ROGUELIKES
polycounter lvl 19
I can't get enough of Brogue, I've been playing it on the iPad before bedtime for the last 3 months now. Anyone else a fan or fan of Rogue-likes in general? I missed out on the net-hack craze, a coworker kept raving about it but I was totes into Diablo at the time and didn't have any time for ascii art.
Replies
You might like the Roguelike Radio podcast. I think I've listened to about 1/3rd to 1/2 of them so far. They dig pretty deep into the design and development of rogue-likes. I highly recommend it.
EDIT:
I just remembered Fatal Labyrinth for the Sega Genesis, that was definitely the first rogue-like I played.
Still haven't beaten that one time where I picked up a wand right next to the entrance and permenantly polymorphed my kitten into a Jabberwocky. Which I then saddled and rode around as it pretty much slaughtered everything.
that deserves a comic or at least an illustration!
I guess I'm a fan of coffee break rogue-likes, 100 Rogues on the ipad drew me into it and then I started playing Brogue when a recent update caused 100 Rogues to generate floors with no exit. Brogue on the iPad is very simple to control because of the touch screen, no need to memorize all the shortcut keys.
Diablo was heavily influenced by Rogue. I do like the other Diablo influenced ARPGs that have come out but it would be interesting to see one that looked back at the roots. How would one play if it removed experience for killing monsters or randomized scroll & potion names that you had to try out in order to find out what they do?
I highly recommend FTL, great soundtrack and an interesting take on the genre that doesn't stick to it's fantasy roots.
FTL has permadeath (and is amazing) but in no way is it a roguelike.
Yeah, I'm eventually planning to do the same. You probably already know about it, but just in case, there's a great thread on procedural generation over on TIGSource: Braving Procedural Generation.
Oh, and here's a cool series of articles on maze generation algorithms, which might prove useful.
@Jackablade:
Nethack sounds like loads of fun. I think I'll have to find some time for it.
@NickGW:
Man I completely forgot about Desktop Dungeons, what a great game! I never could beat it though even after playing it for a month straight. I had everything unlocked but just couldn't beat the last boss :poly127:
@Slum and ZacD:
The guys on the Roguelike radio podcast started calling games like Spelunky, FTL, Binding of Isaac, etc... "roguelike-likes", but either way I think it's great to see the mechanics of roguelikes making their way into other game genres.
Yeah it was really fun back when I played it well over a year ago. Looked into it after replying to this thread and the game has changed (at least visually) quite a bit. I might give it another go.
If you dig roguelikes, Teleglitch should not be missed. Seriously, play it.
[ame="
Yeah that's a serious graphics overhaul, it looks like a completely new game. I haven't played it since 2010 (I think...) I wonder how much has been changed in terms of gameplay.
@Geezus:
Thanks for mentioning Teleglitch. Last I looked it was Windows only and I had written it off. Now I see they've released for Mac and Linux too, yay!
If you have an Android device there is a rougelike called Pixel Dungeon which is inspired by Brogue. The best part is that it is regularly updated and completely free with no ads.
Speaking of Doom- http://doom.chaosforge.org/
:poly127:
[ame="
Crawl is good.
I'm feeling cold, feels like a fever, I hope it's just been from sleeping on the cold concrete floor. Oww! more pain... no... it's probably this chest wound. Yup it's got a strange smell to it too. That's really bad... I was hoping sleep would've helped me feel better. This certainly hasn't been a good day, though I guess it could've gone a lot worse... Because last night the world ended.
After the emergency broadcast sirens had gone off I ran to and hid in the nearest evacuation shelter. I hadn't been paying much attention to the news lately so I had no idea what was going on. Were we at war? There certainly were enough gunshots, screams, and thankfully distant explosions last night at least for a while anyway. Then just an eerie quiet calm. The evacuation shelter console said to stay calm and wait for rescue, so I stayed put. It seemed safer in there than outside anyway. At some point I must've dozed off because the next thing I knew it was morning. As far as I could tell no one else had shown up.
