Nuclear Throne: An 8-bit Borderlands?

It seems that Vlambeer has created what will be considered to be another great shoot-em-up game. In addition, the comapny has decided to live stream the game’s development twice a week while it is in early access.

For those interested in viewing the development, you can check out the team’s twitch channel, and find even more details via their official site. Many who have watched the game’s development in progress have mentioned that it is, “A Roguelike that is similar to an 8-bit Borderlands.”

For those unaware, for a game to be considered a Roguelike, it has to have the following, as defined by the International Roguelike Development Conference in 2008:

• Roguelike games randomly generated dungeon levels, though they may include static levels as well. Generated layouts typically incorporate rooms connected by corridors, some of which may be preset to a degree (e.g., monster lairs or treasuries). Open areas or natural features, like rivers, may also occur.

• The identity of magical items varies across games. Newly discovered objects only offer a vague physical description that is randomized between games, with purposes and capabilities left unstated. For example, a “bubbly” potion might heal wounds one game, then poison the player character in the next. Items are often subject to alteration, acquiring specific traits, such as a curse, or direct player modification.

• The combat system is turn-based instead of real-time. Gameplay is usually step-based, where player actions are performed serially and take a variable measure of in-game time to complete. Game processes (e.g., monster movement and interaction, progressive effects such as poisoning or starvation) advance based on the passage of time dictated by these actions.

• Most are single-player games. On multi-user systems, scoreboards are often shared between players. Some roguelikes allow traces of former player characters to appear in later game sessions in the form of ghosts or grave markings. Some games such as NetHack even have the player’s former characters reappear as enemies within the dungeon. Multi-player derivatives such as TomeNET, MAngband, and Crossfire do exist and are playable online.

• Roguelikes traditionally implement permadeath. Once a character dies, the player must begin a new game. A “save game” feature will only provide suspension of gameplay and not a limitlessly recoverable state; the stored session is deleted upon resumption or character death. Players can circumvent this by backing up stored game data (“save scumming”), an act that is usually considered cheating

Thanks, Kotaku.