The Past and Future of the Roguelike
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Rogue: The Adventure Game and a couple of its predecessors kicked off one of the longest-running subgenres in the history of video games, and while it's nearly impossible to keep track of all the roguelikes available across the globe these days, they're still of great importance to us given their tabletop RPG heritage. For a bit of a refresher on where things currently stand in regard to roguelike mania and the recent Roguelike Celebration, we turn to this "The Past and Future of the Roguelike" article on Gamasutra that features quotes from some of the more prominent developers in the field on what they intended to talk about at the event:
“We're giving a talk about the Roguelike inspirations for Dwarf Fortress--mostly about the ones from back in the 80s, including Rogue itself,” said Tarn Adams, who developed the elaborate simulation Dwarf Fortress with his brother Zach. “It's cool to share what Roguelikes have meant to us and to meet many people that have shaped and been impacted by them. It's really exciting that the Rogue people will be there!”
Also slated to present is George Moromisato, creator of Transcendence. “My talk is about how adapting Nethack’s game mechanics to my game taught me more about game design than any course or book," he says. "I plan on highlighting several key mechanics in Nethack (unknown items, polypiling, wishing, etc.) and describing how I tried (and sometimes failed) to adapt those mechanics to Transcendence. Along the way, I’ll speculate on what makes Nethack (and other Roguelikes) so much deeper and engaging than many big budget games.”
Moromisato further notes that the overlap between player and developer is one of his favorite things about the Roguelike community, “A high percentage of Roguelike fans have been inspired to create their own games, whether Roguelike or not. Just think of all the people who participate in the 7-Day Roguelike challenge. Even if you’ve never created a game, playing a Roguelike encourages you to think about the game mechanics: the stats and properties of monsters, the combination of different items, and the specifics of procedural generation. An event like the Roguelike Celebration can span the gamut from gameplay strategy to game design without fear of losing too many people. Not many other genres can make the same claim.”
Josh Ge, who developed Cogmind, is flying in from Asia to present at the Celebration. His talk will trace his path through years of exploring the Roguelike genre and community before setting out to create his own game, and how he sought to mix traditional features of the genre with modern features that would help appeal to a more mainsteam audeince.
Ge agrees that the relationship between players and developers as a major draw of the Roguelike community. “Events like this are essentially just a real-world reflection of our frequent online interactions," he says. "I know many of the participants, including both players and presenters, but haven't met any of them in person, and this is going to be such a great group!"
