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Regallion posted:The responses on the poll are about 200% expected, hopefully the event will be amenable to solving bleeder...correctly, for a given value of correctly. I think that Gravedigger kind of reinforced the idea that we need to learn to handle things as us instead of letting the tyrant walk every time things get hard. But honestly, I think the important challenge is for our character to stop seeing the tyrant and the silver mind as like, separate entities from themself all dissociative identity disorder style.
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Oct 24, 2021 17:46
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VOTING CLOSED - I Hope You Know What You're Doing BLEEDER Make an open and direct challenge to him. - 19 Try to stay hidden, to backstab him with all you've got. - 3 PREPARE Rest for an hour [+6 FP] - 4 Blow one of your two casts of Bubbleblood and then go [13 or less] [-2 FP] - 3 Rest for an hour AND cast Bubbleblood [13 or less] [+4 FP] - 15 Let's just go. - 2 YOU? You. Just you. - 21 I will walk before this is done. - 3 LOADING...  ...LOADING
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Oct 24, 2021 22:07
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My recent chicken experience has made me question Kwiat. I managed to send my flock into mindless terror by trying to give them a new toy, I feel like if there was a roomba present they'd immediately drop dead of a heart attack rather than riding it. A very special chicken, I guess.
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Oct 25, 2021 19:21
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taiyoko posted:
But uh, at least the Tyrant is rather clearly someone else. Like, we are a mashup, that seems pretty clear. Silver mind tho, yeah maybe.
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Oct 25, 2021 21:14
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Hey all. Updates will be irregular for a few days; not just to prepare for the rear end-kicking Bleeder is about to eat, but because I scored a job and will need a few days to settle into it. The good news for the game is that having a positive cash flow and time out of the house to let my mind wander while working will do wonders for picking the game's pace back up. Thank you for your continued interest and enjoyment!
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Oct 26, 2021 21:05
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Excited for the rear end-kicking and congrats on the new job!
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Oct 26, 2021 21:23
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Black August posted:Hey all. Updates will be irregular for a few days; not just to prepare for the rear end-kicking Bleeder is about to eat, but because I scored a job and will need a few days to settle into it. The good news for the game is that having a positive cash flow and time out of the house to let my mind wander while working will do wonders for picking the game's pace back up. Thank you for your continued interest and enjoyment! $10 says we crit fail with 6-6-6 the first attack and the only reason we eck out a win is because Bleeder was too busy laughing his rear end off to actually attack us at first.
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Oct 26, 2021 23:05
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Congratulations on your job! That's great news.
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Oct 26, 2021 23:50
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taiyoko posted:Excited for the rear end-kicking and congrats on the new job!
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Oct 27, 2021 00:23
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Randalor posted:$10 says we crit fail with 6-6-6 the first attack and the only reason we eck out a win is because Bleeder was too busy laughing his rear end off to actually attack us at first. No no, he's about to eat us, the rear end-kicking protagonist. 
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Oct 27, 2021 01:58
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Congrats on the job, BA!
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Oct 27, 2021 03:08
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Congrats BA!
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Oct 27, 2021 21:47
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 Your eyes open. Your rest has come to an end. You look around, ready to deal with... (What doom came to you while you sought rest?) [3]+[1]+[1] = 5 - Great Success! ...nothing. Nothing. Nothing at all. You exhale, and you use the peace of blood to think of that warming blue bubbly sap. Please, please, let it come and find you mend. Let there be mercy. (Bubbleblood II) 13 [1]+[5]+[5] = 11 - Success (By 2)! (Heal For...) 2d6+2 [6]+[6] = 14 HP restored!! HP: [ 21 / 21 ] [+14 HP!] [HP MAXED!] FP: [ 17 / 30 ] [+4 FP!] Woah! Your blood! It's practically carbonated with wonderful warm! You spring to your feet, still a little winded but well within your limits of performance. Your body is peak. You exhale and you look out at the great mighty of the Megalith chamber, and catch sight of what you need. There, in the center! A staircase, steep and simple, sloping up up up to the crown of the superstructure. That has to be it. You pray your thanks for having managed to somehow slip between to find your way to the end of this nightmare land. It could have taken weeks to work through the Megalith... But here you are now. Standing tall. You work your way steady down the sloping bone arches and through great hanging forests of silk darkness, and finally across a massive stone dish filled inch-deep with red, to come before the foot of the staircase. ANXIETY: [ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][ X ][60%] [I'm so scared.] But you must remember the emerald encasing your troubled heart. You have to do this. You've been left no choice, and so, you must force the world to accept it has no choice but to give you what you want- Lordslay. Coloursoul. You start the mass ascent to the crown. You check your gun, tighten your tie, relace your shoes, adjust your pack, and you look - to Heaven. The humid air of unlife swells within the world-class of your lungs. You're going to do something to prove you're ready. You're going to mark the world with your intent. (![ER_INVALID]) 34 [3]+[3]+[4] = 10 - Success (By 24). On that day, all the Megalith went silent as it felt its walls shake. On that day, all the Lorded Land went quiet as it felt its grounds quake. On that day, the Seventh Lord knew fear, as a voice called for his life to take. The Tyrant has come to Megalith, and they call out a holy name in open challenge of those who Survived. 
