Messages

31

Early Dev / Re: Goblin Dungeon

« on: June 15, 2016, 07:31:46 PM »

Are the ROTMG sprites temporary?

32

Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: Cogmind (now at Alpha 9)

« on: June 15, 2016, 04:13:50 PM »

It's really just Roguelike Explosion Simulator 2016

Now you only need to add planes and skyscrapers and this will be Roguelike Terrorist Plane Simulator 2016!

And am I correct in guessing that it'll be the long-awaited sequel to "Roguelike Terrorist Plane Simulator 2001"?

33

Early Dev / Re: Post-Apocalyptic Rogue-Like Game

« on: June 13, 2016, 04:31:34 AM »

Thanks for playing.

By variety do you just mean more item drops in general? The items are not restricted by level so the full variety can potentially drop in the first levels. There is currently a victory condition in the last dungeon (finding the codex) though there are some crashes that may prevent getting it in the version currently uploaded. I'm working on putting up an update that fixes some of these issues.

How many items are there total? I suppose I meant to say in general; it just felt as if most of what I encountered was either a shroom, a mana refill, or food.

Even if the differences are only in flavor, or perhaps a small random positive/negative effect, item variety is an easy way to make a game much more interesting. The random names of scrolls and colors of potions in Nethack and Crawl work to that advantage, so do the different types of corpses and their meat.

Is the more ambitious future project (the one you mentioned in the Opening Post) also going to be post-apocalyptic?
 And will your response to feedback on this game be incorporated into a new version of this game, or directly into your next project?

34

Player's Plaza / Re: Hi! New here

« on: June 12, 2016, 12:44:46 AM »

I view ASCII interfaces as a " necessary evil"

Most people can't easily acquire art or tiles for their game, so they use ASCII. For some, this is temporary while they are still writing the game, for others it sticks and is permanent.

IMO, ASCII isn't much of an "evil" - it doesn't look bad at all. The terrain works great, especially with a dash of color. The only occasionally awkward uses are "@" (I know, shoot me) and letters for enemies.

But if you can get or make good tiles, then I say go for it.

35

Off-topic (Locked) / Re: Songs from your country

« on: June 11, 2016, 07:10:05 PM »

John Alden Carpenter: Sea-Drift is a very good American impressionist piece.
https://youtu.be/aUhDBgVbEKU

Rob Balder's Nethack song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlPgy0ysoJk

36

Early Dev / Re: Post-Apocalyptic Rogue-Like Game

« on: June 11, 2016, 06:34:52 PM »

I found it pretty fun, but the first few dungeons could stand to have some more variety in terms of items and weaponry.

Is there currently any victory condition?

37

Off-topic (Locked) / Re: I'm moving to linux.

« on: June 11, 2016, 04:22:09 AM »

I think I'm gonna change from windows 7 to linux (manjaro edition more preciselly).

I'm doing this because of the safety, customisation and also because my friend is making linux propaganda to me!

All my friends began to use Linux. I don't why it's better or preferable to Windows in a technical sense; I'd have to have a greater knowledge than I do to make any sort of judgement.

But for those friends of mine; they all have cheap-o chromebooks that were in need of a real OS, and Linux is apparently free while Windows 10 is $60. So there's a benefit for you.

38

Design / Re: Info line idea

« on: June 11, 2016, 04:08:35 AM »

Krice may be single handedly defending the Temple from Orwellian speech codes by acting as a caustic test for thin skin.  A forum without a troll to keep our guards raised is ripe for subversion by malevolent social engineers who secretly seek destruction or despotic control but peddle their thought policing in the guise of promoting a "nice safe space that's welcoming to all"

The one thing that I think I'll comment on is the 'social engineer' bit - I have an anecdote. About a week ago on a separate discussion website called "Voat" I found a very relevant thread. To summarize: The users on that site were apparently up in arms over one particular user (named "HenryCorp") who had slipped in and silently worked his way up the social ladder, becoming the moderator of ten or so sub-boards.

When the members in this thread dug up more info on him, they found some of the following:
- He had come from a similar website called Reddit, where he had done the exact same thing, accumulating over one hundred moderating positions on separate boards.
- He had taken over the top mod position on the board "guns-are-cool", which was formerly for gun-discussion. Once there he immediately began to ban the most pro-2nd Amendment and pro-Gun rights members, while simultaneously inviting in people from boards that he knew were pro-Gun Control. By the end of his scheme, the goal and entire user-base of "guns-are-cool" had been swapped 180' from its original form - now designed to host gun-control discussion.

So regardless of whether Krice is 'right' or 'wrong' or which views are good, bad, or too sensitive, it's true that subversion is a real threat to forums on the net.

The relative obscurity of Rogue Temple versus Reddit or Voat can be either a boon or a curse as well. On the one hand, you don't get too many new users - and thus are less likely to be exposed to some manipulative HenryCorp-esque psychopath. You're also less likely to be targeted by these sorts of people. Whatever political or social opinions they want to spread, they will always have a smaller audience on a smaller or slower forum, and they know this.

On the other hand, someone who has gotten past those natural barriers, who has motivation and knowledge, can more quickly gain sway with a small regular userbase - and eventually rise to moderation.

