Shadow of the Wyrm

Shadow of the Wyrm is a roguelike in the tradition of ADOM and Omega. It features a large, open world, full of places to explore, people to meet, and things that want to kill you. You take the role of a single character, and attempt to guide them to the ends of the world. Find a boat, set sail, and explore the islands around you. Receive quests, become a force for good or evil (or neither!), and become the champion of your deity; or, find a way to climb to the heavens and do battle with the gods themselves.

Shadow of the Wyrm is written in C++ and Lua. Most of the game-specific details (quests, race/class features, etc) are written in Lua, and can be changed without requiring any compilation. The game data and maps are specified in XML, with the in-game text defined using resource strings. You can add new monsters and items by updating a few files, update behaviours by editing Lua scripts, and change the game however you want -- the source code uses the permissive MIT license.

The game offers sprite and text display options, recognizing that each player has their own preferences in terms of how to play the game. Curses (text/terminal based) is traditional, accessible for players using screen readers, and will always be supported. The graphical version (using SDL) offers both sprites and text glyphs. The sprites are a 1-bit spriteset of my own creation and can be downloaded separately under the same license.

The game will always be free. You will always be able to download the releases and sprites free of charge. The source will always be available. That said, if you'd like to donate a few bucks to help cover the annual hosting costs, or as a thank you, the latest version is always available at itch, and lets you pay what you want.

Development

Shadow of the Wyrm is developed by myself, Julian Day. I am a software developer and poet from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I maintain a small personal website with information on my literary and academic writing. And I have a new chapbook out with Model Press! You can read it for free online!

History

The game started as a side-project in July, 2011. I've been playing roguelikes since the mid-1990s, when I discovered NetHack, ADOM, and Angband. This project is an attempt to create the roguelike I've always wanted to make.

Release Announcements

I announce releases on the Temple of the Roguelike Forums.

Community & Contributions

If you would like to suggest changes, or just talk about the game, there are a number of options:

#shadowofthewyrm on the roguelikes discord server
Visit the game's page on itch.io
Post or send a personal message with the suggestion to /r/roguelikedev or Temple of the Roguelike (user is jcd748 on both forums)
Email the suggestion to jcd748@mail.usask.ca

I am not likely to accept any pull requests for the project on GitHub.