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Oct 31, 2021 06:19
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 IT IS ON!
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Oct 31, 2021 08:27
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A staircase raising to the Heavens while an Angelic Choir sings out you say?
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Oct 31, 2021 12:36
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this piece is so far truly and genuinely excellent. came in with no expectations whatsoever and was and am nevertheless blown away. the quality of the writing is outstanding. the original post implies that a "onerun" is somehow keyed to the copy of the game or maybe the hardware or something? you can keep playing but the first run is, i'm not sure maybe the "true" run? the player implies that it was challenging to find the final opportunity to play. kind of like that flash concept game One Chance where permadeath means you get one try - every "run" or iteration after the first is somehow tainted, which would track with some mechanics influencing future runs. some of the contributors to the blue book think that the tyrant subclass is not real, maybe it's only accessible on a "onerun"?
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Oct 31, 2021 21:49
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The wind has stopped. There you are, standing at the center height of the graḭ �ᵃ𝕡 ＬⓈ Ｌ�Ｌ ᵃ�∂ ḭ �ᵃ𝕡 �� g� ⓗ�ＬＥ ḭＬ �� �ḭ�Ｅ∂ ᵃ�∂ �ᑕᵃ�Ｅ∂ ḭ ʃＥＥ� �ḭᑕ� ḭ� ⓗ𝐨��nd staircase; stone sword held up, aimed out. Your withered hands are death-still. You refuse to breathe, thinking back to your first meet with Deimos. But your lungs are too strong to falter now. Rainy dawn eyes fixate on the distant dark of the mile's final stretch to crown, and you master the last of your horror to pretend, just for one moment, that you are in a nightmare you can't wake up from... and you're choosing to run mad-eyed screaming into the pitch black you know holds a monster that is going to murder you. But God, God God God, you will wound it if only once before it opens your body into erasure. He's descending. You're apprehending. That shape...  (PE) 12 [6]+[6]+[1] = 13 - Success. ...him. It IS the one from the swamp. The sickness red. She was right. You missed a chance, and you hate yourself for not putting him to the sword then. But, would it have worked out? No time left. Your heart thunders one thousand for every deliberate step he takes. You see him death-clear, though he still stands so high up in the red midnight of his sacred world. Aberrant. Deathwatcher. Survivor. Loveliest Holy. Blessed, Blessed Three Times By The Island.  The Seventh Lord, Bleeder. You're going to do what the Island could not. That is what you're here to prove. There is wind about him, thrown like silk by the prayers of the arms-raised Congregation, singing without sound from the million bone pipes. Cloak of that dustiest ivory catches it with enraptured quiet, his hair floating crown with water's slow motion. Oh, his eyes are not sleepy now. They're wide bright. Red as midnight. Oh Bleeder, loveliest- Are they filling with fright? His suit has assumed the undulations of utmost attention, teeth sliding into fractal patterns throughout the superdense wet-red of the vampiric muscle mass. They're so eager to viper back into your veins for that instant massdrain. Just one soft touch and it'd be real. But you know that now! See? The first time was a warning. A ready. A set. Here we go. You keep your sword aimed at him the entire time you step up in timing to his meet-down, not blinking even when the humidity of the airs is sucked up like a snap into red aura surrounding the Lord, and the subtle winds now feel like the knifekiss of air conditioned cold. In one mutant arm he clenches his starving sword, while the other slowly shifts towards the shape of his heavy marrow-immense galecannon organic. This is mortal. This is living suicide. This is where walking ends. It's Bleeder who speaks first, when you stand some unknownfold steps apart. His voice is whispered through every marrowhive and bonesong stream. "...it IS you. Why are you here?!" His mighty sword. His cannon leaves just his hand free, so he can steady his Lordly blade aimed down to you. Now, why is that? (!Darkness - IQ Based) 14 [2]+[4]+[2] = 8 - Success! (No HP Cost) Oh. Oh! It's. Because. He's. Afraid! BLEEDER! A LORD! IS AFRAID! He can't aim the cannon with shaking hands!!! TYRANNY: [1%] O͜h,͘ B̶le͟e̵d̵er̨.͘.. ... You climb a little faster than before. Your face is stone. You still haven't inhaled air. You let Bleeder keep talking, as he shoulder-slants his sword while his step becomes Knightly-compelled in pace. "GET OUT OR I'LL KILL YOU. ONE WARNING!" Is he slowing for a second? IS HE?! You climb faster!! He resumes his descent, oh look at how flower-lovely his vampiric mass wraps over him in protection! Oh lovely holy are his red eyes. Do you ever sleep, Bleeder? You're almost bounding now, ascending with the titan of your cardiovascular. You want to believe. You want to climb endless! You want to SLAY! If you can prove this, this, JUST this, you can sleep dreaming of freedom from the scythe! You'll be redeemed. You'll be forgiven. You'll be loved! You'll finally find Heaven! You're just as fast as he is. Even with the weight of your denied nuclear arsenal, you don't NEED IT YOU CAN WIN THIS, TOOTH AND CLAW. Red's shroud is black wraith about you, which the Lord matches by dragging the Megalith into the clock striking midnight, now nothing but a bloody impression in the black. But you can still be seen, Bleeder! Your eyes are still so tired holy red! The awful cannon exhaling infrared vapors. You're screaming now. Banshee flying. Skipping steps at a time, clambering animal mad up to meet him. One second left to asses. No Silver Mind to help. Maybe though... (Feelin' Funky?) 