Messages

1

Programming / Re: Newbie Brainstorming

« on: July 20, 2011, 06:23:01 PM »

I'm starting to think mithral would be a good purple material, since it tends to have magical associations, though it could straddle the line between purple and silver in terms of color, since mithral is one of those high-quality mythical metals.

---

Recently picked up Dungeons of Dredmore (playing on the "Rogue" difficulty level with permadeath), and I've started to think about character skills and spells. I think I might copy some of that system, and sort those skills into different colors. Your character's color is determined by whichever you have the most of. Races could differ by starting out with bonus skills of one color ("Pick one green skill" or "All Xs start with skill Y.").

I'll expand a bit on that, later, but feel free to put a few ideas down.

2

Programming / Re: Newbie Brainstorming

« on: July 17, 2011, 05:07:14 PM »

Tossing ideas is why this thread is here, and you don't have direct access to my imagination, so don't worry.

What got me into my current roguelike mood was playing Powder on my new iPod, so yeah, it's probably having some influence on me. I have iNetHack, too, but I think I'd rather play big name on my laptop.

Making altars through some difficult procedure, or requiring a rare resource did occur to me as well. I like the idea of modifying the dungeon to your advantage, rather than just plowing through the monsters. There might be a way to use that for some metagaming, too: Build an altar, use a totem to ward the area, and you've got a new village you might re-encounter.

Some thoughts on totem materials, including possible deliberate overlaps:

Green: Wood, bone, decorated with ivory, fangs, leaves, amber.
Yellow: Stone, crystal, encrusted with gems.
Red: Glass, ceramics, tempered steel, bone, decorated with flame shapes.
Blue: Precious metals, ice, seashell, coral, feather decorations.
Silver: Iron, steel, mechanisms.
Purple: Paper, fabric, engraved with runes.

3

Programming / Re: Newbie Brainstorming

« on: July 17, 2011, 04:07:47 PM »

I do think emphasizing aspects of a god is an interesting idea, but it kind of goes against the grain of the "small gods" idea I'm going for with totems. I tend to see big gods as having broader views, and not as likely to reward or punish individuals as they would in a roguelike. But if you've got a small god being carried around by an individual who is their primary follower of the time being, they're going to exert their power more often.

4

Programming / Re: Newbie Brainstorming

« on: July 17, 2011, 02:51:53 PM »

I have given the subject some thought, and your offering suggestions according to color are good ideas. I had considered totems to have colors, hinted at with material (wood for green, stone for yellow, etcetera). Making standard sets of offerings for each color would be appropriate.

Given that each color has a 'style', they'd also have some general sets of preferred behaviors: A purple totem would most likely prefer spell casting, divination, and item identification, and discourage brute force methods.

One thought I had was that you'd gain some insights into totems by placing them at altars: In sacred places, the totem gods can speak more clearly. Blessed totems would speak without riddles or ambiguity.

Another idea I had, though it'd be more work to program is to have procedurally generated totems with descriptions that hint at the totem's desires: If the totem is a statue holding a sword, it probably prefers swords, or at least melee combat. If it's standing over a particular monster's corpse, it might prefer offerings of that monster's type. That sort of thing.

On the topic of warding a refuge, it'd make sense for villages to be built around a totem and altar. It makes me wonder if there could be a 'ruin your hometown' approach to the game, where you steal the totem, removing its protection and angering your people.

---

Separate idea: I like the idea of engraving like in NetHack. One possible application I thought of is having a different "Elbereth" for each color. Another idea that comes to mind is creating magic circles and such to be used in magic rituals.

The Oracle: A step above the totem gods, she is a (purple) goddess of knowledge whose statues appear randomly in the Labyrinth. She'll reveal bits of hidden lore when given an offering. (In short, I put obscure, undocumented tricks in the game, and she gives hints about them.)

5

Programming / Re: Newbie Brainstorming

« on: July 17, 2011, 03:50:04 AM »

Yeah, I thought it was an interesting twist. The mental image I have is the sort of "Tiki god" stereotype, with a bit of capricious/vengeful side of some Roguelike gods.

Some relevant ideas:

BUC: Cursed totems start out hating you for no particular reason, so you have to quickly figure out what will mollify them and end the punishments. Blessed totems are more forgiving than standard.

Altars: There are many 'blank' altars around. You can set a totem of yours on them to perform sacrifices. If you're in good standing with the totem, it can be used to ward enemies away from an item stash at the altar, which gives players an excuse to use more than one totem. Other altars have a totem on them you can pick up, if you get permission.

Ascended characters: Ascended characters get added to the list of totems, and their benefits and taboos are related to how that character was played.

6

Programming / Re: Newbie Brainstorming

« on: July 16, 2011, 11:39:43 PM »

I am a D&D fan, but I don't have any plans to use the "open source" stuff right now. That may change if it's easier to use. There are probably a lot of users here who made D&D-based roguelikes who I could borrow from, if they're willing.

I'm not sure how the difficulty curve will go. One obvious idea is to have it gradually increase as you move further from your home level, but I'd welcome ideas on how to change that up. Another is to simply have monsters spawn according to your character's experience, number of "story" flags tripped, or something like that.

7

Programming / Newbie Brainstorming

« on: July 16, 2011, 09:45:15 PM »

Hi, everyone. First time posting here at the Temple. I stopped by since I've gotten roguelikes on the brain, lately, and I've got the germ of a seed of an idea for a roguelike game. I thought I'd introduce myself and get some inspiration from more devoted players and programmers. My life's somewhat busy now, so if I ever decide to grind out some code, it'll be a while. So, without further ado, here's some of what I've been thinking about:

Setting: A giant dungeon complex simply known as the Labyrinth, located in its own demiplane. Viewed from outside, it appears as a series of connected floors, offset from one another. Some of these floors are open to the outside "sky" and have a developed ecosystem. No one knows who or what built the place or why it exists. (mostly because I haven't come up with those facts, yet.)

Races: In this one, you're one of the monsters. Some of the races I'm thinking of: Kobolds, goblins, imps, gremlins. In short, small humanoids who are typically the monsters in your average fantasy game. For kobolds, I'm thinking mostly the 'cutebold' version from the Kobold Camp mod of Dwarf Fortress. Gremlins are crazy tinkerers. Goblins will probably be one of the more martial races. Suggestions welcome for everything else. Adventurers who wandered into the Labyrinth will fill in the role of bosses or other tough solo creatures.

Gods: Instead of gods that are just 'out there', your average god will be in the form of a 'totem' you equip. Having a totem equipped will give you benefits if you are in good standing with the god, and you will be subject to certain codes of conduct or risk punishment. The biggest benefits will generally come from the most strict totems. I'd also like some ideas on how altars and totems could interact.

Elements/Color: I haven't fully thought this through, but there are six Colors associated with different concepts. There won't really be a scheme of elemental paper-rock-scissors, so much as a 'style' for each color. I might use it as a substitute for character class in some ways.

Red: Fire, lightning, rage, barbarians, blaster mages.
Blue: Air, water, exploration, trade, movement.
Yellow: Earth, crystal, defenders, stability, tradition.
Green: Nature, plants, animals, tribalism, druids, shamans.
Purple: Raw arcane magic, divination, secrets, madness, metamagic (magic that affects other magic).
Silver: Metal, invention, mechanics, enchanted items.

Starting out: Your character will start in a village of his race on one of the dungeon levels. You can choose to go up or down.

Metagame: I'm trying to think of some fun features. Ghosts of dead characters, totems of ascended characters, named items left behind, that sort of thing.