Roguelike Totally Explained

Everything about Roguelike totally explained

A roguelike is a member of the role-playing video game genre that borrows its name and gameplay elements from the 1980 computer game Rogue. Superficially, a roguelike is a two-dimensional dungeon crawl with a high degree of randomness and an emphasis on statistical character development. Though traditionally featuring a text user interface, many such games utilize graphic tiles to overcome character set limitations.

History

Some features of Rogue existed in earlier games, notably: Adventure (1975), Dungeon (1975), and several written for the PLATO system, such as the multi-user games dnd (1975) and Moria (1975). Both dnd and Moria utilized limited graphics. Moria offered a primitive first-person, three-dimensional view, while dnd presented a top-down map view similar to Rogue.
Most of these earlier games scripted scenarios in advance that varied little from one play session to the next. In Rogue and Moria, the dungeon is randomly regenerated when the player begins, creating a new challenge each time. One possible taxonomy divides roguelikes into four main branches:

Direct Rogue sequels that retain the single-screen (but unpreserved) levels of the original Rogue. Examples include UltraRogue, Advanced Rogue, Super Rogue, and XRogue.

Hacklikes, where levels persist after being left. Notable examples include NetHack, Slash'EM, and Linley's Dungeon Crawl.

*Bands, based on the game Moria, where levels are larger than a single screen, and are regenerated after being left. Contemporary examples are Angband and its variants.

Overworld games, where more than one dungeon exists. Examples include Omega (dungeons regenerated upon exit), ADOM (all dungeons but one preserved when left), later versions of ZAngband, ToME, and Castle of the Winds. Other attributes distinguish branches; for example, starvation is a major threat in Hacklikes, while in other branches starvation may be rare.

Gameplay

These games present a plan view. Traditionally, an "@" sign represents the player character. Letters of the alphabet represent other characters (usually opposing monsters). Rogue itself only made use of capital letters, but present-day roguelikes vary capitalization to supply additional visual cues. A dog, for example, may be represented by the letter "d", and a dragon by a "D". Coloration may signal further distinction between creatures. For example, a Red Dragon might be represented by a red "D" and a Blue Dragon by a blue "D", each of differing abilities significant to player strategy. Additional dungeon features are represented by other ASCII (or ANSI) symbols. A traditional sampling follows.

-- - Wall |....| ############ # Unlit hallway |....| # # . Lit area |.$..+######## # $ Some quantity of gold |....| # ---+--- + A door -- # |.....| | Wall # |.!...| ! A magic potion # |.....| # |..@..| @ The adventurer # |.....| |..| #######+..D..| D A dragon |<.+### # |.....| < Stairs to a higher level # # |.?...| ? A magic scroll ###### ---

Graphical adaptations are available for most early roguelikes, and it isn't uncommon for new development projects to adopt a graphical user interface.
Players issue game commands with at most a few keystrokes, rather than with simple sentences interpreted by a parser or by means of a pointing device such as a mouse. For example, in NetHack one would press "r" to read a scroll, "d" to drop an item, and "q" to quaff (drink) a potion.

Features

Roguelike games randomly generate dungeon levels; though they may include static levels as well. Generated layouts typically incorporate rooms connected by corridors, some of which may be preset to a degree (for example, monster lairs or treasuries). Open areas or natural features, like rivers, may also occur.

The identity of magical items varies across games. Newly discovered objects only offer a vague physical description, with purposes and capabilities left unstated. For example, a "bubbly" potion might heal wounds one game, then poison the player character in the next. Items are often subject to alteration, acquiring specific traits, such as a curse, or direct player modification.

The combat system is turn-based instead of real-time. Gameplay is usually step-based, where player-performed actions take a variable measure of in-game time to complete. Game processes (for example, monster movement and interaction, progressive effects such as poisoning or starvation) advance based on the passage of time dictated by these actions.

Most are single-player games. On multi-user systems, scoreboards are often shared between players. Some roguelikes allow traces of former player characters to appear in later game sessions in form of ghosts or grave markings. Multi-player derivatives such as TomeNET, MAngband, and Crossfire do exist and are playable online.

Roguelikes traditionally implement permanent death ("permadeath"). Once a character dies, the player must begin a new game. A "save game" feature will only provide suspension of gameplay and not a limitlessly recoverable state; the stored session is deleted upon resumption or character death. Players can circumvent this by manipulating stored game data ("save scumming"), an act that may be considered cheating.

Notable examples

Modern roguelikes

Ancient Domains of Mystery, also called ADOM

Angband and its several variants

Linley's Dungeon Crawl, also called Dungeon Crawl or Crawl

NetHack, a descendant of Hack

Tales of Middle Earth, also called ToME

Dwarf Fortress, a Base Building Roguelike.

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, also called "PMD"

Classic roguelikes

Rogue

Moria

Hack

Larn

Popularity

Many online communities dedicate themselves to roguelike games, most notably the rec.games.roguelike Usenet hierarchy.

Legacy

The graphical action role-playing game Diablo bears a premise similar to that of Rogue: players slash their way through increasingly difficult monsters and attain treasure while traversing deeper into randomly-generated dungeons to complete quests. As such, some refer to Diablo as a roguelike despite wide differences in actual gameplay.

Amulet of Yendor

In several computer games, the Amulet of Yendor is the object the player needs to retrieve in order to win. It first appeared in Rogue and its sequels, UltraRogue and Advanced Rogue. Hack and NetHack later featured the Amulet, but with the added condition that it be brought to the Astral Plane and sacrificed. The Amulet is also featured as a useless "prank" item in the MMORPG, Kingdom of Loathing.
The origin of the name Yendor is unclear. In the words of Michael Toy, an author of Rogue:

Further Information

Get more info on 'Roguelike'.

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