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[quinnr]

Spoiler: Screenshot (click to show/hide)

Stumbled upon this neat little roguelike in development last night, and exchanged a couple e-mails with the developer. It's currently only been released to the public for a month or two, as far as I can tell from the history on the Google code page, but I've been having a lot of fun with it despite the early stages of development. In the words of the author:

An experiement at creating a new and fresh roguelike, called Diggr. What makes diggr different:

    * Diggr attempts to make impossible all forms of scumming. (A first in the roguelike world, I believe.

    * Diggr is not at all based on AD&D in any way. All game mechanics are invented from scratch, keeping strictly in mind this list of requirements!

    * Diggr should play fast. Hours and hours of boring bouts of hacking and slashing are not welcome here!

    * Diggr attempts to continue the in the strategic gameplay stlye of Nethack. (Nethack is the best video game evar.) Like Nethack, diggr should be a complex, evil game with a steep learning curve. Roguelikes that play themselves on autopilot are not fun!

    * Diggr should have a sense of humor. Diggr should also avoid common fantasy tropes and cliches.

    * Diggr avoids 'flavor' for flavor's sake. All items and monsters should have a different and unique impact on gameplay, and not be just renamed clones of effectively the same monster and item.

    * (This one is controversial) Spoilers are fun. A game that needs 'spoilers' is a game that has depth. Diggr should be a game where the mechanics and strategies are not obvious and low-hanging fruit.

There are quite a few interesting items, and the ability to alter the state of the dungeon being an interesting part of gameplay, with missile launchers, wands, and picks all allowing you to clear out walls, sometimes even necessary to move on in the dungeon at some points. Also, mini-bombs. Still trying to find out how to use those without dying..

The interface is also quite nice, using different shades of brightness to make the dungeon fade into the darkness, and movable status menus so you can always see wherever you need to go.

The URL for the game's page is: http://code.google.com/p/diggr-roguelike/w/list

and the high-scores list is at http://diggr.name

[Johnfalcon99977]

I couldn't find any water and died of dehydration. Welp.

[tkatchev]

Use the 'q' command while standing on a puddle of water.

I couldn't find any water and died of dehydration. Welp.

[quinnr]

Use the 'q' command while standing on a puddle of water.

I couldn't find any water and died of dehydration. Welp.

What if you're worshiping a god that doesn't let you drink from the floor? Because that deity was nasty. There should probably be a way to check what a god does, if there isn't already.

[tkatchev]

Yes, quite nasty in a sneaky way, I agree.

There's only three gods at the moment, and no way to check the effects beforehand... Implementing something like that would be a good idea, but I haven't figured out a good way to present this information through the interface.

What if you're worshiping a god that doesn't let you drink from the floor? Because that deity was nasty. There should probably be a way to check what a god does, if there isn't already.

[quinnr]

Well, that was an interesting game. Springy Shoes are insanely awesome, since you move twice as fast as anything while wearing them...coupled with some shotguns or missile launchers, you can pretty much avoid everything as you sprint to each exit. I wasn't even too far below most monsters levels, since the missile launcher would blow up pretty much anything instantly, and I had decent armor and light sources, too. That was a pretty fun one.

Another suggestion, make it so that you can use RPG launchers directly in a direction, even without an enemy. It'd be a nice alternative to the insane amounts of sleep and tired needed to pickaxe a wall, and the only other way to use it to destroy walls is to lure an enemy over there..(at least as far as I can tell...perhaps I'm missing something.)

[PsyberianHusky]

I will have to look into this,
It is neat to see how RLs are changing and becoming much more rich gaming experiences.

[Astral]

I will have to look into this,
It is neat to see how RLs are changing and becoming much more rich gaming experiences.

I mean this in no "bad" way, but Roguelikes these days seem to be a step below indie developers in terms of graphics and production value, but the amount of depth they can create in such a simple looking environment just gets better and better. Even those that aren't Dwarf Fortress.

Definitely watching out for this one.

[3]

but the amount of depth they can create in such a simple looking environment just gets better and better.

Spoiler: Offtopic flamebait (click to show/hide)

You mean it's just barely approaching the step below said indie games?

[tkatchev]

Actually, you can.

Although all ranged weapons in the game have a minimum and maximum range, and the interface doesn't allow you to target something that isn't within range.

This is especially important for the rocket laucher, since firing at something below range will blow up the player character too.

Another suggestion, make it so that you can use RPG launchers directly in a direction, even without an enemy. It'd be a nice alternative to the insane amounts of sleep and tired needed to pickaxe a wall, and the only other way to use it to destroy walls is to lure an enemy over there..(at least as far as I can tell...perhaps I'm missing something.)

[Muz]

I love the concepts behind this one and a lot of the design decisions (like taking a level equal to the best monster you've killed). The minimalism is nice and it doesn't drag out concepts from D&D and whatever that fits in poorly with games like these.

But roguelikes feel so... 90s. I'll pick it up later once it gets tiles or when it becomes a fad

[tkatchev]

I don't plan on making tiles. Not that I'm against it in principle, but all the tiles I've ever seen are either too tiny to be readable or so big they make the game screen humongous. (While at the same time constraining the window of useful information.)

The roguelike UX paradigm seems to work, no sense in breaking something if it isn't broken.

What would be cool, though, is if somebody made a good pixel font where the upper half of the codepage was redrawn as high-quality monochrome stylized monster/item icons. Too bad I'm not a pixel artist.

But roguelikes feel so... 90s. I'll pick it up later once it gets tiles or when it becomes a fad

[eerr]

I can't see the dark tiles

Unless you make a fullscreen mode I can't even see half the tiles because of how bright xp/internet explorer is.(assuming I have all the lights off too.)

[tkatchev]

What exactly do you mean by 'dark tiles'? Are all tiles 'dark', or is this a problem only for certain ones?

I can't see the dark tiles

Unless you make a fullscreen mode I can't even see half the tiles because of how bright xp/internet explorer is.(assuming I have all the lights off too.)

[Stworca]

Diggr should play fast. Hours and hours of boring bouts of hacking and slashing are not welcome here!

I smell a Caves of Qud reference here!
(if it's not.. then i shall make one : In CoQ you hack and slash for hours)