We discuss the how science fiction intersects with the roguelike genre, with Darren Grey and Andrew Doull.
You can download the mp3 of the podcast, play it in the embedded player below, or you can follow us on iTunes.
Synopsis & Useful Links
- Andrew's experience as a science fiction writer and designing sci-fi games (board games High Frontier and Bios Megafauna, TTRPG 60 Years in Space)
- Darren's experience as a science fiction writer (inc for the recently released Fallout: London) and designing sci-fi roguelike 7DRLs (UNSTOPPABLE, Broken Bottle, DataQueen, Time to Die, Wait For It)
- Does science fiction need a Berlin Interpretation? (No!)
- Sci-fi games discussed on Roguelike Radio before: DoomRL, Cataclysm, CataclysmDDA, Zaga-33, Caves of Qud, FTL, Sword of the Stars, 868-HACK, Cogmind, Invisible Inc, Jupiter Hell, and many many 7DRLs
- Diversity of content in science fiction games
- "Breaking rules" in science fiction, and how sci-fi games systems tie in with simulation mechanics
- ZAPM/PRIME which are sci-fi theme swaps of Nethack (and which Darren couldn't remember the name for)
- Andrew describing how you really die in space, in great detail
- Suspension of disbelief to make sci-fi believable
- Game mechanics make magic systems hard (numbers-based, systemetised), whilst making science fiction softer (approximate, unrealistic)
- How D&D has set the standard for fantasy games, whilst sci-fi draws on more diverse bases, but how this creates challenges in relying on tropes to explain game mechanics
- Vectors/momentum in space games, and how roguelikes struggle to represent this
- The challenge of having mindless/evil enemies in a more grounded game
- Darren's dream of Z'Ha'DumRL, a Babylon 5-themed roguelike
- Challenges of adapating sci-fi settings to procedurally generated environments
- Learning things in sci-fi, and sci-fi as a medium for delivering messages from the author
Do roguelikes need a Berlin Interpretation? (No!)
ReplyDelete(It just confused everyone.)
I feel that a sci-fi game should be more careful about (pseudo-) scientific explanation of the mechanics, so for example mostly anything would work as a magic system but it might be harder to explain technically; or good roguelikes usually combine melee and missile attacks, while it is a bit harder to explain melee attacks in a sci-fi settings. Except some hacking metaphors where everything happens inside a computer/network, then anything goes.
I like an interpretation of hitpoints as an abstraction of general tactical advantage (not just wounds but also positioning, stamina, etc.), then they make more sense and explain why roguelikes heavily based on positioning do not need them.
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ReplyDeleteStrange Adventures in Infinite Space (2002), Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space (2005), and Infinite Space III: Sea of Stars (2015), should be mentioned. Strange Adventures was the first space roguelite, Weird Worlds inspired FTL, and Sea of Stars was funded by the community. Weird Worlds still sells on GOG, Steam, Humble and itch. Strange Adventures free from itch.
ReplyDeleteWe haven’t covered any of those games and we didn’t have a point in the podcast where it felt necessary to exhaustively list all sci fi roguelikes.
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