UltraRogue

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UltraRogue is a single-player roguelike computer game. The source code for the game was originally based on Rogue version 3.6 and an early version of Advanced Rogue. It was developed by Herb Chong between 1985 and 1986, and again sporadically in the early 1990s, with several contributors. The most recent version of the game is 1.0.7.

Like Hack, which later became the popular variant NetHack, and unlike its fellow Roguelikes Moria, Angband and Larn, UltraRogue was a close relative of Rogue, the original roguelike game.

[edit] Game

While the original Rogue featured 26 monster types (one per letter in the alphabet), and had as its goal the finding of the Amulet of Yendor on level 26 of its dungeon, UltraRogue had hundreds of monster types and multiple game-winning artifacts, the last of which could be retrieved on level 100. The original adventurer in Rogue was a fighter, while the UltraRogue adventurer could choose from additional Dungeons & Dragons classes such as a cleric, magic user, or thief.

Some consider UltraRogue to be a "Monty Hall" type game, where characters fought powerful monsters, but became even more powerful in return. If Rogue was finesse, UltraRogue was more of a roll through the game once the character became developed, where 1000+ hitpoint adventurers could walk through levels with AC -20 armor class and not even be hit. At level 80 the power level of monsters started to increase, and eventually if one continued downward the game could become tiring, with many hits needed to kill each monster, who would be unable to hit the player in return. Like Rogue, the dungeon does not have a formally-defined end, and the player can continue to explore deeper into the dungeon even after finding a winning artifact, with the monsters continuing to get stronger and stronger, up to level 1,000 or even deeper.

After retrieving a winning artifact and returning to the first level, the player would be met by Lucifer, an angry demon prince waiting by the exit. While he could be defeated in combat, it was usually best to just use magical means to run around him to the upstairs in order to win the game.

[edit] History

While Nethack's open source nature and dedicated DevTeam have allowed it to survive through the decades, Herb Chong did not release the source to UltraRogue for a long time. Since the game was tied to the hardware for which it was written, for a long time it simply could not be played, and has fallen into obscurity. The Roguelike Restoration Project, an effort to restore old roguelike games and port them to current platforms, has succeeded in reviving the original game and making it available for a new generation of players.

[edit] External links

• The Roguelike Restoration Project's UltraRogue page Contains binaries for Linux, Microsoft Windows, DOS and AIX systems, as well as the source code.