Any one else here a huge fanatic of these games? Nethack, Angband, Zangband, ADoM, Falcon's Eye, etc etc.
What are you playing now? Is there any that you'd recommend that is not on the list of examples above?
RPGPundit
Dwarf Fortress (http://bay12games.com/dwarves/)
Decker (http://www.caro.net/dsi/decker/)
Both not "standard" roguelikes, but both have gotten way more play than any of my newer games over the past year. Actually, free games have taken up most of my PC gaming time: DF, Decker, Oolite, etc.
I tried Dwarf Fortress based on someone's recommendation here (perhaps yours). I found it practically unplayable; the commands weren't even remotely like in a regular roguelike (so unlike most I'd have to have re-memorized dozens of keys), most of them were very counterintuitive, and there was no quick prompt of possible commands or anything. Not to mention that the ways to toggle through the help screens was totally wonky.
I gave up, basically.
RPGPundit
That was me, I think....
DF does have a huge learning curve; the wiki (http://dwarf.lendemaindeveille.com/index.php/Main_Page) helps a lot here, especially the article "Surviving Winter" and the link to the somethingawful thread.
The interface is, admittedly, ass. Very little standardization on how to even navigate a menu. Makes the game far more difficult than it really is. In its defense, the developer says it's still an alpha build...and it has more depth than a lot of commercial builder-type games I've played.
DF is worth the attention, however, just to see if the developer will ever come close to realizing the vision he has: a full persistent world engine that will grow dynamically as you create dwarf fortresses, wizard towers, dragon caves, etc. And then when you're done making stuff, you can go explore it all in adventure mode. The attention to detail, from the micro to the macro level, is incredible.
If only they could go about fixing that interface....
The only one I ever played extensively was Dungeons of Doom for the Mac. It was pretty good for a hackfest but not something I'd want to play more of.
Decker is a sweet game. They took the Shadowrun decking system, and spun it into it's own game, with randomly generated missions and such.
Further proving that not only is SR's system the best and most fun decking system ever put in an RPG, but that it's so well done it can be a game by itself.
For further proof, I point you to the Shadowrun Genesis game. THe decking in that game is one of the primary reasons that version stands heads over tails above the SNES version.
For that matter, Genesis SR has soem roguelike qualities as well, what with all the randomly generated shadowruns and all. You can play that game for months without ever even bothering with the main plot. One the all time best, non-linear sandbox CRPGs, and one of the only ones in the whole history of consoles.
Doom: the Roguelike (//chaos.magma-net.pl/doom) is the only roguelike game I successfully finished. It is much smaller than NetHack or even Rogue, and also much simpler. On the other hand, it is a great translation of the whole Doom experience, complete with directional sound effects and ascii gore.
I'll gladly give DF another chance if it ever comes out with a beta.
Meanwhile, for me, I've been playing Nethack since the very early 80s (back when it was still "Hack"). I love it, as well as Falcon's Eye.
But these days I'm hoping to find something with a bit more wilderness travel and a bit more sophistication.
RPGPundit
Quote from: MelanDoom: the Roguelike (//chaos.magma-net.pl/doom) is the only roguelike game I successfully finished. It is much smaller than NetHack or even Rogue, and also much simpler. On the other hand, it is a great translation of the whole Doom experience, complete with directional sound effects and ascii gore.
I heartily second this recommendation. The developer has recently put out a new update, and it will hit 1.0 sometime soon. Excellent use of sound, too. I'd forgotten about that one.
Quote from: RPGPunditI'll gladly give DF another chance if it ever comes out with a beta.
Meanwhile, for me, I've been playing Nethack since the very early 80s (back when it was still "Hack"). I love it, as well as Falcon's Eye.
But these days I'm hoping to find something with a bit more wilderness travel and a bit more sophistication.
RPGPundit
Well, you might consider checking out Omega. IT's really big on the overworld stuff, and quite complex.
I never got into it really, my own tastes tend to lean towards a more simple direction. Rogue itself is still my all time favorite.
Got a link to Omega?
RPGPundit
Here's the official distribution site: http://www.alcyone.com/max/projects/omega/
Here's a link to a Windows version, which I can't seem to get to work at the moment: http://www.prankster.com/winomega/
There's apparently a graphical version for the Mac, which I was not proviously aware of, and shall have to investigate when I get home, as I've got a Mac emulation environment set up on my computer at home.
Did they actually complete/fix Omega, though? I played it a lot ten years ago, and remember having problems with it (but don't remember anymore what these problems were).