The problem with roguelikes

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atheistgod1999
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The problem with roguelikes

Post by atheistgod1999 »

Everyone's game is different, so you can't say you've "beaten" any of them. Their difficulty can totally vary depending on how the level is generated.
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Squire Grooktook
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Re: The problem with roguelikes

Post by Squire Grooktook »

If the game is semi-random, and you beat everything it throws at you, you still can absolutely say you "beat it".

I'm not the best source on Roguelikes, but difficulty variation doesn't matter that much. Most of these games require a heavy amount of trial and error and learning of the mechanics, so you're not going to just win by accident if the game gives you something slightly easier.
atheistgod1999 wrote:Everyone's game is different
No, it's just the levels that are different. The mechanics, rules, enemy designs, etc. will be the same each time. Levels and enemy/resource placement are shuffled, but it's the same game.
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Shepardus
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Re: The problem with roguelikes

Post by Shepardus »

In a roguelike, what you're "beating" isn't so much the levels as it is the systems that interact with each other and you. That's why I don't really see procedural generation as "infinite content," procedural generation just makes the rules and generators the content rather than the levels themselves. Beating a roguelike through sheer luck does happen, but is rare and the player is usually pretty competent anyway if they can get to the point where luck can carry them through. The best players who have truly mastered the game can beat the game pretty consistently, definitely a lot more consistently than most people beat shmups.

Dodonpachi also has RNG, would you say that nobody can "beat" that either? Any physical game or sport, from pinball to the hundred-meter dash, is also going to have elements that differ every playthrough, but as long as the uncontrollable factors are kept to a reasonable limit (like the wind limitations on the hundred-meter dash) they still work as games/sports. Roguelikes have more RNG than most games, but you can definitely tell the difference between a good player, who has mastered the systems rather than individual levels, and a bad player.
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