Roguelike Radio podcast

[guest509]

If they could have done it graphically they would have. But in doing it as ASCII they inadvertently stumbled onto something very pleasing. It's a barrier to new people, sure, but doing it ASCII has advantages.

[Darren Grey]

Rogue switched to graphics as soon as it could - the Macintosh port had crude tiles as it could support a graphical display.

[Krice]

Nethack episode was great. I think it (at least for me) revealed the importance of game design and how rare good game designers really are. It's almost unbelievable no one has got into the level of Nethack, let alone surpass it.

[guest509]

The Nethack episode was great, as was the ASCII episode.

[Vanguard]

Nethack episode was great. I think it (at least for me) revealed the importance of game design and how rare good game designers really are. It's almost unbelievable no one has got into the level of Nethack, let alone surpass it.

Good game designers are ridiculously rare and what most of what gets celebrated in mainstream gaming is mediocre at best.  It seems to me that the goal of most designers is to never let the player feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed.  Like, that's their ideal - remove or replace everything that gives people bad experiences no matter what.  But you can't do that without gutting everything that makes your game interesting.

People with talent for game design will always be a minority, but the situation wouldn't be anywhere near as bad as it is if the majority of game designers weren't working towards foolish and counterproductive goals.

What do you mean when you say Nethack has never been surpassed?  Obviously there's no game that out-Nethacks Nethack, but imo it'd be pretty crazy to call it the most well-designed game in the world.

[Krice]

What do you mean when you say Nethack has never been surpassed?

I mean that! In that podcast it was obvious that UI was again discussed, but it's not really the point. I've started to think UI differently myself, rather than just complaining about "ancient" UI and the fact that people don't really think what the real alternatives would be and how they would actually work. Worst thing is when people try to think how to shrink the game and UI to mobile devices. As if it was something you have to do. I can tell where they can put their mobile device.

UI has become a target for idiots. It can be seen in mainstream games and also in tool programs and even in operating systems as Windows 8.

[AgingMinotaur]

I can tell where they can put their mobile device.

lol, I suspect that would be somewhere with only limited mobile phone coverage

UI has become a target for idiots. It can be seen in mainstream games and also in tool programs and even in operating systems as Windows 8.

True, that. It's funny how no one expects to operate something like a car or even an electric lawnmower without learning how it works first. And yet, the ideal for computer applications is to have no learning curve whatsoever. It goes without saying that the width of something like Nethack comes with a complex UI. Simplifying the UI will unavoidably take away some of the gameplay. Still, I think there's a place as well for RLs which aim for depth in the gameplay, whilst retaining a much more constrained UI.

As always,
Minotauros

[guest509]

It's because we are old fogies and remember fondly when games were hard.

[Samildanach]

My only major complaint with NetHack's UI is the ridiculous equip/unequip commands for weapons, clothes, rings, etc. There doesn't need to be one for each. That's just awkward.

[guest509]

My only major complaint with NetHack's UI is the ridiculous equip/unequip commands for weapons, clothes, rings, etc. There doesn't need to be one for each. That's just awkward.

That's also my biggest complaint.

[Paul Jeffries]

I assume since it won the ASCII Dreams poll we can expect an episode on Noxico soon?

[Enke]

I assume since it won the ASCII Dreams poll we can expect an episode on Noxico soon?

That would be nice...     <-Sarcasm

[Z]

Obviously the roguelike community really needs something which summarizes the year, and the poll fills that role nicely, that's why it is so important to many people. Even if it is so flawed.

I think we can expect the whole poll, controversy, and ideas for improvement to be discussed on Roguelike Radio soon. And this would obviously include Noxico.

[guest509]

I theorize that someone picked Noxico to run their bot on as a protest against TOME and to a lesser extent ADOM. I don't think it was about Noxico so much, except that a sex Roguelike featuring forced sex mechanics makes an hilarious spoiler winner.

Noxico itself isn't a terrible game if you are into that sort of shit.

[Krice]

I theorize that someone picked Noxico to run their bot on as a protest against TOME and to a lesser extent ADOM.

Protest why? Sure both games are boring, but no one has yet done anything better.