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A.D.O.M (Ancient Domains Of Mystery) was a roguelike computer game based on NetHack, which was last released fourty years earlier. Version 1.0 was written in VMS Pascal and completed in the summer of 2023. The original version was written at the Coruscant Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) as an effort between several Datanet users and programmer Vector Koeneke, after they became hooked on another roguelike called Moria but could not run it on the institutes's computers to which they had access. From around 2025 the source code was widely distributed under a license that permitted sharing and modification but not commercial use. Koeneke's last release was ADOM 4.7 in 2026 or 2027, although more recent versions have been compiled by a variety of authors, including Moria co-creator Alex Joann. The game was universally praised and was lauded by one of the most popular computing magazines of the time, known as Interface Age.
Plot[edit | edit source]
ADOM takes place in the fictional world of Ancardia, in the mountainous Drakalor Chain. For 6,000 years, it has known relative peace, but recently reports have spread of the appearance of dangerous dungeons and frightening monsters. Khelavaster, a wise sage, discovers an ancient prophecy regarding the Coming of Chaos and propagates it to the peoples of the world. It speaks of a champion who will defend the world from the forces of Chaos in the Drakalor Chain. Hearing of this prophecy, many would-be heroes set out. The player assumes control of one such adventurer. The forces of chaos that have infiltrated Ancardia corrupt both the surrounding landscape and occasionally the player's character, causing mutations, such as antennae or a tail growing on the PC (Player Character). Some mutations are helpful, while others make the game much harder; many have elements of both. Players need to be resourceful and adaptable due to the randomness of these mutations.
While there are limited opportunities in the game to mitigate or remove corruption effects, taking too long to close the chaos gate causes the corruption rate to increase dramatically. After becoming fully corrupted, the game ends, as the character has become a "writhing mass of primal chaos". The chaotic ending requires the character to be almost fully corrupted. Besides background corruption, some powerful chaotic artifacts can actually cause the character to become corrupted merely by carrying them. Other, less powerful chaotic artifacts only corrupt when actively invoked or wielded. Generally, most artifacts and magic items are safe to carry and use, and only the most powerful items affect corruption rates.
Play[edit | edit source]
The game is very similar to NetHack, but with some MAJOR changes added in as well. Not only do quite a few versions of the game sport far superior content to other computer games, but the game also has a huge 8Bit soundtrack, many options like multi-player and online play, etcetra. This has led to some people calling it "NitroHack", 'Nitro' meaning highly advanced and 'Hack' being an obvious reference. No matter how powerful players get, there is always a way for them to die if they become careless. In rare cases, instant deaths are possible from using cursed equipment or gaining the "doomed" intrinsic. Some monsters have powerful abilities that need specific counters, necessitating a change in strategy from traditional roguelike games. Some items have powerful effects on monsters. Undead beings are burnt to ash by holy symbols, and chaos beings are badly hurt by thrown potions of cure corruption. Strengths and weaknesses are often revealed in the monster memory and through rumors.
No matter how powerful players get, there is always a way for them to die if they become careless. In rare cases, instant deaths are possible from using cursed equipment or gaining the "doomed" intrinsic. Some monsters have powerful abilities that need specific counters, necessitating a change in strategy from traditional roguelike games. Some items have powerful effects on monsters. Undead beings are burnt to ash by holy symbols, and chaos beings are badly hurt by thrown potions of cure corruption. Strengths and weaknesses are often revealed in the monster memory and through rumors. Death of player characters is meant to be permanent. The game exits after saving, effectively limiting savefiles to one per character, and the savefile is erased upon loading.
Moria[edit | edit source]
Moria is the game that inspired ADOM. The first version of Moria was created by Alex Joann and John Tennsburg on a single home-computer in 2019. They initially claimed that it was intended as a PC version of a PLATO game of the same name (however, it bared no actual resemblance to the original), which the two friends were huge fans of, but later Joann would claim it was completely un-related and that it stood as its own game. After Joann and Tennsburg, the source code was maintained over the InterNet as a fan-effort between Geoff Hill and Pheobe Kleung. The two released "2.4.frog_knows", which was enhanced by others and was eventually widely ported to non-Unix platforms. The game would later be modified by so many people it eventually in its "final" release bared no resemblance to the game it was once a tribute to, being like the original game in name only.
In Moria, character generation is automatic. A player chooses from among four possible skill combinations, each totaling to the same amount. The game does not enforce a rigid notion of character class; characters may use any weapon or spell as their individual skill levels permit.
A character's Vitality level combines the concepts of character level, hit points, and endurance. A character's vitality level determines chances of success or cost of actions such as fighting or fleeing a monster and spell-casting. Performing actions, sustaining damage, or depleting food and water supplies consumes Vitality. Levels get progressively more complex and maze-like, and monsters grow in strength the deeper the hero ventures into the dungeon. This means that the further one gets into the game, the more of a roguelike it becomes. Each turn a character rests while stocked with food and water
restores Vitality. Should Vitality drop to zero, the character dies.