Roguelike Archive (v0.0.1 released)

[akeley]

I finished crawling through the BETA+STABLE section and will upload it soon.

EDIT:I just uploaded v0.0.1...here`s the Magnet link:
http://mgnet.me/bvR9dDV

magnet:?xt=urn:btih:CDCOHFDGPL43X7IA6FK7Z3LDOAMWNHSM

More info below, please read if you want to save disk space.

[Avagart]

This for now. Some names exists in both '(non)trad' and 'missing' and you didn't put info about obtained and required versions so probably Berserk!, LDC and MetroidRL are duplicates... Anyway, there are Rayel, Sagittarius and Solstice in my archive. I'm hurry now, but I would check my rl directory tomorrow.

[Quendus]

I'm not sure I understand. Does the list at http://arkhammanor.com/alltogether.html consist of just stable and beta games (because it has some alpha games like URR, and 7DRLs like TraumaRL)?
How is the webpage related to the spreadsheets in http://arkhammanor.com/rpgbase/RLdbALL.7z? Both collections seem to have games that aren't in the other.

[akeley]

Some names exists in both '(non)trad' and 'missing'

Couldn`t see any. I`ve redone that page now but if you can see some duplicates still let me know.

and you didn't put info about obtained and required versions so probably Berserk!, LDC and MetroidRL are duplicates... Anyway, there are Rayel, Sagittarius and Solstice in my archive. I'm hurry now, but I would check my rl directory tomorrow.

Yep, the info is in the doc. I realize just a Missing list without comments can be too confusing so I removed it from the webpage... Anyway thanks for these three (though Sagittarius I also had, think my problem was with if it`s an alpha or beta)

I'm not sure I understand. Does the list at http://arkhammanor.com/alltogether.html consist of just stable and beta games (because it has some alpha games like URR, and 7DRLs like TraumaRL)?

It does, yes. Glad you brought these two up though, because that`s the inherent problem with classifying these games. So, TraumaRL was updated with new features after the contest and this is the updated version. Now, that`s what I need feedback on - I was wondering if such games should be just grouped with other 7DRLs. But then, some of them evolved way beyond that. So where is the cut-off point? For now I just treated them as separate (beta) games...though sometime it`s just a post 7DRL bugfix, so the game is technically a 7DRL...headache

URR on the other hand is classified as "beta" in the Temple database, which was the basis for my operation. It also says "alpha" on the wiki page...which might mean the very first release or the whole project....and in the thread there`s only mention that 0.8 will be a "beta", other were just called "releases".  Again, it`s a judgement call, and  I went with "beta".

How is the webpage related to the spreadsheets in http://arkhammanor.com/rpgbase/RLdbALL.7z? Both collections seem to have games that aren't in the other.

That page was a mirror of BETA+STABLE / (Lite) / MISSING  docs. In theory there shouldn`t be any errors or duplicates. However the Missing doc was not updated with the latest finds, and the page was....this should be the only discrepancy.  For now I revised this page anyway: merged trad and non-trad, added DOS and removed the Missing list (feel it`s necessary to read the doc to help with that, otherwise too unclear. The comments in the doc are still a cryptic mess, I know, but that`s how it is for now)

If you see any other errors please let me know. The other docs from the zip are just for the curious - it`s what was left after the crawl through Temple db talkie/beta/stable/major/defunct/unknown tags (400+ entries). They will be expanded in due time.

[Gamer_2k4]

The Wayback Machine's version of The Roguelike Graveyard still has some files accessible, I think:
https://web.archive.org/web/20080318014420/http://www.graveyard.uni.cc/

Of them, I had always thought Wish was pretty nifty, even if it never got anywhere.

[akeley]

Ah, the man himself. Thanks again for Reptoran. While you`re here, how about finishing that trilogy?

That`s a great shout about The Graveyard. I checked it out once before but thought it`s dead itself: for some reason I have to reload a page few times while there, otherwise Wyaback says it doesn`t exist (that`s what fooled me the 1st time). Some great stuff there...

[Gibbon]

I have a fixed version of ULarn 1.6.  Not sure if the version you have on the site is the broken 1.5?

