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DivineCloudBurst · Jun 21, 2002, 03:59 AM

Does anyone play this game? <a href="http://thangorodrim.angband.org/" target="_blank">Angband</a> has been around for quite a long time, (1983) and is one of the finest adventure games I've played.

For those who don't know, it's a dungeon exploration game with entirely textual graphics. It's open source freeware, and can be compiled to run on virtually any platform (Acorn, Atari, Amiga, Mac, you name it.)

voice- · Jun 21, 2002, 04:40 AM

Let me know when it runs natively in OS X

DivineCloudBurst · Jun 21, 2002, 04:41 AM

<a href="ftp://clockwork.dementia.org/angband/Macintosh/angband-300-mac-osx.sit.bin" target="_blank">OS X Angband, right here</a>

voice- · Jun 21, 2002, 06:43 AM

There goes my day

misc · Jun 21, 2002, 12:43 PM

I've been playing it off and on since '87. Great game!

lookmark · Jun 21, 2002, 01:10 PM

Various game balance issues about Angband drive me c-r-r-r-r-azy, but I keep coming back to it.

It's got to be one of the most addictive substances out there. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

DivineCloudBurst · Jun 21, 2002, 05:21 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by lookmark:
Various game balance issues about Angband drive me c-r-r-r-r-azy, but I keep coming back to it.
<hr /></blockquote>There's a lot of nifty variants on the Thangorodrim page. Have you tried ZAngband or PernAngband?

Sap · Jun 22, 2002, 03:07 AM

Ah Angband... It's the thinking man's Diablo

DivineCloudBurst · Jun 22, 2002, 03:59 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Sap:
Ah Angband... It's the thinking man's Diablo

<hr /></blockquote>Exactly!!...Although I do like Diablo.

Guy Incognito · Jun 22, 2002, 04:19 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Sap:
Ah Angband... It's the thinking man's Diablo

<hr /></blockquote>I dunno...there's not that much thinking involved in Angband either. Just because the interface is rather textual, doesn't mean you need to do much more thinking.

I think there's more thinking in MUDs with pkilling involved. Man, those were good times...I finally broke loose from the MUDding addiction a few years ago.

Sap · Jun 22, 2002, 06:18 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Guy Incognito:
I dunno...there's not that much thinking involved in Angband either. Just because the interface is rather textual, doesn't mean you need to do much more thinking.
I think there's more thinking in MUDs with pkilling involved. Man, those were good times...I finally broke loose from the MUDding addiction a few years ago.<hr /></blockquote>The thing is that Angband is turn based. On higher levels, you really need to plan out exactly what you're going to do, and you can execute these plans step by step with precision. That's how I play it at least

I guess the Diablo mentality is possible too.

Guy Incognito · Jun 22, 2002, 06:23 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Sap:
 <blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by Guy Incognito:
I dunno...there's not that much thinking involved in Angband either. Just because the interface is rather textual, doesn't mean you need to do much more thinking.
I think there's more thinking in MUDs with pkilling involved. Man, those were good times...I finally broke loose from the MUDding addiction a few years ago.<hr /></blockquote>The thing is that Angband is turn based. On higher levels, you really need to plan out exactly what you're going to do, and you can execute these plans step by step with precision. That's how I play it at least

I guess the Diablo mentality is possible too.<hr /></blockquote>True...your point makes a lot of sense; the turn-based play makes it more of a thinking game since you can plan what you want to do.

DivineCloudBurst · Jun 22, 2002, 11:48 PM

That's what I like about turn-based games; everything's deliberate. You won't (usually) panic and mess up like so often happens in real life and Diablo II.

Guy Incognito · Jun 23, 2002, 11:47 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by DivineCloudBurst:
That's what I like about turn-based games; everything's deliberate. You won't (usually) panic and mess up like so often happens in real life and Diablo II.<hr /></blockquote>It would be fun if real-life was turn based...and had a save and restore feature.

"This sucks! The second half of my life was a failure. Time to restore."

DivineCloudBurst · Jun 23, 2002, 05:47 PM

But then everybody else would be resetting life too -- and you'd have to wait for EVERYBODY in the world to take their turn before you could do anything.

mac freak · Jun 23, 2002, 11:35 PM

LOL

Yes, indeed, waiting for six billion other people to take their respective turns would really be a bummer.

I've tried Angband; it's fun, quite fun, but I've always had a fairly hard time getting "into" very primitive games (like all those old Atari games everyone says are so great -- I just can't get past the super-pixelated graphics and one-line-of-scratchy-MIDI sound).

NES games are pretty much as primitive as I can stand, and seeing as Angband doesn't even *have* any graphics/sound to speak of...

The story just ain't enough to keep me going.

DivineCloudBurst · Jun 24, 2002, 12:00 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by mac freak:
LOL

Yes, indeed, waiting for six billion other people to take their respective turns would really be a bummer.

I've tried Angband; it's fun, quite fun, but I've always had a fairly hard time getting "into" very primitive games (like all those old Atari games everyone says are so great -- I just can't get past the super-pixelated graphics and one-line-of-scratchy-MIDI sound).

NES games are pretty much as primitive as I can stand, and seeing as Angband doesn't even *have* any graphics/sound to speak of...

The story just ain't enough to keep me going.<hr /></blockquote>It's not primitive -- it's timeless

.

[ 06-24-2002, 12:02 AM: Message edited by: DivineCloudBurst ]

mac freak · Jun 24, 2002, 01:52 AM

Primitive and Timeless aren't mutually exclusive.

Witness the cockroach!

CharlesS · Jun 24, 2002, 03:15 AM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by mac freak:
LOL

Yes, indeed, waiting for six billion other people to take their respective turns would really be a bummer.

I've tried Angband; it's fun, quite fun, but I've always had a fairly hard time getting "into" very primitive games (like all those old Atari games everyone says are so great -- I just can't get past the super-pixelated graphics and one-line-of-scratchy-MIDI sound).

NES games are pretty much as primitive as I can stand, and seeing as Angband doesn't even *have* any graphics/sound to speak of...

The story just ain't enough to keep me going.<hr /></blockquote>You younguns don't appreciate the true art of gaming. Graphics and sound never are as important as how fun a game is.

Although I've never tried Angband. Hmm, I think I'll download it and try it out.

mac freak · Jun 24, 2002, 03:22 AM

Well, it really depends on one's point of view: For me, great graphics and a moving/catchy soundtrack really add to my enjoyment of the game (hence making it more "fun"). Sure, a great story can be engrossing -- but story is only one aspect of a videogame...

Anyway, I didn't really start playing many games until the SNES era, which, of course, was way past the era of text-only gaming.

I suppose I'll never see the true genius of Angband. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Frown]" src="frown.gif" />

DivineCloudBurst · Jun 25, 2002, 04:43 PM

<blockquote>quote:<hr />Originally posted by mac freak:

I suppose I'll never see the true genius of Angband.

<hr /></blockquote>Don't worry; the first electronic game I remember playing was Super Mario World, and I've logged hundreds of hours in Angband.