Chaosforge Forum
DoomRL => Discussion => Topic started by: Kornel Kisielewicz on February 18, 2011, 21:30
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Apart from implementing the Tiles in the near future, I have a few more options for DoomRL (and for DoomRL 2 too!), however, I'd like to know your preferences too!
Options:
Tiles -- self explanatory -- the Tiles we are all waiting for.
Console -- the way DoomRL runs now
Emulated Console -- this would give the benefit of being able to play fullscreen under any system (optional), and change the font to a prefered one. Also optional would be the possibility to do png screenshots.
Emulated Console w Enhancements -- as above, but additionaly a broader color range, animated fluid color, pixel-based screen transitions, fading light effect -- basically still ASCII but with eye-candy.
If you don't mind whether using an emulated console or normal one, please vote on the emulated. If you don't care about enhancements, vote standard emulated or console.
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I prefer console, but that's probably because I play under a massive term that is the size of my screen. The main benefits of a console seem to be copying text and it doesn't need any crazy libraries to run, plus I like ascii, but I can't imagine customizing the console under Windows is as easy as it is in Linux. I wouldn't be against an enhanced console, or even eye candy, but I would strongly prefer not to play with tiles.
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Traditionalism aside, I personally prefer the console over the emulated stuff. I like roguelikes partly because I can let them loose on almost any type of machine and it just works.
On another note, if we are still trying to write games that are visually-impaired friendly, then console would still be a very strong overriding factor. Currently I don't think we have any statistics on how many visually-impaired players we have, but having to sacrifice yet another game that they can play is one direction that I don't feel that we should be taking.
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In any other roguelike, I prefer tiles because there's so much to try to remember otherwise. DoomRL is much simpler, so this issue isn't as important.
I'd still prefer tiles here, actually, but I'm okay with whatever.
The visually-impaired aside, though, the console look, if perhaps not the exact functionality, could be emulated with an alternate tileset - see Dwarf Fortress for example.
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Console forever. No tiles are ever going to be as clean, easy to identify, and compressed on the screen as good old ASCII. Emulated console is fine, but active eye candy can be distracting. If updating both a graphic and console version is too time consuming, I'd basically be fine with a 'traditional' tileset and the option to turn off any special effects.
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Pretty much just like it how it is, I won't be using the tiles when they're out, and although playing fullscreen is great I prefer to have IM chats and stuff while I play.
If emulated console can make a re-sizable window then that'd be the only thing I'd really want. :)
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Ideal would be, I think, a hybrid between emulated console and tiles.
What I mean by this is that we have an emulated console window which works with an image (there is a PNG file which has both fonts and graphical tiles) and has multiple layers (so that way you can, for example, display an object on a terrain tile, or text above the tiles). In fact, much like a 3-dimensional matrix of tile images, 3rd dimension being those layers.
In the configuration, you could select the display mode; either textual or graphical. The nifty thing is that both technically use the very same display method but the textual one just uses only the fonts from the PNG and only one layer.
This way you quite easily satisfy both those who prefer ascii and those who prefer tiles, and much other benefits, with no technical difference whatsoever between the two. For example you could even make it so that the player can toggle between both display modes ingame, very simply with the press of a key.
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emulated console with square grid )
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I voted pure console because it's most likely to just work and run quickly on both low-end and future machines. fake consoles (NotEye, Ascii Sector) can be pretty slow.
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On one hand I've gotten used to the console feel, which (in a sense) provides a unique atmosphere to the game, and it may almost seem awkward to upgrade the graphics after playing with it for so long. On the other hand, I've talked to a number of people who I believe would enjoy this exact kind of game, but could not bring themselves to play it on the grounds that the character format of graphics is simply unplayable.
As a way to make the game as wide-spread as possible I would say we should definitely have the tile version be the main format of the game. Mrazerty's idea of allowing for both simultaneously is interesting, but I figured it would be a lot easier to supply the games separately, one as console and one as tile. Unless there are plans to significantly change around the console version (like, for instance, going with the enhancements) it would hopefully be easy to implement once the tiles are actually a part of the game.
Given the choice between one, I'd have to go with tiles. For the sake of the game's increased demographic, I guess. Emulated console with enhancements sounds awesome, but it also sounds like the tile version is going to get that kind of treatment anyway. I am perfectly fine with the current setup personally, but any changes will be welcomed (I eventually opted for the tiled Nethack over the console one).
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I also see no reason both tiles and an emulated console couldn't exist together, just look at CastlevainaRL...