Anonymous Roguelike

Anonymous Roguelike (working title)
Alpha Project
Developer	Fernando Aires Castello (fernandoairescastello@gmail.com)
Theme	Fantasy
Influences	The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy
Released	Jul 8th 2010 (proto)
Updated	Jul 8th 2010
Licensing	Closed source
P. Language	C, C++
Platforms	Windows
Interface	Primitive graphics
Game Length	Undefined
[[1] Official site of Anonymous Roguelike (working title)]

"Anonymous Roguelike" was a working prototype for a Zelda-esque roguelike game, but I have decided to create a new project with the same concepts, called Rhye's Quest.

Important Notice

I have abandoned this prototype completely and started the development of the REAL game in December/2011 from scratch. This game is not anonymous anymore, it's called Rhye's Quest. The game now is not Curses-based anymore, but Allegro-based. It has a VERY retro feeling, as all graphics are pixelized, it looks like they came from an early computer and can have only 2 different colors (background and foreground).

I'm currently working on the detailed game design while developing the game editor which allows me to create the entire world of the game with all its objects and stuff. In the following months I'll be developing the engine which will load and interpret the world file generated by the editor and make the game happen. As soon as I create a decent world and develop a working engine I intend to make a demo public in a new page and then I will delete this one.

Development

If you'd like to see the new project for Rhye's Quest (former Anonymous Roguelike), please check my blog page and the video in which I discuss about the development of the game tools and world editor. Even if you can't understand Portuguese you'll be able to see what I've done so far in the video.

My blog page: Rhye's Quest

YouTube video (in Portuguese): Rhye's Quest - Desenvolvimento (parte 1)

About the old prototype

The following text is from the old prototype which will NOT become a full game because my new project is much better than this one, although the game ideas remain the same.

This is actually a prototype of a roguelike game which still hasn't been given a suitable name, and this is why it is called Anonymous Roguelike.

The released prototype is playable, but there's no "goal". Being a prototype, it is meant to demonstrate the game mechanics, GUI, etc. the way it is supposed to be when it's finished. Also, it has a few bugs (like monsters spawning in places where they shouldn't) and performance issues, which will eventually be resolved.

Click here to see a picture of this OLD prototype in a blog post: [2]

Not so roguelike as it seems

It is different from most roguelike games in that the overworld and dungeons are supposed to be predefined rather than randomly created. The focus of the game will be its universe and detailed story, which is being written as a tale.

Gameplay

Gameplay is supposed to be much simpler than most roguelikes, with a few keystrokes for walking around, fighting, taking and using/equipping items.

Overall, it is meant to be a very predictive roguelike game, focused in the story in the universe of the game.

The general idea of the game is based in non-roguelike games such as The Legend Of Zelda and Final Fantasy, where the player may equip a sword or longbow, a shield, a piece of armor, and some accessories. Apparently, the only reasons for calling this game a roguelike is that it has an ASCII-based GUI and that it's turn-based.

Planned Features

These are some features which are supposed to be present in the complete game. As with any other project, it is very likely that some or most of these features will never be included.

- Only two types of weapon: Swords (for short-distance attack) and Longbows (for long-distance attack);

- Elemental-based equipment and spells. Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Holy, Dark and a few others that I have invented. Idea stolen from Final Fantasy, obviously. Thanks Squaresoft.

- Shields will increase rate to evade physical attacks, some will be able to repel certain magic spells ("repelling" here means that no damage is taken, i.e. rendering certain spells ineffective).

- Armor will increase physical and/or magic defense, some will absorb certain magic spells in form of recovery (e.g. a certain armor may be able to absorb thunder-based spells and recover HP instead of causing any damage). This idea comes from the Final Fantasy series.

- Rings when equipped will grant special attribute changes and effects (good or bad) to the character that uses them. Idea of magic rings borrowed from The Legend of Zelda series. Thanks Nintendo.

- Magic spells: Swords will act like magic wands. A small earthquake, a thunderbolt, a fireball, healing, every magic spell will need to be invoked while wielding a Sword. This idea also comes from The Legend Of Zelda.

- Various Artifacts will cause different effects (good or bad) to the character who holds them. There will be many concealed Artifacts throughout the world. Artifacts are different from Rings in that rings may be equipped, unequipped or dropped, but Artifacts always remain with the character once they are received or taken, and can't be disposed of (e.g. an artifact allowing you to dive in the water can't be equipped or unequipped, it just allows you to do that if you have it with you)

- A single well-estabilished plot, various sub-quests and "bonus quests", and many secrets hidden in the world are supposed to keep one playing the game even after having beaten it several times.

- The simplest gameplay as possible, where the only possible commands are walking around, fighting, picking/dropping objects, equipping/unequipping objects and talking to people.

- The most detailed story as possible, where the fictional universe seems to exist regardless of the game being played or not.

- ASCII characters used to represent enemies: sometimes two or more creatures will share the same character, however with a different color. E.g. a red 'F' meaning "Fire Ghost" and a white 'F' meaning a "Regular Ghost". Again, this idea comes from Final Fantasy where different enemies share the same image, however with a different color scheme and different skills.

- And many other things.

Development

The project is currently being developed in C and C++ by a single person, until the developer finds someone to contribute to the project.

Try it out

Download prototype 0.1 here: [3]