This is going to be one of those concepts that sounds simple on paper, but might not even be technically possible. However, I think I'll put the idea forward just for the sake of discussion.
Killing Floor is somewhat Rogue-like to begin with, but to emulate the Roguelike experience even further, a mod would need to have the following features:
The idea being that every time a new 'campaign' of KF Roguelike is started, everyone's perk levels are set to minimum across the board and they must level-up as they go. The game would start off a match on Easy, and on successful completion players would immediately progress to the next difficulty.
The leveling curve within the mod would be adjusted so that players starting at level 1 on Easy will be level 25 by the time they reach the final wave on the last, hardest difficulty (if they survive that long).
It may also be possible to skip over difficulties by starting at X level at Normal or such.
In order to preserve the permanence-of-death of a proper roguelike, joining in after a campaign has started, or respawning if having died during a wave, would either be prohibited outright or require special action by surviving players: For example there could be a special piece of equipment in the mod consisting of a Transceiver (to call in reinforcements) or a Signal Flare (to alert reinforcements to your position, so they can find you). The players would have to either search for or buy batteries for their transceiver or signal flares (or maybe even BOTH, to further complicate matters) and they would be relatively uncommon or expensive.
This would give the player difficult strategic choices to make. Do we hide out where its safe, or do we risk danger to look for the means to get additional help? Do we save our money for better guns, or use it to buy the means to bring in more players?
Also in proper roguelike fashion, the availability of equipment needs to be less reliable but also more varied than normal. Random item spawns will be adjusted to (rarely) contain higher-tier weapons, but perhaps also be less frequently found overall. The trader's shop, after any given wave, would only have some weapons available and not others; Do you spend your money on what you can get now, or try to hold out another wave with what you've got in the hopes of a preferred weapon later? Do you help an ally buy their preferred equipment when it's available, knowing that the Trader might not have it again next wave?
Overall, the necessity to maintain separate leveling from the rest of the game (and therefore not contributing towards the progression of perks outside the mod) would likely disinterest some, as would the necessity to grind through lower difficulties/perks to get to difficulties one has become accustomed to and to sit through a multiple-game campaign in one evening..
However, I think others would greatly enjoy this kind of experience, just for the unforgiving challenge or bragging rights of making it through all of the difficulties... or the streamlined pleasure of rapid 1-to-25 perk advancement in the course of an evening, and quick comparison of one difficulty setting to the next. Someone who hasn't maxed out their perks in the main game might play this just to get a taste of what higher levels are like.
Killing Floor is somewhat Rogue-like to begin with, but to emulate the Roguelike experience even further, a mod would need to have the following features:
- Track Perk Levels separately from the normal game.
- Be able to reset perk levels to 1 within the mod.
- Have an adjusted leveling curve, much faster than the default game
- Introduce restrictions on joining mid-game or respawning
- Alter random weapon spawning rules and Trader's stock
- Switch server's difficulty between matches.
The idea being that every time a new 'campaign' of KF Roguelike is started, everyone's perk levels are set to minimum across the board and they must level-up as they go. The game would start off a match on Easy, and on successful completion players would immediately progress to the next difficulty.
The leveling curve within the mod would be adjusted so that players starting at level 1 on Easy will be level 25 by the time they reach the final wave on the last, hardest difficulty (if they survive that long).
It may also be possible to skip over difficulties by starting at X level at Normal or such.
In order to preserve the permanence-of-death of a proper roguelike, joining in after a campaign has started, or respawning if having died during a wave, would either be prohibited outright or require special action by surviving players: For example there could be a special piece of equipment in the mod consisting of a Transceiver (to call in reinforcements) or a Signal Flare (to alert reinforcements to your position, so they can find you). The players would have to either search for or buy batteries for their transceiver or signal flares (or maybe even BOTH, to further complicate matters) and they would be relatively uncommon or expensive.
This would give the player difficult strategic choices to make. Do we hide out where its safe, or do we risk danger to look for the means to get additional help? Do we save our money for better guns, or use it to buy the means to bring in more players?
Also in proper roguelike fashion, the availability of equipment needs to be less reliable but also more varied than normal. Random item spawns will be adjusted to (rarely) contain higher-tier weapons, but perhaps also be less frequently found overall. The trader's shop, after any given wave, would only have some weapons available and not others; Do you spend your money on what you can get now, or try to hold out another wave with what you've got in the hopes of a preferred weapon later? Do you help an ally buy their preferred equipment when it's available, knowing that the Trader might not have it again next wave?
Overall, the necessity to maintain separate leveling from the rest of the game (and therefore not contributing towards the progression of perks outside the mod) would likely disinterest some, as would the necessity to grind through lower difficulties/perks to get to difficulties one has become accustomed to and to sit through a multiple-game campaign in one evening..
However, I think others would greatly enjoy this kind of experience, just for the unforgiving challenge or bragging rights of making it through all of the difficulties... or the streamlined pleasure of rapid 1-to-25 perk advancement in the course of an evening, and quick comparison of one difficulty setting to the next. Someone who hasn't maxed out their perks in the main game might play this just to get a taste of what higher levels are like.