3 ms·
No criticism intended. But genuinely: What makes FTL a roguelike game?
by unixhero 4y ago
No criticism intended. But genuinely: What makes FTL a roguelike game?
- coopierez 4y agoPerma-death, with a procedurally generated world, combined with a clear destination / goal (to get to the next system). One can beeline straight for the goal or risk more time exploring for the prospect of a greater reward. It matches the "2010s Indie" definition of a roguelike.
- kruuuder 4y agoProcedurally generated content and permadeath are two core concepts of roguelikes. Games that use these concepts are also called roguelites (with a 't'). Binding of Isaac and Spelunky are two other examples of roguelites.
- unixhero 4y agoThe two may be jeg ingredients. But there must be something missing. It can't only be death as in death and procedurally generated worlds.
- kruuuder 4y agoWell, that's not my definition, but certainly one that's widely used. I have seen quite a few heated discussions about what should be called a roguelike though. :)
- faeriechangling 4y agoI used the term rougelite instead of rougelike. This is explicitly to distinguish it from games like rouge and nethack. FTL has some elements of these games, procedurally generated levels, permadeath, exploration, PvE, RPG elements, crushing difficulty, but not others. Thus rougelite. Anyways trying to define what qualifies what a "rougelike" is has started countless semantic slapfights (which is why I tried to use the cop-out word rougelite). Please consult a rougelike alignment chart to know where you stand in the great holy war over the definition of the word "rougelike" [1]. Nowadays most gamers think of indie games like dead cells, hades, enter the dungeon, darkest dungeon, crypt of the necrodancer, and ftl when they think "rougelike" and those games are all tagged with "rougelike" on steam and twitch. [1] https://i.imgur.com/ZLDp5rU.png https://i.imgur.com/ZLDp5rU.png
- synu 4y agoI have never thought of KSP as a roguelike/lite, but now that I see it on the chart it actually makes a little sense. I started with Binding of Isaac so I guess I have a fairly loose definition.
- cwillu 4y agoRogue, not rouge.
- mintysoap 4y agoAs a fan of everything along the Roguelike spectrum, I’m happy enough with the “compromise” labels. Traditional Roguelike for full-on Berlin Interpretation Roguelikes, like Nethack and Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup. Roguelite for Slay the Spire, FTL, and similar. Much easier to say than Roguelikelikes or Games with Roguelike Elements. And the word Roguelike? The battle was lost a long time ago, and most people will understand it to encompass both categories above. (Even though I personally have a tough time taking it to include the three great games in the mechanics radical column of the chart).
- laputan_machine 4y agoPeople now use the term 'roguelike' to mean more than turn-based, grid-based, permadeath, procedural games. Usually any game that has procedural elements & permadeath now becomes labelled "roguelike" or "roguelite" by the community, depending. I'm still a snob about it, to me roguelikes are nethack, ADOM, even newer games like Cogmind and Caves of Qud are roguelikes, but to me, FTL is not.
- wcarss 4y ago- navigate a collection of randomly generated 2D maps - pause the combat system to think about your next move - often don't know what's around the next corner - balance decisions about what items/upgrades to buy in shops using a few common resources you pick up from battles and exploration - when you die, your game ends to each their own but like, it's _pretty_ close!
- laputan_machine 4y agoI'm an absolute purist, to be honest it's just pedantry and not really worth debating, I love FTL, and the entire "roguelike" genre, whether they adhere to my standards or not. The golden age of games is really upon us