Do you play with tileset or ASCII and why?

CIB · 2014-01-13T13:43:04.000Z

Having a discussion on another game forum(non-roguelike), and I’m currently having to argue that some people actually do prefer ASCII to more expressive alternatives like a tileset. I know that these people exist for a fact, since they’re abundant in this community, but I’m not actually so sure why.

So my questions:

Do you play with ASCII or tileset?
If you play with tileset, do you prefer something akin to ASCII(e.g. “retro tileset”) or something more detailed(e.g. Deon’s tileset)
Why do you play what you play with? Functionality, aesthetics, or simply because you’re used to it?

Thanks!

system · 2014-01-13T14:25:55.000Z

Retro tileset on desktop because it looks fancy and i’m on windows thus it’s easy to use tilesets.
ASCII on EEE since it’s on Linux and I’m using console version.

Jack_Slinger · 2014-01-13T14:29:58.000Z

ASCII Because tiles were running slowly when I tried them, may be better now. But regardless i like that you can fit alot on the screen with ASSCI and still have it understandable, one day i really must try a square font.

Ferodaktyl · 2014-01-13T14:53:54.000Z

I tried the tilesets once or twice. But, to be honest, there’s not that much of a difference. No graphics is pretty much the same as very simplistic graphics, and for me the tilesets serve only to confuse me a bit more than i already am :).
ASCII games are more like books, they leave the details for the imagination. They supply the story and the action, and the brain automatically translates the squiggles. Because no one sleeps on a # after drinking a W and eating a L obtained from a M. And the graphics in my mind are incomparable superior to any tileset.

Oragepoilu · 2014-01-13T15:22:50.000Z

I usually use tileset
-I don’t really like ascii because it’s not “squares”-looking, i found it a bit annoying at first when i try to see the distance between me and other stuff in diagonal
-ascii actually allow more screen vision for the west/east than south/north, i prefere equal size to avoid want to use my car only to the west/east
-We can use a small tileset with chessboard-image, really simple looking, and still provide information while it’s better to look at (thuztor)
-less annoying for my eyes to look at fancy colourfull square rather than a lot of green/yellow/grey/etc points, and because i play a lot, i’m less tired

I would still play with ascii if we didn’t at last get an tileset witch provide enought information on screen as ascii do
(i want to know what is this car part or this item just by using my eyes instead of need to use the function “look at” of the game)

Bonevomit · 2014-01-13T15:59:03.000Z

I like the ascii graphics because I’m a roguelike freak and am used to it. Having no graphics isn’t so bad, people read books and can enjoy themselves, so why do I need graphics in a video game? I can handle tiles though, I would probably choose
retro if I was to choose a tileset because it doesn’t look like it would get in the way of my imagination. In fact I might when the next update comes out.

AseaHeru · 2014-01-13T17:12:51.000Z

ASCII cuz it looks better and hurts less. Plus, more imagination.

i2amroy · 2014-01-13T18:41:27.000Z

ASCII.
I prefer ASCII simply because it’s much easier for me to recognize a green ‘d’ as a zombie dog then it is trying to figure out if that tiny 16x16 block of pixels is a zombie dog, racoon, or what. Also my first rougelike gaming experiences were all on Dwarf Fortress with ASCII, so I’m kinda used to it by now. Also ASCII is much nicer for rapidly developed/modded games, since you can easily change or add new creatures without having to add sprites (since mixed tileset and ASCII looks worse then just tiles IMO).

nikola · 2014-01-13T19:20:11.000Z

I really like the ascii look because It feels like an improvement upon the text, not a bright-background’y crazy departure with hard to define style, that is hard to plan ahead when constructing the tileset (i guess).
I think making a tileset cohesive, with visual integrity and style is very hard. It is harder still if You want to reinvent the style on Your own. Improved ascii sidesteps those issues if executed correctly.
I don’t need detail. I need immersion

DG123 · 2014-01-13T19:53:28.000Z

Tileset, and I use Raga’s tileset.

Why? Because I prefer my eyes to not be bleeding.

ASCII is hard to look at and hard to comprehend what you’re seeing. Sure, you can get used to it, but after taking a short break from playing I was confused all over again. I don’t get that problem with a tileset.

The only thing I don’t like about using a tileset is that my viewport distance is too small when it comes to driving around. But I’m not sure how much better it would be with ASCII…

100Rads · 2014-01-13T19:56:53.000Z

ASCII, because it’s beautiful, and because it leaves much more room for imagination.
I just love imagining every zombie different looking, wearing different clothes, different hair, and you just cant have that with tiles.

Ian_Strachan · 2014-01-13T20:27:41.000Z

I normally play with Tiles in most roguelikes, but I stick with ASCII in Cataclysm because I can crank up the viewport size and actually see my entire vision radius.

Blaze · 2014-01-13T20:47:45.000Z

I’d play ASCII on every roguelike game I could. Tiles just don’t feel right.

The exception would be Elona, which I would play tiles over ASCII.

jimboblordofeskimos · 2014-01-13T21:17:26.000Z

Im an old DF head, its always been ascii for me, things just come over so much more clearly for me.

I also find sprites a bit hard on my eyes unless the tiles are pretty big.

TheFlame52 · 2014-01-13T22:15:08.000Z

[quote=“100Rads, post:11, topic:4751”]ASCII, because it’s beautiful, and because it leaves much more room for imagination.
I just love imagining every zombie different looking, wearing different clothes, different hair, and you just cant have that with tiles.[/quote]
Yeah, same. ASCII is like reading a book: You imagine what is happening while you read (or in this case watch) it.

HunterAlpha1 · 2014-01-13T22:26:22.000Z

i use tiles because that’s what i’m used to. probably the first Roguelike i ever played was Rogue: Survivor and that had a tileset when i started playing. i can’t tell you how thrilled i was when CDDA was released with a tileset.

1D-1_T · 2014-01-13T22:48:02.000Z

I play ASCII, because, as other people have said, it leaves room for the imagination. Also, to confuse people looking over my shoulder.

Bonevomit · 2014-01-13T22:58:36.000Z

1D-1()T:

Also, to confuse people looking over my shoulder.

this.

Labtop_215 · 2014-01-13T23:51:52.000Z

I prefer ASCII because there is too much in the other tilesets that are unaccounted for.

I don’t like not knowing what a bunch of pink “no” signs are supposed to represent. That in and of itself gets annoying, if not outright deadly because I can’t tell that a skeletal dog is homing in on me. Also at the moment it seems that most tilesets don’t get the balance quite right for things like grass vs dirt. It’s either all green, or all dirt and then something that looks like bushes but it isn’t a bush so I I’m leading enemies onto grass tiles instead of bushes. Also vehicles are awkward if not outright unviewable at times in tilesets.

While I understand that things like vehicles and enemies take time to draw and get right, a tileset that doesn’t overcome these issues makes the game unplayable for me. So I just use ASCII for now.

Edit:
I am trying the other tiles sets again for the experimental, so maybe my mind will change on this. I thin Tsu’s tile set is the most promising at the moment.

Seranikan · 2014-01-14T03:22:53.000Z

ASCII only. Tiles just do not feel right, and with ASCII I can interpret things quicker and imagine things more vividly.