Classic Ascii or Tile?

[kNightCrawler]

I've been playing tiled ADOM since pr14 came out, since IMO the tileset is really nice and it kind of makes ADOM feel fresh after all the years (it was almost like a different game when pr14 first came out!). I like the ASCII as well, though. I kind of considered going back to ASCII after a combination of the slight NotEye lag (when missiles etc are fired) and the "wait, I thought that was a... oops!" effect of getting used to the tileset, caused my last promising char to end up bumping into a stone ooze >_<

I also tend to kill cats in the tiled version, because they aren't as easy to tell from other monsters as when they are f's.

Yeah, that was one of the main problems getting used to the tileset for me as well...
On the other hand, when playing with tiles on I'm more likely to immediately think "*RUN!!*" when I see a gorgon... =}

[Ravenmore]

Thank you. I was thinking that different color schemes could do the trick? If they all wear armors of different color or something like that, I think that would be sufficient.

Yes, colors usually do the trick. I also try to make monster silhouettes slightly different, I suppose that helps an extra bit which is always good

It's interesting to hear how veterans cope with identifying monster types in the tileset. We never really ran into the problem, myself because well...I kinda made them :P and the rest of the team saw them coming in gradually in batches of ~20 so I guess they had time to get used to them.

One thing I tried to do was to stick to the colors from ASCII, so a giant warrior ant is red(-ish) just like it's ASCII counterpart. But it's quite inconsistent, based on a lot of factors, so I guess this won't be a hugely helpful hint :P

[Grey]

I've been playing tiled ADOM since pr14 came out, since IMO the tileset is really nice and it kind of makes ADOM feel fresh after all the years (it was almost like a different game when pr14 first came out!).

I have the same feeling. It's like I'm playing a completely different game! But then everyone is oddly familiar at the same time.

I enjoy both ASCII and tile modes, and choose whichever my mood puts me in. High Pe wizards definitely benefit from ASCII more.

[cobaltofdoom]

Ok new mini map in pre release 16 makes tile much more usable. Not AS good visibility as ascii but better.

[Greyling]

It's interesting to hear how veterans cope with identifying monster types in the tileset. We never really ran into the problem, myself because well...I kinda made them :P and the rest of the team saw them coming in gradually in batches of ~20 so I guess they had time to get used to them.

You did a really good job on the tiles. Thank you.

Also, it is interesting to think that at some point there will be a large number of players who will only be able to play in the tile version, because they can no longer "read" ASCII. There is probably some sort of philosophical statement that could be made about that, but I'll leave that to someone else.

[ThatWhovianDude]

I'm too young to have played roguelikes back when it all was ASCII. My first roguelike was Dragon Crystal for the Game Gear on the 3DS Virtual Console. I later played more, and more, becoming obsessed with the depth some of them had. None of them were in ASCII, but I had seen it before. Then I found ADOM. And ADOM II. I've lost a lot of sleep. XD But, anyway, ADOM, the first time I played it was in the tileset, which I honestly prefer. ADOM II was in the ASCII setting. At first it was frustrating, and I didn't like it. But it was like in the Matrix, when Neo only saw numbers, but Cypher can only see "blonde, brunette, redhead." Still, I do prefer the tileset.

[blunk]

Someone dug up an old thread, I just have to say adom is sooo much more easy with the graphic overlay.
Identifying a mob via picture instead of remembering "what letter was what mob again".
Seeing if mob is neutral,friendly or aggro without having to use look command.
Seeing mob hitpoints via healthbar without having to use look command.
I don't even need to swap to ascii to spot rocks, arrow, rings and such anymore.
In rare occasions I use ascii to get a quick overview.
I also like the graphic style wich are in use.

[SinsI]

In favor of ASCII: you can see the whole map at once.

In favor of Tile: you get a lot more information, i.e.:
- distinguish more types of monsters (no losing items to ratling master thief because you confused it with gargantuan rat, no killing that potential pet raccoon instead of vapor rat)
- distinguish friend/foe, especially companions
- see health bar for monsters that are not immediately near you (you can also use it to distinguish whether or not you've already pickpocketed that monster)

[Blasphemous]

Tiles are convenience features. They make you soft. They make you sloppy.
Health bars? Colors for friends and foes? Bah!

Now on a more serious note: for me, roguelikes have always been like reading a book.
I had to imagine that blue D as dragon and that purple h as dwarven chaos knight.
I think this was a huge part of the allure, having the opportunity to imagine things as you would while reading a book and at the same time having actual choices and facing their consequences.
Tiles cheapen that experience for me and sort of push ADOM into the land of regular games where imagination plays secondary role.
I don't like that because ADOM cannot compete with regular games that go balls first with their amazing graphic designs, even with many indie titles.
That said, I will never switch to tiles because it would cost me that precious experience of interactive book that I love ADOM so much for.

Still, kudos for the team for all the undeniably hard work they have put into the graphic/sound aspects of the tiles.
Perhaps if I was new to the game, I would have given this a shot but as it is, plain old ascii ADOM is the thing for me.

EDIT: I just realized that I pretty much regurgitated my previous post in this thread, with little extra content

[blunk]

Tiles are convenience features. They make you soft. They make you sloppy.
Health bars? Colors for friends and foes? Bah!

Now on a more serious note: for me, roguelikes have always been like reading a book.
I had to imagine that blue D as dragon and that purple h as dwarven chaos knight.
I think this was a huge part of the allure, having the opportunity to imagine things as you would while reading a book and at the same time having actual choices and facing their consequences.
Tiles cheapen that experience for me and sort of push ADOM into the land of regular games where imagination plays secondary role.
I don't like that because ADOM cannot compete with regular games that go balls first with their amazing graphic designs, even with many indie titles.
That said, I will never switch to tiles because it would cost me that precious experience of interactive book that I love ADOM so much for.

Still, kudos for the team for all the undeniably hard work they have put into the graphic/sound aspects of the tiles.
Perhaps if I was new to the game, I would have given this a shot but as it is, plain old ascii ADOM is the thing for me.

EDIT: I just realized that I pretty much regurgitated my previous post in this thread, with little extra content

That is interesting because for me it's been translating numeric values for heroes and monsters to imagination of powers or lack of those.
Mind you I've generally been easy with numbers but am a very slow reader.