11 [2]+[6]+[2] = 10 - Success (By 1)! YES! Fungus is sporing on the brain in response to the absence of the Silver Mind's feeding uplink! It's basic and fleeting, but oh it warms the fear of your soul. Just one small ally against Lord impossible. You inhale at last for the burst of speed that you need to pump your legs hard enough to win the sword-struck first. One second before impact, to decide if this is how you're going to bring End to a Lord.
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Nov 1, 2021 08:21
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Pretty sure the jig is up about our identity. The tyrant part of it makes me nervous, but I am going for the shield. Maybe we can set it down after the initial shock? If we decide not to kill Bleeder on the spot. Bolded my choice in case strawpoll gets its act together later today.
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Nov 1, 2021 09:49
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I forget what the Kurczerwony is. All three choices are tempting - I think Bleeder might be afraid of our Tyranny but then I think we should be a little too. Having a hard time deciding in short so gonna think on it a little!
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Nov 1, 2021 09:53
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Stoner Sloth posted:I forget what the Kurczerwony is. It’s a giant chicken feather artifact - “Tiny chance to avoid death” Seems like the closest approach to that last blue book entry.
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Nov 1, 2021 10:33
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BigFactory posted:It’s a giant chicken feather artifact - “Tiny chance to avoid death” thanks! yeah voting for Clutch giant chicken feather and pray
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Nov 1, 2021 10:48
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Goddammit StrawPoll! It’s down again…  Yeah, Kwiat has been pretty consistently associated with tourmaline and the holy end throughout. Any hope of this ending in anything other than one of our deaths is probably going to come from the Kuczerwony.
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Nov 1, 2021 10:57
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I will trust in the power of chickens!
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Nov 1, 2021 12:56
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So it comes down to a matter of faith. Do we bear the shield of fallen idols, or do we put our faith in mystery posters and dreams of forgotten times? No, seriously, strawpoll seems to be a potato again, what do we put our trust in? Edit: So I'm torn on what to vote for when strawpolls unshits itself/we get an alternate poll. On the one hand, while Bleeder hates us, he may change his tune if he sees the shield (or it may piss him off further). On the other hand, while we used healing magic, it wasn't enough to trigger his pissed-off boss mode, and I'm not sure if he has to be in that state for the "pray 3 times" method to work. Also, we're going off of something written in the blue book which is... not part of the game... I think? So it's a question of "Do we trust randos online, or do we trust the in-game item descriptions?". I think we should avoid anything with Tyranny in the description right now though. Randalor fucked around with this message at 14:57 on Nov 1, 2021 |
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Nov 1, 2021 13:20
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Hm. Well, I gave strawpoll one last chance. I have a class today so here's the alternate poll so we can see the actual votes. https://linkto.run/p/0WFYMV5H As a note of detail: Bleeder knows the character, but hasn't seen them without the shroud on, which is the identity that's still hidden.
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Nov 1, 2021 18:05
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Aghhh, I really want to check the shield thing out, but also the Tyranny is scaring me. But lore! But <i>I really do not want to let the Tyrant out right now.</i> ...That said, 'you' is also being really, really bloodthirsty and not amenable to a peaceful solution. I'm paralyzed with indecision at the moment. t3isukone fucked around with this message at 19:18 on Nov 1, 2021 |
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Nov 1, 2021 19:14
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Probably too late to change much. But my vision for shield use is to brandish it and then set it down. Signal that we want a straight up sword duel, no getting closer than the diameter of the shield. I think we would have the upper hand, and Bleeder apparently likes swordsmanship.
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Nov 1, 2021 21:14
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A thought: The warnings aren't for us. They're for Bleeder. Was a toss-up between oil shield and feather, but went feather. Guessing there were multiple ways/items/etc to try and get through to bleeder, and we happened to to get those two.
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Nov 1, 2021 22:27
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t3isukone posted:Aghhh, I really want to check the shield thing out, but also the Tyranny is scaring me. But lore! But <i>I really do not want to let the Tyrant out right now.</i> On the other side of things, I'm at least a little glad that "you" is finding their own inner tyranny instead of hiding behind the Tyrant. I aspire to be better at walking with Intent at times (though not a bloodthirsty one). Tends to come at con when I'm on my way to Fix A Thing and need attendees to move.
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Nov 1, 2021 23:43
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VOTING CLOSED - Last Second Accessory Swap In one tyrannical motion, sweep off Red's shroud to trade for the Oilstained Shield. - 5 Keep the shroud on, and your identity hidden. - 1 Abandon both to clutch the Kurczerwony with a prayer. - 20 LOADING...  ...LOADING
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Nov 2, 2021 19:22
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The text-adventure adaptation of The Birds is coming along nicely I see.
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Nov 2, 2021 19:33
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BA question - have you played Caves of Qud? I just started it a few days back and the general weirdness (and mushrooms) is giving me some ZHE vibes.
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Nov 2, 2021 20:14
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Razakai posted:BA question - have you played Caves of Qud? I just started it a few days back and the general weirdness (and mushrooms) is giving me some ZHE vibes. You can assume I have involuntary-omniscient knowledge of all roguelikes, and it's also safe to assume that under microscope this game would reveal dense DNA from primary donors of ADOM, Cthangband, and Dungeon Crawl, plus a little Door In The Woods, Binding of Isaac, and Darkwood. Please support Caves of Qud, it's an excellent modern-sensibility roguelike with a visual aesthetic very close to what I'd imagine this game's imaginary tileset would have.
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Nov 2, 2021 20:25
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I bought Caves of Qud. I don't think I'm smart enough to play it though.
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Nov 2, 2021 20:27
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It's a shame there's not a real (and maybe 10% less buggy) ZHE. There's a lot of praise for the writing here, obviously, but as someone who's very much into chunky mechanic stuff (hence being a ToME developer) I love the design of abilities, items, encounters, world etc etc. This would make an excellent actual game. qudchat: roll esper, mind laser stuff to death, get mind lasered to death by evil psychic assassins, repeat
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Nov 2, 2021 20:57
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Razakai posted:It's a shame there's not a real (and maybe 10% less buggy) ZHE. There's a lot of praise for the writing here, obviously, but as someone who's very much into chunky mechanic stuff (hence being a ToME developer) I love the design of abilities, items, encounters, world etc etc. This would make an excellent actual game. Huge agree on this. I think Qud is the closest IRL equivalent-that I've played-but a lot of what makes ZHE so fascinating is the extensive randomized story stuff that would be an unholy amount of work for an IRL version. EDIT: Also, on a completely different note, is Bleeder a twink?
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Nov 3, 2021 00:58
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Black August posted:You can assume I have involuntary-omniscient knowledge of all roguelikes, and it's also safe to assume that under microscope this game would reveal dense DNA from primary donors of ADOM, Cthangband, and Dungeon Crawl, plus a little Door In The Woods, Binding of Isaac, and Darkwood. You have good taste in games. Also I think that strong heritage is why I'm so fond of this thing that you're making and really  to see where it goes next!
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Nov 3, 2021 01:30
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Oh drat, I just remembered where I've read a CYOA from you before Black August. It's kind of a shame this one isn't as popular as that one, because ZEN is much better imho.
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Nov 3, 2021 05:29
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t3isukone posted:Huge agree on this. I think Qud is the closest IRL equivalent-that I've played-but a lot of what makes ZHE so fascinating is the extensive randomized story stuff that would be an unholy amount of work for an IRL version. Qud, again, feels like it's be the closest to that, with the random faction stuff and proc gen characters/lore. Obviously the game we see in this thread would require an absurd number of skilled writers, but even a straightforward version of the game that's just LordMurder plus all the mechanical bits would be fun. I've considered pivoting from my current developer work as contributing to ToME to actually trying my own roguelike game one day so I'm definitely taking notes.
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Nov 3, 2021 10:15
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Incidentally, while the genre is completely different, a game that gives me a lot of the same vibes as ZHE is Paradise Killer. It's an adventure game/VN hybrid without any roguelike elements, but it has a lot of the same...feeling in the lore? The sense of huge things you can't understand and general high weirdness and everyone being traumatized by things you don't know about.
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Nov 4, 2021 14:47
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