November 6, 2001
10:09 AM   Subscribe

All this interest in Zork has reminded me of the old days of lo-fi games like Moria. And don't forget the other text adventure games like The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy - The Adventure Game, always a favorite mainly because I read the book. Any others out there worthy of note?
posted by destro (27 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
how about here?
posted by starvingartist at 10:13 AM on November 6, 2001


you mentioned Moria, but not NETHACK?!? Nethack is the grand daddy of the rogue-like games, and is still in development (15 years later).

I can't think of ANY game that has the depth of Nethack.

It stays on my hard drive while all other games cycle in and out.
posted by malphigian at 10:15 AM on November 6, 2001


You know, I was never able to get into nethack despite a deep, abiding hunger to get lost in a fantasy game. I tried, but somehow I couldn't shake off the lack of graphics and the plotlessness. Chalk it up to a lack of imagination, I guess.
posted by rks404 at 10:30 AM on November 6, 2001


Nethack has plot, but you need to avoid getting killed by the roving acid blob to figure that out. Once you get high enough level, you'll get contacted by the head of your order, and from there you get a divergent storyline. Kinda cool.
posted by dwivian at 10:41 AM on November 6, 2001


Howzabout Realmz?
posted by Kafkaesque at 10:41 AM on November 6, 2001


I'm with starvingartist. If this conversation is born of another thread, it should be kept there. Otherwise, it's just clutter.
posted by jpoulos at 10:45 AM on November 6, 2001


Nope: moria and nethack aren't interactive fiction. Game on.
posted by lbergstr at 10:58 AM on November 6, 2001


What's the difference between nethack and moria? They look kind of similar.
[My apologies for reposting the interactive fiction stuff]
posted by destro at 11:13 AM on November 6, 2001


Otherwise, it's just clutter.
The previous thread was two months old, we've basically converted it to be about roguelikes now, and it sure as hell beats yet-another-newsfi discussion, so lighten up, francis.

The best part about nethack is there is an incredible amount of situationally specific code that you might never run into. I'm still surprised by the game after playing it for years. Each item, creature, element in the game is given multiple uses and applications.

Sure, you can wear a magic ring in any game, but in nethack you can also drop it in a sink to get a clue to identifying it, or change it too a different ring with a spell, or polymorph yourself into a metalvore and eat it to gain its properties. Every item is like that.

Takes a long time, and a willingness to give up on any real graphics, to see the depth emerging tho, I can see how thats hard to get past.
posted by malphigian at 11:36 AM on November 6, 2001


I just discovered this fun text game, maybe it's old though: the Punk Points Game (uses java)
posted by gluechunk at 11:54 AM on November 6, 2001


I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the rouge-like ADOM.
posted by marknau at 12:04 PM on November 6, 2001


Nethack, yeah! I've been playing since the days of Rogue, Hack, and PC Hack, and I'll probably play it until I can't move my fingers any more.

Here's a wonderful graphically enhanced version of the latest version of Nethack, Falcon's Eye. Check it out!
posted by shinybeast at 12:19 PM on November 6, 2001


What's the difference between nethack and moria?

The basic difference is that Nethack's much more extensive than Moria. They look similar because they're both roguelike games, modelled after the classic Rogue. Nethack is probably the most popular roguelike game out there today, with the Tolkien-themed Angband being the closest competitor.

I've heard that Diablo was originally inspired by Nethack. Anyone have something more solid on this?
posted by moss at 12:53 PM on November 6, 2001


i think it's safe to say that diablo was inspired by many games. the one-town, one-labyrinth design is reminiscent of Wizardry 1, which is the most obvious inspiration to myself (being a wizardry lover from a very early age). the isometric overhead display reminds me of ultima 6 and 7, as does the one-click interaction with items (though of course ultima 7 had many more things to interact with), but other games share those commonalities as well (fallout does too, i believe -- at least with the display).
posted by moz at 1:04 PM on November 6, 2001


