Game 577: Yendorian Tales: Book I

     

Yendorian Tales: Book I

United States 

SmithWare (developer and publisher) 

Released 1994 for DOS

Date Started: 6 May 2026

     

You would think that the title Yendorian Tales is a reference to the Amulet of Yendor from Rogue (1980), itself an ananym of "Rodney." But it rather seems to be a case of the same thing happening twice: two of the primary authors of the game were named "Rodney." All belonged to the Smith family of Fort Worth, Texas, the eponym of SmithWare (later abbreviated "SW Games"). I'm guessing that Rodney R. Smith was the father of Timothy and Rod Smith II, but I haven't been able to confirm yet. I'd like to reach them because paying the full shareware fee of $22 supposedly got the player a full manual. The text file that comes with the game doesn't explain a lot.

    

Their game is a competent shareware title in the vein of Ultima V/VI. Its backstory is told in a series of title cards with light animations. It takes place on the island of Yendor, which is cut off from the rest of the world by a thick mist. It was populated a century ago by a collection of wizards who fled tyranny in the kingdom of Thaine. They set up a free educational institution called the Athaneum, established a benevolent republic, and attracted a lot of commoners from the mainland.

      

The third game has the character return to Thaine. It will be a while.

       

Happily, Yendor is also rich in Nuore, the reagent that forms the basis of all magic. It must be mined. Hence, the population of the land is divided between the mages and clerics who study at the Athenaeum and the miners who supply them with Nuore. Lately, however, the miners have been experiencing frequent attacks from monsters, which has jeopardized the production of Nuore. The governors of the island are looking for heroes to investigate the source of the attacks and stop them.

       

This is what we call "book smart."

      

The game supports a party of up to six members, both men and women, in four classes: miner, rogue, cleric, and wizard. Each has six attributes: strength, intelligence, dexterity, wisdom, stamina, and charisma (which roll on a scale from 30-60), plus the derived attributes of accuracy, damage, and absorption. I created a party of two miners, one rogue, two clerics, and one wizard. You can choose from a selection of 20 portraits during this process.

      

Assembling a party.

      

The game begins in a tavern in the town of Saccate. The party is represented by a single icon. The interface uses a combination of overhead and axonometric graphics, with the perspective from the southwest (instead of Ultima VI's southeast). The game uses tiles but manages to achieve the illusion of a continuous surface by blending them well and putting leg animations on character movement. Movement is with the arrow keys or numberpad. Other commands are accessible from an icon bar with keyboard backups, including (T)alk, (P)ick up, (A)ttack, (C)ast, and (L)ook. Targeted commands bring up a cursor that you can use anywhere within a three-square radius

      

Characters have an active weapon, armor, and shield that can be set by scrolling through possibilities. My miners started with cloth armor and no shields. The miners have knives; the rogue has a dagger; the priest has a staff; and the wizard has a sling shot. We have 300 gold pieces and a lock pick set. All unequipped items are stored in a collective inventory.

     

My lead miner and his equipment.

              

A problem becomes immediately clear: the game buffers all keyboard inputs, so delayed inputs keep executing even if the key is released. That means if I hold down an arrow key too long (and everything is too long), the character bumps into the nearest object in that direction until the buffer clears. You have to mince one step at a time.

     

NPCs scurry around the screen. They enter and leave buildings, sit down at tables, and occasionally go to sleep in beds for a while. The game doesn't have a day/night cycle or any way (that I can tell) to tell time, but the NPCs are definitely operating on a schedule. Interaction with them uses an Ultima-style keyword system, though with all the messages crammed uncomfortably in a small window in the lower right. NPCs all respond to HELLO, NAME, JOB, and BYE and of course often respond to keywords that come up during the conversation.

      

In real life, if a bit of track is broken, beating it with a pick doesn't help.

           

I work my way around the city, meeting NPCs and investigating services:

     

• The tavern is run by Donovan, who sells ale and wine.

• Neil: Works in the mines. Had a bad day. Everyone in my party can mine if we have enough mining tools. We'll also need a mining cart. If we come across a section of broken track, we can use mining tools to repair it.

• Garret: Wants me to buy him an ale. The governor is looking for people to enter the mines. I can find him in his house.

• Dean: Fights in the mines. They're becoming tough. Recently, he fought a bunch of giant rats.

• Tyler the Guard: Confirms the name of the town and says that the Athaneum is to the south. Tells me the laws of the towns: You cannot get drunk, attack or kill an innocent person, or enter a building while mounted on a horse. If you do any of these things, you'll be stopped and arrested when you try to leave.

• The blacksmith shop sells horses for 200 gold.

       

And at a sensible horse-to-character ratio.

        

• A mining company store sells carts, mining tools, and torches. It will buy ore. 

• Marcus: If I want a job, I should talk to the governor in the northwest part of town.

• Norma: Works in the mines with Osgood. One can find gold, Nuore, and other ores in the mines, which the mine shop will buy.

• Osgood:  Works in the mines with Norma. They're full of monsters. Most of them die quickly. He can increase my charisma by 6 points for 2,000 gold pieces.

     

I'll have to remember that.

       

• Barton: Works in the mines repairing broken track. Mine shops will pay for fixing broken track.

• Zeke: Works in the mines. If I find something in a spot, I should move on, as there won't ever be anything else. 

• The inn has rooms for 30 gold pieces. You can also ask for the BOOK, which takes the player to the main menu, where he can create characters and change the composition of the party.

      

The "book" continues the storybook theme inherent in the interface.

       

• Arlo: Protects the governor. The governor is a member of the Council of Governors, which meets at the Athaneum to the south.

• Dewey: Governor's aid. Asks if I'm willing to put my life on the line to help the Governor and Yendor. When I say YES, tells me to go see governor. 

• Governor: Annoyed that I'm bothering him until I speak to Dewey first. One of four governors on the Council. There are mines in the Northern  Mountains, the Coastal Caverns, and the Eastern Mountains. Recaps the main plot of the game.

     

The governor is in bed when I talk to him, but that doesn't seem to be a problem.

      

• Lynn: Can see into the future. For us, sees great battles, a big group, important people, a dark cave, and a celebration. She says that very soon we will "join with many people and witness a great tragedy," and that she and I will speak again. 

• Alexander: Owns the weapon and armor shops, which are run by his sons. 

• The armor shop sells wooden shields, copper shields, gold shields, cloth armor, robes, leather armor, ring mail, and steel shields +1. Each item has a minimum required strength.

      

Browsing the armor selection.

       

• The weapon shop sells bolts, staves, daggers, clubs, hammers, maces, flails, knives, short swords, spears, hand axes, broad swords, morning stars +1, and cross bows +1. They have both minimum strength and dexterity requirements. 

• Bailey: Looking for a flail to defend himself against thieves. There are several bands northeast of Saccate, "around the thieves' town."  

• Warren: Guards the gates at the south end of the town and watches the horses tied up there. You cannot take horses into any of the shops. 

   

My starting gold doesn't go very far. I buy everyone except my wizard (who can't carry one) wooden shields, then upgrade the wizard and one of my clerics to robes. 

   

When I go to leave the town, I get a taste of the justice system. Apparently, while testing the controls, I tried to attack an NPC earlier. This results in the party being arrested and send to jail in the town of Mantov, where they can pay a fine (I don't have enough gold) or "serve time" by literally just sitting there and letting a few days pass in real time. 

     

Still superior to Arena's system of inflicting capital punishment for every offense.

       

When I get out, rather than immediately exploring another city, I just head for the exit to get a sense of the bigger world. Mantov turns out to be on the coast, with water to the south. I start heading east and soon run into the entrance to a mine. I start to poke around a bit, but I can't get far without a mine cart, so I save it for later.

    

If you say so.

      

A few steps down the road, and I encounter a group of archmages. I'm absolutely slaughtered before I can even act. 

       

This did not go well. They were all capable of spells from a distance.

       

On a reload, I try going the other way, and this time meet battle against two spiders. At least they don't have ranged attacks. Battle in this game mimics Ultima V: It takes place on a separate screen that provides an inset of the terrain in the main exploration window. Each round, characters can move one space, attack, or cast a spell. Attacking and casting brings up a targeting cursor. Adjacent enemies can be attacked on the diagonal.

      

Targeting a spider in combat.

       

One annoyance is that when it's a character's turn, a selector blinks exactly once and then disappears, so if you lose track of whose turn it is, you have to guess. Also like Ultima V, the two spiders nonsensically drop treasure chests when the battle is over. Each contains multiple items: gold, Nuore, and different types of ore. Each one tells me that there is "no trap," so I guess traps are possible. Clerics have spells to safely open chests.

     

Unfortunately, I'm killed in my next battle against two alligators, a snake, and a swamp troll. On subsequent reloads, I get slaughtered by skeletons and goblins and ultimately end up restarting the game so I don't get hijacked from the starting city so soon.

   

Some miscellaneous notes:

    

• The game has only one save slot.

• I can't find any way to interact with things that look like they ought to be interactable, like chests and items in shops. (U)se only applies to inventory items; (L)ook just gives you a description; (P)ick up simply doesn't work. There's no command to search or open.

• You can rest and heal in the outdoors (in towns, you have to stay in the inn).

       

Resting right in front of the city.

       

• There is no food system. 

   

I'm going to wrap up there, a little earlier than I'd like, because I'd really like to have a map and manual for the game. (I already have the "Readme" document that came with the game; it begins with a section called "Game Information" and ends with one called "ATTENTION." I get the impression that registered users got a more complete manual.) If not, I'm sure I'll figure it  out.

   

Time so far: 2 hours 

     

**** 

 

Further Reading:

   

My coverage of the games that I think most influenced Yendorian Tales: Book I: 

 

• Ultima V: Warriors of Destiny (1988)
• Ultima VI: The False Prophet (1990)  

 

 05/08/2026