Peeking out one of the windows I saw some thin smoke rising near the edge of the forrest to the west. To the north towards town I thought I saw some people walking about. Well they looked like people shuffling around, but something about them made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. No cars moving on the roads either, that seemed pretty strange too. To the south a empty road. To the east more woods and houses.
Those "people" to the north seemed to be slowly coming toward the shelter. I figured I'd better not stick around. Where to go though? I wasn't too familiar with this town. There was the bar and a couple of houses to the south west. The rest of the town sprawled up north, drugstore, shopping, lots of homes, lot's of "people".
I decided to go south to the road, then I figured I'd head west to the bar, maybe there'd be some some survivors there.
Heading south I saw a police officer dressed in full riot gear walking along the road. Yes! a survivor... a few seconds later he turned towards me. Behind his face mask I saw putrid flesh. Cold lifeless black eyes met mine. Shit! WTF! He started to run towards me. I ran west toward the forrest maybe I could lose him in the trees. All I kept thinking as I ran was zombies are supposed to be slow! Every time I looked back though it seemed like he was getting closer.
As I approached the tree line I saw what had been making the smoke I noticed earlier, wreckage of some military transport. Black twisted shreds of metal lay everywhere. I saw various unburnt things scattered about as well. There! a army helmet and some body armor! Looking over my shoulder the zombie cop was closing in, he'd be on me in moments. Quickly I threw on the ill fitting body armor and helmet and picked up a nearby branch that looked like it might make do for a sturdy club. I turned to face the oncoming zombie cop trying to place the wreckage between it and myself. With unthinking rage it ran straight through the wreckage gouging and tearing it's own flesh off in the process. Unfazed it kept on towards me. Feeling a little more brave with my new found armor I stood my ground and waited. I struck it again and again as it tangled itself up on more of the wreckage. Surprisingly it went down rather easily... whew... that wasn't so bad I thought.
Looking closer at the zombie cop I saw that he still had his gun which I took, though sadly it was empty. Picking through the wreckage I found a flare gun and a handful of flares that might come in handy too.
All that running in the sun had made me quite thirsty, and after that close call with the zombie I sure could use a cold drink. The bar beaconed to me and I answered by heading south again.
By the time I got close the bar the adrenaline from my previous encounter had worn off and I decided I'd better be more careful. I saw some more zombies near some parked cars next to the bar so I snuck around to the back of the bar through the woods.
The back door was locked. Trying to make as little noise as possible I forced my way in. Sadly the place had already been ransacked... I did find a lighter though.
Hoping for better luck at the house next door I snuck past an alleyway. I could hear something moving about at the other end. Quickly I again forced my way in through the back door. I found myself in a bedroom. The bed looked comfy, but I could hear things outside that I'm sure weren't friendly. In the kitchen it seemed as though everyone had juse up and left in the middle of a meal. I helped myself to what looked edible and stuffed my pockets with the rest. I still hadn't found anything safe to drink and I was getting awfully thirsty.
I must've made too much noise because all of a sudden some zombies crashed in through the windows and started to come for me. I rushed out the way I came in closing doors behind me as I went. Luckily they didn't seem to know how to open doors. I ran back towards the road through the woods.
I must've not noticed it on my way in but as I crossed the road northeast of the bar a horrific dog like thing ran at me from down the street. It was fast! and it caught up to me before I got to the tree line on other side of the road. I swung at it but it dodged under my club and bit into my chest. I figured the steel plate in the armor I was wearing should stop it... but somehow it just bit right through it. The pain was intense. In a blink of an eye it lunged toward my throat as I desperately reached for the flare gun I had found earlier.
"EAT THIS!!!" I screamed as I pulled the trigger. BAM! the flare shot right into it's gaping maw up into it's skull and brain. Whatever it was died in a burning explosion flesh and gore. I staggered back to my feet and back headed towards the evac shelter. I didn't know how bad I was hurt, but I hoped I could make it back and that rescue would finally arrive.
Passing the wrecked transport I noticed that zombie cop's body was missing. I guess it hadn't died after all... that sent chills down my spine. I've got to get out of here I thought.
