Chaosforge Forum
Other Roguelikes => AliensRL => Topic started by: Kolya on June 03, 2010, 19:17
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First the big one: The fact that the game runs in a pseudo console since 0.8 kills a lot of the charm it had for me.
I liked AliensRL because it was so reduced. The way it managed to get a lot of great gameplay out of a few ASCII characters.
Now this limitation has been dropped and the game has become a tile based graphical top down shooter. Only that the tiles look like ASCII. This fact is very visible in the game. The "characters" are antialiased now and have gradual lighting applied to them and whatnot. The obvious next step will be to repaint font10x18.png with some actual tiles, which I'm sure someone will do.
But I liked AliensRL because it completely focused on the gameplay and nothing else. If I want nice graphics, then there are many other games I can play. Graphics just aren't the point of his game and trying to make it look "nice" actually made it worse for me.
That being said, there are a lot of things I like about this update: The gameworld gets created much faster now. The added content makes the gameplay a lot more interesting. Although it seems a bit weird that they would have so many beds, tables and lockers randomly scattered around rooms. I haven't encountered locked doors yet but having played a lot of Alien Breed this also seems like a good choice. I also read that items would be more likely to be found in the proximity of corpses now, which is a step in the right direction. Searchable corpses would be even better.
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For the pseudo console thing:
You can reduce the resolution to the point it resembles the original 7days RL :) .
On the other side, this release has a lot of old issues fixed, compared to the old 7days version and 0.8 BETA 2 (the last console one).
Talking about high amount of beds and other furniture, I think this can be replaced (partially) by some chairs and computers in the next releases :) .
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This is just a step in a good direction. I agree that I still like the console, but I'm thinking that once we've added all we're going to add in the way of furniture and whatnot, we can assign letters/symbols to each and build it as a console release. Granted, that would happen much futher down the track, but it's still exciting to think about. Maybe if there's enough demand for it, Kornel would even make a package where you can designate console or graphics via /console or /graphics on the command line.
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I have no problem with a 'fake' console. It's probably easier than dealing with curses.
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Like this?
aliensrl-win-0.8-console.zip (http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=3137.0;attach=479)
Especially for Kolya from a fellow System Shock fan ^^)
P.S. The game is the same ASCII roguelike that we know and love, only with a graphical facelift -- there are no problems to make it run in a console.
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squee!
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Wow! Now that is awesome, exactly what I wanted.
It's great that the map exploration is still in which only shows the parts of the map you've visited. To me this version looks actually better and less confusing than the graphical version, due to the absence of gradual lighting.
Of course this version can also be played in fullscreen, in case anyone doesn't know this yet. Start the game, rightclick the titlebar and choose properties.
This version also fixes the garbled text on the end screen.
Thank you a lot Kornel, I didn't expect that. :)
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Kolya, my pleasure :). For further versions I'll somehow integrate it to the main package.
Thank you a lot Kornel, I didn't expect that. :)
Nobody expects the ChaosForge inquisition! xD
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Pseudo console looks great :) .
There is one minor bugzor, though: the strings on the initial screen overlap.
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Two things I noticed while playing:
There should be a message after opening a locker that turns out to be empty.
("You open the locker. It's empty.")
A few times I had 2 beds block the path into a room. They were not directly in front of the door but touching walls and each other, enclosing the space next to the door. Some aliens managed to jump the beds but not me.
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Two things I noticed while playing:
There should be a message after opening a locker that turns out to be empty.
("You open the locker. It's empty.")
I agree.
A few times I had 2 beds block the path into a room. They were not directly in front of the door but touching walls and each other, enclosing the space next to the door. Some aliens managed to jump the beds but not me.
Well, I think the aliens sometimes move 2 cells in one rund - thats why you see them "jumping" the beds.
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The problem could be solved and some additional fun gameplay added by making furniture susceptible to weapon damage, eg a few MG rounds or a grenade would destroy a bed.
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Compared to what little i played of AliensRL before this new release, its become much more enjoyable to play. Not experiencing the lost ammo bug helps significantly. Like a lot of whats being done, only hope it continues to improve further.
Is there a way to scroll the display window? The look command only looks away from the player at a distance of about 10 squares or so. I run the game windowed in 1024x756, and this can make it a bit more difficult to see where ive been on a floor than if ran at a higher resolution. The lower tower levels appear to be about 80x80 and i can see 30x30 horizontally and 19x19 vertically at my resolution.
Also, is or will it possible to use a tilesets that are not 10x18 in size?
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But I liked AliensRL because it completely focused on the gameplay and nothing else.
We must be playing two radically different games, in AlienRL i play - there is barely any gameplay, and what is isnt very good. Its boring, it feels extremely empty since you rarely find actual item interaction, its pretty much undocumented (wtf does Gyro do ? manual doesnt say) and way, way too hard.
It amazes me that some people actually won at this. Maybe there is still some vague potential to be found, but compared to DoomRL this is complete shit in terms of pure gameplay. And yet its 0.8 now...boggles the mind.
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Oh karry...
I disagree!
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there is barely any gameplay
this is complete shit in terms of pure gameplay
Seems someone got a bad day ...
wtf does Gyro do ? manual doesnt say
What are medals doing in DoomRL? That is not documented! Omg, that makes it a bad game!
it feels extremely empty since you rarely find actual item interaction
Item interaction? There is great item interaction - simple and efficient killing using weapons you found :) .
