Space

Spring seems to be slow time for roguelike development. However professor Biskup is working on ADOM 2. I tried early versions and now waiting for some kind of final release with stuff. One thing I noticed is the size of levels and places. This is something I have thought, because many modern roguelikes have big levels which isn't a good thing per se.

Old roguelikes got it right, because the console had limited size, like 80x25 or 80x24 characters. The size of level has a big effect on the gameplay. Not only it makes navigating nicer (less keypresses required to move around) but it also makes tactical combat more focused, because things happen faster in smaller space.

Of course you can have the best of both worlds. Big levels can have their own purpose sometimes, but I'm planning to keep regular levels of Kaduria quite small. Tweaking the size of a particular level theme is a science of its own.

Game object design

After a brief moment with Brick Atelier I've returned. With some game objects it's the matter of creating content. Good old content, nothing beats that. How detailed that content is largely sets the release date. Currently I'm trying to design graves. Not only there are four races that bury their people, but also several professions that possibly should get buried with items that can be excavated. There are gravestone signs that reflect the race and profession. So it can be a lot of content if you go the detailed way, which I try to avoid the best I can. Projects like this really teach you to start small and stay small. Well, maybe there will be more detailed content later. Much later.