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[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

As most of you must know... The 7DRL Challenge draws near! This is an open invitation to all you indies to accept the challenge and become real men! probably....

Anyhow, this is the fifth 7DRL challenge.. I feel old...

So, in a properly TIGs way... DISCUSS about 7DRLs

[george]

I would love to do this.

However, not only have I never programmed a roguelike, I have played only one roguelike.

I'm not saying I'm not qualified...

Any advice?

[Terry]

Actually, this reminds me - RPGDX is having a somewhat similar contest at the moment. For the month of February, everyone's creating an ASCII RPG (not necessarily a "roguelike" though).

Anyway, if I have some free time that week, I might take part

[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

I would love to do this.

However, not only have I never programmed a roguelike, I have played only one roguelike.

I'm not saying I'm not qualified...

Any advice?

Play some more roguelikes? (Have a look at http://slashie.net, perhaps? )

Actually, this reminds me - RPGDX is having a somewhat similar contest at the moment. For the month of February, everyone's creating an ASCII RPG (not necessarily a "roguelike" though).

Anyway, if I have some free time that week, I might take part

Sounds interesting... how many people is into it? From what I readed they are doing random terrain generation, so they are at least a *bit* roguelikish...

... I hate to open an account in a forum just to post once, so I wont

[skaldicpoet9]

How often is the compo?

I would totally enter but I want to actually have made at least one RL before I attempt to make one in seven days lol...

[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

Yearly, or twice a year in our better years

A 7DRL as your first 7DRL is a perfectly viable thing

[skaldicpoet9]

Perhaps...if it starts in March I do have some time left to work out how to do it.

Is there an Open Source RL done in C that I might be able to look at the code to get a general idea of how an RL is structured? I haven't even tried to make a game in C, all I have done so far is just make simple console programs.

[Impossible]

I'm thinking about making one this year because I have an idea for a roguelike game. The question is, is there a strict definition of "roguelike" that I need to follow?  Basically... at what point does a game go from roguelike to not roguelike?  I'm sure this is a very loaded question that has been debated to death on various places on the internet, but...

1) Do you need to have permadeath?
2) Does it need to be turn based?
3) Do you need to have randomly generated levels?
4) Can you use graphics?

I want to make something that would end up being a hybrid of an arena shooter or gauntlet clone (real time, actiony combat) and a roguelike (permadeath, inventory system, random levels, etc.), perhaps using ascii characters for graphics, perhaps just using simple shapes. Would I end up flamed and ridiculed for entering such a game?

[spellcaster]

What should I use to code one? Right now my best guess would be to create a tileset consisting of the ASCII set.
I'd develop mainly on my windows box, I guess.

[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

1) Do you need to have permadeath?

No

2) Does it need to be turn based?

No

3) Do you need to have randomly generated levels?

No

4) Can you use graphics?

Yeah

I want to make something that would end up being a hybrid of an arena shooter or gauntlet clone (real time, actiony combat) and a roguelike (permadeath, inventory system, random levels, etc.), perhaps using ascii characters for graphics, perhaps just using simple shapes. Would I end up flamed and ridiculed for entering such a game?

No

You may want to have a look at the roguelike definition over roguebasin

What should I use to code one? Right now my best guess would be to create a tileset consisting of the ASCII set.
I'd develop mainly on my windows box, I guess.

Use Java

Heh, just kidding... I dont know, the general consensus seems to be "use the language you master" or "use a language you are learning"; the second one will however decrease your chance of suceeding in the challenge

Cheers

[Krishh]

Is there an Open Source RL done in C that I might be able to look at the code to get a general idea of how an RL is structured? I haven't even tried to make a game in C, all I have done so far is just make simple console programs.

This is a good question. I'm considering entering, but this would be my first project of such size, and while I am mulling over ideas for the structure of the code, it would certainly help to see the structure of a complete, if simple roguelike. There are plenty of open source roguelikes, but any particular recommendations for an understandable structure? (Preferably in c# or c++, but I could try working through java too. This is partly just motivation to learn something and get something done, and, while java isn't exactly part of the plan, it can't hurt.)

[spellcaster]

Use Java

Yeah, I could. But even then, I'd most likely use a tileset. Mainly because I'd really like to use all the nifty special chars from the ASCII set.
It seems like there is lib besides curses/ncurses that is meant to be used for text based interfaces?

Does this mean that we have more trouble today then back in the old days when we could simply use direct memory access? It seems strange that a lot of OpenGL wrapper libs exists, everybody and their brother is coding a gaming framework/engine but there is no such thing for textbased games?

What a pitty.

[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

Yep, there is JCurses, which you can use easily to output into a text console.

About engines for texbased games, there is Valkirie if you want, or T-Engine

[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

The 2008 7DRL Challenge has started!

Follow its development over rec.games.roguelike.development

There are already 11 challengers.

Previously to the official date, 6 people jumped in and started their projects.

You can still go in if you want

[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

This is the initial challenger projects list. (taken from here.

RogueTCG (or possibly RoguEMon!) by Lochok

My goal is to write the RogueTCG (Trading card game) - in which the goal will be to use your RoguEMon cards (your RoguEMen as it were) to battle your way through the foyer, sales and administration to confront the CEO to have your custom card produced.

