as you confess you are neither a roguelike afficionado nor a programmer.
Let me therefore tell you that the retro look of the roguelike is decieving!
Actually, I didn't select rogues based on a perception of simplicity, but on a perception of complexity. There are about two dozen 3D game engines out there that could be used to develop an RPG with a AD&D flavor, but I wanted something that met the following five criteria:
1) Minimal processor and graphics use. I want this to be playable on my Asus EEEPC 901 as well as on a top of the line gaming system.
2) Complexity in character. AD&D uses six traditional statistics that all have affects on gameplay: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. The best engine I found other than a rogue was a 3D engine requiring some preposterous graphics card-- and that only allowed four player stats that actually had a noticeable affect on the game.
3) Unlimited scope of weapons, treasure items, and monsters. AD&D 1E has four key books FULL of detail that can be added: DMG, PHB, and both MMs. Rogues allow for this more easily than drawing 3D graphics. (Even a tile set would take forever.)
4) Story over graphics. Tying into #3, I would rather spend time writing a decent storyline than drawing pictures. For one thing, I have much more talent as a writer than as an artist, and for another, pretty pictures look nice during the first ten minutes of gameplay, and then they are forgotten in favor of the story-- if the story is well done. The local gamestop has shelves of games with pretty graphics and atrocious story and gameplay.
5) Flexibility and inflexibility where needed. AD&D has a lot of interpretation for the rules. (Who, for example, EVER uses level limits for non-human PCs?) Rogues seem to offer unlimited flexibility in delivery of content, and yet can also be set to be rigid where necessary to keep players focused on a goal.
Random levels are not: It basically means that you need to program something that can compete wit a human level designer. And there are people out there who can make a living out of designing levels.
I'm not certain what you mean by this. Every roguelike ever programmed has an engine capable of developing levels at random that can compete with a human level designer (apparently). I mean, we're all still playing them for one reason or another, right? (Although I just started, of course.) About the only necessary change would be to assign specific sections to each level and randomize the rest.
Take Diablo. The levels are random, but "somewhere" on level four will be the Butcher's den. and "somewhere" on level five will be the poisoned well. Everything else, including monsters, is random.
2nd straight AD&D.
Dont get me wrong, i love 2nd ed and wouldnt touch 3rd ed with an 11 foot pole. But there are 2 reasons why it doesnt lend itself well for a computer game in general, and a roguelike in particular.
I think you misunderstood me. I want to do this in AD&D FIRST edition. Second edition, as you mentioned, has too much flexibility to work well without a human referee. First edition is a different game than anything d20 based.
1) Exceptions, exceptions, exceptions to each and every rule.
Not really. Everyone plays by house rules, thus the game would have its own rules assigned by the DM-- in this case the game designers. It's the same philosophy that brought us "Pool of Radiance" and "Baldur's Gate."
2) its party oriented. single L1 wizard going adventuring? In a roguelike? (Go to dungeon, cast magic missile, run away, get out, rest 24 hours, repeat) 
I had actually considered this and come up with two potential scenarios.
a) A multiple-character party. This would be more like real tabletop gaming and more fun, but harder to program and likely necessitate the development of an engine just for this game. If this were to be the final solution decided on by the development team, I would envision a four-character party similar to Ultima III: Exodus. (Especially when considering that there are four character classes available: fighter, mage, cleric, and thief.) Players could double up (two fighters, one thief, one cleric) or go nuts (four thieves) just as they did with the eminently playable UIII. (Still one of my favorite games, thank you Leon of Lairware!)
and b) Playing mages is damn tough. If you pick a mage you're at a disadvantage. Consider the original Diablo. About 1/3 of the monsters were magic resistant, including Diablo, who was resistant to ALL forms of magic (except Holy Bolt, I think-- like you're going to use a weapon that does 3-6 points of damage against a creature with 1400 hit points!) Playing a mage meant you got dead most of the time.
Really, I don't see it as all THAT much different from Castle of the Winds, where magic is key to survival, and resting means that you generally get bum-rushed by every creature within a 600-square radius. If a mage needs to rest to regain spells, fine. He does so at his own risk-- after all, no one bent your arm and demanded that you play a mage.
If you are mainly interested in AD & D check out this site and forgotten realms unlimited adventures:
http://frua.rosedragon.org/modulelist/classic.php
I will, thanks!
Please don't misinterpret my responses. You are both a programmer AND a roguelike afficianado, so I value your input. I'm not arguing with you, merely stating the things I have thought through as I have considered this project. Your responses made me do some further thinking, and I appreciate that.
I still think this is a doable project, but I need someone with some programming expertise involved. I'm not sure that even a preprogrammed engine will be able to cut the mustard on this bad boy.
