Re:How to Make a Roguelike
by vkou on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @04:03PM
(#18348832)
Art is important, but having a rewarding, fun gameplay loop is more important.
Nailing that in a rogue-like is really, really hard. What does 'rewarding' mean? Your character getting stronger? Your player gaining mastery over the game? How do you square that with perma-death? Do you allow level-scumming? If not, how do you not put the player in an unwinnable position (too frequently)?
I am pretty sure I could learn how to do good pixel art, with a few months of training. I am pretty sure I could not strike gold with a cohesive set of compelling, fun roguelike gameplay mechanics in that period of time. (In the way that games like Dwarf Fortress, Minecraft, Angband, FTL, or Nethack (I despise Nethack) struck gold.)
Nailing that in a rogue-like is really, really hard. What does 'rewarding' mean? Your character getting stronger? Your player gaining mastery over the game? How do you square that with perma-death? Do you allow level-scumming? If not, how do you not put the player in an unwinnable position (too frequently)?
I am pretty sure I could learn how to do good pixel art, with a few months of training. I am pretty sure I could not strike gold with a cohesive set of compelling, fun roguelike gameplay mechanics in that period of time. (In the way that games like Dwarf Fortress, Minecraft, Angband, FTL, or Nethack (I despise Nethack) struck gold.)