Simple Flash Rogue by failRate

I intend to make a super-simple Rogue-like in Flash that will save game state both locallly and on a remote server, so I can play at home or away.  The latest version will always be found at http://failrate.com/b/7DRL.html

Return to Sorsaria by Krice

This game is set in alternative reality where The Avatar died, sadly. The player jumps into Sosaria through moon gate and finds a world full of hostile creatures.

TrapRogue by Nate

You'll have to get an artifact from the dungeon and evade lots of traps.  I'll let you be surprised about the rest

Rogue Batallion by Ed Kolis

My concept is "Rogue Battalion" - it's a roguelike in a modern warfare setting, where "Captain @" is the commander of an army battalion. The main unique feature is that of Vehicles

Faterhood by Jeff Lait

The name of the game is "Fatherhood"

SomethingWithZombies by Mr. Red Sunshine

Don't yet know the goal or the proper Theme. Something with Zombies, biological weapons, a mysterious corporation and an accident. Zombies don't require much ai ;-)

chrysalis by sinoth

The general game concept is that you start as a weak insect-like creature (I invision it as a zergling (COPYRIGHT BLIZZARD)) and you must destroy the military bases of humans that have invaded your planet.

Gameplay will revolve around destroying fortified bases randomly scattered on a generated world.  There will be no dungeon levels up and down, but instead one large map that you can traverse seamlessly.

Unnamed by chukGren

Basically, it will be a forced fight to the death between some number of combatants in a play area that gets smaller as time elapses.  The catch is that the combatants all knew each other beforehand so some of them are reluctant to attack others... and they will only start doing so past some psychological tipping point (time, people attacking them, damage, etc).

Undisclosed by Slash

I have started coding my roguelike.

Actually, I havent... but the time is running already, isnt it?

Unnamed by Nick Beam

I started a couple hours ago. It's loosely based in the Magi-Nation universe, a trading card game and game boy game from ~2001. I'm using my Tarn (http://github.com/jdp/tarn) engine to build it. I'm still not sure about the exact story or point of the game, but I'm sure it'll come to me by the time I finish the subsystems. :<

[Tanner]

Wow, I can't wait to see the finished products!

Another year goes by without a Harvest Moon Rooguelike.
I'd make one if I knew how to code.
This might just make me break down and learn someday.

[Slash - Santiago Zapata]

Update March 10,  6 new projects
Space Marine type RL by Corremn

You are a mercenary marine that recruits other mercs and take on bad stuff and shit.

"thats a zergling, Leister, smaller type of Zerg..., they wouldn't be out this far, unless ... aww shit!'

A Knight in the Dungeon by Gerry Quinn

The main character operates like a chess piece of sorts - he probably has several lives and normally moves like a king in chess, killing pieces he moves onto.  Items or skills may award him special moves or attacks.

ArabiaRL by Andy Pymont

You will play Aladdin, aiming to escape the depths of the cave after being left there by the vizier who has just run off with your lamp, your genie and your girl.

Countryside Zomband by zooptek

The goal is not to update or fix the existing Zomband, but to make a whole new expansion for it.  In original Zomband, the goal was to escape the city.  My work for the 7DRL challenge will be what happens after your character escapes the city.  Although both are in the same executable, the new region your character enters after escaping the city will have all new level generation, tiles, items, monsters, and player abilities.

1DRL by Zaratustra

Started development.

Gang City Brawler by Timothy R. Dean et all

The inspiration comes mostly from 80's arcade brawler games and to a lesser extent the movies about the punk kids of that time. The overall objective of the game is to eradicate all the gangs in the city by taking out the gang leaders using bare fists, street weapons and even the environment itself as a weapon.

[Tanner]

HOLY SHIT A NEW ZOMBAND.
This gets better and better.

[dustin]

Another year goes by without a Harvest Moon Rooguelike.
I'd make one if I knew how to code.
This might just make me break down and learn someday. Tongue

I remember in my first programming class we had to make a text app for a project and thats what I made.  I mean it wasn't real you could just walk around and plant/water stuff/pick it when it grew.  But yeah I know what you mean.

[joshg]

Is there an Open Source RL done in C that I might be able to look at the code to get a general idea of how an RL is structured? I haven't even tried to make a game in C, all I have done so far is just make simple console programs.

This is a good question. I'm considering entering, but this would be my first project of such size, and while I am mulling over ideas for the structure of the code, it would certainly help to see the structure of a complete, if simple roguelike. There are plenty of open source roguelikes, but any particular recommendations for an understandable structure?

(Kind of belated:)  I don't know if it qualifies as "understandable", but you could always go back to the classics like Nethack or Angband.  I've poked around at the Nethack source just a teeny bit (was going to mod in some logging / recording features so that I could use the data dumps to generate weird art) and it's not completely incomprehensible.  Actually it's fairly organized; the only thing that's hard is that, since Nethack is all about weird details and exceptional cases, there are tons of oddball hooks and checks and if statements everywhere just in case you're wearing that Ring of WTF or not.