Episode 44: Winning

Welcome to Roguelike Radio episode 44. This week we talk about Winning. Talking this ep are Andrew Doull and Darren Grey. You can download the mp3 of the podcast, play it in the embedded player below, or you can follow us on iTunes. Be warned, this episode contains SPOILERS! Including some serious spoilers for FTL from 28 to 30 mins.

Topics discussed in this episode include:
- The joy of finally winning a roguelike
- Devs not winning their own games
- How winning makes up a small amount of the game
- Winning by score more than previously
- Endless games, via infinite score or sandbox style
- Different victory conditions
- Permanent changes through winning (including some of Shockfrost's ideas)
- Building a good final boss
- The disgusting use of hidden second final bosses
- Multiple endings, the good and bad
- Hooking the player to play again
- An aside about the upcoming Annual Roguelike Release Party 2012 and the Roguelike Bundle


Tune in next week for an episode on Caves of Qud.

Episode 43: Spelunky

Welcome to Roguelike Radio episode 43. This week we talk about Spelunky. Talking this episode are Andrew Doull, Ryan Boyd, Darius Kazemi and Spelunky developer, Derek Yu. You can download the mp3 of the podcast, play it in the embedded player below, or you can follow us on iTunes.

Topics discussed in this episode include:
- Derek's experiences with roguelikes: Hack, brogue, DoomRL, Dwarf Fortress
- Level generation and procedural content in Spelunky
- Designing interacting systems and the importance of shopkeepers
- Tom Francis' Spelunky posts
- Replacing the random number god with game maker physics
- Are the best procedural games about digging into the ground looking for treasure?
- Rescuing maidens and marrying theme and mechanic
- Spelunky as My First Roguelike
- Edit: The upcoming games mentioned: Catacomb Kids, Tower Climb (Thanks to Eben)
- And more...

You may want to check out Darius Kazemi's HTML 5 port of Spelunky at Tiny Subversions, which features several articles on the Spelunky code and systems.