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[Beggars` Sect]

ArchiveRL is a project aiming to build an ultimate roguelike archive, with emphasis on preservation, historical accuracy, search for lost games and including not only game files itself but also as much documentation as possible. It was inspired by TOSEC and other retro-gaming archival projects.. Version 0.7 is its third release: it includes the majority of non-commercial games contained in the International Roguelike Database and also gathered from other sources.

Hosted at archive.org: https://archive.org/details/ArchiveRL.7z (torrent and direct download)

-Stats: 1038 archives - 10.4 Gigabytes - 677 games - 620 individual ones - 361 sources

-at the moment only DOS/Windows games are available (some sources can  be compiled on other platforms). The game version included is almost always the latest available (as of Feb 2018 for this edition)

-the collection is organised using directories and tags, with a unified naming system. This is based mostly on IRLDB categories. It allows for easy reshaping, structural control and flexible searches. Presently it includes games classified as ALPHA / BETA+STABLE / VARIANT / MISC / SOURCE

-next releases will add these categories: EXCLUSIVE (RLs available only on other platforms) / XDRL ("compo" RLs such as 7DRLs, game jams, etc) / VERSION (earlier available versions)

-it contains some games that were never released before, such as MysteryHack and new Halls Of Mist, plus numerous ones that are increasingly hard to locate

-historical context and accuracy are a crucial part of this project: every game included was treated as individual case and at least some research conducted. Extra care has been put into obtaining correct files and version numbers. Every individual archive includes a separate DOC directory containing available info regarding the game.

-equally important is the drive to rescue/rediscover some "lost" games: these are covered in the MISSING doc

-all main directories have corresponding doc files which are based on IRLDB but do try to correct some of its errors and add updates (fields: name-version-dates-platforms- devs-trad-source-comments and some web links)                   

For an in-depth description of ArchiveRL, methods and motives behind its structure and decisions taken please read the ARL README doc in the archive or check the website: http://arkhammanor.com/rpgbase/RLdb.html
Contact the author: akeley@arkhammanor.com There are also ARL threads on assorted forums (mainly Roguetemple)


HOW YOU CAN HELP & CONTRIBUTE

Up till now this project has been mostly an individual effort, only announced on Roguetemple forums and plagued by slow pace due to IRL debuffs. However, it now reached a major completion stage, where it makes sense to publicize it more widely and ask for rogulike community's assistance. 

Here's what  would be most appreciated:

-simple "bug reporting" - despite thorough examination there are bound to be mistakes: spelling errors, archive/files/directory problems, doc-file mismatches and so on.

-trying to find & rescue games from the MISSING doc http://arkhammanor.com/rpgbase/ARLMISSING.ods

-testing the games: I've personally tried quite lot of them - but not all, and mostly on x64 Windows

-any historical and informational error corrections and contributions

-adding more games/sources/docs/info

-compiling sources that have no corresponding binaries

-building either Linux or Mac side of this archive.

-providing feedback regarding structure and methodology of this project

Please read the ARL README or check the website for more details regarding the HELP section.