What do you need more?
way, way too hard
ROFL.
Failed troll is failed troll.
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/me pulls up an easy chair and a box of popcorn and watches
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Just an excerpt from the AliensRL manual:
== Armor ==
Armor is your only protection against an alien's sharp claws, so you'll
want to make sure to wear one at all times. The most straight forward
gain from wearing armor is the damage reduction, which differs between
different kinds of armor.
The number behind the armor represents this damage reduction, e.g. "Armor
: Flak armor [2]" means, that the flak armor has a damage reduction of 2,
which is more than a simple flack jacket has. In addition to protection,
armor can offer you better offensive capabilities by allowing you to equip,
and use, heavy weapons. The weakest armor with such a bonus is the
gyro-stabilizer. It offers no damage reduction but instead grants you the
ability to equip and fire a heavy weapon. The choice between taking less
damage and dealing more is tough, and it's all yours. Choose wisely, Marine!
Perhaps the manual should just say "Gyro"? I can understand there being a bit of confusion, but it is written in there, at least.
As to AliensRL - you can't approach it like DoomRL and expect to have the same experience. AliensRL and DoomRL are not in quite the same genre. DoomRL is about blowing the hell out demons of hell (making them demons of nothing?), AliensRL is about trying to stay alive long enough to kill the Queen and get out. DoomRL is more action, AliensRL is more survival/horror. DoomRL it's expected that since you're fighting demons, you'll die once in awhile. AliensRL you're fighting Aliens. They're smart, they're coordinated, and they've got a base of operations going. You're screwed from the start.
It can be a lot of fun if you're willing to let it, but AliensRL is NOT a 'coffee break' roguelike in my mind.
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The game to me is really, really easy. Pick up a scout, invest all in the beginning into Light Arms, the rest goes to Light Weapons and the skill that allows you to take more grenades than usual. The start is quite difficult, you have to be very careful not to be shreded by hunters... But after certain levels the game is really, really easy! You should remember:
I am low on medpack -> Got to the Medical Tower
Low on ammo -> Mainly Storage Tower. The engineering Tower will also do the trick
Low on keyvards -> Civilian and Main Tower
Need to find some gear -> Military Tower
I am waiting for the missions. Really. With some twists...
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Pick up a scout, invest all in the beginning into Light Arms
Small correction - correct skill name is Sidearms :) .
And yeah, Scout is like easy mode in AliensRL.
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Ah yes, my bad. Invest everything into Sidearms and after that into Light Weapons/Grenade strorage size increase [;
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Small correction - correct skill name is Sidearms :) .
And yeah, Scout is like easy mode in AliensRL.
Hmm... I always take the marine an end up as alien breakfast after 15 minutes or so ;-P... I guess I need to try the scout ;-).
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I agree with Kolya about the console view; a big part of the charm of the old game for me was the simple ASCII graphics. With the new set up, it ends up looking like a poor copy of Ultima III.
I immediately downloaded and set up the alternate version of 0.8 and now I'm happy as a clam.
I discovered the fuel drums today and shot one out of curiosity. LOL.
Overall, though, I love how AliensRL has been resurrected. It was one of my favorite RL for a long time.
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I'm not sure if this really happened and if it did, it's not really a bug but it's sort of odd:
I was firing my sub-machine gun at an alien and it got killed in mid-burst and so my aim point suddenly shifted almost 180 degrees to another alien. This seems really strange from a "realism" point of view; the burst should go where it was initially aimed, regardless of the outcome (human reactions aren't that fast).
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From a purely code point of view, yes that would be a bug. Never heard of that before. o.o
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Just downloaded the latest version. I've gotta say I'm not a big fan of the changes, but that's probably because I suck at the game.
Furniture: I'd be fine with this if it didn't block your vision. Found myself getting ambushed a lot...Now that I think about it, it's probably something Xenomorphs would do.
Proximity Doors: Made combat much harder to avoid. I get the feeling it's something I can get used to, though.
Keys: Just plain annoying. Just needing one key of each type would be better in my opinion.
Run: Thank you.
Well, those are my first impressions.
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I liked the new changes quite a bit,they didn't stop me from sucking at the game but they still are good.
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I agree that one key of each type is more realistic - though to be honest, even more realistic would be different levels of access for each security key. With mission implimentation, something like that might even happen - Technicians could hack into security terminals to change their permissions, others could pick up logs that give information on locations for certain cards, etc.
The main reason for needing more than one key card is to make you chose between opening doors and crates. Limiting options for exploration/items in this fashion adds to the tension of the survival/horror genre of the game. I will grant you that it can be a bit annoying when you've only got one way to beat the game currently, and that requires more than a few military key cards...
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Furniture: I'd be fine with this if it didn't block your vision. Found myself getting ambushed a lot...Now that I think about it, it's probably something Xenomorphs would do.
Only half the furniture blocks your view, lockers and crates. Beds and tables can be seen over and I found then quite useful as cover. When I first enter a room with crates I stay against the wall until I've cleared out the buggers.
Proximity Doors: Made combat much harder to avoid. I get the feeling it's something I can get used to, though.
Frankly, I love these. "Gee, I wonder why that door is open even though I'm nowhere near it?" That and not having to get right next to it to open it, more than make up for them being able to follow you through them.