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Topic Summary

Posted by: Aurora
« on: 06. July 2016, 16:50:08 »

As a fan of Aliens, atmospheric RPGs, and all things retro, I am going to give this a try. I have a soft spot for old school pseudographics, maybe something to do with the picture of the imagination being better, as some discussed here earlier.

Quote by LarkSS:
I'm actually surprised at how interesting and fun this is while sporting such a simplistic appearance. It really gives me motivation to do some self programming regardless if I lack all of the fancy graphics resources to go with it. :D
It's been looming on my mind for ages, but I finally decided now that one day I will make a roguelike adventure game.

Quote by ThiefsieFool:
The "multi-level connected towers" design is really interesting, I don't believe it's common in roguelikes is it? I feel I've been taught a few things about game design from playing this so much, specifically about setting up a game world for interesting navigation:
- the main tower is really dangerous, and it's also in the center meaning it's usually the most obvious "shortcut" to take
- you can try to avoid the dangerous main tower by ascending with the elevators in the other towers, but this can become very hard sometimes and tempt you to peek into the main tower after all to ascend at least one level when all the other towers' elevators are broken or you simply can't find the working elevator
- the tower structure makes you really think when you need to go somewhere, like say level 5 of the Storage tower when you are on level 3 of the Engineering tower, your first thought might be to walk to the Storage tower on level 3 and just take the elevator up but that might be a pointless action if the ascending elevators are broken for the Storage tower on that level, and your mission turns into trying to ascend however you can while trying to stick to towers that are next to the Storage one and then remembering the (different for each run) route for later
This is really quite clever. One could use such a layout with a 'high-risk' shortcut route for FPS as well. Mental note added...
Posted by: ThiefsieFool
« on: 29. May 2016, 16:52:28 »

I did it with the older version in 2010 too, but this one was much harder and better for it.
The "multi-level connected towers" design is really interesting, I don't believe it's common in roguelikes is it? I feel I've been taught a few things about game design from playing this so much, specifically about setting up a game world for interesting navigation:
- the main tower is really dangerous, and it's also in the center meaning it's usually the most obvious "shortcut" to take
- you can try to avoid the dangerous main tower by ascending with the elevators in the other towers, but this can become very hard sometimes and tempt you to peek into the main tower after all to ascend at least one level when all the other towers' elevators are broken or you simply can't find the working elevator
- the tower structure makes you really think when you need to go somewhere, like say level 5 of the Storage tower when you are on level 3 of the Engineering tower, your first thought might be to walk to the Storage tower on level 3 and just take the elevator up but that might be a pointless action if the ascending elevators are broken for the Storage tower on that level, and your mission turns into trying to ascend however you can while trying to stick to towers that are next to the Storage one and then remembering the (different for each run) route for later


Here's a pic of the safehouse, pretty SS2-like even if goodies don't travel with the elevator

Posted by: Kolya
« on: 29. May 2016, 13:31:58 »

Jesus, you beat that game? I'm impressed.  :cthulhu:
Posted by: ThiefsieFool
« on: 29. May 2016, 06:07:31 »

Cleared 0.8.2, with no save cheating and as a Tehnician too, the difficulty is incredible which is why it feels so good to play properly.
Had a safehouse on level 4 of the military tower where there were 2 working elevators in a small room which was nice to revisit, fought the queen by setting up a turret and kiting her with the RPG and stim, as advertised the flamer was a little overpowered so I used it mostly during my escape to the Civilian tower, relying on the RPG most of the time, smashed open a lot of doors with it despite being a Tehnician as I didn't find too many multi-tools even in the Engineering tower.
Note: it really needs to be harder to erase your progress by hitting "Quit without saving" in the escape menu, just one click and you're screwed

Code: [Select]
-- AliensRL 0.8.2 Post Mortem ----------------------------------------

  Name     : ciox
  Class    : Technician
  Rank     : Veteran
  Result   : killed the queen and escaped
  Score    : 16174

  Total experience  : 14350
  Experience left   : 750
  Game length       : 668485 turns

