[Genre] Roguelike

Hi all!
Ready to argue that you happened to see pictures like this:

This drawing method is called ASCII-art and, as it is not difficult to guess from the name, draw there using the symbols of ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange). His legs grow already from the 19th century, but this is not the essence. The bottom line is that since the sixties of the last century, programmers have entertainment - write programs that draw a given image with these very symbols. Once this resulted in the fact that they created a game in which this pseudographic was used and which eventually became the parent of the whole genre, Roguelike, which I want to tell you about.

That there is a horned

The genre got its name from the game-pioneerer- Rogue (Tramp to be, more about her a little below). Roguelike, in fact, is translated as “similar rogue”, but the Russian people, too lazy to pronounce a long “Rowla”, affectionately called the genre in tune.
Roguelike is considered a sucking role -playing games, for nothing that Rogue at one time not only created it, but also laid the foundations of mechanics The total genre generally. Well, the truth: you explore the world, kill the monsters, collect good, grow in the level - nothing has changed, only modified by trifles.
Characteristic features:
- The most noticeable feature of the pants is Graphic design, executed in pseudographics. Nowadays, this feature is no longer so relevant, modern Roguelike games have a more or less dosage graphics, and some look very attractive at all (however, in the variety of game mechanics, such darkened pants lose their less high-rise brothers);
- The most important feature of the games of this genre can be called random generation game environment. Locations, the presence of monsters, lutus, the location of artifacts - he is refueling His Majesty with a rand, which leads away the reigree of the game into "plus infinity".
- After it, you need to mention the full Freedom. There is no linear passage in horn -like games, the player himself is free to choose what to do and when.
- Next - full accessibility of all game actions. If something can be done in the crogue, then this can be done from the very beginning of the game, there are no restrictions.
- Of the two previous points, this one follows - Self -study of the surrounding world. The player himself explores the world (sorry for the tautology), learns about the monsters inhabiting it and the objects found by him, studies their nature and the mechanism of their use. For clarity-if you find any potion, then you will not recognize its effect until you use it (of course, provided that you cannot determine it by a spell or have not used a similar potion earlier, and it may not be a potion at all, but an explosive mixture).
- Yasd (Yet Another Stupid Death is another stupid death). In general, this abbreviation is a local meme of players in the pants, if you rephrase it into a more “official” language, you will turn out the following - the ability to make a fatal mistake. How to understand this? Very simple. Hardcores of the Hardcores to the impossibility, and the player is responsible for their mistakes in them in full, so in the games of this genre you need to carefully think through your actions a few moves ahead (yes, sangs Steps, This is another of their main feature). If the player had stupidity to eat a berry unknown to him, he should not be offended by the sudden painful death of his character - no one is to blame for the berry to be poisonous. There is another line of hardcore Roguelike games - you can’t persist (this limitation can be circumvented, but in the local environment it is considered a bad tone), so any fatal error leads to no less fatal permanent death and the need to start the game first (and in some pants there is the opportunity to find the grave of its previous character, or meet it in the form of a ghost and monitor it).

In some sorstes and loved ones in spirit, where the opportunity to get the long-awaited wines tends to zero, and a curious loss with a bunch of dismemberment delivers more lulz than the game process, Yasd is not something bad, but the very epic lesions are already becoming wine.

- Well, the last, particularly important factor, which I casually mentioned in the first paragraph - is The variety of game mechanics. Perhaps this wording is not entirely clear, therefore I will explain what is like. In the pants implemented an incredibly complex and far from always predictable and understandable system of interaction with everything. Remember how in Dragon Age You can combine some spells and skills? So, increase the number of these spelled combinations once a hundred, expand all the playing content and bring to the second degree, so you can imagine what you can do in the pants. Inspires? That's it. You can destroy the rock with an earthquake on which the hostile magician has settled, you can throw a pair of fire in the river with a fire ball and closed you from archers standing on the other side, you can dig a tunnel between the two caves, falling into an inaccessible area, there would be the necessary objects/skills, fantasy and the desire to experiment. This also includes the variety of game content. Twenty starting races, forty game classes, hundreds of spells and thousands of items for cuckolds - the norm. Well, of course, nowhere without a well -thought -out and often deep role system in the best traditions D&D.

There are other features, less important, I will not list them, you now know all the most basic and important. Let's move on directly to the representatives of the genre, I will tell you about the most.

Rogue

Well, I'll start with the ancestor of the genre. The horns published in 1980 had a rather unpretentious plot tie (which is generally typical of this genre): the player is a classic adventure, his goal is to get the amulet of Jendor, which is at the lowest level of the dungeon in which you are in which you are. That's the whole fairy. Nevertheless, the game simply blew up the brain of its deep role and tactical component component. It was played on it for a day, the highest reiglable allowed not to lose interest from repeated passages (or attempts of passage).

Now Rogue is considered obsolete and you should not start acquaintance with the pants, but if this genre will still pass you and you will successfully get comfortable in it, then it will be possible to join the origins.

