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A View on Video Games

Video games have existed since 1958 and by 2010 they had already made their way inside our daily routine. From the first co-op game by William Higinbotham, “Two Player tennis”, which implemented simplicity & entertainment, to today’s much bigger titles such as “Uncharted: A Thief’s End”, “God of War” and “The Last of Us”, that have evolved in complexity and above all expression. When talking about expression, though, i would like to think that a video game is similar to a painting in a way that both are a medium through which the artist (The development team) and the viewer (The Player) can bring forth their thoughts and feelings.

A video game is much like a canvas. Empty at first but through the different means of the artist, be it Design (The Frame), Art (The Main Painting) or Programming (The Finer details and shades), it can be brought to life for us to see. The Player (Viewer), on the other hand, can interact with the, now complete, canvas by interpreting it through their own perspective.

This blog, though, is about a rather interesting genre in video game history. Found mainly in indie (low budget or small team) games, this is one of the oldest, yet mostly unknown, sibling of video game genres. Dating back to 1975 in it’s earliest form of “pedit5″ and later in 1980 where it’s turning point came. This genre is typically called, Roguelike.

#roguelike #roguelikes #rogue #roguevideogame #videogames #history #pedit5 #roguelikeblog

The Rogue

Also known as “Rogue: Exploring the Dungeons of Doom” ,this game inspired the genre as a whole. A dungeon crawler with strong elements from the table-top game D’n’D (Dungeons & Dragons) as well as two famous text-based games, namely “Star Trek” (1971) and “The Colossal Cave Adventure” (1976).

Star Trek, Mike Mayfield, 1972

The Colossal Cave Adventure, Willie Crowther, 1976

Rogue mainly consists of 26 dungeon levels all of which are procedurally generated from the layout all the way to the items. On the other hand, in terms of movement, the player can be controlled through various ways, namely Arrow Keys, The Numpad by deactivating num-lock and through the letters H, J, K, L for vertical/horizontal movement and Y, U, B, N for diagonal movement

If this wasn’t enough then it must be considered that other letters can assist the player in performing certain actions in-game. For example “W” is for Wear while “w” is for wield.

The game was created using the Curses Programming Library mainly for the graphics interface through the use of ASCII characters (ASCII Drawing).

Lastly the game was ported to some known systems at the time such as Amiga, Commodore 64, DOS, Macintosh, Atari 8-bit and Unix.

#colossalcaveadventure #startrek #videogames #roguelike #roguevideogame #roguelikeblog #rogue #dos #commodore #amiga #macintosh #mac #atari #atarigames #unix

RogueLike: The Berlin Interpretation

“So what IS a Roguelike? A miserable little pile of features!”

As we tread towards the milestones that have laid the foundations for the genre to take off, it is of paramount importance to explain some of the major factors that make a game a roguelike.

The First and most widely known characteristic of the genre is it’s ability to generate the dungeon levels randomly. Also known as procedural generation, the main effect it has on the player is that they are supposed to adapt to continuously changing conditions.

Second in line comes a quite special mechanic that adds to the need of continuously adapting. Permadeath, derived from permanent+death, is the complete reset of the player’s current play-through accompanied by the deletion of the corresponding save file so as to never be started again. Instead, it “forces” the player to start from the beginning with all their stats reset. This adds an interesting element of stress towards the player’s actions.

In addition there are limited resources. The necessity of Resource Management forces the player to make the best use of their items, adding an extra level of complexity.

The fact the game procedurally generates it’s levels encourages the player to explore and discover new areas, different areas and secrets. This means that being cautious and observative through your run is highly recommended.

And the MOST IMPORTANT (!!NO!!) of all, is all the violent means you can desecrate your enemies with, through a true hack ‘n’ slash experience. #headsfirst_buttslast

Last but not least, there are some lesser yet credible factors that can be considered. This means that roguelikes can actually contain elements of: Turn-based gameplay, Grid-Based levels, overall complexity and non-modality.

#videogames #games #procedural generation #procedurally generated #exploration #discovery #hack n slash #resource management

Checkpoint!