  Security keycards : 7
  Military keys     : 0

  Armor   : Plasteel armor [3]
  Sidearm : .44 colt (6/6)
  Primary : MP5 submachine gun (30/30)
  Heavy   : M240 flamethrower (4/4)
  Medpacks: 3

-- Graveyard ---------------------------------------------------------

  |°..#......#.a......|..þ#...#    #..Ü..Ü....#...#.......°#....
  #...#.°....#####-####þ..|..a#    #..........##-##.......#a...
  ##-#####-###.a.°....#...#..þ#    #°.....%/.°#...|........#####
  #...#......#.......°##-##..#    #.....a.°..#þ..####-#####a..þ
  #°..#.....°#°.Ü..Ü..#...#...#    #######-####...#........#þ...
  #...#°.Ü...#........|þ..##-##    #%þ...þ.aþa#...#°.......|..ÜÜ
  #..°#......#°.Ü..Ü..|..þ#...#    #þ|........#þ..#..Ü..Ü..#þ...
  |...#..Ü...#........|...|.|þ#    #..ÜÜÜ.ÜÜ..#..þ#°.......#..ÜÜ
  #...|.....°#..Ü..Ü..|þ..|þ%.#    #..........#...#..Ü..Ü..#þ...
  #...#°.Ü...#........|..þ|..þ######..ÜÜÜ.ÜÜ.þ#þ..#........#..ÜÜ
  #..°#......#........|þ..|þ..|....|..........#...#°......°#þ...
  #.°.#...°..#.°.°....#aþ.#.þ.|....|..þ...þ.þ.#...#....°...#..þ.
  ##############################--##############################
                               #..#                             
                               #..#                             
                               #X.#                             

-- Skills ------------------------------------------------------------

  Sidearms      : untrained
  Light weapons : advanced
  Heavy weapons : basic
  Technical     : expert
  Medicine      : expert
  Fitness       : advanced
  Perception    : expert

-- Ammunition --------------------------------------------------------

  9mm ammo      : 172/400
  5.56 ammo     : 27/400
  .44 ammo      : 44/150
  M309 ammo     : 0/500
  M250 ammo     : 350/500
  60mm gren.    : 1/40
  12g. shells   : 200/200
  napalm cartrid: 2/20
  frag grenade  : 0/5
  inc grenade   : 2/5
  krak grenade  : 0/5

-- Other items -------------------------------------------------------

  3 * medpack
  3 * multi-tool
  7 * security key
  2 * stimpack
  1 * armor pack
  3 * painkiller pack

-- Kills (1067) ------------------------------------------------------

  257 juveniles
  165 warriors
  54 elites
  20 praetorians
  138 scavengers
  186 hunters
  66 stalkers
  117 drones
  60 workers
  2 overseers
  1 queen
  1 defense turret

-- Messages ----------------------------------------------------------

 You reload your weapon.
 You prepare your heavy weapon! The
 elite slashes you!
 The elite dies.
 You reload your weapon.
 You use a medpack. You feel much
 better!
 The praetorian dies.
 Screenshot taken
 (screenshot\arl-0126.png)
 You reload your weapon.
 Screenshot taken
 (screenshot\arl-0127.png)
 You enter the corridor. Entering
 Civilian Tower, level 1...

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by: ThiefsieFool
« on: 11. September 2012, 09:55:02 »

Sounds like a new clear is in order  :spigot:
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 08. September 2012, 14:35:59 »

* Kolya reads the feature list: Hohum. New level generator...see through walls...consumables...degrading armor...armor packs...portable turret...drugs...HACKING!
Oh Yeah! :happyjoy:

EDIT: AliensRL was a great game even before this update. Now with this and Captain Jameson I'm in glowy pixel heaven!
Thank you so much! It feels good to be a geek.
Posted by: epyon
« on: 08. September 2012, 13:37:17 »

Just a quick note that AliensRL 0.8.2 has been released, with a lot of new features (some also inspired by SS/SS2)

http://alien.chaosforge.org
Posted by: LarkSS
« on: 15. June 2010, 22:33:26 »

