Elderlore

Source: Slashware Interactive - Development Log

Week 1: Slashware.net: Integrate slashie.net and slashware.net under the same flag!

Week 2: 2010 7DRL Challenge: Participate, because I cant break my record!

Week 3: Expedition: Winner of the March Powerpoll!

Week 4: Pixal: Integrate everything into the world browser

Source: Slashware Interactive - Development Log

The first powerpoll month has gone by, using your Development Points, I pushed CvRL forward and now it is a lot more usable, stable and… cool!

And for March, Expedition won the Powerpoll with 35.9% of votes!

What will happen in April? Will CastlevaniaRL get the power again? or perhaps it is time for one of the other ones?

Go to the April 2010 powerpoll!

Source: Slashware Interactive - Development Log

What is the powerpoll?

Every month, you can vote for the project you’d like Slashie.net to be focused in on next month.

By doing this, you will be adding Development Points (DP) to our repository, (which gets pretty empty from time to time). This is your choice to help us guide these games into completion!

So go now, and vote in the February powerpoll!

Source: The Ascii Dungeon

Continuing with my last review of 3 of  slashie.net’s games, I’m now going to review 2 of the more developed roguelikes on the site: CastlevaniaRL and DrashRL. Like the last 3, both these games started as 7DRL’s and are based off of other games, but these two have received a little more attention than the other 3 (And these two should work for mac users!). Let’s start with DrashRL.

Escape from Mt. Drash: The Roguelike (or DrashRL) is based off an old game for the Commodore VIC-20, Ultima: Escape from Mt. Drash (the story behind this game is interesting, I suggest taking a look). The story is simple enough, and all you need to know is you have to escape from Mt. Drash by entertaining your captors in an arena, but it’s the combat and advancement mechanics that make this game different from most roguelikes. First off, there is no levelling or experience. All advancement is done at specific intervals as you descend the arena, which may sound flawed, but it works fairly well. The advancement options given to you are diverse and all useful. One choice may increase your magic knowledge, another might be a new combat maneuver, while others choices may boost a variety attributes. This system allows for a wide range of custom classes. The inventory and equipment options are simplistic; you can have two weapons or a weapon and a shield equipped, a piece of armor, and an accessory (boots, rings and so on). Other than that you will find potions, torches and other roguelike staples. There are multiple graphic sets, and generally I think they all look pretty good, plus good old ascii graphics if you prefer. DrashRL also has music and sound effects. Music is of course based on personal taste, and personally I think the music varied from above to below average, but for a roguelike or any other low budget game the music was pretty good. Altogether, DrashRL may be somewhat simple compared to one of the major roguelikes (ADoM, NetHack, so on), but you have to keep in mind that it was originally a 7DRL, and never meant to be a anything amazing. It has great combat mechanics, well done graphics, and an easy learning curve. I’d reccomend DrashRL as both a good beginner’s roguelike and as a fun extended-coffeebreak roguelike.

Casting sleep on a ghost bat

Mechanics: 7/10;   Appearance: 7/10;   Setting: 6/10;

Overall: 7/10;

Like the Metroid series, I’m also a sucker for the Castlevania series. CastlevaniaRL is probably my favourite Slashie Roguelike due to both my bias for the series but also because it is just a good roguelike. It includes most of the roguelike staples; multiple classes to choose from, skill and ability advancements as you level, randomly generated dungeons, and more. The best part of this game though is how well it pulls off the blend between a standard Castlevania and a roguelike. All the enemies, items and classes fit perfectly into the series, and even the main graphics set is highly reminiscent of the games (The graphics are also done well, especially if you are a fan of detailed pixel art). The 2.5d helps to somewhat maintain a Castlevania sidescroller feel while the game is still an overhead roguelike. The music is, once again, very similar to music from one of the actual Castlevanias. Furthermore, the story could easily be the plot to one of the actual games, and it is told well with the aid of a prologue cutscene you actually get to play through. Besides the games Castlevania theme and feel though, there is nothing exceptionally unique about it. The core mechanics are about the same as the majority of RPG-ish roguelikes, although they are pulled off well. The main difference is that advancement is done in a similar aspect to DrashRL; you still level, but as you level you have a variety of powers and advancements to choose from that are based on your class. One other small difference is that your attacks can reach multiple tiles away to simulate the reach of your weapons in the actual series. My final word on CastlevaniaRL is that it is an altogether well done roguelike that pulls of the Castlevania feel near perfectly.

