LambdaRogue: Infiltration Development Thread

[mariodonick]

Edit: 2015/04/07: A new LambdaRogue game, called "Infiltration" is in development. This thread serves as some kind of development diary. First post related to LR:I is this one: http://forums.roguetemple.com/index.php?topic=2752.msg41424#msg41424


-- old post --
I want to provide some updates about the future of LambdaRogue.

As you know, the next update will be 1.7. As most major updates, it will have a name attached, which, in this case, will be "End of an Era". What does this mean?

LambdaRogue 1.7 aka "End of an Era" will tie up some loose ends, both of the story and the game mechanics. This also includes a new questline (a very melancholic one, I can tell you.)
LambdaRogue 1.7 will also include the new 40x80 tileset currently done by Cecilia. (And the tiles that are already finished on my HDD look great!)
But End of an Era also means end of LambdaRogue development.

Yes, that's right, LR 1.7 will be the final update, the "definitive version" of the game. No more updates will come. What are the reasons for this?

LambdaRogue development started in 2006. I devoted more than 6 years to the growth of this game, and it has reached a state where everything I wanted to achieve with it has been done.

LambdaRogue is one of the most accessible roguelikes currently available, and still one of the few roguelikes that somehow manage to have a good balance between random game mechanics and fixed story. The story is complete, the game is stable, it is quite balanced -- it is simply finished.

Is this the end?

Well, I said "end of an era", but not "end of the world", and actually, I have many ideas for expanding the game world and its lore.

So, while LambdaRogue, as piece of software as it is, won't receive any more updates after 1.7, it does not mean that the brave people of Herbstwelt have to cope without their creator (i.e. me ) from now on.

Instead, it's time for something new. For something that gives me all the time and space and scale for telling Herbstwelt's story once again.

Exciting times lay ahead of us.

[getter77]

An interesting occasion indeed.

...Does this portend a change in technology or even the medium employed going forward, or will your tools remain for the ventures to come?

[mariodonick]

It will use the same engine as LambdaRogue, and probably the interface will be very similar.

But ...

It won't be a roguelike.

[getter77]

Ah, suspense indeed.   

[mariodonick]

Not really suspense.

It's just that for telling the story the way I want, a roguelike is not the ideal choice. CRPGs work better here, and so I will do one.

This means of course zero replayability, but I hope that I can take on the established story of LR and create a storydriven game which is truly good.

I can already say that the story takes place about 200 years after the events in LambdaRogue (the good ending).

[getter77]

Replayability is possible in cRPGs---just depends on how things pan out in the narrative, player and player build choices(doubly so if things get party-based), and so forth....usually comes down to a different sort versus the usual Roguelikes.

[mariodonick]

Yeah, but of course compared to a roguelike it is much less replayable.

[getter77]

Think of it this way:  The roguelike replayability figures would look quite different indeed if held up to the same standard as most cRPGs---in that it counts replays AFTER beating the game a single time as opposed to just the chain of resets and restarts that can often result in players playing the game hundreds of times.....the first 1/4 to 1/2 only though.

So yeah, it is quite a sliding scale with all factors in play---your experience designing and implementing LambdaRogue in the way that you did should greatly help to drive things along a bit better than most.

[guest509]

  I would like to say that games like WoW (I know I know, stay with me here) achieve replayability by having unique starting classes and races combined with a not STRICTLY linear game flow.

  Just a thought.

[mariodonick]

Your WoW example is very good, because different starting points in the game world for the two planned factions are indeed planned.

(If you ask what factions: Men vs. Drekh'Nar. Of course.)

Edit: Disclaimer: The story will not be a WoW rip-off.

[Krice]

This means of course zero replayability

Different character classes usually add some replay value. I think a classic RPG can be replayable even with a static story. For some (most?) of the people the story is just something mandatory and battling, character development, collecting items etc. may be the main interest.

[XLambda]

This means of course zero replayability

Different character classes usually add some replay value. I think a classic RPG can be replayable even with a static story. For some (most?) of the people the story is just something mandatory and battling, character development, collecting items etc. may be the main interest.

I second this. It also probably wouldn't be too hard to show the plot from different perspectives, based on player choices throughout the game. Take a look at Shiny's Sacrifice (one of the best games ever) - it has a static story yet you'll never get tired of playing the campaign because there's sooo much different choices you can make.

[mariodonick]

I know all your arguments very well

Writing "zero" was really meant in comparison to the average roguelike, but Brian pointed out the differences in the definition of "replayability" already rather good.

I will soon write a blog posting, outlining the main elements of the new game, so it will be clear in which direction it will go in terms of game mechanics.

[mariodonick]

I've written some details about the new game: http://lambdarogue.net/dl-showentry.php?n=264

[getter77]

Sounds good, have you decided on whether active NPC's or party members(player created or coming with various decisions in the story) will be a new feature for this expanded direction or will it remain a solo adventure?