Dwarf Fortress

For all the console game complainers, here's a freeware title that looks kind of interesting... if you can stomach Roguelike graphics, that is. Dwarf Fortress puts you in charge of a Dwarven outpost. Sounds a little bit like The Sims or Civ for the D&D/Tolkien set.

my computer can't handle the graphics.

http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/sc...ge_in_town.PNG

I have no idea whats going on here, but I think I have a better understanding for the increase in console posts.

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Originally Posted by pwain

I have no idea whats going on here, but I think I have a better understanding for the increase in console posts.

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Hey, Roguelike games can still be fun. :)

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Originally Posted by remo

Hey, Roguelike games can still be fun. :)

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I was more of a MUD dork myself.


yeah they can be fun, but I think thats a bit over the top for me :)

I always have awe and respect for artist that use ASCII for their graphics work.

it takes real skill to to make stuff out of ascii.

btw: anyone remember those monthly "Ascii art packs" that use to come out back in the early to mid 1990s ?

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Originally Posted by rimmerchant

I always have awe and respect for artist that use ASCII for their graphics work.

it takes real skill to to make stuff out of ascii.

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That's pretty much a standard ascii art scheme for a rogue-like game. I played through Angband, as well as it's cousing, Zangband. Great games - they suck up time like no one's business. I don't have a numeric pad, since I'm on a laptop, which makes it rather difficult to play Zangband now. I tried, it's just too inconvenient without the numpad... :(

I highly recommend ZanbandTK for anyone who would like a taste of a rogue-like. It's got actual graphics instead of ascii, and it's a lot more user-friendly than most other rogue-likes. Grab it from HERE . :)

If those are the graphics, then this has to be a joke thread.

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

If those are the graphics, then this has to be a joke thread.

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No joke. Rougelike games are great stuff!

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

If those are the graphics, then this has to be a joke thread.

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Roguelike dungeon crawls such as NetHack or the above mentioned Zangband may not offer the eye candy of GoW, but they have gameplay to offer in spades.

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Originally Posted by remo

Roguelike dungeon crawls such as NetHack or the above mentioned Zangband may not offer the eye candy of GoW, but they have gameplay to offer in spades.

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The options in some of these types of games are insane. Since the graphics are so simple they have tons of monsters, weapons, character abilities, options, ect.
There was a post holocaust one for the Mac that was ported to PC that was subperb. Can't remember the name off hand.

http://doom.chaosforge.org/

Check out this one, I still play it every now and then when I'm bored :D

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Originally Posted by Kung_Fu_Fighter

There was a post holocaust one for the Mac that was ported to PC that was subperb. Can't remember the name off hand.

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A Roguelike Fallout would be awesome...

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Originally Posted by remo

Roguelike dungeon crawls such as NetHack or the above mentioned Zangband may not offer the eye candy of GoW, but they have gameplay to offer in spades.

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What kind of gameplay are we talking about here? I can't understand those screenshots at all. I read the Wikipedia and I understand the 'graphics' are simple ASCII characters, but I still don't understand.

Clarification? lol

EDIT: I just played the Doom 'roguelike'. While this is a fairly interesting concept, it's not really my cup of tea, lol. I honestly could only see someone playing something like this if they were bored to tears.

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Originally Posted by KaoTiK

What kind of gameplay are we talking about here? I can't understand those screenshots at all. I read the Wikipedia and I understand the 'graphics' are simple ASCII characters, but I still don't understand.

Clarification? lol

EDIT: I just played the Doom 'roguelike'. While this is a fairly interesting concept, it's not really my cup of tea, lol. I honestly could only see someone playing something like this if they were bored to tears.

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I've not played the Doom RL, but they're basically light RPGs with a focus on dungeon crawling (versus story telling). The upside to the primitive graphics is their flexibility -- hundreds of monsters, dozens of characters races and classes, near limitless amount of items, locations, etc. There's just an insane amount of variety when compare to a traditional RPG.

To get a better idea, click here for a pretty detailed account of one player's game of Nethack

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Originally Posted by remo

I've not played the Doom RL, but they're basically light RPGs with a focus on dungeon crawling (versus story telling). The upside to the primitive graphics is their flexibility -- hundreds of monsters, dozens of characters races and classes, near limitless amount of items, locations, etc. There's just an insane amount of variety when compare to a traditional RPG.

To get a better idea, click here for a pretty detailed account of one player's game of Nethack

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Ah, I understand. I had no idea these games existed until this thread, then again, the first games I got into were dosshell games. I loved that one where the monkeys throw bananas at eachother, Scorched Earth style.

I might have been into these 'roguelikes' many a year ago, but I moved out of that phase years ago.

So how does a game immerse you when the "huge dungeon lord" is represented as the letter A? I'll stick to games with graphics. ;)

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

So how does a game immerse you when the "huge dungeon lord" is represented as the letter A? I'll stick to games with graphics. ;)

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You young whipper snappers and your polygons and your AAs and your AFs... In my day, we were just happy when we could represent a huge dungeon lord with a capital A instead of lowercase. :p

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

So how does a game immerse you when the "huge dungeon lord" is represented as the letter A? I'll stick to games with graphics. ;)

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Then try Vulture's Eye, it's an isometric graphical front end.

I'm not saying that these games are intended to replace the latest 3D graphics fests -- but if games like Nethack are still being played and still in active development today (it was released in 1987), then just maybe there's something to it. We'll see who's still playing Oblivion in 2026.

Save the green dots with your fantastic flying red square!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Degenatron

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Originally Posted by remo

Then try Vulture's Eye, it's an isometric graphical front end.

I'm not saying that these games are intended to replace the latest 3D graphics fests -- but if games like Nethack are still being played and still in active development today (it was released in 1987), then just maybe there's something to it. We'll see who's still playing Oblivion in 2026.

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I'm weird, I actually don't like the way it looks with any graphical frontend.

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Originally Posted by remo

Then try Vulture's Eye, it's an isometric graphical front end.

I'm not saying that these games are intended to replace the latest 3D graphics fests -- but if games like Nethack are still being played and still in active development today (it was released in 1987), then just maybe there's something to it. We'll see who's still playing Oblivion in 2026.

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A couple hundred nerds playing a game from 1987 doesn't mean it stood the test of time ;)

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Originally Posted by Timman_24

A couple hundred nerds playing a game from 1987 doesn't mean it stood the test of time ;)

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That's a couple hundred more than will be playing GoW in 20 years. :)

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Originally Posted by remo

That's a couple hundred more than will be playing GoW in 20 years. :)

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Yeah, and a few million less than will be playing games like GoW in 20 years. :)

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Originally Posted by remo

That's a couple hundred more than will be playing GoW in 20 years. :)

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I don't care what GoW will be like 20 years from now, I live in the present. Hell, 360 will be a collector's item by that time. Global Warming would have killed us all by then!