Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 16 Jan 2008 16:27:00 GMT
There’s a great podcast discussion with Tarn Adams on GeekNights. Tarn, as you may or may not know, is one half of the Dwarf Fortress team, and its sole programmer. The other half, Zach (also Tarn’s brother), develops stories which Tarn makes work within Dwarf Fortress’s intimidating game engine.
The podcast focuses on Dwarf Fortress, but Tarn touches on a variety of subjects, from his older games to his thoughts on gaming and game design in general. I found it to be pretty fascinating.
And, I gotta say, for a self-described introvert and the developer behind one of the most insanely detailed games ever made, Tarn is very well-spoken and sounds really down-to-earth. Respect!
Posted in Roguelikes, Community, Interviews | Tags TarnAdams | 11 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:16:00 GMT
Legerdemain is an interesting Roguelike hybrid that eschews the typical fantasy setting and randomly-generated dungeons of the Roguelike genre in favor of a surreal storyline which you have to uncover piece by piece. The developer also states that the game is influenced, part, by Interactive Fiction.
The game opens by asking you questions to “shape your philosophy as a Manipulator.” Manipulation is the “magic” of Phenomedom, an ancient art that few understand and many are fearful of. Once your character is created, you awake in a Doobah prison cell, an amnesiac. Although your ultimate goal is to “uncover a vast conspiracy full of morbid secrets and ancient puzzles,” your immediate one is to escape the prison. Grabbing the prime brush laying next you (a tool used for manipulation), you set out on your quest.
The repetitiveness of the first dungeon put me off a bit, but once you emerge into the overworld, things definitely pick up. Examining points of interest (represented by ”?”), collecting “paragraphs” (large chunks of storyline), and talking to the various inhabitants of the world of Phenomedom is quite engaging – you can hail, chat, gossip, offer, or ask people about keywords that get brought up during conversation. Even though combat initially seems shallow compared to other Roguelikes, there’s no lacking in things to see or learn once you escape the Doobah prison.
All in all, Legerdemain is a bold experiment that runs the risk of alienating fans of RLs, RPGs, or IF because it’s not quite any of them. Still, the world of Phenomedom is a captivating one, and there’s obviously a lot under the hood that’s there to be discovered.
Note: The game is programmed in Java and requires a Java Virtual Machine (at least 1.4) to run. A link for this download is on the developer’s website.
(Source: Slash, via Rogue Temple)
Posted in RPG, Interactive Fiction, Roguelikes, Windows, Freeware | Tags NathanJerpe | 10 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 14 Jan 2008 16:18:00 GMT
For those that missed it, Mike Mayday has compiled various Dwarf Fortress graphics tilesets into a single package that includes the latest release of the game. The tilesets are already linked, so all you need to do is download it and run. So far, this is the easiest way to play DF with graphics, and even though it’s not perfect, it looks pretty darn good!
More screenshots: 1 | 2 | 3
Also, via Chris Hildebrandt, some wishful thinking for you.
Posted in Roguelikes, Community | Tags TarnAdams | 33 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Thu, 01 Nov 2007 12:42:00 GMT
Dwarf Fortress PSA #1: “Vomit Kills. The More You Know!“
The Great Toady One (aka Tarn Adams) has released a new version of the game that (hopefully) fixes a lot of the issues from the last release, including the lag caused by the weather.
Toady is a developer I really admire. Not only for his Herculean work ethic and dedication to craft, but because, as far as I can tell, he’s a genuinely nice fellow who lives simply and earnestly. He also takes serious care to listen to his fans. One in a million, this guy:
In any case, yeah, I did run myself a little thin here. I think what I’m going to do is put up at least one crash/lag fix release sometime soonish, then take a week. I’ll still be doing forums and email since I can’t afford to let pages of posts and pages of inbox to pile up. Of course, as for what I’ll do with that time… probably mess around with other game ideas I’ve been sitting on. Sad, but I don’t have to worry about bugs or responsibility with those projects, so it’s like a vacation.
What a frickin’ machine. From this thread.
I definitely urge anyone who gets a kick out of this game to send some bucks over to show your support! I’m sending over $30 today so that I can see what Dwarf Fortress is like in the year 2017.
(Thanks, Nikica!)
Posted in Roguelikes, Windows, Developers, Freeware | Tags TarnAdams | 14 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 29 Oct 2007 17:59:00 GMT
Version 0.27.169.32a of Dwarf Fortress, or, as I like to call it, “Bob,” has just been released. From the release notes:
Well, it has been a while. That means potential instability, so don’t get too attached to your fortresses at this point. I’ll be doing subsequent releases more often now as I solve problems. In any case, dwarf mode now has a z-axis and you can make fortresses that span several levels. Fluids behave much more reasonably, and you can walk across the world in adventure mode in the local view without having to step off of an artificial edge. And various other lots more stuff.
The z-axis is amazing. As you can see in the screenshot, my newly created human swordsman can peer into the bottom of the lake, as well as spy part of a second story in the building. Shortly after, he climbed some logs onto the second story and then promptly fell back down again, stunning himself. Pretty embarrassing thing to do right in front of the Mayor of the city.
Toribash 3.0 and now this. Pants officially esploded.