Well that took quite a long time. Welcome everybody, to the first milestones of the genre! All in all, there are two categories of checkpoints for roguelikes. The Classics & The Influencers. In the following posts on our blog, we’ll cover only the classics since the influencers became kind of a big deal. We are going to share our findings and other informations about the lesser known descendants of the genre.

The 4 checkpoints are: Hack, Moria, Larn & Omega.

#moria #hack #larn #omega #classic #videogames #roguelike #roguelikeblog #roguevideogame #amiga #dos #windows

Hack

Let’s see the first game of the four. An improvement on Rogue with new monsters and equipment, Hack. As far as story goes, we don’t have any difference from rogue. You start as a character, you choose a class and you get thrown in a dungeon. Apart from that, it is the first roguelike that introduces shops, although with rather violent shopkeepers. After the player gets thrown into a dungeon they are tasked with finding the Amulet of Yendor, and then exiting the dungeon. People might think this game is unbalanced, which may be true, maybe. But, in the end, it actually seems to appeal to players that are more seasoned to roguelikes like this.

#hack #hackgame #amiga #dos #windows #roguelike #roguevideogame

Moria

Next in line is non other than Moria. Like it’s name suggests, it’s a Lord of the Rings inspired game that takes place in the mines of Moria. The player is tasked with descending the mines and defeating the legendary Balrog, then return to the surface. Like hack it introduced shops albeit in a more, visually, pleasing way. New items and larger or infinite dungeons are available and the controls are a bit more straightforward than before. Easier than hack but slightly more challenging than Rogue, Moria offers a balanced and refreshing experience to roguelike players. In addition to these things, the town in which the shops reside is accessible through resurfacing by finding the right ladder in the dungeon.

#moria #umoria #amiga #dos #windows #roguelike #roguevideogame

Larn

Larn, the third entry in classic roguelikes. Here anyone who has played at least one of the previously stated games can certainly witness great changes. For example the player doesn’t deal with balrogs, amulets or anything like this. Instead they encounter a rather humane story. In this story, the portagonist’s daughter is infected with a strange and rather rare disease and the player is tasked with defeating an invisible demon guardian that guards the potion needed for the cure. On the other hand, Larn is the shortest of all 5 classics (Rogue, Hack, Moria, Larn and Omega) with the main dungeon being 10 levels and the volcanic shaft (final area) being only 3. But here’s the catch! Larn is the first roguelike that introduces the concept of Time Trial or, in other words, a Time Limit. This means that the player must complete the game in 300 mobuls (in-game count unit) in order to save their daughter. Most roguelikes are turn-based, this means that every step you take counts as turn. In Larn, 1 mobul (in-game day) is equal to 98 turns, with a plus or minus 2 offset. So hurry up!! Another thing that is worth noticing is that the difficulty of the game goes up by 1 each time you complete the game, leading up to a maximum of 100. But be careful as random statues, fountains and altars throughout the game maybe help or kill you depending on the difficulty and your luck. Now, since you’ve come this far into our blog, you have a better grasp of what does a roguelike game means. If you’d like you can play the best version of the game “Larn” for free on your browser without missing any of the experience. Follow the link, click on “Amiga Larn” and have fun: https://larn.org

#larn #amiga #amiga_larn #dos #windows #roguelike #larnvideogame

Omega

Starting with Moria and Larn, the roguelikes that implemented DnD-like features, we slowly approach the pinnacle among the classics. Omega is the fourth entry in our blog and it became the first well-known DnD-like roguelike that implemented some interesting mechanics. First and foremost, since we are talking about rpg (Role Playing Games) roguelikes, Omega added Guilds and Factions. By engaging with them, the player can start their journey towards the main quest where every action will change the player’s alignment. Alignments refer to the player’s ability to influence their moral/ethical compass or in other words the way the story proceeds and the results of their actions. Lawful (Good) and Chaotic (Evil) are the two available alignments and they can either benefit the player or in the worst case bring their untimely demise. Another remarkable thing to mention is that Omega comes with a deeper lore and overall rich plot compared to it’s predecessors. Due to this and the Alignments system, the game delivers multiple endings to the players. Three to be precise: Retirement, Guild Master and Duke of Ramparts.

