Mordor

Started as a hobby project, Mordor was released in 1995 as a fun “first game” that I wrote in my spare time. Little did I know it would pave the road all the way to Alganon. Written in Visual Basic 4 with the art contracted out to a single person, the game was more of a homage to the “style” of dungeon crawl I grew up with.

  1. Hello David!
    I have Mordor II Darkness Awakening v.0.98b, v.0.990b-0.992b, but now i’m looking for v.0.988b, v.0.987b, v.0.986b and v.0.985b. And i have a question: have you any of this versions? And if you have – can you send me it on e-mail, please?
    I made a patch for Mordor 2 v.0.98 for using more than 3 maze level, and i think in these versions less bugs.
    If you interesting of my patch you can look it at dejenol.com.
    Thank you.

  2. I loved the art in the original Mordor, do you remember who was the name of the artist? Always wondered what else he or she did

  3. Thanks for the feedback, Grauken! Unfortunately I can’t remember the name of the lady who did the artwork, but she’s definitely in the credits. Unfortunately, I don’t have a copy of Mordor around to check this – if you have it installed, her name will be in the credits. If you do find it, feel free to post her name here so others can see it. Have a great weekend!

  4. It says in the Credits under Computer Art

    Meg Ross
    Tareh Kryger
    Toshie Yamaguchi

    So I assume it was primarily Meg Ross?

    ..

  5. Im 33 years old, and I just want to say that Mordor had a place in my heart since I played it back in 95… It would be awesome to see it again in an online multiplayer version, or even a mobile version (please don’t hate me), to this date I still use some of the sound effects from the game for my computer alerts

  6. Thanks for the feedback! I’ve been approached a number of times about making “Mordor 2020” (or something similar) but just haven’t been drawn back into making games. If I were to return to the industry, I would do an ARPG I designed years ago. The sound FX are quite nostalgic for me as well! 🙂

  7. Hi David,

    Could you write an article about your design?
    I am very interested, and I would expect others too, to read about it.
    I myself am thinking of a game with Diablo I style graphics and atmosphere (dark, gothic, isometric) with the depth of Mordor and Demise guilds (almost endless character building).
    This combination would be awesome in my opinion.

    Regards,
    Dave

  8. Hey Dave, thanks for the comment! Perhaps one day I’ll put something together. I remember just sitting down one night at my computer and starting to build the Mordor Editor (I built the editor before the game). The rest is history. I think I wrote and completed the code in around 6 months working evenings; it was written in VB4. Ahh, memories. DEMISE was a combination of VB6/C++ and a few other libraries – that was a different project I started around 1997. People have asked if I’ll return to the industry, but right now, I’m just not drawn to build games anymore. Perhaps that’ll change. An article about the history of Mordor and Demise might be interesting, though! I’ll think about it 🙂

  9. Hi David,

    Thank you for your reaction.
    An article about the history of Mordor and Demise from your perspective would be very interesting, but I was referring to something else.

    David Allen wrote:
    “If I were to return to the industry, I would do an ARPG I designed years ago.”

    I would be VERY interested to read about your design on a (new) Action RPG.
    My take on that would be a combination of Diablo I and Demise. Hope that clarifies my previous post.

    What would your take be?

  10. Oh, let’s just say it wouldn’t be like DEMISE at all; or anything I’ve built before in the past 🙂 We’ll see what the future holds… The industry could use a new solid ARPG…

  11. Hey, David.
    I’m back playing Mordor… could you imagine there would be people still playing this after 25 years?
    No story whatsoever, just pure grinding. LOVE IT!
    Thanks for this amazing game!

  12. Hi, another person here back to play Mordor! These games really stood out to me as a kid and it’s so much fun to see all the screenshots again! Thanks for making part of my childhood 🙂

    I have a question–do you remember if Mordor II v.0.98 (or any of the versions before the 3d graphics) were able to run on Windows 3.1 like the first game, or do I need to run them on Windows 95/98? Thank you in advance

  13. Thanks for the feedback! Sadly, I can’t remember anything about the build requirements. Given I made Mordor before I worked at Microsoft, I would guess it was pre-Windows 95, but it should work fine with a Win95 VM. Let me know!

  14. Hi David!

    I stumbled over here wondering “I wonder what David Allen is doing now” because Mordor is one of my favorite games! I’ve sunk countless hours into it over the years, and it still keeps me coming back.

    There’s a small forum (Braindead’s Mordor Site) still going where players discuss their Mordor escapades, anybody who reads this and is interested should definitely check it out: http://dejenol.com/forum/index.php?act=idx

    It’s kind of crazy that there’s still active players for this game after all of these years. I got into Demise for a while too, but I always found the pacing of Mordor to be better suited to me. The whole XP penalties for multi-classing thing in Demise kinda stresses me out, and my favorite thing about Mordor was the ease with which one could multi-class.