Posted in Roguelikes, Windows, Freeware | Tags TarnAdams | 37 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:30:00 GMT
Diavolo no daibouken is a simplistic graphical Roguelike that stars Diavolo, the main villain of part 5 of the manga JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. It has all the trappings of your average dungeon crawl, only the theme is incredibly… well, bizarre. I mean, look at that screenshot! It’s fantastic!
Since I don’t speak Japanese, I’ve only been able to figure out some of the basic gameplay mechanics through experimentation. But with our powers combined, maybe we can piece together a complete picture? Anyone care to translate the website?
(Source: Canned Dogs, via Shapermc!)
Hit the extended for what we know so far:
Read more...
Posted in Unique / Bizarre, Roguelikes, Windows, Freeware, Doujin | 12 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Sat, 29 Sep 2007 06:47:00 GMT
Sci-fi roguelikes are a nice change of pace from the usual fantasy games, and Xenocide is a pretty good one. The first thing you’ll notice is how developed the UI is. Exploring has never been easier, thanks to intuitive menus and various shortcuts. I especially like the “Explore” command, which automatically hunts out new passageways, until something interesting pops up. The tutorial mode is much appreciated, as well!
The game is in no way easy, though, and even the weaker enemies pose a serious threat to your health and happiness. Weapons and ammo, I’ve noticed, are pretty scarce, too, at least in the earlier levels. Actually, it would have been nice to see more useful items appear in general.
There are four classes you can start with: Combat, Medical, Scientist, and Mechanic. The Mechanic is my personal favorite, as it lets you build robots to help you in battle, by combining robot CPUs and other items. You could probably build an entire game around this idea alone.
Xenocide is a solid Roguelike that could definitely benefit from some more development, but it’s already a pretty slick package overall. I was pleasantly surprised by how much the sound and music added to the atmosphere.
If you’re interested, check out a more thorough review at the Rogue Temple.
Posted in Roguelikes, Windows, Freeware | 14 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Fri, 21 Sep 2007 15:34:00 GMT
Kornel Kisielewicz, creator of DoomRL and other popular Roguelikes, has made his DiabloRL open-source, saying:
As I don’t have as much time to develop DiabloRL as I would like, I decided to release it’s source code under the
GPL licence. Also I created a project for DiabloRL
on SourceForge, where a
SVN repository is set up for DiabloRL.
As an added bonus, I add the most recent version (basically the one that has been on the DiabloRL beta tests forum) for download, and its source code too.
(Source: Rogue Temple)
Posted in Roguelikes, Developers | Tags KornelKisielewicz | 6 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Mon, 20 Aug 2007 06:25:00 GMT
Slash, who runs the wonderful Temple of the Roguelike, wrote to inform me that version 1.26 of his CastlevaniaRL is finished! The game has been out a while, but a crashing bug with the graphical version kept me from posting about it. Now that is totally fixed and the game is very much playable in both ASCII or tiles!
CastlevaniaRL remains very true to the series it’s based off, and it’s both a blessing and a curse (pun?), since it kind of compromises both Castlevania games and Roguelike games, in my opinion. At its best, CastlevaniaRL can be a fun and fast-paced RL, filled with awesome shout-outs to the original games, and at it’s worst, it mixes the linearity of action games with the complexity of Roguelikes.
A good example of this problem, I think, is Stage 2, when you are forced to cross a very long, narrow, Castlevania-esque bridge, guarded by mermen and skeletons. Here, the possibilities for exploration and tactical strategy that make RL’s so interesting are diminished, and yet the controls remain cumbersome. Having to jump over a gap in the bridge (by first pressing “j” and then choosing a direction for my jump) feels like something I’m forced to do simply because Castlevania had me do it, and not because it serves the game’s design.
Still, CastlevaniaRL has many, many great things going for it, including some really interesting class options and a beautiful graphical tileset. The way Slash handled movement between different elevations is awesome, too. And at it’s heart, it’s a fun game that’s simple enough for a beginner to get into, but with enough challenge and variety to interest longer-time players. But in order to reach “classic” status, I think there needs to be more focus on balancing the game to be a Roguelike over being true to Castlevania.
Posted in Roguelikes, Windows, Freeware | Tags Slash | 7 comments
Posted by Derek Yu
Wed, 15 Aug 2007 05:58:00 GMT
Transcendence is a space-faring action game that’s, by the author’s account, inspired by two of the (arguably) greatest games of all time, Nethack and Star Control II. Oh boy, do I love those games! Well, while Transcendence doesn’t really match either in terms of depth or sheer enjoyment (but then again, what could), it’s still a gem in its own right.
In the game, you play an anonymous starship captain who must journey to the Galactic Core and unravel some mysteries and stuff. If you’ve played games like Escape Velocity or Flatspace, you know what’s in store… space pirates, galactic federations, mysterious aliens, and laser battles in space. Spend credits to upgrade your ship’s shields and weapons. Earn credits by looting wrecks, escorting freighters, and exploring deep space.
Transcendence is not a terribly deep game, but it’s more than competent all the way around. The clean graphics and simplicity of the interface make it very easy to get into, and the Roguelike-esque randomization and number of options gives it plenty of replayability. Definitely worth checking out.
(EDIT: I should also mention that the game is currently at v0.98 and that the author has a more content planned for future versions.)
Posted in Roguelikes, Windows, Action / Arcade, Freeware
