Cogmind
| Cogmind | |
|---|---|
| Stable game | |
| Developer | Grid Sage Games (Kyzrati) |
| Theme | Sci-Fi |
| Influences | Battletech (very loosely) |
| Released | May 19, 2015 (Alpha 1) |
| Updated | April 14, 2020 (Beta 9.6 "Core Friends") |
| Licensing | Commercial |
| P. Language | C++ |
| Platforms | Windows |
| Interface | ASCII, Graphical tiles, Keyboard, Mouse |
| Game Length | Short or long, depending on play style and chosen path |
| Official site of Cogmind | |
A science fiction-themed traditional roguelike in which you play a robot that builds itself from components found or salvaged from other robots.
Description
While exploring the world you find (or take) power sources, propulsion units, utilities, and weapons, and attach them to yourself to create a slow tank bristling with weapons, or a fast-moving flyer zipping past enemies before they even have time to react, or a stealthy sword-wielding assassin bot, or whatever else you can come up with from the salvage you find. The game can quickly change as you lose components and your loadout changes.
Action is turn-based but you don't have "action points" per se; instead, every action takes a certain amount of time, and robots that can perform actions more quickly can continue to due so until another robot is ready to act.
Combat is optional if you can avoid it, and there is no grinding for XP since the game rewards you for simply reaching new areas.
While not fighting/sneaking, you can find/construct allies, hack machines, manipulate your enemies, and explore the story through terminals spread throughout the complex.
(If you're familiar with the 7DRL version, significant additions to the experience include melee combat, potential allies, multi-slot parts, multi-tile robots, hacking and interactive machines, and full use of sound effects. Oh yeah, and a professional sprite set.)
Alpha Launch Trailer: https://youtu.be/fAuTK72ynTE
Features
Notable
- Dynamic character development without XP/grinding
- Animated ASCII particle effects (weapons, explosions, etc.)
- Animated interface
- Thousands of sound effects
- Seven different animated endings to uncover
- Fully destructible terrain
- Full mouse and keyboard support for all commands
- Drag-and-drop support for mouse
- ASCII art
General/Common
- Resource management
- Inventory and equipment system
- Item identification system (for a subset of powerful items)
- Fog of war
- Several damage types each with unique properties/effects
- Simple yet dynamic combat system
- No grinding/XP (character development is automatic through exploration)
- Multiple AI behaviors
- Numerous items, special abilities, and enemies
- Permadeath
- Autosave/load on exit/startup
- Large randomly generated maps
- Turn-based action
- Single player
- All units use the same ruleset as the player
- Score output to an external file, with detailed statistics
History
An early prototype for the game was developed for 7DRL Challenge 2012, and is still playable as a free download available here. The official game improves significantly on that prototype in every way, and then some.
More Info
Screenshots
Combat and destruction in tiles mode:
ASCII art and a fully-animated GUI:
Hundreds of ASCII particle effects:
