********** DARKLANDS ********** HUNT VALLEY, MD _ MicroProse Software, Inc., famous worldwide for its high-quality entertaining simulations of combat and adventure, will release DARKLANDS, its first true fantasy role-playing game, this fall. Set in 15th Century Medieval Germany, DARKLANDS will be as realistic and challenging a simulation as previous MicroProse releases. "The common thread of all of our titles, from GUNSHIP to RAILROAD TYCOON, is that they have an intellectual core," said Arnold Hendrick, DARKLANDS' game designer. "DARKLANDS will be no different _ the problems and tasks the gamer will face are straight from the events and attitudes of Medieval Germany." 15th Century Germany was a time of violence and corruption and was an era with three Popes simultaneously in charge, powerless emperors, gangster nobles and venal clergymen. DARKLANDS recreates this period and emphasizes the beliefs of the time: witches worshipping the devil, people praying to saints to produce real miracles, alchemists turning lead into gold and dragons inhabiting caves. Players will explore a vast map of Germany with a party of four adventurers created from the likes of nobles, swordsmen, mercenaries, thieves, alchemists, monks and several more. Millions of different character types will be possible by choosing from 26 attributes and skills. The ultimate goal of the game will be to achieve fame and immortality on multiple quests, many of them simultaneous. Quests will be created by an "adventure generator" for endless replayability. DARKLANDS will be released for IBM-compatibles and will require 640K of RAM. The game will support AdLib, Roland, Tandy and IBM sounds, and EGA, MCGA/VGA and Tandy 16-color graphics. A hard disk will be required and a mouse recommended. MicroProse Software, Inc. designs and markets a full line of entertainment software for personal computers, Nintendo Entertainment Systems and coin operated arcade games. Its products are available nationally and internationally though major distributors, retailers and mass merchants. MicroProse also markets products developed by Paragon Software and Legend Entertainment. IBM and Tandy are registered trademarks of International Business Machines and Tandy Corporation, respectively. Ad Lib is a registered trademark of Ad Lib, Inc. Roland is a registered trademark of Roland Corporation.