Nethack

One of the most famous and popular Ever videos. Has a bunch of followers, variations and ports. The main goal in it is the same as in the tramp - to find the amulet of Jendor (the omnipotence ring was not as popular as this amulet).

Glorious of his elaboration of the world. Relations between the characters of their abilities, objects and the environment are incredibly complex. Many factors are influenced by playing events, including even the phase of the moon (real moon, not intra -game)! Almost for Anyone, Even the most stupid and idiotic action exists its own piece of code. To understand the entire scale of the “tragedy”, it is enough to say that on the Internet there is a guide in several pages, where it is painted how to have sex in the game. Thanks to this, the game gave rise to its own meme TDTTOE (The Devteam Thinks of EVERYTHING - the developer team provided for everything).

Also, the game also has (!) https://winztercasino.uk/ one feature whose name Source Diving (diving into the code, subfloration). The bottom line is that the source code of the game is open, and you can delve into it to better understand the mechanics of the game and have more chances to win. Knowledge of the programming language C for this is required.

It should be noted that the game was created by the team The Devteam Communicating over the network, so “NET” flaunts in the title and flaunts. The first version of this game was light in 1987, the latter in 2003.

Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup

The most friendly to novice players is real (not coffee. Much more simple representatives of the genre are called coffee ones, which are relatively easily and quickly and allow you to make an idea of ​​the genre. Theoretically, acquaintance with roguelike games better start with them. Practically - not necessarily) a pungent, because it has a graphic interface, convenient control (you can play only a mouse. However, management from the keyboard, in fact, is the same in all representatives of the genre, much more convenient. Everyone comes to understanding this fact over time) and even (about the miracle!) the training mode, which is rarely found in such games. In general, it is quite possible to start the development of the genre with it.

The plot tie of the game is again simple, like a cucumber: we are looking for a zot sphere (another mysterious strong -carbon artifact) and therefore climbed into another dungeon. Unlike Nethack in Dungeon CRAWL, the main emphasis is not on the study of the secret properties of objects (although they are here) and their various (objects) combination, but on battles. The game has many races (including such exotic species as mummies and people-osminogs), classes and a pantheon of nineteen deities (which are divided into good, chaotic and neutral, and, accordingly, encourage different acts of the player), among which you need to choose a patron for yourself. Different combinations of races and classes allow you to implement various tactical schemes, sometimes fundamentally different from each other (it would seem, what is the difference between the gnome-warrior and the troll-warrior? And it is huge, the first does not have health regeneration in principle, but the second she goes off scale. In general, a rather interesting and funny description of almost all races of the authorship of a certain goblin_matron, I found here).

The game also has a multiplayer mode. It consists in the fact that there is an opportunity to watch how another player plays and comment on this business. As it turned out, this is a very useful feature, newcomers are gaining experience observing more experienced players, and pros give practical advice to those who are just learning to play.
The game became available to players in 2006 and will live to this day. On online servers, championships are held annually.

Ancient Domains of Mystery (Adom)

A hornedness that is not inferior in the filling of Nethack itself (and in cultural too). The creator of ADOM decided that he did not like the idea with the dungeon, and in general there was nowhere to turn around, and, without excruciating slyly, created his full -fledged world With Blackjack and whores With cities, villages and dungeons (without them, nevertheless, it was not). This world is a valley fenced by impassable mountains, and has a strictly fixed map. But the dungeons are generated each time new, as it should be.

The game also stands out from its counterparts by the presence of a whole plot with the quest component. The Zapzka, however, went far from colleagues in the workshop: everything is bad and it will become even worse if our hero does not save everyone.
Apart from these two features, ADOM is no more different from other cuckaps. A powerful role system (many races, classes, skills, zodiac signs, talent system) and many all kinds of actions.

I almost forgot to say that this Roguelike game does not have and there will be no modifications or additions. Thomas Bisca, the creator of ADOM, is not going to share the sources with the people, so not all the secrets of the game are found, but those found are found experimentally (for example, it is very good to start the game on the Biscope’s birthday and it is extremely recommended to start it on Friday, 13th). What can I say, players are not particularly happy about this. But there will be a continuation of the game, Thomas is already working on it.
Latest version of ADOM (1.2.0) I went out last year. ADOMII now has a number of numbers 0.3.2.

Angband

I think that the interphenyists were already alert when he saw a familiar word. And not in vain, the action of the game will take place precisely in Angbanda, the second fortress of Morgot (if anyone is not in the courses, then Morgot, he was Melkor, the most important villain of Middle -earth, and Sauron is only his most capable student). Actually, the Morgot itself we need to kill (the goal is worthy of the epic heroes, even the greatest warriors of the elves and people could not cope with it). And to do this, you need to go down to the hundredth level of Angbanda dungeons ... at least. “Minimum” because Melkor is so insidious that it may not appear on a hundred level, and you will have to go down even lower, until it deigns to suddenly sett.

