In a Time of Roguelike Chimpanzees I was a Monkey

Tonamel on 9/4/2010 at 08:52

Well, great. Now I'm addicted to Crawl. Thanks. :mad:

Anyway, has anyone here played (http://roguelikefiction.com/) Legerdemain? It bills itself as a roguelike, but it seems a lot more like Ultima than NetHack. I've only gotten to the first town, so maybe I'm wrong. Is it worth sticking with? Certainly an interesting experiment, if nothing else.

Kolya on 10/4/2010 at 01:15

A Thief roguelike: (http://iceyboard.no-ip.org/projects/saffron/) Saffron

Quote:

The player is a thief, who completes missions using skill, stealth and gadgets. After completing a task, the player is given a score based on how stealthily they completed the task. Tasks can be completed in any order or repeated to improve scores.

Inline Image:

http://iceyboard.no-ip.org/images/saffron1.png

doctorfrog on 10/4/2010 at 04:50

Quote Posted by Tonamel

Welcome!

I have to admit that I'm intrigued by Legerdemain but haven't played it. It has hand-made maps, not randomly generated ones, so some might grumble, but it's rogue enough for this thread.

As for how good it is, I cannot say, but if you enjoy it, please share more. See also this excellent review at GameSetWatch: (http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/10/column_play_phenomedom_on_5_co.php)

doctorfrog on 12/4/2010 at 05:40

(http://playthisthing.com/incursion-halls-goblin-king) PlayThisThing reviews Incursion.

I haven't tried it yet, because I'm not in the mood to try a balls-to-the-wall hard RL, but once it gets a more solid release status, Incursion looks to be a tough, exciting game set in an incredibly dangerous place.

The hook is that the game intends to emulate current tabletop RPG rules and offer massive depth and complexity. Bit of a no-nonsense mission statement that appeals very strongly to a certain kind of player (who is not me):

Quote:

Mechanical Depth: A very strong design goal in the creation of Incursion was the translation of the mechanical depth of the OGL tabletop system into a computer game setting. Commercial games have frequently ignored a great deal of the complexity of this system when they adapt it in order to simplify it to a reasonable degree. The fundamental challenge of Incursion was to try and provide a level of mechanical richness comparable to that of the tabletop game, even though the rules aren't all the same. Decide for yourself if we've succeeded!

I also really like the possibilities shown by this screenshot:

Inline Image:

http://www.incursion-roguelike.org/ss%20-%20parthenion.gif

Note the mix of 'organic' cave walls and an artificial structure contained within. I love Crawl, but the maps are very clearly random and meaningless for the most part, and there's little sense of any actual design to the dungeon, in spite of the addtion of little handmade touches scattered throughout. Incursion seems to be taking this up a notch.

Shadowcat on 12/4/2010 at 09:28

Inline Image:

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5985/pewpewpewk.jpg (s)

doctorfrog on 16/4/2010 at 23:48

Another notable roguelike has updated: Powder has hit version 113.

(http://www.zincland.com/powder/index.php?pagename=about)

Inline Image:

http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/2276/roomofmonsters.png

Though it isn't as towering a figure as Crawl or Nethack, Powder is a really unique RL:

- developed specifically for portability to portable devices, there's a Powder port for nearly anything with a screen and flash memory
- designed originally for the Game Boy Advance, Powder can be played with something as simple as a four button game controller, or with a mouse, or the Nintendo DS.
- simple gameplay, great for new players
- great depth of play and item interaction for the simplicity of the control system
- unique graphical look
- interesting, free-flowing god system. Unlike Crawl, the gods are always monitoring you and aren't afraid to interfere, even if you're not worshiping them
- it's hard. the levels are small, but the play is tactical and if you don't pay attention, you'll soon be a pile of bones.

In short, it's fun and easy to get into, but it doesn't hold your hand like a baby. The intro tutorial is decent, but Crawl's is still much better. And if you want a roguelike on your DS, it's the only show in town, and not a bad one, either.

doctorfrog on 29/7/2010 at 08:14

*Rise from your grave*

Crawl 0.7 has release, with a spiffy improved tileset, a better tutorial, and official support for the super-quick, super-hard Dungeon Sprint variant:
(http://img62.imageshack.us/i/20100729011253.png/)

Inline Image:

http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/1620/20100729011253.th.png

Also fairly big news, August heralds the annual (http://crawl.akrasiac.org/tourney10/) Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup Tournament. Join a clan and compete! Or, be like me, and join a clan, and embarrass yourself. You have until August 15 to join.

I already spent way too much time editing a post over at that other forum, (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3332877) so head on over there and bump this TTLG thread if you have any questions or want to chat about Crawl or any other roguelikes in a quieter atmosphere.

(Indeed, I am practicing on CAO now.)
(http://img706.imageshack.us/i/20100729010818.png/)

Inline Image:

http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/4354/20100729010818.th.png

Renzatic on 30/7/2010 at 23:53

For those of you who want to try something new in the world of roguelikes, or prefer a little more action in their games, I recommend (http://teknopants.com/games/shootfirst/) Shoot First. A fun game with lots of shooting and dying, sporting a nice NES style graphical and aural motif.

I've been playing it for an hour now, and still have yet to get past the second floor. I blame my funky controller setup.

june gloom on 31/7/2010 at 11:11

I love how 4 and a half months later nobody's commented on how completely nonsensical the title is.

Yes I know it's taken from Beck. If anything that makes it worse.

Trance on 31/7/2010 at 20:00

Try the first post if you're looking for commentary.