#omega #omegavideogame #amiga #dos #windows #msdos #roguelike #ascii #story_oriented

psifiakoipigkouini

To Minecraft είναι ένα από τα πιο γνωστά “sandbox” παιχνίδια, το οποίο σχεδιάστηκε από τον Markus Persson, ενω δημοσιεύτηκε από την Mojang. Ο κόσμος του αποτελείται από κύβους διαφόρων υφών, τις οποίες μπορεί να χρησιμοποιήσει ο παίκτης για να δημιουργήσει μοναδικές κατασκευές. Προσφέρονται τρεις ξεχωριστές λειτουργίες παιχνιδιού: Creative Mode, Survival Mode και Adventure Mode . Το πρώτο δίνει την ελευθερία στον παίκτη να χρησιμοποιήσει όλα τα υλικά και τους πόρους για να χτίσει και να δημιουργήσει οτιδήποτε επιθυμεί, καθώς και τους δίνεται η δυνατότητα να κατευθυνθεί και στους τρεις άξονες (x, y, z) και δεν υπάρχει η δυνατότητα να χάσει ζωή. Στο Survival Mode οι παίκτες συλλέγουν πόρους από το περιβάλλον προσπαθώντας να χτίσουν εγκαίρως κάποιο καταφύγιο. Με την δύση του ηλίου, συνήθως, εμφανίζονται τέρατα που απειλούν τις ζωές τους. Τέλος, το Adventure Mode προσφέρει την δυνατότητα εξερεύνησης ενός χάρτη που έχει κατασκευαστεί από κάποιον άλλον παίκτη με τους αντίστοιχους κανόνες που έχει ορίσει. Στη Java έκδοση του παιχνιδιού υποστηρίζονται και πακέτα, τα Mods , που έχουν δημιουργηθεί από την κοινότητά του. Αυτά συμπεριλαμβάνουν επιπλέον υλικά και διαφορετικά οικοσυστήματα και μπορούν να εμπλουτίσουν την εμπειρία του παίκτη.

Ιστιογραφία

1. https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/about-minecraft

2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00043125.2015.11519302?casa_token=oix53eVYInoAAAAA%3A_-hnX11lzqTgEfxBnOu0veAKrR4Phpv5Dzqc5r3AsLQqfuTcMGtDfoFpPmhNWOiE9eNTlplEn0HW&

roguelike-blog

On another note, let’s take a look on this blog post. As you can clearly see, it talks about minecraft and to be more precise it comments on how Minecraft is an indie game since the original blog, that contains this post, is about indie games. That said, the game has changed a lot since its early stages. Back then it could be considered indie,because it was developed by one man, but after its first earnings it had an entire team dedicated to it with steady revenue, and its current holder is Microsoft, it cannot be considered indie all the way through. Last but not least Markus used the alias “Mojang Specifications”-Mojang wasn’t even the initial publisher’s name-just so he could be able to publish it himself. Now, considering the game characteristics mentioned by the author of the post, there are some mistakes. First of all, “Adventure Mode” is not about exploring and playing other player’s maps nor is it accessible right away. Adventure Mode is like the game’s basic Survival Mode except it has an aspect of realism. Also access to Adventure mode happens mainly through the internal command system or through some in-game option changes. On the other hand, player created maps, also called Adventure Maps, can be downloaded and played on any game-mode. Secondly, the author mentions that monsters generally spawn without explaining the basic conditions for them to spawn, in this case if it’s night they will always spawn except for when the game difficulty is set to peaceful. Finally one of the game’s most famous game-modes, Hardcore, is nowhere to be found despite it being a basic asset since the game’s quite earlier versions. Overall, there is a commendable attempt towards the specific game but it needs some polishing.