A level-up screen

Mechanics: 7.5/10;   Appearance: 7/10;   Setting: 9/10; (the setting score may be slightly unfair simply because Slash did not come up with it, but it is a good setting none the less)

Overall: 8/10;

-Felixcat

Source: The Ascii Dungeon

I think most of us are familiar with Slashie.net, a roguelike site full of innovative and well designed games. I’m going to briefly discuss 3 of these roguelikes that share some things in common. First off, they’re all what we like to call ‘coffeebreak roguelikes’, Second, they’re all based off of other video games, and third, they all started as 7DRL entries. I’m talking about Metroidrl, Megamanrl, and Zeldarl. (Mac users be forwarned and forlorn; these games will not work for you)

The landing site

Let’s start with Metroidrl, my favourite of the three ( probably just because I’m a fan of the series ). As Samus Aran you can shoot enemies with your arm cannon, charge your shots, roll into a ball, shoot missiles, drop bombs and all those original staples of the game. It is fairly fun, but eventually becomes extremely repetitive as most of the base looks exactly the same, and you fight the same 3-4 enemies for the majority of the game. The real thrill comes from collecting upgrades for your suit and more energy tanks. But there is one annoying part of the game ( other than backtracking ): jumping. Of course in a metroid game you have to include jumping, but the problem comes from Metroidrl being a top down roguelike as per usual. It will take you some time to even get used to the notion that different colors represent different heights, and knowing how high you can actually jump or what height you are at can really start to confuse you. Overall I’d give Metroidrl a 5/10, although it would be higher if I allowed my personal bias to slip in.

Next is Megamanrl. This game I find to be extremely innovative for a roguelike (and because of that I’m not sure I’d classify it as a roguelike). Display wise and play wise, this is practically a classic megaman game; it’s side scrolling, you jump, fire side to side, pick up energy and different ammo, and so on. This is probably the only side scrolling ‘roguelike’ I’ve ever seen. It is pretty fun, and allows you to choose from a group of 5 enemies ( once again like the classic megamans ) such as bombman, cutman and fireman, each with their own distinctive level. It can be pretty difficult, and as it is a roguelike there are no restarts ( so watch out for spikes! ), but it is still fun playing megaman with ascii graphics. As far as it being considered a roguelike goes, it’s turn based, difficult, there’s no save scumming ( or saving at all ), and there’s a highscores list? Levels aren’t randomly generated, and there’s no real character growth, but to keep slashie.net’s honor intact, let’s just consider it a roguelike. I’m giving this a 6.5/10, ( I did dock points for roguelike-ness ).

Finally comes Zeldarl. Crossing Zelda with a roguelike may have been a stroke of genius or a touch of madness, but either way it came out fairly well. You’d think the combination would work out great, seeing as the original Zeldas were already top down and somewhat grid based, and for the most this does work great, but there are times it doesn’t work out so well. Just like those classic Zeldas, you enter dungeons from an overworld, journey through the rooms within, find new equipment, beat the boss, gain a new heart, rinse and repeat. The turn based combat works fine for this, although it removes aspects like the direction you’re facing, what side of an enemy their weapon is on and so on. It also means the speed that you can press a button to swing your sword no longer matters. The only real ‘flaw’ with combat is to mimic the reach of your sword in the actual games, it can reach two tiles in this game. This means if you want the advantage in a fight you have to press an extra button to attack from a distance. It also seems that there is no missing or dodging in combat, but that doesn’t really exist in the actual games either. It’s a great game, and other than getting lost on the overworld and likely killed due to the difficulty, rarity of hearts and near impossibility of dodging missiles, I have a lot of fun when I play. The thrill of collecting new equipment is still present, and yes, you can cut grass! Overall Zeldarl gets a 7/10.

All of these games despite how good or bad they may be still have the potential to be much better, and I find it upsetting that progress has been halted on all of them. If you feel the same way, why not try contacting slash from slashie.net? It’s worth a shot anyhow. On a more general level I am disturbed by the amount of unfinished or dead roguelikes out there, but I’ll rant about that some other time!

-Felixcat