[akeley]

I haven`t got around to archiving ULarn yet since it will be in Hacks/Forks section. But any files are welcome, I`ll just include it at later date.

[akeley]

I just uploaded v0.0.1...here`s the Magnet link:

http://mgnet.me/bvR9dDV

I never used Magnet links before and can`t test if this is working on not (seems so, but since I`m seeding I can`t tell), would appreciate if somebody had a go, even only just clicked and see if it leads to the torrent client.

Alternatively I`m told you can paste it into the client manually: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:CDCOHFDGPL43X7IA6FK7Z3LDOAMWNHSM

I`m trying to sort it out in archive.org, which would be much more convenient but their upload process is a bit messy so it might take a while.

Anybody interested in downloading please read point 1) from this readme:

1) IF YOU WORRY ABOUT DISK SPACE, there`s no need to download the whole torrent. It comes in two parts: ORIGINALS and CATEGORIZED, both contain the same stuff, so if you download one or the other, you will still have 100% content (you can choose to skip the SOURCES and FX (versions of existing games with sound and/or gfx) directories too for further size reduction, they`re about ~1GB each).

The whole torrent weighs ~7GB, after skipping one aforementioned section ~3.5GB and after excluding SOURCES and FX: ~1.7GB. You still get ALL the games, even with this minimal option. However, it would help greatly if you download the whole package (seeding!)

- ORIGINALS: contain only the original files/archives preserved exactly how they were found, only packed with 7z and given a full game name.
- CATEGORIZED: this part is an attempt at classifying the roguelikes according to some simple principles. Original files/archives were unpacked and then repacked with 7z, then full names were given along with version number and assorted tags and then put into separate directories according to classification. Every game archive has an additional [  Doc] directory, added by me, which contains docs, webpages and other stuff relevant to the game. More details in main README.

2) THIS IS AN INCOMPLETE WORK IN PROGRESS. As such this release only contains the first part of the planned Archive: Win/DOS BETA+STABLE section (ie roguelikes that classify as such, with sources where available. DOS directory might contain some files outside this classification due to narrow scope of this platform).

3) IT HAS BEEN SCANNED with freshly updated Avast Anti Virus: I sincerely hope it contains no viruses or other nasty stuff, however I can`t take any responsibility in case if it destroys your computer and opens a rift to a parallel universe in the process.

4) COPYRIGHT: to my best knowledge all the files contained in this torrent are publicly available free of charge and are suspect to assorted licenses that make it possible to release them here. If you have an objection regarding any of the content included here - be it files, docs or anything else - please contact me (akeley@arkhammanor.com) so we can discuss it, any valid claims will be of course respected, content removed and torrent updated accordingly.

5) CONTRIBUTING: I`m always on the lookout for more files/docs, errors and inconsistencies in the archive, volunteers to speed up the crawl and for any ol` feedback altogether. More details in main README.

[akeley]

and here`s the main README

ArchiveRL v0.0.1 released 12-Apr-2016

ABOUT THE COLLECTION:
This torrent contains Roguelike Archive, a project aiming to collect in one place ALL the roguelikes ever released. This means actual files of roguelikes that are freely available and making record of those that are not available at the moment: commercial, web/mobile/other and missing ones. It is a work in progress and this release is a first part of the project.

---------------------------

THE STRUCTURE:
The first level is Platforms: at the moment DOS & Windows, in the future this will hopefully also include Web, OSX, Linux and Other Platforms releases.

The second level contains [  DOC], ORIGINALS and CATEGORIZED directories. In the future most likely also a [  TOOLS] directory plus possible other ones.

-[  DOC]: this directory is for docs describing contents of the torrent and in the future hopefully more documents regarding roguelikes in general (as opposed to particular games which have their own [  Doc] directories inside archives). This could include site/forum/wiki rips, articles, scans and anything else related to the scene and roguelikes at large. The [  DOC] syntax (two spaces before DOC) is one I use for directories that should be on top of the dir tree.
I also included my zipped "work in progress" docs for people who are curious or want to help with recovering missing RLs.