#minecraft #videogames #games #blog comments #criticism #reblog #not my cup of tea #not my art

RogueLife

Video games could be, in some instances, related with life. They stimulate a human’s rational thoughts and instincts in order for them to make decisions throughout the game as well as calling on their ability to adapt to new sets of rules just like we do in a society.

That experience is enhanced greatly in the roguelike genre. Permadeath means the character is unable to continue the game after dying. Literally, one won’t have access to that game data anymore and much like the reality we live in, you can’t live more than once. But due to the fact that the game is re-playable, the player is able to improve on his skills by correcting his “past” mistakes that led to their death. That can be compared to to human ability to transfer knowledge from generation to generation. On the other hand, whilst exploring the game and finding a way to make good use of whatever you find, you feel awe as your ancestral “gameplays” linger inside your head. The primal instinct of survival requires you to manage your resources and your natural curiosity draws you deeper into the dungeons, not only to find more but to learn more.

Finally, digging deeper to the ability of starting again despite one’s previous untimely demise, we can understand that compared to real life, we can actively learn from our previous mistakes and correct them on the spot. This is where Roguelikes hit the sweet spot and kind of transcend reality, but they do not break it. Uncertainty, fear and curiosity for the uncharted are the things that really connect this genre with real life.

This is the Human Experience...This is the Roguelike Experience!

#roguelike #videogames #games #pcgames #dos #amiga #windows

Fog of War: What did we discover?

Have you ever heard about the term Fog of War?

It describes the need to explore in order to discover, whether that is enemies, secrets or plain areas. It’s a great example of how it feels to research, or just explore out of curiosity, the rpg sub-genre called Roguelikes. Initially being just a bunch of games made by hobbyists, this genre made a name for itself after a long time since the games were being played but not mentioned. That’s when the Roguelike that made the starting point appeared. Rogue came to a pretty big spotlight and thus lifted the “Fog of War” for it’s successors. But, remember that the genre wasn’t officially established until 2008.

The Berlin interpretation. The year is 2008 and an agreement was formed to discuss the factors, of both low and high importance, that determine a roguelike. The games that were taken into consideration were the ones that had caused the biggest impact in the gaming scene, namely: ADOM, Angband, Crawl, Nethack, and Rogue. Their predecessors (Hack, Moria, Larn and Omega) were important but not fully fledged like their distant successors. So what is a roguelike comprised of:

Procedural generation: The world of the game, specifically the game’s dungeons/levels are randomly generated creating, practically, an infinite amount of possible strategies in order to win or to lose.

Permadeath: Like we explained in our previous post, “RogueLife”, they player is in need and WILL need their previous experiences to advance. No one is expected to move forward without making mistakes and a roguelike’s characteristic of Permadeath is here to remind you just that. Trial and Error is the right way to win.

Turn-Based: The game acts whenever you act so take your time and play smart or don’t play at all. Your Choice!

Resource management: Food, potions, Mana, Health, Weapon Durability, Items and more. Make the best out of every situation and most importantly do not waste resources.

Exploration & Discovery: Finally, the Fog of War at its finest. You enter a dungeon and one thing is for certain: Nothing is Certain! Explore carefully, fight strategically and lift the veil of darkness that plagues every level. Banish the Fog of War with every steady step you take as you discover more and more!

In the end, what remains?

After the rise of the Indie games industry, this sub-genre was brought back to the surface but not like we remember it. Roguelites is the new term and it is one that’s often confused with it’s cousin, Roguelikes. You see, the difference is quite clear but only a few ever truly cared to seek it. Roguelites can be inspired and are inspired by roguelikes but they will implement more features to the game itself rather than staying true to the original scheme (see “The Berlin Interpretation”). On the other hand, Roguelikes will stay true to this scheme and IF there are changes to the style, they will be kept to a bare minimum.

Still, even though the roguelites have taken a big place in the spotlight while the roguelikes remain mostly in the dark, the genre is vast and above all fascinating. So go out there and seek them out. Play them! Enjoy them!

#roguelikes #roguelites #dos #amiga #windows #ps4 #ps3 #xbox #Rogue #hackgame #moria #larnvideogame #omega

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