Interview with Thomas Biskup at Roguetemple

[Laukku]

This was recently posted:
http://www.roguetemple.com/interview...p-interview-1/

Apparently a second part will be posted soon!

[pblack]

It really surprised me that TB never finished ADOM =P.

[Epythic]

OMG he's never won his own game.

Interesting blogs? This one is quite interesting. What a shame it is updated so rarely...

[Cripplefish]

It really surprised me that TB never finished ADOM =P.

To be fair he did write the game. Took me longer to get my first win than it took him to get to 1.1.1

Also he knows all the secrets anyway (maybe even some wierd tome stuff ?) so perhaps the game isn't as mysterious for him...

[Laukku]

Also he knows all the secrets anyway (maybe even some wierd tome stuff ?) so perhaps the game isn't as mysterious for him...

But we know more tricks, strategies and things to exploit. (Gremlin bomb, wish engines and many more.)

[fazisi]

It probably goes to show just how (don't know how to say it without being offensive) poorly Tom made ADOM. It's a great game and all but it took years for most people's first win and that normally used some form of scumming or cheating. Even most "fair" wins use item or level scumming of some sort just to be able to get past the "patient" midgame. If patience is jumping up and down the ID, farming waters and such, waiting for you to get another 3 levels before you go to the next quest, it just goes to show there wasn't the same amount of play testing that goes into other games.

Granted, I still love ADOM and will one day have a fair won game myself in the far distant future. But until the RNG stops dropping blocks of stone onto my poor level 2 head in the VD or spawning up a tension room of fire vortices on D:7 before I even get to the "patient" part of the game, I'm thinking I'm going to be saving the puppy a lot more often than I would like.
________
BMW K75

[FantomFang]

heh, stone blocks such, but with vortices, it's all about darkness. Used well, darkness makes them into jokes of an enemy.

[gut]

I might be mistaken, but I think TB really made the
game more for spoiled players.

It took years for my first victory, and most of that
was without spoilers, but with save scumming for
experimenting. When I started getting spoiled, the
game became much easier, and a legit win wasn't
far away. Honestly, if one knows about morgia, and
moss, the game's a breeze.

[Epythic]

It probably goes to show just how (don't know how to say it without being offensive) poorly Tom made ADOM. It's a great game and all but it took years for most people's first win and that normally used some form of scumming or cheating.

That's exactly what I love about ADOM: you don't win after a few weeks of play. It does take years.

Later on you speak about how "[unfair and scummy tactics are required]". Another point I like: it's just not your typical you-can-beat-any-monster-you-meet-any-time game. Sometimes you just have to make your char give everything. "Fair fight" just means "play by their rules". If I can have an advantage, I'll take it, thanks.
(With the exception of cheating of course)

Oh and then there is permadeath. Lets do a thought experiment. Just imagine for a second that you could save/load freely in ADOM. That would make the game waaay easier, wouldnt it? Compare the difficulty to current first person shooters. Now put permadeath back into the equation and look at what changes and what doesnt.

[Andy Williams]

Honestly, if one knows about morgia, and moss, the game's a breeze.

I don't think any version of the game can be described as "a breeze", at least in the larger context of CRPGs in general and the race-class combos in ADOM. There is so much luck dependence. In ADOM, the to-hit algorithm change in v1.1.0 (IIRC) changed the game considerably. I don't remember the math, but it went from something like 1d20+bonuses to 1(d20+bonuses). This is not documented anywhere I can find easily. Whatever the facts, I personally have found melee characters in ADOM 1.1.1 very frustrating. Rangers doubly so, of course. I can't get a true dual-wielding (admittedly dark elven) ranger past the Water Temple in 1.1.1.

This gets back to the criticism one of the web sites had. Not enough prerelease testing. If dual-wielding PCs are impossible, why have them in the game?

On balance: I found g10 to be one of the best balanced versions of the game, because of the extensive pretesting. Version 1.1.1 is noteworthy in its bias towards spellcasters.