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[Gluntronics]

I love Roguelikes / Roguelites. I've lost a lot of time to them and they fit well with my current gaming habits. I often don't have long to game and like the feeling of mastering something so I enjoy jumping into a game for 15 to 45 min and having a new experience every time.

I'm still playing Spelunky after a year and half and almost every run is a hell run now but I still enjoy it. Anyway I ask because I'm spending a lot of my time working on Roguelike that I have yet to announce and I'm interested to know if I'm one of the few still excited by the genre or if there's many out there like me. I'm not out to add to the noise and I feel passionate about what we're doing so audience or not I'm making this game for myself and people like me. 

Thanks!

[Conker534]

who cares you should just make what you want to make

[Belimoth]

Niche genres don't really "go away" fuck the scene.

[FanFan]

Roguelike wont go away shortly, that's for sure. It's been 20 years+ since NetHack release and at least i still play it regularly (the game's even older than me!),

[eyeliner]

As long as the game decent, there's no point in giving it up. Sure, there's a load of roguelikes, but there's always room for a dozen more. Just make it.

[Gluntronics]

Thanks guys, I definitely will see this game through to completion, it's not only the game I want to make but the kind I love to play! It's just nice to know that other people would be excited to play it or if it would be coming out of the gate already hated.

I know it all comes down to the quality of game we make, a shit game can come in any genre. I'm excited to share some progress with the TIGforums and get feedback from people more knowledgeable then I. We're still getting our ducks in a row but we'll be sharing soon! The next step is figuring out how much is acceptable to share without annoying people.

[Snow]

who cares you should just make what you want to make

Exactly this, and what everyone else said. Think of it this way.. making a game or a certain genre isn't a privilege for a privileged few. Everyone can make a game. Make a game that you want to play. If you put your heart and soul into it and it's fun, then you're on the right path.

[Richard Kain]

What is "in vogue" at the moment is just an arbitrary and circumstantial distinction. A good game is good no matter when it is played. Even if rogue-likes might be fairly common now, a rogue-like that is well-done is timeless.

This game-play niche has gained traction in recent years thanks to the indie scene's fascination with procedural generation. It's easy to see why. Procedural generation is the most efficient way to create a lot of content quickly. Off-loading basic level generation to the computer allows you to have a lot of levels. It also allows for emergent experiences that often feel more organic than custom-crafted levels. It is also the easiest way to insure replay-value for a title. Just roll the dice for a new experience or challenge that you haven't yet faced.

If making this style of game is something you want to do, by all means, do it. You will likely face steeper competition than you would have previously, but there is still plenty of room for experimentation.

[Muz]

Roguelikes are kinda shitty right now because a lot of people who make shitty games where the scope is "everything" starts with a roguelike. They have really bad implementations of their everythings and combined with bad graphics and bad controls and no polish and being proud of being in pre-alpha early release.

If you can't design, just toss ALL your ideas into something, don't bother with a theme and call it a roguelike. If you've got no ideas at all, take a cliche dungeon crawler, add crappy non-animated graphics and call it a casual roguelike.

There's good roguelikes no doubt about it. The genre just starts to suck when they become buzzwords.

[alvarop]

Being avant-garde would be making a non-procedural, infinite-lives game.

[One-bit Punch]

who cares you should just make what you want to make

Absolutely this

@Gluntronics all the best with your roguelike game!

[Gluntronics]

Roguelikes are kinda shitty right now because a lot of people who make shitty games where the scope is "everything" starts with a roguelike. They have really bad implementations of their everythings and combined with bad graphics and bad controls and no polish and being proud of being in pre-alpha early release.

If you can't design, just toss ALL your ideas into something, don't bother with a theme and call it a roguelike. If you've got no ideas at all, take a cliche dungeon crawler, add crappy non-animated graphics and call it a casual roguelike.

There's good roguelikes no doubt about it. The genre just starts to suck when they become buzzwords.

