fantasticbookspublishing.com
FantastiCon 2018
The novel, The Lords of Midnight will be launched officially by Drew Wagar and Fantastic Books Publishing at FantastiCon 2018 1st and 2nd September 2018 as part of the annual fantasy and sci-fi extravaganza featuring celebrities from the worlds of Elite: Dangerous, Star Citizen and Dr Who. http://fantasticon.co.uk
Contact details
Dan Grubb, Fantastic Books Publishing: email fbp-publicity@outlook.com
Media Contact
Daniel Grubb
CEO
Fantastic Books Publishing
***@fantasticbookspublishing.org
07415388882
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