In addition to the Morgot itself, in the game, it will be possible to find and kill other rather memorable opponents: Sauron, a spider in Ungoliant, Nazgulov ... Now, there must be misconceptions of ardent interpretations, and they can be understood (random puppet), because the naming Nazgulas is not yet time. But this is only an iceberg crown. Angbanda Bestiaria is very extensive and contains a bunch of monsters who are not even close to Middle -earth (Cerberus, for example). And this is not all! Contemptuous freezing of the professor’s fans will already cause the process of generating a character - among the playable races, in addition to all the “Mediterranean”, there is a couple “Not from this area”, and the set of classes is represented by all classes of the base D&D (Priest in Middle -earth is cool). And they are all perfectly balanced, the game can be passed by any class.

Well, if the possibility of a priest in the Middle -earth does not cause you a fierce butthert, then the game will undoubtedly give you a lot of pleasure. The latest version of the game was released in September last year, which symbolizes, given that it was available in 1989.

It would be wrong not to mention that Angband is an improved version of another Roguelike game whose name Moria. As it is easy to guess from the name, in it we travel along Moria mines and our goal - to reach the bottom and defeat the balro. Years of the life of the Horogalik-1983-1987.

Tales of Maj’eeal (Tome)

Earlier, the continuer and improvement of the Angband case (at that time was the name Tales of Middle Earth), now proudly bears a new name and tells the story of the new author's world with Blackj ... Ah, no, this joke was already Eyal. At the moment, this is the fourth version of the game (completely rewritten from scratch). Throral bearer of the title of best Roguelike-game of the year (yes, there is such a thing, and I don’t know why I wrote it, but let it be).

This pungent stands out in several aspects at once. Firstly, it has a very good graphics (and at the same time sound accompaniment), the quality of the Tyelov drawing is quite high (however, for lovers of classics, it is possible to switch to a classic text form). Secondly, the development of the character is on the principle of the trees of skills, which is quite unusual for this genre. The combat system also underwent changes, instead of the usual scrolls and potions (used - lost), a system of runes and talents (multiple use) was implemented).

Like ADOM, Tome has an open world and the plot component (read: “The plot is not in its infancy”). And from Dungeon Crawl, the game adopted the opportunity to send information about its achievements to the server, which is published on the website of the game in real time.
Of the shortcomings, it should be noted the abundance of bugs and the unbalanced game. But, given the constant development of the game, this is sooner or later Tome will get rid of. At the moment, the game is presented in version 1.0.1.

Podorogaliki

And here I will talk about a pair of games, about whose belonging to the Rogue-Like genre there are non-blind holivars in thematic forums.

Dwarf Fortress
The game is only in the stage of the alpha test, but it is already amazing with the epic and the scale of the study. In essence, this is a god of God with elements of a sideline, and the emphasis is placed on a strategic component. You need to build your dwarf fortress and ... drain it in one of a thousand methods. Dwarf Fortress is the very game where the YASD meme is used to the fullest (by the way, there is a dismissal, with all the ensuing).

Dwarf Fortress grabbed a random generation of the world from pre -set parameters from the pants. Although it seems that mutually exclusive paragraphs are involved here, this. Two worlds created in the same parameters will be very different from each other, because after generation itself, the game first populates the freshly built world for animals, smashes several hundred years of history (war, illness, attacks of various monsters), and only after that it launches there the player (and in your fortress there is a detailed chronicle of all these events).
Further: all creatures in the game consist of "flesh and blood" and each damage is taken into account and affects the gameplay (your gnome has lost its eyes? Blind to the end of the game. His hand was torn off? The shitty of him is now an employee or a warrior, and after all, he can also die from gangrene).
What I have listed is only a small part of the chips of the game (there is still the most the most the same geology, for example), in order to list them all, you need to create a separate blog (and I do not know everyone). So on this and dwell.

Random, hardcore in all fields ... In general, it makes no sense to say something, everything is fine for me and for a long time Ivan Loev in a text review. But not to mention the game, which he personally played for more than 30 hours, would be sinful.

Faster than Light
A mixture of cosmoshima and rogue-like. Good, suitable mixture.

And ... here, honestly, I don't even know what to say. After all, everything goes according to the hungry scheme: hardcore - eat, random - there is a powerful tactical component - there is, even solid graphics, and that is ... And, well, the plot, in the best traditions, without delights - important strategic information fell on your ship and you must deliver it to the General Staff. At your disposal, the ship (cosmic, of course. - Always yours, K.ABOUT.) and the right crew. There are many professions of crew members, various ships, weapons and various improvements are also available. In general, lovers of cir Thesons will definitely be satisfied.

On this, perhaps, I will finish this post. Actually, why did I write it at all? It’s a shame for the power! No, however, a little offensive. Roguelike-games are magnificent, but due to its excessive complexity and high threshold of entry (“You can’t just take and start playing sills”- Boromirdo not get widespread, so not everyone knows about them. I hope that at least one of the gamers hungry for hardcore will turn their eyes to them.
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P.S.
By the way, the cuckolds got to squeeze out even in Excel. I think many remember the news that appeared on the site relatively recently.