Back at the evac shelter I made my way to the basement. I figured I could hide down there until rescue arrived. Night was approaching and I didn't want to stay up on the ground level where something might see me. I broke apart some benches and took the wood downstairs with me.
The basement was pitch black but thankfully empty of anything hostile. I started a small fire in the corner for some light and warmth.
Now here I am the fire's out and I'm feeling rather light headed. Touching my chest I think I've been bleeding some more. I don't think rescue is coming. I don't think I'll make it through the night without finding something to treat this wound. There's a drug store in town north of here and a doctor's office further north deeper into town past that. Those are probably my best chance of survival. I'll have to get past the zombies, hopefully they can't see in the dark any better than I can.
Feeling pain with every step and stumbling through the darkness. I head east into the woods then start heading north towards town.
All of a sudden as I move through the trees I'm illuminated the headlights of an abandoned camper van in the middle of a road. I've stumbled into a sort of cul-de-sac. I duck back behind some trees and brush, I hope nothing saw me. Peeking back toward the light I see some large figures lumbering toward me. Damn! Zombies, big ones...
They won't take me without a fight. I pull out my lighter and set the surrounding bushes on fire. As the zombies approach I see they're grotesquely bloated. I hope it's not from feasting on people, but I don't have much time to dwell on it as the close in. Without fear they step into the flames in front of me. I meet them on the other side of the fire swinging wildly with my club. I score some lucky hits and they go down. I don't have time to savor my victory as my chest throbs with pain reminding me of my urgent need of medical attention.
As I run past the camper van toward the front entrance of the drug store more zombies see me. Luckily they're on the other side of the van. As they try to break their way through the van to get at me I run around the corner hoping the drugstore has a back entrance.
Around the back there's a door. It's unlocked! I open it and step inside. Suddenly a small child and a dog both lunge at me from the darkened store room. I realize both are zombies and try to swing my club at them but by now my hands are shaking from the pain I can't land a hit. Desperately I again pull out my flare gun, only two flares left... BAM! the zombie kid goes down. As it's former pet in life bites at me I dodge away and reload. BAM! the zombie dog dies as well.
I did it! I'm alive! I made it to the drugstore! I think as the flare gun drops from my grasp and I clutch my chest wound in sudden pain. My hand comes away very bloody. More blood rushes out of the wound. The floor rushes up to meet my face and darkness closes in...
Thus ended the life of my first character in Cataclysm Dark Days Ahead. It's quite fun and rather immersive if you use your imagination just a bit. I highly recommend it.
Just pointing out the online book Procedural Content Generation in Games and the Procedural Content Generation Wiki in case you (or anyone else that's interested) haven't already seen them.
I fucking love rougelikes, this thread game me a hadron collider
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Batmud is kinda text based though, some rougelike stuff.
I love how fast it is. You can do a complete run in about 20 minutes, there's none of the conventional exploration, stat-and-kit-building elements that usually consume a lot of time in full roguelikes like nethack, crawl, adom, tome, whatever. It takes a streamlined approach to every aspect of the genre. Instead of ratcheting difficulty up over a long time, the difficulty is intrinsically linked to how many points you try and pull off in a run, so the skill ceiling is pretty high. If DoomRL was a coffeebreak roguelike, then this thing is the crack rock roguelike.
Recently I've also played a tiny bit of Frozen Depths which has a nice cold theme and Infra Arcana which is based on fiction by H.P. Lovecraft and is really challenging.
@Fwap:
I haven't tried any MUDs, but Cataclysm DDA has single player and a sort of multiplayer mode.
The multiplayer mode connects you to a server running a persistent game world which only gets reset when the game is updated. In that mode you don't run into any other players directly but everyone interacts with and influences the same world state simultaneously. So any changes you make to the world are visible to and affect the other players. Loot a house, break some windows and furniture, that house is then in the same state when other players encounter it. Hide a cache of supplies somewhere and someone else could find it and take your stuff. Build a base, someone could help you reinforce it, or another player could burn it down. So basically the world has a more lived in feel which experiences the entropy of having many players existing in it.
Gonna download this! Thanks for the headsup, BRO.