No fullscreen option for Windows 7 in either the properties of the cmd or in the shortcut properties. =[ I guess I'll have to stick to the original version and modify the dimensions of the game in the ini file for semi-fullscreen. Nevermind, missed it the first time somehow, but there's a fullscreen option in there too, nice. Everything will be darker now due to light radius, but not having the window will help me to tune out the fact that I'm playing with ascii characters. ;)

Edit: One last thing before I go quiet for awhile, but in case I wasn't the only one who was annoyed by the random large gap in "Entering level 2", I popped the file into an audio program, sliced the dead space out, and reencoded it to an .ogg which I attached to this post. I'd back up the original .ogg just in case, as I haven't tested it for any possible issues yet.

Edit2: Was getting really into this game until I lost all interest when I realized that strong aliens had the uncanny ability to randomly spawn right next to me, forcing me to lose massive chunks of health and ammo for lack of strong firepower (only in the storage tower right by the beginning point) just to fight them off and meet another spawner a few rooms down. I'm all for a good challenge, but this is ridiculous.
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 15. June 2010, 22:29:27 »

Here's what I did on XP: Create a shortcut to the game, rightclick it, choose properties->options->fullscreen.
Posted by: LarkSS
« on: 15. June 2010, 22:07:54 »

I was more surprised that he made the jist of it all in 7 days; wish I could work that fast. He made a pretty good DiabloRL too. ;)

Is there any way for me (using Win 7) to be able to get the command prompt version to go fullscreen? The most I can do is to enlarge the font size a bit, and I would rather not revert to some XP mode display. Tried two cmd replacements too with no luck. :confused:

Edit: Did the storage area always have that radiation attribute? =E (The extremely low lighting in that area really annoys me so I haven't been there too often.)
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 15. June 2010, 08:45:14 »

<3 console
Looks cleaner, sharper and less confusing imo. I was quite amazed when Kornel put that out half a day after my rant. And he even plans to make it optional in the main package. :)
I considered putting the 0.8 console version up here, but registering on ChaosForge won't hurt anyone. And it gives you the chance to comment/complain/praise the game in the AliensRL forum. Some feedback is the least Kornel deserves for his cool work.
Posted by: LarkSS
« on: 15. June 2010, 02:44:55 »

I'm actually surprised at how interesting and fun this is while sporting such a simplistic appearance. It really gives me motivation to do some self programming regardless if I lack all of the fancy graphics resources to go with it. :D

Also, I too prefer the console version of v0.8 (just annoyed me slightly that I had to register first just to download it, but at least it only took like 30 seconds).
Posted by: Enchantermon
« on: 11. June 2010, 00:25:33 »

Heh. When I was little, my uncle did the same thing for me for Rogue.
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 10. June 2010, 18:10:12 »

Since this game is so awesome but tough as nails, I created a simple cheat-helper that is attached here.
If a savegame it exists it creates a backup, then runs the game.
If no savegame exists it restores one from the backup, then runs the game.
Place in your AliensRL folder and just use it whenever you want to play.

Code: [Select]
if exist save (
copy save save.bak
aliensrl.exe
) else (
copy save.bak save
aliensrl.exe
)

EDIT: Minor update of cheat.bat
Posted by: Enchantermon
« on: 04. June 2010, 16:25:13 »

Touché, my good man, touché. ;)
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 04. June 2010, 15:52:38 »

Well played Sir. However I raise you this.
Posted by: Enchantermon
« on: 04. June 2010, 15:44:58 »

Quote by Kolya:
But there are different kinds of rewards and I much prefer Kornel to make roguelikes than pantyshots.
I know, I was just playing off the term you used. :)
Quote by Kolya:
By the way that is some weird ugly picture. I guess that's what you get when you search for "fanservice" with the family filter on.
No...it's not easy to tell, which kind of ruins the joke, but it's ascii art. Therefore: ascii fanservice. ;)
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 04. June 2010, 15:11:52 »

Hehe, I know what it means in the anime/manga scene. But there are different kinds of rewards and I much prefer Kornel to make roguelikes than pantyshots. 

