Tips on easy-to-learn roguelikes?

[Pueo]

I'll second (third?) BRogue. Looks great, you can play with the mouse, and the list of controls are quite limited.

It also has a nice "less is more" feeling.

Huh, that's the first time I've seen Brogue emphasized like that.  Makes me wonder, is there an "ARogue"?

[Ancient]

Closest name I can come up with is Atrogue. (http://atrogue.sourceforge.net/)

[XLambda]

I'll second (third?) BRogue. Looks great, you can play with the mouse, and the list of controls are quite limited.

It also has a nice "less is more" feeling.

Huh, that's the first time I've seen Brogue emphasized like that.  Makes me wonder, is there an "ARogue"?

In fact, there is ARogue (Advanced Rogue), one of the originally lost rogue clones. Brogue, however, has nothing to do with that, it's a pun on the dev's name.

[wire_hall_medic]

Well, this is an old topic, but I can't really let this opportunity pass me by . . .
http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php/QuickHack

This is my most recent project, QuickHack.  I wanted a quick, simple RougeLike that had almost a Gauntlet feel to it.  So I made one.  Enough depth to allow for meaningful choices, but very easy to sink your teeth into.

[Z]

Hey, a nice topic. There could be Grogue about pirates, Frogue about frogs, Mrogue about morgues, and so on.

[guest509]

  Wrogue about wizards?
  Crogue about cave men? Cro Magnon?
  Drogue about...
  Erogue about email spam
  Hrogue, or herogue, about He-Man.


  Wait, that last one is actually awesome. Where's my He-Man roguelike? What's the cooldown on battlecat?

-Jo

[spelk]

This is my most recent project, QuickHack.  I wanted a quick, simple RougeLike that had almost a Gauntlet feel to it.  So I made one.  Enough depth to allow for meaningful choices, but very easy to sink your teeth into.

I've been ploughing through a bunch of roguelikes for a blog post, trying to come up with a hand picked selection of games that can be considered "accessible" to your average rpg or strategy gamer. However, after having picked my selection (and it's no way definitive), I stumbled upon QuickHack, and was instantly hooked!

I'm a dabbler when it comes to roguelikes, every now and then I come back to the genre and sample the delights. But I'm usually a tileset sort of guy. From the off, QuickHack had me in its Ascii clutches, it's real easy to start out, and it presents the information you need to just get on and enjoy the exploration and the progression. It's one of the first ASCII RL's that's gripped me. Kudos to you Sir.

I think the first "feature" that hit me, was the loot tumbling out of the barrels and taking up surrounding map spaces - I'd never seen this before and it's quite rewarding to see. I basically like the immediacy of the game, and hope you continue to develop it further. At the moment it will be my go-to game for quick sessions, because it's just so moreish to play.

[wire_hall_medic]

Thank you.

I've got an update in the works, but it's mostly just documentation and a .bat file for people who have trouble running the jar.  However, it does speed up level generation (which can bog down a bit at the higher levels), as slightly faster pathfinding.  I just need to get off my lazy butt and write the help file.

I have begun sketching out my next project, however, which will be a super-hero themed roguelike.  While much of the design is still up in the air, the play style will be similar to QuickHack in many ways.  I also prefer games that I can learn quickly; while games like Angband, Nethack, and Dwarf Fortress are great, I want to play, not learn to play.

[spelk]

I've got an update in the works, but it's mostly just documentation and a .bat file for people who have trouble running the jar.  However, it does speed up level generation (which can bog down a bit at the higher levels), as slightly faster pathfinding.  I just need to get off my lazy butt and write the help file.

Waiting in anticipation

Any plans to add more classes, perhaps an archer? I suppose the Wizard would play like an archer, so perhaps you've balanced the current crop, and I should just settle for what there is

I have begun sketching out my next project, however, which will be a super-hero themed roguelike.  While much of the design is still up in the air, the play style will be similar to QuickHack in many ways. 

Oh excellent, well consider me an eager fan. I'd like to see a super-hero roguelike executed well - do you think you'll roll up their powers, or will there be "classes" of heroes?

