So, I have found this neat little game which I find pretty fun,
Mines of Elderlore.
It is a 8DRL (as of now
) which consists on exploring the Mines to find "your true nemesis" (quoting the creator).
What is really original about this one is that every object is represented by 2 characters. This way, a level 1 monster is a M1, and a level 2 monster is a M2. Quick important info available at a glance! It's a really cool idea, in my opinion. Also, the movement is only orthogonal, but I find it suits the way of looking at the game much better than the classical 8-way movement.
There are different weapons with different properties, and you auto-select the best possible weapon of a certain class by pressing a number. You still have to figure out which weapon is best for every occassion, so that is really great as it makes you try different tactical decisions, but it makes it easy for you since you don't have to search for 28 different weapons to find the best of every class. Good stuff indeed.
Also, the game features a "random persistent dungeon". The dungeon is *always the same*, it only changes if you change the name on the .ini file. It is really great for doing a competition, or comparing your score to friend's, as the opportunities for everything have been the same. It is possible to share names to play in different dungeons.
The game is almost monochrome, but it gives it a certain old-school look which I find appealing. It can certainly get better with colours, though.
It has some gripes, though:
* There is a bug that makes you lose a turn if you bump against a wall.
* The random seed for fighting is the same of the dungeon, so you can always get the same outcome of a fight. In my opinion they should be 2 totally different seeds, to increase replayability even if the dungeon layout is the same.
* The game should come with a help file, which also should be accesible in-game. It has a really great UI (in my opinion, since it has very few keys to remember), but it's always good to have it. A "press 'h' for help" should be visible in-game too, for the newbies.
And that's all I can think as of now. Thanks for the release, Altefcat, and keep up the good work!