By the way that is some weird ugly picture. I guess that's what you get when you search for "fanservice" with the family filter on.
Posted by: Enchantermon
« on: 04. June 2010, 14:48:01 »

Quote by Kolya:
Now that's fan service. :)
I don't think that means what you think it means. ;)
Image: http://www.snapdrive.net/files/391413/asciifanservice2.jpg
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 04. June 2010, 11:16:58 »

After me bitching a bit about the graphical pseudo console in the latest release, Kornel has actually put up a console version of v0.8. Now that's fan service. :)
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 03. June 2010, 13:21:10 »

Cool, I'm looking forward to it. Though for now I'm happy strolling through v.08. Changes I noticed so far were the map showing only after exploration, the furniture of course and the keycards inventory. I'm especially looking forward to use those.

A note regarding furniture, walls and line of sight: When a locker or some other high object stands in front of a wall, that wall looks a lot like it had an opening there. It's not a bug or anything, it's just that the characters representing walls within LOS (#) and out of LOS (:) are quite different, which makes the map layout somewhat confusing, more notably so now that objects exist which can obstruct the LOS.
Posted by: Epyon
« on: 03. June 2010, 11:12:58 »

Thanks - keep an eye out, the next version will be a lot better ;)
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 03. June 2010, 10:22:27 »

You're the author of AliensRL, Kornel?
I got 0.8 to work now, thank you.

Awesome game. I regularly play it on the train to uni. :)
Posted by: Epyon
« on: 03. June 2010, 06:51:17 »

I replied on the forum -- did lowering the resolution help?
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 03. June 2010, 00:01:39 »

Yay! Thanks for the heads-up!

EDIT: I may have frolicked too early...this update doesn't run for me. Not only that, it completely freezes my computer.
Not sure yet if it's some setting or a bug. But all I get is a transparent window named "Valkyrie SDL Application" and then the system dies.
Posted by: Epyon
« on: 02. June 2010, 23:48:02 »

New version up!

http://alien.chaosforge.org/
Posted by: xerkon
« on: 17. April 2010, 06:55:29 »

I used to have a great imagination, and back then a game like AliensRL would have sucked me in instantaneously.  I'm sure my good imagination is still tucked away inside of me somewhere, but all the eye-candy in the latest games has spoiled me and caused my imagination to atrophy.  Maybe it needs an AliensRL booster shot.   
Posted by: Enchantermon
« on: 14. April 2010, 10:15:41 »

Not necessarily. When I played Rogue as a kid (and I've found myself playing it more now since you made this board), I didn't know what Hobgoblins or Kestrels or Orcs were, just to name a few, so I created images in my head. They were completely wrong, but who cares. I guess this could be a problem if you don't have any imagination, but if that's the case, you probably wouldn't get sucked into the atmosphere too much to begin with.
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 14. April 2010, 09:10:30 »

From adom.de:

Quote by http://www.adom.de/adom/roguelike.php3:
Most roguelike games do not use any graphics but rather rely on the ASCII character set to display their surroundings.
While this might sound horrible to you, you will be surprised how quickly you start to enjoy this "primitive" type of display. Your imagination quickly will take over and you'll no longer miss those ugly hand-drawn graphical tiles that do not resemble your picture of a dragon at all. But in your imagination, that blue D will soon become the most horrible and frightening ice wyrm you can imagine. Try it out. You won't be disappointed.