I also prefer games that I can learn quickly; while games like Angband, Nethack, and Dwarf Fortress are great, I want to play, not learn to play.

Same here, you can spend way too much time, digging into the nitty gritty and never getting anything out of the game. The number of "bigger" RL's I've taken a long time rolling up, only to be trounced by something very early on, it sort of defeats the point of a very detailed set up, if the difficulty can spike so soon you've not familiarised yourself with the complex character.

I know part of the charm of roguelikes is the mysticism that comes along with their mechanics, and many old school'ers wear that as a badge of honour, but for newcomers to the genre, especially nowadays, it can just put people off, and they'll be missing out on a really quite complex, diverse and very interesting world of gaming.

I've found a similar thing at play within the wargaming community. It's almost as if some wargamers feel they have to earn their stripes on the hardcore, dry nuts and bolts games, where the pain with an antiquated and obfuscated UI is part of your bootcamp training. There are some epic, complex and deep wargames out there, but ultimately a lot of them are hampered by their presentation and interface from yesteryear. It's looking up though, a number of companies are now bringing more accessible wargaming to the masses... and I feel like roguelikes are also in a period of similar transition. Although I could be wrong

Anyway, keep up the good work wire_hall_medic, if all your future projects have QuickHack's elegance behind them, I'm sure they'll be received well by newcomers to the genre.

[wire_hall_medic]

I'm not planning on adding any thing, just doing a bit of polishing.  And "balanced" is probably a strong word for the classes; it's definitely harder to win with a knight than a summoner.  Next project, I plan on putting in a score multiplier for the more difficult classes.

Powers (both passive and active) will be chosen; a few at character creation and more on leveling up.  However, there will be randomly generated items which have a significant impact on how a character plays.

First are utility items; grappling hooks, smoke bombs, etc.  They have a limited number of uses per dungeon, and fully recharge between dungeons.

Second are attribute improvements (working title).  There are 4 types; agility, science, strength, and will.  You have three slots for them; offense, defense, and tactical.  They have different, thematically linked effects depending on which type you put in which slot, as well as improving your ability.  For example, putting a +1 Will attribute in defense would improve your defense score by 10, as well as allowing you to shake off harmful status conditions one turn sooner.

I want to keep the difficulty of learning to play low; I've been playing quite a bit of Brogue lately (because of this thread, actually), and have been really impressed at how well it conveys information.  Current plans involve that level of communication.

I expect it'll take me MUCH longer to make, but I'll be putting it out for consumption once it's a thing.

[spelk]

Thanks for the details to the "Hero" project, it sounds a very exciting prospect indeed. From the equipment available it sounds like my first character should Batman!

Looking forward to seeing what you can craft, with the accessibility of QuickHack, but with the depth you seem to offer in your initial outline/plans. Thanks for sharing.

[deathknight1728]

This is where I draw the line. I just don't see what the point of permadeath is. Your the gamer who is trying to have fun with the game. But here lies the problem. How can you have fun with a game when you have to know while playing that if you screw up one move, your lvl 6 character that took an hour to lvl, is gone. I just don't see the point in why you would want to be a masochist.

This is after Cardinal Quest (with no stat allocating whatsoever) bombs. No fun stat combinations to use, no tactics, no difference between classes.

[guest509]

  Using permadeath is a design choice with the goal of creating tension. It doesn't work if you play the game with a ton of attachment to your character, like in a traditional RPG. The point is to play tons of times and get better each time, making yourself feel smart and creative. Seeing your character grow in strength is good, but investment into a single character is not the point.

[deathknight1728]

I understand what it is to do. I just dont get why roguelikes cant allow an option to turn permadeath off like in Dungeons of Dredmor which im having loads of fun with.

Its too bad, because a lot of roguelikes I try and get into, none of them have that option like DOD. Arent there any other roguelikes like dod with that option? I really like the single character single action ones in general, like DOD and in solo character rpgs in general (The Quest, Eschalon series). Arent there any other games like that out there or are all of them present with permadeath?

[guest509]

  I'd like the choice as well, since I am a poor player. :-(