-ORIGINALS: contain only the original files/archives preserved exactly how they were found, the only actions taken were packing these with 7z and giving this new archive a full game name. This section is for people who are not interested in the classifying attempt and for strictly archivist reasons: while I don`t think the classification process can in any way alter or "contaminate" original files, for the sake of 100% exactness and total preservation they are included here in their original state.

Inside you`ll find GAMES and SOURCES directories. GAMES contain all the game files available, for now only corresponding to the BETA+STABLE dir from the CATEGORIZED section. As the project progresses it will contain more files from other CATEGORIZED sections. Inside the GAMES dir the only other one is the FX directory: it contains games that had an alternative version with sound or graphics available. This means that every game in FX dir has a corresponding FX-less version in the main directory. In short: if you don`t care for bells and whistles, you can skip this dir for some substantial disk space saving.

-SOURCES similarly contain respective sources.

-CATEGORIZED: this is an attempt at classyfiying and sorting the roguelikes, plus adding some available docs to each one. The basic criteria are very similar to the tag system from roguetemple.com database, which in turn is the basis for this collection.

This release concentrates on games which are considered to be in the BETA or STABLE stage. Finished collection will also include games that could be classified as ALPHA, 7DRL, HACKS/FORKS/VARIANTS, VERSIONS and OTHER.

Current BETA+STABLE directory contains three other directories: FX, TRADITIONAL and NON-TRADITINAL. FX is explained above, the principle is the same.

The Trad/Non-Trad divide is based on the author`s interpretation of the oldest roguelike classification: "traditional" roguelikes included here are required to meet four conditions, namely: turn-based, permadeath, 2D and procedural generation. These factors are found in all "major" RLs and are also crucial to "traditional" gameplay. The (only) reason behind this separation is to make life easier for people interested only in one roguelike kind or the other, not to add to - or detract from - the sometime controversial debate regarding this subject. 

-----------------------------

NAMING CONVENTION

The CATEGORIZED part of the collection employs a certain naming style, akin to ones find in TOSEC and other such projects. The basic premise is as follows:

Game name + vversion + [status] + [platform] + [additional tags]

Example: The Dungeons of Moria v4.873 [beta][DOS]   ToME v1.4.6 [stable][src][fx]

Windows is considered a default platform and has no tag. There`s a "v" before version number. Tags should be self explanatory.
   

This convention is not set in stone and may be subject to changes (like everything in this project). However, this is most likely to remain as described above, for the time being.

------------------------------

PROBLEMS & ERRORS

Although great care has been put into assuring there`s no errors, in a project of this scope it is virtually impossible to avoid them. As such, I would be grateful for any reports regarding mistakes, whatever they might be, ranging from spelling to archive issues.

There are also few areas that might cause confusion, mostly regarding classification:

-alpha/beta/stable: these are sorted according to teh Temple`s database descriptions, also other available sources. In some undecided cases (very few) it was up to author`s discretion, however the original description was never overriden (even though some alphas feel like betas and vice versa).

-the 7DRL tag: this futuure directory will contain all "competition" roguelikes, mostly from 7DRL contest but also others, sometimes self-imposed ones (like 1 kilobyte RL for example). The BETA+STABLE section in this torrent includes some of these games regardless: these are the ones that were worked upon after the contest ended, however this is still up for discussion/interpretation.

-traditional/non-traditional: the most flammable area, where I was trying to be very strict, otherwise it would not work. For example Dwarf Fortress is classified as Traditional, but only because of Adventure Mode, which is turn based. Otherwise it would have to be classified as Non-Traditional, which many people - including the author himself -  would consider bizarre...yet, this is down to the 4 tags (turn-based, permadeath, 2D, procedural generation) not emotions. The "traditional" and "non-trad" monikers are her only to serve a purpose anyway and not to be dwelt upon too much. In the end, this is a Roguelike Archive, and so all the games included qualify in one way or another.


------------------------------

HOW YOU CAN HELP

The most obvious thing would be finding missing roguelikes, one of the main catalysts for this project`s inception. However, in this stage this can be bit tricky since not all accessible RLs have been categorized and also because of sometime numerous versions and forks available. Nevertheless, those interested can check the MISSING+DEAD doc (please read the comments there, though they`re very messy at the moment). Personally, I will concentrate on this matter once at least the two other main parts (ALPHA and HACKS/VARIANTS) of the Archive are complete.