IMHO, the major differences between Nethack and Moria (and its successor, Angband) are:
-Moria has a safe town that you can return to and buy all sorts of suppies. Nethack has a few shops in the dungeon itself, whose supplies are very limited.
-Nethack has all sort of neat little extras which others in this thread have mentioned. Moria doesn't; Angband only has a few.
-In Nethack there are all sorts of neat gizmos that give your character a huge boost in power, that pop up more or less randomly. (Wands of wishing, Gauntlets of power (instant 25 strength!), etc.) In Moria and Angband, the boost in power comes much more gradually.
-Nethack has a little bit of a plot, and a few side quests. Moria/Angband is just straight through to the big baddie at the bottom.


Overall, Moria and Angband focus on carefully managing your resources and gradually gaining power so you can beat the baddie at the end.
Nethack focuses on gaining power, sometimes gradually and sometimes in leaps and bounds, and exploring all of the oddities of the game.


Adom is more Nethackish than Angbandish, but it has a bit more plot (and an overland map!) but a bit less wackyness.


Dungeon Crawl is somewhat Nethackish in its branching dungeon, and has an extremely wide variety of races and classes.


If you're interested in text adventures a la Zork, the best resource on the net is Baf's Guide. Check out the Five Star games, in particular Andrew Plotkin's Spider and Web.
You'll need to download the appropriate interpreter first.
posted by CrunchyFrog at 1:05 PM on November 6, 2001


Has anyone here tried any of the handheld ports? I was considering trying the WinCE port on my iPaq. I've only played NetHack for a grand total of about 1 hour in life and so wouldn't know if I had a complete implementation or not.
posted by badstone at 1:35 PM on November 6, 2001


I hate to bring it up, but I played Farmer's Daughter lke a fiend when I was 13.
posted by pigasus at 2:06 PM on November 6, 2001


My boyfriend loves, and I do mean loves ADOM. I never really got it. Oooh, you're being attacked by a capital T! I guess I have no imagination.
posted by kittyloop at 3:05 PM on November 6, 2001


it would seem that a career in typography and/or graphic design is not in your future, kittyloop.
posted by moz at 3:06 PM on November 6, 2001


I'm an angband fan. But I have recently been poking around in Nethack. I like the pet, but I don't like the random shopkeepers. I might be missing something, but I hate carrying around a bunch of junk, to sell at SOME random point. I'm sort of a 'monty hall' type player. I guess alot of folks find it redundant but I can't get enuf of 'kill,kill,kill,town portal, sell, sell, sell, town portal, kill, kill, etc.'

Angband itself has dozens of varients, I think Zangband it the wildest, with tons of classes/races and extra artifacts, and quests. and has a whole topside world. Was a little TOO big for me.

And Nethack is just TOO hard for me!!!
dP
posted by darkpony at 3:20 PM on November 6, 2001


nice one shinybeast ... haven't played nethack since somewhere around 1990 ... this version looks like it might cause a revival ;)
posted by walrus at 3:21 PM on November 6, 2001


i was considering playing nethack. after reading what everyone was saying about it, i really wanted to get into it. but i can't risk getting sucked too much into a game right now, with school and everything. and i've already decided that the gaming during christmas break will be devoted to trying out civ 3.
posted by lotsofno at 3:41 PM on November 6, 2001


I've been playing Diablo II for 9 months now. Help!
posted by jpoulos at 5:10 PM on November 6, 2001


just 2 monthes, jpoulos. can't help.
posted by moz at 6:18 PM on November 6, 2001


moz - I never knew that typography/graphic design careers were actually a life-or-death struggle between the designer and their art. Suddenly, some of my friends's lives make so much more sense... ; )
posted by kittyloop at 11:25 PM on November 6, 2001


Uh, that would be friends'. Now I understand...
posted by kittyloop at 11:27 PM on November 6, 2001


Done in java, Dragon Court was always a bit of fun.
posted by mikhail at 11:47 PM on November 6, 2001


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