I have to say, this description is a bit misleading. In my experience you need to have some pre-existing idea of the monsters and your surroundings. This is true for me with AliensRL but certainly not with any roguelike. (What the hell is an "ice wyrm"?) I've seen the Alien films and the game's sounds help recall that atmosphere quite vividly. The rest is filled by fantasy. And when I play I can almost see me strolling down these corridors and encountering quick dog sized juveniles, elegant hunters and monstrous alien warriors. BAM! BAM! BAM! Back to the hell which spawned you!
Posted by: xerkon
« on: 14. April 2010, 00:54:38 »

I tried this the other night.  Does having to imagine what the text is get easier the more you play?  I only played for a minute but all I saw were letters.  Somehow Privateer seems less "texty".  Roughly how long does it take to really experience this game?  Maybe that's something that's different for every person.  I'll definitely give it more of a shot than I did.
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 09. April 2010, 06:32:28 »

Much respect, I'm not even close to finishing this game. I guess I should start following the tips I quoted above but just rummaging around in these towers, trying to stay alive, is a lot of fun. Speaking of the tips, I'm sure grenade splash damage works, so I struck it from the list.
Posted by: ThiefsieFool
« on: 09. April 2010, 05:25:33 »

I couldn't wait but it don't matter since I'll keep playing new versions as they come up, it's that good.
So I'm finally done, tips:
1. once you find a gyro-stabilizer, don't let go of it ever, even with irradiated areas
2. make copies of the "save" file lol. that way you can resume even if you die, I had my own folder of savegames
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 04. April 2010, 10:04:06 »

You might want to wait a little longer, as the author recently twittered that a new version (stable 0.8 ) might be released in April.
Posted by: ThiefsieFool
« on: 04. April 2010, 03:41:15 »

I'm glad you like it, I also almost forgot that it's pretty novel for a roguelike to have sounds/music, let alone ones this good.
From my plays I remember getting really, really far but still having to rely on the mp5/shotgun/pistol because the higher tier weapons are so tough to find, I'm going to give it another serious shot soon with that new version tho.
Posted by: Kolya
« on: 02. April 2010, 20:04:04 »

Very atmospheric. It even has speech and sounds, including ambience and aliens hissing and howling in the dark. :D

EDIT:
I found a later update (0.8 beta2) on their forums, updated the base version from the site with it and attached the result to the first post. Even this beta is a few years old, but it can save and load games. Apparently the author has taken up the project again as of late.
Anyhow, this game is just down my alley. Great find TF.  :thumbwink:

Here are some slightly corrected tips also taken from that forum:

1) The most probable way to die in this game is to run out of ammo. To solve this problem, go to the storage tower immediately after the beginning of the game (it's just north of the civilian tower, where you begin). Stay there until you get a shotgun and possibly a magnum.

2) The goal of the game is to kill the queen. To do so, you will need some heavy firepower to get rid of the elites around her. The queen herself is no weakling, either. Smartgun is my weapon of choice here, with at least 50 units of ammo. The military tower is the place to find this toy, and possibly a power armor (the tower is west of storage tower).

3) Speaking of Elites. Those bastards are sure to spoil your picnic, so anti-elite measures are a must. Krak grenades can kill them in one hit. Plasma rifle is good here too. If you don't have these weapons, the Magnum can save the day. Failing that, the starting equipment can sort 'em out with a few medpacks. Just don't use your shotgun, it can't punch through the elite's armour.

4) Watch out for randomly spawning hunters. They hurt. A lot.

5) If you have the ability, explore as much as you can. It gives major exp bonuses.

6) Draw maps of the levels, especially note where the lifts are. You'll need them on your way out. I failed my game twice because I didn't know where those damn lifts are.

7) About classes: I found out that the scout works the best for me. But any class except medic and the tech guy will do, really.

8.) The most important note: DO NOT PRESS CTRL C! You don't want to end up losing your game after hours of playtime.

9) There's an old bug where splash damage doesn't exist for thrown grenades if they don't land on an alien.  I doubt it's been fixed in the latest beta. You really do need throwing skill fairly quickly.
Posted by: ThiefsieFool
« on: 02. April 2010, 15:35:05 »

Tags: °roguelike

AliensRL stands for Aliens: The Roguelike more or less.
Terrifying experience if you can get past the text mode. F.R.E.E.

Image: http://imgur.com/FP4S3.png

webpage and download: http://alien.chaosforge.org/
Forum: http://forum.chaosforge.org/index.php/board,19.0.html
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