Other thing could be adding to the BETA+STABLE collection released here: for now I only perused the Temple`s database, and this one`s not 100% complete, so some games are definitely missing. But it`s easy to get confused again, since the game you think about might be classified in one of the other directories (hacks, varaiants, 7DRLs etc...). Please read the other docs from the zip (plus the Update.txt, which contains some games that just didn`t make it into this torrent but will be added soon), if it`s not there then it may well be a missing one.

Volunteers are welcome to help out with building other parts of the collection. It is a very time-consuming process, however trawling thorugh old records can be fun too.

I`m also on the lookout for any documentation, as stated above: "site/forum/wiki rips, articles, scans and anything else related to the scene and roguelikes at large"

------------------------------

CONTACT: write to akeley@arkhammanor.com or post here:

http://forums.roguetemple.com/index.php?topic=4775.0

------------------------------

CREDITS

Shout out to all the people from the original Temple thread; special thanks to Ancient and Avagart for digging out some rare files from their hard drives.
Many thanks to the devs who replied to my emails and helped out with lost stuff and clarifications.
People behind the Temple of The Roguelike and the database itself - without this 8th wonder of the world this operation wouldn`t be at all possible

Last, but the most obvious and deserved: all the developers writing roguelikes, the highest form of entertainment.

[Gibbon]

I haven`t got around to archiving ULarn yet since it will be in Hacks/Forks section. But any files are welcome, I`ll just include it at later date.

No problem, I'll dig it out later.  Though Larn/ULarn is neither a fork nor a hack

[akeley]

Agreed on Larn, and your latest is included (well, 13.0 ;)

But ULarn? Sounds like a Larn Variant to me, even though it might have lots of new stuff added. Though of course, so is NetHack... See, this is the major headache with classifying, some of these things just need to be mulled over, with input form others.

So for now, I just decided to go withe the hardline approach -including just the absolutely baseline games - otherwise I would never finish this section. Some other big names like DynaHack, SLASH`EM are excluded too.  For next release might as well include them into the main BETA+STABLE dir if there`s enough feedback indicating it`s a good idea.

(To add to confusion I also included Sil and BOSS for example :)


Defining what constitutes a proper FORK/VARIANT/HACK could be a good start, I`m too green to do this myself.

[Gibbon]

Agreed on Larn, and your latest is included (well, 13.0

Thanks

But ULarn? Sounds like a Larn Variant to me, even though it might have lots of new stuff added. Though of course, so is NetHack... See, this is the major headache with classifying, some of these things just need to be mulled over, with input form others.

Ahh yes, ULarn is a hack off of Larn.  Too many Hacks, Rogues and the like for it to make sense sometimes.

So for now, I just decided to go withe the hardline approach -including just the absolutely baseline games - otherwise I would never finish this section. Some other big names like DynaHack, SLASH`EM are excluded too.  For next release might as well include them into the main BETA+STABLE dir if there`s enough feedback indicating it`s a good idea.

(To add to confusion I also included Sil and BOSS for example

Defining what constitutes a proper FORK/VARIANT/HACK could be a good start, I`m too green to do this myself.

Me also, you could spend the best part of a month classifying them all.  Come to think of it I have some old stuff for rogue (re-implementations, hacks etc) that I haven't seen yet in other places.  I'll throw them all up on a dropbox and paste a link.  The world definitely needs more archiving of these little pieces of history.

[Xan]

I just uploaded v0.0.1...here`s the Magnet link:

http://mgnet.me/bvR9dDV

I never used Magnet links before and can`t test if this is working on not (seems so, but since I`m seeding I can`t tell), would appreciate if somebody had a go, even only just clicked and see if it leads to the torrent client.

Alternatively I`m told you can paste it into the client manually: magnet:?xt=urn:btih:CDCOHFDGPL43X7IA6FK7Z3LDOAMWNHSM

I'm only able to see one peer (you?) but can't make a connection to it.

Edit: appears to be working now.