    I’m not as much of a PC gamer anymore mostly due to family commitments, being a father of young children and all, so most of my limited gaming time these days takes place on mobile or console. I would absolutely play the heck out of a game like Mordor on mobile if I knew of one 🙂

  15. Thanks for the feedback, Darrell! Always great to hear how MORDOR influenced other gamers. Have you tried any of the independent dungeon crawler games on Steam like Darkest Dungeon?

  16. You’re welcome David, Mordor was a huge influence on gaming for me! The first dungeon crawler I ever played was Swords and Serpents on the NES, and shortly after I got into Final Fantasy. I was a kid when I first discovered the shareware version of Mordor (I was drawn by the name, being a huge LOTR fan), and I was blown away by the depth of that game which greatly surpassed anything else I had played up until that point. I was also fond of Castle of the Winds and Exile 3 at the time, together those with Mordor were the three nostalgic windows games I played before I got deep into Blizzard titles like Warcraft and Diablo.

    I haven’t tried many other independent crawler games, particularly modern ones. Darkest Dungeons sounds fun, perhaps I’ll give that one a go!

    I’m currently doing another playthrough of Fallout 4, and I recently acquired Borderlands 3 which I’m exciting to get into once I wrap up the pre-sequel. Happy gaming!

  17. That’s awesome 🙂 If you want to try something really amazing, I recommend Valheim. Probably one of the best games ever made (and I don’t say that lightly). $20 on Steam and worth every penny. If you’re married, apologize to your wife for me. She won’t see you very often if you start playing it 🙂

  18. Just got Windows XP installed so I can bash out some levels in Mordor II. The saddest part of my childhood that this never got finished.
    I missed the millennium to the nostalgic sounds of black bears dying and the classic joyful ‘We wish to join!’ before accidentally mushing F and pasting a Warrior and a couple of Pinyls.

  19. Hail adventurer,

    I must have been around 10 when I was introduced to your game in the mid-late 90’s. It has shaped my perspective when it comes to gaming. Hundreds of hours were spent dungeon crawling between myself and my cousins. We each had our own character and would “borrow” each other’s characters in a party. A very specific memory I have is of a little cousin accidently getting an older cousin’s character stuck in a stone wall. There were many emotions until we’ve grinded enough to learn a spell to free him. By then he had moved on to another character!

    With an emulated OS, I sometimes time travel to enjoy playthroughs absorbing all the nostalgic bliss from days past gone.

    It is with great joy I hope you read this message and to know words simply cannot express the gratitude I have in my heart for the timeless memories you have given my kin and I. Thank you for these treasures.

  20. Thank you so much for the kind words and support, Eric! I’m glad Mordor had such an impact on you growing up. I remember sitting down at my computer one night when I got home after work (in Georgia) and writing the first line of code; it was actually for the map editor. I believe this was during the time Wizardry 7 came out as well. So I wrote the map editor first, made a few levels of maps, then started writing the game. That would have been 1992. I think Mordor came out in 1994, but I can’t remember exactly. I sure miss those days; the 90’s were great for games. Everything was fresh and new 🙂 Thanks again, and I hope you have a fantastic 2021!

  21. Hello Mr David.

    I was like 14 when i started to play Mordor and it deeply inspired me to pursue my career as developer becaused i picked up VB and tried to make a game just like that. I am a very happy developer now at 40, time flies.

  22. Oh how i have missed this game! So many memories with roommates; the laughs, the cheers, the competition, and fighting over whos turn was next or times up get off my turn. LOL!

    Any chance of getting Mordor 1 and or Mordor 2 out on GOG.com ( Good Ol Games )? Would really enjoy the multiplayer of this.

  23. Thanks for sharing your memories! I remember sitting down at my computer one night while I was living in Georgia and working at Microhelp and writing the first lines of code for MORDOR. I think it was 1991 or 1992.

    Sadly, I sold the rights to Mordor to Decklin’s Domain long ago (I think it was 2005 or so). You can reach out to Decklin and ask him – let me know if you get a response!

  24. Dear David,

    I once lost a spelling bee in 4th grade because they asked me to spell “mortarboard” and I spelled it “M-O-R-D-O-R-B-O-A-R-D” because I was obsessed with Mordor: The Depths of Dejenol.

    I’ll never forgive you. =’)

    Thanks for literally years of enjoyment for me and many others as kids.

    (I also once emailed you and you replied, which I may have squealed about)

    Brandon “XeroState”

  25. Thanks a ton for the comment; that’s an awesome story! I started writing Mordor after Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant came out (man that was a GREAT game) 🙂

  26. Is there anywhere to acquire a full copy of Mordor by chance? I can’t seem to find a full copy anywhere, even on a “play for free” site. It was a huge staple of my childhood and one of the first games to get me into ARPG style games. I haven’t played any for quite some time, so I figured this would be a good place to start again, if even only for nostalgia’s sake.