If you look at small size or obscurity - if indeed Rogue Temple can be called "small" - as a boon, then the necessity of having a resident "protector troll" goes down. (And I wouldn't label any active users here as "troll" - I find that the incessant usage of the term as a playing card in arguments and a thought-terminating end to conversation has diluted any of its real meaning. More often than not, real trolls get banned right away, or leave on their own.)

What's truly scary is the commercialization of this sort of subversion - and its happening already. Most of these HenryCorp types are just very strange, opinionated people on their own personal crusades. But the fact is: they're effective, and they, as real, responsive people, have a greater influence on internet-users than 20-second ads or pop-up coupons. They can worm into a community and gain your trust like a movie trailer never will. And once they've done that, the rest is history. Thankfully, any forum with even moderate to low traffic will be safe from this crap because of the kind of expense in time and money that it takes for a person to do this.

(and you should all buy Dawn™ Wash & Toss Laundry pads  )

The internet has been around for too many years and has touched too many people for anyone to feel confident and safe on it. I may be paranoid after the HenryCorp incident on that other website, but it's true. Most casual web usage is socially-oriented. People will only get better and better at social maneuvering, at manipulation - and they will only become more desensitized and detached from this sort of behavior - as they aren't doing it "in real life".

I see the trends in cynicism and jadedness on the web as being a natural reaction to what people sense as an increase in the force of manipulation online. But with time, things will swing back the other way, and then the vultures will get to work on the picking of our brains.

Everything is set up: technology breeds distraction and scatters your thoughts when used as a casual interface - bombarding you with colors and noise and stimulation. It promotes false anonymity, which in turn promotes lying, gossip, and scandal, which in turn serves as even greater distraction. Advertisements take the facetious state-of-mind bred by the web, and insert their own 'silly' thoughts: ("why not throw out a couple dollars for this product - just for fun"). Human interactive, possibly even AI advertising is the next step and I'm sure that it's in and around us all in places nobody expects.

Sorry for all the unrelated junk, but I wanted to add my anecdote and then couldn't stop.

39

Design / Re: Info line idea

« on: June 10, 2016, 12:08:00 PM »

It's the extreme example of adding new things to a roguelike (so much that it's not a RL anymore).  If only more devs didn't pander to the Fakebook generation with such dumbed down gameplay we might get more innovations in the hardcore RL genre.

I really agree with this. It's true that RL's need some new blood - whether that's going by people or just ideas. But at heart, an RL should play like single-player fantasy chess. The kind of game that emphasizes planning and making hard decisions, dealing with random tactical problems, etc.

Too many modern RL devs or modern "RL" players will come from other genres of game and know nothing about how to beat or at least have fun in, a traditional roguelike. Too many things are disagreeable to them.

So following the solipsistic nature of what you term "Fakebook people", they decide that they are the arbiters of what is GOOD and what is NOT - and set out to reform the RL genre.

Thus our new devs and our new players, our " new blood" and "ideas" are actually aiming to steer the RL away from its own tenets and into those of other genres, rather than strengthen its "traditional" gameplay - all because audiences want to play in their own element.

And you have many examples of this, too. Spelunky, which adds platforming, so platform players have more fun in an RL. Binding of Isaac, so shooters can have more fun in an RL. Necrodancer, so Rhythm-game players can have more fun in an RL. But none of these "Roguelites" are designed for RL-players to have more fun in an RL.

And each one simultaneously obfuscates the genre-defining challenges presented in a traditional RL by forcing a test on your reflexes, timing, or coordination.

40

Design / Re: Info line idea

« on: June 07, 2016, 11:46:27 PM »

why don't you just release what you've done so far

I googled it and found a download for 0.4.5 version of Kaduria, from years ago.
It was stashed in a public Google Drive titled "Roguelike Archive", which includes other since-taken-down games like "Warp Rogue".

Here's the link to the 'drive if you care, the download works in windows 10.
https://b04b18ee9cbabeab8fc2e4b40722d201dccd8a77.googledrive.com/host/0B2SRk3wthlxFSlJWbmhGUkduWlU/Kaduria/

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Traditional Roguelikes (Turn Based) / Re: BASMENT DWELLERS on Greenlight

« on: June 07, 2016, 11:04:44 PM »

I enjoyed it; fun & visually appealing. It's close enough to a traditional roguelike, but a bit on the simpler side and the side-scrolling bit reminded me of WazHack.

I'd like to mention that I tried the Telnet version with the Windows Telnet client, and it didn't work. The text display became unreadable after selecting a few menu options. Most likely something with the client itself, but still worth noting.

42

Design / Re: Considering when to generate random map details, all at once or as needed?

« on: June 06, 2016, 12:39:41 AM »

Generating all at once is probably easier to program, check, and debug. But it has disadvantages, in that it will be harder to change the level "on the fly".

If a player sets off some kind of unknown trap in one area of a level, you can add in a slight chance for the player to then walk into a room with a collapsed ceiling, lava floor, etc, later on as a consequence. This is easier to do if you generate piece by piece as the player explores, using percent chances to determine what sort of "piece" comes next.

So I believe it is better and possibly more fun not to generate an entire level at once, but I might be coming at it in a rather narrow-minded fashion.

43

Off-topic (Locked) / Re: The bullshitty rules of 12 bay games.

« on: May 31, 2016, 04:44:55 AM »

Yeah I believe Tarn Adams and Bay 12 are based in the USA. Although the ban seems pretty harsh even if it is a very conservative discussion board.