You forgot to hashtag #realtalk at the end of that. Ha. It seems like a genre with high highs and low lows. Here's hoping that I'm creating content that will entertain others beyond myself.

[Gluntronics]

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the feedback. I'm excited to start sharing content soon! Once the games name is trademarked I'll start showing some of our progress for your 

[ericmhunter]

I believe that most perceive the genre of rougelikes as much of the same. The genre is constantly held in the regards of "random". The issue with this, especially for those who aren't very familiar with this type of game, that the randomness isn't really random at all.

Sure the level layouts are different every time you play the game giving the gamer a new experience each time, but the elements are always the same. The walls look the same, the enemies repeat and at the end of the day the thought of the Rougelike loses it's luster. Just seems like the same over and over again.

Now you can say this is a fact with pretty much every game, but those games don't advertise the genre as a new experience with each play through. Sadly, rougelikes don't get the exposure they deserve. Hopefully yours may bring it to light and drive it to the top of the list so everyone takes notice of what a great experience these games can offer.

All the best of luck.

Eric M Hunter - I Am Eric M

[James Edward Smith]

My only fear with Roguelikes now is that it has become too established of a formula that I fear it sets up precedents that people will be prone to forget to challenge.

Why not make a dungeon crawler with one life (perma-death) but with static, well designed levels that are not generated at all? Maybe something where the levels' designs stay the same in one sense but change in an other way (e.g. breaking a dam in what part of the game world leads to a large section of it now being a flooded water level instead of what it used to be for the remainder of play throughs unless something drains it, etc).

What makes Roguelikes interesting is their challenging of a lot of game design elements that were normally set in stone as being a different way for a large amount of games. Things that were so prevalent they had become tropes (lives, static levels, etc).

Me, I'm working on an unroguelike, authorially generated, attic flier with temporary death.

[Belimoth]

Once the games name is trademarked I'll start showing some of our progress for your 

lol, do people do that

[Muz]

Trademarks are only there to protect products from claiming to be from someone. You can't really enforce a trademark without being recognized a brand in the first place.

(but that's another, longer discussion)

[Gluntronics]

Once the games name is trademarked I'll start showing some of our progress for your 

lol, do people do that

IDK I'm new to game development. I have experience in video content so I'm adapting a lot of what I understand of intellectual property from there. Are the two worlds that dissimilar?

[Gluntronics]

Trademarks are only there to protect products from claiming to be from someone. You can't really enforce a trademark without being recognized a brand in the first place.

(but that's another, longer discussion)

The intent was to trademark the name under an LLC. I agree this is a longer discussion. Is there another thread on TIG that has covered this? I will admit I'm confused by the details of this so I'm just trying to follow what would be standard operating procedure.

I mostly don't want to work under a name that has already been taken and have to change late in development or have a larger project come out later down the line with the same name.

[psepho]

Trademarks are only there to protect products from claiming to be from someone. You can't really enforce a trademark without being recognized a brand in the first place.

(but that's another, longer discussion)

The intent was to trademark the name under an LLC. I agree this is a longer discussion. Is there another thread on TIG that has covered this? I will admit I'm confused by the details of this so I'm just trying to follow what would be standard operating procedure.

I mostly don't want to work under a name that has already been taken and have to change late in development or have a larger project come out later down the line with the same name.

Registering a trade mark can be a good idea if the game's name is particularly unusual and you are strongly attached to it.  In most jurisdictions a registered trade mark can also be enforced without yet having a strong brand.  But do bear in mind that you would be spending a moderate chunk of cash, certainly several hundred dollars if not more, for an right that only stops people copying the name (and only in the specific jurisdiction where you register).  It will not stop people cloning the overall game but using a different name, which is a more likely risk if the game does fairly well.  It is unlikely that people will start actively ripping off the actual name and identity of the game unless you reach very high levels of player awareness (e.g. Flappy Bird which now has numerous similarly named imitators) -- by which time you will hopefully have plenty of cash for legal stuff!