  27. Hi David! I’m so happy to find this page on your website.

    My dad, my two brothers and I all played A TON of Mordor in the late 90s. We ADORED it, and it’s something I find myself returning to in my imagination quite often. I love many of the game mechanics you put into it, in particular the leaving of dead characters down in the dungeon to be collected by other heroes later, and the fact that items had to be identified before they were usable.

    I design tabletop games these days, and I still find myself coming back with fondness to many of your design decisions in this game. I got so much joy from it, so thanks!

  28. The 90’s were an amazing time for gaming (overall); I’m glad MORDOR had such a positive impact. Thanks for the support and sharing the great memories!

  29. I’m just another person who’s been playing Mordor since I was 10 (in 1995). We had the shareware version on a games compilation CD, and I wore those first three dungeon levels out for years before getting my hands on the full version. The music still takes me back!

    When my wife and I were dating, we were talking about old games that had an impact on us – and it turns out she had played Mordor, too! It’s still great all these years later, and I keep a WinXP virtual machine just for it.

    Thank you for helping shape the grinding addict I grew into.

  30. So…can anyone out there please help me get Mordor 2: Darkness Awakening working on my windows 10 computer?

    There. Must. Be. A. Way.

    Can’t get it to install. Just the whole compatibility issue.

    And David Allen…I haven’t played that game for at least 20 years and the music is still fiddling through my spine. And Demise was such a marvellous successor too. Such adventures it held with so many secrets and so much freedom in exploration. There was always such a great tension between “should I venture further down or am I powerful enough yet???” and “Nah, I’ll just stay here and grind some more.” Because that first situation was so exciting, since it meant more gear, more xp, new monsters and new map. Always so exciting.

    Deeply grateful for your contribution to gaming. ♥

  31. Hiya David,

    I was wondering, would be opposed to someone remaking Mordor 2 for modern computers? My brothers and I used to play it when we were younger and spent sooo much time on it, actually installed it on my XP laptop not long ago so I could play through it again, it’s as good as I remember!

    Thanks,
    Asealiea.

  32. Not at all! With Unity, it should be pretty easy (all things considered). I recommend building the dungeon maker first, then the game on top of that 🙂 IMO it would be better (overall) if somebody took the “style” of the game and made their own – not Mordor 3 but a new dungeon crawler that’s the Mordor style; custom name, mobs, items, etc. Let me know if it’s something you pursue! I sure wish Unity was around when I was making games 🙂

  33. That’s awesome to hear!!! Been working with Unity for some time now and kind of had already started to remake it a little before Christmas, I did have the same idea of starting with the dungeon and adding on top of that. I was thinking though, that I could start with the 10 levels as a base to start from and continue after that but, it may end up just being a base to work from and change it up from there. (I may have already done like 8 levels of the dungeon lol) Been playing the game while making it as well and having so much fun while doing it ^_^

  34. That’s great! When you enjoy what you’re doing, it’s not work 🙂 When I sat down and started on Mordor, I first made the Editor; not just for the dungeon, but for the items, monsters, etc. I wanted a framework of data to work from – and then I built the game layer on top of it. Granted other approaches work, I found that to be the best because the dungeon editor included a 3D “walkthrough” system, and I also built tools to “mock” combat with the monsters and skill values, etc. Just felt right at the time. Good luck, and let me know how things go!

  35. Took a little video of what I have so far, as you might be able to tell there is still a lot to go, spells are probably the most complete atm, so far 6 of the 10 dungeon levels are done although the lighting needs fixed badly lol.
    https://youtu.be/r5YfQ5gTfxg
    Textures and icons for armor and such are temporary, they are super easy to change out so acting as place holders till it gets closer to being done 😀

  36. Nice – keep up the good work! As mentioned, I recommend building the full data/dungeon editor around the rendering engine, etc. Get the core content in there, then create the game wrapper as a separate app. Let me know how it goes!

  37. “IMO it would be better (overall) if somebody took the “style” of the game and made their own – not Mordor 3 but a new dungeon crawler that’s the Mordor style; custom name, mobs, items, etc.”

    This is my approach. If you remember I was in contact with you about 10-15 years ago and got the green light for a (primarily) mobile game heavily inspired by Mordor II. I got a new main story, questlines, and rough draft of a GDD together, but ultimately had to put the project on pause as I’m a crappy programmer and couldn’t get a team together.

    Now with the help of AI and Unity I’m making a new attempt. Will probably take years if I ever get it done, but it’s fun just to try. Perhaps you’d even want to join forces Asealiea?

    Thanks again Davind for 100s of wonderful hours of Mordor II. It was right up there with Civilization and Railroad Tycoon as the best of the 90s for me, and it’s still amazingly good fun almost 30 years later!

  38. Thanks for the support, and congrats on making progress! I definitely hope you are able to release your game. Sadly, I’ve retired from making computer games. But folks like you can take the torch and keep on carrying it. I wish you the best and hope you’re able to complete the game and that it’s a success!

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *