ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery) is a a roguelike video game by Thomas Biskup with an ASCII graphics.
Development of ADOM started on July 12, 1994 and continued steadily since until November 20, 2002 but due to personal life issues and unavailability of the source code the development was put to stop…till now…
Recently the Indiegogo campaign to continue the development of ADOM was successful with almost $50,000 raised and 9 more days to go !
The new stretch goals promises graphics with the help of Zeno’s NotEye ($50,000) , Customized tile sets ($55,000) additional classes and races ($60,000) and much more ! (Those goals are totally achievable)
In addition, there is a chance that this time the game will finally be open sourced !
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
ADOM is one of the most successful roguelike games ever created, with downloads in the millions and many more every day. ADOM was the first roguelike to add a true role-playing experience to the roguelike genre, and boasts a brilliant mix of story, exploration, and intensely strategic and flexible combat. ADOM was in development from 1994 until November 2002, when the last build was released. ADOM is still part of the roguelike conversation, even after ten years of frozen development.
ADOM is primarily known for being the first roguelike to include vibrant towns, NPC dialog, and quests, but it offers more than just a rich story line in a complex fantasy world:
- A huge game world with dozens of locations such as towns, randomized dungeons, and secrets
- Loads of races and classes allowing for almost infinite play styles
- Hundreds of monsters and items, many with enhanced random features
- A corruption system forcing you to balance lust for power with fear of damnation
- Spells, prayers, mindcraft, alchemy, and more
- Dozens of quests and branching story lines
- Numerous wildly different endings that might alter reality itself!
Sadly, although ADOM was highly polished, it was left in an unfinished state. Bugs, loopholes and other problems have been identified over the years, but I never had the resources to fix them. I believe I’ve found just the team of experienced, enthusiastic developers and artists to pick up where I left off and make ADOM something truly epic.
DEATH OR GLORY – I NEED YOUR HELP!
If this Indiegogo campaign is successful in reaching the funding goal, you will see a new release of ADOM, version 1.2.0. Here are some of the things you can expect:
- New stable releases for all supported platforms (Windows, Linux, MacOS, Amiga, NetBSD, FreeBSD; Android and iPad/iOS are going to be stretch goals). Operating systems have evolved since 2002 and compatibility is becoming a serious issue.
- Bug fixes for every bug we can find
- Game balance patches
- At least 12 new corruptions will be added to the corruption system.
- 13 new items will be added (but see below for that extra level).
- 4 new monsters will be added (but see below for that extra level).
- As a result of “getting over with funding on August 22nd” an extra special new boss monster with a special new map, 2 new artifacts, 4 new minion monsters for said boss and 16 new items that only will be recoverable on said special level are going to be added to the game.
- More elaborate interaction for many things that are currently only handled superficially
- UI improvements to bring ADOM up-to-date with the progress the roguelike genre has made, to be decided upon based on recommendations of players in the forums (e.g. colored message, some kind of auto-exploration and others)
- A series of magical statues distributed across the dungeons
- A roster of new named random boss monsters with special powers
- Exciting new graphics for the title screen and some quest-related events
- Audio for sound effects and music for the game areas and important events
- A freshly revised manual
Honestly, I have very high hopes for ADOM. I’m keeping this campaign modest, but I have big ideas in case we surpass the goal. I‘ll be announcing the stretch goals later in the campaign, but let me give you a taste of what I have in mind. I‘m thinking at least two new races and classes, builds for Android and iOS, a scripting module for user extensions, and finally, the release of the ADOM source code as open source, with community management, building, and training included.
STRETCH GOALS
STRETCH GOAL #1: NOTEYE SUPPORT (upon reaching $50,000)
As the first stretch goal we intend to integrate Zeno’s NotEye into ADOM. NotEye provides a graphical front end to textual roguelikes and seems to be the perfect option to provide tile support for ADOM (and best of all: for ADOM II, too, so effectively you are supporting two games in one). This will allow for
- graphical tile sets in various resolutions (32×32 and 64×64 at least)
- custom tile sets provided by the community
- selecting either a graphical or ASCII version of ADOM for play
- the possibility of a 3D mode (even if it’s more of a joke mode)
Our Youtube video video shows a sample demo, using NotEye, a demo tile set and an early version of a composition by Lucas Dieguez. Enjoy!
The following image gives a more detailed impression of what NotEye can do for ADOM:
STRETCH GOAL #2: CUSTOMIZED TILE SET (upon reaching $55,000)
This stretch goal will provide a customized tile set for ADOM, done solely by Krys, our artist. Krys will do his utmost to create the most beautiful tile set ever. See the image below for a sample of what Krys is capable of:
STRETCH GOAL #4: ADOM DELUXE ON STEAM (upon reaching $65,000)
STRETCH GOAL #5: ACHIEVEMENTS (upon reaching $70,000)
At this level we will add achievement systems and global high scores to the game, hopefully even more furthering the appeal to more casual gamers.
STRETCH GOAL #6: VOLCANO QUEST (upon reaching $75,000)
A highly detailed and extensive quest related to volcanoes (no, not a boring variant to the tower of eternal flames) will be added to the game. It’s going to be chilling to the bone, believe me!
STRETCH GOAL #7: QUEST FOR ROLF (upon reaching $80,000)
The mysteries surrounding Rolf finally will be solved with a series of exiting new levels and quests introducing many new monsters, items and artifacts and unravelling one of the many mysteries of AODM.
STRETCH GOAL #8: TWO MORE NEW QUESTS (upon reaching $85,000)
Two additional new quests will be added to the game, details to be discussed with the community.
STRETCH GOAL #9: THREE MORE NEW QUESTS (upon reaching $90,000)
Three additional new quests will be added to the game, details to be discussed with the community.
STRETCH GOAL #10: FOUR MORE NEW QUESTS (upon reaching $95,000)
Four additional new quests will be added to the game, details to be discussed with the community.
STRETCH GOAL #11: FULL-COLOR ADOM Lite RPG (upon reaching $100,000)
At this level the ADOM Lite RPG will be done in full color. All donors for the RPG will receive this upgraded print for free!
That’s it, folks. If we ever should come close to the stretch goals in the nineties I will think of more exciting stuff!
So it’s your chance to pledge and make ADOM even greater !