Ancient Domains of Mystery
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| Ancient Domains of Mystery | |
 ADOM Title Screen |
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| Developer: | Thomas Biskup |
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| Latest release: | 1.1.1 / 2002 |
| OS: | Microsoft Windows, DOS, Linux, AmigaOS, Mac OS X |
| Use: | Roguelike |
| License: | Postcardware |
| Website: | http://www.adom.de |
ADOM (short for Ancient Domains of Mystery) is a roguelike game project started by Thomas Biskup in 1994 in which the player's aim is to stop the forces of Chaos which are invading the world of Ancardia. Like most roguelike games, ADOM uses ASCII graphics to represent the game world.
The player can create their character as male or female, any of ten races and any of twenty character classes, giving 200 possible combinations requiring widely varying playing styles. Races include human, troll, high/grey/dark elf, dwarf, gnome, orc, hurthling (halfling), and drakeling; classes include fighter, paladin, ranger, thief, assassin, wizard, priest, bard, monk, healer, weaponsmith, archer, merchant, farmer, mindcrafter, barbarian, druid, necromancer, elementalist, and beastfighter. In addition, each race and class starts with a unique set of skills to aid gameplay. The latest update to ADOM added a system of 'Talents'- abilities gained every three levels that any type of character can pick from, for example, increased skill with certain kinds of weapons, or increased speed.
Gameplay varies depending on the choices made. For example, a High Elven wizard would fight mainly by casting spells at them from a distance, while a Trollish Barbarian would have great difficulty learning spells and prefer mêlée combat.
Contents |
[edit] Significant features
- Randomized dungeons & items:
- Similar to other roguelikes and even Diablo, most of the dungeons are randomly generated each game. Since the ADOM engine contains provisions for a wide variety of traps and geographical or architectural occurrences (for example; a river dividing the screen in half where a player could drown, or a room full of monsters waiting to ambush), this allows for a very high degree of replayability. Most items are also created randomly, creating a high potential for "lucky" and "unlucky" games.
- "Hardcore" Gameplay:
- The game is desgned not to allow multiple saved versions of one character; one cannot try to approach a potentially lethal hazard from different directions with the same character. Due to the difficult nature of the game, many characters die often and early. This is considered a design feature, and gave rise to a popular mantra of the ADOM community: "die & learn". Though the game code discourages the use of character backups (a practice known as "savefile scumming"), it can be done with little difficulty.
- Some creatures can instantly kill the character before the player can even see them, regardless of how powerful the character is. Some even calibrate their difficulty to the power of the character.
- A unique set of special endings dependent on acquiring certain items which are highly difficult to obtain, which allow you to become a god of chaos, a god of balance or a god of order (depending on your alignment as well). The most difficult ending to obtain - the "UlTiMaTe ChAoS gOd"(UCG) ending requires collecting all of the most difficult items in the game, as well as a ritual at the near end of the game meaning death at the slightest mistake.
- A deity relation system that allows you to serve and receive aid from the God of your chosen alignment. It is even possible to become a champion of your deity to receive special gifts and blessings.
[edit] Gameplay & source code
During adventures, a player is likely to explore many different dungeons and complete multiple quests. Which quests the player chooses will likely depend on their character and on whether they are lawful, neutral, or chaotic (ADOM only has one-dimensional alignment). The alignment of a player also affects which benefits (or curses) their god may bestow upon them, and how they are treated by NPCs. ADOM has a quest-centric, plot driven structure that owes as much to old adventure games such as Zork (indeed, there are even Grue references to be found) as it does to the "purer" hack-and-slash of sister games such as Angband.
ADOM was written by Thomas Biskup, is currently at version 1.1.1 and can be downloaded from the official site. Although ADOM is freeware (technically postcardware), unlike most roguelikes, its source code is not available. However, some of the game's underlying equations and mechanics have been deduced via careful experimentation by players.
Biskup did not release the source because:
- He wants to keep a level of mystery regarding exactly what the game does.
- He does not want lots of unsanctioned variants spread around, like with Angband.
- He plans to someday release a commercial version of ADOM.
[edit] References in other games
In World of Warcraft, in the high level dungeon 'Blackrock Spire' there is an uncommon loot named an "Eternium Lockbox". Eternium is a craftable metal introduced in ADOM.
[edit] Current Status of Development
Development on the game has slowed down lately, with Version 1.1.1 being released in 2002. In 2006, Macintosh versions of 1.1.1 have been released, and comments are added periodically. No dates have been announced for further versions.
[edit] JADE
JADE is Thomas Biskup's new roguelike game project. According to present knowledge, it is being developed with the Java programming language, will be open source, and will feature a larger and richer game world than its indirect predecessor, ADOM. More information is available on the official ADOM website.
[edit] External links
- The ADOM official site
- The ADOM Guidebook, with detailed spoilers
- rec.games.roguelike.adom FAQ
- RGRA at Google Groups
- The JADE development page
- ADOM wiki guide at StrategyWiki (previously hosted by Wikibooks)
- Ancient Domains Of Mystery at MobyGames
- ADOM Hall of Fame
- The Metalman challenges
