Roguelike with combinable themes

[PerspectivDesigns]

This is a reposting of another topic I posted. I found everybody was completely misunderstanding my idea, so I've decided to rewrite it.

I've started work on a roguelike that will have many themes that can be combined. It will be possible to choose a world type, along with two or three theme combinations. It would be possible to play a straight forward fantasy roguelike, a western with zombies, ancient Egypt alien invasion, or any number of combinations. It would be possible to make weird combinations, but I think that too could be amusing.

Many themes would include a world (like the fantasy theme). But others would just be a theme.

Worlds wouldn't be a regular dungeon. Worlds will be randomly generated over worlds with buildings and other landmarks. Many worlds will have dungeons though.

Every theme will include species (npcs and player characters), items, building, quests, and some unique game mechanics. Worlds will have different types of terrain, plants, landmarks, and some buildings.

Here's my list of themes and worlds I've thought of so far. Tell me what you think some neat combinations would be! Use your imaginations.

Fantasy:
   High Fantasy : World and Theme
   Low Fantasy : World and Theme
   Mythology : World and Theme
   Fairy Tales : World and Theme
   Angels and Demons : Theme
Sci-Fi:
   Near Future : World and Theme
   Far Future : World and Theme
   Extreme Far Future : World and Theme
   Hard Sci-Fi : World and Theme
   Cyberpunk : World and Theme
   Cyberspace : Theme
   Alien invasion : Theme
   Alien Planet : World
Historical:
   Modern : World
   Medieval : World and Theme
   War (WWII type stuff) : Theme
   Western : World and Theme
   Pirates : World and Theme
   Martial Arts : Theme
   Spies : Theme
   Dinosaurs : World and Theme
   Iceage : World and Theme
   Adventure (king kong, indiana jones, tintin) : Theme
   Ancient Times (Greece, Rome, Asia, Egypt) : World and Theme
   Victorian Era: World
   1900's Noire : World and Theme
Other:
   Steam Punk : World and Theme
   Horror : Theme
   Lovecraft Mythos : Theme
   Sorcery : Theme
   Zombie Apocalypse : Theme
   Post Apocalypse : Theme
   Insects : World and Theme
   Monsters : Theme
   Anthropomorphic Animals : Theme
   Vampires : World and Theme

[guest509]

Many have had this idea but none have implemented it.

I've tried to plan out a cohesively designed game, a GURPS of Roguelikes, that includes a ton of genres.

The problem is that tropes across genres do not translate well generically.

I looked toward super hero type games for inspiration. Inspired paper RPG's like Carbon City and Heroes Unlimited (private message me if you want my copies). Comics span fantasy to scifi to mystery to western...

The thing is there has never to my knowledge been a game that could truly encompass all of these different genres of fiction. And if you tried then each world would just seem a bit 'samey'.

Please do not let me dissuade you. ASCII is PERFECT for this type of endeavor, as different letters can mean different things in each 'genre'. The 'c' is a cowboy and the 'D' is Duke Wayne in the western world, or in fantasy it's a cockatrice or Dragon.

The main obstacles to overcome in my experience have been not just designing universal mechanics (Champions Online and City of Heroes did AWESOME at doing generic mechanics) but also providing adequate depth to each genre.

A sort of 'jack of all trades master of none' type of game ends up sucking.

If you make though, I will come.

[PerspectivDesigns]

Many have had this idea but none have implemented it.

I've tried to plan out a cohesively designed game, a GURPS of Roguelikes, that includes a ton of genres.

The problem is that tropes across genres do not translate well generically.

I looked toward super hero type games for inspiration. Inspired paper RPG's like Carbon City and Heroes Unlimited (private message me if you want my copies). Comics span fantasy to scifi to mystery to western...

The thing is there has never to my knowledge been a game that could truly encompass all of these different genres of fiction. And if you tried then each world would just seem a bit 'samey'.

Please do not let me dissuade you. ASCII is PERFECT for this type of endeavor, as different letters can mean different things in each 'genre'. The 'c' is a cowboy and the 'D' is Duke Wayne in the western world, or in fantasy it's a cockatrice or Dragon.

The main obstacles to overcome in my experience have been not just designing universal mechanics (Champions Online and City of Heroes did AWESOME at doing generic mechanics) but also providing adequate depth to each genre.

A sort of 'jack of all trades master of none' type of game ends up sucking.

If you make though, I will come.

I have a really advanced combat system that can accommodate every type of character. I think that will keep combat interesting.

To keep all the different genres interesting though will be harder. I want each theme to have an interesting game mechanic. Fantasy games will have dungeons, invading castles, dragon hoards to steal etc... Sci-fi can have space travel, computer simulations, high tech weapon battles etc...

To help stay focused on each theme, I'll only do one at a time. I'll start with generic High Fantasy, make it interesting and fun by itself. Then I move onto sci-fi, make it fun. Than I experiment with combining the 2. Try a fantasy world where everyone carries a laser gun, or a sci-fi world that happens to have elves.

If I need I can cut back on themes so the ones I have are fun.

Thanks for the advice!

[ekolis]

a sci-fi world that happens to have elves.

Fascinating. Illogical, but fascinating. </spock>

[Legend]

The concept sounds really cool and definitely something I would like to try.

I noticed that your list only mentions the themes and world. Not class/race. Would the player be able to choose different genre race/class to go into the worlds and themes?

[PerspectivDesigns]

The concept sounds really cool and definitely something I would like to try.

I noticed that your list only mentions the themes and world. Not class/race. Would the player be able to choose different genre race/class to go into the worlds and themes?

Thanks!  Buildings, Quests, Npcs, Classes, Characters, and items are all included in the Theme.

[guest509]

You end up having multiple game types running with the same game engine.

It's doable, it is done with pen and paper RPGs all the time.

I mean, so what if it's a flaming arrow or a blazer pistol, a fireball, grenade or molotov cocktail?

Using ascii gets you past one major hurdle, you don't have to actually draw different animations and such. Having a game engine robust enough to pull this off is the next major hurdle. Then making it actually fun...but that's a challenge in all game designs I think.