Moria (computer game)
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| Moria | |
|---|---|
UMoria 5.2.2 screenshot |
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| Developer | David Grabiner |
| Latest release | 5.2.2 / March, 1999 |
| OS | Cross-platform |
| Genre | Roguelike |
| License | Moria/Angband license, parts are GPL |
| Website | http://www-math.bgsu.edu/~grabine/moria.html |
Moria is a roguelike computer game, based heavily on J. R. R. Tolkien's book The Lord of the Rings. The goal is to traverse the Mines of Moria and kill a Balrog, presumably Durin's Bane. The original version was written at the University of Oklahoma by Robert Alan Koeneke after he became hooked on Rogue but could not run it on the VAX 11/780 computer running VMS to which he had access. It is unrelated to an earlier game written for the PLATO system also named Moria.
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Version 1.0 was written in VMS Pascal and completed in the summer of 1983. From around 1985 the source code was widely distributed under a license that permitted sharing and modification but not commercial use. Koeneke's last release was Moria 4.7 in 1986 or 1987, although more recent versions have been compiled by a variety of authors. Moria inspired a number of derivative versions. Jim E. Wilson created Umoria, a modified version in C for UNIX and MS-DOS. At the University of Washington a modified Pascal version named Imoria was developed, which has been ported to C by Steve Kertes. Angband was derived from Umoria at the University of Warwick. Furthermore, it is known to have been an inspiration for commercial dungeon-crawling games such as Diablo and Dungeon Siege.[citation needed]
Moria begins with creation of a character. One chooses a "race" from the following: Human, Half-Elf, Elf, Halfling, Gnome, Dwarf, Half-Orc, Half-Troll. Racial selection determines base statistics and class availability. One selects the character's "class" from the following: Warrior, Mage, Priest, Rogue, Ranger, Paladin. Class further determines statistics as well as what abilities may be acquired in the game. Mages, Rangers, and Rogues can learn magic; Priests and Paladins can learn prayers; and Warriors have no additional abilities.
The player begins the game on a town level with a small amount of items and six shops for purchasing more. There is also a staircase that leads into the lower levels, which are randomly generated underground mazes. Each time the player ascends or descends a staircase, a new level is created and the old one discarded; only the town persists in the game. Deeper levels contain more powerful monsters and better treasures.
- Usenet article from February 21, 1996 in which Robert Alan Koeneke discusses the origins of the game.
- Steve Kertes' C port of IMoria
- The Moria Page
- kMoria - UMoria 5.5.2 port (Palm OS)
- Mines of Morgoth - remake (Microsoft Windows)
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